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Yr11 Message from Mr Solly

Yr11 - Please see a farewell message from Mr Solly...

Dear Year 11,

I hope this email finds you all safe and well. I wanted to write to you one last time before the end of the 2019-20 academic year; there are a couple of important updates for you to know about and I have included my message from your Year Book as I know that not all of you will have ordered one.

GCSE Results Day
Many schools are delivering GCSE results electronically in August, via email or an online portal. We have decided against this as we want you to experience the opportunity to collect your results with your peers. However, this will have to be organised in a way that keeps everyone safe and as a result the logistics of the day will be different to how we traditionally organise these events.

You may collect your results between 8am and 11am on Thursday 20th August. They will available in the maths block. We will be observing strict social distancing on this day. Only you may come into school, entering the maths block via the main entrance and exiting via the door onto the car park. You will be asked to hand sanitise as you enter the building. We respectfully ask parents and carers to not gather at the school gates.

If you wish any other person (including family members) to collect your results on your behalf, you must give your signed written authorisation. No results will be given out by telephone or email. All results that are not collected by 11 am will be posted home.

I urge you to look at the information on how your grades have been awarded this year on the UCC website. https://www.uppinghamcollege.org.uk/page/?title=GCSE+Grades+and+what+happens+next%3F&pid=189

For those of you who have ordered school photographs and a Year Book, these will be available for you to collect as well. If you have any textbooks or other school resources to return, please could you bring these with you when you collect your results. 

Prom
I know you were desperately disappointed to not have a prom this year. The staff at UCC have been working hard to find a suitable date for this to take place and we have now been able to book Barnsdale Lodge on Friday 25th June 2021 for this event. We will view this as the UCC 'Class of 2020 Prom/Reunion' and we hope all of you will be able to attend. We will send out more details closer to the time, but for now consider this email to be your 'save the date' invitation! 

Yearbook Message from me
Here is my message for you, which will be printed in the Year Book that you can collect on GCSE results day....
Dear Year 11

2020 has been a year none of us will ever forget. It has been challenging and has tested us all in many different ways. For all of you, I can't imagine how unsettling these past few months must have been. However, I hope you are able to draw upon the positive elements that have emerged from the global pandemic and you are able to harness the skills and qualities you have developed to support your development into adulthood. Navigating such uncertain times will have tested your resilience and resolve. You will have developed coping strategies and an ability to deal with adversity which I am sure will prove invaluable to you in years to come.

Yes, your final year at UCC was brought to an abrupt conclusion that no-one could have predicted. But you have a choice here. You can choose to focus on this and dwell upon the fact that Year 11 ended prematurely. That, I fear, would be a mistake. Instead I would encourage you to remember the journey throughout your school days that brought you to this point in your lives. Consider how you have grown as a person, how your personality has developed and evolved, and how you have positively influenced those around you. Choose to focus on the positives. You have all made exceptional progress, both holistically and academically throughout your time at UCC and you should be very proud of this.

As you reflect on your time at UCC in years to come, I hope you are able to recall many happy memories. School trips, sports fixtures, inspirational lessons and lifelong friendships are, I hope, among your fondest of memories. As teachers, we can't expect you to remember everything we have taught you, but if there is anything that stays with you and resonates throughout your lives, I sincerely hope it is our school values. My ambition is for all UCC alumni to become adults who are kind, respectful and honest, who strive to have a positive influence on those around them. This is more important than any qualification you can gain; please remember this.

In my final assembly to you I told you all that you are the best Year 11 cohort I have worked with during my career. I wasn't just saying this to be nice, I genuinely mean it. You are a fantastic group of young people and it has been an honour, a pleasure and a privilege to be your headteacher.

I wish you all the very best of luck in everything you choose to do in your lives.

Take care, stay safe, be kind. 
Mr B Solly
Principal

That's all folks...

All that is left for me to say is I hope you all have a great summer and I wish you all the best in your chosen endeavours beyond UCC.

See you on results day!

Yours faithfully,
Mr Solly