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Principal's Bulletin

Please see the latest bulletin from Mr Solly...

Dear Parents and Carers,

I would like to start off the bulletin this week by congratulating the ten Year 8 students who took on Sports Leader roles on Tuesday at the Change 4 Life Festival. Chris Thomas, Sports Development Manager for Rutland emailed me with this lovely message, praising our students:

“I just wanted to write to congratulate all 10 of your leaders who assisted in the Change 4 Life Festival this morning. The purpose of the event was to try and inspire and engage non-sporty children, who currently are not involved in any physical activity in their school and encourage them to be active more regularly and then possibly join an extra-curricular club. As you can appreciate, this then means the type of children present are not your engaged, motivated, sporty children, HOWEVER, the reaction and enthusiasm of the children to the leaders was awe inspiring and every single child there, I believe, went away having had a fantastic experience of being active and ultimately an enjoyable time.

The leaders were fantastic in terms of their maturity, preparation, adaptability on the spot, teamwork, etc. I am so excited about these students and how far they could progress given they are only in Year 8.”

I am extremely proud of the students who represented UCC so magnificently at this event; I know they will have benefitted greatly from this experience and I think it is wonderful they have played a part in helping younger children become more active.

Susan Jarron, the High Sheriff of Rutland has asked me to pass on an open invitation to the UCC community for the celebration of Rutland event that is taking place on Sunday 24th February. The invitation is attached and she would be thrilled to see UCC and their family members at this event.

I would like to draw your attention to an event in Oakham on February 9th which aims to help parents keep their children safe online. This event is being organised by Rutland County Council and the details are attached.

We have spent a lot of time this week talking to students about the holocaust and other abhorrent acts of genocide that have plagued humanity. It is Holocaust Memorial Day on Sunday 27th February and we have asked our students to reflect on the messages they have heard this week and remember those who have lost their lives in these awful events around the world. I have been very impressed by the empathy and sensitivity shown by our students, and whilst the nature of this topic is upsetting and difficult to hear, I know they have learned some important lessons about prejudice and discrimination.

I had a very positive meeting with students this week about how schools can do more to support young people with their mental health and well-being. We have been asked by the Resilient Rutland project team, who have secured £500k funding to support these issues in Rutland, to obtain ideas and suggestions from the students in our school to help them develop their strategies. The students I spoke to were articulate and imaginative throughout our discussions and I will be taking 3 of them to Oakham Castle on Tuesday next week to represent UCC at the launch event of this important project.

I hope you have a good weekend
Mr Solly.