HEADTEACHER'S WELCOME

Dear Students, Parents and Carers,

Welcome to our May newsletter.  Although it's only been 5 weeks since we returned from Easter, we have certainly packed a lot in.  Year 11 and 13 have made a super start to their public examinations, Years 7 to 9 have sat their main annual assessments in a mature and sensible fashion, Year 12 have sat their end of year tests with a great attitude (in many classes, they will be making a start on their Year 13 study in preparation for September), and Year 10 have been preparing for their assessments which take place before the end of the academic year. Well done to all our students for their diligence and determination to be their best selves.  

We were delighted to welcome ACC Leaper of Devon & Cornwall Police into school to talk with our students about being a senior female leader, policing in general, and the highs and challenges of her career. It was a motivating and candid presentation which our students found insightful. 

We all enjoyed the Year 11 and 13 celebration events.  These events mark the end of normal lesson routines and the start of the public examinations; everyone had a fun time, especially on the inflatables. 

Some of our students completed the gruelling Ten Tors competition, yet another example of our motto, "For life, not school, we learn" in action. Well done to all who took part.

PHSG won the Trust-wide School Food Influencer competition with a remarkable entry from Neva in year 10. Her prize is amazing, a chance to go with some friends to forage for ingredients and then have lunch prepared for them by a nationally renowned professional chef using what they have found. Well done Neva.

We were proud to receive a national attendance award for the Spring term.  The award puts us in the top 10% (the highest category for this type of award) of secondary schools in the UK for attendance. Thank you to students and parents/carers who help us every day to have the best possible attendance. As we all know, great attendance is so important in terms of learning, belonging, and wellbeing.

We celebrated Sir David Attenborough's 100^th birthday with events in school and a huge birthday book sent to him containing messages from staff and students. It was a super opportunity for us all to share with Sir David our thanks for the difference he has made to us all.

Our Head Student Team ran some activities to mark mental health awareness week, highlighting how we can help each other, ourselves, and the importance of looking out for and caring for each other. The PHSG spirit really shone through.  Well done to all involved.

I hope you enjoy reading more about all the wonderful things that have been going on in school. Don't forget that we post our Latest News on our website and Facebook page so that you can keep up to date with what's going on.

As ever, thank you for your tremendous support and encouragement. It means a lot to us all at PHSG.

Wishing you all a restful and enjoyable May holiday. 

Very best wishes,

Simon Underdown