Our school library (LRC) has been relocated to the LINC and thanks to the hard work of our staff the area is now up and running for students to use both for lessons and for pleasure.

Next week the LRC are holding some interesting events, more details are included in this Weekly News, please have a look and encourage your children to get involved and inspire a love of reading. One of the greatest pleasures in life is settling down with a good book and switching off your brain from the day-to-day stresses and it’s excellent for wellbeing.

There is also the opportunity for parents to sign up for a Bedrock Information Evening. This programme is used within school with students in Years 7 and 8 and really helps to improve their vocabulary. More information and details for signing up to the online event are in this Weekly News.

Our weekly articles are there to keep you up to date with what is happening around school and also for celebrating the achievements of our students. If you have any successes that your children are happy to share in this way, please let us know by emailing [email protected] – we always like to hear the good news.

With Best Wishes – Andy Perry – Head Teacher

There was a very positive meeting at Myton yesterday with the District Council.  It’s been easy to forget but outside of RAACgate, we have another infrastructure project underway to build another entry to the school, at the back of our site, which comes from the new road (Fusiliers Way) that is yet to open.  This is work we are doing with the District Council and is linked to a potential cycle track which provides Warwick with a North/South cycle connection.  This track would run down the perimeter of our site, between us and the Warwick Foundation, connecting Fusiliers Way to Myton Road at the pedestrian crossing and then into St Nicks Park.  We are very positive about this project as it is vital we get Myton traffic off Myton Road which is far too busy and, if I’m honest about it, the scene of some appalling driving by a tiny minority of our parents; bouncing up the curb onto the cycle lane, parking on peoples front garden, blocking buses and ignoring other motorists etc – please stop doing this.  The additional entrance at the back of the site would cut the journey for most of our students who come from the Leamington side and Warwick Gates and would increase the numbers actively travelling to school (walking or cycling) – all good news.

What was clear in the meeting is that there is a renewed determination to deliver this project coming from the District Council which is great news.  If we can all work together to get this over the line, it seems that the District Council, the Myton community, local residents and the whole town will benefit.  I will keep you informed.

Best wishes

Andy Perry

Some start of term notices today……

Work is now underway on our “modular village” with the digging of the foundations on the school field and work taking place on a sound dampening barrier between the worksite and the Maths Department as this is so close by.  Whilst this is a temporary structure, it is robust and built to a high standard with the foundations being quite extensive to cover a large footprint.  We continue to work with PortaKabin on the details for inside the building and we are looking forward to getting it handed over to us around summer half term so we can get our students out of the Titan units we currently have on the yards.

We have unfortunately not yet been told what the long-term solution is to our RAAC building.  Initially they said we’d know by Christmas but have now pushed that back to January/February time.  We continue to pressure the DfE for this information as our community need certainty and, whilst every indication is we will get a rebuild, they won’t commit to it just yet.  We will let you know as soon as we find out and will do everything we can to ensure we get the modular village delivered on time.

Students have come back well rested and motivated which is great to see.  However, I would like to remind all parents that students need to be here by 8.35am so they can be in their tutor rooms when the bell goes at 8.40am.  Punctuality is a quality appreciated by all future employers and something all students need to learn.  As is appropriate dress.  Please don’t send your child into school in a hoodie especially if it is under the blazer, coats, jackets etc worn over the blazer will keep them nice and warm.

Finally, we are having to send staff to the park to stop kids trying to walk on the ice on the pond.  I’ve no need to spell out the dangers of kids going through the ice, yet some are still doing so – please make sure, if your child walks through St Nicks, that it isn’t your child taking this risk.

With best wishes

Andy Perry – Head Teacher

Dear Parents and Carers

Happy New Year! I hope you had a restful break and are full of energy to face 2024, especially those of us who are doing dry January!

Our students have returned full of enthusiasm and ready to work, especially those with exams coming up fast and furiously. Years 12 and 13 are currently in the middle of progress exams and Year 11 have received their mock results and will know what they need to work on to achieve their best outcomes when the real ones come around. 

This is a very short and busy term with only 9 more weeks of school before Easter, so it really is important that we all start off with the right attitude. 

Best wishes

Andy Perry

As we end this term, I would like to thank everybody for their dedication and support to the school.  It hasn’t been the easiest term for anybody at Myton but despite that, it has been successful and all our indicators tell us the school is taking big steps forward.  This is only possible because of the resilience of our students who put up with an awful lot of upheaval including studying at home, the endless patience of our parents who had to put up with so much disruption over those first few weeks of term and the hard work of our staff, particularly those who have had to move out of lower school at such short notice. 

When you come back in January, you will see that the work to construct our “modular village” will have started on our field.  We look forward to seeing that progress at a rapid pace so we can make use of it as soon as possible.  In terms of teaching and office space, it will be roughly the size of Coten End Primary so it is no easy undertaking (if you know our LINC building, that is 4 modules, the building on the field will be at least 108) and it will be of the highest quality.  I will keep you updated on this and on any news about rebuilds etc in the new year.

Until then, thanks once again and have a lovely Christmas and New Year

This week I was able to join a group of Year 12s and visit Gurdwara Sahib.  These students are our Enterprise group, and they are using their entrepreneurial skills to celebrate the diversity that is found in our school.  They have led two evening events, which have both been supported by Gurdwara Sahib and the students wanted to make a donation by way of thanks.  They also had the opportunity to ask some questions of the committee members as they prepare for their next venture.  And as you’ll know if you’ve ever visited, you also get some fantastic food which we really enjoyed.  My thanks go to the Gurdwara Sahib for our very warm welcome and their time to work with our students, Mrs Bhatoe and Mrs Zahran for leading this initiative and our fantastic students.

Also, this week we have our production of Much Ado About Nothing running.  I saw it last night and thoroughly enjoyed it, never seen Shakespeare set in the 70s before.  Some real standout performances but I’ll single out firstly the young lad who, following a scene with a lot of lines and a lot of characters, left his radio mic on so we could all hear him celebrate the scene from off stage with “we did brilliant, we didn’t mess up at all”.  Quite right young man, as there are lots of complicated lines in Shakespeare.  I’ll also mention Will in Year 13 who has taken a leading role in every production I have seen as Head at Myton, whether that be acting or singing he does a brilliant job at both.  This one will be his last as he comes to the end of Year 13 so a big thanks to Will for representing Myton so well for all these years.  Thanks to the Drama team for this production and all the students involved, particularly those who are in the older years who have been part of our productions for almost as long as Will, both on stage and behind the scenes.

Following an event at The Old Shire Hall, we have a new “Young High Sheriff” in town.  The High Sheriff of Warwickshire had invited our students to apply for this position as a way of helping young people understand the role and the history behind it.  Twenty of our students were invited to Old Shire Hall on Wednesday to enjoy an evening of pomp and tradition, town criers, High Sheriffs past and present and local dignitaries.  All the students were celebrated and then Aaron in Year 13 was announced as the winner, invited to the stage to be robed and promptly started his duties in handing out High Sheriff Awards.  It was a lovely evening in a lovely venue with great food and free wine and I would like to thank the High Sheriff for inviting Myton to be part of this – the first Young High Sheriff anywhere in the country.

As part of the event I was invited to nominate two members of our support staff who go above and beyond for our community to receive High Sheriff Awards.  To be honest I could have nominated any number of them as our whole support staff really do keep the school functioning every day, we’d be lost without them.  However, after a lot of consideration I settled on the following two colleagues to receive these prestigious awards which are given in the name of the King.

Jane Burrows

Jane is our Financial Director and oversees most parts of the school which are not student facing eg HR, Finance, Estates etc.  Jane is also the woman who has led us from losing a third of the school to raac, to getting the emergency accommodation on site that enabled us to have all our students in school and moving onwards to the building of our modular village which will have some of the best accommodation in the school when we get it next spring.  Jane knows how to deliver construction projects (see our new sixth form block) so whilst the DfE were still spinning and waffling in September, Jane was booking surveys, mapping our grounds, sorting the Bake-Off marquees for Drama and booking contractors to get these temps in as soon as possible.  Without Jane, we would never have gotten all the students in by 14 October and without Jane the modular building next Spring wouldn’t be nearly so nice (it really is looking good, big and light classrooms, all climate controlled and with state of the art tech).  Whilst we still await news on the extent of any rebuild project, the fact that we are in such a strong position now, with all our kids in and the purpose built modular on the way, is in no small measure down to her hard work.  And once we know for sure about the school rebuild, it will be Jane who ensures this community gets a lovely brand new school.  Finally, I have discussed plenty of times the nature of the battles we have had to get this far, it will be no surprise that when we are lined up for another round with the DfE, it is always Jane I take in with me, she knows how to fight as well!

Carolyn Haines

Keeping children safe is the first priority of any school.  Of course this responsibility goes far wider than the school gates as our community, like all others, experiences trauma, abuse and bereavement.  At the very front of our front line to protect children is Carolyn.  When I first arrived at Myton in 2011 as a Deputy, the then Head told me that in all issues of safeguarding, ask Carolyn’s advice, this is something that we all still do.  I have rarely worked with anybody who is so universally respected as Carolyn, everybody who knows her understands how morally driven she is in her role, how reflective she always is and how hard she works for our kids.  I know many students and families have relied heavily on Carolyn to guide them through tough times over the years, they will sometimes let me know how grateful they are to her.  On top of this, she is very easy to work with, has a brilliant sense of humour (she needs one) and an incredible energy.  It is difficult to measure the success of such a role, but on behalf of all those children who have been and now are safer because of Carolyn Haines, it was a pleasure to nominate her for the High Sheriff Award. 

Mrs Haines and Mrs Burrows with Aaron and our runners up Toby and On Tai.

Dear Parents and Carers

There is a rave in our hall this lunchtime. I’m told a rave involves loud music, glow sticks and lots of kids, so it is right up there with root canal treatment as an experience I would look forward to. However, this rave has a purpose and is part of the work we are doing with the Anti-Bullying Alliance. The rave is called “make some noise” with the message that if we are to defeat bullying, we need to talk more about it, understand more about it and report more about it. There have been tutor time resources and assemblies delivered as part of this work and right now there is a recruitment drive for Anti-Bullying Ambassadors among the students. The students who take up this role will be trained on listening and emotion coaching and other vital skills and will be a key part of our anti-bullying work.

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