Dear Parents and Carers

Back when my lad was tiny (long before he discovered tech, hormones and what an absolute embarrassment his Mum and Dad are), he used to enjoy a bedtime story, particularly a Julia Donaldson book. One such yarn was called “A Squash and a Squeeze”, a tale of a woman who felt her house was too small. So after seeking advice, was told to pack every animal on her farm inside the house, live like that for a while and wouldn’t you know it, when they were all released, her house didn’t feel so small after all. 

I was reminded of this story as we planned our school for next year. Now I’m not comparing our school with an elderly woman’s house and obviously I’m not comparing our beautiful children to farmyard animals (heaven forbid), but I think we have been guilty of taking our lovely space for granted in the past. And now, with what has happened this year and our guests from Oakley School sharing our site, it does feel like a squash and a squeeze.

However, with our modular village opening for next year, the Titan units being removed and Oakley moving into their own school, next year is going to feel very luxurious indeed. We have provisionally mapped out who is going where and it is really going to feel fantastic to get all our space back again. Even more so next year as the local authority has expanded the school places locally before all the houses are built and filled, so we may have a slightly smaller Year 7 come September and our Sixth Form expansion is a couple of years away yet. As we work through our plans for next year, I can honestly say it will be the most exciting year for us; lots of space, working our way into the Stowe Valley MAT, alongside Coten End, and the start of a rebuild project which will replace about 75% of the school. I can’t wait.

Best wishes

Andy Perry

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