Grey Coat 2 Issue 10: February 2011 Headteacher's let ter to parents I


am very proud to be able to tell you of Martina Lecky's promotion to the Headship of Ruislip High School. She will be sorely missed at Grey Coat after so many years' service. I owe her a huge debt of gratitude for all that she has done since I first met her at her interview for the post of Head of Sixth Form. Since then she has become Assistant Head, Deputy Head, and is now First Deputy. Over the years her specific responsibilities have changed, but parents will have been especially aware of her work in relation to assessment and target setting, and also her recent work on the development of ICT in the school, which includes the rollout of the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) to parents. I am not sure all of you appreciate that Ms Lecky is also responsible for the introduction of our annual theme days, which were inspired by an experience in the Quaker school in Rhode Island where she spent a year as part of the Fulbright Exchange. Above all, however, parents of Upper School students will have appreciated Ms Lecky's strong leadership of the team at the St Michael's building, where her influence has ensured that all our students have the best possible opportunity to learn. Ms Lecky will be leaving at the end of term, and we wish her well as a new phase in her life opens up. The new Deputy Head, Mr Shaw, has been appointed, and will start at the beginning of the summer term.


My heartfelt thanks to all those who have sent contributions towards the stained glass window appeal. Some have contributed online, and a good many more have sent in cheques. At the time of writing there just over £6000 in the bank, and I am hoping we will reach 25% of the total before long.


I am sure many others of you have every intention of joining this major effort of the school community, but have perhaps not had a computer or a cheque book to hand when you read about the appeal. I often find this happens - and if the moment of enthusiasm passes it is easy to forget to put the intention into action. Please do make the effort - it would be really great to bring all those associated with the school in 2011 together in a shared project for the benefit of the students, now and into the future. You do not need to give a huge amount, although some people have been amazingly generous - if every family gave £10, we would be well over half way there!


The new frame for the window has gone in over half term, alongside a great deal of other work to finish off the Building Schools for the Future programme. The temporary buildings are now gone from the playground, and we have had enormous machines digging up the foundations - for two days it felt as though the whole St Andrew's building was vibrating! Now the old surface of the playground is being scraped off, the old perimeter wall is being made good, and new gates will be fitted for vehicles and pedestrians. By Easter, a beautiful new sports surface will have been laid, so that the PE department will be able to breathe again after the years of restriction. There was also work to be done to bring the old netball court back into good condition - a specialist cleaning contractor came over half term to deep clean the surface, which had become infested with moss in the cracks. We have also had serious concerns about the gym floor, and our insurers will be sending


experts to analyse what needs to be done to rectify the problems that have occurred. Unfortunately, there have been classes confined to classrooms for PE lessons as a result of these difficulties. I very much hope that this will not last much longer, and that students and staff will soon be rejoicing in improved facilities.


Despite the limited space we have to work in, our school teams have been doing amazingly well this term - do take a look at the sports news on the back page - there are winners in a number of sports, and we are currently Westminster basketball and swimming champions as well as football champions in Years 7, 9 and10.


I hope you have all received my letter about the end of term. We will again be finishing one day earlier than planned before the Easter break. This is to allow for a proper celebration and hand–over at the end of my time at Grey Coat, without being overwhelmed by the final stage of the building works, which should be completely finished by the start of the summer term. I hope to see many of you at the Spring concert, which will be held on Thursday 31st March at 7pm. This will be a lovely setting to say a few more good byes.


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