The Blue Coat School
End of term Newsletter July 2016
Church Road, Wavertree
Liverpool, L15 9EE
T: 0151 733 1407
F: 0151 734 0982
Headteacher’s Message
Dear Parents/Carers
Over the last few weeks it has been a great pleasure to welcome students who will start Year 7 and Year 12 next
year at our induction evenings. These evenings are made even more special by our current students’ willingness
to give up their time in proud support of The Blue Coat School. I wanted to take this opportunity, at the end of the
year, to say thank you to all of our students for their generosity and to you, as parents, who we know very often
assist and support them so that they can give their time.
As all of us look back at the students’ achievements in and out of the classroom, we can be delighted with their
endeavours and sure that they deserve a well-earned rest. On behalf of all of the Blue Coat staff, I hope that they
and you have a safe, relaxing and enjoyable summer and we look forward to welcoming all of the students back in
September, recharged and re-invigorated.
Thank you for all the support you have given to your children and our staff this year.
Mr M A Pennington
Headteacher
General Notices
New School Day: Thank you to all parents who have offered us feedback about our new school day. You will be
pleased to know that students, staff and parents are overwhelmingly positive about the changes which will continue
next year.
Term Dates: The School term dates for 2016-17 were shared earlier in the year and can be found on our school
website. For your assistance, the autumn term begins again at 8.45am on Wednesday 7 September 2016 for all
students.
Parentmail update: Thank you to all parents for the patience shown whilst the recent upgrade took place, there
were some teething problems which we were able to quickly resolve. We had a very good uptake of registration
(73%) and encourage those not registered to do so during the summer holiday ready for the new term in September.
Recent Events
Sports day: This great event took place on 17 June; the weather was kind to us and the participation and
sportsmanship from the students was excellent. The support from both the PE department and other staff was very
much appreciated by the students.
Music Concerts: Thanks to the dedication of our music department, parents were able to enjoy two evenings of
great music from our younger students and from our senior students. Both evenings were really well attended and
our students’ participation was fantastic.
Open Evening: The evening was very well attended and all of the students who helped in all areas were excellent
ambassadors for the School.
Reminders for next year
Uniform: Thank you in advance for ensuring your child returns to School in September in the correct uniform
and is well presented. For your assistance, you can find a helpful summary of our school uniform here.
I helpfully draw all parents’ attention that in September:
 Boys and girls of any age must tie their hair back if it’s length poses a health, safety or hygiene risk.
 All shoes must be polishable.
 Boys and girls in Years 7 – 11 are not permitted to wear earrings.
 School staff will positively encourage all students to meet the high expectations set out in our School
uniform summaries and if necessary, follow up encouragement with firm sanctions.
Lates: In advance of September, we draw all parents’ attention to a new approach to ensure student lateness
is extremely rare. For parents’ assistance we have summarised the School’s expectations below:
 Students of all age groups are expected to be in their form rooms for registration at 8.45am every
morning.
 Students who arrive after that time must sign in as late through reception or Prince Alfred Road
entrances.
 Unless there is good reason for lateness, any student who is late will attend a 30 minute lunchtime
detention on the same day. The detention will take precedence over all other school activities and
parents will be notified through a note in their child’s planner.
I am sure you understand morning form time is an extremely important part of your child’s development and
we appreciate your full support in promoting full and punctual attendance to all parts of the school day.
Key Stage 3
Key Stage 4
Key Stage 3 Language Exchange Disco: The
students really enjoyed their evening and thanks
go to the Parents’ Association for organising the
event.
Key Stage 4 Awards afternoon: Thank you to all
those parents who gave their time to attend the first
individual key stage presentation. It proved very
popular with students and parents alike.
Key Stage 3 Awards Celebration: Thank you to
parents who were able to attend the afternoon. It
was a great opportunity to provide our younger
students with their own key stage celebration and
we will look forward to next year’s event.
Year 11 Prom: This was a great event for students to
enjoy after a year of hard work in preparing and
taking their GCSE’s. The evening was held at the
Palm House, Sefton Park.
Key Stage 5
Friday 1st July 2016 marked the centenary of the Battle of the Somme. Five students from our Sixth Form played an
important role in a unique concert held in the Concert Hall at St George’s Hall. The concert paid special tribute to all
those who fought and tragically lost their lives during the Battle of the Somme and The Great War. The students
read letters and poems from The Great War, they gave remarkable performances and received glowing praise from
numerous audience members and the compere, Roger Lyon, from BBC Radio Merseyside, who mentioned them on
his programme. All proceeds from the evening went to the Royal British Legion.
Sixth Form Prom: This year’s prom was held in the Racquets Club, Liverpool, it marked a key milestone in the
students’ time at Blue Coat and was only possible because of the time and support of many staff.
Departing staff
At the end of this year we say goodbye to some colleagues who have given such a significant contribution to The Blue
Coat School over many years. Mr Caulkin, Mrs Beggs, Mr Hicks, Mr McGreevy and Mrs Rigby all look forward to a
well-earned retirement. Mr Keating, Mr Sands, Mr Croxton, Mrs Usher and Miss Warner leave us to take up posts at
new schools. We wish all of them the very best as they look to new futures.
Special Thanks
Mr Cox will step down as Deputy Headteacher and will take up a new position as Special Educational Needs
coordinator at the end of summer term. Since 2009 Mr Cox has diligently cared for and supported our students in
his role as Deputy Headteacher (Personal Development, Behaviour and Welfare). We are extremely grateful for all
he has done to look after the students and look forward to the great contributions he will undoubtedly make in his
new role.
Ms Papworth completes her final year as Year Group Manager. Since 2014, Ms Papworth has provided our Sixth
form students with great care, guidance and mentoring and helping them to achieve some of the best results Blue
Coat has ever seen. We are very thankful for all of her contributions and will benefit from her continued expertise
in the History department.
Development Office
As we reach the end of 2015/16, I would like to thank everyone who has generously contributed to the
Development Fund this year. Thanks to the generosity of parents, Old Blues and friends of the School we have
been able to fund almost £30,000 of projects that we would not have been able to deliver without our supporters'
donations.
Library Appeal: In May we held a launch event for our Library Appeal. Recognising the need to improve our library
we have launched our first fundraising campaign to raise the funds needed to refurbish the library to provide the
very best library resources and facilities that our students deserve. Thank you to those of you who have already
supported the Appeal with a donation. If you feel you are able to support the appeal, whether that is through
making a donation, encouraging others to give, accessing funds at the company you work for or helping the team
access grants from charitable trusts and foundations please do get in touch, we would love to hear from you.
Careers: We are currently planning our 2016/17 series of Old Blues and Parents Careers Talks for our students
which will be taking place on Tuesday lunchtimes next year. If you are interested in coming into School to share
your career journey, skills and expertise with our students please do get in touch to express your interest.
You can contact Cat Gransden, Director of Development on 0151 733 1407 ext 207 or at [email protected]
[email protected]
www.bluecoatschool.org.uk
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