Dear parents and carers,
I am conscious of the plethora of communications being sent home from colleagues recently, however, I wanted an opportunity to outline some of the recent whole school activities you need to be aware of.
During the recent staff training day, the school’s lockdown procedure as part of our required response to security related incidents was tested and refined. This is something all schools are required to manage and once the procedure is in a state of readiness, we will train our students on how to respond to a potential security threat.
Perins’ ongoing partnership with K9 Deployment saw a dog unit attend the school recently. I have been inviting K9 in randomly throughout a school year, for several years now as part of the student’s drug awareness education. On K9’s next visit, they will continue with a rolling programme of assemblies.
The use of mobile phones in school has had a high profile in the news recently, with the Department for Education releasing the latest (February 2024) guidance for schools. I thought it pertinent to lead assemblies this week to share some details from within the guidance with our students. My colleagues and I are confident our policy on mobile phones, (that on arrival at school until the end of the school day 0830 to 1515, no mobile phones should be seen or heard on the school site), is one that complies with the guidance outlined, of prohibiting the use of mobile phones throughout the school day. I have clarified the Perins policy through my assemblies and made students aware of differing positions adopted in other schools in response to the guidance. I have also relayed the message that whilst students are complying with our current policy the school will have no reason to change it, if however, on review we find students are choosing to ignore our requirements then we will contemplate a more stringent position. My conclusion at the end of the assemblies is that everyone in the school must work together to ensure our current policy on mobile phones is effective.
Perins recently welcomed the Hampshire Police’s Cyber Crime Team into the school to deliver a series of assemblies to the students, staff training and a parental awareness presentation. This proved enlightening for all who attended, with the Police team taking the groups through real life incidents and suggesting ways to prevent this type of crime from impacting an individual.
I would like to take this opportunity to reiterate the recent messages sent by Mr Medhurst and Miss Sweetman to their respective year groups. Firstly, it has been tremendous to see the elevated level of uptake by year 11 students to the revision sessions offered to them as they approach the home straight toward the final exams, well done! Secondly, Year 10 should be congratulated on the maturity with which they have prepared for and conducted themselves in the recent Trial Exams (mocks), there have been numerous comments made by teaching staff and invigilators, outlining how positive the year group have been about the experience.
Our copious trips programme continues to allow our students to access educational experiences both in the UK and abroad, with more ventures being planned!
As World Book Day approaches, the importance of reading in education is reflected in this quote from Barack Obama “Reading is the gateway skill that makes all other learning possible.”
Yours faithfully,
Mark Nevola
Head of School
