Dear Parent/Carer

I hope you and your family are well as we move into March, and I would like to wish Ramadan Mubarak to all families who are observing the holy month! The focus of this month’s update letter includes information on:

• Celebrating together at Holyhead this half-term: Culture Day and World Book Day

• Update on school successes with DfE KS5 Performance Measures and continued high attendance 

• Upcoming dates this half-term, including an early finish for Y11/13 Curriculum Review meetings

Spring Festivals at Holyhead: Celebrating our diversity together

The holy month of Ramadan began for Muslims at the weekend, and highlights the importance of family, charity, empathy and gratitude.  Our team has once again worked hard to provide very clear guidance on how observance of all aspects of Ramadan by students can be balanced alongside learning and upholding high expectations when in school, as well as balancing revision needs, and this was shared with families at the end of last week.  As a staff body we learn together so that all can contribute and participate, and we will also be providing students who are fasting and eligible for Free School Meals with the opportunity to collect a Ramadan Takeaway bag from the Front Food Pod at the end of the school day.

Ramadan continues throughout March, and I will write to all families separately about our plans and communication on how we will operate the school on the day of Eid al-Fitr which is currently forecast to take place around Sunday 30th/Monday 31st March, and if this were to be on the Monday, as was the case in previous years there will likely be the need for two year groups to be educated remotely at home as a result of the high number of staff members who would also be observing this very special day.   

Friday 14th March is the Hindu festival of Holi.  This celebration of good over evil marks the end of winter and the start of spring in South Asia and is marked by a festival of colour with optimism for the season ahead. 

We also have a broad programme of events and activities planned during the Spring half-term. One of the most important activities will be our ‘Acts of Kindness’ calendar launched in assemblies by Miss Khatun, emphasising the importance of selflessness and respect for each other, not only at school, but in all aspects of our lives. This will also include our annual Easter Egg Drive to support local charitable organisations.

With both Vaisakhi and Easter falling during the holidays at the end of the Spring term, we are planning to celebrate all of these major cultural and community events together with Holyhead’s annual Culture Day on Friday 11th April. Students will once again be invited to attend school in cultural clothing should they wish to, which can include items of blue or orange clothing to mark Vaisakhi or bright colours to represent the celebration of Holi. 

World Book Day 2025 at Holyhead

This year’s World Book Day takes place on Thursday 6th March and we will be marking this with a wide range of activities and opportunities for students to engage in the wonder of reading and literature, both on the day itself and for the following week. This week will see special competitions for students to get involved in, and all students will receive World Book Day tokens that can be used to purchase books, as well as author visits for Year 7 and 8.

On World Book Day itself, we again invite students to dress in a costume to represent their favourite character from a book and are expecting them to bring in a copy of the book to accompany their costume. This is not compulsory and students not coming in costume should wear their school uniform as normal (any students who come to school in non-school uniform without their book will be expected to change back into school uniform). 

Early finish - Wednesday 26th March: Y11/13 Curriculum Review afternoon

We have a Year 11/13 Curriculum Review afternoon taking place on Wednesday 26th March with students finishing at 1.15pm to enable extended subject meetings to take place in the afternoon that day. These meetings will focus on key actions to be taken to support students in the crucial final weeks after the Spring Mock exams and before the summer exams which begin in May. Students eligible for Free School Meals will be able to collect lunch at the end of Period 3 and all students will be set additional homework on Google Classroom by their Period 4 teachers.

School Successes: Sixth Form Performance Measures and Attendance Matters!

I’m pleased to update you all that following the publication of Key Stage 5 Performance Measures by the Department for Education which show that Holyhead has achieved Above Average Progress at A Level, and Well Above Average Progress in the Applied General and Tech Level qualifications we offer. To be categorised as Above Average means that the progress made by A Level students at Holyhead was in the top 20% nationally, and to be categorised as Well Above Average means that the school is in the top 5% nationally! This is a fantastic achievement and demonstrates the strength of our Sixth Form offer as well as the quality of teaching and support at the school! You can find out more from the school’s page on the DfE Compare School Performance website here.

School attendance continues to be a major focus of the government’s  work at the moment in education, such are the concerns nationally. I am once again pleased to report that attendance at Holyhead is strong and is currently again 2% above the national average, and alongside this we have received more attendance awards from Fisher Family Trust. We should celebrate our current and continued successes, however, it is absolutely crucial that we all continue to strive for the best as we know the many benefits for students of regular high attendance, both academically and socially, acknowledging the vital role that parents and carers play in enabling this.

Key upcoming dates and events in March/April 

• The Y11/13 Curriculum Review Afternoon takes place on Wednesday 26th March with students finishing early that day at 1.15pm (the end of Period 3).

• The Year 12 Subject Parents’ Evening originally scheduled for Thursday 6th March and moved due to the clash with Ramadan will be held on Thursday 3rd April from 4-6pm.

• We break up for the Easter holidays on Friday 11th April at 3.15pm and return to school again on Monday 28th April at 8.40am.

As ever, I thank you for your time in reading this letter and wish you and your family good health and fortune for the weeks ahead, including a peaceful half-term to come.

Yours faithfully,

Mr D Knox
Principal