Anglo European School

Welcome back to all returning student and staff and a particularly warm welcome to our new Year 7s and Lower Sixth. It was, indeed, a very warm week! After disappointing holiday weather, we returned to a heatwave, and we hope that temperatures will fall back to expected levels this week. None-the-less, I would commend our students for keeping themselves hydrated, wearing their uniform smartly but sensibly and staying calm and focused in lessons which is always difficult when the sun rises and September sleepy wasps infiltrate lessons

The first week of term was dominated by the news of RAAC concrete in over 56 schools across Essex and we have been working to support colleagues and share our knowledge, having lived this experience back in February. Essex Headteachers work closely and collaboratively together and with the Local Authority and this was recognised by the Secretary of State for Education, Gillian Keegan, on her visit to our school on Thursday. She came to observe a successful solution to this crisis and referred to the Anglo as a “pioneer of best practice”. I’ll take that!

We’re delighted that the next phase of the Sixth Form refurbishment was delivered on time and means that we now have safe and refurbished Sixth Form study areas, offices and laboratories. 4 more classrooms and two toilets will be returned to us on the 22nd September. This week, we are meeting with colleagues from the DfE, technical advisors, surveyors and our Project Managers to start exciting plans for our new Sixth Form build which will be fully funded by the DfE.

Following a positive set of examination results, the Senior Leadership Team have been analysing the data in detail to identify strengths and areas for further development. Despite the national trend of lower results, returning to 2019 pre-Covid levels, Anglo European returned positive progress scores and continues to achieve outcomes well above the national levels in English, Languages and Humanities especially, where results were outstanding. Our focus last year was on inclusion and, in particular, improving outcomes for SEND students. We worked closely with Margaret Mulholland, Gary Aubin and Andy Samways from the Unity Research School and in partnership with our colleagues in the Zenith Trust to develop evidence-based solutions for this work and we’re delighted that this year’s results for SEND students achieved positive progress (P8) scores. In the context of real concerns about on-going pressures in the SEND system nationally, the volume of requests received, the limited ability to increase capacity, limited funding, and scarce access to specialist provision, we’d like to commend our SENCo, her team and the leadership support who drove this improvement last year.

Our inclusion strategy continues this year, with a focus on improving outcomes for the disadvantaged students in our school. About 6% of our school fall into this group but we know many more are on the borderlines, but may not meet the eligibility criteria set by the government to access our Pupil Premium Grant. Each year, we raise thousands of pounds to support our Anglo Welfare Fund, mainly via substantial contributions from the business community. If you know or work for any businesses who are able to donate to this fund, able to offer work experience, community projects or community mentoring to support those who are disadvantaged, please get in touch. We aim to level up their contexts to ensure they have full access to all the opportunities this school offers and progress to education beyond, supporting them progress to Higher education degrees and apprenticeships and break the cycle of disadvantage. Miss West, a new teacher of French at AES, will join forces with Ms Edge Baron, Pupil Achievement Co-ordinator to lead this work and ensure this cohort maximise their potential at AES.

The other main thrust of the Inclusion agenda is to ensure all students are attending 95% of their potential sessions at school, as a minimum expectation. We all know the clear correlation between good attendance and good examination outcomes. The parallels are stark and clear. If you are not here, you cannot learn and be supported by subject expertise and access the wide range of pastoral and health care services on site. The government have published some further guidance on mild illness and attendance concerning the management of mental health issues in school which affect attendance, which the school will need to adhere to. We are working closely with our Local Authority to support students to overcome any anxiety and to build resilience following the pandemic, but parents have a huge part to play in working in partnership and doing all they can to meet their legal responsibility to ensure their children are attending school. Please also be clear that we will only authorise absence during school term time for very exceptional reasons and certainly, holidays taken in term time will undoubtedly be unauthorised. There is a legal framework that the school are expected to implement here which can lead to fines and prosecution, so it is imperative that we are all clear of our responsibilities in meeting these aims for the great benefit of our students’ futures.

This year, we are starting the autumn term with information about mild illness and school attendance. An issue which has been particularly active since the commencement and draw down of the UK Government's response to the COVID-19 period. Many parents are increasingly unsure of how to act when a child reports themselves to be ill. The link

Is my child too ill for school? - NHS (www.nhs.uk) offers advice on whether to send your child to school if they are feeling under the weather. If your child is unwell, then please ensure you use the Edulink app to register their absence as soon as possible on the day of the absence.

We continue to lead nationally on our work on the Languages agenda. Our offer of 8 taught languages is unique and distinctive in the state sector. We are continuing to develop, expand and enhance our international curriculum and we’re delighted to welcome Dr Mohamed to our staff, who will now lead the development of Arabic at AES. We’re also very proud to announce that Mrs Porsz, our IB Co-ordinator has been appointed by the Goethe Institute as a GEM (German Excellence Mentor) and she will be working in collaboration with the Institute and the DfE to enhance the teaching, uptake and outcomes of the German language across the UK. The launch of our PSG Football Academy opens up doors for further partnership working and builds on our already established residential visit to Paris in Year 10.

Today, we welcomed BBC news reporter Simon Dedman into school. He and his camera crew have spent the morning filming a piece which will be aired on BBC's Politics South East on Sunday 17th September at 10.00am. Sixth Form students enjoyed talking to him about his career in journalism and his educational journey.

Please note that from Monday 18th September to Friday 22nd September, Fryerning Lane will be closed to all traffic, apart from residents and businesses. If you wish to bring your child to school by car during this week, could we ask that you drop off at New Road or along the High Street, to ease with this disruption.

Anglo's Year 7 football team played in 2 matches. One match ended in a 2-2 draw with Felix and Will scoring. The other match ended in a 5-0 victory with Alex (x2), Finley (x2) and Ryan scoring. All of the boys were outstanding, playing to a very high level. Congratulations boys on your excellent start! ⚽⚽⚽

Congratulations to Year 7 student, Maya on her recent success in her chosen sport Athletics. She describes below her journey in the competitive world of Athletics:

"My Athletics journey started at the beginning of 2023 when I got an amazing opportunity from my PE Teacher to do an Athletics trial. They realised that I needed to go somewhere more advanced, so they invited me for a trial with the Chelmsford Athletics Academy. During my first competition I was nervous, but ended up coming 1st place in long jump and 3rd in my 100m sprint. Up until this Final I have had many competitions with highs and lows. On the 10th September 2023 I was part of the team that was chosen for the Eastern Young Athletics League finals and I jumped 3.68m. We won the finals and the league, completing the double."

Adventure Island Theme Park, Southend-on-Sea, Essex

Save on ticket prices and support the school!

Please email requests to the Anglo European School Association at aesa@aesessex.co.uk

Tuesday 12th September 18.00pm - Year 7 Information Evening for Parents

Wednesday 13th September - Year 7 individual photos

Monday 18th September - Lower Sixth individual photos

Thursday 21st September 18.00pm - Lower Sixth Settling in and Induction Evening for Parents

Wednesday 20th September - Year 11 GCSE Geography Fieldwork Visit

Wednesday 20th September - Year 8 individual photos

Monday 25th September - Year 7 Road Safety Play

25th September to 18th November - Year 10 Frankfurt long-term exchange to AES

Tuesday 26th September - Year 11 GCSE Geography Fieldwork Visit

Tuesday 26th September 18.00pm - Lower Sixth Oxbridge and Medicine Applications - Parents Evening

Thursday 28th September - early closure 12.30pm

Thursday 28th September 16.30pm - Open Evening for applications for 2024 for Year 7 and Sixth Form

Friday 29th September - Non-Pupil Day

Finance - finance@aesessex.co.uk

Admissions - admissions@aesessex.co.uk

Attendance - use Edulink

Email: enquiries@aesessex.co.uk
Website: aesessex.co.uk
Location: Anglo European School, CM4 0DJ, Willow Green, Ingatestone, UK
Phone: 01277 354018
Facebook: facebook.com/angloeuropeanschool
Twitter: @angloeuropean73