A message from Mr Willis:

I am writing to say thank you to the students and their families for the behaviour of our young people in the community over the Easter holiday.

A few years ago we spent a lot of time dealing with behaviour that was frustrating for local people and embarrassing for the school. It took a long time to get on top of the problem. I was concerned a similar pattern of conduct may develop with a small group of children and grow over the summer months into something unpleasant and routine.

Not only did the people concerned in the poor behaviour control themselves over the last weeks but we have had a number of people say how  impressed they are with our students, with particular examples of kind or polite behaviour. That is very much more what our young people are about. As a passionate advocate for youth and a real believer in the pupils of our community I am heartened and very impressed.  

I am aware one or two families contacted social services to ask for help to get things on track for characters more likely to get this wrong. I have nothing but respect for those parents and their efforts to turn things round. There is not a single student involved who is not capable of making a valuable contribution to school and the community. I like each one of them and can see why their families feel them worth the extra effort. We will give whatever support we can to help you and them.

Thank you to every parent who had a word to remind their children to treat the community with respect, or who kept a special eye on who they were spending time with and how. Even if you really didn’t need to, the sense that the adults around them were looking for their best behaviour may well have made a difference.

The police also deserve credit because they might easily have considered the things we were challenging too low-level to deserve their time. They didn’t and I am really grateful they responded so quickly and supportively. They often speak well of the school and its role in the community. I cannot speak highly enough of the help they give us in matters like this. It is always thoughtful and effective.

Most credit goes to the young people themselves. This is such a great part of the world in which to live and work. I have always found people polite, kind and generally cheerful. Everyone plays a part in this but when children are courteous and decent to those around them it makes a huge difference and gets noticed. We should be proud of the young people we are raising and teaching. They already make our part of the world a better place to live.  

Thank you.