That Was The Week, That Was - 3rd October 2025
We have had a few special visitors to the school this week…
Firstly, on the back of last week’s Open Evening, we have been running our daily Open Week Tours of the school for prospective Year 6 students and parents. This is a chance for them to see the school as it really is, walking round our site and meeting students whilst the school is in operation. It is always a lovely thing to be able to take prospective parents around and show them just how good our school and school community is. The parents were all very impressed, not only at the quality of the education and facilities that we offer, but at the way our students embrace those opportunities. At the end of our Open Week activities, we have had in excess of 500 families come and view our school, talk to our staff and students and see what makes our school so special.
Aside from our Open Evening and Week events, we have had a few more visitors to the school this week. Early in the week, we were joined by Scott Holder and Kay Turner from The Sigma Trust, who came over to talk to a few staff about our inclusion offer for students that have some of the highest needs. They were impressed at the support we offer our students and are helping us 
move forward to ensure that every student has access to all they need to succeed. This drive for supporting all our school community continued on Thursday of this week, when we were visited by Deb Tatlow, one of the Essex Local Authority’s Inclusion Partners. She spoke to our teaching staff in our after school training session about particular elements of Autism, Demand Avoidance and Oppositional Defiance Disorder. We are very grateful to Deb for coming along and sharing her wealth of experience with us. We are very lucky to be able to call upon all these people for external support and guidance for all our community and we look forward to more chances to collaborate in the future.
Finally this week, as we move into October, we now have the opportunity to consider and celebrate the impact of Black People in our history, through Black History Month. Traditionally, this celebration has highlighted the efforts of people such as Martin Luther King Jr, Malcolm X and Mahatma Gandhi in bringing about equality and justice for all. However, over recent years, we have tried to move away from such narratives and refresh our awareness of other aspects of Black History. The theme for Black History Month UK 2025 is “Standing Firm in Power and Pride”. In this respect, I wanted to highlight to you all the story of a rather lesser-known campaigner, Dr Paul Stephenson OBE:
Across the world, children are taught about the resilience and determination of Rosa Parks, in standing up for her rights in the Montgomery Bus Boycott of 1955. Her single act of defiance began a wave of protests that ultimately led to the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the end of legal discrimination towards Black People in America. However, in Britain, such progress took slightly longer to embed. This is where Dr Stephenson should be noted. In 1963, inspired by the efforts and determination of Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King Jr and others, he saw that change in Britain would also come from ordinary people refusing to accept injustice. On 29 April 1963, the Bristol Bus Boycott began.
The boycott caught the imagination of the press, politicians and the public, such that within only 60 days, the segregation on buses in Bristol was ended and the momentum would build towards the establishment of the UK's first laws against racial discrimination, the Race Relations Acts of 1965 and 1968. Truly, an inspiration to us all.
Have a lovely weekend
John Player
Head of School