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General Information
Dear Parents
As half term approaches I thought it appropriate to update you on current progress with the merger process.
Uniform
I hope you have had the opportunity to see the new uniform by now and I
would like to thank all of you who have made such positive comments. It
is good to see some children already wearing the new clothing. There
are still one or two small supply issues and Schooltogs are working
very hard to sort these out as soon as possible.
Staffing
We have now met with the staff consultative group on three occasions
and regular meetings will continue throughout this term. The
appointment process has started and I am very pleased to announce to
you that the two Deputy Heads posts have been filled by Mrs Denise
Bowring and Mr Chris Buckley and the Director of Studies will be Miss
Helen Utridge. The job specifications for most of the other teaching
posts in the school have been released and applications are due by the
end of half term. This will allow us to start the appointments of the
remaining teaching staff with a view to completing this process by the
end of term if possible.
Academic
Helen Utridge will be working for the rest of this term on ensuring
that the Year 7 syllabus in each school is compatible and that both
Year 7 groups have completed a similar set of topics by the end of the
year to ensure continuity into Year 8 next year. Miss Utridge will have
extensive consultations with both Malvern College Prep and The Downs
staff during the course of next term.
Transport
Useful meetings have occurred concerning transport and the potential we
have for an extensive bus service. In order to assist us with this
process you will have received a survey and I would be very grateful if
you could return this to either school as soon as possible. Please note
due to circulation difficulties we have extended the deadline to Monday
29th October. We will endeavour to give you further information on the
proposed transport routes by the end of this term.
Buildings
The extended pre-prep playground is now open and we are expecting to
install a new adventure playground in this area shortly. Planning
permission for the pre-prep building and traffic plan has been
submitted and we are now in the final stages of applying for planning
permission for the new sports hall and astro surfaces. Senior
classrooms remain on target for a January opening and builders are
expected on site for the boarding house renovation in mid November.
Nursery
After much deliberation and analysis of the current market, the
Governors regret to announce that from September 2008 Brockwood will no
longer offer places for children less than 2.5 years. We will do our
utmost to cater for the children who are currently attending the
Nursery and will be below this age in September, but will not be taking
on any new children younger than 2.5 years. This change will allow us
to expand the very popular Kindergarten to three classes and site them
in their own brand new purpose built accommodation behind the Music
School.
Badger Magazine
This letter is accompanied by the Badger magazine, which is the school
magazine of The Downs, to give you an idea of the range of activities
that are currently possible on The Downs site. We very much hope that
you enjoy browsing through this magazine and may find it useful to show
to your children to ease any worries they may have about the switch of
site. Please be assured that this is a reflection of last year at The
Downs and an opportunity to put some faces to staff names and does not
necessarily reflect all that will go on in the new school.
Finally, may I wish you all a restful and relaxing half term break with your children.
Yours sincerely
A P Ramsay
Headmaster
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