I cannot believe that it is only three weeks until we break up for Christmas. There seems so much to do both in School and in preparation for the festivities during the break. If like me you do not enjoy the crowded shops at this time of year and increasingly purchase items online, please remember to use the 'Easyfundraising' link every time you shop online to raise (much needed) funds for the School - it won't cost you anything:

http://www.easyfundraising.org.uk/causes/strspa

Many thanks to all those parents in Years 8, 9 and 10 who are able to come to the meeting on Wednesday 2 December regarding our financial situation. I hope to send all parents an update early in the New Year. I am sure that we have all welcomed the announcement by George Osborne that a new school funding formula will be in place by 2017. Whilst the introduction of the new system following consultation, should mean a rise in per pupil funding for schools in Gloucestershire, it is clear that this will be phased in and the School will need to seek additional funds in order to 'plug the gap' in the meantime. I am grateful to so many of you for signing the recent petition and taking a real interest in this critically important matter.

Whilst we have experienced a rather wet and windy few weeks, the weather to date has been uncharacteristically mild, however, I ought to remind all pupils and parents of the arrangements should the weather take a turn for the worse. Firstly, we will not close the School unless it is unsafe for us to remain open. This may include situations where very few staff can travel to School and it would be impossible for us to supervise students adequately. However, normally a number of pupils and staff, including myself, can walk to School, whatever the situation, and therefore it seems right that they should have the option to come to School if they can. If a weather situation serious enough to threaten school opening hours arises, the message will appear on the school website, www.strs.org.uk so do please check the website first in the event of worsening conditions. We will also inform the Local Authority if we close, who publish information on their website; www.glosclosedschools.com. This news is often reported on BBC Radio Gloucestershire (104.7 FM/1413 AM/Digital).

If the school buses operate in the morning, but the weather deteriorates during the day and the coach companies take the decision to send the afternoon buses to school early, we shall ensure that the pupils who use those services are made aware of this and seen safely onto the coaches. It is important that your son or daughter has instructions as to how he or she should gain access to their home in this eventuality and I would be grateful if you could discuss this matter with them. Where the School is closed during the course of the day, there will be plenty of staff on hand to supervise pupils until they have been collected or made arrangements with their parents about travelling home. It would be most helpful for your son or daughter to have a telephone number on which we can contact you on such a day if you are not at your usual contact point. Pupils should not leave the school site without an agreed plan of action with their parents about how they should travel home.

We have endeavoured to improve communication with parents over the last couple of years and I am pleased that the Electronic Calendar on our website has proved useful. Whilst there are further refinements to be made, it is always good to get positive feedback from parents. Hopefully you will have noticed that we now have a School Twitter account and a Facebook page:

You can Follow us on Twitter: @strsglos or Like us on Facebook: SirThomasRichsSchool

We hope to place more news worthy items here over the coming months.

It would be great to see you at one of our musical events over the next few weeks. There is a lunchtime concert at Holy Trinity Church in Longlevens this week on Thursday 3 December at 1.30 pm. Jazz Night takes place in the School Hall on Friday 11 December at 7.30 pm and our Carol Services this year are being held at Saint Catharine's Church on 14 December 2015 and Holy Trinity Longlevens on Thursday 17 December both at 7.30 pm.

Matthew Morgan,
Headmaster