It has been really lovely to be able to sit down again with parents over the last 6 weeks and have face to face as well as virtual conversations around a whole range of topics and across the full age range of students at The Webber Independent.

New Parents Pastoral Meetings were extremely well supported at the very start of term where Form Tutors were able to meet new parents to discuss the WWWs and EBIs of the first few weeks so parents and teachers could work together to ensure a super start to Webber and a smooth transition for our children.

We welcomed the Mummies and Daddies of our Reception Class 'Back to School' for a phonics classroom based workshop with Miss Thomas. Our Reception children thought it was very funny seeing their parents sitting in their classroom having a 'lesson' from their lovely new teacher!

At the very other end of the learning journey the Year 11 parents joined an information session and Q and A on Post 16 Pathways to Success around the many potentially bewildering post GCSE options, courses, deadlines, application and interview processes which lie ahead for our older students in the coming months. This presentation will be followed up with one to one individual family advice and discussion meetings.

Sharing a cup of tea and a yummy cake at the Macmillan Coffee Morning supported by FOWIS, our parents association, and having a much missed catch up was such a joy after so many postponed or virtual events over the last 18 months. The parents' support and attendance was fantastic and our best ever turn out for this annual event, so this was the ideal opportunity to christen our new much admired Webber mugs for the first time!

We welcomed parents from across the whole school to the Relationship and Sex Education Consultation Meeting where Ms Chessum and Miss Duff hosted a presentation and Q and A session around the new RSE Curriculum and parents were able to review the age appropriate materials and class resources and ask for clarification and advice on how to address this important topic with our children and young adults.

The first of the monthly FOWIS Coffee Mornings was well attended with new families meeting and having the chance to network and connect with the wider Webber Family for the first time.

Finally it has been a really busy week of long days for the Parent Teacher Conference appointments on the School Cloud platform. This is an area that I will be asking all parents to feedback on later in the term, whether you would like to continue with the option of virtual meetings or return to classroom and sports hall based consultation and information evenings onsite.

It's great to talk and it has been such a delight to see so many parents engaging and wanting to be really involved in their children's learning journey and next steps.

I will be reaching out after the holiday to see how our parents can support our re-launching Work Related Learning Programme and how we can work together to help our young people to develop their knowledge and experience of the World of Work and  to explore the many diverse and amazing career opportunities open to them.

All the Webber Team have really enjoyed the many opportunities to meet formally and informally this half term with so many of our parents. The discussions, learning conversations and debate have been so welcome and so missed!

We count ourselves extremely fortunate as a School to have the positive and supportive parents we have and such strong Home / School working partnerships.

Please do have a lovely Half Term break with your super children and we look forward to many more opportunities to get together in the next half term.

Kind regards

Hilary Marsden

Headmistress