Head's Newsletter 11 September 2020

students have been most impressive in the way that they are adapting and learning the new procedures. Naturally, there are one or two teething issues to iron out, but broadly speaking the new system is working well. I would remind parents that obviously the number one control measure is to keep any student with symptoms of Covid19 away from school until they are tested. Any student who has coronavirus (COVID- 19) symptoms, or has someone in their household who does, or who has been required to self isolate, must not attend. Ensuring that pupils, staff and other adults do not come into the school if they have coronavirus (COVID-19) symptoms, or have tested positive in at least the last 10 days, and ensuring anyone developing those symptoms during the school day is sent home, are essential actions to reduce the risk in schools and further drive down transmission of coronavirus (COVID-19). If a pupil or anyone in their household has a high temperature, a new and continuous cough, or a loss in sense of smell or taste, or if they have been contacted by an NHS contact tracer, they must not come to school. Self-isolate in line with government guidelines, and arrange a test. Inform the School immediately by email to attendance@tiffin.kingston.sch.uk In addition, hand hygiene and respiratory hygiene will go a long way to preventing the spread of infection. Please refer to my letter on the changes here to clarify any issues.

Dear Parents Firstly, I would like to welcome back all students following the lockdown period. With virtually 100% attendance, it’s been great to see students in school this week, and we hope for a lengthy period without disruption! I would particularly like to welcome all new students and their parents to the School both in Year 7, and also in Year 12, where as usual 40% of the students are new to the school. With our mixed Sixth Form a large number of the new students are girls, and we hope that all students are settling in well. Unfortunately, I have to begin the newsletter on a very sad note. One of our Year 11 students, Rohan Godhania, was suddenly taken seriously ill during the summer holidays and tragically passed away after a short time in hospital. It is still unclear exactly why this happened, but this is a tragic event for his family and friends. I am certain that all parents will join with me in expressing our sympathies, and the Tiffin community’s deepest condolences to his family. The start of term has been a huge logistical exercise for the School. In order to incorporate safety control measures, we have had to make many changes to the way we operate. These are complicated and it will take some time before we are all used to the new way of doing things. The Start of term & control measures for Coronavirus

IMPORTANT DATES

Thursday 8 October

Sixth Form Open Afternoon and Evening 11+ Stage 1 Exam—No Students on site Half–term (return Monday 2 November)

15-16 October

19 October—30 October

Geography, and Mrs O’Connell who is now Assistant Head on the Senior Leadership Team. Mr Brown has been appointed Principal Head of House, and Dr Selig and Mr Atkinson have also become Heads of House. A number of staff have also been appointed Assistant Heads of Year: Mr Gnanendram & Miss Garrib (Year 7), Mrs McCondach (Year 8), Miss Eckert (Year 9), and Mrs Sarma/ Miss White (Year 11).

Exams As you could not fail to notice in the news, the Government and Ofqual managed to make a right mess of results, particularly A- levels. This added considerably to the stress of what was already a stressful situation. Eventually after the Government reversed what they said, our results were as we originally submitted. These were slightly better than the historical A-level and GCSE results of the last few years. Most students, in fact slightly more than usual, therefore achieved their first choice of university, including about 20 who had places at Oxbridge. We wish all of last year’s leavers the very best wherever they A number of staff left at the end of the summer term, including Deputy Head Mrs Barrett, Head of Year 8 Mr Whittaker and Head of Humanities Mr Horwood who were all retiring, each having done over 30 years’ service at the School! In addition, we said goodbye to Mrs Wicking, Ms Ward, Mrs Attenborough, Mr Hills, and Mr Costello, as well as Mrs Wright who retired from the Main Office. We wish them all the very best for the future. We welcome new staff this term including Miss Mitchell and Miss Dharmawardhane to the Chemistry department, Miss Bradley to Classics, Mr Robins to Geography, Mr Edwards and Ms Ahmad to Maths, Ms Eva to Languages, Mr Wightwick to Physics and Mr McKitrick to Technology. In addition, we welcome Mr Talman, Mr Chandler and Mr Thomas to the Sports Department. We also congratulate Miss Grant in her appointment to SENCo, Miss Rawlinson as Head of Year 8, Ms Caudwell as Head of are going next. Staff changes

Sports Centre extension Despite the interruptions of lockdown, the Sports Centre extension has continued to make progress and we are hoping it will be operational in about another two weeks’ time. It’s certainly looking very impressive inside with a fantastic new gym, two new fitness studios and brand-new changing rooms for students. The gym equipment has now arrived and is being assembled.

In addition to the extension, the Sports Hall floor has been resurfaced during the summer and is now looking like new again.

During lockdown we’ve also done some significant refurbishment to a number of areas. In particular, our premises team took the opportunity to completely redecorate the Main Hall, not something you can do in the normal way of things, and we have also refurbished three science labs. Our IT team has also improved the Wi -Fi network around the school. Wider opportunities We are hoping to gradually bring in more of the wider opportunities back to School, as soon we can safely do this. However, we must first get the basics right in terms of our systems and structures operating within the COVID control measures. Some sport has been possible, and I’m delighted that we have managed to arrange various cricket fixtures for this September to make up for the lack of cricket in the summer. We hope these games go well. Inevitably this term will be different to usual but we are aiming to run it as smoothly as possible, and to try and restore for our students as much normality as possible

I’d like to thank all parents who have donated to the project. With the interruption of lockdown and Covid issues we have not fully reached our target for fundraising and if any parent would like to contribute, we would be very grateful for your donation. To donate online please use the button on the Tiffin School website; for information about donating by bank transfer, cheque, PayPal or ParentPay, please see the official gym donation form. We will soon be compiling the commemorative webpage on the School’s website for donors gifting £50 or more, and once the new building has been completed we will commission a commemorative plaque to record the names of donors who have donated £500 or more to the project.

We look forward to an excellent term.

Yours, M D Gascoigne, Headteacher

Students in Year 12 attended an induction morning on Friday 4 th September. Working within the Year 12 bubble they were able to take part in team building activities to allow them to move to the first full week of school with confidence and comfort.

Rohan went on lots of school trips so teachers and students have fond memories of him on the ski trip, classic trips and the Duke of Edinburgh expedition. Rohan embraced frisbee as a games option in his latter years here and loved it. He was a member of Scott House and volunteered to represent them in the literature quiz and the chess tournament, being a member of the chess club. Rohans friends have fond memories of playing games with him including on the bus journey to and from school. Rohan was a lovely young man who we will greatly miss. We will keep him and his family in our thoughts and memories. We intend to plant a cherry tree in Rohan’s memory in the Head’s Garden and if you would like to donate towards this and to a charity of Rohan’s parents choice then please donate here: Justgiving page for Rohan Godhania

ROHAN GODHANIA

Tiffin came back to the shocking news that one of our Students had passed away suddenly and unexpectedly. Rohan was a valued member of the Tiffin community, who was respected by teachers and peers alike. We will remember him for being very thoughtful, sensitive and observant to all that was going on around him. Rohan enjoyed the academic side of Tiffin and achieved brilliant GCSE results. He was very conscientious and thrived in maths and all sciences. He was also excellent at music and took it for GCSE. He played the clarinet and piano beautifully and participated in many school concerts.

THE CRICKETER SCHOOLS GUIDE 2021

We are proud to announce that we are now to be included in the Cricketer Schools Guide 2021 as one of the top 100 secondary schools in the country.

Tiffin was selected for our cricketing success over the past years and we look forward to this success in future years.