Our Camp Wilderness adventure was cut short today due to torrential rain and the continuing deterioration of conditions on site. At the point at which I made the decision to evacuate, rain was forecast for the afternoon, into the evening and into the following morning. Delaying the decision at that stage could have meant that we would have had to evacuate in darkness. The safety of students and staff is of paramount importance.

The logistics of trying to get the coaches to collect, transport bags and walk students to the camp entrance point was further challenged as the exit tracks from our campsite became flooded, turning them into rivers of mud and surface water.

Every child was evacuated safely with luggage. Any unclaimed luggage will be kept at school for parents to collect at your convenience. Tomorrow is now our annual occasional day so school is closed to students. This is a one day school holiday used in many Hertfordshire secondary schools. It was included on our calendar but no day was specified. I understand and fully appreciate the inconvenience this will cause to parents due to the late notice.

I would like to thank the coach company for their response to our request, students for remaining calm throughout and parents for their understanding and not forgetting the sterling response from our catering company who mustered up lunch for the remaining students at KWS as they waited to be collected. I have attached some photos that will perhaps give you some idea of the conditions which led to further challenges that hindered our ability to communicate in a timely manner to all parents as well as additional road closures encountered on the return journey to KWS, making us later than anticipated.

I will discuss with Bushcraft several aspects of the trip including the possibility of financial reimbursement to parents in the coming weeks.

Tony Smith

Headteacher

 

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with this ahead

Our Open Day for our 2020/21 Year 7 intake will be held on Saturday, 5th October from 10 am until 2 pm.

Venue: Conference Centre, Rothamsted Research, Harpenden

Headteacher talks: 10.30, 12 noon and 1.30 pm.

We look forward to welcoming you.

On Monday the 1st of July, Katherine Warington School invited our single joiners to an event
held at Sir John Lawes School. While there are some feeder schools providing lots of students
to us in September, there are other schools where only one or two students are joining us.
The event aimed to ensure that students coming on their own or with very few friends from
their current school got the opportunity to meet students from their new Year 7 cohort.

Mr Church was kind enough to come along and engage students' team work and listening
skills with a drama activity and I was brave enough to invite the students to decorate purple
themed cakes in celebration of our new school colours! Students were really sensible when
undertaking these practical activities and they had the opportunity to make some new friends
along the way.

It was nice to see students swapping numbers at the end of the event and we hope they are
looking forward to meeting again on the 11th July as part of our transition day.

Thank you to all the staff who came along to support students and take part in the question
and answer session at the end. We also want to say a big thank you to Sir John
Lawes for allowing us to use their facilities.

Students certainly used their creative skills in the kitchen as you can see from the photos
below!

Mrs Aikman
Head of Year 7