In this issue - so many good news stories including our Year 11 Celebration Events, Year 13 Leavers Lunch, Year 6 Residentials, Sports Days, Robin Hood and the Sherwood Hoodies, thank you’ s and goodbye’s

In this issue - Uffculme Academy Trust’s Guiding Principles what our Schools sign up to for all our children and communities as part of UAT

In this issue - Centre Assessed Grades, SWIFT, Bookworm Buddies, Prefects, Anti Bullying Ambassador's, Book Vending Machines plus Snakes and Bullfrogs

Welcome back to all of our colleagues after what I hope was a proper Easter break. Some good weather and a bit of down time has, I hope, recharged batteries and allowed for a decent rest. Even better if you finally managed to catch up with friends and family in a garden, tent or pub beer garden.

As we approach the Easter holidays, warmer weather, lighter days and the prospect of some easing of lockdown I would like to start with some personal thank yous from me to the people who have been so crucial to our success as we try to navigate these uncertain and challenging times together.

A massive thank you and well done to everyone involved in securing such a successful return to education at school for all of our children and young people. We have almost every child back in the classroom and in spite of the challenges of social distancing, testing and mask wearing, it is brilliant to see our schools bustling with people again.

I write this latest update just a week or so shy of our first lockdown 12 months ago and here we are preparing (fingers crossed) to come out of what we all hope to be the last. I need to thank every one of you for the efforts that you have put into continuing to work for and support all of our children and young people. Whether that has been in school keeping everything going, supporting key worker and vulnerable children; or from home juggling the demands of remote learning alongside everything else, your time, energy and commitment have not gone unnoticed or unappreciated.

Who would have thought that we are just about to tick off another half term, and one that once again has been spent in lockdown? I am acutely aware what a heroic effort it has been on everyone’s part to maintain the sense of purpose and motivation that is so desperately needed to keep our pupils and their families going.

Welcome to our second Trust newsletter. Thank you to everyone who took the trouble to read the first edition and even more so to those of you who helped to contribute to it. I hope that our regular bulletins will serve to keep you all in touch with and connected to UAT and to share a bit of what we have all been getting up to.

Happy New Year and Welcome Back

I hope very much that despite the challenges, you and your families were able to enjoy and celebrate a peaceful and relaxing Christmas Break. We enter a new year and a new term facing another difficult and uncertain set of circumstances; but perhaps with a vaccine on the horizon, we can be optimistic that there is some light at the end of this particular tunnel.