Well, the much anticipated results are finally in for the Gresham’s scholarship – many congratulations, Luba Ndidi! It seems a dream Miss Haddleton has had for some years has finally come true and I felt very, very privileged to see it happen. Luba will start his sixth form studies in Holt this coming September.

Miss Haddleton and I waited with the excited mums of Daniel Saka and Luba for what seemed like an age whilst they moved from task to interview – to interview. Nerve-racking stuff! Both chaps, as I’m sure you’ll agree from Miss Haddleton’s web post below, looked ‘the business’ and really impressed the staff at Gresham’s. Boys, we are so, so proud of you both and wish you the very best for your last few months at Oriel.

I’m going to let you all into a secret too – we found out on Friday that Ms Robinson, our Classroom Assistant for Technology has been shortlisted to win ‘Teaching Assistant of the Year 2010’ in the National Teaching Awards – big congratulations! Miss Robinson was nominated by her faculty who are so pleased with the great work she does to help to push you all to succeed in Technology – the judges are in on 29th March, so fingers crossed!

It’s been a busy week, so when the rest of you were completing your mile for Sports Relief (well done – we raised over £500!), I was fortunate enough to attend the Gifted and Talented seminar at Sprowston Manor – and so was Sydney Purl! We had a super day meeting with staff and students from other schools, discussing how best to meet the needs of all students – including those who excel in one or more subjects.
On the subject of healthy lifestyles, our sports teams are racking up victories this year, so I’d also like to say a special congratulations to our Volleyball team for winning the Norfolk County Final. You are fabulous representatives and your families and friends must be very proud too.

Only two weeks until the visit from the Easter Bunny, so work hard and be happy until your well-earned break.

I trust that all of you managed to express a tremendous ‘thank you’ to your mothers, carers and loved ones this Sunday in honour of Mothers’ Day – let’s make sure it doesn’t just happen on one day each year – I hope you manage it every day!

Congratulations to the team of reporters who worked hard to produce a selection of broadcasts for BBC Radio Norfolk – I hear the team made quite an impression with their probing questions! Radio Norfolk does have a ‘listen again’ feature, so if you didn’t catch it on the day, tune in via the wonders of the internet. We certainly have some budding media gurus in our midst!

Speaking of aiming high, the final interviews for the Gresham’s scholarship take place this week, so fingers crossed for Luba and Daniel as they go before the Headmaster and Deputy to market themselves as potential sixth formers! We’ll have our fingers crossed on Thursday for you both.

With just under three weeks to go until the Easter break, there’s much revision to be done by many students at Oriel! Do yourselves proud and make sure you put all of your energy into the final push….

As you’ve probably already read in the report below, it’s been a nail-biting week for the ‘Gresham’s 14’. 14 students were interviewed for the scholarship place at Gresham’s and 8 have gone through! I’m certain that Miss Haddleton and myself were just as nervous as the children when we had to reveal the good (and bad) news – by this time next week we’ll be down to the final 4 who will be interviewed by Gresham’s themselves!

As we told the students on Friday, we were so incredibly moved by their interviews and if we could have put all 14 through, we would have done! The 8 students who have gone through to the next round were interviewed for a broadcast on Radio Norfolk on the 4pm to 6pm show, so ‘listen again’ if you’d like to hear the interviews. The Eastern Daily Press is also keen to follow the story, so look out for more exciting news.

I’ve just read the Great Yarmouth Mercury and I was so pleased to read about ex-Oriels Matthew Jeffries and Samantha Boggis’s plight to raise money for those less fortunate – we’re really proud of you – and congratulations on your engagement! There are also details of a planned reunion for ex-Oriels this week. Thirdly, there’s a picture of the students whose photography work is displayed at Children’s Services, Edison Road, so lots to celebrate this week.

I’m pleased to report that our punctuality figures are also improving – I’ll emphasise it again – students must be at school by 8.20am for registration at 8.25. Best of luck to those of you sitting GCSE examinations next week – keep revising.

I trust that by now all Oriel students have enjoyed a restful (and productive) half-term holiday after a busy January and February. We finished the half-term on a high note with news that thanks to a great deal of hard work on everyone’s part, attendance has risen by one percentage point since September. If you need to check the information available on attendance, check out the recent post giving information about PA and the importance of high attendance. Students who had reached 95% or above, were rewarded with a ‘freedom from uniform’ day on Friday and it was wonderful to see how many students managed to reach that target.

I’m sure that you’ve all read the local news and now know that the local consultation has begun regarding the proposal to make Oriel into an Academy. Every student, member of staff and governor was given a letter inviting opinions and thoughts to be offered on 8th March 2010. The information event will take place in Oriel’s library and runs from 3pm until 8.30 as a ‘drop in’. Ormiston (our proposed sponsors) will present at 7.30pm. Families with children who attend both Lynn Grove and Cliff Park will also be given the information.

Miss Haddleton provided you with an informative post (under this one) regarding the offer of a Gresham’s scholarship to an Oriel student and we’re pleased to say that 14 Year 11s have put their names forward – interviews and further information will follow during the first week back – it’s such an exciting opportunity and we are so grateful to Gresham’s for making such a generous offer.

Spring is on its way at last (I know this because the rabbits in my garden have resorted to eating the first shoots of bulbs – and anything else they can lay their paws on). With it comes a great deal of pressure on those sitting GCSEs, so lots of sleep and regular breaks and treats always help to motivate. A reminder to all families that a large range of revision materials are available via the school’s website including our own VLE and access to MyMaths. Final examinations are looming for many students so much revision should be taking place this week!

It’s the end of another busy week at Oriel and we finished on a high note with the fundraiser for the Haiti earthquake appeal. I feel very proud of all of you for thinking of helping others less fortunate than yourselves.

This week, I’m handing over to Jamie Skinner (Year 8 ) who worked tirelessly to ensure that Oriel did its bit to support this good cause. Jamie also took some photos of the most outrageous hats, so the pictures will follow. We’re really proud of you, Jamie! Thank you for the report. 

Haiti Non School Uniform Day/ Hats For Haiti

On Friday we held a non school uniform day to raise money for the recent Haiti Earthquake.We started in the morning by making sure that everyone was charged the correct amount as we halved the price of non-uniform for students and staff who wore a hat for the day. 

We got going and lots of people were wearing non-school uniform but some were wearing the most weird and wacky hats. This included Miss KB’S (our school librarian) bookmark hat and a lot of sombreros in Year 11! 

All in all, the day was a huge success and we raised over £500!!!! We hope to send the money to the Haiti Earthquake Appeal by next Friday! Thank you to everyone who donated so generously to this event.

Report by Jamie Skinner