News from Mr Grady
Welcome to this week’s newsletter, and to another week at Rugby High School.
This week school photos were taken, and as staff it’s always a moment of mixed emotions when you’re told that you “need to get a new one done.” On the one hand it means that aging has rendered you unrecognisable from a previous photo, but on the other it means that you have spent a decent amount of time as part of the Rugby High School community, and the taking of a new photo gives the opportunity to reflect on the contributions you’ve made and the many, many students with whom it has been a pleasure to work over the years.
For parents and carers too, the school photo is a moment of mixed emotions I am sure. The school photo inevitably means “the next school year” has come around already and that it all feels like it’s going by in a flash, but it is also a moment of great pleasure as you see new confidence, new experiences and new learning in your child’s face, and hopefully as each year comes round, more and more of the unique individual looking back at you.
As far as we can, it’s always the individual that’s important to us, not just the education of a student in academic terms, but what else we’re adding in terms of experiences, so that personal development is as important as academic progress. Having got back into lessons, and started the habit of learning all-over again, it’s just as important to make sure that your child has the chance to take part in our lunchtime clubs, sign up for a sports team, join Uproar, seek out creative writing club, maths club or the medical society…the list goes on! If you can’t see the club for you, you can always start one!
It was an absolute pleasure to see the good humour and positive energy that I’d seen in weeks one and two sustained into week three, and the excited buzz in the hall during the photos was lovely: the students arrived en masse, but as each photo was taken it was a lovely celebration of the individual. I hope you derive the same pleasure on seeing the results in a few weeks’ time.
Incidentally, if you’re wondering what you might do with those school photos you’ve amassed over the years, my own mother had all of my primary and secondary school pictures framed and hung for visitors to see in the hallway and up the stairs. She only took them down about 2 years ago, and I’m 43.
PARENT TEACHER ASSOCIATION – AGM 
KS3 Book Recommendation