Christmas concerts

I hope you have been able to see both the virtual school concert and the Christingle concert from the family of schools. We are so proud of our partnership and the talent that we have in our schools - if you have not yet seen them please have a watch!

Attenborough Nature Reserve

We are all so delighted that the future of Attenborough Nature Reserve is now secure. After having been involved in fundraising and the campaign, the school is delighted that there has been a successful outcome.

Nottingham Playhouse Pantomime

Thursday afternoon was spent with years seven, eight and nine watching the pantomime. It was a fabulous afternoon and a real pleaseure to see the smiles on students' faces as they watched.

And now - on to other matters - our staggered return in January

Parents will have received a number of communications today and for this I apologise. We have been proud of the fact that throughout the pandemic we have kept parents and the community informed of developments in a timely manner and the news yesterday has been sprung on us with no warning. It was extremely frustrating to be operating on news media leaks through the day and to have no official notification until 6.30pm last night.

This is rude, unacceptable and shows little regard for the well-being of those who work in schools, students who attend them and families who are served by them.

We have always tried to be transparent and clear with parents and in this spirit I feel it is important to share with you yesterday's Parliamentary Public accounts meeting where the outrage by the committee over the department of education's actions were clear. The video is not very Christmassy, I am afraid, but is a vital piece of coverage which sums up the incoherent, last minute and secretive actions by the government.

This is not the way to treat schools or communities. At Chilwell we will continue to do everything we can to ensure that education continues in an organised and planned way and we have already contacted parents via WeDuc to ensure that everyone can be clear and head into Christmas with as much clarity as we can give.

I wish you all a restful, safe and as enjoyable Christmas as you can have in these strange times.