Dear Friends of the School,

Welcome to the fourteenth edition of The Buss Brief, and our first one since our school's opening two weeks ago.

The past few months have been something of a roller-coaster for everyone involved in our school project and none of us could have foreseen the challenges and difficulties that we've faced in the last few months. It was a surreal feeling that will stay with me forever, as I stood on the quiet and calm corridors at 8:15 am on Monday 24th August and became aware that our teachers and students were in classrooms and getting on with the process of teaching and learning. In that instant, everything seemed to fall into context with the stark reminder of what's really important in schools.

I'm aware that I've sounded like a broken record to many of you over the last six months as I've extolled the virtues of our teachers and remarked how excited I've felt at the prospect of bringing our team together. I wouldn't have thought it were possible, but my high expectations have been surpassed and I've found it a real pleasure to see such passionate, focussed and skilled teaching taking place throughout the entire school. The feedback from parents and students has been quite humbling and perfectly captured by one parent who reported her child's feedback over a family dinner, "Now I get it, I've never been in a school where every single teacher is so passionate about their subject and seems to care so much". That feedback means the world to us because that's exactly what we're setting out to be.

Our efforts now are focussed on ensuring that we maintain and grow the momentum we've created. It's been wonderful to see so many students getting immediately involved with our enrichment opportunities but I'd encourage everyone to keep a very close eye on all of the opportunities that are being developed and offered, and I urge our students to make the most of them.

I'll take this opportunity to update you on the progress of construction at the Depot Road campus. We now have close to 250 workers on-site and progress is being made quickly. Our project team remain confident that construction will be completed before the end of September and we're still hopeful that the various inspections will be secured and completed in time for our move to Depot Road over half term. I will, of course, keep you all informed and updated on our progress.

With warm wishes,

Paul Friend

Principal