Start of Term update

Welcome to the new term.

The one thing we can all be sure of, is that it won’t be quite like any summer term there’s been before.

As our schools return after the Easter break, I want to thank our parents for your support of our school leaders, teachers and staff in these turbulent times.

Almost every family finds itself in a situation it could not possibly have anticipated. As a community, we have a choice about how we respond.

Our overriding consideration is to provide the best education for your daughters. Our approach seeks to balance the need to continue to provide a consistent education for our pupils, to support families, and to ensure long-term sustainability.

A great deal of effort has been put in by many of our staff over the Easter break to prepare for guided home learning this term. It matters to all of us to maintain the high level of teaching and support that we pride ourselves on. I also want to thank all our staff who are helping to keep our schools open for vulnerable children and the children of key frontline workers. A special mention, too, to staff who have been using school DT facilities to make masks and visors for frontline NHS staff. And another thank-you to schools sharing their kitchens for the preparation of hundreds of meals to be delivered to NHS staff.

We have all been endlessly impressed by the resilience and imagination shown by our students as they rise to this extraordinary challenge, and seek to help those less fortunate than themselves.

I have never felt prouder to be part of the GDST family.

I hope everyone stays happy and healthy over the coming weeks and months, and that the girls find the term ahead enjoyable and valuable.

To finish, I want to share this gorgeous performance by The Luminelles, a choir based at our Birkenhead High School Academy. They’ve dedicated this to NHS staff, carers & key workers, including their teachers who have been caring for children of key workers along with making PPE for hospitals.