Headteacher's Letters

Dear Parents & Carers,

The term is now well underway, and it has been a busy few weeks. Thank you to all the parents and carers who attended our Parental Information Evenings. Your support and engagement are greatly appreciated. We also had a very successful Open Evening, and we would like to say a special thank you to all the students who volunteered their time to help. They were fantastic ambassadors for our school and represented us exceptionally well.

Our Year 11 students are now well underway with their courses and have already taken part in a range of valuable learning experiences. The Year 11 Sports Studies group enjoyed a day at the Anderton Centre, where they completed their outdoor adventure activities. Our Year 11 students also took part in a full Science Practical Day, giving them the opportunity to develop and apply their practical skills.

On 25 September 2026, we undertook our Inclusion Quality Mark (IQM) Assessment. I am delighted to share that the school retained its Flagship status, demonstrating effective practice across all eight areas assessed. This is a fantastic achievement and reflects the commitment of our staff, students, parents and wider school community to ensuring that every young person feels valued, supported and included

We also had the pleasure of taking a group of students to Shakespeare North on Thursday 1 October to see Macbeth. This was a wonderful opportunity for students to experience Shakespeare's work brought to life on stage and to enrich their learning beyond the classroom.

There is much more to look forward to as the term continues. Thank you, as always, for your continued support of our school and, most importantly, of our students.

Catholic Life and Mission

At the start of October, we enter the month of the Holy Rosary, a time when we are encouraged to turn to Mary in prayer and reflection. We invite our families to make time, where possible, to pray the Rosary together and ask Our Lady to guide and protect our school community. Students will have the opportunity to learn how to say the Rosary in the chapel during form time. The Rosary will be led by our chaplain, Mr Baron.

Macmillan Coffee Morning

Thank you to all the parents and carers who kindly donated cakes for the coffee morning held at St. Richard’s. Thanks to your generosity, the school raised £100 for Macmillan Cancer Support.

A number of our students attended Mass before helping to host the coffee morning. We were extremely proud of the way they represented our school and supported the local community. We were particularly delighted to receive this lovely feedback from one of St. Richard’s parishioners:

“Your students were so kind, helpful, thoughtful and supportive. They are an absolute credit to your school. Thank you for a wonderful morning and experience.”

We would like to congratulate our students on this wonderful example of kindness, service and community spirit. They should be very proud of themselves.

Attendance Matters

Well done to the large number of students who have maintained 100% attendance! These students are showing excellent resilience, commitment and determination to make good progress in school.

Our school attendance target for each student is 97%, and we are concerned that a number of students have already fallen below 90% attendance. By the end of last week, Friday 2 October 2026, we had been in school for 22 days. Each school day has two sessions — a morning session and an afternoon session — meaning there have been 44 possible sessions so far this academic year.

This means that attendance can fall quite quickly when a child misses school.

The impact of absence

Just one full day of absence has already taken your child’s attendance below our school target of 97%. Two days of absence reduces attendance to approximately 91%, leaving very little room for further absence before attendance falls below 90%. Once attendance falls below 90%, a student is considered to be experiencing persistent absence. At this point, the impact of missed learning can become significant and the school may need to take additional steps to support and improve attendance.

Please help us to keep your child’s attendance high

We understand that children will sometimes be unwell and that medical appointments are occasionally unavoidable. However, we ask parents and carers to:

• Make every effort for children to attend school every day and every session.
• Where possible, arrange medical and dental appointments outside school hours.
• If an appointment has to take place during the school day, please bring your child back to school afterwards rather than allowing them to miss the rest of the day.
• Avoid unnecessary absence wherever possible, as even a small number of missed sessions can have a significant impact on attendance.
• Remember that if a child does not return to school after an appointment, the remaining missed session(s) may be recorded as unauthorised absence where there is no appropriate reason for the absence.

Every session in school matters. Regular attendance gives children the best opportunity to keep up with their learning, make progress and maintain positive routines.

Below is the NHS link giving guidance to parents on illness and school attendance.

https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/is-my-child-too-ill-for-school/

Thank you for your continued support in helping your child to achieve their 97% attendance target

Teaching & Learning

Over the last few weeks, senior leaders have been looking at a range of exercise books across different subjects to review the quality of work being completed by our students.

We have been particularly focusing on the quality and presentation of students' work, their adherence to the SuperSix, the quality of recall activities and how effectively students respond to independent learning tasks. Students are also expected to regularly self-assess their work using red pen and, when feedback is provided, to take the time to make the necessary improvements. This is an important part of the learning process and helps students to take greater ownership of their progress.

I am pleased to report that the vast majority of our students are meeting expectations and are producing work of a good standard. This is a reflection of the hard work and commitment of both our students and staff. We have noticed, however, that students with irregular attendance have gaps in their exercise books. Students need to ensure that do not miss key learning and can keep pace with the rest of their class. This will avoid them feeling overwhelmed at key points when they are asked to complete end of unit assessments.

Sports Update

Our Year 11 students thoroughly enjoyed a range of outdoor adventure activities at the Anderton Centre, demonstrating teamwork, resilience and a willingness to challenge themselves.

Congratulations to our Year 8 boys, who achieved an excellent 4th place in the West Lancashire tournament. This reflects the hard work and commitment shown by the team.

Our Year 9 football team also competed against Upholland, missing out with a 4–1 defeat. Despite the result, the students showed great effort and represented the school well.

Well done to all our students who have taken part in sporting activities and fixtures. We are proud of their enthusiasm, teamwork and commitment.

Pastoral Care

The first point of contact is your child’s form tutor. For more complex issues, please contact the year group pastoral team. Details are below:

Yours sincerely

Mrs M. Henshaw

Headteacher