Our Ref: DK/jh/gltr/Sept 26    

2nd September 2026

Dear Parent/Carer

Welcome to the new school year! I hope you and your family have had a wonderful summer break. In this letter, I would like to share some important information and reminders to help ensure a positive start to the term.

In this letter we will cover the following in more detail:

• Update on the 2026 GCSE/A Level results 
• Reminder: Arrangements for the start of term - Thursday 3rd / Friday 4th September
• Reminder: Changes to Catering prices for 2026-27
• Reminder: Free School Meal Eligibility 2026-27
• Head of Year updates 2026-27
• Key dates for the Autumn term: Y6/Sixth Form Open Evenings
• Appendix = Key dates for Parents/Carers 2026-27

I am delighted to report another year of strong outcomes for our students, with excellent A Level/Level 3 and GCSE results. While official Department for Education performance measures will not be published until later in the academic year, our provisional results show improvements on 2025, particularly at GCSE, where we achieved our best-ever outcomes in a number of key measures!

Most importantly, Results Days saw many students secure the grades they needed to progress to their chosen courses, apprenticeships and employment opportunities. We were especially pleased to celebrate the success of Safwan Alom, who has secured a place to study Medicine at the University of Birmingham. This outstanding achievement continues Holyhead's proud tradition of supporting students into highly competitive medical degrees and is a source of great pride for Safwan, his family and our whole school community.

Reminder Part 1: Autumn Term Start Arrangements - Thursday 3rd/Friday 4th September

Staff CPD Days will take place at the beginning of the new school year on Tuesday 1st and Wednesday 2nd September. As in previous years, students will return to school using our usual staggered start:

• Thursday 3rd September – Years 7 and 12 students only (11.30am arrival for their induction day)
• Friday 4th September – All students return (8.40am arrival). This allows all year groups additional tutor time before normal lessons begin for all from Period 2 on Friday.

Reminders Part 2: Changes to catering prices from September 2026

As outlined before the summer holidays, the school meal deal will increase from £2.75 to £3.00 per day from 3rd September 2026, in line with other CRST schools. We have worked hard to minimise increases, with many prices unchanged and healthier options remaining affordable.

We continue to work with School Food Matters to improve the quality and dining experience of school meals. Prices remain competitive locally and generally lower than elsewhere in the Trust. Our Breakfast Club service remains free for all students from 8.15am, and we encourage students to make use of this positive start to the day.

Arbor Pay: The school has moved to all payments including school meals being made through the Arbor Pay system.  It is very important that you ensure that you have signed up and deposited money into your child’s account ahead of them using the catering facilities.  If you have not deposited money into your child’s account ahead of their return to school, please can you provide them with a packed lunch as we are unable to serve them food without payment.

Reminder Part 3: Free School Meals eligibility

In June, we wrote to inform you of important changes being introduced by the Department for Education from September 2026 regarding Free School Meal (FSM) eligibility. Under the new government guidance, all children in households receiving Universal Credit will be entitled to free school meals, however, parents/carers must complete an online eligibility check beforehand to ensure each child is eligible to receive free school meals.  The school can only  verify and record entitlement once you have completed your application.

This means that students who received free school meals in 2025-26 will not automatically remain eligible in 2026-27 unless a new eligibility check is completed.

It is essential that a separate online eligibility check is completed for every child attending the school, even if they have previously received free school meals.  If an online check is not completed and eligibility cannot be confirmed, your child will not be able to receive free school meals at school and you will therefore have to pay for their meals until such eligibility has been confirmed to the school.

The online check only takes a few minutes to complete, and you will receive an immediate response confirming whether your child is eligible. We therefore ask all parents and carers to complete the online check as soon as possible to ensure that no child misses out on the support they are entitled to.

Complete your online eligibility check using the Free School Meals Checker: Online FSM Application
The service is free, secure and usually provides an instant result.

Reminders Part 4: Preloved uniform: Start of new year donations?

As the school year begins, we’d like to remind you about our Preloved Uniform system, which supports families in our community. If your child has outgrown any uniform items and you have replaced them over the holidays, please consider donating the old items to support other families in our community. 

Donations can be handed to Reception or Form Tutors. We welcome blazers, ties, jumpers, trousers, skirts, shirts, blouses and PE kit items. Donated items will be cleaned and redistributed.

Student Support Update: Heads of Year/Vice Principals 2026-27
As is standard practice at Holyhead, Heads of Year remain with their cohort throughout Years 7-11. Once a year group leaves, the Head of Year returns to Year 7 to begin the cycle again. This year, Mr Cain moves from Year 11 back to Year 7. A reminder of the Heads of Year and Year Group Vice Principals is provided below for reference.

Key dates for September/October: Early finishes for Y6 and Sixth Form Open Evenings

On Thursday 24th September we will be having our Y6 Open Evening from 5.30 - 7.30pm, a vitally important event for the community with many families deciding where to send their children to secondary school. 

As in previous years we have finished earlier in the day to enable staff to set up for the evening, and we will be doing so again this year.  Students will leave at 2:30pm on Thursday 24th September, with additional homework set by Period 4 lesson teachers. With a large number of students and staff involved late into the evening we will be having a delayed start to school on Friday 25th September, with students arriving by 10.25am ready for a Period 2 start.

We will follow the exact same arrangements on Thursday 1st October which is our Sixth Form Open Evening with a delayed start again at 10:25am on Friday 2nd October.

As ever I am extremely grateful for your time and support in reading this letter, and look forward to the return of the students later this week.  May I wish you and your family good health and fortune over the coming days and weeks.

Yours faithfully,

Dave Knox
Principal