Headteacher's Weekly Update 12 - Friday 28th November 2025

Dear Parents and Carers

I hope this letter finds you and your loved ones well; a Friday update for you as always.  It has been another full and positive week in school, so I wanted to share some key updates with you.

Attendance - Our whole school attendance for last week was 93.32%. Here is the breakdown by year group:

• Year 7  - 95.11%

• Year 8  - 93.35%

• Year 9  - 90.34%

• Year 10 - 94.20%

• Year 11 - 93.67%

  
  

It was fantastic to see families at Thursday’s Year 9 Progress Evening.  This was an important moment in the school year as we began early conversations about the four option subjects students may wish to choose for GCSE.  It is always an exciting time, as Year 9 begin to shape and curate what their curriculum could look like next year.  As ever, hard work, determination and ambition will be key ingredients for success.

We have noticed a growing issue involving a number of boys and the way they are wearing their school trousers.  Some are being worn without a belt, resulting in underwear being visible, this is not acceptable in school. Trousers should be worn to sit on the waist, just below the belly button, as per our uniform expectations.

We are also seeing boys wearing thick tracksuit bottoms underneath their trousers.  Even in cold weather, this is not appropriate and raises concerns around hygiene and comfort.

Additionally, a small number of boys have developed the habit, popularised in certain strands of hip-hop/streetwear culture, of placing their hands inside their trousers. This is clearly unsafe and inappropriate in a school environment.  It can raise safeguarding concerns and may be perceived by others as uncomfortable or intrusive behaviour.  Please reinforce with your child that hands must remain visible and out of clothing at all times. Your support here will help us maintain a respectful, calm and safe environment.

Our Eco-Club have begun a brilliant new partnership with members of the local community to support an allotment off Queens Road.  Students are looking forward to getting stuck into real hands-on environmental work. If you have used but good-quality items such as wellies, gloves, trowels, small hand forks or other basic gardening tools that you no longer need, we would be very grateful for donations.  Any student who would like to get involved should speak to Ms Abbas.  It is a wonderful opportunity to develop practical skills and take part in meaningful community action.

We were delighted to welcome classicist John Taylor into school on Thursday and Friday.  John, author of the Latin and Greek textbooks we use, has been teaching a range of classes and delivering engaging talks on the ancient world, inspiring students to explore classical subjects further. It has been fantastic to see so many of our ambitious learners taking part in the sessions and signing up for the enrichment opportunities offered.  

It has been an excellent week of sport at Kelmscott.  On Thursday, our Year 7 and 8 girls competed in the Indoor borough Sports Athletics event at the Peter May Leisure Centre in the morning, followed by the Year 7 and 8 boys in the afternoon.  All students represented the school brilliantly and displayed great teamwork and determination throughout the event.

Standout performances included Iris Bogan and Sky Ashworth-Jones in the Year 7 girls’ running events and Myah Farrugia and Talihya Lottrie for the Year 8 girls.  Among the boys, Ivo Edwards and Keir Harris impressed for the Year 7 team, while Ronan Kelly and Ruari Cullinane showed exceptional commitment, taking part in multiple events across the afternoon.

On Thursday evening, the Kelmscott Year 7 football team welcomed Edinburgh Primary School’s Year 6s for an off-season friendly.  It was a competitive match against a very determined opposition, with excellent skill and control on display from both teams.  Fadlullah Shobande was named Player of the Match by Zayd from Salaam Peace after scoring his second hat-trick of the season.  A fantastic week all round, well done to all our athletes.

Huge congratulations to Sercan Kucuk in Year 10, who recently represented Essex U15 Football—a tremendous achievement.  He played in a match against Suffolk U15, with Essex winning 9–2.  It was a very high standard of play throughout, and Sercan performed exceptionally well.  We are all very proud of him.

This week, a group of our Year 8 and 9 students enjoyed an immersive visit to the Science Museum.  They explored the Information Age exhibition, tracing the evolution of communication technologies, visited the Power Up interactive gallery to experience five decades of gaming, and took part in hands-on activities in the Technicians: The David Sainsbury Gallery, simulating real-world technical roles across healthcare, renewable energy and the creative arts.

Thank you, as always , to colleagues for organising such an enriching learning experience for our students.

School Production – A Victorian Experience and The Importance of Being Earnest

We are delighted to announce our upcoming school production, A Victorian Experience, which includes an abridged version of Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest, adapted by Gerald P. Murphy. This ambitious event will take place across two performance spaces on Friday 12th December from 6pm.

Wilde’s much-loved comedy, first staged in 1895 and described by the playwright as “A Trivial Comedy for Serious People,” humorously exposes Victorian society’s fixation on appearances and respectability.  Our students have been working incredibly hard over recent months.  We are very much looking forward to sharing the results of their dedication.

The evening will open with a series of immersive Victorian-themed experiences, created and performed by students from Years 7–11.  This will be followed by our cast of students from across Years 7–11 performing The Importance of Being Earnest, supported by a student-led backstage, technical, design and illustration team.  

Ticket information will be shared shortly via the EduLink One app.  We hope many of you will join us for what promises to be a fantastic celebration of creativity, collaboration and performance.

The Local Authority has shared details of the Waltham Forest Winter Holiday Activity and Food (HAF) Programme.  Bookings open on 24^th November 2025 and run from Saturday 20^th December 2025- Friday 2^nd January 2026.  The programme provides holiday clubs for children who are in receipt of benefit-related Free School Meals across the borough.  For more information please see here: Please do take a look if you think this may be helpful for your family.

A really lovely opportunity to highlight now, soprano Rebecca Lea, pianist Caroline Jaya-Ratnam, and composer Anita Datta are hosting a free singing workshop for young people aged 12–18, with the unique chance to perform at the launch of The New Winter Songbook in central London.

📅 Workshop: Thursday 8th January | 6:00–8:00pm

📍 Location: Walthamstow School for Girls

🎵 Follow-up Concert: Friday 16th January | St Giles Cripplegate

For more information or to sign up, please see here. 

Well done to all of our year-group reward-points winners for the week of Monday 17th - Friday 21st November 2025:

➪ Year 7, Ramzi Benarab in 7M and Yuna Gilot  in 7L both with 35 points

➪ Year 8, Caleb Evers in 8S with 20 points

➪ Year 9, Imani Lake De Kestelier in 9O with 27 points

➪ Year 10, Rebeca Sukai in 10E with 24 points

➪ Year 11, Mathilda Eisenstein in 11O and Ali Haidary in 11L both with 10 points

A special congratulations to our joint overall winners, Ramzi Benarab in 7M and Yuna Gilot  in 7L , who topped the charts for the entire school - fantastic effort.

You may recall from last week’s update that staff email has recently migrated from Outlook to Gmail.  Your communication with us is very important, so if you have contacted the school and have not yet received a response, particularly if you were expecting or require one, please do get back in touch as there have been some teething issues.  You can also reach us on 020 8521 2115, a member of the team will be happy to assist.

Thank you for your continued support and patience; it makes such a positive difference to the climate and culture of the school.

With every good wish,

Mr Sam Jones 

Headteacher