Headteacher's Weekly Update 2 - Friday 12th September 2025

Dear Parents and Carers

I hope this letter finds you and your families well, a Friday update for you. 

We have had a very positive week in school, with students continuing to look smart, behave well and apply themselves in lessons.  Thank you for your continued support in ensuring they arrive at school ready to learn.

Our whole school attendance last week was 92%.  By year group this breaks down as follows: Year 7 – 93.5%, Year 8 – 93.25%, Year 9 – 92.13%, Year 10 – 90.73%, Year 11 – 90%.  This is below our ambitious target of 98%, though this is often the case at the start of the year as we await confirmation of students who have moved out of the area.  Attendance is one of the key focuses of our school development plan this year, and we will be sharing each child’s attendance half termly, using a RAG rating system, to help keep it high profile in every household. We know that attendance is vital for both academic progress and pastoral development, and we ask for your continued support in ensuring your children attend every day.

For your reference, I have also included information for parents and carers on Fixed Penalty Notices for Unauthorised Term-Time Leave.  This outlines the legal framework and local procedures for dealing with unauthorised absences and the issuing of Fixed Penalty Notices (FPNs).

We carried out a fire drill this week which was completed very well.  Students took it seriously and their conduct was excellent.  Later this half term we will also be practising a lockdown drill, in line with new national requirements, so that everyone knows what to do in the unlikely event of an emergency.

A reminder that our Year 11 Preparation for Excellence Evening takes place next Thursday, 18th September at 5:30pm.  This is a key event for families and students, where you will hear important information from Heads of Department, Mr Taylor, Head of Year 11 and Ms Ahmet, Assistant Headteacher and our Raising Standards Leader.  It is always well attended and we would strongly encourage you to join us.

A note of caution for families: please remind your children to take extra care when walking along Queens Road on their way to and from school. The narrowness of the road means that on some occasions cars have mounted the curb, creating a potential danger for pedestrians.  This has been exacerbated by the tube strike this week, with increased traffic in the area. Awareness and vigilance are key – please speak with your children about keeping safe and sticking close to the inside of the pavement wherever possible.

The PE Department have been busy running football and netball trials this week, giving students a chance to showcase their talent and enthusiasm.  I look forward to sharing an update with you in my letter next week.

Year 7 continue to impress us with their confidence, maturity, and enthusiasm for school life.  Their smooth start is due in no small part to the excellent Summer School in August, organised by Mr Lowe and colleagues, which gave students the chance to get to know the school, staff and each other ahead of September.

We were delighted to welcome a fantastic group of Year 6 students to the programme, which combined academic learning, enriching activities and nutritious meals providing a strong head start before term began. Students enjoyed everything from football, cricket and handball to coding with Micro:bits, ink printing and shell painting.  Team-building tasks such as ice-breakers, tower building and a full sports day helped new friendships to flourish and introduced students to the Kelmscott Way.

The week concluded with a joyful celebration assembly and it was clear that both staff and students thoroughly enjoyed the experience.  We are proud of how well our new Year 7s have begun their journey with us.

A small number of students this week have been spoken to about false eyelashes, acrylic nails and earrings. To be clear, one pair of plain gold or silver studs is allowed, but nothing else.  The reasons are practical: such items present health and safety issues in PE, technology and science, and they are not in keeping with our uniform policy.  Thank you for your support in ensuring your child is properly equipped and presented for school.

We have also made a small but important change this term in rebranding our EAL (English as an Additional Language) department to the Multi-Lingual Learner department.  We felt the old acronym carried the risk of being a label and possibly stigmatising.  By contrast, this new name celebrates the enormous talent of students who are fluent in two or more languages, a skill that will serve them very well in the future.

I am pleased to share a free resource with quick, healthy after-school snack ideas, developed by nutritionists at Beezee Families.  They also run a free 12-week programme, delivered both in-person and online, supporting families to build healthy habits around food, physical activity and fun.  The next programme starts this September, and sign-ups are open now.  For more information, please see here.

The Educational Psychology Service is offering confidential Parent Advice Sessions, where you can speak directly with an educational psychologist about your child.  For more information, please see here.  You can also find this link by going to the Links icon in the EduLink One app.

A future opportunity that I would like to share, the Black British Book Festival takes place on Sunday, 19th October 2025, at the Barbican Centre, London.  It is the UK’s largest celebration of Black British writing, with a brilliant line-up of authors, talks and events.   For more information please see here.

I wanted to let you know that I am undertaking some work for the Department for Education this year which will take me out of school for around ten days in total.  During these times, Ms Dalton will be deputising in my absence.  The work I am involved in will also bring direct benefits to our school community, and I look forward to sharing more in due course.  I also understand there may be a rumour circulating in the community suggesting that I may be leaving Kelmscott.  Please let me reassure you that this is not the case. I thoroughly enjoy my role here and feel very privileged to serve this community.

Finally, well done to all our reward points winners from each year group with a special mention for Vlera Podvorica in 11C with an incredible 32 points,the highest in the school. 

➪ Year 7, Mercedes Loreta Samuh in 7T, Abigail Michale in 7O and Robert Marczak in 7K with 12    points each.

➪ Year 8, Lois Lablanchy in 8E with 13 points

➪ Year 9, Elliot Solberg Franey in 9O with 12 points

➪ Year 10, Nazar Zhyromskyi in 10C with 17 points

➪ Year 11, Vlera Podvorica in 11C with  32 points.

I wish you and your families an enjoyable and restful weekend.

Mr Sam Jones 

Headteacher