Headteacher's Weekly Update 2 - Friday 11th September 2026

Dear Parents and Carers

I hope this letter finds you and your families well; a Friday update for you as always.

It has been another really positive week at Kelmscott.  Students have continued the excellent start they made last week and there has been a purposeful, calm atmosphere around the school.  Thank you to students, staff and families for helping us start the new academic year so well.

Whole-school attendance last week was 90%, which is clearly lower than where we want it to be. There is some important context at this point in the year: a number of students moved out of the area during the summer but remain on our roll, and therefore within our attendance figures, until we receive confirmation of their new school placement.

A particular well done, however, to Year 7, whose attendance was an excellent 97%.  A brilliant start, please keep it up.

Our target remains 98% and the message to students is simple: being in school every day gives you the very best chance of being successful.

Congratulations to this week’s Rewards Points winners:

Year 7:  A hat trick for Szofi Szijgyarto (7O), Matilda Miles (7O) and Adam Bougherra (7O) – with  7 points eachYear 8:  Cosmo Mastrangelo (8T) – 9 pointsYear 9:  Edie Cambridge Brown (9K) – 8 pointsYear 10: Sidi Jalloh (10T) – 12 pointsYear 11: Jamie Long (11C) and Bryan Eno-Osagie (11S) – 20 points each

A particular mention must go to Jamie Long in 11C and Bryan Eno-Osagie in 11S, who have already accumulated 20 Rewards Points each, I threw down the gauntlet to Year 11 at the beginning of term: as the oldest students in the school, they have a responsibility to set the standard and show our younger students how we do things around here.  It is great to see them responding so positively.

Our clubs and co-curricular timetable is also being finalised and we will share this very soon.  As I said to students in assembly last week, I want every child to find something beyond their lessons that they enjoy and can become involved in.

Next week we have two important evenings for families I would like to highlight.

Our KS3 Teaching & Learning Information Evening takes place on Wednesday at 5pm and is now fully booked.  The evening will give families an opportunity to explore what teaching and learning looks like in the Kelmscott classroom and how we approach learning across Key Stage 3.

On Thursday at 5pm, we welcome our Year 11 families for an evening focused specifically on how best to support students through their GCSE year.  Year 11 is short and it will disappear remarkably quickly.  The school, students and families all have an important part to play.   I strongly encourage and look forward to seeing all our Year 11 families at this important evening.

A colleague attended a YouTube Family Safety Event at Google's offices this week and met members of YouTube's UK leadership and behavioural science team.  There were some useful messages which I thought worth sharing.

Many parents may not realise how much control they can have over their child's YouTube experience.  Parents can create supervised profiles for individual children, restrict content according to age, limit or completely turn off YouTube Shorts, disable autoplay, schedule reminders to take a break and set bedtime reminders.

Perhaps the most important message though, was that technology cannot replace parental involvement.  Families were encouraged to monitor what children watch and, above all, have regular conversations about what they encounter online. Children need to feel comfortable telling an adult if something they see worries them or simply does not feel right.

If your child regularly uses YouTube, I would encourage you to spend ten minutes together this weekend looking at their account and checking the parental controls currently in place.

There was also an interesting discussion about our increasing reliance on online learning and revision resources and the challenges this can present for some young people, particularly students with SEND.  This is something we will continue to consider carefully as a school.

You will recall from my update to families, on the 27th August 2026, that there has been an important national change to Free School Meal eligibility this September.   From the beginning of this academic year, all children living in households receiving Universal Credit are entitled to a free school meal, regardless of household earnings.  This is a significant expansion of the previous arrangements.  Importantly, families still need to make a claim and have their eligibility confirmed before the entitlement can be recorded.  I would therefore strongly encourage any family receiving Universal Credit who has not already done so, to apply.

There are some differences between the new expanded Free School Meal entitlement and the narrower eligibility criteria used for Pupil Premium and some other support, but please don't let that put you off applying.  If you receive Universal Credit, please check your child's entitlement here.  If you are unsure, or encounter any difficulties with the process, contact us and we will be very happy to help.

I have attached,  for your information, a guide for parents and teachers to help them understand extremism and radicalisation in children and young people here.  As always, safeguarding our students works best when the school and families work closely together.  Please contact us if you have any concerns about your own child or another young person.

An exciting opportunity for our female athletes to attend a girls rugby taster session at Eton Manor RFC this Sunday.   Please see here for more details.

The Volunteer Police Cadets in Waltham Forest and Newham are welcoming young people aged 12–18 who are looking for something positive, challenging and rewarding.   An opportunity to build confidence, learn new skills, make friends and support the local community.  Cadets take part in exciting activities, community events and team challenges, while also gaining an insight into policing.  For more  information please see here.

Thank you for your continued support. It has been a very encouraging first full week and I look forward to building on this excellent start as the term progresses.

Have a lovely weekend.

Mr Sam Jones 

Headteacher