Dear Parents/Carers
I hope this letter finds you and your families well; here's your Friday update as usual.
It has been a busy week at school with various events and co-curricular activities on throughout the week. On Tuesday we participated in Safer Internet Day 2024; the UK’s biggest celebration of online safety. Each year an online issue or theme is covered that speaks to the things young people are seeing and experiencing online. This year's theme focused on change online where students engaged in tutor time discussions, giving their perspectives on new and emerging technology, using the internet to make change for the better, the changes young people want to see online and the things that can influence and change the way young people think, feel and act online and offline.
The UK Safer Internet Centre has provided a useful parent and carers guide to help keep your child safe with their phones, laptops, smart speakers, game consoles, tablets, smart TVs and social media, which you can access here. Also available is a guide providing advice about key social media platforms and apps; accessible here. These guides complement the Computing department’s Online Safety scheme of work which all Year 7 students receive.
Our Year 7 and 8 girls' football team were in action on Tuesday afternoon against Frederick Bremer. A closely fought match resulted in a final score draw of 6-6. Congratulations to our goal scorers, Marlene with a magnificent hat trick and Hayley, Melany and Zarah scoring one-a-piece.
Also on Tuesday, the canteen celebrated the Lunar New Year with food options inspired by the Year of the Dragon. Students enjoyed chicken chow mein and spring rolls, among other things. The canteen hopes to introduce more themed days in the near future. We've requested that these days be shared in advance so that more students have the opportunity to get involved, should they wish.
On a very wet Thursday morning, students from a mix of year groups left for Stratford-upon-Avon. With an estimated arrival time of 11am, a packed schedule was ahead of the group commencing with a guided tour of Stratford-upon-Avon, which takes in the house where Shakespeare was born and where he died. A night at the theatre was on the schedule for the evening - the RSC production of The Merchant of Venice. A 2-hour drama workshop was planned for this morning before departing at 1pm to get back to school for about 3.30pm. Do check out our Twitter page ‘X’ for the updates posted throughout the trip.
It was great to see so many of our Year 7 families at last night's Progress Evening; 74% of our families were in attendance. I was delighted to see so many of you and hope that you found the evening informative; as always, we would be most appreciative of your feedback, which you can provide via the survey link sent earlier today.
Today, I was thrilled to invite forty students from across the year groups to my Headteacher's lunch. These students were selected for their outstanding contributions to our community so far this year, including engagement in lessons, participation outside of lessons, and embodying Kelmscott values such as kindness, courtesy, and respect.
While I readily acknowledge there are many other students who also demonstrate these qualities, I hope they feel recognised in other ways, such as through reward points issued or celebration assemblies. I look forward to seeing those students not represented at this lunch, at the next event, next term.
During the half-term holiday, there are a couple of opportunities I would like to highlight. Firstly, a free cycling scheme for young people who want to improve their cycling skills; details can be found here.
Additionally, there is a sports and employability camp taking place on the 12th and 13th February. More information about this free camp can be found here.
I hope you have a fantastic half-term holiday. Lots of revision for Year 11 please, as they begin their second round of Pre-Public Exams on our return. We begin back on Monday 19th February at the normal time. It’s another short half-term, with just five and half weeks until the Easter holidays begin – the pace continues to quicken.
Finally, well done to the following students who finished at the top of the reward point charts, last week, for their year groups, a special mention to Zain Benani 9M with an impressive 30 points – well done!
Year 7 Xavier Moroz 18 points
Year 8 Maisy Allen 17 points
Year 9 Zain Benani 30 points
Year 10 Esmond Poku Junior 15 points
Year 11 Eric Henig Griffin 15 points
With every good wish, yours ever,
Mr Sam Jones
Headteacher
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