Dear Parents and Carers,
I hope this letter finds you and your families well; a final letter of the school year for you, as we break up for the summer holidays.
A very positive last few days in school, with celebration assemblies taking centre stage to capture the amazing achievements of our students across years 7 to 10. Interviews for our Head students and Deputy Head students also took place from our recently confirmed Year 10 prefect list. All students that interviewed impressed the panel, communicating a strong desire to give back to our school community in their final year at Kelmscott. After long deliberation a decision was made and Bianca Burnei 10C and Kai Molloy 10C were appointed as Head prefects for next year. Huge congratulations to them, I know they will step up and impress in their new roles.
I was pleased that Year 7 had an opportunity to complete some of their Sports Day activities on Tuesday. Having missed out on their first Kelmscott Sports day due to the rainy weather on Friday, I was grateful to the PE Department for facilitating the sessions.
We have a new catering service in place from September of next year; The Pantry. Students and staff can look forward to some new and exciting menus and, if our tasting events are anything to go by, some delicious food. The Pantry will offer breakfast, break and lunch time options, something that I think will raise the bar, yet further for us, in terms of our provision as a school. Please be mindful that The Pantry is an external provider, so please check your child’s account and top up, if necessary, in readiness for their return to school in September. More information on The Pantry to follow in the coming weeks.
It happens to be a bumper long, seven-week summer holiday this year, something we can all buy in to I think. I thought it would be a good idea to share some of the many opportunities that young people can sign up to in the Borough over the summer holidays from youth services, youth sessions, youth space, family hubs, kids eat free, be the change kids holiday club, Holiday activities to cycling training.
Now we have reached the end of the term, I wonder if your child has outgrown their uniform or PE kit? I have seen first-hand how many of our students have shot up considerably over the course of the year. If they have, perhaps you would consider donating any items, still in good condition, to the Kelmscott Uniform Bank? If so, please bring any clean donations to the school reception from Monday 31st July to Friday 4th August any time between 9am - 2 pm. There will be a Uniform Bank event in school on 18th August, please check the accompanying link for further details.
We had a number of Year 10 students working with the Maths and Science departments, in school on Thursday and Friday. All other staff, affected by the move into the new building, were packing their belongings up in readiness. We are two weeks behind schedule for the building, but are confident it will be handed over in the first week of August. This gives us sufficient time to ensure we are ready to welcome students back in September, when we look forward to teaching in the brand new block.
You may remember that we asked our community for suggestions for names for our school buildings. I am pleased to reveal that the new names for our buildings are as follows;
Main building – Lea
Annexe – Kennet
New building - Willow
Named after William Morris designs - fabrics/prints/patterns, William Morris was a popular suggestion from a number of people, who took the time to respond to this. The patterns are very nice, and we hope to have them on display in the buildings, incorporating them into the interior design, in due course.
It is fair to say that this year has been particularly challenging for us as a school. Can I take this opportunity to thank you for your ongoing support and spreading the good word that is Kelmscott. I hope you have a fantastic summer break; I very much look forward to working with you again next academic year.
I will write to you again towards the end of August with some notices and reminders for the new school year.
Here are the key return dates for September:
➢ Monday 4th September – Inset Day (staff only)
➢ Tuesday 5th September – Year 7 only
➢ Wednesday 6th September - Years 8-11 return (all year groups in)
Finally, huge congratulations to Jude Cambridge Brown in 7K, who topped the reward points charts, in the penultimate week, with an impressive forty-four; by my reckoning this is Jude’s third occasion this year topping the charts – bravo young man. Congratulations also to Amelie Molloy in 8L who topped the reward points charts, this week, with an impressive 35 points; outstanding work as always from Amelie.
Yours sincerely
Mr Sam Jones
Headteacher