Dear Parents/Carers
I hope this letter finds you and your families well; a Friday update for you as always.
The holy month of Ramadan began on Sunday, following the sighting of the crescent moon. Our Muslim students and families begin a period of deep spiritual reflection and, of course, fasting. I would like to wish Ramadan Mubarak to all of our Muslim community.
This week we saw the return of the Young Urban Arts Foundation double-decker bus, to the Walthamstow Leisure Centre car park that sits right next to our school. Inside the bus was everything you need to experiment with music and sound. The bus will be here again next Monday and for the next few weeks for those wanting to get involved.
On Tuesday, The Catalyst Programme (St Catherine’s College, University of Oxford), visited Kelmscott to deliver a workshop for a group of our Year 10 students. Given the opportunity to think about different career paths, students were asked to discuss how they might go about deciding their next steps in education. As well as this, students were invited to engage in critical debate by answering big questions such as ‘Does truth exist?’ and ‘Is a robot a person?’. The session was very insightful and as part of the programme, the same set of students can now look forward to visiting the University of Oxford in the summer term.
The hotly contested inter-form basketball competitions have now taken place and we eagerly await the announcement of the winners next week.
On Thursday, 27 nursery school children aged between two - four, along with some of their parents and carers, from Low Hall nursery visited Kelmscott to take part in a mini-Olympics style event. This was led by some of our sports leaders; Melany 8S, Alexandra 8C, Leah 9M, Amelie 9L, Kitty 9E, Austeja 9L, Aiyla 9L and Ikram 10L. Activities included lots of running, bean bag games involving throwing and balancing, and the difficult but fun hoops game. Our sports leaders and our wonderful nursery guests absolutely loved the experience.
The Leyton Orient Trust will be running a Waltham Forest Holiday Multisport Easter Camp that is FREE for 8 to 14-year-olds at the Score Centre, Oliver Road, Leyton E10, from Tuesday 2nd April 2024 to Friday 15th April 2024 from 10:00am-3:00pm. For more information please see here.
As we fast approach exam season proper, I include here some information about a webinar for managing exam stress and anxiety. This is a free one-hour session run by the Waltham Forest Mental Health support team, providing some tips on time management and useful techniques to manage stress. The Mental Health Support Team are an early intervention service based in schools in Waltham Forest. Please see here for more details about the team.
Finally, congratulations to the following students who topped the reward point charts for last week, notably Head Student Kai Molloy 11C, who led the school with an impressive tally of thirty-three – keep up the good work.
Year 7 Treyvon Genus with 17 points
Year 8 Rawhawn Commodore with 16 points
Year 9 Aliza Mahamadally with 11 points
Year 10 Aicha Nimaga Ceesay with 19 points
Year 11 Kai Molloy with 33 points
With every good wish, yours ever,
Mr Sam Jones
Headteacher