I hope this letter finds you and your families well; a Friday update for you as always.
Firstly, a big thank you to Kai Molloy in 10C, Maleah Bangura in 9E, Zayn Bham in 9S and Hibah Ali in 10C who represented Kelmscott at the Youth Parliament event at the Town Hall today. They explored the work that takes place at Local Authority level, as well as determining priorities to improve our everyday experience in Waltham Forest, from the perspective of young people – very important work indeed.
Other students have an opportunity to have their voices heard too, as part of the Big Youth Conversation. They can do this by completing a survey using this link; https://walthamforest.research.net/r/byc22-wf
In last week’s letter, I neglected to mention some additional important work that a group of Kelmscott students contributed to on the climate. Our Climate Change Ambassadors attended the Big Climate Conversation at Leyton Sixth Form College. The event brought together secondary and sixth form students from across the borough, to discuss the actions Waltham Forest Borough should take around climate change. Our students demonstrated their passion and leadership, impressing the organisers of the event and teachers at the sixth form college. Well done to all involved.
A reminder that the Christmas card design competition closes next week, just in case students would like to carry this out over the weekend. We have some fantastic artists at Kelmscott; I hope they can find the time to enter.
Our basketball teams were in action this week against George Mitchell. Year 7, who have just begun to play the game, were beaten soundly but there were many positives to take from the game. I hope they are able to demonstrate the R, in our STORM characteristics – resilience – in order to bounce back in their next game. The Year 10s lost by an excruciatingly narrow margin - by just two points, or one basket. They are a talented team who are very committed to this sport. I know they will go on to be successful in the very near future.
We are extremely proud of our Year 7 girls football team. They put 100% effort in their matches this
week, battling against established teams and dreadful weather. A team that is in development and one to watch. Well done!
I would like to wish Dylan Chadwick 10E the very best of luck for next week at the Jack Petchey Speak Out Challenge final on Tuesday, at Leytonstone School. Dylan was the winner of the event at Kelmscott, following an excellent speech, and now goes on to compete against the other Waltham Forest school winners. I will report back in next week’s letter, to let you know how he gets on.
As mentioned in my update last week, the next parent/carer focus group session is taking place on
Tuesday 29th November from 2:15pm. We are looking forward to seeing many of you there.
Next Thursday is our Year 9 Progress Evening (formerly known as Parents’ Evening) from 4.30 until 7pm. We very much look forward to seeing Year 9 families to discuss the progress their child is making, as well as some tentative conversations about possible option choices for GCSE.
Places are still available for the Year 7 and 8 disco, the deadline to pay for this event is midnight this Sunday, 27th November. To pay for your child’s place please tap the Payment button in the Student Section of MyEd, then tap the menu button (small square made up of 3 short horizontal lines) at the top of the screen, then select Payment Shop or tap the shopping trolley icon to find the event.
On Wednesday 14th December 2022, we shall be having our school Christmas Lunch, consisting of: roast turkey or roast ‘NO’ turkey crown, stuffing, seasonal vegetables, golden roast potatoes and gravy, chocolate log for dessert and a Christmas cracker and trimmings. The cost of this meal is £2.70 payable via your cashless account, as usual.
As we no longer take cash at the tills, please encourage your child to top up their cashless payment card via the Main Office before Wednesday lunchtime. There will be no charge for students entitled to free school meals. If you do not wish your child to join us for this lunch, please arrange for a packed lunch to be provided, as no other food will be on sale that day.
Next week we will send out an online form, via the app, so that families can indicate whether
their child would like the meal and which option they would like.
Finally, congratulations to Ateeqa Aziz in 10S who amassed the most rewards points last week with an impressive thirty – keep up the good work.
Yours sincerely
Mr Sam Jones
Headteacher