Headteacher's Weekly Update 29 - Friday 3rd May 2024

Dear Parents/Carers

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

On Monday, a group of Year 7 historians participated in, and enjoyed, a pilot historical walk focusing on the Peasants Revolt.  The students walked in the shoes of the angry peasants from Kent and Essex, going from London Bridge to Smithfield Market, and beyond, reliving pivotal moments of the revolt of 1381.  We look forward to seeing many more of our historians walking this fascinating route soon. 

On Tuesday our Year 7 and 8 girls’ football teams competed in a mini 5-a-side tournament in our sports hall.   All of the athletes were very pleased to be playing competitive games again, as their season finished early this year.   Our Year 8 team won, with Hayley from Year 7,  stepping up in goal.  Congratulations to all those that competed.  They displayed excellent sportsmanship and behaviour all round; a real credit to both schools competing.

This afternoon, we had the pleasure of hosting Movement Directors from the renowned Old Vic Theatre. Together, they collaborated with a group of enthusiastic Year 9 and 10 students, guiding them in the art of utilising physicality and movement to convey narratives.  Inspired by the show "Machinal" at the Old Vic, the students devised their own expressive performances with an essence of expressionism.  The students will be going to see the show "Machinal" next Wednesday.

Our athletics team have been hitting the track this week too, with some impressive performances to report; Kamran winning the 200m sprint, Berkay with second place in the shot putt, and Laura Gammon winning the 100m sprint with aplomb.  We have seen record numbers of Years 9 and 10 attending athletics each week.  One final week next week for Years 9 and 10 then it will be the turn of Years 7 and 8, with the girls on Tuesday 14th May and the boys on Thursday 16th May.   

A numeracy workshop on managing money took place on Tuesday afternoon, facilitated by accountants from KPMG LLP.  The aim of the workshop was to equip our young people with the skills and knowledge to manage their own money, and understand why saving money is important.  It also included information on the types of bills we pay and how Direct Debit works.  It was great to see how students were working in teams collaboratively on the ‘Budgeting Challenge Activity’ designing their own budgets. 

Continuing the mathematical theme, on Thursday 25th April twenty students took part in the UKMT Junior mathematical challenge, a nationwide competition.  This was an opportunity for the students to showcase their mathematical problem-solving skills.  Congratulations to all those who took part, with special mentions for Esa Bham, Dominic Zuppa Flores, Sercan Kucuk and Sameer Omar, all from Year 8, who received gold certificates.  I am very proud to add that five students were awarded silver and eight students received bronze certificates.  This event was a great opportunity for some of our higher-attaining students to challenge themselves and compete against other schools. 

It was lovely to see so many of you at the Year 10 Progress Evening on Thursday.  I hope Year 10 families enjoyed meeting with teachers to receive an update on your child’s progress and attainment, in each of their subjects.  We also piloted an online Progress Evening for a small number of our Business Studies students.  We are exploring whether this might be an option for us next academic year, more to follow there in due course.

The online appointment took place on an app called Edulink, that will be taking over from our current app MyEd.   We plan to share details of the new app, and how to sign up in the latter part of this term.  Again, more information to follow in due course.

The anticipation is building as the Clio's group gears up for the upcoming E17 Art Trail in June.  This week, Year 9 students, under the guidance of Ms. Ahmet, Head of Classics, delved deep into their preparations.  They meticulously finalised still frames and passionately discussed designs for theatre masks.  Friday saw another engaging workshop with Clio's Company, where intricate storyboards for individual characters were crafted, each narrative weaving into the rich tapestry of Ancient Rome's life in Londinium.  Ms. Ahmet beams with pride at the dedication displayed by her students.  Bravo to the Year 9 participants.  The excitement is palpable as we eagerly await the culmination of their hard work and our opportunity to view the work produced in our Kelmscott Gallery, situated in reception as part of the E17 Art Trail.

I was alarmed to hear in the media this week, the rise of financially motivated sexual extortion of young people.  It is a form of child abuse, where adult gangs threaten to send compromising pictures of young people, that have been obtained duplicitously, unless they receive money from the young person.  I can’t imagine how distressing this would be for any young person.  Please talk to your children about the dangers of this, and ensure you continue to monitor their social media and phone use.

Sunday 5th May marks the one-year anniversary since Renell Charles, a popular member of last year’s Year 11, passed away.  This is a particularly sombre moment for our school community, as you might imagine.   Renell’s family have asked to share with you that flowers/tributes can be laid on the corner of Markhouse Road and Downsfield Road, for those of our community who would like to pay their respects.

An opportunity now on behalf of the climate change team.  Waltham Forest Council is looking for residents in Markhouse Ward to take part in a paid (£20), 1 hour focus group on energy efficiency.  Taking place on Thursday 9th May, 6-7pm at The Small Café, Lea Bridge Library, E10 7HU.   Applications are encouraged ideally from those who own their home or rent from a private landlord, living on Alexandra Road, Beaconsfield Road, Broomfield, Herbert Road, Samantha Close or Sylvester Road. However, you can still apply if you do not live on these streets.  To apply please see here: https://bit.ly/GBISfocusgroup 

We experienced some issues with our food service today.  As a result, the food options were limited, and service delayed the start of session 3 for a number of students.   I will be discussing this with the senior members of staff at The Pantry, our caterers, as a matter of urgency next week.

Finally, congratulations to the following students who topped the reward points chart last week for their year group, with a special mention to Ryan Usman Khan 7S who topped the charts for the entire school with 23 points.  Keep up the good work.

• Year  7  Ryan Usman Khan 7S with 23 points

• Year  8  Terrell-James McArthur-Channer 8L with 20 points

• Year  9  Daniel Ukwandu 9L with 12 points 

• Year 10 Juliana Sukai  10K with 18 points

• Year 11  Dylan Chadwick Aryee 11E with 11 points

With every good wish,

Mr Sam Jones 

Headteacher