I hope this letter finds you and your families well; a Friday update for you as always.
This week has been dominated in school, by our preparations for the Open Evening that took place on Wednesday evening. Staff worked incredibly hard to ensure that we showed off the school in the very best light and students volunteered, in their droves, to show guests around the school, or help out in subject areas.
The turnout was our best ever with well over two hundred families visiting the school. The feedback was incredibly positive, particularly about our students. I spoke in my speech about our students being our success stories, how engaging, thoughtful and kind they are. Of course the credit sits with their families too, I know you are just as proud of your children as we are. Many thanks to all of those involved on the night, it was great to be able to open up our doors and showcase the school so positively.
Our Uniform Bank has been very busy this term so far. We continue to welcome donations of used uniform, that is still in good condition. It can be handed in at reception or given to a child’s form tutor. If there are any families that would like to use the Uniform Bank, please get in contact with us at uniformbank@kelmscott.waltham.sch.uk
I’m very pleased with the start we have made, in terms of our co-curricular offer this year. Last week we took part in the global National Coding Week. This gave all staff and students an opportunity to learn new digital skills with no coding experience necessary. We had a range of students from Year 7 to 10, who coded, excitedly, on various platforms such as CodeAvengers and Scratch. Our Computing and IT department have promised even more co-curricular opportunities later this year, so please keep a lookout for more in due course. The next event will be the Bebras Competition which will develop students' logic skills, with over 50 countries taking part.
This week, a group of Year 7s travelled to Southend; they walked along the seafront from Westcliff and carried out a number of geographical fieldwork techniques (even in some light rain), including sketching and traffic surveys. In the afternoon they worked in groups to map the land use in the pedestrian area, and carried out more surveys to allow them to compare traffic flows around the area. Staff and students demonstrated the R (Resilience), in our STORM characteristics, in abundance as they battled with some transport issues at the start of the day. Once this was overcome, a fantastic day was had by all.
Our football fixtures have begun too with students in Year 8 boys in action against Norlington School and Year 9 boys against Lammas. I managed to sneak out of school for half an hour to watch the Year 8s on Monday. They performed very well, and came out on top in an 8-3 victory. Year 9 didn’t fare quite as well going down 5-3 but the game could have gone either way, in all fairness, with lots of positives to take out of the game for the Kelmscott team.
Monday next week, 3rd October, is our first Parent Forum in the school hall from 2.15pm. This is run by Deputy Headteacher Chris Eley. Mr Eley will be discussing pertinent issues in and around school, and is keen to hear from parents about their experience and perspective. We have a number of these meetings planned for the school year, as we continue to build positive and meaningful relationships with our community. We look forward to seeing many of you there.
Thanks to those of you who have responded to the Parent Governor vacancy we currently have. If any further parents are interested in finding out more about the role, please get in contact with Louise Adams, my PA, l.adams@kelmscott.waltham.sch.uk
Next Tuesday morning 4th October is an Inset Morning at school with staff training taking place until 10.40am. Students will have a later start and should report to their usual gate at 10.40am please. After break time, they will go to session two as usual.
Finally, congratulations to Radhika Patel in 9C who topped the rewards points charts with 23 last week, keep up the good work.
Yours sincerely
Mr Sam Jones
Headteacher
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