Headteacher's Weekly Update 31 - Friday 15th May 2026

Dear Parents and Carers

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

Attendance for the week of 4th - 8th May 2026 remained at 92%.  

Attendance by Year group:

• Year 7 94.33%

• Year 8 93.80%

• Year 9 92.04%

• Year 10 93.06%

• Year 11 85.91%

  
  

As I often say, attendance remains one of the biggest priorities and indeed challenges facing schools nationally.  We know attendance can be a complex issue for some families and young people, with a range of factors at play including anxiety, illness and wider family circumstances.  At the same time, regular attendance remains one of the strongest predictors of academic success, wellbeing and positive routines. Thank you, as always, for your continued support in helping students attend school consistently and on time.

A huge well done to our Year 11 students who have made a very positive start to the examination season.  Staff have commented on the mature and purposeful approach shown by the overwhelming majority of students, and we are proud of how they have conducted themselves so far.  A gentle but important reminder for families and students: Ofqual have again warned students that bringing a mobile phone or smart device into an examination hall places qualifications at serious risk.  Last year nationally there were over 2,000 recorded cases of malpractice linked to phones and smart devices, with many students losing marks or, in some cases, being disqualified from examinations altogether. Please do take this message seriously and support us in ensuring students leave phones and smart devices at home or placed in bags appropriately before examinations begin.

The Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ) is urging schools and colleges to remind students that Wednesday 24th June is reserved for the contingency day should any exams need to be rescheduled due to national or local emergencies.  Students should be prepared to sit exams on that date if it is required. 

I also wanted to briefly mention communication with school.  If you contact us, I would always want you to receive a timely response, ideally within 48 hours at the latest.  Schools are busy places and occasionally things do slip, but we are committed to providing an excellent standard of service to our community.  If you feel a response has been missed, please do send a polite reminder email or follow-up phone call.

I spoke in last week’s letter about my excitement at the official launch of the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Scheme to our current Year 9 students.  This is a fantastic opportunity for young people to develop resilience, teamwork, leadership and independence.  Our planned timeline is as follows:

• Friday 15th May: DofE launch video shown during AM registration

• Tuesday 19th May: Lunchtime Q&A session in L119 and expression of interest forms distributed

• Tuesday 2nd June: Deadline for expression of interest forms

• Thursday 2nd July: Parent information evening, 6pm–7pm (TBC)

  
  

We are very much looking forward to seeing students engage with what is always a hugely rewarding experience.

A reminder also that Thursday 21st May is our Year 10 Progress Evening and will also be a non-uniform day for Years 7–10.  Students may wear their own clothes and a £2 contribution should be paid online. Funds raised will go directly towards the Kelmscott Hardship Fund which supports families within our community.  Please note that Year 11 students must attend school in full uniform due to examinations taking place that day.  Students arriving in non-uniform would unfortunately need to be sent home to change, causing unnecessary upset and disruption on an important examination day.  I am sure our Year 11 students, who are taking things seriously, will fully support this expectation.

I have really enjoyed looking through the entries for the Kelmscott Wildlife Photography Competition this week.  The quality, creativity and patience shown by students has been genuinely inspiring and judging the competition in the coming weeks will certainly be a challenge.  It has been wonderful to see so many students engaging positively with the competition and taking the time to capture the world around them so thoughtfully.  I very much look forward to sharing some of the images with our community in due course.  Well done to everybody who entered — I sincerely hope this becomes a much-loved annual Kelmscott tradition. 

A timely repeat of my request from November, as everything in the science garden and orchard begins to flourish beautifully.  The garden is looking particularly stunning at the moment, especially the tulips and I would like to thank everyone involved for all of the hard work and care that goes into maintaining it.  If you have any good-quality gardening items that you no longer need, such as trowels, small hand forks or other basic gardening tools, gloves or especially wellies, we would be extremely grateful for any donations.

We continue to run a centralised detention system for students whose punctuality or behaviour falls below Kelmscott expectations.  For the past few months, students have been collected from lessons and escorted to detention.  Moving forward, we would like students to demonstrate greater independence and responsibility by making their own way to detention.  From Monday, in line with our policy, this will become the expectation.  To ensure consistency, we will be taking a firm line where detentions are missed, which will result in an IC placement, something we would very much like to avoid.  On a positive note, students who arrive promptly and work well throughout detention will be dismissed 10 minutes early.

Next week is Numeracy Week, with a range of exciting activities taking place across the school:

• Monday: Treasure Hunt Challenge around the school site, supported by Numeracy Mentors

• Tuesday: KPMG Numeracy Workshop exploring real-life applications of numeracy skills

• Wednesday: “Number Heroes” poster competition exhibition in K107

• Thursday: Numeracy Building Challenge at lunchtime

  
  

Students participating in competitions will receive certificates and reward points, with winners receiving additional prizes and recognition.  A huge thank you in advance to staff supporting the activities throughout the week.

Sport now and another week full of impressive performances, teamwork and competitive success across a range of events.

This week saw our Year 7 and Year 8 girls competing in the Borough Athletics competition.  Both year groups took part in a range of track and field events, including the 100m, 300m, 1500m, long jump and shot put.  A special mention must go to all of the Year 7 girls, who represented the school brilliantly at their very first borough athletics event.  There were some outstanding individual performances throughout the day.  Congratulations to Year 8 student Myah Farrugia, who finished first in her 300m heat and to Sienna Bowen, who achieved an impressive third place in a highly competitive Year 7 300m field.  Particular praise also goes to Iris Bogan, who finished second in the Year 7 girls’ 1500m race with an excellent time of 5 minutes 15 seconds.  Ellie Nickson also performed superbly, securing second place in the 1500m event.

On Monday afternoon, our Year 10 students took part in their Basketball Interform competition.  There was an excellent turnout, with every form eager to claim the title.  After several competitive group-stage matches, the top two forms from each group progressed to the semi-finals: 10E, 10S, 10O and 10M.  The semi-finals saw 10E defeat 10O to secure their place in the final, while 10S progressed after overcoming 10M in another closely contested match.  The final proved to be a thrilling contest. After seven minutes of intense play, the score remained 0–0, with both teams displaying outstanding defensive performances.  With the scores tied after normal time, the game moved to a “next basket wins” format.  Shortly afterwards, 10E emerged victorious when Lorence Doclis-Capili skilfully evaded his opponent, nailing an impressive jump shot that secured the win.

Well done to all students who competed this week and for those that represented the school so brilliantly, contributing to another fantastic week of sport at Kelmscott that we have grown accustomed to.

Congratulations to our reward points winners for the week 4th - 8th May 2026:

• Year 7, Mariam Betsabe Ilyas Rafael in 7M with 42 points

• Year 8, Lois Lablanchy in 8E with 42 points

• Year 9, Ana Raducan in 9M with 43 points

• Year 10, Elizabeth Pater in 10T with 9 points

• Year 11, Aleka Williams in 11L with 12 points

  
  

Special mention to Ana Raducan in 9M who topped the rewards points charts with an impressive 43 reward points, a great achievement. 

Thank you, as always, for your continued support.

With every good wish,

Mr Sam Jones 

Headteacher