I hope this letter finds you and your families well; a Friday update for you as always.
Another full, busy but ultimately rewarding week here at Kelmscott. Mr Ahmed took a group of year
8 students to Stoneydown Park Primary School at the start of the week to help judge their Poetry
Slam. Lia Suleyman in 8O performed a poem they had written which was very well received by staff and students alike. I received an email from the Stoneydown Park Headteacher thanking our
students, and saying what a credit they had been to the school, thanks to all involved.
Year 9 had their basketball inter-form competition on Wednesday, following in the footsteps of Year 7 last week. Again, over sixty boys and girls were involved on the night being cheered on by their form tutors. There was only 1 league point in between each final position from 2nd to 5th; 9C and 9M reached the final which will take place on 16th March.
We welcomed Kay Adekunle Rufai from the S.M.I.L.E-ing Boys Project on Wednesday of this week;
SMILE-ing Boys Project – Universoul Artist He is working with a group of Year 10 boys for the
next six weeks or so. Kay is a photographer, poet, filmmaker, mental health researcher,
playwright and immersive artist, whose work spans the past 5 years across the globe. He has
spent the past 3 years exploring public health approach to violence reduction, mental health,
masculinity and community cohesion through art, photography, educational workshops, and
public speaking. The boys got off to a great start and really enjoyed their first session, we look
forward to seeing and hearing how the remaining sessions go – we are confident that the group
will gain much from this experience.
Thursday was our Year 9 Parents’ Evening, the first time we have been able to welcome this set
of families into school, to receive individual feedback from subject teachers. We hope it was a
great evening for you, it was very nice to see families and meet some of you for the first time.
We plan to trial a different approach to our last Parents’ Evening of the year, Year 8, in the
summer term; a combination of in-person appointments and the telephone appointments we
had for the recent Year 7 Parents Evening. We feel this is worth exploring, as some families find
it difficult to come in for such evenings due to work, or other commitments. We also know the
importance of building relationships with our families in-person, so don’t want to lose sight of
this either. The Year 8 Parents Evening might look something like this:
➔ 4.30pm until 6.00pm - In-person appointments on site
➔ 6.30pm until 7.00pm - Telephone appointments
We hope this will maximise attendance at these important evenings. More to follow in due
course about how this will work for Year 8 families, as well as some feedback for all families as
to how it all went.
Year 9 are completing exams in class this week and next, as we check in to see how their
learning is progressing. We wish them well and trust they will be taking these exams seriously
by working hard in school and revising hard at home.
It was World Book Day yesterday as I’m sure you are aware. We continue to work very hard as
a school on improving literacy, in general, as well as promoting a love of reading in our students
through our Tutor Reading Programme, as well as curriculum areas. We were pleased to see the
return of our Golden Ticket scheme this year for World Book Day. Each teacher presents a
golden ticket to a student in their class who has displayed good literacy skills. Students can
then cash their ticket in for a book of their choice. I awarded my ticket to the aforementioned
Lia, for the poetry recital at Stoneydown. Ms Longman has put together a fabulous list of 100
recommended books for secondary aged young people. It is located in each student's Google
Classroom, I recommend you have a look.
We have had three cases of Covid-19 in students this week. Please see the accompanying letter
from Joe McDonnell the Head of Public Health in Waltham Forest, with confirmation of the
current advice around Covid-19 for our community.
A polite notice or two now for families. Please ensure that we have an up-to-date telephone
number for family contacts on our system. Please also ensure you are able to accept calls from
the school. If you do receive a call from us, please try your best to call us back to find out why
we have made contact, particularly if we have left a message. Additionally, please do not
contact your child during the school day on their mobile phone. As you are aware, students are
not permitted to use their phones during the school day. If you do need to contact your child,
you are most welcome to contact us on the school number and we will be happy to relay any
messages on your behalf. Many thanks for your support here.
I have attached a flyer from the Borough, with information about support for families who might
be having financial issues as private tenants, due to Covid-19. Please have a look if this might
be relevant for you.
Finally, congratulations to Yabsora Fikadu in 7E who amassed the most rewards points last week
for the whole school, keep up the good work.
Yours sincerely
Mr Sam Jones
Headteacher