Headteacher's Message
Despite the miserable winter weather this week our Year 11s determination to work hard in preparation for the GCSEs has not been dampened. Our Design and Technology students have been working hard on textile and woodwork designs during ‘Make Days’ while Music students recorded their first exam pieces. Teachers have all commented on the creativity and talent demonstrated – well done to them all!
It has been a week for language trips in the Sixth Form with language study days for both the Year 13 German students and Year 12 Spanish Students. Year 13 went to the Goethe Institut to support their German A-Level on Wednesday. The trip gave students an insight into contemporary German culture and included a film screening of ‘Es Brennt’. On Thursday the Y12 Spanish students went to the British Film Institute where they had an introduction to the themes and style in the films of the Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar. Both trips were a great success with lots of positive feedback from pupils.
We had another fantastic Working Lunch careers talk on Thursday, this time with Stephanie Rogers, Chief People Officer at Lidl who spoke about careers in retail and HR. She covered entry requirements for retail graduate schemes, starting salaries and the types of work an employee on their graduate scheme could expect to be doing in their first years. Thank you to Ms Lee Lewis for arranging this fantastic series of careers talks, which have been so popular within the school and attracted some really inspiring speakers. This month we still have talks with media and tech entrepreneur, Will Mills and Head of Entertainment Commissioning at the BBC, Kalpna Patel.
Finally, a reminder that the deadline for anyone wanting to apply for a place in the Waldegrave Sixth Form is this coming Monday 19 January at 9am.
You can apply here.
This week Year 7 were tasked with presenting their ‘Try January’ challenge ideas. During tutor time on Monday they had time to think up challenges and design the slide to present these. In Wednesday’s assembly the students presented their ‘Try January’ challenge ideas and it was lovely to see the confident way in which they did this. Well done to them all for listening so well and showing their appreciation at the end of each form group presentation. A further well done goes to Chloe & Alice 7FBO, Harper, Radika & Ellie W 7FSM, Livvy & Divina 7EHA, Malak, Eva & Emily 7EVA, Ruzgar & Samara 7SRI, Scarlett & Inaaya 7PCL, Sadie & Ivy 7PRE who each led their form’s presentation. We hope Year 7 will continue to meet these challenges throughout the year.
Well done to the Year 7 students who took part in the U13 Richmond Schools Sports Partnership Indoor Cricket tournament on Monday. They played really well in their first cricket tournament for the school and helped the team to a 3rd place result.
This week we said goodbye to the ice and hello to the rain! We began the week with an assembly focused on the theme of potential. Students were guided to reflect on what inspires them and how inspiration can emerge in many forms, as well as to consider their own individual journeys — how far they have already come and the exciting possibilities that still lie ahead. We explored the importance of gratitude and recognised how the people around us can support us along the way. Students were also reminded that making mistakes and experiencing setbacks are a natural part of growth; learning how to fail, reflect, and rise again is what builds resilience and helps shape strong, confident individuals.
On Wednesday the Under 16 Rugby team took part in the Richmond Schools Sport’s Partnership participation tournament for a fantastic afternoon of sport.
