Headteacher's Message
This week the mock exams were completed for Year 11 and 13, which will be a relief for all students involved. Well done to them all for the hard work they have put in!
The UK Youth Parliament and Kingston and Richmond Youth Council elections are taking place this month and we are proud to say we have six students running in these elections. Good luck to Amber P (9PAH), Daisy J (10SAN), Jiya K (10EMU), Judith K (10FDO), Tamira R (10SSR) and Annabelle R (11PGU) who are in the running for a place in both of these elections. Pupils will be given guidance on how to view the manifestos and place their votes during tutor times over the coming week.
Our Year 10s have had a treat this week, visiting the Old Operating Theatre in class groups at the original site of St Thomas’ Hospital in Southwark. This is always a fascinating trip for the pupils, as they can view both the exhibits, hear from the experts and also take part in a reconstruction of an operation before the arrival of anaesthesia and antiseptics. It is gruesome stuff but a lot of fun and really brings to life the History of Medicine unit as part of their GCSE curriculum.
On Wednesday a handful of selected Year 10 students were also lucky to be brought to the Ogden Trust STEM careers afternoon at Hampton Boys School. They met with five scientists to learn about different career options that science subjects can lead to including Tom Leggett, Lead Doctor at the FA for the England parafootball teams, Andrew McHutchon, a senior data scientist at McLaren, Charlotte Massey, an International Development Manager from the National Physical Laboratory, Jen Parsons a Naval Architect and also Iryna Bennet, Technology Area Manager for the UK Atomic Energy Authority. It was a great event and will certainly inspire pupils to look towards a career in science.
Thursday was World Book Day, which our Book Champions recognised by sharing their book recommendations for each year group in the school. You can see the full list and other activities our Book Champions have been undertaking this year on our website here. The team also hosted a very successful Book Swap for our Year 7 and 8 pupils.
Our Sixth form welcomed Marion Clark, Head of Forensic Social Work at West London NHS Trust and Broadmoor Hospital for a talk about social work and the interaction between mental health, criminal justice systems and the law. The talk was very relevant to the Crime and Deviance unit for those studying sociology and the Forensic unit for psychology but was interesting to all students who attended particularly the ethics around offending and mental health.
Our Sixth Form Fashion and Photography students enjoyed trips today to the Tate Modern and the V&A. Our Photography students were invited for a behind the scenes visit Zandra Rhodes Private studio, not usually open to the public. This exciting visit was led by Piers Atkinson, Director of the Zandra Rhodes Foundation and allowed students to see the origins of the work of this amazing artist and fashion designer. The Fashion students visited the Marie Antoinette Style exhibition at the V&A exploring the lasting influence of the ill-fated queen over 250 years of design, fashion, film and art.
We have ended the week with another fantastic bake off event, this week our Year 9s have tested their talents, taking on the cupcake challenge. The flavour mixes this week included mango and matcha as well as S’mores cupcakes! Our judges were deeply impressed by the creativity on display particularly some of the more technical details. Congratulations to our winners 9SHU and to everyone who took part.
