Weekly Bulletin – Week 27

It has been lovely seeing Year 7 return to school this term full of the joys of spring and refreshed after the Easter break. We hope they all have a successful start to the term and engage in the new activities on offer.

The end of the Spring term was a fantastic celebration with a variety of events for Year 7. The celebration assembly demonstrated students’ success with ‘Enjoy, Achieve and Empower’ in subject areas and tutor time. Congratulations once again to all who received an award.

The prize for the top tutor group for attendance last term was awarded to 7FBO, congratulations to them.

The top three on the epraise student leaderboard at the end of the Spring Term were: 3rd – Alice J, 2nd – Arya Y and in 1st place – Annabelle H. Well done you three, this was and still is a hotly contested leaderboard.

Then the top three places on the tutor group leaderboard were awarded to: 3rd – 7EHA, 2nd – 7FBO and in 1st place – 7PRE. Once again, well done to you all for your hard work collecting epraise points throughout the term.

Our Year 7 bakers took part in the Waldegrave Bake Off on the final Thursday of term, with judges getting to taste their cupcakes on the last day of term – a real treat! It was a hard job to choose the winner as they really were fantastic. Well done to joint 3rd place: 7EHA & 7FBO, 2nd place: 7PCL and in 1st place: 7SRI.

In Waldegrave tradition we held our Easter Bonnet Parade on the final day of the Spring Term. What a joyful event that was with over 100 Year 7 students taking part. Well done to all those involved and special mentions go to Year 7 individual winner – Cleo A, 7PCL for her fantastic tea party themed top hat. Year 7 Individual runners up – Annabelle H & Liberty B 7PRE Year 7 Group runners up – Aden & Constance 7PCL. Year 7 Group Winners – Orla S, Ada D, Anika B, Maya S, Isabel Mc, Zinnia W 7SRI.

I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Isabella N-S, 7PCL for completing her Grade 4 ballet assessment recently with the Royal Academy of Dance for which she achieved a High Merit. What a wonderful achievement!

We held the Dance Show on Thursday after school and were absolutely blown away with the talent and skills of our Year 7 students. Well done to the Year 7 Dance Club, Lyrical group and the many individual and group dancers for their excellent performances.

The Waldegrave House Reading Competition starts again this term and will run until the Summer holidays. Prizes and house points for reading will go to the student who has read the most books & form who has read the most books. We can’t wait to see who the winners will be.

Have a great weekend!

Mrs Bashford-Hynes, Head of Year 7

It was lovely to see Year 8 returning to school this week, full of joys of spring and bursting with stories from their Easter holiday.

This week we launched our new mobile phone policy with Year 8 and many students have reported that they like the new app and that it is giving them peace of mind throughout the school day.

Our extra curricular sports clubs have changed to summer activities and have been posted on all Google Classrooms – Rounders, Athletics and Cricket are on offer after school, there will be opportunities to represent the school in up and coming fixtures. If your child would like to find out more about these opportunities then please ask them to speak to a member of the PE department.

We held the Dance Show on Thursday after school and were absolutely blown away with the talent and skills of our Year 8 students. Well done to the Year 8 enrichment class and all the many performers for their excellent performances.

This week our top ePraise scorers are Kayla H 8ESU, Flo H 8ESU and Annie Buckley 8SON. Keep up the hard work!

I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Emma C, 8PCO for taking part in the Richmond Music Festival and placing third in the Youth Intermediate Solo Category. This is a wonderful achievement!

Next week we will launch the House book competition being run by our Reading Champions. Students and forms will compete to read the most books during the Summer term, with the ultimate winners announced at the end of the year.

A reminder that we will have a team from the NHS in school administering the HPV vaccine to Year 8 students only on Tuesday morning. Please can you remind your child(ren) to wear short sleeves tops underneath their jumpers and to bring a water bottle with them on the day. If you have not already please read the letter from the NHS and fill out the consent form to inform whether you would like your child to receive the vaccine or not.

Have a lovely weekend!

Ms M Rook, Head of Year 8

We have had a very positive start to the summer term including some wonderful weather! I hope that everybody is refreshed after the break. During form time this week, students were reminded of the school routines as well as places that they can go to for support if they needed it. Looking ahead, students are reminded to bring all of their equipment for lessons and uniform is correctly worn.

Our extra curricular sports clubs have changed to summer activities and have been posted on all Google Classrooms – Rounders, Athletics and Cricket are on offer after school, there will be opportunities to represent the school in up and coming fixtures. If your child would like to find out more about these opportunities then please ask them to speak to a member of the PE department.

Our top three epraise forms this week are as follows 9PIR, 9EDA, 9FDR well done to those forms. Topping our epraise individual leader board this week are Zoe L 9SHU, Lisa B 9SHU and Gabriella H 9FDR – great start well done! Please remind your child that they can be awarded epraise both in lessons and form times for: working collaboratively, great work and homework, supporting each other, engagement in class activities, helping in the classroom, and supporting the teacher/ tutor.

We would love to hear about and celebrate our students’ achievements outside of school. Please be sure to let us know of anything your child has been involved with that deserves recognition.

We held the Dance Show on Thursday after school and were absolutely blown away with the talent and skills of our Year 9 students. Well done to the many individual and group dancers for their excellent performances.

As we look ahead, we will continue to emphasise the importance of maintaining our positive trends in attendance and uniform standards. Strong attendance remains one of the most significant factors in academic success, and we are grateful for your continued support in ensuring students arrive punctually and ready to learn each day. Likewise, high standards of uniform reflect the pride students take in belonging to our school community. By working together, we can ensure that these excellent habits remain consistent as the term progresses.

Looking forward to another great week.

Mrs N Lyddon

We hope you and your families enjoyed a restful Easter break and had the chance to recharge. It has been a pleasure welcoming our Year 10 students back to school this week.

As we enter the summer term, we are officially in the “final lap” of Year 10. This is a pivotal time where students transition from foundational learning to the more rigorous demands of their GCSEs.

We are incredibly proud of the maturity many have shown so far, and we look forward to seeing that same dedication as they begin to look toward their final year of secondary education.

We know that many of our students had a fabulous time on the Ski trip and they were praised highly overall for their enthusiasm, support and respect. We know that many of them will have incredibly fond memories of this which they will carry with them as they move into their final year.

To maintain a focused, professional, and safe learning environment, we ask for your continued support in ensuring all students adhere strictly to the school uniform policy. Following the holiday, we would like to highlight two specific areas where we have seen an increase in infringements:

Hair Styles and Colouring: We understand that the holidays are a time for self-expression; however, for school, hair must be of a natural base tone. We kindly ask that any “fashion colours” (such as bright pinks, blues, or bleached patterns) are returned to a natural shade.

False Nails and Eyelashes: For health and safety reasons –  particularly in PE, Science, and Technology practicals – false nails (acrylics, gels, or extensions) are not allowed.

We appreciate your cooperation in helping us avoid any difficult conversations or lost learning time regarding these matters.

Many thanks for your support and enjoy your weekend.

Mrs O Mortimer

It has been wonderful to welcome back Year 11s from their break. I hope that this proved restful as well as productive for them. It was great to see so many students at the Easter Revision sessions over the holidays. Lots of students said how useful these sessions were and I hope that they have got lots of helpful tips in regards to their examination preparation.

Congratulations to 11PGO for getting the award for the form with the most epraise points from the largest amount of teachers. A real achievement!

A reminder that if you child wants to attend Prom that a ticket needs to be purchased. The cost to attend the Prom is £45 which can be paid via ParentPay. The deadline for payment is 30 April.

In form, students also signed up for the Dress up Day parade. Any students who want to take part in this (as either an individual or a group) need to complete the form on the google classroom.

We held the Dance Show after school yesterday and were absolutely blown away with the talent and skills of our students. Very well done to Kenza J for her performance and to all the dancers for their excellent dancing.

Lastly, over the GCSE examination period, there will be revision sessions led by teachers which students can sign up for. These are not compulsory, but this is something that students find useful if they find revising at home difficult. Students need to sign up for these sessions if they want to take part. This google form is also on their tutor group google classroom.

Have a lovely weekend!

Mrs H Porteous