Headteacher's Message
Firstly, I would like to talk about the International Day of the Girl Child which was on Sunday last week. This awareness day is a global moment to celebrate girls everywhere, amplifying their voices, actions and leadership – something we aspire to do each day at Waldegrave by living our values of: Enjoy, achieve, empower.
Our Sixth Form Open Evening took place on Wednesday evening and I want to convey my thanks to all the staff and student volunteers who supported this incredibly successful event. We had approximately 1,500 visitors on the night, who learned about life in the Sixth Form, our academic offer, met current students and toured our site.
Highlights of the evening included a sociology crime scene, spectacular science experiments, as well as live drama, music and textiles demonstrations. The feedback we have received has been incredibly positive with some parents emailing as soon as they got home.
“My son and I were so impressed by what Waldegrave has to offer in Sixth Form and he was really inspired by all the discussions with the current students and staff.”
Following the late evening on Wednesday and to accommodate the Year 10 Meet the Tutor Morning, the school day began later on Thursday morning. It was a great session and I am so pleased we can offer this meaningful time for parents to meet with tutors. The condensed timetable went well on the day, my thanks to all for managing with these changes.
We also had A level students studying German attending a careers roadshow at the Goethe Institut on Thursday. This event offered an insight into studying or working in Germany, empowering students with the knowledge they need and inspiring them for the future.
I am also proud to share that one of our talented pupils, Ela U, 10SHU, has been quietly achieving with her writing. She has entered two nature and wildlife themed writing competitions, coming second in the Hen Harrier Action’s 2026 Young Wild Writers and is currently shortlisted in the Scottish Wildlife Trust’s Words of the Wild 2026. You can read her beautiful piece, ‘My Year has no Months’, in our news piece here and I would encourage you to vote for your favourite finalist in their People’s Choice Award. We wish Ela the best of luck for when the winners are announced on the 24 October.
This week Waldegrave hosted our annual Scholastic Travelling Books Fair – where every book purchase helps the school earn free books for our library – and the Year 7 Readathon is well underway. Each year the Waldegrave English Department raises money for an amazing charity called Read for Good (Readathon) by inviting Year 7 to try and get sponsored for their reading in October. Sponsorship can be as little as £1 and we appreciate any money that students are able to collect. There is a link for payment on ParentPay, and you can read more about the charity on the Read for Good website.
Today we were back to our usual timetable which was a relief after such a hectic week!
On Tuesday evening, our Year 12 Music students will be involved in the Live Lounge Performance. This FREE event is open to all to attend and we hope to see friends and family supporting performers. I would like to thank our students in advance for their participation in this event.
Other recommendations include letting the other person set the pace and resisting the urge to try to ‘fix’ things. You can find the full blog here: 
On Monday our Sixth Form Basket Ball team set off for a match against Sir Richard Reynolds Catholic College. The team played really well and used some of their practised set plays during the game. The final score was 72-95 to Waldegrave, a nice win for us! The team’s next match is due to take place against Turing House next Friday – good luck!
