Headteacher's Message

At the end of last week the government published national data about this year’s GCSE outcomes. Normally this would be a progress score, but as our Year 11 didn’t have the opportunity to sit their SATS at the end of Year 6 due to covid, they have only published attainment scores. We know we achieved another set of fantastic results this year and were delighted to not only be the best performing school in the borough but also the 10th best comprehensive school across the country. A huge congratulations to all our Year 11 students who contributed to this fantastic achievement.

Monday evening’s Live Lounge performance was a spectacular way to begin the final week of this half term. It has been wonderful to watch this event grow and see so many of our talented students have an opportunity to shine. As ever the set list covered many musical artists and genres including Vivaldi, The Cure and Gilbert & Sullivan. We even had the opportunity to hear some of the students’ own compositions. My thanks to Ms Lewis who led the event, supported by the Performing Arts team, the incredible House Band, our lighting crew and the prefects for organising another wonderful event.

We have had another busy week to complete this half term, with our Year 7 pupils taking part in a book swap event organised by the English department as part of the Book Champions Initiative. Our Eco Committee joined in with a ‘Climate, Adaptation and Resilience’ Day with Let’s Go Outside and Learn at Kneller Gardens. Pupils took part in practical conservation activities alongside experienced volunteers and rangers and joined a creative workshop exploring environmental themes.

On Wednesday evening the Sixth Form welcomed Year 12 parents for their first parent/carer consultation meetings since the start of A Level courses. It was lovely to meet so many of you.

We have also run a number of trips this week including for our Year 13 Drama students who saw PUNCH at The Apollo Theatre in central London, while Year 12 Media Studies pupils attended the MCM Comic Conference at ExCel London.

Today I really enjoyed the rosy hue brought to school by our Year 7 students as they all joined in our Pink Day in support of Breast Cancer Charities. So far we have raised just over £400. Thank you to everyone for their generous support, there is still time to donate via ParentPay.

Have a lovely weekend and enjoy your half term break!

Ms E Tongue

Key School Dates

Tuesday 28 October Year 7-11 Tempest Photography deadline for free delivery to school
Friday 31 October Happy Halloween
Monday 3 October – Friday 14 November Year 11 Mock Exams
Wednesday 5 November All Years Return to School
Wednesday 5 November Bonfire Night/Guy Fawkes’
Sunday 9 November Remembrance Sunday

Year Group Messages

Year 7

I would like to congratulate Year 7 for all their efforts and their enthusiastic and positive approach to school life this half term.

This week students in Franklin and Eliot experienced their first House assembly led by Mr Reynolds, Pankhurst and Seacole will have their assembly after half term.

On Wednesday at lunchtime we held our first ever book swap. It was lovely seeing Year 7 excited with the new books they are going to start to read over the holidays. Don’t forget we are still running our October Readathon, encouraging students to read as much as they can in return for sponsorship money for ReadforGood. So far there is £507 in the fundraising pot, please keep reading and help us to achieve our target of £3,000.

The Year 7/8 football team played their 3rd game of the season this week against Richmond Upon Thames School. It was another fantastic win, scroll down to the Sports Fixtures section to read more…

At lunchtime on Friday the Drama department held auditions for My Fair Lady. It was great to see the musical talent on display in Year 7, we look forward to seeing those successful performing later this term.

Finally today our Year 7 have really set the school a blaze in their wonderful pink outfits, with 7PCL voted as our ‘Most Pink’ tutor groups. Together we have raised £404 for Breast Cancer research and CoppaFeel! It is not too late to donate to these two amazing charities via ParentPay and boost our fundraising total.

Congratulations to Louisa R 7EHA who has qualified to represent Richmond Borough in the London Youth Games Cross Country 2025 taking place on Saturday 8 November at Parliament Hill. The top 12 fastest girls for their age groups were selected from across the Borough to take part. We wish Louise the very best of luck for this event and look forward to hearing about how she gets on!

As we have reached the last week before half term, here are the top 3 Year 7 tutor groups on Epraise: 1st 7PRE, 2nd 7SSN & 3rd 7FSM. Well done to them and everyone who has achieved Epraise points this half term.

I’d like to finish by wishing Year 7 a very happy half term. They have done tremendously well settling into their secondary school career at Waldegrave, taking advantage of the opportunities to get involved in many aspects of school life. I hope they have a safe and fun half term and enjoy any Halloween celebrations that they take part in.

A reminder that we return to school on Wednesday 5 November and it will be a week A.

Wishing you all a lovely half term!

Mrs Bashford-Hynes, Head of Year 7

Year 8

This week we started our house assemblies, two will be held this side of half term and two the other side. During the house assemblies we share stories and pictures from the house events like sport tournaments and the bake sale and share how much money was raised by everyone. This then feeds into house points which all add up towards our house totals for the end of the year.

Mr Reynolds, our Head of House, then went on to speak to the students about the power of consistency, how turning up when you don’t want to and battling through adversity creates powerful, strong people who succeed in life. He had several real life examples which the students enjoyed hearing about.

Don’t forget we are still running our October Readathon, encouraging students to read as much as they can in return for sponsorship money for ReadforGood. So far there is £507 in the fundraising pot, please keep reading and help us to achieve our target of £3,000.

At the end of this term our final Epraise winners are 8PCO with 795 points collectively, followed closely by 8EHO who have 777. Our top individuals this week are Chloe C, Aylin G and Bo Yee C. Well done to everyone and keep collecting!

A very big well done to all the students for getting through this very long first half term. The students have settled back in very well and I wish them the very best for the half term break.

A reminder that the half term break ends on Wednesday 5 November and with the colder days ahead please make sure students’ additional clothing is well labelled when we come back.

Wishing you all a very happy half term!

Ms M Rook, Head of Year 8

Year 9

We have had a fantastic final week of what has been a busy first half of the Autumn term and Year 9 has continued to impress both myself and their teachers. I have enjoyed visiting Year 9 students in some of their lessons. It is always so lovely to see the students enjoying their subjects and the standard of work produced is very impressive.

This week during technology they were working on sustainability using waste parts to design and produce different varieties of hanging ornaments – it was lovely to see the different creations: necklaces, earrings, tree decorations, key rings. Great work!

During PE this term some of year 9 have been doing Cheerleading and learning the different skills and techniques whilst produces choreographed performances – a great activity for developing important life skills such as trust (during lifts and group balances) and teamwork, leadership, confidence and resilience. It was lovely to see their performance – well done!

Don’t forget we are still running our October Readathon, encouraging students to read as much as they can in return for sponsorship money for ReadforGood. So far there is £507 in the fundraising pot, please keep reading and help us to achieve our target of £3,000.

Top epraise forms for Year 9 this week are: 9PIR, 9SHU and 9FDR
Year 9 total this half term is 3600 – which is fantastic – well done everyone!

Our individual epraise leader board was topped this week by Mina R 9PIR followed closely by Samaira N 9SHU and EVA E 9EDA – very well done to those students for leading the way!

This week we started our house assemblies, two will be held this side of half term and two the other side. During the house assemblies we share stories and pictures from the house events like sport tournaments and the bake sale and share how much money was raised by everyone. This then feeds into house points which all add up towards our house totals for the end of the year.

We want to end this half term positively and so we would ask for your support in checking in with your child about how they feel this term has gone so far and if there is anything they would like to work on moving forward.

I am sure everyone is looking forward to the half term break. Students are due to return to school on Wednesday 5 November. We encourage you to remind your children about the key expectations around uniform, lanyards and chrome books. This will enable Year 9 to put their best foot forward!

Wishing you all a very happy half term.

Mrs N Lyddon

Year 10

As this half term comes to an end I do want to take this opportunity to congratulate our wonderful Year 10s. They have truly approached this step into Key Stage 4 with such calmness and focus.

We have had two of our House Assemblies this week (Franklin and Eliot) it was so wonderful seeing the students across all 5 year groups celebrating their houses achievements this half term. I know that our Year 10s will be wanting their house to win the House Trophy at the end of the year – so please encourage them to get involved in all house events.

On Friday we had an informative assembly from Ms Hopping about Work Experience. There will be more details about this in the next half term but for now please just speak to your child/ren about the expectations around Work Experience. We know it is an incredibly valuable opportunity and we want all our students to make the most of this.

This week – following on from the successful Jack Petchey Drop Down Day – the Year 10s were delivering speeches in their English classes as part of the Spoken Language competent of their GCSEs. Having spoken to all of the English teachers, we have been so impressed by the level of speeches this year. Most students were able to stand up in front of the class and deliver a speech of 1-2 minutes on a topic of their choice. These will be awarded a mark of ‘pass/merit or distinction’ as part of their GCSEs.

The final total for Epraise this half term is 2,936 points. Well done to everyone who earned epraise this half term!

We do hope that our Year 10s have enjoyed getting to know their new classes this half term and that they are able to have some relaxing down time away from school for the half term. When we do return, we want our students to be referred and ready for another fantastic half term!

Have a wonderful break!

Mrs O Mortimer

Year 11

It is officially the last week of this half term and I would like to congratulate Year 11 students who have done really well, trying their best in lessons and already getting on top of their revision ahead of their upcoming mock exams.

This week we had a member of staff from ‘Kooth’ come in to talk to Year 11 students about how to manage exam stress. Kooth is a free, safe, and anonymous online mental health and wellbeing service for children and young people, available 24/7. It offers support through live text-based chats with qualified counsellors and emotional wellbeing practitioners, along with self-help resources, moderated discussion forums for peer support, and various activities. They also have a lot of resources for helping to manage exam stress which will hopefully be useful to them.

In recognition of Black History month we have spent form times learning about black contributions to Britain’s wars which were often overlooked, despite being incredibly significant to the war effort. This will also continue after half term where students will learn about significant figures who have been hidden from Britain’s history for centuries.

We have 9 students across the school that have achieved 100% attendance over both 2023/24 and 2024/25, three of whom are in Year 11. Congratulations to Charmaine F, Gochy A and Honor Davis. They have all received 100% attendance badges and been awarded 10 Epraise points each.

Students have their upcoming mocks during the half term holidays. These will also continue the week after the holidays as well. Letters have been sent out to parents/carers detailing the exams that students have and the timings of these, so that it is clear. Do contact the school if you have any further questions

Wishing you all a very happy half term.

Mrs H Porteous

Health & Wellbeing

Half-term is often seen as a welcome break from school routines. For many young people, it’s a chance to rest, spend time with friends and family, or enjoy hobbies. But it can also be a time when worries, stress, or low mood surface. This can be particularly true for students approaching mock exams. As parents, this is an opportunity to check in on young people’s emotional wellbeing and offer support.

Young people don’t always express how they are feeling directly. Changes in sleep or appetite, irritability, withdrawal from friends or family, difficulty concentrating, or low motivation can all be signs that a young person is struggling. Even small changes can be meaningful, and noticing patterns over time can help you recognise when additional support might be needed routines, such as regular meal and sleep times, helps young people

During half-term, there are simple ways to support young people’s mental wellbeing. Encouraging open conversation and providing a safe space to talk can make a big difference. Maintaining some routines, such as regular meal and sleep times, helps young people feel secure, while promoting opportunities for physical activity, time outdoors, and relaxation supports overall wellbeing.

Modelling self-care yourself also shows that it’s normal and healthy to take time to rest and recharge.

Sometimes, despite supportive conversations and routines, a young person may need professional help. Persistent low mood, ongoing anxiety, difficulty engaging in school or social activities, or feeling unable to cope are all signals that additional support could be beneficial. Waldegrave students can find guided self-help via Zumos and wellbeing activities or anonymous professional support via Kooth.

Ms S Moore, Director of Wellbeing

Sports Fixtures

This term we have had a flurry of sporting activity from netball matches to in-school rugby tournaments. Read on to find out more…

Date

Fixture

Result

Player(s) of the match

22.10.25 Y7/8 Football v Richmond Upon Thames School 19-1 WIN Sio D

On Wednesday afternoon our mixed Year 7/8 Football Team played an away game against Richmond Upon Thames School. The match features debut performances from four of our players – Raffi B, Ava J, Isabel M and Isla R which was obviously lucky for us as they smashed the competition with an incredible team performance. Sio D was named the players’ player.

We are so proud of the Y7/8 mixed team who have started their sporting career at Waldegrave with a bang!

Well done to everyone who has taken part in sports this term.

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