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Sixth Form Bulletin – Week 12

28 November 2025

Headteacher's Message

After over 80 hours of rehearsal our wonderful Performing Arts team’s staging of ‘My Fair Lady’ took place this week. During the course of six shows the school welcomed an audience of over thousand members for this sold out event, even welcoming pupils from local primaries for the matinee performances. As ever, the show was a triumph! Having heard the songs ringing through the corridors and seeing students in their Edwardian costumes, I could not wait to see the show and I was not disappointed. Not only were the performers superb, but the imaginative staging and costumes ensured we were all totally immersed in Edwardian London. A huge congratulations to everyone involved!

The drama didn’t stop there. On Thursday afternoon Year 11 Drama students visited Richmond Theatre to see a performance of The Woman in Black as part of their GCSE studies. It was another excellent performance that had students jumping out of their seats!

Meanwhile, our GCSE Art students completed their mock exam on Tuesday and Wednesday. The theme for the exam was ‘Power’ and it was wonderful to see all the different ways students had explored this through their art.
Yesterday our Year 12 Psychology students visited the Emmanuel Centre in Westminster for the Psychology in Action A level conference. Students had the opportunity to learn from experts speakers, with sessions exploring themes including ‘How to build a healthy brain’ and ‘Finding Focus in a Frantic World.’ Today our A level Art students have taken part in the Art in Action conference. Speakers at this event included Magnum photographer Martin Parr and Turner Prize winner, Rachel Whitbread.

Well done to our athletes who took part in the Cross Country Borough Championships last Friday, on what was a beautiful sunny, if cold, day. The pupils limbered up and then set off on a 3.3km race against peers from every school in the Richmond Borough. Teachers placed themselves strategically along the course cheering them on to the finish. The teams placed well, taking fourth for Years 8/9 and 10/11 and fifth place for Year 7. We are incredibly proud! For more about this event and all our matches over the past week see the Sports Fixtures section of the newsletter.

Next Friday the Choir will be taking part in the annual Carol Service, from 6pm at St Augustine’s in Whitton, which is sure to be a wonderful event and all families are invited to attend. An excellent way to start the festive season! Don’t forget Friends of Waldegrave have a Christmas tree sale at school next weekend. This is a great way for families to support the school as 25% of each sale will go towards enhancing the educational opportunities available to all students. You can preorder your tree via Parentpay for collection at school on Saturday 6 December.

This weekend the Black Friday sales take place and many of you will be getting stuck into Christmas shopping. Please remember you can support the school at no cost to you by signing up to Easyfundraising. Over 8,000 retailers support easyfundraising, many of the shops you already use, giving a small donation to the charity of your choice every time you shop. These small donations soon add up — and cost you nothing! Sign up to Easyfundraising here.

Lastly, many of our students and families have close connections to Hong Kong and we appreciate that the news of the recent devastating fire may be particularly distressing for some within our school community. We would like to extend our thoughts and prayers to anyone affected. Please do not hesitate to contact school if you feel your child needs any additional support.

Have a lovely week,

Ms E Tongue

Key School Dates

Monday 1 December	All Years	School Parliament Trip
Wednesday 3 December	–	International Day for Disabilities
Thursday 4 December	Year 9	French Storytelling Workshop
Friday 5 December	Year 11	GCSE Science Live
Friday 5 December	All Years	Carol Service

Year Group Messages

Year 12

This week our U18 Netball and Football teams had matches home and away. Both showed excellent team spirit – head to the Sports Fixtures section for a full write up and scores.

The Waldegrave production of My Fair Lady also hit the stage this week, with students from all across the school taking part. Performances ran from Monday to Wednesday. What an incredible show! A huge well done to all of the Year 12 students who took part, juggling rehearsals and backstage duties alongside their studies.

On Thursday our Year 12 psychology students attended the annual Psychology in Action conference. They heard from a variety of engaging and thought-provoking speakers such as Dr Kimberley Wilson on the link between nutrition and a healthy brain, Forensic Psychologist Kerry Daynes on the traits of a psychopath and Professor Angelica Ronald on research into ADHD and Autism. It was a great way to take psychology research out of the textbooks and apply it to real life situations. Hopefully it has inspired some future psychologists!

Today our Year 12 Art students attended the Art in Action event. In this visually stimulating and interactive programme, students had the opportunity to meet and learn from four established artists working in different areas, to get a taste of what inspires them, how they convey ideas and meanings, the different ways they work within their own artistic area and how they make their living as artists. This outstanding event was chaired by graphic designer Rebecca Wright, Dean of Academic Programmes at Central Saint Martins.

Next Thursday, Ms Lee-Lewis has organised another talk as part of her ‘Working Lunch’ series. Mr Dodd, who is a Chief Financial Officer, will speak to pupils about his career journey, day-to-day life as a chief finance officer, how he managed to secure this role, as well as what steps students need to take to have a career in finance. The talk is open to all pupils and will take place in the School Hall during the lunch break.

With December beginning on Monday things will start to get very Christmassy at Waldegrave and I am looking forward to seeing Year 12 in their Christmas jumpers by the end of this term!

Have a good weekend!

Ms R Pugh, Head of Year 12

Year 13

This week Year 13 students continued to receive feedback following their mock exams. This feedback will help them to identify their strengths and come up with a plan for more challenging areas for future exams. All papers are due to be returned to the students by Monday 8 December.

This week our U18 Netball and Football teams had matches home and away. Both showed excellent team spirit – head to the Sports Fixtures section for a full write up and scores.

This week the Waldegrave production of My Fair Lady hit the stage, with students from all across the school taking part. Performances ran from Monday to Wednesday. What an incredible show! A huge well done to all of the Year 13 students who took part, juggling rehearsals and backstage duties alongside their studies.

Today, as part of the A Level in Art, Year 13 students attended the Art in Action event. In this visually stimulating and interactive programme, students met and learnt from four established artists working in different areas, got a taste of what inspired them, how they conveyed ideas and meanings, the different ways they work within their own artistic area and how they make their living as artists. This outstanding event was chaired by graphic designer Rebecca Wright, Dean of Academic Programmes at Central Saint Martins. I am sure it will be a very interesting event and can’t wait to hear all about it.

As per last week, students need to ensure they continue to work on their UCAS applications. The earlier they submit them to us, the sooner we can get them sent off to UCAS.

Have a lovely weekend!

Mr C Stavrou, Head of Year 13

Health & Wellbeing

The annual United Nations campaign, 16 Days of Activism to End Gender-based Violence, started on Tuesday and is the theme of assemblies for the next two weeks. This year the theme is End Digital Violence and focuses on trying to ensure the online environment is safer for women and girls.

Digital violence is spreading at alarming speed, fueled by artificial intelligence, anonymity, and the absence of effective laws and accountability. It now spans every corner of the Internet – from online harassment and cyberstalking to doxing, non-consensual image sharing, deepfakes, and disinformation – weaponized to silence, shame, and intimidate women and girls.

The annual Girlguiding ‘Girls’ Attitudes Survey’ found that girls are used to taking measures to stay safe online, with 92% of girls and young women aged 11-21 saying they’ve taken at least one action to enhance their safety. The majority (54%) block people they don’t know offline, and about half (48%) limit who can see their posts online. 2 in 5 girls and young women aged 11-21 (41%) have a private account alongside a public account. Once again, girls feel they have to limit themselves and what they do to stay safe, with 35% saying they avoid talking or posting about certain subjects online. 29% say they avoid using certain apps and platforms to protect themselves. A further 1 in 3 girls avoid sharing photos of their face and 15% turn off or disable comments on their posts. This short video, which is being shared with students in assemblies, has 7 top tips we can all help end digital violence against women and girls.

This short video, which is being shared with students in assemblies, has 7 top tips we can all help end digital violence against women and girls.

There are a number of local events taking place, as part of 16 Days of Activism, which are open to members of the community, including active bystander training. You can find out more about them on the Richmond Council website. There is also a free on demand e-learning course for anyone who wants to learn how to be an active bystander safely.

Ms S Moore, Director of Wellbeing

Sports Fixtures

Last Friday in the chilly sunshine nineteen of our pupils headed to Bushy Park to take part in the Cross Country Borough Championships. We are very proud to report that the Year 7 team placed fifth, the Year 8/9 and Year 10/11 teams both placed fourth. Well done to all of them for their hard work!

This week our Year 10 Basketball Team played a home game facing Christ’s School. The team played brilliantly in their familiar surroundings, winning 57-22. They were ecstatic about the score and Rosie O was named the player’s player of the match.

Our Sixth Form students also had matches this week. Firstly, on Monday our U18 Netball Team played their first away league fixture where we saw nine determined Y12–13 players head to Turing House and return with a 27–4 win! Aggie D (Y12) shone as Goal Shooter and was named Player of the Match by Turing. With players stepping into unfamiliar positions (special shout-outs to Freya B and Yasmin B for fearless Goal Attack cameos), the team even swapped all their bibs in the final quarter as a sporting gesture. A brilliant performance all round and a great start to the campaign. Well done!

Then on Tuesday the U18 Football tournament took place. Our team lost 3–1 at home to Teddington, nonetheless there was plenty to smile about. Sam C opened the scoring with a confident finish, and the team showed flashes of sharp attacking play throughout. Controlling the midfield proved trickier, and a few defensive scrambles tipped the result the wrong way, but lots of promise and plenty to build on for the next fixture. Well done for their efforts and to Sam C for scoring!

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