Sixth Form Bulletin – Week 24

On Wednesday all year 12 attended a talk during their enrichment session from Damian Dalton. Damien works for the Education and Engagement team for UK Parliament. This was an excellent session, where lots of students were involved in discussion and were able to put their views across about student loans and what they would hope to see change in the future.

This week an email was sent to all students with the year 12 timetable for their mock examinations which will be taking place from the 13-24th April. The examinations will be taking place in the morning and the afternoon, with morning examinations starting at 9am and afternoon examinations starting at 1.15pm. Students will be expected to arrive fifteen minutes before their exams start. Students will not need to attend lessons during this time.

On Tuesday evening we welcomed award winning playwright, Ava Pickett into school to speak with English, Drama and History students about her career to date from her playwriting successes to experiences of writing for TV and film. Her play, 1536, has just been commissioned by the BBC to be turned into a six-part drama series and she is currently co-writing with Baz Luhrmann a Joan of Arc feature film for Warner Brothers. But it hasn’t all been plain sailing and she talked about the importance of believing in yourself and being your own best cheerleader.

Also congratulations to Nahla G, 12CAL, who went to the MAIA International Acro Cup, one of the world’s largest acro competitions, in Portugal last weekend. She competed in the GB squad as part of the Junior Women’s Group who came first in their category against 26 other teams from ten other countries. This is an amazing result and we look forward to hearing more about her acro achievements in the future.

Next Monday some of our Year 12 students will be attending the Community Safety Conference in Kingston.

Waldegrave is supporting a former student by sharing her fundraiser for Beat, the UK’s leading eating disorder charity, which does vital work supporting those affected by eating disorders. If you would like to learn more or contribute, please visit the JustGiving website.

Have a lovely weekend.

Ms R Pugh, Head of Year 12

Year 13 students had a rather busy week, as, apart from attending their timetabled lessons, a large number of them were also involved in a plethora of events this week.

On Monday, Year 13 Fashion and textiles students paid a visit to the Victoria and Albert Museum to research ahead their Externally Set Tasks. The museum offers a lot of inspiration, with such a variety on display to link back to their individual themes. During their visit, they also went into the wonderful ‘Marie Antoinette Style’ exhibition.

Our Year 13 English Literature, Drama and History students were lucky to be invited to attend a talk on Tuesday led by playwright Ava Pickett. Ms Pickett talked to the students about her career to date, including her playwriting successes and experiences of writing for TV and film. Ms Pickett is also currently co-writing with Baz Luhrmann, a Joan of Arc feature film for Warner Brothers. She also talked to the students about “1536”, a new play which has just been commissioned by the BBC to be turned into a six-part drama series! It was such an exciting and inspiring talk for us all.

Yesterday, all Year 13 Religious Studies students attended the annual Candle Conference. The event aimed to get students really excited about the subject, extending their knowledge and understanding as well as supporting them in analysing, evaluating and making informed, well-reasoned academic judgements. The event was presented by philosopher Peter Vardy.

Next week our Year 13 Chemistry students will be undertaking practicals and our Music student will be off to a conference. On a final note, students need to continue to work hard and address any arising issues following the feedback they have now started receiving from their subject teacher on the back of the February mocks.

Finally, Waldegrave is supporting a former student by sharing her fundraiser for Beat, the UK’s leading eating disorder charity, which does vital work supporting those affected by eating disorders. If you would like to learn more or contribute, please visit the JustGiving website.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Mr C Stavrou, Head of Year 13