Headteacher's Message

It has been an emotional week of last lessons for our Year 11 pupils, with favourite songs sung in language lessons, fun quizzes as well as exam questions covered. We are all incredibly proud of the students and how far they have come in the last five years. I know that they are ready for their final written exams starting at the end of next week but want to take this opportunity to remind you that revision sessions will be running until the end of the exam period. Everyone is very much looking forward to our Year 11 celebration events next week.

Please note that the school will be closed to Year 7, 8, 9 and 10 pupils on Wednesday morning during this the final celebration assembly for Year 11. The school will open gates at 11.15am, with students expected to be in class and ready to start their usual Period 3 lessons by 11.15am. Further details can be found in the letter sent home before the Easter break.

Thank you to everyone who supported the Friends of Waldegrave Quiz and Curry Night on Friday, this was a really fun night with a fantastic quiz, excellent food and an abundance of drinks shared with our wonderful school community. The event, organised by our brilliant FOW committee of volunteers, raised nearly £1,500 for the Friends of Waldegrave Charity all of which will go towards supporting and enhancing the educational opportunities available to all students at our school.

Our Year 10 Drama students have been impressing us this week with performances in assembly on Tuesday and Thursday, showing off the fantastic work they have pulled together for Component 1 of their Drama GCSE. Well done to them all for such creative work.

Pupils from Year 7 and 8 took on the UK Maths Trust’s Junior Maths Challenge on Wednesday, with 106 students sitting the paper. We are very proud of our Maths Department who always encourage our pupils to take part in these national competitions, which really challenge pupils on their mathematical reasoning, precision of thought and mathematical fluency. Well done to everyone who took part, we will soon hear whether they are through to the next level of the challenge – the Junior Kangaroo!

Please don’t forget Monday is a Bank Holiday with school remaining closed until Tuesday when we look forward to seeing all the fantastic costumes our Year 11s will be dressed in for the annual Dress Up Day.

Next week is also our final teaching week for Year 13 and we wish both them and Year 11 the best with their up coming exams.

Have a lovely bank holiday week!

Ms E Tongue

Key School Dates

Monday 4 May All Year Groups May Bank Holiday: SCHOOL CLOSED
Tuesday 5 May Year 11 Dress Up Day
Wednesday 6 May Year 7, 8, 9 & 10 Late start: SCHOOL OPENS AT 11:15AM
Wednesday 6 May Year 11 Final Assembly
Wednesday 6 May Year 10 Parent and Carer Meetings
Friday 8 May Year 13 Final Day of Teaching

Year Group Messages

Year 12

It has been lovely welcoming back our Year 12s after their mock exams and seeing them settle back into lessons.

This week some of our Year 12 students attended a Media WEX course placement at HanWay Films in London. During the WEX the students were involved in observing, helping and learning, as well as giving their opinions on the marketing campaigns in progress. All students who attended had a fantastic time and found the trip extremely useful. Three more Media students will be completing the same WEX next week.

During the week commencing 18 May our Year 12 students will be attending an enrichment week at school. During this time they will be starting their UCAS applications and will be involved in a number of activities to help with their further education. One of our activities involves a careers carousel and we would be delighted if there were any parents/carers in the finance or engineering sectors who would be willing to attend our enrichment week. This would involve speaking for five minutes as to what your job entails and answering any questions from the students. If you are interested or would like any further information please contact sixthform@waldegravesch.org.

We will also be running a medical event on Wednesday 20 May from 13.00 to 14.30 for our strong cohort of Year 12 budding medical students, you will speak to students in small groups to inspire them and provide knowledge about your line of work. We are inviting a variety of medics, everything from Occupational Therapists to Paramedics, Doctors and Speech and Language specialists. We’d love to hear from you if you would be interested.

Have a great weekend.

Ms R Pugh, Head of Year 12

Year 13

This week, Year 13 students continued to work really hard both in and out of lessons given how close they are to the onset of their public exams. The Year 13 Fashion and Textiles and Photography students spent 4 days this week producing their final pieces for these two A Levels. I went and saw their work today and it looked wonderful! Well done to all of them for all their hard work.

Next week will also be a busy one with all Art A Level students taken off timetable for 4 days in order for them to complete their 15-hour exam. We can’t wait to see their final pieces too! The MFL students will also be busy completing the oral part of the exam for their A Level. I wish them all the best of luck!

On Wednesday morning during Periods 1 and 2 some lessons have been cancelled due to teachers attending the Year 11 leavers’ celebrations. If a lesson has been affected students will already have been notified via their Google classrooms.

The last timetabled lessons for Year 13 students are scheduled to take place next Friday, 8 May. Teachers will continue to be available to meet with students during their study leave, if they would like to meet with a subject teacher during this time they will need to email their teacher to arrange a time to meet.

Our final celebration assembly will take place on the afternoon of Thursday 18 June following the final A Level exam. Further details about this event will be shared in due course. I am certain that the Year 13s’ last week in school will be really productive, but potentially emotional. If any of them needs support, not just over the course of next week, but during the entirety of the exam season, they can of course, reach out to their subject teachers, myself or Mr Bannister.

Have a lovely bank holiday weekend.

Mr C Stavrou, Head of Year 13

Health & Wellbeing

May is Mental Health Awareness Month when we think about supporting those around us, as well as self-care. I would like to use this as an opportunity to share some local services that can offer some help in these areas:

Off the Record is a free and confidential drop-in service offering counselling, information and sexual health service for young people aged 11–24 living, working or studying in the Borough of Richmond.

The Richmond Family Hubs offer courses and workshops throughout the year and have just released their summer timetable including parenting programmes and one off workshops ‘Making Sense of Big Feelings’ and ‘Digital Parenting’.

Young carers aged 5-18 can get help and support from the Young Carers Service run by Richmond Carers. The service offers information, mentoring, after school groups, holiday activities and 1-to-1 support.

Space2grieve is free year-round bereavement support service for families. Based in The charity has a team of volunteer bereavement support specialists who are specifically trained to support children and young people, with sessions taking place on their site in East Twickenham or at school. They also offer parenting support to those who are looking after children while grieving themselves. The sessions are free, and available via self-referral via their website.

Ms S Moore, Director of Wellbeing

Careers Contact Details

If you require any further information on careers please contact Jack Bannister by email below.
careers@waldegravesch.org

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