Headteacher's Message
This past weekend two of our Year 10 pupils, Mariya A and Eva H, competed in the Rotary Young Chef Competition District Final alongside 16 other hopefuls. I am very proud to say that our students both shined with Mariya taking second place and Eva coming in fourth. This is a wonderful achievement for them both. Apart from their success, this competition is a fantastic experience for everyone taking part and develops skills that will be with them for life. Good luck to Mariya who will now go forward to the Cluster Final due to be held on 8 March.
Reading matters at Waldegrave and this week we have launched a new eLibrary for all students to access electronic and audio books from their laptops or other devices. This is an additional exciting service that complements our fantastic Library area that has a wide range of physical books, from new reads to literary masterpieces, for students to access throughout their time at Waldegrave. The Sora eLibrary can be accessed from the quick links on our website or directly from the student’s chromebooks.
On Monday and Tuesday some of our PE GCSE students who needed to be assessed in an additional sport went to White Spider climbing centre. It was lots of fun and challenged the students to push themselves beyond their comfort zones.
This Wednesday also brought former Conservative MP (2010 – 2024) and Leader of the House of Commons (2022-2024), Penny Mordaunt to Waldegrave Sixth Form to speak to our politics students. She is best known for her notable role in the Coronation of King Charles III as the first female bearer of the Sword of State but she has held many ministerial positions from Secretary of State for International Development, Minister for Women and Equalities, Defence Secretary and Leader of the House of Commons. This was thrilling talk for our students who gained a real insight into Whitehall and a career in politics. Wednesday also our Year 11 Art students visited the Tate Britain Gallery. After a train ride into London they explored over 500 years of British art covering styles ranging from modern photography to Turner masterpieces. It should certainly give them plenty of inspiration!
Today we have 20 students taking part in the Richmond Schools Sports Partnership swimming gala at Lady Eleanor Holles School. We wish them all luck and look forward to sharing the results next week.
Next week a number of Year 11 and 13 students will be performing at our Leavers Live Lounge, on Thursday evening from 6.30pm. The line up will be an eclectic mix of student led performances accompanied by our student and staff house band and is sure to be another fantastic night of music.
I wanted to share with our creatively inclined students that there is a fantastic opportunity to take part in a Creative Careers day at Orleans Gallery on Sunday 22 February (during half-term). This free event will include artist led workshops, panel discussions, networking and speed mentoring. There will be artists from sectors such as video game design, alternative hip-hop and writing, film making, art and AI, painting and more. It sounds like a great way to discover what a career in the arts could look like. Tickets for over 16s can be booked here.
Finally, the poor weather has led to an increase in traffic in the mornings in particular and I would ask that you be mindful of the rules of the road when dropping off your child. Please do not park or stop on the double yellow lines and zigzags outside the school so that children and other road users can see clearly when crossing the street. Thank you in advance for your cooperation.
Please note we have updated the behaviour, uniform, feedback and public assessment policies on our website this week and have emailed out the Parent, Carer and Visitor Code of Conduct this week. Your understanding and support of these policies will help maintain the strong relationship between our school and families, ensuring the Waldegrave community remains a welcoming place for all.
Many congratulations to the Year 7 & 8 Football team who became the overall RSSP league winners beating Richmond Park Academy 4-2 last Friday. It was a fantastic game and well done to all those students who played so well throughout this season.
Next week is the last week of this half term and on Monday all of Year 8 and their tutors are off to Kingston theatre. Please make sure all payments and permission slips have been returned so everyone has a chance to go.
In form time this term we are completing activities which develop resilience and this week’s activity was a Budget Holiday Planner challenge. Students were given a fictional, limited budget to plan a week-long holiday, forcing them to prioritise, research free local activities, and manage trade-offs between activities and costs. This builds problem-solving skills and financial literacy.
On Sunday 31 January, Mariya A (10FCO) and Eva H (10PWA), competed alongside 16 other young people in the Rotary Young Chef Competition District Final at South Thames College in Morden. They were up against some very stiff competition but I am very proud to say that Mariya was awarded second place and Eva came in at fourth. They did so well, especially considering the top placed competitor is the son of a very successful Italian restaurant in Fulham! I know this competition has been a fantastic experience for everyone in Year 10 who took part last term. Mariya will now go forward to the Cluster Final due to be held on 8 March, while Eva is the first reserve in the event of anyone dropping out. Many congratulations to them both.
This Wednesday our Year 11 Art students visited the Tate Britain Gallery. It was a very inspiring trip looking at incredible artworks and gathering information for their exam theme entitled ‘Found’.
