Headteacher's Message
After a glorious half term week it was wonderful to see all our pupils back and looking refreshed after the break.
The exams are back on for Year 11 and 13 but also mock exams for our Year 12 Art students. Year 10 have topped and tailed this week with trips,
accommodating over 60 pupils, to see the phenomenal National Theatre’s production of War Horse. The play is based on Michael Morpurgo’s beloved novel about the trials faced by a boy and his horse, featuring life-sized horse puppets, set against the backdrop of World War I. Students have been speaking about the trip excitedly and I am sure they will remember this production for many years to come.
Our Year 10 Geography students got out and about (and a little bit soggy!) in Teddington and Busy Park on Tuesday for the first of their fieldwork days, busy data collecting and learning about the features of the park as well as urban success along Teddington High Street.
On Wednesday the Year 12 Economics students heading into central London for a tour to the Bank of England and the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). They began the day with a trip to the offices of the EBRD in Canary Wharf where they had a guided tour followed by a talk about the work of the EBRD. In the afternoon they went to the Bank of England where students were able to look around the museum before attending a talk from one of the bank employees and watching some educational films on the role of the bank. All students found the trip extremely interesting and helped them with their post sixth form choices.
Our first cohort of Bronze Duke of Edinburgh challengers are out on their training expedition this week, yesterday and today near Guildford. They will be carrying all their own equipment for the weekend in their teams and practicing their navigation skills in the Surrey Hills ahead of the final assessments in the coming weeks. Good luck to them all – we are crossing our fingers for dry weather for the next few weeks, as this week’s group has been rather unlucky!
Finally today we had another thought provoking Working Lunch seminar, this time with Bence Cisba from the Deep Learning Team at Astrazeneca. He told us about his career in tech, specifically how he moved from studying physics at Bath University to following his interest in working on AI.
Students have made an excellent start back and have been working hard in lessons. This week, I had the opportunity to visit a Year 9 Technology lesson where students were designing and creating bespoke jewellery, demonstrating great creativity and craftsmanship. In Food Technology, students were busy making burritos, which looked absolutely delicious!
