Head Teacher's Message
This week has been something of a whirlwind. On Wednesday we had our first Drop Down Day of the academic year with lots of activities to enrich our students’ learning. Our Year 7 had a wonderful day learning exploring employability skills before travelling into London to see a matinee performance of the Lion King. Year 8 students explored African culture taking part in a variety of workshops including dance, drumming, jewellery making and art. It was a careers focused day for our Year 9 students, with GCSE taster sessions and a careers speed networking event. Our Year 10 students took part in a public speaking workshop, helping them all gain greater confidence in using their voice. I am looking forward to hearing the winning speeches in assembly after half term.
The day for our Year 11 students focused on helping them prepare both mentally and academically for their upcoming exams. We were also delighted to welcome Michele Miller back to school to deliver her revision seminars for students alongside her evening presentation to parents. Our Year 12 students’ day focused on next steps with an introduction to university life as well as a careers speed networking session.
All in all it was a fabulous day and I have really enjoyed talking to students about what they found most interesting. Thank you to all those who supported the event, particularly the parents who gave up their own time so generously to support our careers programme.
Last night we held our Sixth Form Open Evening welcoming hundreds of prospective students and families into school to talk to staff and students about sixth form options. If you are interested in applying to our excellent Sixth Form further details can be found on our website here.
Diwali begins at the start of next week and I know many of our families will be celebrating over the weekend. The London Borough of Richmond are hosting celebrations at Marble Hill for anyone who would like to join. Details can be found here.
A former student, Kassia Unwin, is currently fundraising to cover the costs of an internship linked with her Marine Biology and Oceanography degree at the University of Plymouth. She will be joining Global Reef in Koh Tao, Thailand, to get hands-on experience in coral restoration, underwater surveying, and data analysis, while seeing first-hand how science and community come together to protect our world’s reefs. Please support her efforts by buying a raffle ticket and take your chance to win one of the amazing prizes she has gathered from local businesses in Richmond, Twickenham and Chiswick. Tickets are £10 each, all profits go toward Kassia’s internship, research, and training costs.
October is International Walk to School Month and I would like to thank all in the Waldegrave community who are choosing to walk to reduce traffic and pollution, whilst also improving their own health and wellbeing. As the days get shorter, evidence shows that it is even more important for our wellbeing to try to get time outdoors.
Next week we are holding a Year 7 book swap event. It will take place in the hall on Wednesday 22nd October at 12.30pm. Year 7 are invited to bring in books that they don’t mind swapping.
Year 9 enjoyed a very insightful Drop Down Day this week which enabled them to experience Options Taster Sessions and also Speed Networking. We were very fortunate to welcome our visitors who shared insights and pathways into their careers during the Speed Networking Sessions. We heard inspiring talks from a Director of Marketing, Head of Engineering, Architect, Paramedic and Executive Administer of a Charity – each shared experiences and answered questions.
This week I have been visiting Year 9 students in some of their lessons. It is always so lovely to see the students enjoying their subjects and the standard of work produced is very impressive. During technology I was able to observe some excellent culinary skills while the students were making different variations of fried rice dishes. The students proudly demonstrated their food preparation, cooking and presentation skills and it was wonderful to see their finished dishes proudly served up and ready to eat!
To also recognise the importance of building in time for wellbeing we also arranged workshops in Yoga and Kickboxing led by specialist providers, which students greatly enjoyed. After all the workshops had finished, the final part of the day was a big game of Bench ball involving the whole school community. It was a fantastic day and hopefully the Year 11s came away with some good revision tips to support their upcoming mocks
To celebrate the women’s Rugby World Cup we held our own in-school rugby tournament for Year 8. Pupils split into teams representing the school’s houses and after a lot of rugby Eliot House came out as champions on the day but our player of the tournament was Sham A (8PCO) from Pankhurst House. The pupils were also lucky to meet Harlequin’s Prop, 
This performance was repeated with another win, this time against Turing House on Monday this week. It was a tight start to the game but our team created lots of chances that were well saved by their keeper. We had another debut by Hannah G and we are passing wishes for a speedy recovery to Issy S who rolled her ankle and had to come off. Well done to Ana B (12CAL) who reffed the match for us, Charlotte W (12PTA) who ran the line and Connie S (12KNO) and her ‘team’ for leading training for those not playing in the match.
