Dear Parents/Carers
I hope this letter finds you and your families well, in the circumstances; a Friday update for you, as
always. The atmosphere continues to feel sombre in school, as you might imagine, but students and
staff are battling through admirably.
GCSEs began in earnest this week for our Year 11 cohort. Despite the huge challenges they have
experienced these past few weeks, they have done exceptionally well in their approach to week one of the exams. Poring over revision flash cards, testing each other, entering the exams with
impeccable behaviour, the list goes on. I know they will continue in this vein.
I invited our new families in for a question and answer session today, following Renell’s passing two weeks ago. A number of our current families were present, to talk to them about their experience of being a Kelmscott parent. They are understandably anxious about what happened, but it was nice to be able to meet with so many of them in person, to provide some reassurance.
It is always pleasing to see students enjoying a variety of co-curricular activities. This week our
LGBT+ club had a brilliant time at the We/Us exhibition. A guided tour with the artist started their
visit, this was followed by a Q&A and a demonstration of the Hasselblad 500cm camera, which was used to take the portraits. Some really thoughtful discussion was had during the Q&A that will be continued in their weekly club meetings.
Our year 9 cricketers narrowly missed out on a win in their match this week, we watch expectantly
over the coming weeks as our Years 7, 8 and 9 take to the field. Our Year 9 and 10 athletes have
been competing in the Borough Schools Athletics at The Feel Good Centre Pool and Track with great success; Oscar Boniface Year 10 with a 1st in Shot Putt, 2nd Discus and 5th in the 200m sprint. Leon Capili Year 10 with 3rd in Shot Putt. Shahab Magala Year 9 with 3rd in Shot Putt and 3rd in the 800m, and Mia Tadla Year 9 with 2nd in the 200m and 5th in the 100m sprint. Well done to all those who competed, we are proud of you all. We now turn our sights to the Schools Borough sports day on the 30th June and to the Year 7 and 8 athletics borough competitions, which start next week and continue for two weeks after half term; girls on Tuesdays and boys on Thursdays. Many have already signed up but its not too late to get involved!
Finishing a busy week, earlier today, a group of Year 8 students participated in a workshop hosted by the University of Oxford. The Catalyst Programme, organised by St Catherine's College, delivered a range of activities designed to get students thinking about their future and different career paths. As well as discussing what university entails, students were also invited to design their own university! Students were fully engaged and were a real credit to the school.
My congratulations go to Mr Lowe, our Head of Computing, who was this week appointed as an
Expert Practitioner in Waltham Forest. This means that he will provide outreach work to other
schools, to support them with their leadership and delivery of computing. It is great to have such
expertise on our staff that our students benefit from each day.
I would like to signpost another careers event that is taking place on Thursday 20th July. As the final
school day for students is the previous day, Wednesday 19th July, students would be able to take
part in this. It targets those who are interested in a career in business, finance and STEM. Free
tickets for the Young Professional Careers Festival can be sought by clicking on the blue link.
The local authority have published a new youth services directory that you may find useful. The directory is a place where you can easily find details of what is available locally for our young people.
We break up for the half term holiday next Friday 26th May, school will finish at 3.10pm as usual
on the day.
Finally, well done to Husnain Rana in Year 10, for topping the rewards points charts this week with
34 points. Keep up the good work.
Yours sincerely
Mr Sam Jones
Headteacher
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