Dear Parents/Carers
I hope this letter finds you and your families well; a Friday update for you, as always, as we head into the half term holiday.
Another busy week in school, dominated by the GCSE examination series. Despite the huge challenges experienced these past few weeks, Year 11 continue to impress with their resilience, attitude and approach to the exams. With just a few weeks now until their exams end and their time at Kelmscott comes to a close it is, of course, important that they keep up the hard work, particularly over the half term holiday; doing all they can to ensure their chances of success are maximised.
Some advance warning, sticking with the theme of exams, for Year 10 families; exams take place in the week beginning the 19th June. I hope they too will prepare well for these important assessments, as we look to gauge how they are progressing and where we might need to put in additional support, for individuals or groups of students.
Tutor/Parent Day will be on Thursday 8th June between 9.00am and 4.30pm. This is an opportunity for you to discuss your child's progress with their tutor, set targets for the next academic year, and discuss any concerns you may have. Your child will have organised a convenient appointment time for you, we very much look forward to seeing you on the 8th.
Celebration Evening will take place on Thursday 15th June. This is an invitation only event; families will be invited to attend the event where the winning students will be notified of their awards. Students are nominated for attainment and progress in each of their subjects. There are also some special awards, such as the Headteacher award, which I always look forward to presenting. We very much look forward to seeing many of you there; exact timings will be shared in due course, but it is likely to be sometime between 5pm and 7pm – please save the date.
Students continued to enjoy a variety of co-curricular activities this week, which is always so good to see. Our Year 10 Modern History students attended a workshop that was designed around their GCSE unit of Crime & Punishment. Students used sources from Vestry House to explore the history of the area. Students were engaged throughout and made insightful contributions to discussions on the day; a trip thoroughly enjoyed by all.
Year 9 students were part of an inspiring day of motivational talks and networking at Women of the Future's Annual Ambassador's Reception, at Lord's Cricket Ground. Some of our students were selected to take part in activities on the stage, in front of the entire reception, comprised of speakers, teachers, businesswomen and fellow students from schools and colleges all over London.
The Catalyst Programme (St Catherine’s College, University of Oxford), visited Kelmscott again, delivering a workshop for a group of Year 10s. Students were given the opportunity to think about different career paths and how they might go about deciding their next steps in education. In addition, students were invited to think critically by discussing big questions such as ‘does truth exist?’ and ‘is a robot a person?’. Students were very animated throughout and thoroughly enjoyed constructing strong arguments. The session was very insightful, and, as part of the programme, the same set of students now look forward to visiting the University of Oxford after half-term.
Year 7 and 8 athletes were competing in the Borough Schools Athletics at The Feel Good Centre Pool and Track this week; the competition continues after half term and we await the results with much anticipation. Some exciting news to share, Oscar Boniface from Year 10 has been selected to represent Waltham Forest in Shot Putt, in the Essex County Schools Athletics Championships - what an achievement, we are very proud. We wish all our Kelmscott athletes competing in competition the very best of luck.
The Year 9 cricket team took to the field this week, a valiant effort with some excellent play.
A save a date for you. The Tour de Waltham Forest is back for another year, taking place on Sunday 11th June, from Jubilee Park. There are four routes and a range of fun activities to get involved in. If you would like to take part in this free event please register online using this link.
Walthamstow Leisure Centre has a special offer on Junior Memberships for Kelmscott students only; a great opportunity to try out the junior gym session, junior classes and junior club activities, as well as adult and junior sessions. Please see this flyer for further information.
National Thank a Teacher Day is back on Wednesday 21st June. This year is all about gratitude, celebrating the long-lasting impact that education has on individuals and throughout society.
On Friday 30th June we plan to invite seniors from our community to join us for afternoon tea. Please email my PA, Louise, l.adams@kelmscott.waltham.sch.uk if you would like us to reach out and invite someone near or dear to you. Space is limited and regrettably we are not able to provide transport, however, what we can provide is a warm Kelmscott welcome and an enjoyable afternoon.
We had a non-uniform day on Thursday for the whole school; money raised will be donated to the Kelmscott hardship fund. A second non-uniform day took place today, Friday, for those students with exemplary attendance. A huge well done to those who received this prize; good attendance at school is one of the biggest contributors to student success, and I was very pleased to see so many students in non-uniform.
A timely reminder; on the rare occasion that your child is absent from school, for whatever reason, it is extremely important that you let us know at the first opportunity. Ms Munro, our attendance officer, is always happy to speak to you.
I wish you all a restful half term holiday, we look forward to welcoming students back, refreshed and ready to go, on Monday 5th June, at the normal time.
Finally, well done to Umair Baccus in Year 10, for topping the reward points charts this week with 35 points. Keep up the good work.
Yours sincerely
Mr Sam Jones
Headteacher
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