Dear Parents/Carers
I hope this letter finds you and your families well; a Friday update for you as always.
Given the awful weather we saw at the beginning of the week I was pleased to see the forecast change and the sun make an appearance just in time for our Sports and Activity days. Year 9 and 10 enjoyed an action packed Sports Day at The Pool and Track. I have to say that I really like how inclusive athletics is; if you’re not good at sprinting you might be better at middle or longer distance running or jumping, or throwing. It was wonderful to see students getting stuck in and enjoying testing themselves in their respective activities. The competition was a close run thing, but 9K and 10O came out as winners.
On Friday, the Year 7s and 8s took part in their Sports day on site here at Kelmscott. The effort and enthusiasm was second to none, as they roared in support of the athletes participating. There was lots of athletic talent on show and some excellent individual performances. Again the competition was close, but bragging rights went to 7C and 8L for the next twelve months.
Many thanks to all of those who contributed to making the two days a success, an excellent team effort. I hope all those on the activities days at Southend enjoyed themselves too, good old fashioned fun, that is still very important to prioritise.
Thank you for the feedback received about our trips and visits process. Whilst every effort is made to ensure that our processes are robust, fair and equitable there will always be aspects that can be developed. I will be writing under separate cover to address some of your feedback.
Sticking with a sporting theme, some of our Sports Leaders in Years 7, 8, and 9 went to Barn Croft Primary School to help run their Sports day on Wednesday. They displayed excellent STORM characteristics and provided great encouragement to the Barn Croft students, who channelled the encouragement to secure points for their ‘houses’ taking part in the fun and engaging activities on offer. This is always a particularly enjoyable event that our sports leaders look forward to; a really fun afternoon. Thank you and well done to all involved.
Also on Wednesday, Year 8 and Year 10 students enjoyed Kelmscott’s first Careers Fair, where they interacted with employers, education providers, and employees from different industries. This event helped them build a rich picture of the world of work and prepared them to take up workplace opportunities. The Careers Fair is an important part of Kelmscott's Careers Curriculum five-year journey. Research shows that a young person who has multiple meaningful encounters with an employer is 86% less likely to be unemployed or not in education or training, and can earn up to 22% more during their career. If you think you might be able to support a future careers event, please contact Mr M. Jones, Assistant Headteacher who would be delighted to hear from you.
Our Year 9 GCSE Geography students had their first introduction to the GCSE during their recent visit to OrganicLea. The students spent the day learning about different approaches to food growing and the benefits organic food production can have on the planet. They considered the economic, social and environmental impacts of food miles on our city and how local food production can be a sustainable alternative to industrialised farming. They were able to try many of the different salads and fruits that are produced on the farm and also planted some runner bean seeds which will be planted in their grow house this summer.
Next week, we are excited to welcome a group of Chinese students to Kelmscott for the week as part of the work we are doing with the Global Schools Alliance. Our vision for Kelmscott includes a reference to ‘competing on a global stage’ and this is one step in that direction. The Chinese contingent, who range in age from twelve to fifteen, have been buddied up with Kelmscott students and will shadow their buddies in lessons and out during the week. We know they will have a terrific time.
Next year, we will be building a longer term relationship with a school in Barcelona. We hope that this will involve reciprocal visits between the schools for students, which will be very exciting. More to follow there in due course.
Finally, well done to the following students who topped the reward point charts for last week including Tazmin Jenkins-Meade, 9K who topped the charts for the entire school – keep up the good work.
➪ Year 7 Frederick Pomeroy with 19 points
➪ Year 8 Roman Sandiuk with 15 points
➪ Year 9 Tazmin Jenkins-Meade with 30 points
➪ Year 10 Fares Habbas with 16 points
With every good wish,
Mr Sam Jones
Headteacher