I hope this letter finds you and your families well; a Friday update for you as always.
I hope the industrial action on Wednesday wasn’t too challenging for you in terms of childcare and other logistical issues. We will await to see what plans are for additional strike dates; March 1st is the next potential one. The last potential strike day is Thursday 16th March, which some of you may have spotted clashes with our Year 8 Progress Evening. We will give some thought to this, as a matter of urgency, and get back to you as soon as possible if we decide, as a precaution, to move it.
I met with the building contractors, McEvoy, this week to discuss the progress they are making on our new teaching block. Pleasingly, at the current time, they are on track both on site as well as in the factory, where the building is being constructed. We hope that the ground works are completed by the end of April, at which point the building itself will arrive on a series of lorries. Four days later, the building will be up and in situ; a clever and modern approach to construction. We hope there will be an opportunity for students to visit the building site, at appropriate times, to check on the progress and find out a little more about the construction methods.
As usual it has been a busy week in school in terms of co-curricular opportunities, with a Geography field trip to Stratford and Westfield shopping centres for Year 10, and, no sooner have our classicists returned from a fantastic trip to Bath last week, we have another leaving next week for the ever popular Shakespeare residential trip to Stratford-upon-Avon. Do have a look at our Twitter feed, if you would like to find out more about what they have been up to.
Our Year 9 history enthusiasts project ‘Becoming an historian’ with UCL's Special Collections culminated on Tuesday 30th of January, with the students visiting UCL's new campus in Stratford. Viewing their artefacts in person and finding out even more about their object. Students learnt how to investigate like a historian during this 7-week project. By the end, our historians produced museum labels for their chosen artefact. I am delighted to share links to both the UCL blog and their Twitter feed for you to enjoy reading. Our sincere thanks to UCL Special Collections for facilitating this research and for helping our Kelmscott historians to tell the stories of these extraordinary rare books and archives; a privilege indeed.
We look forward to our next parent forum on Tuesday 7th February at 11.30am. Mr Nelson, our SENDCo will be present at this meeting, and there will be a focus on SEND (Special Educational Needs and Disability).
There will be a non uniform day on Thursday 9th February. Monies raised from students' £2 contribution will go to the Kelmscott School foodbank.
Years 7 and 8 have their school disco, which was postponed from earlier in the school year, to look forward to on Wednesday 8th February; always a fun evening for all those involved.
Families have been invited to attend an EAL information evening on Thursday 9th February, this is an important and well-received evening where we look forward to meeting parents and carers who have not yet had the opportunity to join us at a previous EAL evening.
An exciting opportunity for our budding artists; The Royal Academy Summer Show in London is calling for art entries from children. Ms Dempsey, Head of our Art Department, is looking for students, proud of their artwork, who would like to share their work to upload onto the competition site. Successful entrants would need to agree to their work being available to be taken to the gallery for display. If your child is interested, please encourage them to speak to Ms Dempsey before the deadline, which is the end of February.
Some advanced warning for Year 9 families, for the first week back after the half term holiday. Thursday 23rd February is the Year 9 Options Evening; a chance for students and parents/carers to find out more about the process, as well as having an opportunity to speak to Heads of Department to find out more about the many choices Year 9 have, for their Key Stage 4 studies.
As you are aware, the afternoon of Friday 10th February is an Inset afternoon. Students will finish at 12:40pm on this day.
Finally, well done to Deepmoy Pal in 8S who topped the rewards points charts with 32 last week. This is not the first time Deepmoy has achieved this; testament to his excellent attitude to his studies and school life more generally. Keep up the good work.
Yours sincerely
Mr Sam Jones
Headteacher