This weekly bulletin contains the latest news updates across Year 12.
EEKLY W B ULLETIN 23 JUNE 2023
KEY SCHOOL DATES
A MESSAGE FROM OUR HEADTEACHER
This week our Year 11 students were delighted that the GCSE examinations came to an end, meaning that on Thursday we were able to welcome students into school for a Sixth Form Taster Day. Students had an opportunity to attend a variety of lessons to help in their post-16 decision making. I hope that our Year 11 students can now enjoy a wonderful long summer break. Today it was wonderful to be able to welcome some
Year 13 Leavers Assembly - 26 June End of Summer Term - 19 July
HOLIDAYS & NATIONAL DAYS LGBTQ+ Pride Month - June Men’s Health Month - June International Women in Engineering Day - 23 June Book Week - 26 - 30 June Deafblind Awareness Week - 26 June - 2 July Hajj - 26 June - 1 July Eid Al-Adha - 29 June - 2 July
*PICTURE OF BILLIE*
of our Year 7 families into school. Students were really excited about leading tours and showing off the school. We look forward to welcoming the other half of the year group next week. We have enjoyed great success in a number of sporting competitions in the last couple of weeks. At the Year 7/8 Cricket Festival the Waldegrave Oval Invincible came first and on Wednesday a number of students won first place in events in the Borough Sports Competition at St. Mary’s University. Congratulations to all the competitors. Last week our Chamber Choir achieved a Distinction in the Richmond festival Choir Competition. If you would like to see the Choir they will be performing at the Richmond Arts Festival on Sunday 2 July. Last week Year 9 enjoyed a visit to Strawberry Hill House to bring their English learning on Gothic Literature to life. The students’ own creative writing was inspired as they learnt more about the history of the house and its former owner and father of modern gothic Horace Walpole. I would like to thank the PTA for organising last weekend’s pre-loved uniform sale. This is a great win-win for our school community, not only raising vital funds for the school but also providing an opportunity to help families manage uniform costs. Donations for our next sale are always appreciated.
WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU! Send us your stories and photos to share by email to info@waldegravesch.org Follow us on twitter @Waldegravesch for general news and @WaldegraveSport for frequent sports updates JOINING THE PTA To get in contact with our PTA about joining the team please click below.
~ Ms Tongue, Headteacher
HEALTH AND WELLBEING
According to the Our Good Childhood Report, the number of UK children unhappy with their lives is on the rise. The number has risen from 173,000 (3.8%) in 2009-10 to an estimated 306,000 (6.7%) in 2019. We know that there is no single, quick-fix solution for what is a society-wide problem and are aware that there are small things we can do to improve our wellbeing and that of the children in our lives. However, a simple activity which benefits our wellbeing is reading. According to the University of Sussex research, reading for as little as six minutes a day can cut a person’s stress levels by two thirds! We are trying to boost reading for pleasure through our annual Book Week next week, as well as our ongoing ‘Read with me’ tutor time activity. These top tips can help encourage your children to keep reading, or re-engage with reading if they’re out of the habit: Let them choose books and help them find books that match their interests; Make time for reading within the family schedule; Accept that digital books are still books; Read together socially and talk about your reading; Find out what’s new - the Carnegie Medal winner has just been announced and the shortlist includes some cracking reads
CONTACT PTA
A MESSAGE FROM HEAD OF YEAR 12
During the past few weeks, Year 12 students have been involved in a number of events. Last Thursday, our Fashion and Textiles students paid a visit to the Graduate Fashion Week. Upon their return, they all commented on how wonderful and inspiring the event was. Also, last Thursday, the Year 12 Sociology students attended a talk by Dr Cullen. Dr Cullen is a Sociologist, youth worker and former drugs educator. She is currently senior lecturer at St Mary’s university and co-leads the BA Education studies. Her research interests span youth cultures, youth policy, sex-gender equalities and citizenship and populism. Dr Cullen shared some of her research on the public anxieties about young women’s health and their increasing use of tobacco and alcohol. Within this, she also discussed the ethnographic research she undertook, including photo voice and in-depth interviews with young women aged 13-21 - to explore how tobacco and alcohol featured in their everyday lives. As part of our partnership with St Paul’s School, eleven Year 12 students attended an Oxbridge preparation day. They spent the day finding out more information about the application process as well as hearing from an admissions officer from the University of Cambridge and some current students, including some of our ex-Waldegrave students who are currently reading their chosen subject at Oxbridge. We are pleased to hear that our students found it an extremely useful day. Today was the deadline for Year 12 students’ first draft of their personal statements. Their form tutor will provide them with some feedback that the students will need to address over the summer holidays. Over the course of the coming weeks and months, students need to continue to research their different University options with the aim to finalise them in the autumn. Next week, as part of their A Level studies, Fashion and Textiles students will pay a visit to the New Designers alongside our Year 10 Fashion students.
MR STAVROU, HEAD OF YEAR 12
BOOK OF THE MONTH
A Thousand Mornings by Mary Oliver A Thousand Mornings dips into the poet’s images of her beloved home Provincetown, Massachusetts, whereby she explores the endless nostalgia of beaches and shores, particularly focusing on how it can provide an escape from the mundane aspects of life. Her observations and attention to detail relays how even the smallest moments in life can encapsulate pure meaning, and evokes the tranquillity felt when immersing oneself in the wonder of each new dawn. Oliver allows us to enter a precious landscape of both memory and the clarity of nature, enlisting that we find peace in what’s around us.
~Recommended by Emily M, Year 12 student
Please contact us with any queries or problems you may have. To get in touch with a member of staff from your child’s year group, you can: Send an email to sixthform@waldegravesch.org Or you can contact the school via phone by calling: 02088943244 WALDEGRAVE SCHOOL Fifth Cross Road, Twickenham, Middlesex, TW2 5LH HOW TO CONTACT YEAR 12 HEAD OF YEAR AND TUTORS
If you have any unwanted white cotton sheets you are looking to recycle, please donate them to Textiles in the Design and Technology department. We only want clean, freshly washed, white 100% cotton sheets. Holes or tears are not a problem. They will be used for dyeing which is why they need to be white cotton only please. Please can we ask that sheets are donated directly to Ms Wallace in D2 via your child and not via reception. Thank you! DONATIONS FOR DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY With the school holidays rapidly approaching, Richmond Youth Service is providing great opportunities for students in the borough. With longer opening hours and a multitude of FREE activities, workshops and sessions delivered by Youth Service staff at five locations in the borough there is a diverse and wide-ranging selection of activities for our students to get involved in! The locations include: PowerStation Youth Centre in Mortlake; Heatham House in Twickenham; Whitton Youth Zone; Hampton Youth Zone; and Ham Youth Zone. To find out more information and read the full brochure please click on the front cover image to the right to view details. FREE SUMMER HOLIDAY ACTIVITIES AVAILABLE
Landmark Arts Centre, 2nd July 2023 at 5p.m. GET YOUR TICKETS HERE
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