Welcome to this week's parental bulletin with all the latest news for Year 11.
WEEKLY BULLETIN
2 MAY 2025
ENJOY - ACHIEVE - EMPOWER
HEADTEACHER’S MESSAGE
KEY SCHOOL DATES
Star Wars Day - 4 May Mental Health Awareness Week - 12 -18 May HOLIDAYS & NATIONAL DAYS Early May Bank Holiday - School closed Y11 Dress Up Day - Tuesday 6 May Y10 German Trip information evening - Tuesday 6 May Y11 Final Day Celebration Assembly - Wednesday 7 May *Please note there is a late start to the school day for Years 7-10 on this day* Y10 PCM - Wednesday 7 May
Next week our Year 11 students will complete their last lessons, take part in our annual Leavers Dress Up Day and celebrate their time at our school in their Final Celebration Assembly. Please can I remind you that the school day will have a late start on Wednesday 7 May, with all pupils in Years 7 to
A MESSAGE FROM OUR HEADTEACHER
10 asked to arrive for 11.15am for a prompt start to classes at 11.25am. Pupils should go straight to their usual Period 3 classes and be registered there. Our Year 12 pupils have also been working hard on their mock exams for the past two weeks and next week will take part in enrichment activities related to their post-18 options. The week will end with a fun trip to Thorpe Park which I’m sure they have earned after all their hard work! This week our Year 8 students visited the Buddhapadipa Temple in Wimbledon Village. This was the first Thai Buddhist temple to be built in the UK. The students enjoyed learning about Buddhist traditions and appreciated the beautiful meditation gardens in this week’s wonderful weather. I would like to ask parents and carers to speak to their child(ren) about our behaviour focus for this half-term which is related to Waldegrave’s First Rule: Respect and value learning, each other and our environment. As such students must ensure they bring a charged chromebook to lessons and be ready to learn. Please support your child(ren) to get into the simple routine of charging their laptop each evening.
WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU! Send us your achievement stories and photos to share by email to
~ Ms Tongue, Headteacher
HEALTH AND WELLBEING
info@waldegravesch.org STAY CONNECTED WITH US:
A reminder to parents and carers that our school has access to the Mental Health Support Teams (MHST). The MHST is a school based Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) offering early intervention and prevention work to support positive mental health and wellbeing. The team works in partnership with local schools to offer a whole school approach to mental health and wellbeing. In our school the MHST works directly with young people with mild to moderate anxiety or low mood. They can run targeted groups around subjects such as exam anxiety, improving low mood, emotional distress tolerance and emotional regulation. They also offer assemblies and workshops on mental health issues. For parents, the MHST holds regular online parent webinars on a range of topics linked to young people’s emotional wellbeing.To learn more about what the MHST is, please visit their website. If you feel concerned about your child’s mental health please contact their Head of Year or Ms Moore via safeguarding@waldegravesch.org If your child/young person would like to make a self-referral for their emotional needs to be discussed with the school in a consultation, please follow this link.
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END OF YEAR 11 EVENTS
DRESS-UP DAY TUESDAY 6 MAY Year 11 students will mark the end of their formal Year 11 education with our traditional Waldegrave Dress-up day. They will take part in some communal events while dressed up, including a staff vs students benchball competition. Photos taken of students on arrival at school will be posted on our social media platforms. The timings of the day are as follows: 08:20 - 09:00 Arrivals, photos outside front of school and registration with tutor 09:00 - 10:00 Period 1 (normal lesson) 10:05 - 11:05 Period 2 (normal lesson) 11:05 - 11:25 Break 11:25 - 12:10 Benchball and Dress up Day Parade in Sports Hall 12:10 - 12:25 Departures and Dismissal off site We have reminded students about appropriate attire and behaviour throughout the day. FINAL CELEBRATION ASSEMBLY WEDNESDAY 7 MAY Before exams begin we will hold a final celebration assembly for Year 11 and their families. We can only offer two tickets per student to manage capacity. Tickets will be available from Monday 10 March at 10am on Ticketsource. Seats will be first-come, first-served. If a visitor has particular needs please contact us in advance and we will do our best to accommodate you. This will undoubtedly be an emotional assembly as we reflect on the journey our wonderful Year 11 have had with us. The timings of the day are as follows: 08:20 - 08:55 Student arrival and registration in tutor bases 08:35 - 08:55 Guests arrive and seated in main hall for 9am start 09:00 - 10:10 Celebration assembly 10:15 - 10:45 Refreshments and photos 10.45 - 10.50 Departures and Dismissal of Year 11 off site Please understand that the school will resume a normal school day at 11am for Years 7-10, so we will need our Year 11 families to kindly leave at the designated time. We would expect all students to have an exemplary uniform for the celebration assembly and have set clear expectations on behaviour. STUDY IN SCHOOL 8 MAY - 18 JUNE We are arranging revision workshops throughout the exam season which students should attend to ensure they are best prepared for their final exams. Details of the study sessions will be shared with students through their tutor Google classroom. YEAR 11 SIXTH FORM TASTER DAY TUESDAY 24 JUNE Our Sixth Form team has arranged an exciting day for our students who have applied to the sixth form to try a lesson in the subjects they would like to study to help with their decisions in August. Details will follow at the beginning of the Summer term but booking a place is essential. YEAR 11 PROM THURSDAY 26 JUNE You will have received a letter from Ms Rook and the Year 11 Prom Committee with the details of our Waldegrave Prom. This will take place at The Richmond Golf Club between 7.30pm-10.30pm. Please complete the consent form (link in the letter) by Thursday 3 April as we must have emergency contact details provided. This event has primarily been organised by the students for the students to mark and celebrate the end of their secondary school journey.
MULTILINGUALISM AT WALDEGRAVE
Each and every student in our school contributes their amazing strengths to what makes Waldegrave School such a rich and precious environment - a great attitude to learning, solid content knowledge, artistic talents or sports abilities. Speaking another language is another great example of our collective superpowers. This half-term pupils will be using their Friday afternoon registration time learning a bit more about the most spoken languages in our school. Last Friday pupils explored Mandarin Chinese and this week the focus was Turkish. We hope their enjoy the activities, learn something new and that you can talk about this at home.
BEHAVIOUR FOCUS For this half of the Summer Term the school’s leadership team has chosen to focus on our First Rule at Waldegrave: Respect and value learning, each other and our environment. As part of this focus we are asking students to be ready for their lessons each day by coming into school with a fully charged chromebook every morning. This area has been selected as the largest number of behaviour points are given to students for not having their chromebooks ready for lessons. Please support your child(ren) to get into the simple routine of charging their laptop each evening. PARENT GOVERNOR RECRUITMENT Our Governing Board is currently recruiting for a parent governor who wants to work at a strategic level to develop the school. We would be particularly interested in appointing someone who works or has experience in Higher Education or Careers Education. Continuous training and development are key to the role and will be provided to help you acquire/develop the skills to be an effective governor and you can read more about the work our governors do on our website. We have sent a letter home with further information and details on how to apply.
A MESSAGE FROM HEAD OF YEAR 11
Year 11’s final full week in school has been a busy one. The real GCSE speaking exams kicked off on Monday and continued all week. All the students really gave it their all and we are really proud at how well they have done. We are looking forward to next week’s celebratory events. Dress up Day on Tuesday is a great Waldegrave tradition and we are all excited to see Year 11’s creativity when it comes to their choice of fancy dress. We are also very much looking forward to celebrating our wonderful students with families on Wednesday morning. The students have really made the most of their last few lessons with their teacher experts and I know they will be greatly missed as a year group. We have been running interventions for students in all subjects and a revision timetable will run throughout the exam period. This has been shared with students in their google classroom. This week we held our final celebration assembly highlighting the hard work and dedication of our students who took part in and achieved their Bronze and now Silver Duke of Edinburgh Awards. We shared the photos once more of the students training and completing their expeditions, sharing in their laughter and remembering the tough times they battled. Finally we introduced the Gold award and invited those who were staying for Sixth Form to sign up.
Have a good week and enjoy the Bank Holiday weekend!
MRS ROOK, HEAD OF YEAR 11
BOOK OF THE MONTH
‘Things a Bright Girl Can Do’ by Sally Nicholls
Set in the early twentieth century, this novel follows three brave young women as they all become involved in the Suffragette movement. I loved how Nicholls brought the time period to life, showing what it felt like to be a woman and girl during that turbulent time. But if historical novels aren’t usually your thing, don’t be put off. It feels really modern and fresh, exploring issues like class differences as the three main characters come from different backgrounds. There is also a beautiful love story between two of the characters. It has something for everyone! - Mrs Nowicki
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 KS4@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 11 HEAD OF YEAR AND TUTORS
BEHAVIOR FOCUS For this half of the Summer Term the school’s leadership team has chosen to focus on our First Rule at Waldegrave: Respect and value learning, each other and our environment. As part of this focus we are asking students to be ready for their lessons each day by coming into school with a fully charged chromebook every morning. This area has been selected as the largest number of behaviour points are given to students for not having their chromebooks ready for lessons. Please support your child(ren) to get into the simple routine of charging their laptop each evening.
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