There has been a minor benefit to our school as there have been very few wet school mornings so far this term. On Wednesday, only, this week there was some heavy rain.

I would like to remind families that if it is raining significantly before school, we do open our gates and halls earlier, normally from about 8.00am. This ensures that students do not spend their day in wet clothes. I leave it to you as families to persuade your teenagers that wearing a coat to school is a good idea, especially if the weather does change this winter. 

Fun Friday is back

The attendance this week to school has been spectacularly good. Thank you to everyone for ensuring that, unless your child or young person is very unwell, that they attend school. Great attendance is so important to develop learning more deeply, build social connections and progress in all ways.

And more important than the other benefits, attending well gets you into the draw for a Fun Friday treat!

In Year 7 and 8 we are starting our Fun Friday celebrations today. Music is played at the gates to put us in a positive mood for the last day of the week, and tickets are given out – randomly generated by using a clicker – for either a sweet treat or an experience. Some weeks, there might be a free doughnut, or in other weeks an experience, like a chance to ‘Sponge the Teacher’. These will be available to all students in Year 7 to 11 after half term. We just need to rustle up a few more volunteer teachers...

Harvest Festival collection, Friday 16th October

At the end of next week, we will be holding our annual food donation drive. We take the items to Sutton’s Food Bank as part of a food collection event across all of London.

I know that, with the increasing price of food, this is not something that all families might be able to afford. If you are able to buy an extra item from the list below over the next few days, please give it to your child next Thursday evening/Friday morning to bring in. That would be fantastic. The items include:

• Tinned fruits and vegetables

• Pasta, rice, or instant mashed potato.

• Tea and coffee

• Biscuits

• Tinned meat or fish

We are very proud of our work in the local community, and absolutely see part of our educational responsibility being to encourage our pupils to understand the importance of helping others.

Getting recognised… after attending a club

Last week I wrote about our club offer, and how this is something that as many students as possible should be taking advantage of. On that same theme I wanted to share some fantastic news about one of our Year 8 students, Charlotte.

Through going to our ‘Step into Dance’ club that runs in school on a Thursday, our Head of Dance, Miss Izzard, and the external dance teacher suggested to Charlotte that she should attend auditions that the Royal Academy of Dance (RAD) runs. Charlotte was successful at being offered a place in their dance company, which means rehearsals at RAD headquarters in London every Sunday and around 14 performances across the year. This is an amazing achievement, very exciting for Charlotte and also shows what attending a club might offer for others.

Students of the week

Well done to each student below for being nominated this week. I look forward to hearing about each of their achievements and the contributions that they have made to the school.

Year 7	Year 8	Year 9	Year 10	Year 11	6th Form
Ted	Audrey	Electra	Nilakshan	Dristi	tbc

Wishing you all a restful weekend.

Mr N House, Headteacher