Week 27
Here we are at the end of another jam-packed term at Watling! From trips and enrichment days, to British Science week, World Book Day and various workshops and sessions led by external visitors, as well as some fantastic results in competitive sporting fixtures; I am hugely proud of all our school community has achieved this term. Thank you to all the staff and students for their hard work this half term.
Before I reflect on this week, I would like to remind Year 11 families that we are holding intervention days for some Art, Mandarin and Health and Social Care students on Tuesday 8th April, Maths on Wednesday 23rd April and English on Saturday 26th April. Please see ParentMail for more details if your child is included in any of these sessions. These sessions have been scheduled to help your child succeed in their upcoming GCSE exams, and as such, whilst attendance is not compulsory it is strongly encouraged and we hope to have your support in this. We really are now into the final push for the GCSE exams, which are a few weeks away. We also sent out the letter regarding Year 11 Prom this week and I’d encourage all Year 11s to consider coming to this very special event – I am really looking forward to it!
You may also have seen that the South Midlands Careers Hub, who support local schools to develop and deliver careers education, have asked parents and carers to complete a survey regarding your knowledge of careers education. All responses will be kept confidential and used solely to plan support services in school and the local area. Participation is completely voluntary, but as a key influencer in your child’s decision-making journey, your insights are crucial. For more information and for the survey link, please see the letter in ParentMail, and for full details of our careers programme please see the careers page on our website.
On Wednesday 2nd April, Year 9 students Inas, Sweta, Kadie and Emma from our Nifty Lift Engineering club attended a competition day at the Nifty Lift Headquarters in Shenley Wood. During Engineering club, the students have developed a range of skills such as coding, constructing a model and creating an electrical circuit which they were able to showcase at the competition as well making industry connections and meeting students from other local schools.
Following the huge popularity of the book ‘King of Nothing’, some of our Year 7 students were excited to take part in an interactive online event this week with the author, Nathanael Lessore, hosted by Spark! School Book Awards. Students were captivated as Nathanael shared his journey as a writer, discussed King of Nothing and answered their questions.
The library have also this week celebrated the winners of this term’s Accelerated Reader Raffle, where students earn raffle tickets for each reading quiz they pass. There were some great prizes up for grabs this term including Amazon vouchers, Book Tokens, Easter eggs and books. Well done to all those who entered and congratulations to all our winners and runners up. Entry for next term’s raffle starts today, so keep reading and quizzing for your chance to win.
As part of their GCSE Religious Studies curriculum, our Year 11 students had the fantastic opportunity to take part in a workshop led by guest speakers from Humanists UK. The session provided valuable insights into Humanist and atheist perspectives on key topics such as marriage and family life, matters of life and death, war and peace, and equality—helping students prepare for their upcoming exams. Students engaged in thought-provoking discussions, exploring diverse viewpoints and developing well-rounded arguments for their evaluative exam questions. The representatives from Humanists UK praised the high level of questioning and critical thinking demonstrated by our students and wished them well for their GCSEs. This workshop was a great opportunity to promote inclusivity, mutual respect, and deeper understanding of both religious and non-religious perspectives—key aspects of students’ learning and personal development.
As a school we are committed to our responsibility towards achieving our sustainability goals and ensuring that we have a positive impact within our local community. On Thursday, our Eco Council along with some eager volunteers took to the streets to litter pick in the area around the school. The group worked brilliantly as a team and managed to collect over 20 bags of litter in just a couple of hours, making a tangible contribution to our community and the wider environment whilst gaining valuable experience in environmental stewardship. Thank you to all those who took part.
On Thursday, we were joined by Year 11 GCSE PE students from schools across MK as we hosted the GCSE PE moderation day. This is an incredibly important day for students and the PE department as they are assessed by an external moderator on their practical skills. We had a variety of activities taking place throughout the day and all students who were selected to take part performed with confidence and skill. We have had many practice sessions with our partner schools throughout the year, all led by Mrs Passfield, which mean that the day ran smoothly. Thank you to Mrs Passfield and the whole PE team for your dedication and hosting this event for us and other schools in MK.
Throughout the week, we have been holding some of our regular celebration assemblies, giving our Heads of Year the opportunity to celebrate our student’s excellence, progress and dedication. Students have been awarded for their attainment and contribution in their subjects, recognised by their tutors and celebrated for demonstrating our values of Respect, Responsibility and Kindness. Well done to all students.
Looking forward to the first week of next term, Year 10 students will begin their end of year exams and Year 11 students will sit their Art and some MFL Speaking exams, with others starting in the following weeks. We wish you all the best of luck with these and the preparation that students will be doing over the holiday for exams. Keep going, we believe in you all!
As always, thank you for your support of our community. I hope that you all have a lovely Easter break, whatever your plans, and we look forward to welcoming students back on Tuesday 22nd April.
Mrs Fry
Headteacher
Sports Results
- Tuesday 1st April –
- Y10 Basketball League final Vs St. Paul’s WON 46-43 – Watling Academy are champions, well done to the team!
- Y9 Girls Football Semi-Final WON on penalties against Radcliffe and are through to the league finals
- Wednesday 2nd April –
- Y7 Girls Football Semi-Final Vs Oakgrove – Won 3-1 and are through to the league finals
- Y8 Girls Football Semi-Final Vs Oakgrove – Won 3-1 and are through to the league finals
- Y10 Boys Football Vs Walton High – Won 4-1 and are through to the league finals
- Thursday 3rd April –
- U14 Girls Badminton League final Vs Webber School – Lost
What’s happening next term?
- Monday 21st April –
- Easter Monday (school closed)
- Year 10 Mocks (all week)
- Tuesday 22nd April –
- All return to school
- Thursday 24th April –
- Year 7 Subject Consultations
Sports Fixtures
- Wednesday 23rd April –
- Years 7, 8, 9 & 10 Netball League Finals
- Thursday 24th April –
- Year 7, 8 & 9 Boys Football Finals
- Friday 25th April –
- Year 7 & 8 Girls House football
- Year 10 & 11 Boys Football Final
Updated dates for the diary…
