Week 40
As we come to the end of the summer term, I want to thank everyone for their continued hard work and support. It’s been a busy few months, with plenty to be proud of across the school. From academic progress to wider enrichment opportunities, our students have shown real commitment, and staff have worked tirelessly to support them. I hope the summer break offers a chance for everyone to rest and reset. We look forward to starting the new academic year with fresh energy and focus.
Sports Day
We had a fantastic Sports Day last Friday, and it was wonderful to see team spirit strong with students supporting each other and cheering on their Houses. Even the weather was on our side this year, treating us to glorious sunshine all day long. Students took part in track and field events, football, netball and basketball as well as tug of war and quizzes to win points for their House throughout the day, before coming together for some nail-biting track finals at the end of the day. The day built to hugely competitive 100m finals, with some incredibly impressive performances from our students. We are exceptionally proud of all students who took part in events over the day and below are some of the school records that were set.
- Year 9 Girls Javelin – Evie won with a new school record of 30m
- Year 8 Girls Discus – Az-Zhara won with a new school record of 17.5m
- Year 10 Boys Long Jump – Zane won with a new school record of 5.6m
- Year 7 Boys Discus – Harley won with a new school record of 15.25m
- Year 10 Boys 100m – tightest race of the whole day with Abiola just beating Maxwell – in a race which finished in under 12seconds!
A huge well done to all our students for taking part with such energy and enthusiasm and an extra cheer for those who gave it their all in the final races. I’m delighted to announce that Rutherford were crowned this year’s champions with 1,719 points, followed by Leyh with 1,612 and Marshall with 1,521. Laine came in 4th with 1,475 points, and Turing finished 5th with 1,287. Thank you again to Miss Willison and her PE team for organising such a brilliant day.
Enterprising 8’s
As part of their House Day earlier in the year, we tasked our Year 8 students with investing £10 into a business enterprise. Our Year 8 form groups really bought in to the idea, with each tutor group coming up with a plethora of ideas before settling on their final business plan.
Most groups used our House Fete to set up their stalls, and activities ranged from selling sweets, pancakes and drinks to stationery – from a human vending machine!
In total our revenue was £331, minus costs of £120, meaning a net profit of £211 which will be given to our House Charities. With some classes tripling their initial investment I feel we have some entrepreneurs of the future in the making.
Building project update
The progress on our building project has been rapid and it has been exciting to see the changes in a matter of weeks. Our building partner, The Qube, use construction methods which allow for a faster build project compared to traditional builds. The Qube is a local company and share our commitment to supporting local communities and sustainable processes. This project is in two phases, our Sixth Form centre and a new two storey teaching block with 10 classrooms. I am delighted to share the progress photos of the project so far, including a first sneak peek inside the Sixth Form large social space. The project is on track, with the internal fit out happening in the Sixth Form block during August.
Our Sixth Form centre will include a large social space with café, 2 classrooms, student toilets, offices and a meeting room. Outside, Sixth Form students will have access to an outside patio area. This will be an incredible, purpose built space for our students and will provide an excellent permanent base for our Sixth Form. The new teaching block will be finished during the Autumn term and we plan to begin using it during next year for all year groups. The new teaching block will include 10 general classroom spaces, student toilets and office space.
Reflections on the year
This year has been incredibly busy at Watling, with some amazing whole school achievements and milestones. There are also milestones and achievements for individual students every day, and these are the moments that make a real difference to life at Watling. I’m very proud of our students, who go above and beyond our expectations and demonstrate what it means to be a student at Watling Academy. An excellent example of this is Izzy T in Year 7. Mr Sigward, Izzy’s Design and Technology teacher has written the following:
“A massive congratulations to Izzy from Year 7 for her exceptional work in Food Technology! Not only has Izzy consistently produced all her classwork to an incredibly high standard, but she’s also dedicated her time to complete an impressive independent research.”
Well done, Izzy. Your dedication, hard work and talent has been recognised.
Throughout the year we have continued to offer a broad range of opportunities to our students, from clubs to school trips. We have run a number of trips abroad, continued to run trips and initiatives in and around the local community and had a number of students represent the school in local and national competitions. We know that these experiences are some of the most memorable in our student’s time at school, and we are looking forward to continuing to expand our Personal Development and careers programme through even more opportunities next year.
I would like to take the opportunity to extend my thanks to all staff at Watling Academy, who work tirelessly to support our school community. I’d particularly like to thank those who are leaving us at the end of this term for their support and dedication during their time at Watling. Good luck to Mr Essah, Mr Mepham, Mr Moore, Mrs Roberts and Mrs Timperley who are leaving us to take up new roles. From our Associate staff team, Miss Stephens, Miss Mistry and Mrs Tharayil are leaving us to complete their teaching qualifications next year and we wish them well on this journey. Our longest serving member of staff, Mrs Barford, is retiring after 34 years working at our Trust including 5 years at Watling Academy. We wish her all the best for the future.
A reminder for Watling Academy families:
- Monday 1st – Wednesday 3rd September: INSET Days (school closed to students)
- Thursday 4th September: Term begins for Year 7 and Year 12 only
- Friday 5th September: Term begins for Years 8–11
The start and finish times of the school day will remain the same next year – students are required to be on site by 8:35 to begin Tutorial at 8:40, and most lessons for Years 7 -11 will finish at 3:15pm. Where students have allocated lessons which take place after school, this will be identified on their timetables but is mostly only for Year 12. There have been some small changes to the timings within the school day which you can view here for your information.
Looking ahead to September, I want to be clear about our expectations around uniform, behaviour, and attendance. Students should return in full, correct uniform, ready to engage positively with school life. We expect high standards of behaviour in and out of the classroom, and we will continue to reinforce our values of respect, responsibility and kindness. Attendance remains a key priority—every day in school matters, and we ask families to support us in ensuring students arrive on time and attend regularly.
Thank you to all families for your support of the staff and wider community, it is genuinely appreciated. I hope you all have time to relax and reset over the summer holidays. I look forward to welcoming our students, including 360 new Year 7s and 22 new members of staff to Watling Academy in September.
Mrs Fry
Headteacher
