It is the end of another busy half term at Waling, the year seems to be passing by very quickly! Thank you to all the staff and students for their hard work this half term. A reminder to everyone that we have an INSET day on Monday 24th February and we will see all students back for the new term on Tuesday 25th February.
I am aware that the slight change to our reporting through ClassCharts has resulted in a change of behaviour points for some students. Please see the Headteacher’s bulletin from 31st January for an explanation of the changes. The aim of these changes has been to give families more information regarding students in school, so that we can continue to work positively to meet our collective high expectations. This has included adding the ability for staff to give feedback regarding uniform issues, use of a mobile phone, lack of equipment and incomplete homework. If you find that you child has behaviour points when they may not have received many previously, it is possible the additional points are for these areas. Despite these changes in the first half term, over 1000 students were awarded 8 Behaviour Points or fewer. This reflects the excellent behaviour of the vast majority of our students. We will continue to have a push on rewarding students and rewarding House Points next term.
Our half termly Celebration Assemblies have taken place this week, led by our dedicated Head of Year team. We celebrate the achievements of our students across the curriculum as well as the Tutor Awards. I am very proud of the dedication that students are demonstrating towards their studies and the wider school community and these assemblies are a ‘feel good’ at the end of term.
I wanted to take the time this week to celebrate the incredible achievements of our students in the Intermediate Maths Challenge. 42% of our students who competed obtained a certificate, which is highly impressive. Students in set 1 and 2 in both Year 10 and 11 sat the challenge.
As a school, we achieved:
50 bronze certificates
16 silver certificates
6 gold certificates
2 of our students, Emran and Naseem, have progressed to the next round of the competition.
It is very impressive to see some of our Mathematicians performing so well in this competition. Well done to all the students and staff for getting involved.
Over the last two weeks, we have held our Year 9 Subject Consultation Evenings. Thank you to everyone who attended this event. The Year 9 evenings are particularly important as Year 9 make the final choices for the GCSE options. If you have a Year 9 student at home, please remember that the deadline for Options being submitted is 24th February at 9am.
This week, we have sent a small group of Year 10 students to Bletchley Park for a STEM focused visit and to the Open University for the Global Challenge in Mandarin. Where they took on a marketing challenge designing a product, creating TV ads and a conducting a speech in Mandarin. They also gained an insight into the language used in global business by answering calls from Walmart and Lidl.
The event was a fun and valuable learning experience. Our students showcased teamwork, communication, and entrepreneurial skills while using Mandarin in a practical setting. Well done to all participants!
We have included some teams photos from our Football and Cross Country events that have taken place this week, alongside their results. Additionally, our Year 7 and U14 Girls Badminton teams had victories against Sir Herbert Leon School however the boys were defeated. Our Year 7 boys Football team had a successful fixture against Hazeley, winning 3-0. As always, thank you and well done to all the students who have taken part in any school activity this week.
Finally, a massive congratulations to our Year 11 students who have completed their exams in the last two weeks. We know that the final push is now in full swing and have been really impressed by the dedication of students. We will be sending some information regarding the next round of intervention sessions home in the coming days.
I hope that everyone has a lovely half term, whatever you have planned and I look forward to welcoming students back on Tuesday 25th February.
Mrs Fry
What’s happening next week?
Key events upcoming:
- Monday 24th February: Inset Day, students not in
- Tuesday 25th February: Y11 Drama Exam
- Wednesday 26th February: Children’s University Y5 Visitors
- Thursday 27th February: Hedgerow Planting
- Friday 28th February:Y11 Tutor and year group photos
- Sports fixtures:
- Tuesday 25th February: Y7 & Y8 Girls Football Vs Denbigh
- Tuesday 26th February: Y8 Basketball Vs Brooklands
- Wednesday 26th February: Y7 and Y8 Indoor Cricket Tournament
- Wednesday 26th February: Y9 Basketball Vs Webber
- Thursday 27th February: Y10 Netball Vs SBE
- Thursday 27th February: Y7 and Y9 Netball Vs Webber
Updated dates for the diary…
Events in our Community
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