Headteachers Letter – 17th December 2021

Dear parents and carers,

It seems a slight case of déjà vu as we head into the Christmas break, and first and foremost I hope that you and your friends and family enjoy a safe, happy and healthy Christmas.

I am once again incredibly proud of the entire school community and our joint efforts in enjoying such a positive and productive term. This only happens because we are able to work together as a partnership of parents, students and staff, even if the most difficult of circumstances. I do know that other schools have found challenges almost insurmountable this term, but at Wollaston, free from bubble restrictions, learning has once again flourished and we have been able to enjoy a full curricular and extra- curricular programme.   I would like to say a particular thank you to our exceptional team of staff who have not only worked tirelessly in their own faulty areas, but also in covering for absent colleagues across the school as Covid related and other absence took effect.   This has all happened quietly and without disruption, but I do want to make families aware of the hard work and sacrifice of our staff team, who have always done what is necessary to keep a full timetable running, come what may.

There has again been much to celebrate this week – with a packed festive schedule in the run up to Christmas!

 

House Competition: Festive Relays

Our house competition is in full swing, with a fairly tight battle taking shape as forms compete to see which house will be crowned champions in the summer!  the festive relay placings were: 1st Place – Austen   – 1000pts, 2nd Place – Drake – 600pts, 3rd Place – Churchill – 400pts, 4th Place – Nightingale – 200pts

The final scores of 2021 are as follows………….

1st Place               Austen                  13,660pts

2nd Place               Drake                   12,450pts

3rd Place              Churchill               12,100pts

4th Place               Nightingale         11,350pts

 

OAP Christmas Party

It was once again a delight to welcome a large number of local pensioners into our main school hall for an incredible Christmas lunch.  Visitors were treated to Christmas dinner with al the trimmings as well as a range of entertainment, culminating in a visit from Santa himself!

Our students who study Food Technology, Catering and Hospitality lead the entire event, from front of house, comparing the event, to food preparation and cooking, as well as table service and of course cleaning up afterwards.  The team of students involved were phenomenal and demonstrated the very best of Wollaston School.  We are also grateful to students from Performing arts for providing such incredible entertainment. Thank you to our team of students, and of course the team of staff who worked tirelessly to support them.  A wonderful day and a very welcome return to a much treasured festive event!

 

Christmas Hampers and Donations

This year has also seen a return to the tradition of supporting local charities, Wollaston and Bozeat is Kind and the salvation army.   Thank you so much to students and families for your generous donations, which have now been collected and will be distributed for Christmas.  Tutor groups designed their own hampers for collection – and a range of creative and innovative designs were on show!  The results were decided by house with Churchill winning with an impressive 1000 points, followed by Austen with 600 points, Drake took up 3rd place with 400 points and Nightingale finished with 200 points.

 

PE News: The term in review

This has been a term packed with extra curricular activity and sporting fixtures. The PE department have produced an inspiring review of all of the events and news from across the faculty as the PE Times publication.  This is on the school website, and a link can be found HERE

Thank you to all students who have been involved in sporting clubs and fixtures and of course to the staff for leading such a range of teams and activities. As you will read – it has been a successful term for Wollaston School and congratulations to all involved!

 

Student Achievements

Many congratulations to Evie Chapman in Year 8, who has been selected for the Great Britain Trampolining Development Squad, following her training with NTGA. Well done Evie, and we look forward to hearing of her future successes!

Congratulations also to Charlie and Hamish who played in a musical concert on Tuesday and Thursday to raise funds for the Cynthia Spence hospice. Many early Saturday morning rehearsals resulted in excellent performances, and well done to Charlie and Hamish!

 

Staffing

Today we say farewell to three members of staff. We wish them all the best and good luck for the future to:

David Jones, who leaves us from Social Sciences and is returning to run his own business.

Charley Watkins, who leaves the English faculty and  Dan Shatford who leaves our finance team.

Many thanks to David, Charley and Dan for all of their hard work and contributions to the Wollaston School community – particularly in such challenging times!

 

In January, we will be welcoming the following new staff members to the Wollaston Team;

Bianca Colantonio as Head of Health & Social Care

Andy Hill as Teacher of English & Media

Rebecca Goodenough as a Cleaner

 

January and February Examinations

As always, there is much unhelpful speculation regarding what may happen in the new year – and I have learnt that the future is never predictable.

However, I have received a letter from Nadhim Zahawi (Secretary for state for Education) who has asked me to assure parents that the examinations series in January and February WILL go ahead as planned,  and that it is “essential” that students revise and prepare properly.  We do have a number of students who will sit formal examinations early next year, and of course the message is to continue working towards these assessments – they will happen – and try to block out the unhelpful speculation in the media!

 

Covid Testing

Please can students continue to test using LFTs twice weekly during the holiday period.  We also strongly advise all students to test the night before they are due to return to school.  Combined with the Day 1, in school tests which students will have in January, this should assure us that Wollaston School is as safe as possible when we return in 2022. Please remember to complete the consent form HERE

 

Vaccinations

 Full details on the vaccination programme can be found HERE

Please note that this page is updated regularly and information changes as booking becomes active for additional doses and age groups.

A reminder that first doses for children aged 12-15 can be booked online now, following the link above, and that second doses can also be booked on this portal from the 20th December 2021.   The Government is recommending that parents and children utilise the Christmas holidays to have either first, second or booster doses as appropriate.

 

Phased Return to School in January

A reminder that in order to facilitate Day 1 testing for all year groups, we will operate a phased return in January. We have kept this to the shortest time period possible, in order to ensure that no more education is missed than is absolutely necessary.

Wednesday 5th January 2021  Years 10, 11 , 12 and 13

Thursday 6th January 2021:  All Year groups in school.

 

Thank you for all of your support this year, have a wonderful Christmas and we look forward to the return to school in January 2022!

 

Mr James Birkett

Headteacher