Headteachers Letter – 25th March 2022
Dear Parents and Carers,
A wonderful week in the sunshine at Wollaston School and we are looking forward to the final days of the Spring term next week. This is an academic year which seems to be racing past fairly rapidly!
A reminder that this term concludes at 3pm on Friday 1st April 2022 and that our Summer term begins on Tuesday 19th April 2022. It may sound a strange thing to say, but we are excited about being able to return to exams and are delighted with the way in which students in all year groups are preparing for success.
Easter School and Revision
We are running a small number of additional sessions for students in Years 11 and 13 over the Easter break. These are invitation only events and are designed to target specific areas of curricular need for specific students. Our attendance levels for these events are usually excellent and we would encourage all those invited to attend, if at all possible. For all of our students in these year groups, we would encourage a balanced approach to revision over the Easter break. Please do ensure that students discuss with their subject teachers the specific content and revision strategies which can be employed over the holidays. However, it is also hugely important that students enjoy a break, relax and find time to do the things that they love over this holiday. The term ahead requires a good deal of academic and personal energy and we do want students to return refreshed, focused and ready to achieve great things in their qualifications.
International Universities Presentation
It was a pleasure to welcome back Mark Huntingdon from the organisation ‘A Star Future’ for a presentation to all Year 12 students. Mark spoke about the benefits to be gained from studying at a non UK based university. It was fascinating to observe the number of students who posed pertinent questions based on their interests on studying in a number of countries overseas and Mark commented on how much research some students had already undertaken. We pride ourselves on providing wide ranging careers advice to ensure that students have a full understanding of all of the opportunities available to them post Wollaston. It is inspiring to see the amazing number of destinations that a Wollaston education leads our students towards!
Well done to all Year 12 for the positive manner in which they approached the above event and their well thought-out contributions to our guest speaker.
Irchester Park Runs May 2022
Irchester Country Park hosts a Saturday morning Park Run which many members of the school community already take part in: students, parents and staff alike. During the month of May, Mr Brookes will run the Irchester event weekly to raise money for Gosset Ward (Northampton General Hospital) a cause very close to his heart. There is more information on the Just Giving page here: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/mrbs5kinmay
A number of students are going to take part in this event during May and any other members of the school community who are interested are warmly invited. It would be great to have a sizable Wollaston School contingent! If you are interested and would like further details, all event information is here: https://www.parkrun.org.uk/irchestercountry/
Year 10 County Cup Football Final
Good luck to the Year 10 team who will play their County Cup final against Northampton School for Boys at Cogenhoe FC next week. The Year 10 team have already achieved great things in an amazing cup run and we look forward to seeing if Wollaston School can achieve an unprecedented double in this competition. We will of course bring news of the result in my letter next week.
Consultation of Timings of the School Day
I will send out a letter next week regarding some proposed changes to the timing of the school day. There are a number of models under consideration, which we would like to gather parental views on. The chosen model will take effect from 1st September 2022 and as we emerge from Covid, the changes are designed to ensure we are well positioned for the years ahead in terms of both teaching and social time. Full details to follow in due course and thank you in advance for taking the time to respond to the consultation.
Have a wonderful weekend – and enjoy the great weather for as long as it remains!
James Birkett
Headteacher