Headteachers Letter – 4th February 2022

Dear Parents and carers,

Thank you for supporting another very positive week at Wollaston School, we have many reasons to feel proud of our school community and it was particularly rewarding to see a return to our GCSE Presentation evening, with certificates and awards being distributed to our Year 11 class of 2021.

 

2021 GCSE Presentation Evening and Year 11 Destinations Information

We were delighted to hand out a range of awards and GCSE certificates to our 2021 Year 11 students, many of whom have remained with us in Wollaston’s Sixth Form.   This year group demonstrated the most extraordinary resilience, courage and positivity in facing their qualifications amidst considerable pandemic related disruption.  Students had to adapt to completely new forms of assessment and education and they richly deserve the acclaim and appreciation received during the evening.

I am also delighted to confirm that 100% of our class of 2021 have achieved success in securing approved routes of entry into Sixth Form, Further Education or employment based training. Although this performance measure is always high at Wollaston (above 96%), and has been rising in recent years, this is the first time that Wollaston School has hit our target of 100%. So , despite the challenges of the pandemic, we can be incredibly proud that all of our students left Wollaston with the grades and skills needed to take their next steps in the world. We wish every individual, every success in the years to come, and we look forward to hearing of their further achievements.

Thank you to our Year 11 students, their parents, form tutors, pastoral and academic staff for the exceptional support provided and this again evidences that a successful education arises from working together in partnership – an approach we value across the school.

 

Year 9 Options Process

It seems hard to believe that we are almost at the halfway point to this school year, and before the academic calendar becomes dominated by examinations, there are some crucial weeks ahead for students in Year 9.   A reminder that the crucial dates for parents are:

3rd March 2022 – Year 9 Parents’ evening via Edulink

17th March 2022 – Options Evening – an in person event and the opportunity to learn more about the courses on offer.

Students will of course receive full details in the weeks ahead, as well as personalised guidance and support as we work with them to select the qualifications which will shape their GCSE curriculum next year.

 

Irchester Bus Service

We have been made aware that Wollaston Road and Station Road, in Irchester, have scheduled resurfacing works next week. The bus company have been liaising with the council and have been advised that the works will not impact on the school bus service for the 701/702/703 routes.

 

PE Update – from Mr Bennett

The PE department has been extremely busy in the last week.

The year 11 U16 rugby team reached the County Rugby final after beating Bishops Stotford in the Semi Final. This was a great result and well deserved.

The senior Girls were involved in a Netball fixture against Wellingborough school and it was great to see a good standard of netball played by both sets of players. The Year 9 boys were in the Football County Cup semi final against NSB and after a shaky start the boys played well; eventually losing 5-2 to the Northampton School for Boys. The after school clubs are very well attended and it is great to see such great support and numbers participating in the activities on offer. The clubs include

After school:

  • Monday : Dodgeball and Badminton,
  • Tuesday : Netball, Basketball and Fitness suite,
  • Wednesday : Year 7-8 leadership, Running Club and Fitness Suite,
  • Thursday : Rugby and fitness suite. This also includes all the fixtures that are upcoming and the teams ready to play.

A special mention goes to Shivam Gopal who played in the County table Tennis competition this week and he battled through to reach the Semi Final, which was a brilliant solo effort. Well Done Shiv!

This also reminded us that the former English number 5 player Christopher Doran attended Wollaston school. With such a rich previous history, we look forward to following Shivam’s progress.

The PE department would also like to remind students that if they require new or correct PE kit that they ensure they have ordered any items through the school website and are ready for their PE lessons in the appropriate way.

 

Children’s Mental Health Week – a Note from Mrs Walker

Children’s Mental Health Week takes place all next week from 7th – 11th February.

It is widely recognised that our young people have faced significant challenges over the past couple of years and this has taken a toll for many on their mental health.

At Wollaston School we aim to support as many of our young people as we are able to through a variety of ways. We have a school counsellor and a Student Support Officer with a dedicated role of supporting students with wellbeing as well as a small team of colleagues who have received training in Mental Health First Aid. As a school we assist families with referrals to other agencies including CAMHS, Service Six and the Lowdown to name just a few.

In readiness for Children’s Mental Health Week, groups and charities have pulled together a range of activities, resources and information to help support you and your young people and to raise awareness of the challenges our young people face. Please see below weblinks to some of these resources

https://www.childrensmentalhealthweek.org.uk

https://literacytrust.org.uk/resources/hot-topic-childrens-mental-health-week/

https://www.wollastonschool.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/STRESS-BUSTERS.docx

Please also click the following link to view a list of stress busters which have been shared by our own school counsellor.

If your child is struggling with their mental health in any way, please do let us know so we can support in whatever way we are able. Either email your child’s form tutor, head of year, or wellbeing officer cootesa@wollaston-school.net or myself on walkera@wollaston-school.net.

 

Dance Live 2022

Next week sees our incredible Performing Arts Faculty perform in the National Dance Live competition. Those who have seen the dress rehearsal have been dazzled once again by the creativity, energy and skill of our team. Good luck to all and I will include details of how they got on in my letter next week.

 

Have a wonderful weekend, and as always, please do not hesitate to get in touch of there is any aspect of our work which you would like to discuss.

Mr James Birkett

Headteacher