Headteachers Letter – 4th November 2022

Dear parents and carers,

It has been a great first week back, albeit a rather wet and windy one!

I have been really pleased to see that following some analysis of our data for term 1 we have seen the amount of recognition points awarded to students treble last term in comparison to the average for last year. This is of course testament to the excellent start and exemplary attitudes being displayed by our young people at Wollaston but also to Miss Ayres launch of the new rewards and recognition system. Part of our data analysis has shown that for students who have good attendance, their progress is excellent at Wollaston. To that end, Mrs Elmes our Head of Behaviour and Attendance has written home today to outline the support we have in school to manage attendance. Please do ensure that you read the letter, should you have any issues with it you can also find it HERE.

We have also this week launched our new Wollaston School Student Leadership Groups in assembly this week and have already received a large number of applications to be part of the various groups we have on offer. The deadline for applications is next Wednesday 9th November and we would like to see as many students as possible apply to be part of this project. Not only will they learn about leadership and have access to a range of exciting guest speakers, they will also have the opportunity to develop and work on a school improvement project linked to their chosen leadership group. This really is a great opportunity for students at all stages of the school and I look forward to reading their applications next week in anticipation of our inaugural Wollaston School Student leadership Conference on Thursday November 17th. If your child would like to apply to be part of the programme they must return their application form to Miss Ayres by Wednesday 9th.

 

News 

Careers Fayre

Mr Myers writes: “On Tuesday , 1st November we held a new careers initiative called ‘Sporting Opportunities’.  This involved presentations from 11 local and national sporting organisations who were able to inform GCSE PE students about the wide array of opportunities for them to develop their skills and gain knowledge relevant to the sports industry. Staff from the following organisations were present :

  • Moulton College
  • University of Northampton
  • Pacesetter Sports
  • Northants Titans Basketball Club
  • Northampton Town FC
  • Starclub Rowing
  • England Hockey
  • Northamptonshire Sport
  • North Northamptonshire Sports Development
  • University College of Football and Business

 

We are most grateful to the above for their time and expertise. Comments from our students can be seen below:

“I found the sports careers event very helpful as it opened my eyes to all the opportunities and advantages of the sports industry. I think a lot of people disregard working in sport because they have a passion for it but don’t know how to develop this into a job/career. The sports event will have helped them.” – Tilly, Year 13

“It was good because it was insightful as it gave information about the wide variety of sports careers available.” – Joe, Year 13

“Thank you so much for having us, super worthwhile for us as we were very busy and had lots of interested students so I’m sure we would be available for your next one!” Mouton College”

 

PE News and Notices

Mr Bennett writes “The PE Department have been extremely busy this week and it has been immensely pleasing to have so many students involved with PE and Sport across the school.

The U18 Football team were playing on Tuesday and were beaten by a very good team Samuel Whitbread in the 3rd round of the National Cup competition. The year 8 Boys football team were also in action and managed to win through their game in the National Cup: winning eventually on penalties. The Year 9 Boys were also successful in their fixture against Northampton Academy and beat them 4-1. There was some very good passages of play and a couple of excellent team goals were scored. The Year 8 Mixed basketball team were in the District tournament at Weavers School on Thursday, and they came joint 2nd overall. It was positive to see a basketball fixture added. Next week there are several fixtures including a large Cross-Country competition on Thursday 10th November.  

On Tuesday, the PE department were very pleased to have 12 different sports and activity providers visit the school and give careers talk to most of the GCSE students and 6th form sport students also. The talks and presentations were very well received, and the students certainly had the opportunity to understand a wide range of career opportunities in sport. The new clubs and after school activities begin this week and Cheerleading has seen quite a bit of interest already.

Please could students and or Parents/Carers inform the PE staff or Mr Kirk if they are unable to attend a fixture. We try as much as possible to let students know of their selection to a match/fixture by Thursday/Friday of the week before the game. This hopefully gives people enough opportunity to make the necessary arrangements. If a student is unable to play in a fixture it would be very helpful if they could inform the PE department as soon as they can so alternative team selections and arrangements can be made. Team lists are always displayed on the notice board outside the PE Office and this will confirm the fixture and arrangements.

As the weather becomes a little colder and PE lessons continue to be conducted outside. Please can students and parents/carers make sure that they have the appropriate Wollaston PE kit that can include a Warm Wollaston PE training top or rugby jersey to stay protected against the weather and cold. If the lessons are particularly cold, then the PE staff will truncate the lessons to ensure that students are not exposed to very cold weather for long periods of time. Coats are not to be worn in PE lessons as this presents too many barriers to effective participation and the opportunity for higher levels of performance.”

 

Notices

Absence

Please be reminded that if your child is absent from school then you must notify the school to report the absence before 8.15 on the day of the absence and each subsequent day of absence, and advise when they are expected to return. This can easily and quickly be achieved using the Edulink app (that can be downloaded for both Apple and Android devices) or via the school’s absence line. If your child is absent then you can expect to receive an absence alert either as an SMS or as a push notification on the app if you have push notifications permitted in your app settings.

 

Updated clubs list

An updated list of afterschool and lunch time clubs is available to view HERE

 

Northamptonshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner’s newsletter

In this issue the Commissioner provides an update on keeping people safe in Northamptonshire’s night-time economy.

He explains how a new demo rig at a Fire Service training venue is helping to keep firefighters at the top of their game and shares information on how Northamptonshire roads are being kept safe.

You can also read how ANPR cameras are already making a difference in tackling crime in the county.

Please click HERE to read.

 

Safeguarding and Wellbeing bulletin

Please find the October edition of the Safeguarding and Wellbeing Bulletin HERE and also a cost of living factsheet for parents HERE.

Have a lovely weekend.

 

Kind regards

 

Simon Anderson