Headteachers Letter – 5th February 2021

Dear parents and carers,

Thank you to all who attended the  Year 9 Parents Evening last night – we have been grateful for the extremely positive feedback about both the format and the help and support which subject teachers and pastoral staff were able to provide. This was a fairly marathon day and evening on zoom for some staff – and I know that having the positive recognition has meant a lot to our staff , as we also sense just how important that sense of recognition and positivity has been to our Year 9 students and parents.   In such challenging times, we are extremely grateful that we have been able to work and communicate so effectively in partnership with students and parents, fostering a sense of kindness and care for one another.

 

Wall of Positivity

Please find a link to the school website HERE this page includes a compilation of some of the work which has been undertaken this week as part of children’s mental health awareness week.  We are incredibly proud of the continued positivity, resilience and kindness shown by our school community throughout the pandemic – and the wall certainly makes for inspiring reading!

 

Building Project

Despite the lockdown, we have continued to make improvements to our site, including the significant building work on the site of the old swimming pool, near the Year 7 playground. Although the swimming pool has not been in use for a number of decades, this area of our site had not been fully redeveloped. However, now that the ground works are almost complete, over the course of next two weeks (weather permitting) we will be installing the small modular classroom block onto this area. This will provide two additional classrooms and some office space as well as offering significant improvement to the landscaping, access and aesthetic appeal of this area of our site.  We hope to have this work fully complete by the end of the Easter holiday and I will include pictures on the school website in the coming weeks.

 

Careers Education

Mr Myers continues to lead our work on careers education alongside Mrs Downey – and this work has continued apace during lockdown. As ever, our immediate mission is to ensure that every student who will leave this year in Year 11 and Year 13 has an appropriate and fulfilling onward destination in place, whether in our VI Form, at University, college or an apprenticeship.

Next week is national apprenticeship week and a good opportunity to look at both Post 16 and Post 18 options. There are some opportunities which allow both work based training in tandem with a University degree. More information can be found on the websites below.

https://www.nationalapprenticeshipweek.co.uk/

https://www.ucas.com/understanding-apprenticeships/discover-apprenticeships

We have a number of students who have successfully embarked on apprenticeships following their school careers at Wollaston, and a couple of quotations on the benefits can be found below:

“Why do an apprenticeship? The list is almost endless. It puts you in a unique position. Naturally, being young you can be put at a disadvantage due to perceived naivety – this can make it hard to stand out and get a job. With an apprenticeship, this puts you straight into the job to learn with a hands on approach– no learning things irrelevant to your job! Not only that but you get paid which allows you to not only enjoy yourself but also get on your feet faster.”   Police Degree Apprentice and Wollaston School leaver  2020

“An apprenticeship gives you the opportunity to study as well as gain vital work experience in the real world. Apprenticeships can be looked down upon as an options for those ‘that aren’t smart enough to attend university’ but this is certainly not the case. Since leaving Wollaston 4 years ago to start my Accountancy apprenticeship I’ve not looked back, I’m 4 exams off of being a chartered accountant.”   Apprentice accountant and Wollaston School Leaver of 2017

If you would like further details on careers provision, please contact Mr Myers on MyersB@wollaston-school.net

 

Thank you as always for your continued support, and I hope that you enjoy a relaxing weekend.

 

Mr James Birkett 

Headteacher