On Monday, both the year 7 and year 8 netball teams played against Coombe Wood (A squad). Despite several opportunities to score, Year 7 did not convert their effort into points and lost 4-1. This game was captained by Clara and the player of the match was Khalia in defence. Year 8, on the other hand, beat Coombe Wood 13-8, with Pier in attack selected as player of the match. This also means that Year 8 remain undefeated this season. Well done and a huge thank you to Ms Hansford for her leadership of the squad.

On Wednesday, 53 of our Year 10 students took part in the Jack Petchey Speak Out Challenge, an inspiring public speaking workshop that helped them develop confidence, voice, and presentation skills. Students made outstanding progress in just one day, delivering excellent speeches, and were praised by the workshop leaders for their maturity, enthusiasm, and exemplary behaviour. Congratulations to our school winners, Sanchez, Falisha, Keyanna, Jayden, Alfie, Finley, Noor, and Kacper, who will now compete for a place in the regional semi-final on 23 March. Afterwards, we received an incredibly complimentary email from the organisation, which finishes with the line ‘it was an honour to work with them’. Thank you to Ms Ruby, Ms Palmieri and Ms Saulter for supporting the experience.

On Thursday, we welcomed 15 headteachers from Tower Hamlets who were based at Orchard Park for the day as part of the Tower Hamlets Education partnership. They were very impressed by the pace of learning in lessons, pupils' strong habits of attention and the warmth of our staff.

As mentioned last week, our personal development newsletters are available, linked here. They share information on the upcoming learning and experiences for each year group linked to their Personal Development.

Notices

There is currently a vacancy for a parent governor on the Orchard Park High School Governing Body, and we would welcome applications to take on the role. For more information about the role and the rules on eligibility to be a school governor, please read the recruitment pack on our website.

Greenshaw Learning Trust - Trustees & Governors

Year 7 parents’ evening is on Thursday 12th February from 4.00pm.

Ms C Moran, Headteacher