This week’s assemblies were in Houses, beginning with an overview of the achievements of each namesake; Attenborough, Hawking, Parks, Rashford and Yousafzai, an introduction to the staff Head of House, the aims for the year (including charity projects) and finishing with each form nominating their House Captains.

Year 7 students took part in their transition oracy workshops, a chance to develop their confidence and communication skills. The workshop leaders were full of praise, commenting on how polite, enthusiastic, and engaged our students were. It was lovely to see their growth throughout the day. Thank you to Ms Ruby for this experience.

Thank you to Mrs Brown for organising lunchtime poetry writing for Fun Friday this week. Further highlights at the end of the week include our choir singing with full gusto on Friday afternoon and another Year 7 food and nutrition lesson in our recently refurbished cooking space. A huge thank you to Ms Goodwin who has been instrumental in leading food as a subject provision in our school.

Congratulations to the winning form in each year group who were treated to a rewards breakfast today for excellent attendance. Well done to Year 11 and Year 8, who were joint Sparx Maths champions this week at 94%. A particular mention to Adesuwa (Year 8) and Kamari (Year 11) for being top of their year groups.

On Monday, Year 11 students on our Scholarship Pathway spent time after school with former students who are now studying A Levels at St Dunstan’s. We were thrilled to hear about their applications for medicine and engineering degrees at the best universities in the country. They (with the Head of Sixth Form at St Dunstan’s) generously spent their time supporting our current Year 11 students to understand the application process for prestigious sixth forms, as well as helping them develop essay writing skills.

This week we held three very full open mornings for prospective families to see the school ‘in action’ during the day. I am very grateful to all of our student guides who were excellent ambassadors. They largely ran the tours themselves and did a wonderful job!

Wednesday 8th October is our Welcome to Year 7 event. This begins at 4.00pm for all our Year 7 families. We look forward to seeing you there.

Ms C Moran, Headteacher