Lower School
A group of scientists took part in the RSC Global Experiment ‘ Take Charge ’ making their own batteries .
Middle School
Our Lower School pupils have been carefully reflecting on their academic reports during Tutor time and are becoming more familiar with setting themselves targets as part of their report action review . I hope to see their hard work paying off across the term ahead and I look forward to watching them rising to the challenge of internal assessments . Tutors will start to prepare pupils for their exam revision early on in the Summer term . Our Second years have been challenged in a different way through their Ambitio research project and I have enjoyed watching them tackle their chosen question . The opportunity to present their findings publicly after Easter will test many and I am grateful for their enthusiasm and resilience thus far . I have also been impressed by their engagement with our uniform initiative , and I am proud by the way in which our First and Second Years present themselves every day . They are maturing into responsible , interesting and ambitious young people and are terrific ambassadors for our school .
Samantha Hughes , Head of Lower School
Sixth Form
The Lent term is always very full and intense : each year group in the Middle School faces its own challenges and opportunities . This term has felt like Middle School has come together , feeling like more of a unit than discrete , bubbled year groups .
Third Year have chosen their GCSE options and are looking ahead to starting ( or continuing with , in some cases ) courses from September . Fourth Year have been working well on their GCSE courses and are shaping up nicely . Exams are on the horizon , and they need to think about preparations .
Fifth Year , of course , are very much at the sharp end of their journey . Having started the term with mock exams , an already short term has felt more compact than usual , as they have been completing coursework , finishing courses and refining their exam technique . I cannot promise this Easter will be easy : the potential rewards , though , should be more tangible than ever .
Looking further ahead , albeit only slightly , it has been a pleasure to engage with so many of our Fifth Years regarding their future plans , and discussing with them the next steps of their educational journeys .
I wish all Middle School students a terrific holiday .
Inaayat Hashim , Head of Middle School
Sixth Form Languages students creating mind maps on the main themes of ‘ El Laberinto del Fauno ’.
During the first half of Lent term , our Lower Sixth students have been learning about the wide range of Post-18 opportunities that are available to them , with presentations on university , apprenticeships , studying abroad and Gap Years from York University , NYBEP , Project Trust and astarfuture . During the second half of term , they undertook an initial programme of employability workshops exploring areas such as ' Brand You ', ' Effective Communications and Networking ', ' Confidence and Resilience ' and ' Success at Interviews '. These workshops aim to enable our students to stand out from the crowd in the future job market . Our Upper Sixth students have been busy completing UCAS and other applications ( most have already received a wide range of exciting offers and are now making firm and insurance choices ), and preparing for , sitting , and learning from , the February mock exams . With only a few weeks to go before the return of ' real exams ', every bit of practice and feedback is absolutely crucial !
Tim Morris , Head of Sixth Form
Wellbeing
The Lent Term has seen us make progress with our small discussion group programme . The groups have been formed off the back of the research the school undertook in response to the Everyone ' s Invited Campaign last year . We have found that when discussing topics such as Consent , pupils are much more comfortable in their conversations when in small groups outside of lessons . We have also found that when the younger year discussion groups are attended by Sixth Form pupils , the discussion has a ' real ' element to it and pupils respond better to advice when it is given by ' one of their own '. We have a good number of current Sixth Formers who are keen to give back in this way and we will be certain to utilise their enthusiasm and willingness to help .
In PSHE , Fifth year pupils had an off-timetable day in the first half of term where all aspects of family life were discussed in a series of 6 sessions run by school staff . We hope they took a great deal of useful information away with them from what was a very informative day .
Clare Swann , Head of Pupil Welfare
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