From the Co-Headteachers

As we enter into the “business-end” of the school academic year, the examination season, students go through a whole array of emotions on a daily basis, some of which they are experiencing for the first time. Tackling a mountain of subject revision and the loom of exams would be tough on anyone. Then add hormonal changes, social pressures and new experiences to the mix. It truly is everything, everywhere all at once. Especially during exams, with the focus on plans for the future, life can be pretty daunting. To aid students on this journey, we are driving the importance of attendance, punctuality and personal organisation in ALL year groups.

Every student from Year 7 to Year 13 is taught how to take part in active revision; no stone is left unturned: designing revision timetables, accessing personalised learning checklists (PLCs), constructing knowledge organisers, and performing retrieval practice. Our mantras for active revision are “practice makes permanent” as well as “little and often”. Our advice to parents/carers is to:

  • Check in with your son/ward everyday
  • Take notice and praise
  • Do things together.

Parents/carers should look out for more information after half-term about our twilight workshops on how to revise.

As a reminder, half-term is next week so school will be closed. Students return on Monday 5 June at 8.25am.

Thank you for reading the Isleworthian this half-term. As we go into the break, we’d love any more comments you have about whether this weekly publication is useful. Please leave a comment at this anonymous link.

Simon Fisher and Jo Higginbottom

I&S Inspires – Dr Nick Bourne

Before the Covid pandemic, we launched a series of talks called ‘I&S Inspires’. Featuring different motivational speakers, the series peeled back the curtain behind some of the top career pathways, including BBC journalist Gabriel Gatehouse and civil engineer Ed McCann. We believe it is very important to offer our students unique opportunities to hear a range of different voices.

In June, we are relaunching the programme with a special talk from Dr Nick Bourne. Read the full letter for more information; no booking is required.

Club of the Week – Bike Maintenance

We were delighted to start another fun club this Thursday – the Bike Maintenance Club, led by Mr Elliston. As the summer holidays start to approach, students will learn how to look after their bike so that they can have hours of fun during the six weeks. It also means they learn an important life skill, learning how to service their bikes and carry out minor repairs. 

Anyone interested should speak to Mr Elliston – spaces are allocated on a first-come, first-served basis!

Top Extra-Curricular Participants by Form

As the half-term ends, we want to thank our staff for their continued commitment to offering extra-curricular opportunities to our students. We have been tracking students’ participation in order to spotlight those who contribute enormously to our school community through participating the various in clubs, study groups, teams and ensembles as well as attending additional trips and visits. These include:

  • Art Coursework Support  
  • Arts Award  
  • Athletics Club  
  • Badminton Club 
  • BFI Study Days
  • Big Band 
  • Bike Maintenance Club 
  • Borough Athletics
  • Boxing Club 
  • Breakfast Reading Club 
  • Chess Club
  • Concert Orchestra
  • Cricket Club
  • D&T Practical Masterclass
  • Drama Club
  • DofE Bronze Award
  • DofE Silver Award
  • Football Club
  • Grade 5 Music Theory
  • InSpire Crew vocal ensemble
  • Jazz Workshop
  • KS3 Maths PPA club
  • Maths Challenge Club
  • Music Technology Club
  • Perf Arts Tech Crew
  • Science Club
  • Sports Leaders Events
  • The Link Study Club
  • Theatre trips
  • Volleyball Club

Check out this PDF to view this half-term’s top participants by form. Well done to all of them!

Internal Examinations

This week, we have sent letters regarding examinations. Students in Years 7, 8, 9, 10 and 12 have had more details about internal end-of-year examinations.

You can read all the letters on the Letters page, and view the exact dates of each examination, internal and public, in the Examinations section.

Coming Up!

  • Monday 29 May – Friday 2 June – Half-Term
  • Wednesday 14 June – School vs MCC cricket match
  • Wednesday 21 and Thursday 22 June – Year 9 Immunisations for those with consent (DTP and Men ACWY)
  • Friday 30 June – Track & Field Championships
  • Tuesday 4 July – Transition Day (Year 6 students) and Transition Evening (Year 6 parents/carers)
  • Thursday 6 July – Summer Arts Festival
  • Monday 10 – Friday 21 July – Work Experience for Year 10 students
  • Monday 10 – Friday 14 July – Wider Learning Week for Years 7, 8, 9 and 12

Safeguarding

The school is closed from 4.00pm on Friday 26 May and reopens on Monday 5 June at 8.25am.

It is important that parents/carers are vigilant over the holiday period. If you have a concern about the safety or welfare of your child, please email the safeguarding team at safeguarding@isleworthsyon.org. A member of staff will be monitoring the account.

If there is an emergency call 999 or, for non-urgent matters that require police attention, call 101. 

Pride of House

40 more students have won a Pride of House award this week, meaning that their form tutor has nominated them for a brilliant contribution to the life of Isleworth & Syon. Please join us in congratulating the winners via the badges below!

House Point Champions

Well done to this week’s Diamond and Prestige award-winners, presented for reaching 200 and 300 house points respectively. These students are fantastic role models for their peers – well done to all of them.

Note: this list is accurate as of 7.00am today (Friday). If your child reached a threshold after 7.00am on Friday, they will appear in the next list. 

Prestige (300 points)

Mohammed ALI QURESHI (8Bl)
Kabeer BUTT (7Tu)
George DAVIES (8Tr)
Christopher EDWARDS (9Tu)
Rian McKEEVER (8Tr)
Ved PENDSE (9Ad)
Isaac SHAW (8Ad)

Diamond (200 points)

Nirvaan ASSI (9Br)
Kellany BORDALO SANCHES (10Sh)
Nazarii HOMZIAK (9Sh)
Kai JOSHI (9Ad)
Adam KANSO (9Br)
Simon VILLALOBOS (8Bl)
Rayhaan VOHRA (7Tr)
Pasquale VOLLARO (10Am)
Ballin YOUSAF (7Sh)

Careers Corner

Over the last two weeks, we have been really lucky to host three impressive speakers to talk about their employment and career journeys as part of our Sixth Form enrichment programme. We were joined by Alison Dela Cruz of Butternut Box, Vic Snedker of the Met Police and Sarah Speake of Speake Up Consulting. All three speakers shared insights into their career journeys and key lessons they have learned along the way. Each highlighted the need for our students to develop transferable skills like communication, resilience, and problem-solving in addition to their academic qualifications.

Word of the Week

The word of the week is abandon.

News

Rafi Hodges – Royal Academy of Art

A huge congratulations to Year 7 Rafi Hodges, whose artwork has been selected for a special exhibition at the Royal Academy of Art in London this July.

Rafi entered the Young Artists’ Summer Show and was one of over 21,000 submissions across the country. Rafi’s entry, titled ‘Wingless Bird’, was judged as one of the best, so will be displayed at the Royal Academy from 18 July to 13 August, as well as online. Congratulations to Rafi for this fantastic achievement!

London Zoo – Scientists and Artists!

Two separate Sixth Form groups visited animal habitats as they explored London Zoo this week.

On Monday, the Year 12 biology group visited the zoo as part of their ‘Biodiversity and Conservation’ module. In the classroom, students look at how species adapt to their niche and the consequences if they fail to adapt. The zoo provided live examples as case studies, helping to bring students’ learning to life.

Thursday saw our Year 12 artists head to the zoo for a recording workshop – gathering resources to use within their work. Students worked both as a team and by themselves to capture photography they could use as primary and secondary source material.

Both trips were fantastic for completely different reasons – students got so much out of them!

Biodiversity Workshop

It was certainly a busy week for our Year 12 biologists, as they also attended a fascinating biodiversity workshop earlier today (Friday). It took place in the local Boston Manor Park, and was run by their park rangers and biodiversity specialists. Students took part in a fascinating wildlife talk and then were taken on a park walk – highlighting the features which enhanced the two key concepts of conservation and biodiversity.

It was a brilliant and unique opportunity to observe these two key concepts in our local community, helping students to connect their classroom learning to the wide world.

Image: Ethan Doyle White (https://commons.wikimedia.org)

Junior Maths Challenge

This year, nearly 100 students in Years 7 & 8 took part in the Junior Maths Challenge, run by the UK Maths Trust. The results were fantastic – 26 Bronzes, 12 Silvers and 3 Golds. The best in each year group were Adam Arani (Year 7) and Louis Harvey (Year 8, also best in school).

Louis has also qualified for the next round, the Junior Kangaroo – which will take place in June. Well done to everyone who took part, and to the staff for the work involved to make it happen!

DofE Silver Practice Expedition

The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award scheme remains popular at school, and we are proud to be one of only a few local schools that run all three levels – Bronze (Year 9), Silver (Year 10) and Gold (Year 12).

22 students signed up for the Silver award and headed off for their practice expedition last week. The three-day trip took place in the Chiltern Hills, and it was a great way for students to put their training into practice! They had to really consider their campcraft and navigation skills throughout. Students acquitted themselves nicely, and are well set for their final assessed expedition in October.

Year 13 Say Goodbye

This afternoon (Friday) was a huge day for Year 13, who said their farewells to the school during their Leavers Assembly. This was their last full day before study leave – and, more importantly, public exams! – begin. The half-hour presentation was a fitting tribute to their school journey, which began in September 2016! The event was led by the Sixth Form Student Voice team and featured speeches and video presentations. A particular favourite was the montage of student photos from Year 7 to Year 13 – it was amazing to see how much they have grown! In all, it was a poignant occasion punctured with good humour. We wish the students well!