Week 42 (10-14 June 2024)

Welcome from the Co-Headteachers

Preparing students for a successful life in modern Britain

At Isleworth & Syon, we enjoy a proud 394-year heritage of outstanding examination outcomes, extensive enrichment opportunities and positive contributions to our local community through student leadership. We work tirelessly to maintain our high standards and, this week, Year 11 and 13 students have displayed great resilience and commitment in attending as well as completing almost all of their external examinations. They have been an immense credit to themselves, their families and, indeed, their teachers. 

Another aspect of these high standards includes our students being tolerant and wholly respectful of difference. This week, our outstanding House assemblies and Study Support sessions have promoted the importance of diversity, broad-mindedness and liberalism; in particular, we having been reinforcing the importance of Pride. As ever, we regularly remind our students of how lucky they are to have access to an excellent, broad and balanced education which prepares them for a successful life in modern Britain.

Thank you to those parents/carers who have given us feedback on this newsletter over the last few weeks. Do you feel that this newsletter is helpful to you? Do you enjoy reading it? If you have any comments, positive or negative, please use this form to let us know.

Simon Fisher and Jo Higginbottom

Examinations and New To You

The final week of public examinations – plus, donations welcome from Year 11!

As we enter the final week of public examinations, we want to urge students to keep working right up to the final minute of their final exam. It is really important to finish strongly and not to relax until after the end of the last examination.

As a reminder for Year 11 students, we would be very grateful for donations of serviceable school uniform and sports kit, as well as revision books that could be used by students still at school, once you have finished with the items. These will be resold as part of our ‘New to You’ scheme.

Positive Communications

Steering clear of negative language around the school

We work hard at teaching students about the art of positive verbal and non-verbal communication. This happens in all arenas: classroom, canteen, corridor, and the playing field. For example, we endeavour to steer clear of negative words such as ‘can’t’, ‘stop’, ‘won’t’, ‘unable’ and ‘don’t’. Such terms make people feel defensive and close down the options of our students.

This is best illustrated in the classroom where students who are asked questions but are unable to answer questions are faced with an array of light-touch, soft options designed to elicit more confident verbal responses. You can see some examples of the sentences we use in this document, as well as our ‘Oracy in the Classroom’ mission statement.

Level 2 Results Day

Information for Year 11 students collecting results this summer

Year 11 examinations are finishing this afternoon (Friday) – at the time of publication, students are sitting their physics paper. They will enjoy their Year 11 Celebration event this afternoon – more on that in next week’s newsletter. On Wednesday, we sent full details of the arrangements for Results Day – parents/carers were sent an email containing a letter personalised by house, detailing a timeslot for collecting results. The letter is also available on the ‘Letters’ page.

Coming Soon!

Some more dates for your calendar

The full calendar is available at this link.

Track & Field Championships

An important school event – with changes to the school day

There are just two weeks to go until our Track & Field Championships, taking place across the road at the Osterley track. This is always a highlight of our school sporting calendar, with all students in Years 7-10 involved in a fantastic day of athletics.

A letter was sent to parents/carers about it this morning (Friday), containing full details about the change to school arrangements for the event. In case you missed it, you can read the full letter.

Summer Arts Festival 2024

On Election Day, also enjoy our performing arts extravaganza in school

Included below is the poster for our Summer Arts Festival, taking place on Thursday 4 July. The school community have been sent a full invitation letter earlier this week, which you can read on this website.

Tickets are available now at the very low price of just £4 for adults, and £3 for children and concessions. Included in the entry price is a programme, adventure trail for younger guests, and a refreshments token – as well as an amazing evening of art, design technology, drama, film and music. Click the poster below to get yours.

Please note as well that the UK General Election is scheduled for this same date – voting closes across the country at 10.00pm, and we expect the Summer Arts Festival to end at about 8.30pm.

Safeguarding

As the football European Championships begin, domestic abuse will increase

It is a deeply unfortunate and disturbing part of our society that when major international football championships begin, rates of domestic abuse increase. While the link between football and domestic abuse is complex, sadly, research shows that when England win incidents of violence rise by 26% and, when England lose, by as much as 38%. Anyone affected by domestic violence can contact Hounslow’s One Stop Shop – find more details in this flyer.

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

A new set of award winners

One student from each form has been rewarded for their fantastic contribution with a Pride of House award this week. Check out the full roster by clicking a house badge below!

House Point Champions

Celebrating student success

Another 82 students have won either Diamond or Prestige house points awards this week – the top two honours available. House points are given out by school staff for outstanding contributions to the life of the school.

_{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.} 

News

Sporting success, poetry prowess and wondrous workshops

Athletics – Senior County and KS3 Borough Competitions

Last week, some senior students took part in the athletics Middlesex county championships. Students from Years 9-13 competed well. The standout performance came from Year 9’s Ted East, who finished second in the junior boys’ triple jump competition and therefore qualified for the South-East Inter-Counties Championship! Well done too to Tyler Andrew-Flower, Eli In Der Rieden and Shylen Thaw, who all progressed through their heats and finished well in the final of their respective races.

Following this, our top Year 7 and Year 8 athletes competed in the Hounslow borough tournament. We had some outstanding performances across the team (pictured above). Alfie Gibbs-Johnson was a standout, winning back-to-back borough 100m titles after triumphing in Year 7. He also finished third in the triple jump. Winning the 100m meant he qualified for the county championships. He was joined by Finn Barnes, Sonny Farnell-Warren and Jase Sutton, who won the high jump, 800m and javelin respectively. We look forward to seeing how all four get on in the county championships in a few weeks.

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MCC Cricket Match

We were honoured to take part in a cricket match against the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) on Wednesday. The club, based at Lord’s, are one of the most prestigious cricket clubs in the world – so it was another fantastic opportunity for our boys. The team – made up of both current senior students and alumni – battled hard on their way to a narrow 33-run loss. It was a tough contest but the team can hold their heads high, particularly because of their gutsy batting performances. Well done, boys!

Poetry Live Competition

Three students headed to St Mary’s University (Twickenham) for the MFL Poetry Live competition on Wednesday.

Oussama Hsaini El Aissati, Dan Burden and Kabeer Butt (all Year 8, pictured L-R above) were our school champions, after reciting a poem in French or Spanish in front of their classmates. This meant they qualified for the final along with 15 other London schools.

Students performed two poems in their chosen language, one of which they had never seen before! The students did brilliantly; we were very proud of their performance. Well done, boys!

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Poetry Slam Workshop

Continuing the poetry theme, 28 Year 7 students were selected to take part in a special Poetry Slam workshop yesterday (Thursday). They were picked by the English team to help develop students’ writing and public speaking skills.

Working with local poet Adam Kammerling, this workshop was the first step towards the Poetry Slam competition. Throughout the three-hour session, students worked in a collaborative and creative way to devise poems about topics that are a personal passion. 10 students have now been chosen to take part in a further workshop before representing I&S at the final competition, taking part at St. Mark’s School in two weeks’ time. Well done to everyone!

Reading Workshop and Afternoon Tea

In school, we consistently encourage students to read, read, read. This means reading for pleasure for at least 20 minutes each night – a strategy supported by our well-stocked library as well as the subscription to over 10,000 e-books which all students can use.

Our literacy lead Mrs Axten organised a special workshop and afternoon tea on Tuesday for selected Year 7 students. The session covered the academic research underpinning the importance of independent reading, as well as information about how we teach reading and how we support students with their literacy. Thank you to those parents/carers who attended the interactive workshop! We will be running more of them in the next academic year so get in touch with the school (for the attention of Mrs Axten) if you are interested.

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DT Primary Visit

Finally for this week, we are continuing to develop our primary school outreach programme – giving local boys and girls the chance to experience a snapshot of secondary life. Over the last few weeks, the DT team have hosted 60 Year 4 students from Smallberry Green primary for a fascinating sessions. Students learned some basics about circuits and transistors before getting the opportunity to use the soldering iron for the first time. Sixth Form design engineering student leaders were on-hand to assist the Year 4s, who loved getting stuck in and making their moisture sensor. Look out for more events like this over the coming weeks!