Week 43 (17-21 June 2024)

Welcome from the Co-Headteachers

How you can support and assist the school

Parents/carers often ask how they can support and assist the school. Many of you already do a generous and effective job of supporting and checking the ongoing attendance, punctuality, PPA (homework) completion and reading ability of your child. However, very few offers come in the form of either work experience placements or requests to speak to our amazing students at our I&S Inspires talks.

We recognise that talent is everywhere yet opportunities are not. So, we continue to actively look for, first, Year 10 and Year 12 work placements as well as, second, speakers who wish to inspire students about their own career pathways. If you are interested in contributing to any of these two opportunities, please get in touch.

This week has seen the build-up to our annual, outstanding Track & Field Championships, held over the road at the Osterley track. Throughout the week, our exceptional Year assemblies and daily, face-to-face Study Support sessions have been focusing on student participation at the event. Our mantra is “the sum of the whole is always greater than the sum of the parts.” With this in mind, students have been energetically and collectively selecting their athletic teams with the objective that EVERYONE takes part. This inspirational, active citizenship always produces staggering individual leadership, outstanding resilience, and an astonishing amount of goodwill across our school community.

Simon Fisher and Jo Higginbottom

Reading

Encouraging students – and parents/carers – to READ, READ, READ

Research suggests that communicating with parents/carers about literacy and reading can result in parents/carers being more empowered to support and encourage their son/ward at home, which has also been proven to have an impact on reading skills. On this note, reading helps to improve vocabulary, communication skills and makes us better writers. We all need these skills in life and in our workplace. Please consider talking to your son/ward about when you use these skills in your own life and work. 

Active Participation

Promoting student leadership

Research shows that a clear focus on active participation aligned to individual student leadership can have the following benefits: 

• Student leadership – like the Sixth Form Student Voice team, pictured right – supports the wider curriculum, particularly wellbeing and mental health. 
• Students are more likely to take ownership of their own learning and take the initiative in their education: work completion, reading, revision, and PPA (homework). 
• Students can provide peer support, acting as peer mentors and supporting other students. This creates a positive and inclusive school culture.
• Promoting active participation and leadership skills encourages students to be more resilient. Our students need to adapt to change and seek out solutions. 
• Social learning: a culture where students feel empowered to actively participate in teams as well as express their opinions (student voice in team selection) indirectly contributes to school improvement. 

Level 3 Results Day

Information for Year 13 students collecting results this summer

Most Year 13 students have now finished their examinations, with just Further Maths students sitting one more paper on Monday. Well done to all the students for your hard work to get to this point. This afternoon, we sent details of the arrangements for Results Day, taking place on Thursday 15 August. You can access the letter on the ‘Letters’ page of this website.

Coming Soon!

Some more dates for your calendar

The full calendar is available at this link.

RSPCA Young Photographer of the Year

A competition for animal lovers!

We love to signpost fantastic enrichment opportunities for our students. If your son/ward has a passion for photography and animals, we have just the thing for you. The RSPCA Young Photographer of the Year Awards are now open for entrants. You can find more information in this flyer; the closing date is Thursday 15 August. Good luck!

Arts Award

A student-led treat during Summer Arts Festival

Yesterday marked just two weeks until our Summer Arts Festival, featuring over 200 students across art, drama, design technology, film and music. Rehearsals are well aware for what promises to be a special school event.

From 6.30pm to 7.00pm on the evening, Year 10 students taking the Arts Award have created their own mini-events for your enjoyment. The course – which gives students a full qualification equal to a GCSE – is the performing arts equivalent of the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award, and has proved very popular this year! 

The students are responsible for marketing their own event, as part of the course. They have produced a series of posters, which you can view by clicking below.

Personal Development

Teaching students about the democratic process – to protect their future

At I&S, we are reminding students about the importance of the UK election process for young people, in shaping the political, social and economic landscape that they will inherit. The UK General Election on Thursday 4 July provides an excellent opportunity for our students to learn about the democratic process, political parties, and the issues at stake. Although almost all of our students are not yet eligible to vote, we are raising their awareness, including through a mock election, and reminding them that today’s policies affect their future. We intend that understanding political processes early helps teens develop into informed and active citizens. 

In many ways, our students are already active in democratic processes and civic education. They participate in charity fundraising, and through the student council and leadership, address issues that they care about. Some say that including younger voices in elections could lead to policies that better reflect the needs and aspirations of the entire population. Until then, we will keep our students actively preparing to contribute thoughtfully and effectively to society in the future. 

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

Forty more I&S students have been presented with this week’s Pride of House award, receiving a digital certificate. They have been given the award for a brilliant contribution to their form this week. Well done!

House Point Champions

Celebrating student success

21 more students have earned either a Diamond or Prestige house point certificate this week. They are shown below – well done! 

_{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

Learning far beyond the classroom – plus a special celebration

Year 11 Celebration

Last Friday, Year 11s were celebrating as they finished their GCSE examinations! That same afternoon, their Pastoral Leader, Mr Gaskell, hosted a special celebration assembly. The students enjoyed reminders of the past with photo and video montages of their time in school, from day one in Year 7, through various school events, sporting activities and arts performances. 

Prizes were awarded to various worthy students for excellence over five years of schooling, including two students with zero negatives throughout their five years of schooling – so a special well done to Finn Donovan and Parmvir Gill.

The event ended with a delicious barbecue in the quad – pictured above! We hope students enjoy a well-deserved summer break and look forward to seeing them on Results Day in August, before starting Sixth Form in September.

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Primary Visit – Science Dissections

Following our design technology primary visits last week, our exciting outreach programme continues throughout this term. This gives local students in Years 5 & 6 the opportunity to experience a taste of school life.

Earlier this week, we were delighted to welcome a class from Ivybridge Primary for a special science lesson. Ms Stead led a practical hands-on session in one of our laboratories, assisted by some Sixth Form biologists.

During the hour-and-a-half session, the primary students discovered the inner workings of the heart. It was great that the class included a couple of students who will be joining I&S in September – they are pictured above. Students then dissected a heart – once they had been shown the proper safety precautions, of course! It was a fantastic morning for everyone involved.

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Belfast Fieldwork Trip

Students taking A level geography are required to get out into the real world and analyse geographical features. So, Mr McAlinden and Mr McDonald took four Year 12 students to Northern Ireland for a two-night residential visit.

During their time in Northern Ireland, students looked at coastal management strategies, as well as rural rebranding and regeneration in several Areas of Natural beauty and urban regeneration in the city of Belfast. This included seeing some beautiful scenery plus some of the sets from the hit TV show ‘Game of Thrones’.

This visit allowed them to undertake a ‘pilot study’ for fieldwork, that students have designed as part of their non-examined assessment (NEA). This meant interacting with members of the public and asking questions about geographical features like the beautiful coasts and stunning mountains. Students did very well throughout the trip and were a credit to themselves and the school.

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Burgess Furniture Factory Trip

On Tuesday, Mr Elliston took our Year 12 design engineers to nearby Feltham to visit the the Burgess Furniture factory.

During this fascinating morning visit, our boys were lucky enough to be shown around the factory by the production manager, Craig. Students were shown how Burgess uses both traditional engineering methods as well as advanced robotic manufacturing. Students loved the robot welder!

Throughout, students were given the opportunity to ask questions, and they were extremely engaged. When asked to name the most valuable part of the trip, one student answered, “Greater understanding within the processes of engineering while also witnessing it first hand.” This was, therefore, a brilliant way to bring classroom learning to life.

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Go Ape Trip

Our Year 13 CTEC Sport & Physical Activity students have to provide evidence on Outdoor Adventurous Activities as part of their Practical Sports module. On Monday, the group travelled to ‘Go Ape’, an outdoor centre near Bracknell to take part in a high ropes course. In the last few years, over 80 per cent of the students on this course have gained Distinction or Distinction* grades with many of them furthering their studies at university or college.

Photography Competition

Finally for this week, many students across Years 7-11 recently entered a local photography competition organised by the Isleworth Society. Students submitted photographs in a number of categories including ‘people communities and businesses’ and ‘hidden history’. Six students made the judge’s shortlist – we will let you know the results next week! Well done to all of the boys.