From the Headteacher
Welcome to the second newsletter of the term.
This weekend is a long one due to the bank holiday on Monday when school will be closed. To ensure that our students do not miss too many Monday lessons, we will follow Monday’s timetable on our return next Tuesday, 3 May. Please make sure that your son/daughter/ward has packed their school bag accordingly.
We have sent you a letter from our local health team by email about ‘Living with Covid’. This contains useful information about dealing with the virus as it becomes an endemic disease.
The holy month of Ramadan finishes early next week. We wish all members of our Muslim community very best wishes for their celebrations of Eid.
Euan Ferguson
Exam Preparation
Students sitting examinations this summer should be working hard to ensure that they are fully prepared for them. This will include learning some new material and revising previous work. The exam timetables and revision materials, including revision planners, should be part of the preparation.
Safeguarding Updates
We understand that the examination season can be a stressful time for both students and families. In order to support students, we have published a wide range of resources on the school website. The charity Mind has produced Supporting your child during their exams, a guide for parents/carers. In addition, Ofqual produce this useful blog.
If you have a concern about the safety or welfare of your or another child, please email the safeguarding team at safeguarding@isleworthsyon.org.
Job Opportunities – Support Staff
We are still looking for Exam Invigilators to join our team for the summer. For further details read the full Job Description and how to apply here.
We have just advertised for a Design Technology Technician, who will support the practical work in the Design Technology and Engineering Department.
We have also just advertised for a full time ICT Technician to support our Network Manager.
All vacancies are posted here.
Parent/Carer Trustee (Governor) – Vacancy
Please do consider putting yourself forward to serve on our Academy Trust Board as a trustee of the school. Should you be interested please go to the Academy/Board of Trustees page and submit a form by the deadline of Tuesday 3 May.
Word of the Week
The word of the week for next week is “derive“.
News
Junior Mathematical Challenge
Well done to the boys in Years 7 and 8, over 100 of them, who took the opportunity to test their mathematical ability in the Junior Challenge organised by the United Kingdom Mathematics Trust. The boys sat the paper on Thursday 28th April and had an hour to answer as many of the 25 questions as possible. Whilst the questions got harder as the paper progressed, the aim is to inspire and encourage the boys to have a love of solving problems. We look forward to receiving the results in the near future.
School Council
The School Council is an important forum where our students can influence school life. At the spring term meeting, which took place just before Easter, a wide-ranging discussion was held on a variety of topics that had resulted from a recent student survey. Subjects included: teaching and learning; “Pride of House”; literacy; enrichment; personal safety and careers. The school’s leadership team are now tasked to respond to the suggestions and action items from the meeting and to feedback at the next meeting.
Shakespeare Comes Alive!
On Friday 1 April, Year 9 and Year 11 students welcomed The Globe Players to the school hall for a workshop to enhance their understanding and appreciation of Shakespeare’s plays. Year 11 students prepared for their GCSE exam by watching an abridged performance of Romeo and Juliet and Year 9 students similarly enjoyed Macbeth, their current ‘study text’. In both sessions the actors interspersed their show with explanations of both the scenes and key quotes.
Site Developments
We are in the final stages of planning for two improvements to the school estate. The dining hall roof is the last flat roof on site that needs replacing. This work will take place during the summer holiday and will incorporate new glass roof lights over the main dining room and kitchen. We have also secured planning permission to build a new drama office and store area adjacent to the new drama suite. This new build will also be delivered over the summer months.