From the Co-Headteachers
Is character worth more than talent? This week, Bukayo Saka (Arsenal and England footballer) put the disappointment of Euro 2020 behind him to give a shining performance against Iran and boost England’s World Cup hopes. Such resilience is to be highly applauded and, this week, we have been able to share his story on numerous occasions within our outstanding House assemblies.
One of the joys of working at Isleworth & Syon during a football World Cup is hearing the passionate storytelling from young people about their own football heroes. Many of these are heritage heroes, often from countries where relatives have been born and raised: Iran, Brazil, Ghana, Senegal, Serbia. It goes without saying that these student-led stories show the benefits of our highly multi-cultural, urban school community, and reflect the diversity of experiences within it.
Please do read the full newsletter below for all the latest information, news and notices. And if there is anything you think we can do better with this weekly publication, do let us know via the usual channels – we constantly seek to evaluate and improve how we communicate with you.
Simon Fisher and Jo Higginbottom
December Examinations – Equipment
There are just a few weeks to go until the December exams begin. Full timetables are available via this website’s Examinations page, and Individual Candidate Timetables have been emailed to students.
Being ready for your examination means having the correct equipment. All students must bring their own equipment to each examination. This includes, where appropriate, a scientific calculator. Examination pencil cases and calculators are available to purchase in the School Shop.
PPD Survey Responses
Thank you to those parents/carers who completed an online survey at the recent PPD event. There are a number of stand-out issues to celebrate, namely:
| Statement | Percentage |
|---|---|
| My child is happy at this school. | 97% |
| My child feels safe at this school. | 97% |
| The school has high expectations for my child. | 97% |
| My child does well at this school. | 96% |
| The school supports my child’s wider personal development. | 95% |
Safeguarding – World Cup Football and Domestic Violence
Today (Friday) is the national White Ribbon Day. It is estimated that 6% of people in the UK have experienced domestic abuse. While the link between football and domestic abuse is complex – sadly, research shows that incidents of violence rise by 26% when England win. When England lose, this figure can be as high as 38%.
Anyone affected by domestic violence can contact Hounslow’s One-Stop-Shop in the Arts Centre, 1st Floor, Treaty Shopping Centre, Hounslow, TW3 1ES. Their telephone number is 07810031780.
If you have a concern about the safety or welfare of your or another child, please email the safeguarding team at safeguarding@isleworthsyon.org. If there is an emergency call 999 or, for non-urgent matters that require police attention, call 101.
Christmas Concert
Rehearsals are in full swing for our annual Christmas Concert, taking place in the Isleworth & Syon School Hall on Thursday 8 December. Everyone from the school community is welcome to celebrate our students, with over 100 taking part in a celebration of music and drama.
Tickets are available at just £2 for adults and £1 for under-18s, students and senior citizens. All money raised from ticket sales will be donated to the Children’s Society to help them with their fantastic work. Get your tickets now in our ‘Tickets’ section.
Rail Update
We have been made aware of rail disruption on services in the Hounslow and Barnes Bridge area, continuing until 4 December.
Coming Up!
- Monday 28 November – PPA Day (students do not attend school)
- Tuesday 29 November – Friday 16 December – KS5 December Exams
- Friday 2 – Friday 16 December – Year 11 December Exams
- Thursday 8 December – Christmas Concert
- Friday 9 December – Year 7 Induction Assembly
- Wednesday 14 December – Christmas Lunch
- Monday 19 December – Senior Awards Evening
- Tuesday 20 December – End of term (students dismissed at 12.30pm)
Club of the Week – Year 7 Rugby Club
Staff: PE team
Room: Astro
When: Tuesday, 3.05 – 4.05pm
Who: Year 7
We are looking for more Year 7s to come to training to strengthen our developing squad. The school has a proud tradition of rugby teams that compete at a high level against schools from across London.
Whatever your level of experience, you will be welcome to get stuck in, improve your skills and make new friends. You will need to bring your games kit, boots and gumshield.
Please do check out our full range of opportunities if you haven’t managed to do so yet.
Word of the Week
The word of the week is protocol.
Pride of House
The House system is a pillar of life at Isleworth & Syon, offering a “school within a school” and another community for students. The Pride of House awards are a great way for tutors and staff to reward students for a great contribution to school life. These awards are displayed on our signage screens across school, and you can often find students huddled around them celebrating the latest winners!
Click a house badge below to view their winners.
News
Democracy Club
Last week, our House & Citizenship Ambassadors held the first meeting of our new Democracy Club. They discussed the following:
- What is the Student Council?
- What should be on the Student Council agenda
Students were excellent, engaging well with each other. It was a good mix of different year groups, debating on what topics we should collect Student Voice. Popular topics included recycling, achievements, extra-curricular opportunities and CucinA. This directly fed into the Student Council meeting.
Student Council
Our Student Council meet on a termly basis, and it consists of our House and Citizenship Ambassadors as well as the Senior House Ambassadors (Sixth Form) and the Head Student team.
Students were broken up into groups of five, ensuring a mix of year groups and houses. All students received training on how to write an agenda, run a meeting and write minutes so that they can do it in future. They were really proactive and helpful – more to follow on the outcomes from the meeting next week.
Road Safety Play and Workshop
On Wednesday, we welcomed Hounslow Council’s Theatre in Education team into school for a special presentation on road safety. Titled ‘The Riot Act’, the performance featured three actors as school-aged children discussing the importance of road safety. The play used humour to engage its Year 7 audience, before leading to a hard-hitting and poignant message – with one of the characters passing away in a road traffic accident.
Students were suitably affected by this message and used the workshop afterwards to discuss some of the play’s themes. We were impressed with how many questions asked by the students – they clearly got a lot out of it! With the school surrounded by transport routes, it is so important that all students take notice of their surroundings and stay safe when travelling to and from school.
Jack Petchey Speak Out Challenge
All day today (Friday), some of our Year 10 High Potential Learners (HPL) have taken part in a workshop preparing for the Jack Petchey Speak Out Challenge. This challenge is a UK-wide youth speaking competition; today’s session was led by a specialist external trainer and focused on honing public speaking skills ahead of the regional final in February 2023. By the end of the day, students each spoke out on a topic of their choice – delivering a message with a positive impact. We’ll have a full write-up on this next week, but it was a fantastic session!
Year 5 Engineering Workshop
Over two Thursdays this November, we’ve been delighted to invite Year 5 boys and girls from Smallberry Green Primary School for a special engineering workshop with Mr Scanlon. The children were tasked with making their very own mechanical toy car, complete with working parts! Sixth Form engineering students were a great help during the sessions, showing great leadership qualities with the younger students. It was two fantastic sessions – hopefully we can see some of those boys joining Isleworth & Syon in a few years!
Tree Planting in School
Last week, we were delighted to take part in a tree-planting scheme in conjunction with the Woodland Trust. They sent us 200 whips of shrubs and plants, all of which are indigenous to the UK. The aim of the scheme is to create new natural habitats.
Our Eco Coordinator Miss Gartland arranged for four Eco Ambassadors to plant them around the school – as you can see from the photo above, students loved getting stuck in! This continues our strategy of encouraging students to be more conscious of the environment and natural world around them.