From the Co-Headteachers
This week has been Mental Health Awareness Week, so we have been raising awareness about wellbeing and mental health. Our main focus has been on anxiety – a normal emotion in us all, but sometimes it can get out of control and become a mental health problem. Lots of things can lead to feelings of anxiety, including exam pressures, relationships, starting a new job (or losing one) or other big life events. We can also get anxious when it comes to things to do with money and not being able to meet our basic needs, like heating our home or buying food. But anxiety can be made easier to manage. For example, students are continually taught about the importance of improving mental health through our commitment to the five MIND strategies:
Our outstanding Year group assemblies have also reinforced similar healthy messages alongside a huge drive on maximising individual potential, promoting learners as leaders within the classroom, and form groups working as effective teams.
We hope that you enjoy this week’s newsletter. Please do let us know if you have any feedback via this anonymous link. Please don’t use the form for questions related to students – send us an email instead.
Simon Fisher and Jo Higginbottom
Email Mailboxes
Since 2016, email has been our primary means of contact with parents/carers. Recently, we have had a lot of families whose email mailboxes are full – meaning that our important communications cannot get through. It is very important that no email is missed, so please do check your email and make sure you have enough space. If you need to provide an alternative email address, you can contact us.
Wider Learning Week
We were thrilled to launch our exciting Wider Learning Week (WLW) for Years 7 and 8 this week following Year 9 earlier in the term.
Taking place from Monday 10 – Friday 14 July, students do not follow their usual timetable. Instead, they take part in a series of enriching learning experiences – designed to challenge students, promote wider understanding, and develop independence.
Every single student in Year 7 will take part in a House trip, where they can learn more about the British figure their house is named after! They will also take part in fascinating science activities; create a ‘play in a day’; stage their own ‘battle’ and learn about the realities of war; and spend a day on a carousel of activities facilitated by the police!
Year 8 activities will stretch and challenge students – pitching ideas in the Dragons Den; developing key film skills; taking part in a cooking challenge; learn more about STEM at the science museum; and completing an engineering skills task!
It is going to be such a rewarding week – look out for full reports on these activities in a special WLW-themed newsletter on Friday 14 July – featuring contributions by our Year 9 journalism pathway!
Pride of House
A hearty well done to this week’s 40 winners of a Pride of House award. These Isleworthians have been fantastic representatives for their House and full deserve this award. Check out the Adam, Brunel, Shackleton and Turner winners below.
House Point Champions
Congratulations to those students who reached the thresholds for Prestige (300 house points) and Diamond (200) this week – you have received a digital certificate as well as being featured in the lists below! We also sent out certificates for those at the other levels – keep working hard to get your name featured here!
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 next week’s list.
Prestige (300 points)
Hanaan HUSSAIN (9Bl)
Manav PATEL (7Bl)
Arjun PATEL (7Bl)
Diamond (200 points)
Affan AHMED (8Am)
Maher AZIZI (7Tu)
Aaryan BAHRI (7Tu)
Adson DIAS (10Tu)
Ben DOBRIN (9Tu)
Ayden FERNANDES (10Tr)
Avin GURUNG (7Am)
Gourish KUMAR (7Am)
Oscar LONSDALE (9Br)
Hassan RABBANI (7Bl)
Dave RODRIGUES (10Sh)
Reshad SAKHIZADA (7Tu)
Alex ZAHARIIA (7Bl)
Reading
In school, we are very proud of the exceptional education we provide and the outstanding opportunities we offer. We work feverishly to maintain these high standards.
The reasons that students achieve at this school are many, but particularly because we encourage students to READ, READ, READ.
Adults read with them; students read by themselves; and adults share their love of reading. We recommend that all students take advantage of both our on-site library and our digital library of over 10,000 E-Books.
Club of the Week – Boxing
A brand new club started this week for Years 7-10 that gives students the ability to develop boxing skills in a safe and welcoming environment.
The sessions are being delivered by Joe Theobald, a former member of staff and now boxing coach. A group of GCSE and vocational PE students are among the first to participate. The first session was delivered with great success yesterday! At present, the club is by invitation only – but any interested students should register this interest with the PE department in case more space becomes available.
Photo by Mikhail Nilov on Pexels.com
Students can still sign up for clubs! Check out the full list; students can sign up with the staff member listed.
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
Safeguarding
We take a coordinated and evidence-informed approach to mental health. This approach leads to improved student wellbeing, which, in turn, can improve learning. In the interests of effective partnership working, we ask parent/carers to use the email address below to report issues to our excellent Pastoral Support Managers (PSMs). They should be parents/carers’ first point of contact for all student-related issues.
If you have a concern about the safety or welfare of your child, please email safeguarding@isleworthsyon.org. If there is an emergency call 999 or, for non-urgent matters that require police attention, call 101.
Word of the Week
The word of the week is voluntary.
News
National Youth Theatre
At the start of March, we wrote about the National Youth Theatre (NYT) auditions in school. Last week, we learned that three Isleworthians have earned places in the NYT – well done to Ollie Gilmour (10Am), Oscar Lonsdale (9Br) and Luke O’Connell (9Ad).
For those who are not aware, the NYT is the most prestigious youth theatre company in the world. Alumni include Dame Helen Mirren, Idris Elba and Daniel Craig. In the last ten years, 13 students have been accepted – so these three are continuing a long tradition! They will now attend a special theatre course in the summer. Well done, boys!
Borough Athletics Champions!
Earlier this week, our top athletes in Years 9 and 10 took part in the borough championships at the Osterley track across the road. Seven students from the team were crowned borough champions and received gold medals! The whole team are pictured above.
Special mention must go to Tyler Andrew-Flower, who earned golds in the 200m, long jump and 4x100m relay. Eli In Der Rieden and Alfie Hunt were close behind him with two golds each, while Shakur Alim, Raouf Fellah, Adam Inoughi and Micah Hinds-Bulgin each won one gold. All of these students have progressed to the county finals, taking place on Saturday 10 June at the StoneX stadium in London. We wish them the best of luck!
National Gymnastics Champion!
We love hearing about students’ achievements out of school! So we were thrilled this week to be told about the exploits of Year 8’s Freddie Summerhayes, who became a grade 3 gymnastics national champion in April!
Freddie trains for three hours a day, five times a week at Heathrow Gymnastics Club. He works with a partner, doing lifts and catches in acrobatic dynamic and balance elements. The national final took place in Stoke-on-Trent, with Freddie and his gymnastics partner competing for London against other pairs from across the regions. Their phenomenal performance saw them win the whole competition!
It is great to see Freddie nurture his passion through an outstanding work ethic. We look forward to seeing his progress in the coming years.
Cardiff Bay Fieldwork
Our Year 12 geographers have spent three days in sunny Cardiff this week, taking part in important fieldwork exercises. Accompanied by Mr McAlinden and Mr McDonald, they studied the city closely, observing important geographical landmarks and features.
They also took a walking tour around the beautiful Cardiff Bay, which gave students fascinating insights about the area, including its economic development. Students will then write this up as a case study in their final examinations. The weather was fantastic throughout, and so was the boys’ commitment. Well done to them!
KS3 Spanish Study Day
In school, all KS3 students study a language – either French or Spanish. These subjects are a fantastic way to prepare students for the increasingly-multilingual world as well as exposing them to new cultures. This week, a group of 26 students headed to the British Film Institute (BFI) for a special Spanish study day.
Located on London’s South Bank, the BFI was a fantastic location for ‘Cine Español Para Jóvenes: a KS3 Spanish Study Day’. The focus was short films to expand student’s knowledge of vocabulary. Students had a fantastic time and came away feeling more confident in their language skills!
Eco-Committee – Sustainable Supplier
Our eco-committee have had a busy year, from organising our Sustainability Week to planting trees across the school! Led by Eco Coordinator Miss Gartland, this enthusiastic group are doing everything they can to promote environmental awareness in school.
This week, our caterers CucinA organised a special talk, so that members of the committee could talk directly to one of the catering suppliers. The expert speaker came in with boxes of fruit and vegetables, discussing how students can cook in a healthier and more sustainable way. It was a fascinating session which gave students plenty of ‘food for thought’ (pun intended).