Welcome from the Co-Headteachers
Encouraging students to be strong independent learners
During the week, our Pastoral Leaders have held Year group assemblies. There have been a number of memorable moments, including strong messaging about students becoming more self-disciplined in their pursuit of becoming strong independent learners. This means students being more responsible and, crucially, avoiding work incompletion, making sure to complete their PPA (homework), and fulfilling our expectation of reading for 20 minutes every day.
Successfully breaking a cycle of incompletion and achieving high level performanceare all our shared responsibilities. Given this, we encourage all parents/carers to devote time to discussing – and checking – these learning habits and routines with their son/ward. These habits and routines are a partnership between school, parents/carers and every student.
We are always looking to improve and innovate with our communications. If you have any comments, positive or negative, about this newsletter, we’d be grateful if you could leave them here.
Simon Fisher and Jo Higginbottom
The Pyramid of Hate
Helping students examine how hate can escalate
This week, the conflict between Israel-Gaza has been in the news. Through our sensitive conversations in Study Support, we have been highlighting the concept of The Pyramid of Hate (click the image to view full size).
The pyramid provides students with an opportunity to examine the escalating nature of hate and to consider the difficulty of stopping the progression once it begins. In particular, important question questions include:
- What are some of the factors that make it more likely that hate will escalate?
- Once the actions of a person involved in a bias incident began to escalate, do you think it’s difficult to stop? Why or why not?
- Finally, how difficult is it for students to speak out when their friends display prejudice?
We have been impressed with students’ mature contributions to these discussions.
Financial Literacy
A school mention in the Houses of Parliament
Financial literacy involves students learning about bank accounts, mortgages, loans, tax and other important lifelong money-related matters. As an innovative school we teach financial literacy within daily maths and business lessons but also within PSHE education.
Given our creative approach, we were delighted to be mentioned in Parliament when Seema Malhotra, the MP for Heston & Feltham, recognised the school within a formal speech at Westminster Hall. You can read the transcript of her comments at this link.
World Mental Health Day
Helping students take care of themselves
Every year on 10 October, schools and communities around the world come together to raise awareness of mental health issues. This year’s theme was ‘Mental health is a universal human right’.
Our Year group assemblies promoted a toolkit to provide students with tips on taking care of their own mental health and wellbeing as well as how to check in with others (connect). We also suggested content to support students raise awareness on social media and the importance of having a digital detox which in turn supports healthy sleep patterns.
Coming Soon!
Helping you to plan ahead
- Friday 20 October – Progress & Partnership Day (Years 7-13)
- Monday 23 – Friday 27 October – Half-Term
- Tuesday 7 November – Sixth Form Open Evening
- Friday 10 November – Remembrance Commemorations
- Thursday 16 November – Year 11 Parents/Carers Evening
- Wednesday 22 and Thursday 23 November – Senior School Production
- Thursday 30 November – Friday timetable
- Friday 1 December – INSET Day
You can access the full calendar at this link.
PPD – Final Reminders
Normal lessons will be suspended
A final reminder that next Friday, 20 October, is Progress & Partnership Day (PPD). Normal lessons are suspended and all students, with their parents/carers, will have a ten-minute meeting with a member of staff to discuss progress. A few important notices:
- Students must wear school uniform for the appointment
- Remote Learning will be sent via email by 8.30am on Friday
- Please arrive ten minutes before your meeting and register in the hall – do not just go straight to your appointment.
Thank you.
Roadworks
Plan your journeys accordingly
In case parents/carers are not already aware, there are three-way traffic lights in operation at the junction of London Road and St John’s Road from Monday 9 – Friday 20 October due to drainage works. Please take this into account when planning journeys.
IvyBridgeLink – Trustees
A community opportunity
IvyBridgeLink – the charity for the Bridgelink Community Centre in Isleworth – is looking for people to become trustees. If you have an interest in the local area, an understanding of the needs of local people and the ability to advocate for under-represented groups – this may be the role for you. Please check out this flyer for more details.
Eco-World Partnership
Free tickets to Kew Gardens for some families
In school, we work tirelessly at developing external partnerships, in particular those with local employers. Given this, we are delighted to announce that the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and EcoWorld London – Kew’s Community Programmes Sponsor – have very kindly donated 1,250 complimentary admissions to Kew Gardens to our students and their families so that they can access the Gardens. The offer will last until 10 January 2024 – more information will be circulated to award winners via email soon.
‘Emil and the Detectives’
Meet the cast of our whole school production
Auditions have now been completed for our school production of ‘Emil and the Detectives’, taking place in January 2024. We are delighted to confirm the cast list for what is shaping up to be an outstanding production. Rehearsals begin next week!
I&S Inspires – 1 November
The first of the 2023-24 series of talks
Our I&S Inspires series of talks peels back the curtain behind some of the top career pathways. We believe it is very important to offer our students unique opportunities to hear different voices. Previous talks have included BBC journalist Gabriel Gatehouse and physiotherapist Dr Nick Bourne.
We are delighted to announce our first I&S Inspires talk of 2023-24 – Simon McDonald. He is currently an honorary fellow at Christ’s College Cambridge and previously worked at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and was British Ambassador to Israel and Germany.
The talk will take place on Wednesday 1 November at 3.30pm, and will be of particular interest to those with an interest in politics and history. Please put the date in your diary – more information will follow by email next week.
Safeguarding
Introducing ‘The Big Ambition’
Parents/carers may have seen that the Children’s Commissioner recently launched the The Big Ambition, a new campaign to hear directly from children, young people, and adults from across the country about what they need to make their lives better. This a crucial moment to take stock of young people’s voices, their views and experiences; it is vital that these opinions are understood by policy makers and decision takers. Young people should be front and centre of the debate.
This survey is for all children and young people aged 6-18 and for parents/carers who can complete the survey on behalf of children aged 0-5. This will ensure that Commissioner hears from early years settings.
If you have a concern about the safety or welfare of your 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.
Careers Corner
Identifying top-quality Work Experience placements
We are launching our annual campaign to identify work experience placements which support students in Year 10 and 12. We aim to source a range of placements; in particular, we are aiming for two-week work placements in July 2024. From experience, we know that the best type of networking is word-of-mouth. Therefore, if any parents/carers know of any opportunities for one-day, five-day or ten-day work placement opportunities, then please complete this simple form. Given that talent is everywhere but opportunities are not, we prefer work placements for two young people, the second spot being for a student who receives Free School Meals.
Pride of House
Celebrating student success
Congratulations to this week’s Pride of House award winners. There is one from each form group, reflecting their fantastic contribution to school life this week. Please do click on the house badges below to celebrate these students’ achievement!
News
A new social media account – plus more enrichment opportunities
Maths Social Media Account
Our social media remains a good way to stay up to date with school life. As you may be aware, we run accounts on Facebook and X (formerly known as Twitter).
This term, we have relaunched our @IsleworthMaths account on X, run by Mr Barry, the Head of Maths. It will give regular updates about the workings of the department and is well worth a follow!
Duke of Edinburgh’s Silver Award
Our Duke of Edinburgh’s Award expeditions continued this week, with Silver participants from Year 11 heading to Swanage. They camped for three nights and performed brilliantly. They were excellent ambassadors for themselves and the school! Do take a look at the @IsleworthDofE X (Twitter) account!
Open Evening
And finally – we hosted our Open Evening on Wednesday, inviting prospective future Isleworthians (Years 5 and 6) to visit the school. Nearly 300 student ambassadors were involved in the evening, both as tour guides and curriculum helpers. Visitors had the opportunity to chat with staff and see departments in action – frankly, it was impossible not to be impressed by the school. We are very appreciative of our Sixth Form Co-Head Students, who gave very eloquent talks about their experiences – please do take a few minutes to read the speeches from Anya and Oliver.
Indeed, the feedback below gives a snapshot of the positive comments from the event:
“The event was mind-blowing, my son really enjoyed it. Your school looks like it highly performs to a different level.”
“Super insightful and gave us an opportunity to ask lots of questions and get a vibe for the school and community.”
“After seeing other schools, find this the most organised. I would be proud if my son is able to attend this school.”