Art

This term has been a fantastic term for Art. A highlight was the annual Together We Create week where we created some amazing pieces linked to the 4 elements: fire, air, water and earth. There were trips into London to visit the V&A museum, walk The Line – an art public walk – as well as take a trip on the cable cars over the Thames. The outcomes created have been displayed around the school and a big installation has been hung in the school study room. A massive well done to everyone who took part!

Grow & Thrive

This month has been Disability Awareness Month. We had the privilege of hearing Chloe in Year 10 speak to the school about her autism and how she uses strategies to cope with challenges.

Her speech was a great opportunity to discover more about other people’s abilities and ways of communicating and interacting. Mr Barrett received a diagnosis as an adult and he also spoke to us about his experiences.

During Hearing Impairment Week Dunia from Year 7 spoke to pupils about how hearing aids help her as well as how microphones help block out other noises. Her speech was an inspiration to us all.

Bradley in Year 10 coordinated activities for us on World Diabetes Day. Over £100 was raised for Diabetes UK from his bake sale.

We loved learning how to play Wheelchair Rugby when Saracens Wheelchair Rugby Club came in to run training sessions for us!

Computer Science

What an exciting half term it has been in Computer Science!
Year 7 have had a great time learning all the computational thinking needed to be a successful Computer Scientist. Year 8 have been creating their first webpages using HTML and CSS. Year 9 have had a great start to their GCSE Computer Science. We have also had the Year 7 and 8 girls take part in the new Girls’ Coding Club.
Well done to all!

PE

Saracens sport has started with a flourish with competitions against local schools in football, basketball, rugby, netball and cross country. There has been more participation in netball this year and also some fantastic wins. The basketball season has just begun with the Year 11 pupils eager to get back to training after the mock exams.

With support from Saracens Foundation, rugby started to pick up, with some fantastic performances in the games at the StoneX. However, it must be the motivation of the World Cup that has inspired so many victories for our boys’ and girls’ football teams.

We will continue with winter sports after Christmas and have the summer sports to look forward to.

PRE

In PRE we are excited about the opportunity to explore different cultures and beliefs.

This term we have enjoyed developing a greater understanding of Christianity and Islam in all year groups. Year 7s, in particular, have done great work  looking at belief and worship in the six major world religions: Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, Sikhism and Buddhism.

We don’t shy away from controversial topics either. Some of our pupils have begun to look at the ethical issues posed by peace and conflict and how religions respond to these. Pupils have had great fun expressing their viewpoints and uncovering the opinions of others around them.

Year 11

This past term, the Year 11s have been busy preparing for their GCSE examinations and deciding their curricular choices for the Sixth Form. It has been a challenging term, and I am proud to report that the pupils have risen to the occasion and embraced the task wholeheartedly. I would like to advise them to continue with the same pace through this Christmas and New Year period and I’m sure they would appreciate your support to keep the momentum up during the break.