Sports Day

StoneX Stadium provided the perfect arena for our fun and competitive Sports Day.

The day began with team sports: 5-a-side football, tag rugby, end-zone netball and – a school favourite – tug of war! We then moved onto the traditional Sports Day track and field events as well as ‘Saracens Superstars’ where pupils balanced, hula-hooped, bounced tennis balls, etc.

Our athletes were delighted when hotdogs, chips and cake arrived to fuel them for an afternoon of more races and events!

Summer Fair

On the penultimate day of the school year we held a Summer Fair for our pupils, families and community. What a brilliant afternoon!

This was our first ever Summer Fair and it was organised by our formidable Pupil Leadership Team. In glorious July sunshine guests enjoyed games, barbecue food, face-paints and some special activities like the inflatable sumo suits and bungee run!

Thank you so much to the Pupil Leadership Team for organising such a wonderful event and for staff who helped on the day. Money raised will go towards the school’s charities.

Sailing

In June a group of our pupils enjoyed learning how to sail at Phoenix Canoe Club and Outdoor Centre.

The experience was as important for building the childrens’ confidence as it was for teaching them a new skill. It was lovely seeing the pupils come out of their shells and also help peers who were struggling to master different aspects of sailing. We were delighted that each and every pupil learnt how to sail on their own.

Teaching Awards

In this year’s Pearson National Teaching Awards a number of our amazing team received commendations.

Congratulations to Mrs Luscombe for receiving a certificate of excellence in the category ‘Secondary School Teacher of the Year’. Since arriving in the third year of our school’s life, Mrs Luscombe has made History one of the most popular KS4 options. No one walks into her classroom without becoming engaged in the lesson. She is extremely popular with pupils and teachers alike and has had a tremendous impact on pupils’ enjoyment of reading since taking up the responsibility of Literacy Lead.

Ms Gruszka received a certificate of excellence in the category ‘Teaching Assistant of the Year’. Ms Gruszka’s dedication to pupils’ wellbeing goes above and beyond what educators usually give and her work with our EAL (English as an additional language) pupils is second-to-none. In praise of Ms Gruszka one teacher remarked that, “she makes miracles happen and she changes pupils’ lives forever.”

Miss Alexa was highly commended in the category ‘Excellence in Special Needs Education’. Miss Alexa is kind and caring and puts the pupils at the centre of everything she does. She has developed the Grow and Thrive team to offer our pupils a range of interventions including EAL, SALT, Literacy, Numeracy and Emotional Wellbeing to help pupils reach their potential. Miss Alexa is a cherished core member of our Saracens family.

As a school we also received a certificate of excellence in the category ‘Secondary School Making a Difference.’ What a privilege, for pupils and staff, to belong to this school.

Celebration of Achievement Evening

Our Celebration of Achievement evenings are a high point each year and this year was no exception.

On 14 July prize winners, parents, staff, trustees, governors and VIPs gathered to recognise the many and varied achievements of our pupils over this past year.

Before the ceremony parents enjoyed strawberries and cream and the GCSE Art pop-up gallery in the atrium. As guests arrived they watched a slideshow of the diverse enrichment activities Saracens High School pupils have benefitted from this year.

The evening began with each Year 7 class processing onto the stage, house by house, to rapturous applause. These same pupils then sang from the bleachers to the hundreds of assembled guests.

We are so proud of each pupil who was awarded a subject prize as well as those who received their bronze or silver Duke of Edinburgh award, the 100% attenders, those who gained over 1000 merits and the winners of prizes such as the Principal’s Award, Saracens Award and Personal Achievement Award.

The assembly were also treated to two drama performances, one piano recital and music by our school band. Special mention goes to David in Year 7 for reciting his Black History Month winning poem with such passion and composure that he received a standing ovation.

Message from the Principal

It seems to have been a mere blink of an eye and we are at the end of the academic year. This has been another significant year for us, and I was delighted to see so many people at the Celebration of Achievement evening which highlighted the many positive events that have taken place this year.

 

You will notice that this is not our old format of an end of year newsletter, as we have now moved online. The large end of term documents have been replaced by more frequent celebrations and updates online. Please see the website for more details.

 

This year our first cohort of pupils, who joined us in September of 2018, worked very hard in the build up to their end of Key Stage 4 exams and it was encouraging to hear that they felt staff had prepared them very well for those challenges.

 

We also launched the Saracens Sixth Form this year, which received over 300 applications for September 2023. Most will be studying A Levels, but the new T Levels in Health and Digital, which will be supported by Middlesex University and include extended industry placements in businesses, are going to be revolutionary in education.

 

We also are launching our Pre-Apprenticeship pathway, which will support young people into work within one year. If you are a local business owner and are interested in the possibility of offering apprenticeships to Saracens students, please get in touch. 

 

At the end of each academic year it is always sad to say goodbye to colleagues as they move to pastures new. This year we say goodbye to: Mr Guez, who was one of the original ten teachers back in 2018, and we are grateful for all he has done to support pupils, set up the music curriculum as well as leading extracurricular music activities; Mrs Cenci is retiring after launching the extremely successful Food curriculum; Ms Saccaro and Miss Qureshi are both moving away to be closer to family; Mr Morraies is leaving teaching for a while to have time with his family; Mrs Waller and Miss Hirst are leaving to take up Subject Lead posts, in Science and Geography respectively, at schools in Hertfordshire; Miss Goodard is returning to full-time study; and we also say goodbye and good luck to three colleagues who have only been with us for a year – Miss Bretske, Dr Tolchenove, and Mr O’Dwyer. We are grateful to all these colleagues for the contribution they have made to our community and we wish them the best of luck for the future. We also wish good luck to Mrs Levy (nee Chilton) who will begin her maternity leave before the beginning of the new year. We look forward to welcoming her back at the end of the next year.

 

We are growing again, so we have a number of new staff joining us next year and we have already been joined by Miss Stevens (no relation), who takes over Languages from Miss Saccaro, and Mrs Simons, who is leading our Sixth Form.

 

I hope you have a safe and enjoyable summer break and look forward to welcoming everyone back in September, or seeing the Year 11s on results day (24 August).

Activities in the Summer Holidays

It is not too late to book your child into activities over the summer holidays. Families who receive Free School Meals will have been sent an e-voucher in June that they can use to book BACE activities (Barnet Active Creative Engaging Holidays).

The basketball camp at Saracens High School may not have any spaces left but there are lots of other local venues that are offering activities. BACE camps are running from July 24th to August 17th (subject to availability/change).

Visit the school website for a list of activities.

 

 

Gliding

Our link with the Worshipful Company of Arbitrators opened up an extraordinary opportunity for some of our pupils. In July a group of Year 10 and 11 pupils went gliding!

Some pupils came with an eye to an aeronautical career while others wanted to face their fears. Some had never flown before. The experience is subsidised by several City of London Livery Companies to introduce young people to this unique pursuit.

It was amazing seeing the helicopters and other planes in the airfield before experienced staff introduced us to the gliders. Pupils experienced a 20 minute flight in a two-seat aircraft. We could sit back and enjoy the views or take the controls under the supervision of the instructor.

Special thanks goes to school governor, Mr Green, who was our bus driver for the day. Mr Green also enjoyed the incredible experience of going up in one of the gliders.

The experience of going up in the air is one that cannot be put into words! Staff and pupils had an unforgettable day.

Reading at Mapledown School

On 30th June pupils came to school wearing clothing that represented their fantastically diverse and colourful cultures. A pupil in Year 7 commented that, “I am walking around the school and it feels like I am travelling around the world.”

 

On that same day our EAL pupils (English as an additional language) went to a local school to read to children with special educational needs and disabilities. Our pupils practiced for weeks, often in their free time, to perfect their reading of the book they’d chosen: Amazing Grace by Mary Hoffman.

 

It made us so proud not just seeing how well our pupils read but also how they learned to communicate a few sentences in sign language and how they made new friends with such ease.

 

Such a visit is becoming an annual tradition for us so we look forward to our pupils serving the local community in this way again next summer.

Outdoor Swimming

At the end of the school year the EAL pupils (English as an additional language) were treated to a visit to an outdoor swimming pool.

 

Swimming is a wonderful way for children to gain independence and confidence while also having fun with one another. The children were also fascinated by the work of the lifeguards at the Parliament Hill Lido.

 

Ice-creams (available in fifteen different flavours!) on the water’s edge provided the perfect end to a perfect day.