Dear Parent/Carer and Friend of the School,

A busy half-term at William Ellis – as always.

James Sweeney, teacher of PE, unfortunately suffered an injury which required surgery as a result of his rugby playing exploits for Finchley RFC. Fortunately for Mr Sweeney the operation has been a success and he is expected to make a full recovery and return to school after the half-term break.

The rescheduled WESPA Prize Giving took place on Wednesday, September 18th. Fortunately it was not as hot as last July and it was good to see so many parents/carers to see their sons receive well deserved prizes and to be publicly rewarded for their progress, achievement and hard work.

WESPA also contributed in other ways this half-term. The school Open Evening – on September 28th – and subsequent Open Mornings October 3rd, 4th, 9th and 12th have all been very well attended and supported by WESPA. It is always encouraging to see so many parents and boys showing an interest in William Ellis and we look forward to seeing them apply to William Ellis for places in September 2007.

WESPA also organised the highly successful Quiz Evening on October 6th and it was, again, good to see such a healthy attendance. A regular fixture in the calendar and a very pleasant evening which was supported by many parents and staff. For the record, the Science Department won (again!) and deservedly so.

You have read in the local press about Camden’s involvement in the Building Schools for the Future initiative. At present Camden has completed a ‘Readiness to Deliver’ paper and will not then hear from the DfES until the end of this year. The hope is that this will be a positive response and Camden accepted onto wave 5 of the Building Schools for the Future programme. If this was to be the case we then have about six to seven months to discuss and explore the programme for Camden and William Ellis in more detail. What ever the time frame this does represent a unique opportunity for Camden to invest in its secondary schools and for William Ellis to become part of that investment programme. The school and the Governors, who have already been part of and have responded to the initial discussions, will continue to make every effort to ensure that the programme will greatly benefit William Ellis and its pupils.

You may have noticed that we have elections for two Parent Governor places on the Governing Body. I thank those that have put their names forward and wish them luck in the election. Governors are more and more important in the development and management of schools. Despite the voluntary nature of the role it is demanding and time consuming but with many positives and Governors increasingly contribute to the direction and development of schools. We hope that the result of the election will be available for this Newsletter and that we can inform you of the outcome before half-term. Thanks again to those who have put there names forward.

The school has made great efforts this half-term to develop and improve the School Website. Mr Dunne will be writing with more detail in this newsletter but I trust that you will find the new facility an improvement and with scope for further development that will continue to improve school-home communications and home-school learning partnership.

Congratulations to Ms Findlater and her small group of Year 8 boys (then Year 7!) who have contributed to Camden’s ‘Covent Garden and Holborn Young Trails’ Project. At its heart a number of Camden secondary schools worked with a number of Camden primary schools to produce a lively booklet outlining historical walks in Covent Garden and Holborn. Supported by the local Heritage initiative as well as the Countryside Agency the booklet is a good read and offers the possibility to explore a part of London in more detail. A perfect way to spend a day in half-term!!

My thanks to Mrs Amaah and her staff who have embraced the Governors’ ‘Healthy Eating’ Initiative with much hard work and enthusiasm. It is important that the messages with regard to the value of good nutrition are supported by home and school. The range of dishes now available at school is very encouraging and I would urge all boys – including those Year groups who have the privilege of being allowed off-site at lunchtime – to try the new range of food on offer. 

On Tuesday, October 3rd we hosted a visit from the British Council and a representative from the Shanghai Education Department. A Mandarin lesson was observed and in the subsequent discussions we discovered that our link school in Kunming – the YunNan Nationalities High School – also has a link school in Shanghai. It would seem a possibility therefore, that we could develop another link with the school in Shanghai – I will keep you posted!

School Attendance has been very good this half-term and is around 94% at present. It is important that you continue to stress the need for regular attendance to your son as we move into the winter months.

On a related theme please note that leave of absence for extended holidays in school time can only be granted in exceptional circumstances and that you need to write, with the relevant information, to the school many weeks in advance. I thank you for your co-operation in this matter. 

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