Dear Parent/Carer and Friend of the School,

 

The half-term after the Christmas break is often the most challenging in terms of weather and this year we have had snow, gales and unseasonably warm days. Alan Johnson, Minster of Education for Schools, has suggested that all schools should be teaching environmental issues and especially climatic changes. But I expect that barely a day has gone by this half-term without a mention of the weather.    Maybe we are just ahead of the game!

 

Quite apart from the important business of teaching and learning there have been a number of events and opportunities at William Ellis School this half-term and hopefully this newsletter will give you an indication of some of the activity at the school.

 

My thanks, as ever, to all colleagues at the school – both teaching and non teaching – for their hard work and contribution to the life of the school over a busy six weeks.

 

 

I was delighted to receive notification from the Specialist Schools’ Trust to inform William Ellis School that it was now a member of the ‘Most Improved Club’. This is in recognition of our GCSE results having improved by 10% or more over the last three years. This is a formal recognition of the work of staff and students at the school as well as to parents for their encouragement and support. Apparently I will now be invited to a celebration dinner having already attended a reception with the Minister for Education, the Rt. Hon. Alan Johnson.

 

 

Camden held elections for the Youth Parliament which is a way of giving young people between the ages of 11-18 a voice which will be heard and listened to by local agencies that have an interest in the views and needs of young people. I am pleased to say that of the nine Camden candidates who are standing for election, three are from William Ellis School. Three students Dominic Akers-Paul, Axel Landin and Harry Graham have all produced statements to interest and to persuade their peers to elect them at the elections which are held from Tuesday, February 6^th – Friday, February 16^th.

 

Here are a few quotes from their campaigns:

 

 

Dominic Akers-Paul; “I think I would be the best person for the job because of the wide range of knowledge in areas that will effect young people in Camden now and in the future, also my willingness to learn from any and everyone….. let’s stand up and make a change and go green……vote for me!

 

Harry Graham; “I am and always will be from Camden….I feel strongly about your views, and a vote for my candidacy is a vote for what you believe in …… the chance to take ACTION = Activate our Community To Inspire Our Nation.

 

Inspiring stuff and I wish all three candidates the very best of luck!

 

A group of our Year 7 boys – Joe Read, Conor O’Keefe, Aidan Taylor Kitching, Adoneyas Asfaw-Seyoum and Artur Pushman took part in a BBC 4 Programme which examined the resurgence of interest in teaching amongst boys, particularly the ‘Boys Own’ genres written by Horowitz, Higson and Muchamore. The programme makers were interested in how we promote and engage our students in reading.

 

The William Ellis boys acquitted themselves extremely well in the programme, holding themselves well against other students including the esteemed Westminster School. The programme was well received and may well now be shown on BBC channels later in the year.

 

My thanks to Ms Findlater for her involvement in this project. As she has commented to staff “we should take comfort that all our efforts in promoting reading are paying off and receiving recognition. Congratulations to all!

 

Our team is now preparing for the competition. Our attempts to persuade the Speaker to allow us to use the Chamber of the House of Commons were not successful! However, the team did contact the School’s constituency Member of Parliament, Glenda Jackson MP, who visited the school on Friday, January 26^th to offer guidance and advice to the team.

 

The team will now be in preparation for the competition and we have been told that we will be able to use the Council Chambers at Camden Town Hall for the filming of the ‘Parliamentary Debate’ that will be entered for the National Youth Parliament Competition.

 

 

 

We were delighted to be asked by the Institute of Education to host a visit for a group of Headteachers from Sweden. Stefan Wignem, Arne Hoomkuist, Gunilla Blom and Hass Gavellin visited the school on Wednesday, January 31^st as part of their study tour in the United Kingdom. Their focus was on 16-19 Education.

 

London was very different from their Northern Swedish homes and their schools which were all situated within the Artic Circle and served fairly small towns and their communities. As ever, however, we found much to speak about and much in common on educational matters. Their biggest surprise was the age of our building – all their schools are brand new – and their biggest compliment was for the teaching and learning at the school.

My thanks to all staff involved, especially Malcolm Rosewho led a session on LaSwap, and to the student guides who greatly impressed our visitors.

 

The LaSwap Open Evening was held at Parliament Hill School on Thursday, February 1^st. Attendance at the meeting was amazing proving that LaSwap, as a brand, has huge appeal. 950 application forms were distributed and this shows the popularity of LaSwap to external students. A reminder to our Year 11 students that a place at LaSwap is greatly respected and highly sought after.

 

My thanks for your understanding and co-operation on Thursday, February 8^th when we closed the school. The combination of a heavy snowfall and the inevitable difficulties faced by staff in travelling to school whether by road, rail or tube was insurmountable and at 8.30am many staff were still attempting to get to school or just being told that their own children would not be at school.

 

We had sought advice from Camden LA, the day before, in light of the weather forecast and were advised that we should not make a decision before we knew just how severe the weather would be. On this occasion the severity of the snowfall and the timing of the snowfall was most inopportune although I expect your son enjoyed the snow. Under normal circumstances we will always try to inform you with more advanced notice. Again, thanks for your understanding.

 

 

Year 9 students took part in an Aim Higher Day on February 6^th in which they met with University students who were informing them of the process of getting to university, being a student and finding the right course amongst other things. Hopefully this event will have raised awareness in our Year 9 students about university. Please talk to your son and discuss with him what he made of the day and what he now thinks about university.

 

 

On Friday, February 2^nd our school Safer Schools’ Police Officer, Gary Dwyer, organised an event together with colleagues from the Metropolitan Police Force offering boys the opportunity to have their phones and I-pods security marked. Over 400 boys took up the offer.

 

A reminder as ever that phones and I-pods should not be in operation in the school and will be removed if seen to be so. I would also like to reinforce PC Dwyer’s message that it is always wise to have phones and I-pods covered under your own insurance policies and not to let your son come to school with the latest or most expensive models.

 

Mr Efthimiou and Mr Nolan took a group of Year 9 students to Belsize Square synagogue to attend an event commemorating the Holocaust. As with last year it was a privilege for our school to be invited and to listen to and meet survivors of the Holocaust as well as attending workshops focussing upon that time in history. I am quite sure our boys will have gained much from their visit. It was good to hear their praises sung by the organisers for their behaviour and positive involvement in the activities.

 

 

International Evening is always one of the most enjoyable events in the school calendar and involves a lot of work by colleagues in the Modern Foreign Languages Department and for many parents who contribute in terms of the exotic food on offer or to the presentations. The weather which led to the school closure also led to the unfortunate postponement of this event.

 

We will find an alternative evening in due course so please keep your eyes peeled for the new date.

 

 

Year 11 students have recently undertaken a series of study skills sessions preparing them for the demands of their GCSE exams in the summer. The co-ordinators focus on study habits, revision techniques and organisation of revision programmes. Mr Feasey and Mr Hall have co-ordinated the days and inform me that the response of the boys has been superb. Quite apart from being an essential element of the build up to the GCSE exams this is also a timely reminder that the exams are really not that far away. Most boys improve upon their results in the mock examinations by at least one grade but it is dependent upon consistent effort and good study habits. Please encourage your son to take these exams seriously and to maximise his chances of success by working as hard as possible. The exams will be here quicker than they can imagine.

 

One of our parents Mrs Williams has a family relative who plays professional rugby for Saracens, one of the leading professional teams in the country. So when she had the opportunity to win a days training in a raffle she very kindly donated the prize to the school.

 

The result was that some of the boys were fortunate enough to be coached by Tevita Vaikona, an international player. At 6 foot 2 inches and 16 stone he certainly made an impression and shared many of his skills and perceptions of the game with the boys. Who knows – we may have the next Jonny Wilkinson in our midst!

 

 

I am sure you were interested in the Performance Tables with regard to Key Stage 3 and GCSE Performance that were published in January. The headline figures for the school were encouraging but unfortunately the Contextual Value Added figure was incorrect and should have been higher than stated. Unfortunately the DfES were unable to rectify the error before the publication of the tables which was a shame but I have been assured that the revised figure – when we receive it – will give a positive picture of the school’s performance.

 

 

“Early in the new term, we received the sad news from France that Philip Shaw had died suddenly on Christmas night.

 

Following teaching experience in both Spain and West Indies, Philip was appointed to be teacher in charge of Spanish at William Ellis in 1970. He became Head of Careers in 1974; Head of Year in 1984 and Senior Teacher in 1989. He was instrumental in introducing work experience into the curriculum of Key Stage 4 and was also centrally involved in the development of PSHE (Personal, Social & Health Education) for all students. He took

early retirement in 1994 and settled in the beautiful hilltop village of Puget Rostang in the Alpes Maritime just inland from Nice.

 

To say that he was something of a character is an understatement. He operated off a short fuse with both students and colleagues and it was quite an experience to be on the receiving end of one of his famed verbal assaults. Always quick to apologise, he held no grudges and was a stabilising influence during some difficult years in the school’s history and amongst many other things convened and wrote the original constitution of the Staff Room Association.

 

His partner, Catherine, a former Head of Modern Languages at Acland Burghley, writes that he had been unwell for a few months as he struggled to overcome a bronchial infection that no amount of antibiotics could seem to control. He tried a fortnight of treatment in hospital in November but to no avail. Nonetheless, the massive heart attack caused by septicaemia was a considerable shock.

 

Catherine reports that until a few weeks before, he could still enjoy sitting on his terrace, under his olive tree (where his ashes are now), a glass of wine in hand, looking at the mountains, feeling reasonably at peace. Philip was 71 when he died. Descanse en Paz

 

 

 

Please remind your son that all Instrumental Timetables for next term are available from the Library. May I remind you of the number of instruments you can learn to play at WES. We currently offer and have spaces for Piano, Violin, Singing, Guitar, Drums, Woodwind, Brass Music Technology and DJ Skills.

 

The Music department also offers a number of extra-curricular clubs and ensembles such as String Group, Orchestra and Big Band. Please check the Music department notice board for details.

 

For boys in Years 7, 8, 9 & 10 a Data Collection Form is enclosed. Please return this promptly in the envelope provided to the School Office, with or without amendments.

 

oooOooo

Finally, I hope you all have a relaxing and enjoyable half-term break.

Yours sincerely,

RICHARD TANTON

Headteacher