Headteacher's Bulletin

A Very Warm Welcome to Our New Year 7 Students!

I am delighted to extend a huge, warm welcome to our 210 new Year 7 students, who have just completed a two-day induction to help them get accustomed to the routines and rhythms of our school. They have done such a fantastic job and have managed extraordinarily well. We are so proud of how they've settled in, and I look forward to seeing their growth and achievements in the coming years.

Just a Note for Year 7 Parents:

As your children adjust to secondary school life, please make sure to check their sQuid accounts and help them manage their spending. Some of our new students have enjoyed some hearty meals and snacks, and they might need a little guidance with budgeting. We’ve addressed this with individual children as they’ve gone through the checkout, and they certainly feel confident and happy with the prices they’re paying. However, a bit of support from home would go a long way and might avoid any unpleasant surprises later.

A Huge Welcome Back to Years 8-11!

This morning, I welcomed back all our students in Years 8-11 during their year group assemblies. They looked wonderful in their new uniforms and professional dress, and mostly(!) appeared happy to be back, reconnecting with friends and meeting their new teachers. They all seem ready to take on the challenges of the new academic year. I can’t wait to see what they will achieve, and I’m so excited for their journey ahead.

Traffic Concerns on Ross Road and at the Health Centre

I also noted today that there were some issues on Ross Road and at the Health Centre, with cars being blocked in due to heavy traffic. To ease congestion and improve your end-of-day experience, I kindly advise you to consider alternative drop-off and pick-up spots slightly further away from the school. This will help with traffic flow and ensure a faster departure when your children arrive.

While most students and teaching staff were enjoying their well deserved summer break – one teacher and twelve students from Twickenham School had other plans for their summer. In their case they embarked upon a life changing experience that involved them trekking across the mountains of Peru.

Along the way they faced many challenges ranging from walking in searing temperatures during the day to coping with freezing nights under the stars in tents. There was also the high altitude to contend with which made breathing very difficult until everyone acclimatised.

And as if all that wasn’t enough the students also found time to help the local community by helping build a water irrigation system for farmers, a community centre for a small village plus a water drainage system for a hamlet. The locals were very impressed with our students and rewarded them with a big community party as a thank you.

But the highlight of the trip had to be our visit to the ancient Inca City of Machu Picchu – perched on top of a jungle mountain!!! We are so excited to hear Romeo, Saffron and Stanley sharing their amazing experiences with all our other students during upcoming special assemblies. We hope their inspiring stories will have a positive impact on their peers.

We have made some changes to the after-school detention system for this academic year. There will be three levels to the system.

1. 30-minute year team detention, led by the Head of Year for lower level misdemeanours such as lack of homework, low level lateness
2. 60-minute detentions remain for the more serious misbehaviours such as Phase 3 (removal from a lesson) and these will be sat with a member of the leadership team.
3. 120-minute detentions remain on Friday, only for the most serious misbehaviours or failure to attend 60 - minute detentions.

Thank you in advance for your support in helping us to create a culture of high expectations and respect for the school community.

We are excited to announce that we are launching an exciting new reward system to ensure that students at Twickenham School are rewarded for their hard work, dedication and achievements. This system is called Epraise. Twickenham School staff will be able to award merit Points on Epraise and students will be able to cash in their points for privileges and rewards. Parents can also view their child’s merit points easily on their app and families will receive an email with instructions of how to set this up. Should you require any further information please click this link to view a helpsheet or click this link to visit the Epraise website.

During Autumn term, year 7 study the British tradition of Pantomime and its influence in Drama curriculum time. Twickenham School is excited to be able to provide an exciting, cultural experience for our year 7s by inviting them to attend a professional performance of Jack and the Beanstalk. This performance will take place at school, during school hours on 10 December.

In our first year of LAMDA tuition at Twickenham School, you had 9 students take LAMDA exams, returning 7 Distinctions, 1 Merit, 1 Pass and 0 Fail.

This is an outstanding set of results and your students should be very proud.

The staff car park now has a barrier to restrict access. Please can parents who drop their students off at school by car make arrangements to drop off in a different location. If you would like more details, please click here.

The Friends of Twickenham School need your help to run our rugby parking days. These are crucially important as they are the main way the PTA raises funds to support our school.

If you can spare some time on Saturday 14th September, please sign up here.

As outlined in the Home School Agreement, students are encouraged to attend at least one club per week. We are pleased to inform you that the majority of these clubs are offered at no cost to students.

Next week, we will be hosting club sign-up fairs at lunch time in the sports hall to facilitate student enrolment. The schedule is as follows:

• Wednesday, 11th: Year 7
• Thursday, 12th: Years 8 and 9
• Friday, 13th: Years 10 and 11

The purpose of these clubs is to enhance your child's educational experience beyond the classroom and to further strengthen their connection to Twickenham School.

Dates for the Diary

10 & 11 September - Year 8 - 11 Photography

12 September - Year 7 Information Evening

11 - 13 September - Extra Curricular Club Fair - Lunch time

Wishing you a wonderful weekend.

Jonathon Lisseman

Headteacher

Twickenham School

Percy Road

Twickenham

TW2 6JW

0208 894 4503