Headteacher's Bulletin

Dear Parents, Students, and Staff,

What an extraordinary week we've had! There has been so much going on that I’ll have to use bullet points to share it all:

- Year 5 Taster Day: Today, we welcomed 90 enthusiastic Year 5 students from Chatsworth School. Our students were excellent hosts, making the day enjoyable and engaging for our young visitors.

- Year 10 Careers Fair: Our Year 10s spent a day off-timetable exploring future career paths. The feedback from students and visiting professionals was overwhelmingly positive, reflecting our students' professionalism, curiosity, and ambition.

- Year 10 A-Level Visit: Fifty of our Year 10s visited Teddington School to learn about A-Level options, gaining valuable insights for their post-GCSE plans.

- Jack Petchey Awards: I was thrilled to attend Richmond Theatre to celebrate Simaa, Gunika, Annora, Ehsan, Jacob, and Hiba, who each won £300 to spend on a school project of their choice. It was a wonderfully celebratory affair, and I was so proud to see them receive their just rewards for their dedication and hard work.

- New Staff Induction: We hosted an induction day for our new teachers, who are now well-acquainted with our school's ethos and systems and are ready to join our much-expanded team for the upcoming academic year.

- Year 7 Induction Day: Next year's Year 7 students enjoyed a tour, met key staff, and participated in team-building activities to get used to their new school. Teachers were thrilled with our new students, and we are excited to work with them next year. Parents also had one-on-one interviews with leadership team members.

- Cultural Awareness Day: Next week, we’ll celebrate our diverse community. Students are invited to wear traditional dress representing their heritage.

- Sports Day: It's almost here! Students have been signing up for their favourite events, and we’re aiming to make this the best Sports Day yet.

There is just so much going on – the days and weeks are just flying by! Please remember that it is vital that students attend school every single day right up until the 16th of July when the school holidays truly begin. Let’s work together to ensure a positive, productive and wonderful end to the school year.

Thank you for your continued support and enthusiasm!

Monday 1st July- the big day – The Battle of the Books competition at Sir Richard Reynolds School.

"Eight of us went to the competition. We had read six books. Once we entered the school, we were greeted by the school staff and sat around a round table. Nine schools participated in the competition. First, we had some fun doing ice breakers with other school students. Then the first round started. We were asked specific details from the books such as ‘What did they use the whale oil for? (The Last Whale by Chris Vick). We had a total of four rounds, three that were based on the books we read, and one was about general knowledge of books. At the end of these four rounds, we had a small break. We went back to the auditorium where the author from one of the books, Bite Risk, gave us a speech about her journey of writing this book. We were allowed to ask questions. We played a little game drafting a book which was random and funny. When the author was speaking, they marked our answers and prepared our certificates. At the end it was about having fun, we worked really hard and did our best but unfortunately, we didn’t win the competition, but we are really proud of ourselves for putting ourselves forward for this and participating. Each one of us received a certificate for participation and one big certificate for displaying at school. We had a really good time; we also experienced a competitive atmosphere. It was a happy and fun day, and we are proud of ourselves.”

Congratulations to Jack Petchey Achievement Award Winners Simaa, Gunika, Annora, Ehsan and Jacob who celebrated their success at Richmond Theatre on Thursday!

A huge congratulations to our Y10 cohort who have been delivering their GCSE spoken language presentations this week. They have demonstrated fantastic bravery, effort and supportiveness towards each other. We are very proud of your efforts! - Ms Clark, Deputy Head of English

This week, our U13 and U15 boys participated in their second hardball games of the year. The U13 team secured a thrilling 1-run victory over Christ School, thanks to an outstanding catch by Taimul in Year 8.

A special congratulations to the Year 8 girls for their performance in the Richmond Borough Rounders Tournament. We also hosted the Flying Shuttles, who conducted an excellent lunchtime taster session. Details for signing up for permanent coaching will be released soon.

Congratulations to Taimul in Year 8, who has been named this week’s Sports Performer of the Week. Well done, Taimul!!

Monday, 8 July: Year 7 Girls Rounders Tournament at Waldegrave School

Tuesday, 9 July: U13 Boys Cricket vs. Turing House School at Turing House

Thursday, 11 July: Year 10/11 Girls Rounders Tournament at Turing House School

Friday, 12 July: Twickenham School Whole School Sports Day at St. Mary’s University

Every week the Arts department give their top recommendations for students. This week's recommendation comes from Ms Green, Head of Drama.

The Orange Tree Theatre, Richmond presents: Red Speedo by Lucas Hnath starring Finn Cole (from Peaky Blinders) From 13th July – 10th August.

Ray lives to swim. He is within touching distance of international glory and a life-changing sponsorship deal. But everything changes when performance-enhancing drugs are discovered in the club’s refrigerator. As tensions run high, Ray’s brother wants them destroyed, his coach wants to call the authorities, his ex-girlfriend doesn’t want to know, and Ray wants the drugs back.

A thriller played at the breakneck pace of an Olympic sprint, Red Speedo tackles the unforgiving weight of success in a world where the only crime is getting caught.

Heatham House and The White House (HYP) have a huge free offer for young people this summer.

To see the full timetable of activities, click here for Heatham House and click here for the White House (HYP).

The programme is open to all young people but must be booked in advance to avoid disappointment. To book click here for Heatham House or click here for The White House.

Student services is full of lost property at the moment. Please ask your students to check in with the student services staff for any items that have gone missing around school. All items currently in lost property will be disposed off when school closes for the summer break.

Starting in September, the staff car park will have 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.

Ms Johnson and Ms O'Malley would like to say a huge thank you to all of those involved in making the Year 11 prom such a memorable and successful event.

On the decks was DJ Wills, also known as Mr Simon Wills, our Year 10 Inclusion officer! As our DJ for the night, he did an exceptional job keeping the tunes thumping and everyone on the dance floor.

And what a cool dance floor it was! Loaned to the school at no cost, the black and white checked dance floor came from R&M rentals, a local business in Isleworth run by an ex-Twickenham School student.

Prom Ally and a group of teachers supplied dresses and outfits to students who otherwise could not afford to purchase one. Prom Ally is a charity that donates prom dresses and suits for proms all over the country. They only ask for a donation of £10 to cover the cost of running the charity which anyone can donate to.

Shimmer and Soiree provided the photo wall, lighting and balloon decorations for the evening, which gave the auditorium its extra special touches.

Finally, it would not have been pulled off without the hard work of Ms Arnold, our art technician who came in on her day off especially to decorate.

Dates for the Diary

12 July - Sports day at St Mary's University - Students must travel to St Mary's by themselves

16 July - 2pm - School closes for Summer holidays

Wishing you a wonderful week ahead.

Jonathon Lisseman

Headteacher

Twickenham School

Percy Road

Twickenham

TW2 6JW

0208 894 4503