From the Co-Headteachers

It has been an immensely busy week with enrichment (see below) as well as a hugely successful week cumulating in our Track and Field Day at the Osterley track. Despite the heat, lessons have been engaging and purposeful as we drive to prepare students for their next steps: internal assessments, work experience, wider learning week, and summer programmes. House assemblies have, again, been reinforcing issues linked to personal safety over the summer holiday – sun safety, safe cycling, open water safety, healthy hydration, and open-fire BBQ safety.

Given that it was Eid this week, we would like to congratulate all students and families who celebrated this important religious event; many students returned to school with a plethora of joyful stories about meeting up and reconnecting with their extended family relatives which is always important.

We work really hard each week to bring you the latest Isleworth & Syon news and celebrations. We would really appreciate it if you could leave us an anonymous comment about your experiences with this newsletter.

Simon Fisher and Jo Higginbottom

Summer Arts Festival

There is less than a week to go until our Summer Arts Festival, a performing arts extravaganza featuring over 150 students. Details on the plan for the evening, as well as how to get your tickets, can be found on the poster below. Don’t miss this outstanding event!

FREE – Holiday and Food Programme (HAF)

All children on Free School Meals (FSM) have now received a flyer offering them the opportunity to join up to a numbers of sports camps in August. These summer camps will take place on school site and will include workshops about food and nutrition as well as the importance of exercise for their general wellbeing. Electronic bookings for children on FSM have already gone live.

The camp is also open to “paid places”, so anyone can attend from Year 7 to 11 for just £25 per day; check out the flyer. After-school “taster” basketball and football sessions start on:

  • Monday 3 July for Year 9 and 10
  • Monday 10 July for Year 7 and 8.

Reading

Research suggests that communicating with parents/carers about literacy and reading can result in parents/carers being more empowered to support and encourage their son/ward at home, which has also been proven to have an impact on reading skills.

On this note, reading helps to improve vocabulary, communication skills and makes us better writers. We all need these skills in life and in our workplace. Please consider talking to your son/ward about when you use these skills in your own life and work. 

Careers Corner

With the summer break just around the corner, there are an increasing amount of opportunities to gain valuable experience of the workplace. The first opportunity runs in coordination with Great Ormond Street Hospital and is an opportunity to see the variety of roles undertaken within the Allied Health Professions. It runs from 7-11 August 2023, is available to 16-to-19-year-olds, and can be signed up for at this link. The deadline is 4 July 2023.

The second opportunity is partnerships with SCSjv. Their insight programme is open to students aged 15-17 with an interest in construction and the diverse array of jobs within the sector. The programme will run across five days in August. Students can attend the morning or afternoon workshops. The programme is based in North Acton and is available for up to 60 students across the AM/PM. Workshop topics include an introduction to SCSjv with an overview on engineering and tunnelling, digger driving, a bridge-building project, a traffic management project, as well as EDI and employability/apprenticeships.

Students will need to commit to the full five days with us; either a morning or afternoon slot. They must let Mr Adams know urgently if they would like to attend.

Safeguarding

At school, we constantly challenge inappropriate behaviours between young people both within school and across the community. We also, crucially, signpost additional wrap-around services to families and parents/carers.

This week, we would like to signpost Hounslow’s One Stop Shop as an excellent drop-in service for any victims of domestic violence.

If you have a concern about the safety or welfare of your child, please email the safeguarding team at safeguarding@isleworthsyon.org. If there is an emergency call 999 or, for non-urgent matters that require police attention, call 101. 

Teacher Strikes

Wednesday 5 and Friday 7 July are teacher strike days by the National Education Union. Arrangements for school will be affected.

School will be closed to Years 8 & 9 except a selected group of students that received a separate communication. Key points are:

  • All Year 7 and Year 12 must attend as normal on Wednesday 5 and Friday 7 July; usual attendance rules and procedures apply.
  • Year 10 students:
    • Must attend as normal on Wednesday 5 July.
    • Must attend as normal in the morning on Friday 7 July. Students will leave school after completing their maths examination and then attending their Work Experience / end of Year 10 assembly (approximately 10:30am).

Find full details in the letter to parents/carers, sent this morning via email.

Coming Up!

Wider Learning Week

Our Wider Learning Week is just two weeks away! We can’t wait for Year 7, 8, 9 and 12 to enjoy a carousel of amazing activities which will provide enriching learning experiences!

Students will receive full itineraries and reminders next week, but some key points to note:

  • Canteen will be open as normal for on-site students. 
  • Full school uniform should be worn, and equipment brought as normal. 
  • Students are allowed to wear plain black trainers for any trips. 
  • Students should bring a packed lunch (FSM students will be provided with one), as well as a bottle of water and sun cream needed for trips. 
  • Students will be meeting in different rooms each day – these will be displayed on screens around the school, so they need to check when they arrive each morning. 

Our newsletter in two weeks’ time will be a complete Wider Learning Week takeover, so watch out for that!

Word of the Week

The word of the week is perspective.

Pride of House

Forty more I&S students have been presented with this week’s Pride of House award, receiving a digital certificate. They have been given the award for a brilliant contribution to their form this week. Well done!

House Point Champions

15 more students have earned either a Diamond or Prestige house point certificate this week. They are shown below – well done! 

Note: this list is accurate as of 7.00am today (Friday). If your child reached a threshold after 7.00am on Friday, they will appear in the next list. 

Prestige (300 points)

Ubai ANSAREY (8Am)
Himank BAKSHI (7Bl)
Ted EAST (8Tr)
Ryan EDWARDS (7Bl)
Rohan KHURANA (7Sn)
Aston MIN (7Sh)
Eric ORDONEZ (7Tu)
Jonavon PEREIRA (9Ad)

Diamond (200 points)

Oscar ASTLEY (7Br)
Tadhg CUTHBERT (7Tr)
Kaveh DEHGHANI (7Am)
Zayn KHAN (7Br)
Jasnam MOKHA (7Sh)
Mohamed NOUMI (9Sh)
Athar REHMAN (9Bl)

News

Blake Lawrence Performs at the Globe

We were so proud this week as Year 11 student Blake Lawrence performed on stage at Shakespeare’s Globe in London.

His wonderful, charismatic performance of ‘Lando Ho’ by Kwame Dawes took place during the Poetry by Heart (PBH) Grand Final on Monday. Blake was selected to perform as a reward for being a national finalist in the PBH competition.

We took our other school finalists along to the Globe to watch him perform, to inspire those boys for future competitions! Blake did a brilliant job during this excellent celebration of poetry – well done to him.

Poetry Slam

Our younger generation have also been immersed in poetry this week. Yesterday, we sent a Year 7 group to compete in ‘Poetry Slam’ at St Mark’s School!

This event was led by poet Adam Kammerling and saw a number of local schools taking part. Students were taught about the fundamentals of poetry and then worked in groups to produce their own! It was a fantastic way for students to develop their creative writing skills as well as hone their public speaking talents.

Our team of Year 7s split into two groups and finished in first and second place overall, showing great creativity and skill! Well done to Kip Barclay-Harding, Ayman Butt, Harvey Chapman, Jasnam Mokha, Arjun Patel and Darius Roohi!

Track & Field Championships

It was another fantastic morning of sport today as we hosted our annual Track & Field Championships. All students in Years 7-10 took part, earning points for their house through a complete programme of track and field events over four hours. The boys battled hard and showed great resilience throughout this event. It was fantastic to see the camaraderie between students within their houses, as well as the fantastic participation levels.

The overall winners were Adam, after a phenomenal performance that saw them score nearly 50 points more than second-placed Turner. Well done to everyone for a brilliant morning of athletics!

Grow Farm

On Tuesday, we were delighted to take our Eco & Sustainability Committee to Grow Farm in North London. Students had a fantastic day, particularly enjoying an opportunity to meet the chickens! They also loved exploring the farm, discussing with staff how they keep their site environmentally-friendly. It was a fantastic day which gave students plenty to ponder as they bring their sustainability work back to school!

Visiting Parliament

Ten Year 12 students were lucky enough to attend a very special political event on Wednesday 28 June, run by educational charity TeamGlobal.

During the course of a busy day, students enjoyed:

  • A tour of the Supreme Court, including observing a live case
  • Tea in the House of Lords followed by a talk from Lord Carlile of Berriew
  • A visit to the House of Commons to watch a debate

It was a fantastic day, with these politically-engaged students enjoying the chance to see behind the scenes of these important British institutions. Afterwards, one described it as an “eye-opening, enriching experience.”

Primary Workshops – Fun with Fire

This week marked the third and final primary school science workshop. After the very successful dissections with Ivybridge and salt exploration with The Blue School, we were looking forward to this one! We welcomed The Blue School again, but a Year 5 cohort on this occasion. The sessions title was the intriguing ‘Fun with Fire’.

A big part of the session was teaching the Year 5s how to use a bunsen burner safely. They then put different metals into the fire and watched the flame change colour! Later, students put iron filings over the bunsen burner to replicate the science behind fireworks. It was a fantastic session, with the primary students well-assisted by current Year 7 and Year 8 students who used to attend the Blue School (pictured above).