From the Co-Headteachers

For the year ahead, we are looking forward to celebrating and strengthening our proud heritage of:

  • exceptional education and high academic standards;
  • outstanding opportunities for student enrichment; and
  • strong traditional values.

This newsletter, which will be published each Friday during term-time, will consistently showcase these three core purposes.

Below you will find a series of important notices and information ahead of the new term – please do read it carefully. Note the staggered start below; we look forward to welcoming all students back to school over the course of the next week. Full lessons commence for all students on Wednesday 7 September.

Simon Fisher and Jo Higginbottom

September Arrangements

Students start term at different times next week. Please see graphic below:

Each year group has their own letter, which we have collated in one place.

Being Ready for Learning

Like their teachers, parents/carers should aim to develop their son/ward’s responsibility levels. Support them so that they are ready for learning, every day. This means checking that they have a suitably sized and well-organised school bag, plus all of their basic school equipment.

As a reminder, basic equipment means – pen, pencil, sharpener, ruler, rubber and scientific calculator. All of these items can be purchased via the school shop on Scopay. Students are also expected to bring a water bottle and a reading book into school.

Safeguarding Updates

If you have a concern about the safety or welfare of your or another child, please email the safeguarding team at safeguarding@isleworthsyon.org.

In an emergency call 999 or, for non-urgent matters that require police attention, call 101.

You may find it useful to access our wellbeing resources where guidance and support materials can be found.

Uniform

We are acutely aware of the current cost of living crisis, and the impact this is having on families. One way that we have adapted our provision is through the launch of the ‘New To You’ scheme.

This allows families to purchase pre-used items of school uniform or sports kit that are in a reasonable condition. Orders can be made through the ‘New to You’ section on Scopay. Prices have been set much lower than usual uniform prices.

If you require any further financial assistance, please contact the school.

Policies

Please keep an eye on this website on Monday, as several important school policies will be updated.

News

Exam Results

Year 13 achieved fantastic results following two years of Covid disruption. While this was the year group that was unable to sit GCSEs in 2020, these students have continued our strong tradition of outstanding achievement across a range of academic and vocational courses. We’ve summarised some of the success stories in this article.

Celebration was in the air for Year 11 as they collected their GCSEs. This group had also had a truncated education due to Covid, but our learning environment helped them to be the best that they can be. Most Year 11 students are continuing at the school’s Sixth Form, where they will receive even more individualised support to help them select their future pathway. Check out their successes in our article.

Brit School

We were delighted to hear that Kamran Ahmed and Vincent Heath-Nicholls (both Year 11) have earned a place at The Brit School. This is one of the most famous performing arts schools in the country, with former students including Adele, Amy Winehouse and Tom Holland. 

Kamran has shown great talent throughout his school career, showing a very modern musical style. Mr McKeever (Head of Music) describes him as one of the best producers that we have ever had. Mr McKeever helped him with the application.

Vincent will study Visual Arts & Design: Fashion and Textiles. He already makes his own garments, often using upcycling to create new fashions! His ultimate aim is to be a fashion designer or maker – he already shows much promise.

This is a great example of how vocational routes are better for some students rather than further school study. We wish both boys all the best.

Student Performs at Reading Festival

In case you missed it on Twitter, earlier in the week, we were alerted on Monday to a fantastic story involving one of our just-graduated Year 11s.

A week ago, we celebrated Dexter Dobel’s GCSE results. So you can imagine our amazement to see him, just 2 days later, performing on stage at Reading Festival with the band Fontaines DC. It came about because of Dexter’s sign (see image), with the band’s guitarist spotting Dexter and hauling him on stage. He then played the entirety of the song ‘Boys in the Betterland’.

What an incredible job he did – listen to the crowd chanting his name. Do check out the video – it will put a smile on your face!

Site Developments

Whilst budgets allow, we continue to make changes to the school estate with the simple desire of providing the very best facilities for our students and the very best working environment for our staff.

As part of our security measures, we have started a programme of installing electronic access controls to the external doors on the school site. This work will take place over the coming year and will mean the school can be more secure, especially early in the morning and at the end of the school day. 

This summer, work has also been completed on a new drama office and store, as well as replacing the dining room’s flat roof to fix a leak and have additional insulation so our site is more eco-friendly.

More developments are planned during 2022-23.