From the Co-Headteachers

We would like to extend a very warm welcome to readers of this newsletter on behalf of all the staff, students and trustees from Isleworth & Syon School.

This week, the school is well and truly in full flow with a vibrancy and energy within classrooms, around the corridors and outdoors. Lessons are buoyant with a heavy focus on oracy and reading – because good speakers become good writers. On top of this, our extensive summer term programme of extra-curricular activities has wholeheartedly begun. 

As well as the aspiration for students to be successful in a range of subjects and extra-curricular clubs, school House assemblies have been driving the importance of personal and social development, in particular ensuring that students are empathetic towards each other. In our daily tutorials, we have continued to drive the promotion of positive wellbeing and mental health alongside issues linked to personal safety within our local community. Speaking of which, well done to Mohammed Butt (10Am) who, earlier this week, used his Heart Start first aid skills – learned in Year 10 PSHE – to save the life of a member of the public in central Hounslow. As well as successful students and confident young people, we also produce responsible citizens.

Please note that this is a long weekend due to the bank holiday, which means students do not attend school on Monday 1 May. Tuesday 2 May is a strike day (see notice below). 

As ever, this newsletter contains important information about our other traditions and values as so please read it in full.


Thank you for reading this newsletter. If you have any ideas for how we can make it even better, we want to hear from you! Fill out this form anonymously.

If you have a question about a student, don’t fill out the form – send us an email. 

We always strive to improve, so please offer us any feedback (anonymous) about this newsletter via this link.

Simon Fisher and Jo Higginbottom

Strike Action

Tuesday 2 May is a teacher strike day by the National Education Union. This means that arrangements for school will be affected.

A letter was sent to parents/carers yesterday via email. Years 10, 11, 12 and 13 will be in school, plus a selected group of students from other years that have received a separate communication.

Parent/Carer Trustee

Earlier this week, we emailed parents/carers regarding an opportunity to serve on the Academy Trust Board (Governing Body).

Successful applicants will serve a four-year term. Please note that applicants must have a student in current Years 7-13 in order to apply.

Please find more information on our ‘Academy’ page, in the ‘Trustees’ tab.

Clubs of the Week – Athletics

Who: Two clubs – Year 7/8 and Year 9/10

When: Tuesdays, 3.05 – 4.30pm

Where: Osterley track

Staff: Mr Mullins and Mr Rush

The athletics season has now arrived and the PE department is offering both the opportunity for students to train and improve their skills in track and field. Students can also represent the school at local, regional and national events. All students are welcome but with events coming thick and fast, they should make sure to take the opportunity to get involved as quickly as they can!

Safeguarding

It is vitally important that parents/carers always ‘tune in’ and report back to the school on local issues which they might experience. These “live” youth, community issues help inform our PSHE education programme, which aims to equip students with a toolkit of knowledge and skills to make the right decisions.


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

Pride of House

Well done to the 40 Isleworthians given a Pride of House award this week. Each has been recognised for their brilliant contribution to school life. Click a badge below to view each house’s full list!

Examinations

Well done to students who took some public examinations this week – language speaking assessments and art practicals for Years 11 and 13.

Students sitting examinations this summer should be working hard to ensure that they are fully prepared for them. This will include learning some new material and revising previous work “little and often”. The exam timetables and revision materials, including revision planners, should be part of the preparation.

Ofqual, the examinations regulator, have published a letter to parents/carers ahead of the summer examinations series. You can read it on their website.

House Point Champions

Congratulations to every student who has earned a Diamond or Prestige house point certificate this week, for hitting 200 and 300 house points respectively. 

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 next week’s list. 

Prestige

Roo CLARK (7Sn)
Kai MAHOON (10Bl)
Daniel SALVATORI MARTIN (7Tr)
Ranveer THAKUR (7Br)

Diamond

Uzair ANSAREY (10Am)
Logan BRADBURY (7Sh)
Rajveer CHADHA (7Tu)
Vicentiu COJOCARU (8Br)
Luca CORNICK (7Bl)
Ethan CROSTELLI (7Tr)
Mohammed DIB (7Tu)
Ollie GILMOUR (10Am)
Cheng Yi HUANG (8Tr)
Rayyan HUSSAIN (8Bl)
Harsh JOSHI (10Am)
Ali KOSE (7Tu)
Anmol MACHCHAL (9Bl)
Aneeb NAQVI (9Bl)
Sai NUSUMU (7Bl)
Nicolas ONESIM (8Ad)
Saksham ORFORCAR (9Am)
Charlie PORT-JOHNSON (10Sh)
Jayan RAHLLEN (7Tu)
Zain RUHOMALLY (7Am)

Coming Up!

  • Monday 1 May – Bank Holiday
  • Tuesday 2 May – NEU Strike scheduled
  • Monday 8 May – Bank Holiday
  • Tuesday 9 May – Monday timetable
  • Monday 15 May – Public Examinations Begin
  • Monday 29 May – Friday 2 June – Half-Term

Word of the Week

The word of the week is implement.

News

Year 7 Football – Borough Champs!

A huge congratulations to our Year 7 footballers, who destroyed the competition on their way to being crowned borough winners!

The team won their half of the ‘pool’ competition easily, progressing to the semi-finals. They thrashed Rivers Academy 7-0 in that round, which earned them a place in the final against The Green School for Boys. Our students rose to the challenge, scoring five goals with no reply to win the trophy! The whole team was fantastic, but particular praise most go to Zion Kofi for his semi-final hat-trick; Callum Cameron for his outstanding overhead goal in the final; and Jayan Rahllen for his colossal defensive performance.

This team were worthy borough champions after dominating every fixture during the season. Well done!

Sustainability Week

The school is applying to again earn the Eco-Schools Green Flag, after we successfully achieved the award last year. This is part of our aim to become a more sustainable school.

This aim is driven by our student Eco-Committee, supported by our Eco-Coordinator Miss Gartland. This year, the committee has created all of the resources for the week, which focused on three main areas:

  • Transport
  • School grounds
  • Healthy eating

The committee planned a range of activities during study support, including quizzes, assemblies, presentations and discussion sessions. We’ll find out later in the term if we have received the Green Flag!

KS3 French Study Day

On Wednesday, we took a group of keen linguists (Years 8 and 9) to the British Film Institute (BFI). Located on London’s Southbank, it was a fantastic venue for a KS3 French study day, titled ‘Learning French Using Short Film for KS3 Students’.

The day’s activities focused on using French short films to expand student’s knowledge of French language. It also had the added benefit of developing knowledge of French culture and cinema, which is an essential part of the French curriculum. Students had a fantastic time and came away feeling more confident in their language skills!

‘An Inspector Calls’ at Richmond

It is very important for students studying drama to take in live performance – it helps bring their classroom studies to life! On Tuesday, Miss Thomson took a group of drama students from Years 9 & 10 to the local Richmond Theatre for a fantastic production of ‘An Inspector Calls’.

For the Year 10s, it was brilliant to see a production of a text they are currently studying in class, and will have to write about in their end of Year 11 exam. The Year 9s found it very useful as a preview for their GCSE studies!

It was a fantastic production that students thoroughly enjoyed. Indeed, Finn Chappel (Year 10) said afterwards, “This play gave me a deeper understanding of the set and costume choices that I will need to explain in my GCSE exam.”

Marlborough School Project

In February, we welcomed students from Marlborough Primary School to watch our school production of ‘The Odyssey’. Afterwards, Mr McDonnell presented the Year 6s a challenge – they were given a title (‘An Epic Adventure’) and asked to create some art related to it – a story, some literature, a drawing, or some art. Lots of students took part in the challenge, and we loved the responses! Mr McDonnell (head of performing arts) visited the school and praised those who took part; the winners received a certificate and a fountain pen! This was a lovely community initiative for us; thank you to everyone who took part.

Year 8 Parents/Carers Evening

Yesterday evening (Thursday) was our final Parents/Carers Evening of the year, as we welcomed Year 8 families into school. Parents/carers were able to meet with subject teachers and discuss students’ progress through the year. It was a fantastic event to strengthen the partnership between home and school. Thank you to everyone who attended.