Message from the Headteacher, Ms A. Sharma:
I write to inform you that, after six years as a Headteacher and over twenty years of working as a senior member of staff in different secondary schools, I have decided to leave the teaching profession at the end of this academic year to pursue other interests.
Throughout my career, I have been very fortunate to work with some wonderful people; brilliant teachers, superb students, supportive parents/carers and governors, and none more so than here at Villiers. It has been a privilege to lead such an amazing school. I have enjoyed my work immensely; watching young people grow and develop, achieving their potential, realising their ambitions, becoming responsible young adults and citizens. It has been my great pleasure to contribute to making this happen for so many students at Villiers.
We have a great deal to do over the next two terms to ensure that our current group of students achieve as well as other students have done in previous years. I can assure you that we are all completely focussed on making this happen and, whilst a change of Headteacher can be unsettling, I will be focussed on ensuring that we continue to provide the high standard of education that you, as parents, would expect from us.
The governors are determined to ensure that we have a period of stability, as we plot our way through any potential changes and I shall be happy to support them, in any way I can, in preparing the process and to facilitate the appointment of the new Headteacher.
My tenure as Headteacher of Villiers High School will end on 31st August 2023. I look forward to seeing you at various events that will take place at school between now and the end of the academic year. I would like to thank you for your continued support.
We were delighted to welcome all the Year 9 parents/carers who attended the Parents’ Evening on Thursday. It was great to see you and I hope you were able to discuss the progress of your child with their subject teachers and find out what they need to improve further. If you were unable to attend, please contact the Head of Year for more information.
National Teacher Strike Day – Wednesday 1st February 2023
For those students who are expected to attend school (Year 11, 13 and invited vulnerable key workers’ children) who are not on free school meals, please be mindful that if we are unable to run our canteen facilities due to a lack of staffing, you may have to provide your child with a packed lunch on this day. Free school meal students will be provided with a packed lunch by the school.
For students who are expected to stay at home on this day (Year 7, 8, 9, 10 and 12), we will be issuing a code via email, which will be a voucher allowing you to purchase £5 worth of food. Please ensure you check both your inbox and junk folder for this email.
La Maison Hantée
Thirty-six pupils from Year 9 & 10 went on a trip to see a French play called ‘La Maison Hantée’ – The Haunted House. The entirety of the play was a comedy in French, which students enjoyed very much. One student from each school had the opportunity to perform on stage with the French actors. Vailvino 10R represented Villiers by helping to solve a French clue.
Year 10 – Photography Trip
Year 10 students visited the V&A Museum and Photographers’ Gallery. They asked meaningful and thoughtful questions and made connections with various photographers’ ideas and concepts. The words wow, inspiring, exciting and great, were used by students in their feedback after exploring these exhibitions including the images of the Tamil photographer A.kin: Aarati Akkapeddi, Chris Killip: Retrospective and An Alternative History of Photography: Works from the Solander Collection. This was an excellent trip with all students actively engaged.
Stretch and Challenge: English
The Young Writers Company have awarded the following students a “Talent for Writing” commendation:
Mithun 9E
Jofia 7G
Jasneet 7G
Rayaan 7G
Kriya 7G
Malina 8L
Issa 8I
Samuel 8L
As the French artist Henri Matisse says, “another word for creativity is courage. It takes courage to express the things you are passionate about and to transcend the limits of your comfort zone”. There are plenty more upcoming competitions, please have the courage to enter them.
Year 11 – Science
This week science teachers will have asked Year 11 students to recall learning from Year 9 & 10. Students will have exam style mini packs to complete as directed by their teacher in class and possibly homework. Please ensure they complete this. For the next two weeks they will focus on the following topics (see attached document) and have three walk and talk mock exams in class with a focus on paper 2.
Well done to all our Year 11 students who completed the winter exam packs during the Christmas break, we had 82% of our students practice three extra exam papers with a focus on paper 1.
Talking Teens
Villiers are very pleased to announce that they will be running the ‘Talking Teens’ course, led by ParentingU, an external company, who have many years of experience in working with, and supporting, families to understand how their child grows and develops during these formative years. The course is open to all families, specifically those of a South Asian and Muslim background, and is being offered in Hindi, Urdu and Punjabi. Further sessions for other families and languages will be offered later in the year. Please see the attached leaflet for the dates and times of the course. We look forward to seeing you there.
Drama Production – Props List
The drama department require some props for our school production of Arabian Nights. We would greatly appreciate if you have anything on props list that you are happy to let us borrow.
Breakfast Club
Please see the attached canteen menu for breakfast club and lunchtime.
Creative Writing English Competition
Please read the attached for further information regarding the English department’s new competition.
DT Competition
Please see the attached for further information regarding the DT competition.
Parent Ambassador
Please read the attached parent ambassador advert and job description for a Konkani speaker.
School Production
Rehearsals for this year’s production of ‘Arabian Nights’ are ongoing and we are very excited for you to see it! Please be aware that rehearsals run through majority of the winter term and do not finish until 5pm. With the dark nights drawing in, please make plans for your child to get home safely whether that involves picking them up or arranging for them to walk home with an older student in the cast. Students are working very hard and we would like all of them to continue attending.
Tickets are now live on ParentPay from today, priced at £5 for adults and £2.50 for students – www.parentpay.com
Message to Parents of Year 11 – 13 Students
Students sitting any exams this summer need to be available for the full exam period. They cannot book holidays until Thursday 29th June 2023 onwards.
They will not know their summer exam timetable until later this year, as some exams are still being moved due to clashes. However, regardless of when their last exam is, they must be available up until Wednesday 28th June 2023, as this is the contingency day, alongside two contingency afternoons on Thursday 8th and Thursday 15th June 2023.
Contingency dates are added in case there is a national or local emergency and an exam has to be moved and students must be available for this.
Key Forthcoming Dates
Get in Touch
If you have any suggestions on how to improve the school further or any concerns, please do not hesitate to get in touch via email: info@villiers.ealing.sch.uk