Message from the Headteacher, Mr C Richards:
This month marks Black History Month and the theme this year is ‘Reclaiming Narratives’ which underscores the importance of black voices and challenging the narratives that have often overlooked the achievements of black people. We will be running a variety of activities both in and out of class, but if you would like further information about Black History Month 2024, please click here. It perhaps goes without saying, but our values of Equity and Respect come into their own during these awareness months and we know that by prioritising these values, we will all be able to live and work together more harmoniously.
Year 9 and 12 in-class assessments will be starting next week and run until the end of the following week, so please get your children stuck into their revision this weekend. Just on the horizon are the year 11 and 13 in-class assessments too (from 14th October). We took the decision last year that students would not take part in two sets of full mock examinations in years 11 and 13 for a number of reasons. First, and foremost, two full sets of mocks eat into the time available for teachers to actually teach the course, so a robust in-class assessment gives them key information quickly about areas for development and they can plough on with this ahead of the mock series in January and February next year. Pupils still get the opportunity to practise the examination paper and get really valuable feedback to guide the next few months of work. Pupils will have a full set of mock examinations in the new year and, last year, this proved to be impactful. There is also much less impact on other year groups’ teaching during this time making sure we have to provide fewer costly interventions later on.
Thank you to those families who have already completed our survey. If you haven’t already, please do so as we’ve extended the deadline so we can gather as much constructive feedback about moving the school forward as possible. Make sure you’ve got 5pm 14th October in your diary for our first family forum of the year. Families who attended last year took part in some really interesting discussions about the life of the school and how to support our pupils/your children to really thrive.
Dates for your diary
7th October: Year 9 and 12 in-class assessments → 18th October
8th October: Year 11 GCSE Photography Trip to the Tate and the Victoria & Albert museum
9th October: Flu vaccinations session 1
14th October: Year 13 and 11 in-class assessments → 25th October
Year 12 Business Studies SEGRO workshop
5pm Family Forum
15th October: Year 11 GCSE Photography trip to the Tate and the Victoria & Albert Museum
17th October: Full Governing Body Meeting
23rd October: Year 7 Science Trip
25th October: Year 8 Heathrow STEM Engineering workshop
26th October – 3rd November: Half-term
4th November: Islamophobia Awareness month
Year 8 in-class assessments → 15th November
5th November: Year 7 Art Trip to Tate Modern
GCSE Resit examinations → 11th November
11th November: Armistice Day
Anti-bullying week → 15th November
13th November: Year 11 Music Solo Recordings → 15th November
Year 12 Seminar and lecture day
27th November: Flu vaccinations session 2
Year 8 Science Trip to the Natural History Museum
Other key dates for the year can be found on our website. Next year’s provisional dates are also available now.
Sutton Trust Access Apprenticeships
Johan, Head Student, was selected for the Sutton Trust Access Apprenticeships Banking and Finance Programme. As part of the programme, he participated in workshops on CV writing, interview techniques, and personal statements. He also had the chance to gain valuable insights into finance fundamentals through a Bloomberg course. Last Friday, Johan had the exciting opportunity to visit the Bloomberg London office, where he explored the various career pathways available in the finance industry.
The Sutton Trust offers a range of programmes in Law, Medicine, and Finance, providing access to webinars, support with admission tests, interviews, and preparation for further education – helping students get ready for the world of work.
Sixth Form Speaker Series
The Sixth Form Speaker Series kicked off on Monday, with Shabnam Sharma, from The Sher Jung Foundation, promoting her charity, and her journey from being a Villiers High Student. As well as the book ‘ Both Not Half’ Satham Sanghera. For more information, please visit: http://www.thesherjungfoundation.org/
Introduction to KS5 evening
The introduction to KS5 evening for Year 12s took place on Wednesday 25th September 2024. The evening is a crucial introduction to the exciting and challenging journey of post-16 education, with a strong focus on raising achievement.
This event offers students and their parents/career valuable insights into the expectations and support systems in place to help them succeed. It’s an excellent opportunity to engage with teachers, ask questions, and gain a clear vision of how the next two years will be structured to promote both personal growth and high achievement.
Turing Scheme – the UK’s global programme to study and work abroad
We are thrilled to announce that our school has been successful in securing 2 bids under the Turing Scheme to fund a trip and work experience opportunity abroad for our students! This exciting opportunity will provide our students with invaluable cultural experiences, the chance to broaden their horizons and an enriching educational experience.
Thanks to the Turing Scheme we will be able to offer beneficial work experience trips at a reduced cost to our students. Our Y12 and Y13 students are in the process of applying for a work experience placement in Spain, Portugal or France. We wish them luck with their applications. More news about these trips to follow shortly.
Southall Community Awards 2024
We are delighted to announce that the Southall Community Awards 2024 evening is taking place on Saturday 23rd November 2024 at Featherstone High School.
The Southall Community Awards 2024 is all about nominating individuals, teams or groups from Southall who have been great volunteers, community activists or those unsung heroes who give their time and efforts to help others. In the past we have had nominations of young people, schools, businesses, community organisations and sports teams so if you know anyone who fits this description please send us their nomination. The deadline for submitting nominations is Monday 4th November.
Attached below is an event flyer, a nomination form and guidance for anyone wishing to submit a nomination. This is a fantastic opportunity to recognise and applaud all those people and organisations who have been doing wonderful things in Southall. Hopefully you will be able to attend to help share our appreciation for their work and achievements.
Year 8 Christmas Market trip to Paris
Year 8 have been offered the opportunity to visit Paris, France in December to see some of the different attractions in the build up to the festive period. Please see the attached poster of what is included in the trip and the permission slip if you would like your child to go.
Parenting workshops
Please find the attached flyers for the following parenting workshops available this month:
Wellbeing Questionnaire for Yr 9 and Yr 10 parents
Your child is invited to take part in a new project being run by University College London. For more information on what exactly this project entails, please read the attachment below.
Years 11 and 13 interventions timetable
Please find attached the schedule for our whole-school intervention sessions, which began this week and will continue until Thursday, December 19th.
You can check your child’s Google Classroom to see which sessions they have been invited to attend. We strongly encourage your child to participate in these sessions, as our teachers will be focusing on targeted topics and exam practice.
Thank you for your continued support.
Eco Warriors Club
Lots of students have signed up for our new Eco Warriors Club, but we’re still on the look out for new members. The focus of the club is to make Villiers High School even more sustainable, but there are also lots of other benefits too:
- Get involved in organising climate action events
- Feel like you are making a difference in the world
- Develop important sustainability skills
- Shape school policy and bring about behaviour change
- Enhance your CV
Any students that are interested should come along to O5 on Wednesdays after school from 3.10 – 4.00pm.
The Sustainability Managers for Schools programme
We are delighted to announce that Villiers has qualified as one of three schools in Ealing to be part of the Sustainability Managers for Schools (“SMS”) programme for the 2024/25 academic year. The school will benefit from a dedicated Sustainability Manager at no cost to the school. Leon Palmer is our new Sustainability Manager and will work alongside Beth Reynolds to help the school save money, develop green skills and apply for eco-project funding.
The SMS programme first learns more about the school by calculating our carbon footprint, forming a weekly pupil eco-group and running surveys with staff, pupils and families. With this information the school will agree a Climate Action Plan to give us a clear eco-strategy.
The pupil eco-group will help to shape the school’s Climate Action Plan and secure the brilliant Eco-Schools award. We’ve invited pupils to be part of the Eco-Group at last week’s Enrichment Fair. Please can Eco-Group pupil families return the media permission forms by 27 September.
Eco-Group pupils will learn about sustainability and how to create and manage schoolwide eco-projects. We look forward to seeing how these young people develop their ideas and build a more sustainable future for themselves and their community.
The learning from the programme will be shared with the Department for Education, local and national government to progress UK schools’ contribution to net zero targets.
How YOU can help!
Please spend 2 minutes completing this very short 6 question survey: https://forms.office.com/e/A4FA236CFb
(We’ll be asking you again at the end of the Summer Term to see whether there have been any changes.)
Want to know more? We look forward to updating you with the school’s progress. Please email LeonPalmer@sustainabilitymanagersforschools.org if you have any thoughts or questions about the programme.
- For more information about the Programme please visit: www.sustainabilitymanagersforschools.org
- Follow SMS on Instagram to discover what the pupils are achieving: @smsmakingadifference
- To learn more about Eco-Schools award please visit: www.eco-schools.org.uk
- https://www.facebook.com/EalingLondon/posts/pfbid0TYK7rRBPbE7RBwEM2u9mrUFgiqbdZnVtd9Lqfa3t1NhByYcJY4Zz1rXmuwCtTEpwl
- Three schools across Acton, Greenford and Southall have been introduced to their dedicated Sustainability Managers. These Sustainability Managers will be supporting school communities (pupils and adults alike) to become more sustainable. Take a look at this link https://actforealing.org/2024/09/09/green-growth/ for more information.
Bring Our Futures
This is a community event that is being held in October to provide an opportunity for you to take your children to engage in various activities to do with policing that will help to break down barriers in a positive way. Take a look at the attached poster for further information.
Home-Start Ealing
Home-Start Ealing has been supporting families in the borough for more than 25 years. Being a parent, whatever your situation, can be incredibly challenging, especially when children are young. Home-Start volunteers work alongside families to give compassionate and confidential support. To find out more information please see the link below.
https://www.egfl.org.uk/news/2024/09/home-start-ealing
Mental Health support team Autumn term workshop
Over the Autumn term, there will be a variety of workshops on offer for parents and carers of children who attend a school in Ealing. If you would like to know more about this and how to sign up, please see the attached poster below.
Villiers Diner – Week 2 menu ( Monday 7th Oct – Friday 11th Oct )
Cash payments
We are a cashless school and families can pay for school meals, stationery, trips and clubs via ParentPay. You can top up your ParentPay account from a bank account or by using a debit/credit card. If you do not have a valid bank account or debit/credit card, please email info@villiers.ealing.sch.uk. We will set up a PayPoint account, so you can make payments using cash.
Detention information
In order to support your child’s learning and keep standards high, we have introduced a new centralised teacher detention. This means that if a student’s behaviour has not improved after several reminders, they will have to sit a 40-minute detention after school.
We want to ensure that communication is made, so an automatic email will be sent to you, and students will sit the detention the next day, giving you 24 hours’ notice.
Please do remind your child about this and if you do have any queries about how we can best support your child, please do contact their Head of Year.
Contacting Staff
A reminder that if you need to contact staff at school, please use the contact page on our school website to make sure you get through to the right person: https://www.villiers.ealing.sch.uk/contact
If you are reporting lateness or absence, please check the details on this page: https://www.villiers.ealing.sch.uk/key-information/my-child-is-going-to-be-absentlate
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
Don’t forget to follow Villiers High School on social media.