Newsletters

ATTENDANCE AT WES September 2024

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20th September 2024

Dear Parent/Carer,  

Welcome to our September Attendance & Punctuality newsletter. 

Camden Attendance Campaign 2024/2025 

Our Year 10 Peer Educators have been busy since Year 9 cocreating assembly session plans and a film on the topic of school attendance which will be used in schools across Camden. They have also qualified as Peer Attendance Mentors, learning how to co-deliver workshops signposting the importance of attendance and the issues some students might face, and how to overcome them. Well done to Jayden, Jack and Taylor now in Year 10 for their commitment and effort, and thank you to Fitzrovia Youth in Action for their support. These students have helped to produce some excellent materials which they will be helping to deliver next week in KS3 assemblies.   

The short film made by Camden students in partnership with Fitzrovia Youth In Action, can be found here.

Attendance Surgery  

Meetings will continue this term. Our Attendance Officer will be sending out invitations to families within the coming weeks.   

A reminder that if a students’ attendance falls below 90%, we aim to meet with the student and their parents/carers to look at ways this might be improved via a closely monitored plan of action. These meetings are intended to be a positive conversation where we will offer any support, we can to help improve your child’s attendance.  

Attendance Rewards 2nd  -  13th September Round 1:  

Every fortnight, following our Week A and Week B cycle, we will continue to share attendance data with all year groups. The tutor group with the best attendance in that cycle will win a prize each fortnight.  

Congratulations to the following tutor groups who achieved the best attendance in their year group for this cycle and will receive a Fast Pass to skip the lunch queue last week. It would be fantastic to see other tutor groups improving to take a place at the top in the coming weeks!  

Punctuality  

Good punctuality to both school and lessons is proven to lead to higher levels of attainment. It also helps students to start their day in correct mindset for academic success. When students arrive late to school, they miss out on essential learning at the beginning of the school day and can feel anxious. This can reduce achievement regardless of the students’ academic abilities.  

School Inclusion Support Officers  

A reminder that our School Inclusion Support officer is Ms. Shuma Khanom, and she will be visiting us in the coming weeks. Some parents may be invited to meet with the School Inclusion Support Officer to discuss the reason for poor attendance and what we can do to help your child to return to school.  

We know that children who attend school regularly and on time are more able to access their learning, get support in subjects they may struggle with and have a better chance of passing their exams.  

We know as a parent you also worry about your child’s future, and we want to work with you to ensure every pupil has a full-time education to maximise opportunities for everyone to realise their potential.  

Being a parent is not easy if you need talk to someone about your child’s attendance, please contact me on:   

It is never too late to benefit from good attendance.  

What to do if your child is unable to come to school: 

There are only a small number of circumstances where missing a school day is permitted. However, we understand that there may be times where this is unavoidable such as illness or medical appointments that cannot be made out of school hours.  

If your child is going to be absent for unavoidable circumstances, please telephone the school’s absence line on 0207 267 9346 by 8.30am. You will need to give your child’s name, tutor group and reason for absence. Any documentation relating to absence (e.g.: a doctor’s certificate or medical appointment letter) may be emailed to the attendance officer via: attendance@williamellis.camden.sch.uk  

If your child is absent from school for more than one day, please keep us informed each day. If your child is absent and we have not been informed, we will record the absence as unauthorised. Continued unauthorised absence may need to be reported to the local authority. If the school has safeguarding concerns about continued unauthorised absence, we may involved the Safer Schools Police Officer.  

Yours faithfully,

Ms S Nunnery

Assistant Headteacher

nunnery@williamellis.camden.sch.uk 

This Week's WESPA Round-Up:

Dear families,

Welcome back to London to all our Year 7 students. I have been looking at the sky each morning and have been very pleased to see some very friendly camping skies. I hope that everybody had a great time at the Mill.

WES Fun Run 2024 - 27th September 2024

Thank you to all those who have offered to help and thank you to Mirzeta for leading us so expertly. It’s great to put the Fun Run team together again. We would love about five or six more volunteers to help with stewarding in the afternoon between 1-3pm. If you would like to join in, please email williamellispa@gmail.com or get in touch over WhatsApp.

We are raising money for the school and this run is one of the biggest fundraisers we do in the year. Please donate if you can and please do share our Givey link with family and friends if they would like to help.

https://www.givey.com/williamellisschoolfunrun2024

If you’d like to come and cheer the boys on, just head up to the Heath for 2pm! 

 

WESPA Meeting - 24th September 2024 

This is the first meeting of the school year and a great opportunity to find out more and share ideas. It is open to all parents and carers and will take place in the library at WES at 6.30pm. The agenda is below and, as WESPA is all of us, please do email any specific items you’d like discussed in advance. I’ll be chairing the meeting and it’s always great to hear from families.

Uniform Exchange

Thanks to very kind donations from families, we have been able to build up a collection of shirts, trousers, blazers and ties. Part of the WESPA Eco Group’s agenda is to reuse as much of these as possible to reduce our environmental impact. The next exchange is on 24th September alongside the meeting. Families are welcome to take what they need at no cost. Exchanges and donations are very welcome.

Have a great weekend and hopefully catch you at our get together on Tuesday.

Best wishes,

Al

Chair WESPA


 

William Ellis School Parents Association (WESPA)

 

GENERAL MEETING AGENDA

Tuesday 24th September 2024, 6.30pm 

WES School Library

 

WESPA welcomes all parents, carers and staff at the school. For any questions, please email: williamellispa@gmail.com

 

1. Welcome and apologies 

 

2. Approval of last minutes

 

3. Matters arising

 

4. Chair report

 

5. Finance report

 

6. Events and initiatives

 

a. Events and initiatives in planning or booked: https://sites.google.com/view/williamellispa/calendar

 

b. Donations in kind: https://sites.google.com/view/williamellispa/how-to-help

 

c. Fundraising and grants

 

7. Date of Next Meeting

 

8. AOB

 

 

Coming Up...

New Year 7 Autumn Camp at The Mill
All Day
From 16 Sep until 20 Sep
16
September
Year 11 & 13 German Exchange Trip
All Day
From 23 Sep until 27 Sep
23
September
WESPA Meeting
6:30pm – 8:00pm
24
September
Early close - Students dismissed at 2pm
2:00pm – 2:00pm
26
September
Open Evening for Year 7 Admissions 2025
6:00pm – 8:00pm
26
September
Late start for students - registration at 9.35am
9:35am – 9:35am
27
September
KS3 Fun Run
2:00pm – 3:10pm
27
September
GCSE Geography Field Trips - River Tillingbourne
All Day
From 30 Sep until 03 Oct
30
September
Open Morning for Year 7 Admissions 2025
9:00am – 10:30am
30
September
Open Morning for Year 7 Admissions 2025
9:00am – 10:30am
04
October