William Ellis School Parent Portal - NEWS AT WES

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Spring Term - 14th March 2025

Welcome to our latest news update, including a follow-up on literacy and reading following World Book Day, our Camden Foodbank appeal in the weeks before the Easter Holidays, and a request for support with fundraising (it won't cost a penny!) and spreading the word about William Ellis in local primary schools.

Attendance and Behaviour Updates - we want to hear from you

As we say regularly in this newsletter, good attendance at school is such an important factor in your child's success - not just because they will make better academic progress, but also because they will make better friends, develop stronger relationships with adults and have more chances to try new things, in class and on trips or during special events in school. This means that it is important for them to come to school every day. Last year, students from Willliam Ellis helped to make this video to encourage all young people to have good attendance in school.

But we know that one of the things that helps support good attendance is FOMO - Fear Of Missing Out. A sense that if they don't go to school, good things that pass them by. We would like to find out more about what that is. We'd welcome your views in this short questionnaire, that you could complete based on your own views or jointly with your child. There are two simple questions:

- What are the things about school that your child really enjoys, gives them a sense of purpose, belonging, success and enjoyment?

- What is missing from school, that would help to build a sense of purpose, belonging, success and enjoyment?

The form gives you some suggestions, but we look forward to hearing your original ideas or what we might not have thought of.

Beyond World Book Day: the importance of Reading

Teachers have put together a list of wider reading for many of our curriculum subjects, to develop students' interest and skills in those subjects. The reading list can be found here.

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William Ellis as an international community: welcoming students from around the world

William Ellis recently welcomed two brothers from Argentina for a two-month placement here while their mother was working as a visiting professor at a London University.

Ciro and Emilio have now returned to Argentina, but we received this message from their family:

We wanted to thank everybody at William Ellis for receiving the boys so warmly and ensuring that they felt comfortable at school. This was their first experience going to school in a foreign language, and they have both enjoyed it immensely. The whole community at William Ellis - teachers, staff and students - was very receptive and welcoming, and we are very grateful for this.

William Ellis is a wonderful school, and it is a privilege for us to have been part of this educational community, even if only briefly. Thank you again for everything!

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William Ellis is now on Instagram www.instagram.com/williamellisschool/

Our page is in its infancy, but we are already beginning to build up a collection of photos of school events and a healthy following for such a new page. Please do connect with us if you have an Instagram account.

Camden Foodbank's Spring Appeal

If you are able to make a contribution from the list above, please bring items to the school office by Tuesday 1st April.

Please see the Camden Foodbank's website to find out more about what they do.

Easy Fundraising for our School

A reminder that William Ellis School registered with easyfundraising, which means you can raise FREE donations for us every time you shop online. Over 8,000 retailers, including the likes of John Lewis, Currys, M&S, Boots, eBay, and big name supermarkets, will donate to us when you use easyfundraising to shop with them – at no extra cost to yourself!

These donations can really mount up and make a big difference to us, so we’d really appreciate it if you could take a moment to sign up and support us. It’s completely FREE and only takes a moment.

We are registered as 'William Ellis Highgate". You can find our easyfundraising page at: easyfundraising|William Ellis Highgate

Meet The Parents - Families Wanted!

Meet the Parents (MTP) is a pioneering education project funded by Camden council, which aims to give primary school parents ‘the inside story’ on their local secondary schools when they are thinking about where to send their children after Year 6. It is a chance for them to meet families from the local secondaries and get first-hand, up-to-date information on what they are like.

MTP runs events at primary schools in Camden and neighbouring boroughs. Events take place mainly during the Autumn term, with a friendly panel of secondary school families speaking about their experiences and taking questions for around 45 minutes, with a chance to chat informally to primary school families afterwards. MTP also hold online events and offers free advice on the secondary application process.

To find out more about Meet The Parents, please see www.meettheparents.info

We are very grateful to the families who already give up their time to speak about their sons' positive experiences at these events and would love more families to register to join panels at future events.

If you would be interested in being involved, please complete this short form or contact Madeleine at MTP: info@meettheparents.info.

Yours faithfully,

Izzy Jones

Headteacher

This Week's WESPA Round-Up:

Dear families,

Great to see parents at the WESPA Meeting on Monday. There was much to discuss including work with the WES SEND Department, a Cricket day at Lords, the new WES Band club and more. Minutes will be circulated to parents on the WESPA mailing list as normal. Next week we welcome our German Exchange students - thank you in advance to all the parents who are laying on a welcome party on Monday.

New Year 7s

It is that exciting time of year when we start to welcome new families to the school. The first event is a welcome information evening on 19th March followed by interviews and uniform sizing on 10th May. Current parents will be at all these events to help out and help introduce new families to each other. If you would like to and are able to help, please let me know.

I will also be helping to set up a new WhatsApp group for the year. These groups are invaluable as a source of support as well as a way to get to know your son’s cohort. This usually starts with current parents who have younger sons joining in September. Please do get in touch if you have a son joining and we will start the group together.

GCSE Science Revision Support

Next week is proving to be action packed! The 19th also marks the start of the Royal Veterinary College GCSE Revision support course. WESPA Trustee and lecturer at the RVC, Caroline, had this to say:

It’s a great opportunity to brush up your Science GCSEs with the 6-weekly FREE online sessions organised by the RVC. Experts in the field and tutors will help with your Physics, Chemistry and Biology revision and give you tips to boost your confidence!

You can find out more here: https://www.rvc.ac.uk/study/rvc-is-open-for-all/visit-us/meet-us/get-your-grades-online-programme

WES Band Club

Exciting news from the music department! Band Club will start next week. William Ellis has a great history of bands and this club has been set up to help foster the next generation of band musicians as well as support current bands. It will be led by WES music teacher Max Stoner-Taubman.

If your son is interested please go along to Room 48 at lunch on Wednesday for an introductory meeting.

Have a great weekend.

Chair WESPA