Newsletters

NEWS AT WES - 4th October 2024

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Autumn Term - 4th October 2024

 

Welcome to our latest news update, including our Open Events, the WESPA Fun Run and debating and public speaking activities.

Teaching and Learning at William Ellis - 20 years on

It's always good to hear that ex-students and staff have positive memories of their time at William Ellis. One of our former teachers, Sammy Wright (now a headteacher in the North East) has written a book about the nature and purpose of education - what, in his view, it is now, and what it could be.

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This week he was interviewed by a former William Ellis student about his book: Grade expectations | Camden New Journal In reading the article, it's interesting to reflect on how the school has changed since then - and positively! What is clear from the article though, is that the school's vision for creating successful students and good citizens through the relationships they build is long-standing and resonates with members of our community long after they leave. The book, Exam Nation, features an interview with Mr Parry. An abridged audio version is available from BBC Sounds and the book has been reviewed by Fiona Millar, our Chair of Trustees.

Attendance and Behaviour Updates

Congratulations this week to students in 11W, 10L, 9B, 8B/8L, 7L/7K - the tutor groups with the best attendance overall. It is, as I say every week, critical that all students are in school every possible day of the school year to learn and build relationships to support their academic success and wellbeing. 

We have unfortunately had reports from some students about the behaviour of others on buses, particularly the 88 going towards Kentish Town. Antisocial behaviour - being loud, saying offensive things to others and throwing items and liquid are all completely unacceptable and we make this clear to students in the Home School Agreement they signed when they started at William Ellis and in our behaviour curriculum. We will also sanction students when we know who has done this, but we are reliant on others who travel on the bus to tell us - TfL will not give us access to CCTV footage.

We know that most of our students do not participate in this behaviour and do not like having to experience it. Please support them in telling us about specific students who behave in this way so that we can follow up.

Open Events

We have welcomed over 100 families into school for the Open Evening we held last week and the two Open Mornings that have taken place this week. Families have enjoyed the interactive activities we have used to showcase the way we teach our subjects and have found our student guides helpful and informative. We are very proud of everybody in the school community who has come together to show off our school in such a positive way.

We have another Open Morning on Monday, 7th October, which is likely to be the last we are able to schedule for this year. If you have any friends or family members with a son currently in Year 6 please do let them know that they are welcome to come along. We have an online form for families to let us know of their intention to attend, but registration in advance is not necessary.

 

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Student Leadership and Personal Development

Our Debating Society has begun their termly programme of weekly debates, most recently about scientific ethics and the future of food production.

The group is led by Ms Kritz and Hugh Matheson, a volunteer and governor and are working towards a debating competition with other boys schools in London.

Last week Year 10 also participated in the Jack Petchey Speakout Challenge, preparing all students to give short speeches on issues that they are motivated to promote or where they want to see change. We look forward to hearing from those selected to represent the school later in the term.

WESPA Fun Run for Year 7, 8 and 9

For this year's target, the students were running to raise money to hire the Heath's athletics track for PE lessons and for other much needed PE equipment.
All the boys that completed the 3KM run finished with a smile on their faces (even if there were a few wrong turns along the way for some). But with a place in the school cross country team at stake for the first 6 finishers, there were some seriously fast times on show.

All the students that started the race made it to the end and they deserve our congratulations for their resilience and determination. But a special mention must go to the following students who finished in the top 6 and will now run again on the 15th October the Camden Cross Country Cup on Hampstead Heath.

Year 9: Harry, Rowan, Rabah, Josh, William, Toby

Year 8: Benjamin, Tommy, Otis, Idris, Atif
 

Year 7: Noar, Harry, Bowie, Misha, Matthew, Joseph

Cross Country Club takes place every Monday lunchtime. If you want to come along, bring your PE kit to the changing room at the start of lunch and register with Mr Levitt.

With best wishes for the weekend.

Yours faithfully,

Izzy Jones

Headteacher

This Week's WESPA Round-Up:

Dear families,

Thank you so much to the 60 families who have sponsored their boys for this year’s Fun Run. You have raised just over £1500 for the PE department! Hiring of the track will cost nearly £4K and if anybody has yet to sponsor their son and would like to do so the link will stay open for another week. All donations however big or small are very welcome and will make a great dent in the hire fee!

https://www.givey.com/williamellisschoolfunrun2024

WhatsApp Groups

As with the beginning of every school term, a recurring theme has been a request to join WhatsApp groups. There are a number of these set up to help share information between parents and all parents and carers are welcome. If you would like to be part of any of the groups please email williamellispa@gmail.com

Permanent WESPA Groups run by WESPA

  • WESPA Trustees: the WESPA Trustees group for Trustees only
  • WESPA Team: Chat and discussion on WESPA activities and events for WESPA leads and active members and volunteers
  • WESPA Music: the group for the WESPA music committee
  • WESPA Choir: as the name would suggest, for members of the choir!
  • WESPA Eco Group: A group dedicated to the environmental side of goings on at WES including uniform, outside spaces and local issues

Year Groups run by parents

These are parent run groups outside WESPA and there are groups for each year. WESPA is in contact with admins for each group and we would love to help link up as many parents and carers with their year group as possible. It’s a great way to share information and, amongst other things, copies of forms that may have got squashed at the bottom of your son’s bag.

If you would like to be part of any of these groups, please email williamellispa@gmail.com with the name of your son and the year group you’d like to be linked to and we’ll send you a link to your group

Some suggestions for groups:

  • be friendly: If you’re joining a group, please introduce yourself. And for those in the group, think back to when you started - a friendly welcome message goes a long way. 
  • be constructive: there are no moderators for these groups so we rely on each other for a constructive approach and respectful comments. If you are worried about something at school, get in touch with school. Here is a guide on the best routes and best ways to get in touch https://www.williamellis.camden.sch.uk/attachments/download.asp?file=457&type=pdf
  • be safe: your number will be visible to all members of the group but you can join and leave groups at your own free will. Don’t share confidential details of your own or others and please don’t post pictures of students or discuss individuals

And finally, we’re all in this together - school, parents, boys - there will always be good and bad things to chat about. Let’s celebrate the good and deal with the challenges together.

I look forward to saying hello on chat group soon.

Al

Chair WESPA

Coming Up...

Geography Field Trips - River Tillingbourne
All Day
From 07 Oct until 10 Oct
07
October
Institute of education Shakespeare Workshop
8:50am – 12:15pm
07
October
Open Morning for Year 7 Admissions 2025
9:00am – 10:30am
07
October
Year 11 STEM Careers Trip
10:30am – 1:00pm
07
October
Deadline for Music Place Applications for admission in September 2025
4:00pm – 4:00pm
08
October
Year 13 Economics Bank of England talk
11:15am – 12:15pm
10
October
Music Aptitude test for September 2025 applicants
3:30pm – 5:15pm
10
October
Working Weekend at The Mill
3:30pm – 5:15pm
From 11 Oct until 13 Oct
11
October
Year 7 & 8 Theatre Careers Trip
10:30am – 1:30pm
14
October
Nasal flu vaccinations for Years 7-11
All Day
15
October