Dear parents and carers

We have lots of news to share with you this week from exciting trip and opportunities. Firstly however, I would like to extend my congratulations to Laike Favier in Year 9 won the County Athletics boys 300m. He also broke the County Record for the 300m in his winning run. An hour later he ran the 800metres which he also won. Laike has now qualified for the English Schools Athletics Championships in Birmingham, where he will be racing against the best athletes of his age group in the 300m. This is a remarkable achievement, and I am sure he has an exciting future in athletics ahead of him!

New School Website

We have been working on a new website for the school over the last year. This is now live at https://wollastonschool.co.uk/

Staffing

As I have referenced in previous newsletters our recruitment campaign at the start of the year yielded well for us. Invariably, at this time of Year we get some late turnover of staff with the deadline for teacher resignations for September posts being the end of May and this was the case with two members of staff taking opportunities for promotion or wider professional development elsewhere. However, I am really pleased to say that we are fully staffed for September which is no mean feat in a climate where the DfE figures published this year show a very difficult landscape for teacher recruitment with new joiners to the profession and retention rates dropping, as many teachers leaving the profession as joining the profession and teacher vacancies up by 20% on previous the year’s figures. This does sometime come with some difficult decisions to make around curriculum, and we do have some work to complete around our curriculum offer for next year with children and families. My team are currently working through this and once we have completed this work I will write to all parents about plans for next year. I anticipate that this will be early next week.

Wollaston Students at Wembley!

Head of performing Arts, Ms Seaton writes: ‘Last Saturday, 30 students from Years 7-9 performed live on the hallowed Wembley turf for the Men’s Rugby League Challenge Cup Final. This is the first time that Wollaston have been involved in this event and the students were absolutely superb! They learnt the routine back in May with the Wembley choreographers and we have been having weekly rehearsals to get the routine pitch ready.

Upon arriving in London we had a rehearsal at a nearby school to practice formations with the other 19 participating schools. Once at Wembley Stadium, the students were able to watch the Women’s Challenge Cup Final, saw St Helens take the trophy and even got to meet and take photos with some of the players. The students then got to experience a moving tribute to Rob Burrows as Katherine Jenkins sang the National Anthem. With the men’s first half underway, the students made their way down to the player’s tunnel ready for the half time show. Footage of the team performing will be played on the TV screens around the Performing Arts block. They appeared live on BBC1 and their performance can still be seen on iplayer.

A handful of families came to support their child and we have since received excellent feedback from parents.

If any students would like to be involved in this amazing opportunity next year, please keep Saturday 7th June available in your diaries!’

Exciting Dance Workshop Opportunities

We are really excited to invite two professional dancers to deliver 2 exciting workshops for students here at Wollaston. These will both be after school 3-15pm-4.45pm on the 25th June and 2nd July.

25th June

Elliott Richardson is currently a teacher at the prestigious Addict Dance Academy in Leicester. He has performed on the X Factor, at the Brit Awards and has recently been a dancer for pop star Tate McRae in her recent UK performances. He will be delivering a street dance workshop. This is an intermediate level class so would be suitable for students with some dance experience and are likely to opt for GCSE. This workshop is £15 and bookable on parent pay.

2nd July

Harrison Vaughn has recently appeared on BBC’s The Greatest Dancer and as a child star appeared in the TV show ‘Taking The Next Step’. Even though he is know for his explosive jumps and acrobatic tricks, he will be delivering a fun jazz routine suitable for all levels. This workshop is £20 and bookable on parent pay.

If your child is interested in either of these workshops, please email [email protected] to have this item accessible on parent pay.

British Biology Olympiad

Head of Science, Mr Pugh writes ‘ At the start of 2024 all Year 12 and most of our Year 13 Biology students took part in the British Biology Olympiad. This is an online test that students from across the country take. It doesn’t follow a curriculum so the questions are based on general biology knowledge and a students ability to apply that knowledge to a wide range of different scenarios.

All students who take part receive a certificate, but students can achieve different levels based on how well they do. This year we were delighted that Alfie Coyle-Hegarty (who sat the paper a year early) achieved a Bronze Award (see picture).

All Year 12 students will be attempting the Year 12 intermediate challenge next week and we are hopeful for more success in this competition.’

PE Updates

Head of PE Mr Bennett writes: ‘The Year 9 and 10 rounders team visited Sir Christopher Hatton to compete in a rounders tournament where the successful teams would qualify for the county competition. In the the first game was against Manor School Wollaston was victorious by 3 ½ rounders to 1. Our second game was against Weavers which we won 6 rounders to 2. The teamwork between Olivia Maxwell and Evie Chapman on backstop and first base was phenomenal getting the majority of the opposing team out. Emily Roberts stopped a girl scoring half a rounder due to an incredible catch.

This then sent us to the final where we played Sir Christopher Hatton. The girls played amazingly but we were a player down and unfortunately lost, and just missed out on qualifying for the county competition. Considering that they have never played before as a team, they were on fire and played some fantastic rounders, so I am really proud that they came second place.

On Wednesday afternoon, various KS3 and KS4 students represented Wollaston School at the District Athletics competition held at Oundle School. It was a lovely afternoon for athletics, and all students competed in various track and field events to the best of their abilities, with some student’s finishing 1st, 2nd and 3rd within their events. Well done to all the students for their continued hard work and determination throughout the day, you all represented Wollaston excellently. Congratulations to the following students who have qualified for the County Athletic Championships at Corby on Saturday 8th June. Jaybez Akre, Laike Favier, Emily Gammie, Regan Hitches, Alexis Locke Browne, Iona Ellwood and Ellie Knighton.’

Key dates

Monday 17th June – Year 12 UCAS event at University of Bedfordshire
Friday 21st June – Year 10 Battlefields Trip
Tuesday 25th Jue Elliott Richardson Dance Workshop
Friday 28th June Year 10 Rewards Trip

Best wishes for the week ahead.

Simon Anderson