Dear parents and carers

We have had a great week, and it has been a fitting end to Year 11s journey through Wollaston as they had their leavers’ assembly on Thursday afternoon. A huge thank you to all students in Year 11 who have been amazing all the way through the exam season and I wish them well for the final week of exams. We are incredibly proud of them and are excited to see what their next adventures will bring for them.

On the theme of exams, we also had a visit this week form the JCQ who visited us on Wednesday and checked our administration of public examinations and I am delighted to share with you that we received a very positive report for this area of our practice and I must thank our exams team, invigilators and of course our amazing Year 11 and Year 13 students for their professionalism and conduct during this important part of the school year.

I must also mention that we have had some concerns raised about parking during the pickup period in the afternoon, along Irchester Road, where it appears that some residents’ drives have been blocked. If I could please ask that all families picking up children in the afternoon do so with due consideration for our local residents.

Mark Wade Day 2024

Next Tuesday we shall remember Mr Mark Wade, a much respected and cherished member of our humanities team who sadly passed away in June of 2020. Mark, who had such a positive impact not only on staff but on the many children that he taught in his time at Wollaston, is remembered each year with the wearing of crazy ties and doing random and spontaneous act of kindness. A fitting tribute to a man who embodied our school values. We therefore invite all students to wear a crazy tie on Tuesday 11th June in memory of Mark. Sixth formers will also be on the gates in the morning with buckets where we will be accepting cash donations for the Northampton Food Bank, a charity close to the heart of Mark’s family.

Year 11 Leavers

Head of Year 11, Mr Jackson writes: ‘I would like to take the opportunity to share with you how brilliant the Leavers celebrations were yesterday. All students were behaved impeccably and there was a hive of activity. It was a magnificent sight, seeing so many students sharing memories, photos and signing shirts together.

The assembly which followed the shirt signing was a perfect end to the day with students able to reminisce on their time here at Wollaston School. To all Year 11 parents may I take this opportunity to thank you for the way in which you have supported, guided and motivated your children over the past 5 years. As a head of year, I have been extremely privileged to have such an amazing cohort of students and I have no doubts that it is down to your hard work as parents.’

PE Updates

Mr Roberts writes: “The KS3 Sports leaders form Wollaston school were made up of 17 ex-pupils from Yardley Hastings Primary school. They went back to their old primary school to help run activities for the pupils of Yardley Hastings Primary. It was nice for the leaders to see their old teachers and friends. They helped run and score ten multi skills activities for pupils in KS1 & KS2. The leaders supported staff in handing out stickers to the pupils as they completed the running races. The Mrs Brown (The Head Teacher of Yardley Hastings), parents and the teachers were most grateful for the help and supports the sports leaders offered he younger primary school pupils during the sports day.

Wollaston School sports leaders KS3 pupils also went to Denton Primary school to help run the sports day on the morning of June 6th. The leaders were all ex- Denton primary pupils who had volunteered to help support their old primary school. It was lovely for teachers at Denton to see the Wollaston pupils they taught and see how they have matured. The leaders help run a series of multi skills activities for KS1 & KS2 pupils. This was followed by a throwing and jumping events. Finally, the leaders helped organise the running races, giving out stickers to the runners. Thank you so much for your support today. A parent said, “ The Young Leaders were fantastic as always”. The Denton deputy head teacher commented: “The children had a fabulous day, made so much easier by the support of the young leaders”.

STEM Update

Head of Science, Mr Pugh writes: “Before Half Term, 28 Year 8 students took part in the Farraday Challenge which is run by the Institute of Engineering and Technology (IET). This is an annual competition that is run across the country and involves hundreds of secondary schools.
This year the challenge was being sponsored by the National Highways Agency with the task to design something that would make our roads safer. As part of the challenge students had to work in teams to evaluate different problems that our roads currently have and what technology could be used to solve them. Next, they had to design something that could be added to roads and then build it using the equipment available. Finally, they had to present their product to the whole group and the independent STEM ambassador (Cassie Wiles) who scored each group.

The winning group on the day were awarded a trophy and had their score entered into the national competition. I am delighted to say that our winning team achieved a score that placed them in the top 50 schools nationally. The winning team was Maia Godby, Ella Barrett, Rebecca Harris, Livvy Cebula and Abigail Griyaitis. Congratulations to all the students who took part and we are looking forward to running the challenge again next year when our current Year 7s move into Year 8.”

Key Dates

Saturday 8th June – Wollaston Dancers performing at Wembley- good luck to them all!
Tuesday 11th June – Remembering Mark Wade Day: crazy tie, random acts of kindness.
Wednesday 12th June – Theatre trip to London (KS4 and 5)
Monday 17th June – Year 12 UCAS event at University of Bedfordshire
Friday 21st June – Year 10 Battlefields Trip

Best wishes for the week ahead.

Simon Anderson