Headteacher's Bulletin

Dear Parents & Carers,

What a glorious start to the Bank Holiday weekend - despite the weather forecast let's all pray it stays this way for the whole weekend! As ever we have been busy, busy busy, with students balancing exams alongside our usual range of enriching opportunities.

Congratulations to our GCSE Art students who completed their practical exam across Monday and Tuesday. It was so impressive to see the level of concentration, creativity, commitment and the quality of their work. These will be our best Art results ever - well done Year 11 you have really shone! Also, a huge well done to our French, German & community languages students who all completed their speaking exam - often the most challenging part of the entire exam. You have all managed the nerves and shown what you are really capable of and we are equally proud of you all too.

We have also had several excellent trips this week. Year 10 and 11 Drama students travelled to Guildford to see Noughts and Crosses, while another group attended a performance of Witness for the Prosecution at London County Hall, both offering valuable insight into live theatre and supporting their studies. Our GCSE PE students also visited Promise Academy for a taster day, gaining further experience and exposure to sporting pathways beyond school.

Students also took part in the Junior UKMT Maths Challenge this week, demonstrating their problem-solving skills and resilience when tackling some very challenging questions.

As we head into the long weekend, a reminder that school will be closed on Monday for the May Bank Holiday. We hope all families enjoy the extended weekend and we look forward to welcoming students back refreshed for the week ahead.

Each Monday morning in tutor time, students and their form tutors review the weekly student bulletin. This is a round up of all the important information, notices and reminders that they need to know. The bulletin is also posted on the screens around school so they can refer back to it at any time.

A reminder to all Year 8 parents and carers that Parents’ Evening will take place on Thursday 7 May.

This is a really important opportunity to meet with teachers, discuss your child’s progress and gain valuable insight into how they are preparing for the next stage of their learning.

Your support makes a significant difference, and attending Parents’ Evening is a key way to help your child stay on track, feel encouraged and achieve their full potential. We strongly encourage all families to attend and be part of these important conversations.

Following recent pupil feedback gathered through a social media survey, a local parent and carer event is being held to gather views on how to best keep children safe online. This forms part of the ongoing Government consultation into online safety.

Parents and carers of both primary and secondary students are invited to attend and share their perspectives. Feedback from this event will contribute to the formal response to the consultation.

Event Details:

• Date: Monday 11 May
• Time: 6:45pm – 8:45pm
• Location: Twickenham (venue shared upon registration)
• Registration: Places must be booked in advance via the registration form below

We encourage any interested parents and carers to take part in this important discussion.

Every year councils have to report on childcare in their area to ensure they are meeting the needs of families and their children. In Kingston and Richmond the Childcare Sufficiency Assessment report is produced by Achieving for Children, who provide children’s services for Kingston and Richmond councils.

To build a clear picture of childcare (for both early years and School age children) across our area, and how well it meets the needs of local families, we are asking parents and carers who either currently use childcare or need to use childcare to complete our Parents and Family Childcare Survey - this survey is anonymous.

Your feedback will help us understand what is working well, identify any gaps and inform how we can better support families and develop local childcare provision.

Parents and carers: please spend time completing this annual survey and share your views and childcare needs - your contribution is extremely valuable and we hope to receive a wide range of responses representing the needs of all families.

The survey outcomes will be included in our annual Childcare Sufficiency Assessments which are published each Autumn and also shared with the Department of Education. You can view our last year's report below

A huge well done to the following Year 10 and 11 students for their success in the follow-up UKMT Maths Challenge rounds!

Pink Kangaroo:

Vedagya (Y11) – GOLD

Luca (Y10) – BRONZE

Mikeighla (Y11) – BRONZE

Cleatus (Y11) - QUALIFICATION

Hamilton Mathematical Olympiad:

Yan (Y10) - DISTINCTION

We kindly ask all parents and carers to ensure that students come to school each day with a water bottle. It should be a standard part of every school bag, particularly as the weather becomes warmer and especially on days when students have PE.

We understand this can sometimes be forgotten, but it is really important.

Staying hydrated is essential for students’ health, wellbeing, and ability to participate fully in school life. Thank you for your support in helping us keep all students safe and well.

We would like to remind all families about the importance of bike safety, following a recent incident where one of our students was involved in a collision with a car while cycling. Thankfully, the student will be okay, but it has understandably been a shock.

This incident highlights just how important it is for students to wear a helmet every time they ride a bike. Helmets significantly reduce the risk of serious head injury and are a simple but vital way to stay safe.

Helmets are widely available and can cost as little as £10, making them an accessible and essential piece of equipment. We strongly encourage all parents and carers to ensure their child has a helmet and wears it whenever cycling to and from school.

Thank you for helping us keep our students safe.

Our U15 Boys and Girls cricket teams have both progressed to the 2nd round of the Knights-Stokes Cups following impressive victories this week. Standout performances included:

• Lily Mitchell (Player of the Match): Scored an unbeaten 27 before retiring.
• Abdurrehman Ghaswala (Player of the Match): Scored 30 runs and achieved the incredible feat of taking 4 wickets in a single over.

Additionally, our Year 7/8 Girls team secured a hard-fought 4-run victory over Turing House in the Borough League.

Good luck to our teams competing in the following matches next week:

Thursday 7 May

Fourteen of our Year 10 GCSE PE students visited the Promise Academy in Bedfont for a post-16 taster day. The cohort engaged in a comprehensive schedule designed to mirror the elite sport curriculum, including:

• A high-intensity fitness session.
• Sport-specific coaching drills.
• A formal classroom-based theory lesson

Thursday 7 May - Year 8 Parents Evening

Thursday 7 May - GCSE Exams begin

Friday 15 May - Twickenham's Got Talent

Monday 25 - Friday 29 May - May Half term

Monday 1 June - Year 10 Mock Exams

Monday 8 June - Year 10 Work Experience Week

Wishing you a wonderful weekend.

Jonathon Lisseman

Headteacher

Twickenham School

Percy Road

Twickenham

TW2 6JW

0208 894 4503