Newsletters

SWA E-Newsletter #146

E-NEWSLETTER  •  ISSUE 146

A Message from Principal, Mr Martin

The last few weeks have certainly reminded us all of not taking anything for granted in life and the events in Ukraine are a stark reminder of the importance of the things we hold dear, such as family, liberty and caring for one another. Thank you to everyone who has made a donation to the Red Cross Ukraine Appeal via ParentMail. By last Friday we have received £2600 in donations. Acts of compassion, such as these, truly reflect the generosity of spirit in our community and I couldn’t be prouder.

The Year 11 mocks have come to an end and it’s now the turn of Year 13. The behaviour in the exams has been exemplary and students have taken full advantage of sitting their mock exams under exam conditions. The mocks are all planned well in advance, but this year many departments chose to make changes to the mocks at the last minute to try and take full advantage of the recent government guidance on the content of the summer exams. This unfortunately led to a few uncharacteristic errors in the mock papers and we thank you for your understanding and patience.

This week our students will be performing in The Spring Music concert and Dance Festival, 23rd and 24th March respectively. It is fantastic to be hosting these events once again. Tickets can be purchased here. I very much look forward to watching our talented students and wish them the best of luck.

Dr Hood and I presented a session on Wednesday on change management to Head Teachers of schools in military bases from all around the world, including: Cyprus, Germany and the Falkland Islands. It was great to talk with colleagues doing an amazing job in very stressful times and they were full of praise for the ideas we shared with them during the session.

We have had another amazing few weeks for sport. The incredible national cup run in football this year has sadly come to an end, with six teams reaching the last 32,16, 8 or 4. The 1st XI narrowly missing out on a national cup final. This week it was the turn of rugby 7s, with several teams coming away with silverware. We are now also county champions in basketball, please see below for more details.

Messages From Heads of Year 

 

Year 10, Mr P Johnson

 

Last week you would have received your child’s progress report which details their predicted and working grades, along with their attitude to learning and independent learning grades. These are key markers to identify subjects where your child is excelling or ones where amendments need to be made to ensure full progress. I recorded a video explaining the different parts of the report for our last report cycle in December – to view again please click here.

By the time of reading this, the Year 10 Parents Review Evening (PRE) will have taken place and hopefully constructive conversations have been had with subject teachers following the report with strategies identified to help improve your child’s progress. If there are any concerns or follow up conversations that need to be had, please speak to your child’s form tutor or subject teacher in the first instance.

Thank you for your ongoing support.

Year 12, Mr C Tonking

 

We took 125 Year 12 students to London Excel Centre for the UCAS study exhibition on Tuesday. The event gave students the opportunity to learn about potential next steps with hundreds of universities, colleges and apprenticeships having stalls there. The Sixth Form team were pleased with the attitude and behaviour of the cohort and we hope they found the day rewarding. It is important that our student engage with all the events and opportunities that are available over the next few months, so they can be fully informed of future options. We would support students visiting universities for open days, and if University is not their route, there will be some apprenticeship opportunities too. We will run workshops in Year 13 for apprenticeships and the work place, but please also encourage students to book a school careers appointment in the meantime. Our next predict has just been released and parents should be able to access this on their emails.

Please look to book an online parents evening slot for each subject for Thursday 31st March when the dates are made available.

 

ECO COMMITTEE

This week, the Eco Committee visited the forest of Marston Vale to plant trees. Despite the heavy rain, the students were happy to be out planting trees which will hopefully contribute to their green flag.

The committee is also excited to announce the Eco Fashion show which will be held on the 22nd of April.

DANCE SHOWCASE

Click here to purchase your tickets.

SPRING MUSIC CONCERT

Click here to purchase your tickets.

DANCE TRIP TO MOVE IT!

Last Friday the Dance department took a group of students to the UK’s biggest dance event ‘Move It!’ in London’s Excel Centre. The students took part in dance workshops with professionals from all styles of dance. They watched performances from all the top UK performing arts and dance training colleges on the main stage and perused the stalls of these colleges to find out about courses they offer for their futures.

We have been to ‘Move It!’ many times but never have we had students performing there and this year we had three students perform on the stage with their dance schools which was amazing. Ex-student Eve performed in a musical theatre piece with her Sixth Form college Art1. It was amazing to see how much Eve has blossomed as a performer; her confidence and technique was fantastic.

We also had two Year 9 students perform with their dance schools; Bella and Caitlin. Such a fantastic performance from both girls and an amazing experience for all students – they were certainly all danced out on the way home!

UKRAINE FUNDRAISER

Yesterday, provision students ran a cake sale to raise funds for the Samuel Whitbread Ukrainian appeal. They raised £106, 

EASTER ACTIVITIES

Central Bedfordshire Council are running a variety of activities over Easter half term, to book or read more please click here.

MODERN FOREIGN LANGUAGE 

Learning modern foreign languages like French, Spanish or German has always been perceived as difficult and hard by students. They are truly challenging subjects, yet such a rewarding skill that allow young, as well as adults, to gain awareness of the world around them. Beyond the classroom, a language allows people to practice problem solving skills, strengthen their own mother tongue and communication skills. Studies show that people who can speak more than one language have more empathy because they are trying to understand other viewpoints and experiences. This is what we are doing in the classroom and we have talented linguists who go into further studies at university, then doing a year abroad because they are so keen to learn from each other.

We ask our students not to be afraid to consider languages as an option for GCSE and A-Level and discuss career options with their language teachers.

CHUMS PSYCHOEDUCATION WORKSHOP

CHUMS is offering virtual psychoeducation workshops over the Spring and Summer terms to families in Bedfordshire and Luton. These workshops are designed as a starting point for families with children who have low level difficulties and may not have accessed support from mental health services. Please note that spaces for workshops are limited and allocated on a first-come, first served basis. If families wish to attend any workshops, they need to complete the attached registration form and return it to fwteam@chums.uk.com along with the date they wish to attend.

Full list of Workshops: Click here

Registration form: Click here

CENTRAL BEDFORSHIRE CANNABIS EDIBLES PRESENTATION

Central Bedfordshire Council has organised an informal information session for parents and professionals to come along and find out more about what edibles are, what the risks are, and some harm minimisation advise. They will provide you with some useful information and a chance to ask any questions you may have. Aquarius, the local drug and alcohol service for young people will be facilitating this session and will be on hand to answer your questions.

To book please click here.

17 Mar 2022
HAART INTERNATIONAL DEBATE COMPETITION
This month Samuel Whitbread Academy entered three teams into the Haart International Debate competition. In this competition, school students from around the globe have been debating contentious topics from the values of online learning to the importance of freedom of speech. In the first round, all...
Read more

GIRLS' BASKETBALL COUNT CHAMPIONS

The U14 girls started off their County Cup finals against a very strong Lealands squad. A back and forth game eventually ended in a 6-point victory to Samuel Whitbread! Final score 16-10, Most Valuable Player (MVP) went to Lily. Onto the second game and the girls faced Cardinal Newman who were very resilient in defence. After a great run in the second half, we eventually ended up grabbing the second victory of the day with a nail biting 1-point victory to secure gold medals! MPV for game two goes to India. The finals MVP goes to Lily for her amazing play throughout both games.

The U16 girls went into their County Finals facing three teams in the tournament. A positive first game against Denbigh gave the girls a flying start, 25-2 victory and MVP went to Georgia. The second game was the toughest game of the day, against a well drilled Lincroft team. Both teams battled it out through the 28 minutes of play however, a last-minute flurry of brilliance from the girls saw us come from three points down to win by one! Final score 16-15, MVP awarded to Evelyn. The final game of the day then came against Van Dyke. Our winning streak continued with a 38-2 victory and the second set of gold medals for the day! MVP went to Freya and Lily. The finals MVP goes to Lydia for her calm and calculated play in all three games.

Another incredible day for Whitbread sport with all the girls doing the school proud!

SAINTS COMMUNITY RUGBY

This Easter holidays, Northampton Saints community is coming to Samuel Whitbread to run a rugby camp. This is a fantastic opportunity for aspiring rugby players to experience professional training and develop their skills.

To book please click here.

U18S RUGBY 7s

This week our U18s Rugby 7s team travelled to Leicestershire to compete in the Leicester Grammar School Sport rugby sevens tournament. To start of the event the team played against Warwick and won 12-7, tries from Ben and Will. Next game against Kings School Grantham ended in another a win for Whitbread, 21-15, tries from Ben, Max and Jody. In the third game of the day, the boys played King Edward school and won 73-0, tries from Sam, Will, Jody, Ben, Jacob, Jack and Jacob. In the final, Whitbread were up against Oakham, a strong performance from both sides but Whitbread walked away undefeated winning 43-21 and crowned winners.

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Samuel Whitbread Academy E-Newsletter
 
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