Exploring the horse racing industry

Last Friday, Ms Baatjies and I took a group of Year 9 and 10 students to visit the British Racing School in Newmarket. We had a brilliant day understanding the horse racing industry. Students were given a tour of the yard and had the opportunity to groom and ride the horses as well as to experience a mechanical simulator. We were inspired by the story of Khadijah Mellah, a young woman from Sydenham who competed as a jockey. By the end of the day, Marques had overcome his fear of horses and Anna was declared the horse whisperer amongst us.

World Poetry Day

To celebrate World Poetry day, assemblies focused on a famous poem by W H Auden and understood the link between poetry and paintings. The Big Speech competition semi final took place for Years 7 to 9 on Thursday. This year the 'Big House Competition' theme is ‘Be The Change’. Inspired by Gandhi’s famous quote, this theme empowers us to think about how we can make a difference in our community or even the world! Next Tuesday our finalists will perform their speeches to a whole year group in the theatre, with the winner winning over 100 points for their house. In our careers lessons this week, Year 7 explored how a career can be defined and looked at various activities that form part of a career journey. Year 8 reflected on the rewards and challenges of being a student or being in employment. Year 9 listened to a webinar on how to make good GCSE option choices while Year 10 learnt how to write a CV. Mr Mathys will be sending our mid-year careers update to all families next week.

Football

On Monday, Year 7 beat Ark Blake 6-1. With a hat trick from Trey, two from Evan and one from Sol, we remain undefeated this season and are aiming for the league title. We face a difficult challenge next week against our local rivals, Shirley High.

Year 11 bow out of Croydon Cup

Our Year 11s have remained unbeaten in three years but faced a very strong Riddlesdown team in the quarter finals. Although we lost, the boys can hold their heads high. I am incredibly proud of the group and each name deserves a honourable mention for their contribution over the years: Joe, Rae, Ryan, Mahmood, Archie, Kai, Jovonte, Ahmed, Makai, Lucas, Isitha, Charlie, Jude, Doton, Denzel, and Riley.

Notices

A reminder that Friday 28th March is an Inset day: the school will be closed to all pupils. Year 8 parents’ evening is on Thursday 27 March at 4pm. The last day of term is Friday 4 April.

Ms C Moran Headteacher