This week, we continue to be overwhelmed by the kindness of Holt friends and the local community as well as strangers, offering their condolences and paying tribute to James and his contribution not only to our school, but to teaching in general.
James’ family came into school last week to have a look around his classroom and meet his colleagues. They were so moved by all the flowers and tributes that had been left and were appreciative of the book of condolence that Mrs Schotting made using all the messages written by students and staff.
Mrs Kennedy and I were honoured to be invited to the live part of the “virtual” vigil in Reading on Saturday, where we lit a candle on behalf of The Holt to mark a week since the tragic event. The service was really moving.
Reading Borough Council have arranged, with the family’s blessing, for the flowers outside our school to be collected soon and put together with the tributes in Forbury Gardens. They will be mulched and used to form part of the memorial that will be created in the park.
Mrs Smith and Mr Adams are working with a number of staff and student representatives to plan a fitting memorial of our own and we will keep you updated on the progress of this. The end of term assembly via Teams will be led by the student leadership team and will also be in memory of Mr Furlong.
Yesterday marked 100 days of lockdown….23rd March seems a long time ago and now we are fast approaching the end of term and so here are some important notices;
Text book return and locker emptying
A letter has been sent out earlier this week detailing the plans for all students to return their text books so they can be re-issued next term. Students are also able to empty their lockers so they can be deep cleaned over the summer. Please remind your daughter to bring her key! Any lockers un-opened by 15th July, will be opened by the site team who will have to dispose of the contents.
Key Stage Three
Please remember that all remote work will not necessarily be set at the scheduled lesson time. This is due to the small groups of students from Year 10 and Year 12 coming on site for some face to face lessons. As a result, teachers may need to set their Key Stage three work either the afternoon before or the morning of their lesson.
Key Stage Four and Five
Under normal circumstances, GCSE and A level exams would now have been over and our Year 11 and 13 would be planning their summer …..until results day……On that note, information regarding exam results days for these exam groups will follow shortly, along with information for our Year 11 students who are already or who are now planning to enroll in the sixth form.
All students
Mrs Williams and her Heads of House teams have been working very hard with their prefects and the students to keep the House competitions going…….
Here are the results of the first major “virtual” House event, which was called “Up and running”. Students had to log the number of kilometres they covered over a week in order to see which House walked/run the furthest.
I can reveal the winners are……
| Position | House | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | W | 1016.23km |
| 2nd | G | 765.7km |
| 3rd | T | 542.955km (420.74km) |
Come on Broderers, Clothworkers, Haberdashers, Lacemakers and Spinners!
There is still time to get some crucial House points, as Mrs Williams has agreed to extend the deadline for the cake competition to the end of the week!
The scores as at the end of this term will be revealed in the final assembly.
Lastly, tomorrow night we look forward to welcoming our new Year 7 parents for our annual welcome evening. This year, we are embracing the technology and going for our first ever “live event” using Teams to do it remotely. Wish us luck!
Katie Pearce
Co-Headteacher