Dear Parents, Guardians and Friends,
I hope you all had a wonderful Platinum Jubilee long weekend. Whether you were watching the celebrations, enjoying a street party or taking the opportunity to put your feel up and relax, I am sure we all agree the four-day extended weekend was a treat!
The celebrations at The Holt continued for the staff, our staffroom committee organised a wonderful gathering for teachers and support staff to come together and enjoy some home baked delights. The staffroom committee organise some lovely events throughout the calendar, we are grateful for the work they do to support the wellbeing of our staff team.
Looking back to before the half term break, the English department delivered a very successful Masterclass on the topic of ‘banned books.’
Students were taught about the history of banned books and encouraged to reflect on the reasoning behind this. Students were then given the opportunity to debate if they ever felt that this was justifiable. Encourage your daughter/ son to keep an eye out for future masterclasses!
Our Year 11 and Year 13 students are now continuing with their public exams. We know many of them will have spent the Platinum Jubilee weekend revising, but can look forward to a long summer holidays to rest and celebrate the end of the exam season.
I would also like to wish our Key Stage 3 students good luck, their assessment fortnight commenced yesterday. These assessments are a great opportunity for students to learn important study skills to ensure they feel prepared for future public exams. We encourage students to experiment with different revision techniques to find out what works for them. The resources below might be useful if your daughter/ son is struggling to develop a revision style:
Revision techniques from BBC Bitesize – BBC Bitesize
Revision & Exam Tips | Mental Health | YoungMinds
At the end of assessment fortnight, our Key Stage Three students are looking forward to our first ever activities week. Many of our Year 8 and Year 9 students are off to Bushcraft – we want our students to have the opportunity to make memories with their friends and enjoy the great outdoors. Camping may be a little out of some of their comfort zones, but we are hopeful that the opportunity will help to develop resilience and the pride that we all feel when we take on and accomplish new challenges.
Year 7 will be having lots of fun at Chessington World of Adventures. As I get older, I am no longer brave enough to ride the ‘Croc Drop’ or ‘Dragon’s Fury’, but I am sure the students will have an exciting time.
Students who are not attending the above trips will be taking part in a range of creative activities in school.
We will share an update on our Key Stage 3 Adventures in a few weeks!
Looking ahead, we have started planning for The Holt Sports Fest. This is one of my favourite events of the school year. Plans are in place for live music, a DJ and even a colour run. Students will hear more about this in the coming weeks.
Vicki Martin
Assistant Headteacher