Dear Parents, Guardians and Friends,
It certainly feels a lot quieter around the school as I write this from my office in the sixth form centre, as we said farewell to Year 13 and Year 11 last week to start their public exams.
Year 11 had their final day last Thursday and I can safely say that their shirt designs get more creative year on year. Shirts were bejewelled and personalised with their names as well as being full of signatures from friends and teachers. They were so full it was hard to find a place to sign!
There was also an ice cream van at lunch whilst students said goodbye to each other, as well as their teachers. During lunchtime there were many cards and gifts of thanks exchanged. There were also many breakouts of spontaneous singing mostly centred around ABBA’s greatest hits. Thank you to Mrs Herron for leading Year 11 as their head of year throughout their time at The Holt.
I’m sure all of Year 11 are looking forward to their prom coming up after their exams, best of luck to them all. We also look forward to seeing them on the Year 11 into 12 induction day on the 4th July and in the sixth form in September!
Year 13 impressed us with their range of fancy dress for their final day on Friday. It was an eclectic mix of minions, women in black, toy story and hula girls to name a few. Year 13’s final lessons that day were focused on last minute revision and top tips, alongside cakes and treats from their teachers. Their last day ended with their leavers’ assembly led by Scooby and the gang aka the sixth form team. There were awards such as “most likely to be prime minster” and “most likely to win the Nobel prize for science” as voted by the year group. Mrs Thomas and I were honoured and very surprised to be nominated as a duo for “most likely to be in the west end!”
We wish Year 13 all the best in their upcoming exams and their future destinations at university, completing an apprenticeship or in the world of work.
We have also had some awards of a different kind with the results of the UKMT (UK maths challenge) being announced. Well done to every student who took part in Year 7 and 8. In total 70 students achieved bronze, 48 achieved silver and 10 achieved gold. Five students will now go onto the next round of the ‘Junior Kangaroo’, and Chloe in Year 8 has qualified for the ‘Junior Olympiad’. Best of luck to all of our students competing in the next rounds!
And finally, on Saturday sixteen Year 9 students competed in the regional final of the Magistrates’ Mock Trial Competition at Reading Crown Court.
Mrs Harris who has led the team said:
“Students had been preparing the prosecution and defence sides of their case of “The Crown against Ari Roberts” since just before Easter. The case was that of a university art student, Ari Roberts, who had been accused of vandalising an energy company building by graffitiing “Planet over Profit”. The team performed splendidly with powerful speeches and tough cross examinations from our lawyers, commanding performances from our usher and legal advisor, witnesses who knew their statements inside out and stood up to tricky questioning, and magistrates who presided fairly over the whole case.
Although it wasn’t a win for the team, we are incredibly proud of their performance and the weeks of preparation that they have put into the event. A big well done to Emmbrook and Wycombe High who came first and second respectively”
Thank you to Ms Harris, Mrs Priddy and Mr Ransom for the support and time you have given to make this possible.
With one a week and a half to go of this half term, let’s hope this glorious weather is here to stay!
Emma Ward
Head of Sixth Form
Assistant Headteacher