On Wednesday 4^th May we threw open our doors for our third Parent/ Carer Support Workshop. Following on from our session for KS4 parents, we welcomed parents of KS3 pupils as we explored how to “Help Your Child Revise” and support them in their secondary education. 

The educational layout has changed drastically over the years and parents were able to reflect on how different it was during their time at school. In the modern workplace with competition being what it is, preparing for the end goals has never been more important. With that in mind we were able to consider what support your children receive in school, some top strategies you can help them with at home and consider how to eliminate the barriers that they may face. 

Additionally our core subject leads were on hand to provide advice on how best to support those subject specifically, with tips, website and guidance that will defiantly help in preparing your children for any future assessments. 

Mr Bowley was overjoyed once more at the support from Etone’s Friends “As always it is great to see the friends of Etone showing their support and working together with the staff and their children to get the best possible outcomes for their education. I think it is a real strength of Etone parents that they support us in everything we do.” 

From parents who have joined us this year as their child transitions to Secondary school in Year 7 to those who are starting the GCSE journey with us in Year 9, it was wonderful to get a chance to join in supporting our pupils with their subjects. 

With that we are looking forward to our next Parent Carer Support Workshop on: Supporting with Careers and Learning for Life on Wednesday 15^thJune. If you would like to attend please contact the school. 

All materials for the KS3 revision session and all previous sessions are available here: https://www.etonecollege.co.uk/parent-carer-support-workshops/ 

We at Etone are always proud to hear of our pupils accomplishments with their hobbies. So it was extremely joyous to hear about the recent success our very own Evie Hands in Year 10 has had in swimming recently.

Evie has always been a strong swimmer and has shown resilience and initiative in her drive to achieve swimming greatness. Last week Evie took part in the West Midlands Swimming Championship and took home the gold for her 1500m effort with an amazing time of 18.37.31, nearly 8 seconds ahead of second place.

Despite being in second place after to 50m mark Evie was able to show us all what she was made off as she stormed to the head of the pack by 100m and maintained this throughout the rest of the race. After the astonishing achievement Evie was overwhelmed “I can’t believe it, I am so happy and want to thank everyone who has helped me out.”

Following on from this Evie will continue to take part in swimming competitions across the country and improve her personal bests time after time. What an example of an Etone Learner!

We look forward to seeing you in a future Olympics!

Last term we challenged our pupils to attend as many of our extracurricular clubs as possible. With some amazing offerings such as Journalism Club, History through Film and Trading Club pupils are really spoilt for choice. In order to encourage our pupils to try out new clubs and make the most of their opportunities at Etone we introduced the Etone Clubcard.

By attending 5 clubs pupils received 5 House Points and by attending 10 clubs over the course of the term pupils receive an additional 5 House Points and an entry into a prize draw. With the challenge set pupils were more than enthusiastic about attending their old favourites or trying something new. With pupils from all houses, year groups and interests joining in on the fun and the seizing the chance to be declared a winner in the first assembly back.

Mr Hodgson, lead for extracurricular was thrilled with the results and had this to say “We have always offered the best for our pupils, from the Cadet Force to the Duke of Edinburgh. It has been just fantastic to see the new clubs this year such as Warhammer, Music Jam along with returning clubs such as the Choir and Food Club. The take up for the Clubcard has also been very impressive. We can’t wait to see you all this term.”

So far the year group with the highest attendance to clubs has been… Year 11 with over 900 visits in the space of the term.

The following pupils were the luck winners of the voucher this term for attending 10 or more clubs:

Year 7 – Diya and Sayn

Year 8 – Callum and Troy

Year 9 – Lauren and Isabella

Year 10 – Sebastian and Carolina

We will be running the Clubcard scheme again over this term so make sure you attend as many as possible for your chance to win!

At Etone College we are committed to helping pupils achieve their full potential and ensuring progress of pupils in all that we do. In light of this on the 30^th March, twelve Year 10 pupils were fortunate enough to have the opportunity to participate in the University of Birmingham’s yearly Big Biology quiz. The quiz took place in the beautiful Great Hall of the Aston Webb building and our pupils were really in awe of the elaborate architecture of the ceiling!

The Big Biology Quiz is part of the RAISE programme run by University of Birmingham, where the program aims to raise aspirations and achievements in secondary school aged pupils. The day was momentous in light of past restrictions due to Covid 19; it was wonderful seeing so many pupils from various schools from across the region, gathering in one place to participate in sharing their love of science.

Our twelve pupils took part in six multiple choice quiz rounds throughout the day. Each round focused on a different area of the biology curriculum and challenged them with an array of questions. The topics ranged from adaptations of camels to mind controlling fungi.  Overall, our pupils did well on the one specialist round on “Cancer, causes and cures” where pupils were able to demonstrate their love of learning and eagerness to engage in topics, which hold future career interests for them.

The day was highlighted by a keynote lecture by Professor Jeremy Pritchard, where he talked about the ground-breaking research the university are conducting into the effects of elevated  co₂ on an oak tree forest in the midlands.The lecture was inspiring for any future biologist and embodied the kind of research that our pupils might conduct as scientists of the future.  

The day concluded with a prize giving ceremony where the winning team received a trophy and although this year our pupils did not win, they received a certificate for their participation.  Our pupils demonstrated the core of our key values and skills such as self-belief and resilience and they continually showed moral support for their following competitors, made friends with pupils from other Schools, and cheered them on when they won. Our pupils showed how they are a real asset to the school and their community.

Overall, it was a delight to see their success and engagement on the day.  

The Etone Press Corps in Association with Journalism Club

As part of our amazing Extra Curricular offering at Etone College we host a variety of clubs. One of our most popular is the Journalism Club run by Miss Darling. Throughout their meetings they consider what makes a good journalist and write articles on various topics. This term so far we have had book reviews, pieces on the impacts we are having on the environment and reports on the activities of the day.

As the club has grown we have also created a brand new position of Roaming Reporter. These pupils are selected to be a part of our very own Etone Press Corps, carrying out assignments and writing articles for our newsletter, social media and website.

The first assignment our reporters were set on the trail of was to discover what exciting clubs we have to offer at Etone. Of course with the most obvious choice being the Journalism Club, they were tasked to trial a new club and report back their findings. Although there will be more to come please read the first entries from our reporters; Mirabel, Nabiha and Madiha in Year 8.

Last week was Wellbeing Week when the whole school community focused on their wellbeing.  Each day had a different focus so with some top tips for managing wellbeing:

Monday – pupils were encouraged to take up a new hobby or skill and try out one of our extra-curricular clubs (insert link to video) – click on the link to find out what is on offer.

Tuesday  – we focused on the importance of connecting with others and were delighted to see the biggest turn out yet at our after school wellbeing drop in.  It was lovely to see staff come together for a Time to Talk event to share a cup of tea and a drink after a busy day.

Wednesday – was all about trying to be mindful and stay in the present.

Thursday – this was the day when we focused on Giving to Others.  It was lovely to see pupils and staff carrying out random acts of kindness during the day.

Friday – we taught pupils about the link between physical activity and mental wellbeing. Year 7 and 8 pupils were the first year groups to have a go at Just Dance at break in the Hall – this proved to be popular so more sessions to follow!

As part of our Wellbeing Week, we were delighted to welcome Loudmouth Theatre group to work with our Year 7 pupils. They watched a production and took part in workshops where they showed a really good awareness of the signs of poor mental health and came up with some great advice for people to look after their wellbeing. Follow the link to find out more.

Next month we will be recognising Stress Awareness and each month we focus on a different whole school event. To find out more, click on our mental wellbeing calendar.

The Attendance matters competition ran for two weeks at the beginning of March, it was launched prior to this in house Assemblies. The aim of the challenge was to work as a form group and achieve the highest attendance across the school over the fortnight. Mrs Price would like to congratulate 7P1 who won in a very close race against 7P2 in second and 9P1 in third.

All students won sweets, 7P1 also have won a break time snack and one lucky person from 7P1 will win an Echo Show!! Although it has been a pleasure to see the form groups and Houses encouraging each other across the challenge we continue to strive for excellent attendance each and every day. Please continue to encourage excellent attendance to school and follow the link to our attendance matters leaflet for more information about how you can support.

On Monday 21^st March our Year 7 pupils enjoyed a visit from Loudmouth Education and Training. The company has delivered Personal, Social and Health Education (PSHE) sessions since 1994 and has reached over 600,000 children, young people, professionals and parents through the medium of theatre.

Pupils took part in their Talking Heads mental wellbeing programme which looks at the dangers surrounding social media, body image and ways to look after your wellbeing.

Pupils were first treated to a performance form their talented workshop leads who, through their clever storytelling, shared the experiences of pupils their age going through some difficult times regarding wellbeing and the potential danger it leads to such as mental ill health (e.g. anxiety and depression) and the potential causes such as social media.

Following on each form completed a workshop considering how we can avoid the dangers and learning strategies for positive mental wellbeing including the benefits of physical exercise, time outdoors, community participation and voluntary and service-based activities on mental wellbeing and happiness and being connected to others.

The Year 7’s really enjoyed their sessions and the feedback from the pupils has been overwhelming. It has also been a fantastic way to kick of our Wellbeing Week where we are focusing on keeping a positive mental health and looking after our wellbeing through form time sessions, after school clubs and events such as Loudmouth. Across the week pupils will be visiting a different strategy each day to help with their wellbeing. Monday’s top tip is to learn something new each day and cherish the opportunity to learn. Why not have a go at a new skills this week and learn to play the piano, dribble a football or perhaps bake a cake?