Thursday 23^rd June was a bittersweet day here at Etone College. It saw the last day of the KS4 journey for our Year 11 pupils.

Starting back in September 2017 our cohort began their journey with us at Etone. Fresh faced and full of wonder for what secondary school had to offer they relished every minute of the day. So what was it like five years ago for our Year 11’s:

• We were busy celebrating the Queens Saphire Jubilee (Déjà vu anyone?)
• Teresa May had been Prime Minister for 1 year
• Ed Sheeran with “Shape of You” became the biggest selling single of the year
• Jamie Oliver enjoyed success with his best selling book 5 Ingredients: Quick and Easy Food
• Star Wars: The Last Jedi was the biggest movie of the year
• A litre of petrol cost £1.14 (Could we get a time machine)
• Donald Trump is sworn in as President of the USA
• Portugal win the Eurovision Song Contest

Throughout that journey we have gone through some interesting times together. The United Kingdom leaving the European Union, the shock that was the series finale of Game of Thrones, England very nearly bringing it home…twice!

Events both good and not so, we tackled them together and seemed to be making a great way towards their final destination in KS4. Of course the big interruption, the pandemic. Throughout this difficult time for so many reasons, our pupils found themselves in the unprecedented position of remote learning. Not at all an easy task for anyone our pupils had to show the resilience and problem solving skills that every Etone Learner is, luckily, equipped for.

Despite having such a drastic impact on their journey they have showed determination as this year our Year 11’s completed their exams, the first series sat in three years. They have handled the situation they have found themselves in with a maturity and professionalism that really makes us proud of each and every one of them.

Thursday marked their final exam, Science and with the clocking ticking the last second away it was time for the celebration to begin. With plenty of sweets and fizzy drinks, awards, speeches and of course the traditional poem from the Heads of House we bid a fond farewell to our Year 11 Leavers of 2022. Of course there tears and shirt signing as the Year’s took a reflective look back over their time at Etone. It is with a heavy heart we say goodbye and good luck. We will see you for results day on 25^th August 2022 and of course are looking forward to welcoming a large number of you back in September as we start your KS5 Journey together.

Year 8 Pupils arrived in Fulda. They had a morning learning about the history of the town. Follow us on Social Media for further updates.

The Turing Scheme is the UK government’s programme to provide funding for international opportunities in education and training across the world. It supports Global Britain by providing an opportunity for UK organisations from the higher education, further education, vocational education and training and schools sectors to offer their students, learners and pupils life-changing experiences to study or work abroad.

On Sunday 19^th June and Monday 20^th June,  a group of Year 8 and Year 9 pupils will be boarding planes to Spain and Germany as part of the Turing Scheme international exchanges.  

Across Matrix Academy Trust, 100 pupils will have the chance to take part in two projects: one to Fulda, Germany and one to Barcelona, Spain. This opportunity is fully funded by the Turing Scheme, the UK’s scheme to encourage young people to travel overseas as part of their education. 

The pupils are very excited about their travels – follow our school social channels to keep up-to-date with what they’re up to. 

The itineraries for both projects are below – as you can see, both trips will be an action-packed week with the chance for pupils to fully immerse themselves in everything Germany and Spain have to offer. 

On the 13^th, 14^th and 15^th of June Year 7, 8 and 9 took part respectively in the annual Army Day. Over the course of their day the pupils will had an opportunity to take part in activities that developed and promoted our eight Employability Skills and six Etone Values. From Teamwork in ‘Tank Building’ to Trustworthiness in ‘Assault Course’ pupils had the chance to work together and explore the different skills/ values along with careers in the Army.

Feedback from our pupils was overwhelmingly positive and all years felt the day really helped them. Neo expressed his enthusiasm “It was hard at times completing the challenges but I had a lot of fun and have really had a chance to work with my form group.” To summarise this our very own Etone Press Core have written their own reviews of some of the tasks they took part in:

Tank Building

In ‘Tank Building’ we had to follow a set of instructions to build a wooden tank in two teams. Once both teams had built their tanks, we worked as a team to put a driver in place and have them aim their foam balls at the other team in a race. Defiantly my favourite as I got the chance to use Communication and Teamwork.

Communication Tower

In ‘Communication Tower’ we had four ropes, a pole and a stand. We had to get the pole into a stand without making any equipment or ourselves enter a circle in the middle. This was a very challenging task but also extremely fun and gave us a chance to develop our Problem Solving skills.

Code Breaking

In ‘Code Breaking’ we had multiple tables to solve a code in order to send a secret message to a VIP. The scenario gave us an insight into how important codes are in real life and it was really exciting finding out the code which was “Etone College Cracked the Code!” We really had the opportunity to develop our Organisation and Numeracy skills.

Overall we were really pleased with the days and would like to thank the West Midlands Army outreach team for their hard work over the three days. Well done to all Year 7, 8 and 9 pupils for showing just how great Etone can be.

Following on from the information evening for our enrichment week residential to Normandy, here’s a copy of the details which were shared at the time. If you have any queries, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

FAQS

• Does my child need to be fully vaccinated to enter France?

Current French travel restrictions mean that all travellers aged 12 and over must be fully vaccinated (2 doses, the second of which must be at least 7 days before travel) or able to show proof of a negative test prior to departure. This can be either a PCR test or an antigen test, but it has to be verified by a medical practitioner (i.e. not the NHS self-testing kits). There are no restrictions in place for travellers under the age of 12.

• How will pupils be split into two groups?

Pupils will be allocated to a coach and a hotel based firstly on year groups, and then by friendship groups in the case of a larger year group. Pupils and parents/carers will be informed of which hotel they will be staying in prior to departure.

• Will my child get to choose who they share a room with?

The way we always allocate rooms is firstly by gender and year group based on the number and size of rooms we are given by the hotel. Friendship groups are taken into account as much as possible, and we will speak with your child about this if necessary.

• Will my child be unsupervised?

Where there is time on the itinerary for ‘free time’, this will be in a pre-agreed confined area (e.g. a town square), there will still be staff members present and one will always be at a pre-agreed meeting point. Pupils must always been in groups of at least three and all pupils will be given the number for a staff phone to contact us in case they get separated from the group at any point.

• Are there food vouchers for both outbound and inbound journeys?

Yes – all pupils will be given a voucher for a meal and a drink for both journeys.

Etone Football Education academy take the WBA Post 16 Tournament title!

A successful day for the Etone Football Education Academy saw them take the WBA Post 16 title during their first attempt at the Hawthorns. The tournament is where West Bromwich Albion hubs from around the area are represented by their teams and put to the test. The tournament is very competitive with all of the academies fielding their strongest teams. The competition was divided into two groups of 4 which was played at the WBA Academy, the group saw Etone win all 3 games going through as group winners and a spot in the semi-finals in the afternoon at the stadium. It was an honour to make it to the stadium as our team got the chance to feel what it would be like playing in a top of range football stadium.

The semi-final was a tight affair and a single goal was enough to seal a spot in the final against the current holders Sandwell Academy. The final was a real showcase of talent and after going a goal down the lads showed real character to equalise late on and also had a chance to win the game in the last seconds but a good save from the Sandwell keeper denied the outright win. The game went to penalties and Etone held their nerve taking the nail-biting shoot-out 5-4.

The lads in their first tournament invite thoroughly enjoyed the experience of playing on the first team pitch and in a professional all seater stadium and to win the competition is a massive achievement to how hard all the lads and coaches work on a daily basis. A real credit to the Etone Football education academy. We can’t wait to retain the title next year.

Thursday 27^th May marked National Than a Teacher Day. The initiative set up by the Teaching Awards Trust which was established in 1998 by Lord David Puttnam CBE, to celebrate and recognise excellence in education.

During the build up to the events pupils, parents and staff are invited to take part in a number of ways including competitions, thank you card and celebrity shout outs.

At Etone we know the value that teachers, assistants and support staff have on our young learners. The inspirational stories from great figures both historical and modern regarding the effect a good teacher has had on them, evidence how much of an impact we can have on their future lives.  

This week we have encouraged pupils to thank their teachers either by writing one of our own Etone Thank You Cards or filling out the online Thank a Teacher Form from the organisation themselves. It has been overwhelming to see the outpouring of gratitude from our pupils with all support staff, teaching assistants and teachers receiving thank you’ s this week.

Additionally, Etone College received the third highest amounts of ‘Thank You’s’ online in the West Midlands area. Something we are extremely proud off. So we would just like to say thank you for all of your support this term and across the years and form all of us at Etone THANK YOU!

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!