On the last week of the Spring Half Term 1 we issued a challenge to all Form Groups to achieve the best attendance over that week in their Key Stage. As we announced last week this was achieved by:

• 8P1 for KS3, led by Mr Bishop
• 11P1 for KS4, led by Mr Randall and Mr Griffiths
• 12G1 for KS5, led by Miss Taylor

As part of their reward, they received their special breakfast celebration on Monday complete with toast, hot chocolate, treats and a special guest appearance by Mr Smith. During the event, there was the opportunity to share the school’s gratitude to our pupils who diligently attend and make sure that they are making the most of their chances. It was good to share some stories with the pupils about how excellent attendance leads to success and praise those who deserve it.

The pupils really enjoyed the session and the chance to catch up across the key stages. One Year 12 pupil had the following to say “I am so proud that we had the best attendance. I know that attending school is important and I had 100% all throughout Covid and still have it now in Year 12. It’s nice to be rewarded and to get our opportunity to share it with the younger years.”

Mr Bowley had the following message for the pupils “Across the school, our pupils know how important it is to attend school. Whilst they might like the treats and rewards, they attend not for these but for the intrinsic value of education, for their futures. I want to congratulate all of our excellent attendees and this is a great opportunity to do this.”

On Monday 7^th November the Charity Committee held their inaugural meeting. The committee is made up of pupils from across the school, from Year 7 to Year 13 at its core are those individuals who are particularly committed to raising funds and awareness for good causes and charities globally, nationally and locally. 

With the first meeting, pupils were treated to toast and juice as they talked about what the plan would be in raising funds for this academic year. Last year the school raised £2,500 in total and was featured in the Nuneaton News several times as a reward for their strong efforts. In addition to the funds over 300 items of food were donated to the Nuneaton Foodbank and nearly 200 toys and games as part of the Salvation Army’s annual Toy Drive. 

This year so far the school has raised nearly £400 with over £350 raised for Macmillan Cancer Support and over £30 raised for the Sixth Form Charity. The committee is charged with adding to that figure and was excited to discuss their first assignment. Children in Need. On Friday 18th November the school will be holding a Non-School Uniform Day in a bid to raise £1000 towards the national event. Over in the Sixth Form, our committee and the elect are hoping to host a bake sale along with a ‘Pyjama’ themed fancy dress with the aim of raising more than £100 for the cause.

Another fantastic trip to the PGL centre for a weekend full on Netball, football and PGL activities. This is the 3^rd year we have taken pupils from years 7-9 to experience a trip that encourages independence, resilience, communication, and self-management. Our pupils again behaved impeccably and showed their ability to adapt to a variety of situations. It was especially nice to get the chance to return following the postponement in recent years due to the pandemic.

Our netballers demonstrated a high level of resilience and were able to improve massively over a very short and intense period. Pupils who had never experienced a netball tournament to those who take part regular in and outside of school had the chance to show other schools what being an Etone Learner is all about. For Year 7 and 8 it was a sharp learning curve as some had not experience this level of competition before. However, they worked together and improved their netball skills and understanding throughout. It was also great to see such lovely friendships developing amongst the younger pupils and their own self-belief and confidence sky rocketing. Year 9 topped their division against 6 other schools taking them through to the semis and with an amazing comeback win in the semis they had to face the one team who had beaten them in the rounds in the final. The year 9's demonstrated pure grit and determination to push through to the final whistle. They lost by 2 goals coming second overall but were winners with their positive attitudes, teamwork, and tenacity. We are all extremely proud of our Year 9 students.

This year was the first time we tock boys to take part in the football coaching sessions. The coaches were excellent and are based at Swindon Town so are coaching regular at professional level. The boys really enjoyed the coaching and came back to the cabins practicing any skills they had learnt or developed. There activities were Archery, Jacobs Ladder - a team building exercise and abseiling. For some of our students this was the first time they had taken part in Archery or even seen a harness. Like a girls you could see over the space of a weekend the boys develop their independence and for the year 7's their self-management skills. 

The students always impress us as staff when we take them away on any trip or fixture. We as a department are extremely proud of our sports students and we can not wait to start planning for PGL next year.

What a packed week it has been at Etone College. Not only have we had visits from our House Charities, a very successful Careers Fair but as a school we have also been busy fundraising and supporting Comic Relief.

Over the course of the week our Houses have hosted the annual Rowing Competition, which has been a welcome return post pandemic. Not only have we raised additional funds for our Charity Totaliser but also added hundreds of House Points to our House totals for the year.

We have also been laughing our socks off with the entries to our Joke Competition. Pupils were tasked to come up with a joke, make a small donation and enter with the chance to win a voucher. We will be announcing the winner shortly.

On the day itself our staff joined in with the Comic Relief Cupcake Sweepstake. Each picking their favourite cupcake for the chance to win a voucher. Although completely within the rules, Mr Smith attempted to stack the odds in his favour with two picks. However, the winning cupcake was Double Choc Delight meaning that Mr Astall is the one with the luck of the Irish this time.

Finally on Friday afternoon we held our staff vs students football match to raise funds and settle scores away from the classroom. In a four way title race it was tough however the final scores were:

• 1^st - Palmercacio – Sixth Formers
• 2^nd – Leech United – Sixth Formers
• 3^rd - Priceton North End - Staff
• 4^th – Khanton Athletic - Staff

Meaning that the Sixth Form students have dominated the league and take the title home for another year.

Overall we have raised £431.35 for Comic Relief and add this to our Totaliser making a midyear total of £2116.54. Once again thank you for all of your support. We can’t wait for the next big event: https://www.etonecollege.co.uk/charity-counter/

On Wednesday 1^st December we were delighted to welcome the Speakers Trust at Etone as they delivered their Climate for Change program to a group of our year 10 pupils. The program is geared towards developing the public speaking, communication and listening skills of young people and empowering them to speak on a number of topics close to their heart.

Across the day pupils were given the chance to look at some of the worlds greatest speakers from Winston Churchill to Greta Thunberg, consider the key principles of delivering a strong speech such as using research and evidence to back up points and the strategies we can all use to tackle nerves and get our points across confidently. The pupils have really enjoyed the event with Declan saying “I feel that I have so much more confidence now in giving a speech. It has really helped me and I think it will be good for all of my subjects, especially MFL, English and Enterprise where I have to talk and give presentations.”

As the result of the day a number of our pupils have been entered into the national 'Race to Zero' competition for an opportunity to present their speech at a COP26 affiliated event in the new year. We wish them the best of luck and again offer our thanks to Speakers Trust for a really good event. We look forward to hosting more.

More on the race to Zero competition here: https://bit.ly/3xILYZb

This week (15^th November) marks Anti-Bullying Week.

Across this terms in lessons, assemblies and form time our pupils have been taking part in activities considering how we can support society to rid itself of those who bully and how we can be supportive and caring for those who find themselves victims. This year the theme of the week is ‘One Kind Word’ and with the link to World Kindness Day our pupils have done a great job of promoting and the cause and being positive role models for the rest of Nuneaton.

On Monday 15^th November the whole school took part in Odd Socks Day, with the underlying value that it doesn’t matter how we may stand out – We are all equal, regardless of circumstance.

Although a serious message our pupils and staff had lots of fun showing off their trendy, stylish and in some cases despairing toe-ware. So in light of this we wish you a Happy Anti-Bullying Week from all of us at Etone.

Model
Etone College’s summer school ran from 9am- 3pm on Monday 9th  August through to Friday 13th  August 2021.

Invites were non-selective and all year 6 students attending Etone College in September 2021 were invited with parents opting in. 52 pupils chose to attend. Each pupil attended three daily sessions, each 1 hour and 45 minutes in length, covering a breadth of subjects and this included team building activities. They had a scheduled lunch slot of 30 mins between 12.45 and 1.15pm and a break from 11.15 – 11.30 am each day.

Subjects
Pupils attended sessions in:

• History
• Geography
• Physical education
• Numeracy
• Science
• Literacy
• ICT
• Team building with our CCF
• Food Technology

Aims of the Etone College summer school

1. Allow pupil to familiarize themselves with the school before starting in September
2. Support academic progress within subjects with pre-teaching of skills required in September.
3. Allow pupils to interact with students from other primary feeder schools to build friendships and build confidence for their first day in September.

Click here to read more.