Our A-Level Historians spent the glorious hottest day of the year in Naseby, learning about the British Civil War from a veteran. Retracing the footsteps of King Charles I and Oliver Cromwell, the girls experienced the battle in real time and particularly enjoyed meeting a Cavalier, wearing Stuart armour and handling a musket…all while soaking up the sunshine! The hosts also commented on how well the girls represented Etone – well done all 🙂 

We’re thrilled to share some exciting news about our recent primary outreach program at Middlemarch Primary School. 

Our very own Miss Greenhalgh has been busy delivering a series of engaging and educational sessions to the Year 6 students, preparing them for a “trip” to Germany. Over the past few weeks, the pupils have immersed themselves in various activities designed to enhance their learning experience. They learned how to order tickets using their number skills, which not only improved their mathematical abilities but also introduced them to real-life scenarios in a foreign country. 

The sessions included practical lessons on what to pack for a trip, ensuring they are well-prepared and organised. One of the highlights of the program was the visit to a zoo lesson and our session on a restaurant in Germany. The pupils learned the German names for different animals and food items, making the experience both educational and enjoyable. To encourage speaking in German, the students collected stamps in their “passports” for each time they used the language, which motivated them to practice and improve their skills.

The feedback from the Year 6 pupils has been overwhelmingly positive. They expressed how much they loved the sessions, particularly enjoying learning the German words for animals, food, and, of course, the infamous Schnappi das kleine Krokodil song! This program has not only equipped them with valuable language skills but also sparked excitement for their continued journey at Etone in September. We are incredibly proud of Miss Greenhalgh’s efforts and the enthusiasm shown by the Middlemarch Primary pupils. This outreach initiative has not only fostered a love for learning but also built a strong foundation for their future education at our high school. We can’t wait to welcome these bright and eager students to Etone in the new academic year.

Hey everyone,

I’m excited to share our amazing experience at the MFL Matrix Academy Trust Futbol Competition this year! Not only did Etone College come out on top, but we also learned so much along the way. 

At first, I wasn’t sure about taking French next year. But this competition changed everything for me. We had to give speeches in French about different Francophone countries. It was nerve-wracking but really fun. During the football matches, we used French words to direct our team. It was incredible to see how well we worked together and communicated, and we didn’t concede a single goal!

We realised how football and French can be linked. Using French on the field made us think faster and work better as a team. We even had a special guest from Futbol Lingo, who gave a speech about why learning languages is important for sporting success.

Playing against other schools in the trust, we welcomed a few girls from DEC and a few lads from Smestow to our team. They quickly became part of our group, and it felt great to make new friends while playing the game we love.

Now, I can’t wait to take French next year. This experience taught us that knowing French can help us become successful footballers and be part of the global football community.

Thanks for reading!

B. Harris, Y9

Etone College has always been on a mission to raise as much as possible for charity and provide support within the local and national community. With the launch of a new Community Initiative programme back in September 2021 the school has worked hard to support the local area raising funds for national campaigns: Mind, Anti-Bullying Alliance, Comic Relief, Jeans for Jeans, Children in Need, Salvation Army, British Legion, Macmillan to name just a few. 

Our Community Champions do a tremendous job of making sure the word is spread far and wide and there is always a strong sense of achievement from this crack team of community givers, notable for their big hearts and nearly as big Community Champion badges.

Additionally, we have also developed the programme to support our House Charities; University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire (Centaur), Guy’s Gift (Dragon), Doorway (Griffin) and Mary Ann Evan’s Hospice (Phoenix). Each of these organisations are local to the area and provide healthcare, support, guidance, counselling amongst many other interventions to ensure that everyone is catered for in the local community.

Our Sixth form have worked together with the main school to support our local foodbank (Nuneaton Foodbank) with our annual food bank collection drives, fundraising days and events. On top of this we work year round to raise awareness or have a community involvement with many areas an organisations.

As part of our fundraising activities students have; Dontate items of food or toys for the Salvation Army Toy Drive, made and sold cakes for bake sales, wore their non-school uniform, taken part in ‘Create a Joke’ competitions amongst other challenges. Supporting this our incredible staff take part in the events such as Etone Bake Off or most recently our humongous challenge to Row to Paris and Back (from the safety of the hall) in support of our House Charities.

These events have always been hugely popular with just the last event alone raising over £1,200 towards the House charities.

We are so proud to announce that with the addition of staff donations towards the Acorn Children’s trust of £500 Etone has succeeded their target to raise over £10,000 in three years. With the current total £10,333.81 and counting this is a truly amazing fete and something we are proud of. A big thank you to all of our charities and supporters. 

Today pupils from our local primary school joined us for a wizardly workshop. Led by our own Miss Potter and Year 9 learners, Year 5 have lots of fun learning about separation and reactions in their Potions and Transformations workshop. They loved it when the Elephant’s toothpaste reached the ceiling! All pupils joined us for a drink and snack afterwards and really enjoyed their visit to Etone.

On Thursday, 27^th June, Gaby Songui and her actors came to Etone for the final performance of ‘Body in the Library’, all pupils (years 7,8,9,12) who had been involved in the creation of the performance and some of their parents fully engaged in the interactive show.  Pupils enjoyed playing the role of the investogator when invited to the stage and Mr Botham even made a guest appearance!  There were ‘ooohs’ of delight as pupils saw their own characters come to life in from of them, and much excitement when they found bags of evidence under their chairs to investigate.  At key moments, pupils wrote down ‘who dunnit’ with book prizes at the end for those who had successfully identified the murderer!  We would like to thank Nuneaton Library for this amazing opportunity.

Well we finally made it to the Big Olympic Rowing Challenge 2024.

At the start of this year we set out to achieve the biggest donation to our House Charities so far this year. Each House Charity supports a local causes and does a lot to aid our local area (you can read about these below.)

As part of this initiative we decided to set up the BIG OLYMPIC ROWING CHALLENGE – With each House racing the distance between Dover to Calais and back (40.8km) in preparation for the Summer 2024 Olympics in Paris, France.

Across the weeks our Community Champions have been supporting with the build up until finally the day was upon us. As the event began Phoenix took an early leave with Mr Baggot (the only sport teacher at the start) storming ahead. Mr Bowley did well to keep second place and build a short distance between Dragon and Griffin with Mrs Price, although a valiant effort, take fourth place. However with change overs and cool downs this soon changed with a complete change up of the bottom three places. Miss Greenhalgh working a double shift put Centaur back on the road to glory, taking second position as we neared the end of the first session. 

Following this despite a SPOTY worthy effort from Mr Smith, Mr Hodgson and Mrs Harris the team were not able to derail Phoenix’s impressive force with Mr Key taking it home for the flamed bird at 12:20pm representing the journey from Dover to Calais and back again. With Mr Hodgson bringing the silver medal home for Centaur just 6 minuets later. As we entered the afternoon pupils cheered on the efforts of Griffin and finally Dragon as they reached the finish line. It was a really lovely event and feedback form all is overwhelmingly supportive. A big thank you from Mr Bowley for all of the efforts from all areas.

In total so far we have raised £1,013 in donations with an additional £217.14 in Gift Aid donations for charity. This is a truly amazing amount but we are hoping for a little bit more. With all House Charities set to receive more than £250 towards their efforts and good causes. We are truly astounded by your support and thank you.

If you are able to give a little more to the campaign please do by following the link: https://www.justgiving.com/team/etonerowing

Centaur – George Elliot Diabetes Support Group

Formed in 1996 the GEDSG aim to deliver support for people with diabetes and their families through a full range of activities and provision. The group also carries out some really important fundraising work and it is our pleasure to be able to add to this by naming them the Centaur House Charity for 2021/2022.

At Etone we pride ourselves in supporting each other no matter the situation and this is something that is mirrored by the GEDSG. In Centaur particularly we strongly promote the values of aiding your peers no matter what and offering a helping hand wherever you can. Therefor it is fitting that group receive our support for the next academic year.

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Dragon – Guy’s Gift

Guy’s Gift delivers bereavement support for children and young people throughout Coventry and Warwickshire. Our early intervention service is open to 5- to 25-year-olds and tackles a range of emotional concerns, preventing them from escalating and helping individuals to achieve their potential and continue their lives in a meaningful way.

Dragon have selected this charity in solidarity with all of our pupils that have suffered bereavement, especially given the current climate.  Something that is close to our hearts.

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Griffin – Doorway

Doorway is an independent charity based in Nuneaton, Warwickshire, working with young people aged 16 – 25 years who are homeless or threatened with homelessness. Their short-term aim is to help young people solve the immediate crisis of “no home, no money”.

Their long-term aim is to improve life chances through learning to live independently and accessing training, education and employment.

We have selected Doorway as Griffin’s charity as it’s local to Nuneaton and has supported some of our students in the past through difficult personal circumstances.

Our House Motto is Aspiration, Determination and Success and we recognise that sometimes we need to support others in order for them to achieve this. Therefore Doorway is exactly the kind of charity we feel we should support.

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Phoenix – Mary Ann Evans Hospice

MAEH strive to enhance the quality of life of people who have a life limiting illness, by offering physical, emotional, social and spirtual support to them, their families and those caring for them.

Mary Ann Evans Hospice ethos supports that of Phoenix house. Our motto, ‘Never less than our best’ can be seen in the work carried out by this charity. They provide the best end of life care they possibly can to help make a person with a life limiting illness, as comfortable as possible. This in turn, can provide them and their families, some additional time to make some ever lasting memories.

On Thursday 28^th June, Etone College marked the end of our Class of 2024 celebrations with the Etone 2024 Prom.

Taking place at the Heart of England Conference Centre, the event is always a joyouse one as it celebrate the hard work and efforts of our pupils both during the busy exam period, but also for their five years of being dedicated Etone Learners. 

As the clock struck 6:30pm a large turnout of staff were present to witness some of the elegant, exciting and in some cases bonkers entrances from the pupils. This year the pupil’s excelled themselves with; tractors, racers, executive cars and of course some old-time classics. The only thing that could outdo the entrances was the glamour and elegance of the outfits across the board. The effort the pupil’s have clearly put into their dress for the evening never ceases to amaze. For the gents, this year particular trends have been; Celtic style waistcoats, Matching tie pins, sunglasses and oddly the “security” pose. 

Of course the dresses and outfits from the ladies were equally stunning and it was lovely to see the individual style of our pupil’s really brought out. After arriving to the holding area, there was a chance for pupils to mingle with teachers, staff and each other catching up across the past few weeks and looking forward to the night ahead.

Once the clock struck 7:00pm it was time for the procession to the Prom Hall for the big reveal of the Prom 2024. Pupil’s were equally amazed and impressed with the vibe of the party, a mix between Prom Classic and Hollywood Elite. Pupil’s were able to fill themselves from the stunning BBQ banquet and enjoy bubble gum ice cream, donuts and brownies for deserts. Before the speeches and surprises. Mrs Price as always had the opportunity to declare Class of 2024 “The Best Ever”. Something that really resonates with just how collaborative and compassionate this year group are with each other. Whilst we won’t ruin the surprises for our incoming Year 11’s (current Year 10’s), the event was a spectacular success and we will miss our pupil’s dearly. 

See you on results day Class of 2024!

On Wednesday we invited our Year 11’s back into school to celebrate their end of year with the Leavers Assembly 2024.

This event is one of the key parts of our Leavers Celebration and is always filled with laughter and smiles as we look back over the past 5 years of our pupil’s education. As the event went underway our pupil’s entered the café as Year 11 for the very last time, tucking into a banquet of bacon and sausage batches watered down with some delicious juices. As they shared updates on what had filled their time since the last exams, some gave teachers their thank you gifts whilst others were busy catching up on the latest from the walls of Etone. We were particularly thrilled to be inundated with resources, uniform and revision guides kindly donated to us by our pupils. Where donations were particularly large our pupils received a reward of a shopping voucher as a small token of thanks.

Upon entering the hall the pupils were welcomed to a specially created video looking back at some of the times they have had at Etone College over the years. There were particular smiles to see how the sweet smiling faces of Year 7’s morphed into the determined and focused one’s ready for the exam season. Following this there was time to reward pupils for their success with; House Points, Attendance and Progress rewards to boot. With Echo Shows and vouchers around this was a fantastic opportunity to thank they Year 11’s for their input across the school.

With leavers hoodies on and some comical awards, the finale built up to a very heartfelt montage of the Year 11’s final few hours at Etone College as pupils, before waving them goodbye. We now eagerly await the displays of elegance at the Prom 2-24!

We are always shouting out about the success of our pupils therefore we are so happy to share the achievement of Amelia in Phoenix’s result this weekend at the British National Downhill Series.

A downhill mountain bike race is a high-speed competition where riders compete against the clock to descend a steep, rugged course filled with obstacles like rock gardens, jumps, and berms, aiming for the fastest time. The tracks are normally around 3-4 minutes long.

This weekend, Amelia took part in Round 3 of the British National Downhill Series at Antur Stiniog, North Wales. The track is known for being brutal with changeable weather conditions as it’s positioned in a slate quarry which is very exposed to the elements.  The weekend was split into 3 sections: Friday practice and track walk, Saturday seeding and Sunday racing.

Amelia demonstrated exceptional skill and control to secure 2nd place across both seeding and racing in the U16’s Female category, navigating the demanding course’s steep drops and technical sections with precision, despite coming back from a recent injury, the intense competition and difficult weather conditions.

Well done Amelia – You’ve done Phoenix 🐦‍🔥 proud!