This week our Year 11’s had a bumper celebration. After the highlight of Daniel Caine’s visiting Etone College, our pupils were cheering on their own as the next group of Success of the Week winners were announced.

These pupils have shown resilience and the very core of what it means to be an Etone Learner in their lessons and as such have been successful in them. As a small reward these are entered into prize draws with this weeks winners taking home some tasty treats.

Along with our weekly successes our pupils have been striving to show how our Class of 24, are ready to stand out above the crowd. With some excellent mock results and some interesting destinations (including a jockey!) it has never been more enjoyable to watch on as staff and see the fruits of our pupils labour. 

To support with our pupils following mocks, each on will be having a post mock discussion with a member of senior leadership to discuss success and next steps. This is an important part of the strategy moving forward as we look to drive towards the exam season.

For a large number of our cohort the progress they are making is overwhelmingly positive. So much so that we have been able to present our brand new ‘Celebrating Success’ badges to our highest performing pupils. With our first three given our, we are eager to distribute more to our pupils who are really showing what it means to have self belief.

Stay tuned as we provide more updates on our pupils successes as we go towards the exam series. For revision support and guidance don’t forget to checkout our webpage here: https://www.etonecollege.co.uk/help-your-child-revise/

This year April is Stress Awareness Month, the theme for this year is #LittleByLittle which highlights the transformative impact of consistent, small positive actions on over-all wellbeing. April is an important month for so many of our students as it is the lead into May which brings with it the start of the exam season. With this in mind, we want to highlight the importance of stress awareness, and how, even at your most pressured and busiest times, it is important to take time for yourself and to reflect which can be done through even the smallest steps. The poster below and attached leaflet offer tips and ideas for making manageable adjustments to your daily routine which can have a significant impact on your well-being. If you would like further ideas, there are some great tips, ideas and videos on the site linked – Stress Awareness Month 2024 – The Stress Management Society

Last week we celebrated wellbeing week with a number of activities, starting with Brew Monday, pupils had time to talk with friends and relax while enjoying hot chocolate and biscuits, they also produced some fantastic designs in lego, pom poms and colouring. Throughout the rest of the week pupils took more time to relax with mindful colouring gave back by giving their small change to house charities. The week finished with time to relax with yoga and crystals.

On 20th March, 30 year 9 students took part in a 2 hour drama workshop with Jacob Whitehorn from Dauntless Revolution. They took part in a broad range of exercises contributing their ideas for a new show due to be performed at The Abbey Theatre in September which they will be attending.  Jacob led them in exercises to build up a physical theatre sequence which they performed with theatrical lighting and music.  All are to be commended on their participation, creativity and focus!

On Thursday 20th March our Etone Holocaust Ambassadors took the annual trip to Auschwitz Concentration Camp Oświęcim, Poland. This event is held each year by the Holocaust Educational Trust and over the course of their time has seen 32,000 young people become ambassadors and visit the camp.

As a Young Holocaust Ambassador, these students are entrusted with upholding the core values of the organisation and support their peers in the education of the horrific events and why they must never happen again.

Our ambassadors started early with a flight from Birmingham Airport at 3:00am in the morning. Arriving in Poland bleary eyed, they travelled to the camp along with the other ambassadors for this years visit. 

Whilst they were there, it was an opportunity to experience the horrendous conditions the inhabitants of the camp were subjected to, reflect on the years of hurt caused and ultimate impact upon the modern world. 

Of course, we are proud with how our ambassadors uphold themselves and Etone Values for a trip that is uniquely remarkable yet thought provoking. Whilst a sombre atmosphere our students have come away with a very careful consideration for what the Holocaust has meant for society. We are thankful to the Trust for their involvement.

We will not forget them!

At Etone College, we recognise the importance of positive mental health and wellbeing and make this a priority for our school. Whether this be through lessons or whole school activities, we regularly promote our five top tips for wellbeing. However, we also recognise that sometimes boys are less confident to discuss their wellbeing and we have actively being trying to address this during the Spring Term. We have held events and also asked our male teachers for top tips about how they look after their mental health so that we can start some conversations about mental health and let all members of our community know it is OK to talk.  Please find following a link to a booklet with some top tips from our staff.

Mental Health Booklet

As you will know, last week as part of our Wellbeing Week we were out on the gates raising funds for our House Charities. These four well deserving organisations support our local community in various ways, from bereavement counselling to helping those without a home or shelter. It is the efforts of these charities that provide the core of what our community means to us. At Etone we hold our values in high esteem and it is with those values we look to support these initiatives.

Just last week we raised over £140 to be split equally, just from spare change in pockets people were willing to donate to.

To read more about our House Charities check out our page here: https://www.etonecollege.co.uk/house-charities/

In celebration of careers week, we are hosting our annual careers day event on the 22nd March.  We can’t wait to welcome over 40 employers into school and take four trips out to university.

Our year 9 students will be taking part in work experience as a part of this event.

During careers week each department developed careers starter activities to use in lessons to further students understanding of careers in each subject area.  

During this term each form group in KS3 have taken part in a day’s work for a day’s pay activity, linking attendance and careers.  We look forward to choosing winners next week. 

On Friday 15^th March the flagship charity event of the year was celebrated at Etone College as we raised funds once again for Comic Relief. Building up to this day our pupils had the chance to understand the importance of the charity through our annual assembly. This year delivered by Mr Bowley the focus of the assembly was sharing how small actions can have big impacts. 

For example for just £100 this can fully train a mentor in Africa who can support young children in keeping them safe. An interesting question to think “how much is our safety worth?” with all Houses agreeing much more than £100.

On the day itself it was fantastic to see the efforts of the Etone Community Champions as they descended onto the school gates to help collect for our Non-uniform day. With the vast majority of pupils showing their giving side the buckets were already heaving.

However, more was to be added after a phenomenal cake sale at breaktime which ensured record donations were made. We have yet to release the total but watch this space.