On Thursday 29^th June our Year 11 pupils were suited and booted and dressed to the nines as they enjoyed the Etone Prom 2023. Over the course of the past five years our pupils have worked hard in all aspects of their life to develop their Employability Skills and show the Etone Values they share as Etone Learners. Throughout this time, they have undergone some of the toughest periods in educational history with the impacts of Covid-19. Throughout each year they have held our values well and most recently showed their resilience across the exam season. We are incredibly proud of this cohort and it was lovely to be able to say goodbye and celebrate with Prom.

As the evening began our pupils were welcomed to the red carpet by our very own paparazzi along with adoring fans, from proud parents to staff who still can’t quite believe how fast the past five years have gone. As always we were truly amazed by the inventive and exciting entrances and the splendour our pupils displayed looking their finest. 

This year the most popular choice by far was the classic Range Rover with Evoque’s, Discoveries, Velars and even a Defender. Some opted for more retro transport with a Austin Healey whilst others decided to live their best Bond life and arrive in an Aston Martin. Limousines, sports cars and even a game of ‘Who’s Behind the Helmet’ from our only bike of the evening. However the most original entrance has to be our very own Jay arriving on a horse and elegantly dismounting for a photo.

Once our guests had arrived and received their funky mocktails the excitement began to build as the explored the entrance hall and outside veranda. Just as it seemed they could not contain themselves anymore our Year 11’s were escorted to their venue for the night entering the main hall. 

Here they were in awe of the lights, dance floor and flashing sign sharing that Etone College’s Prom 2023 could get underway. With that the dancing began along with the chance to dig into the fantastic BBQ feast prepared for us including ribs, burgers and some extremely delicious veggie kebabs.

Just when they thought they were settled for the night Mrs Price took to the stage to provide a heartfelt speech where she thanked our pupils for attending and their support over the past five years. Before the next surprise of the evening, when the curtains in the venue were thrown open to reveal: a retro games arcade, sweet stall completed with popcorn and candyfloss, donuts, brownies and eclairs for dessert, a 360 photo booth and EVEN a Bucking Bronco! With all of this for the price of admission our pupils were beyond excited to begin their evening for real. 

With the games and dancing in play it was time for the traditional embarrassing dance moves form a couple of the staff, who had attended in the masses to celebrate the end of an era. The even itself was a major success and all that was left was for the tones of Take That’s ‘Never Forget’ to echo around the room as our cohort joined together in one final dance. As a last surprise our pupils were showered with confetti from the confetti cannon and that drew a very memorable night to the close. We would like to say a massive thank you to our Year 11 pupils and parents for their support, our staff for showing their support by attending and of course Mrs McNeal, Mrs Morton and Mrs Price along with the rest of the organising party.

See you on results day Year 11!

On Thursday a group of our Year 8 and 9 pupils were lucky enough to attend a talk at Etone from Sarah Barrington to discuss potential careers in STEM. Sarah is a local resident who has had a very successful career and was able to share her inspirational story without pupils as we strive to drive their aspirations and share with them the possibilities. Throughout GCSE’s and A Levels Sarah was determined and shared how the hours of hard work and dedication to studying paid off as she achieve top results which enabled her to look at some of the most prestigious universities in the country. Finally settling on first choice Cambridge University, Sarah attended her course studying for a Bachelor of Arts in Engineering before moving onto a Masters in Engineering with a specialism in manufacturing. 

Following this Sarah discussed her experiences working for McLaren Racing and being part of the team that was integral to improving the results of their racers, using engineering and coding to make marginal gains. Whilst one of the many highlights of the session the impressive story did not end there. Sarah shared her current status as a PhD student focusing on the developing world of Artificial Intelligence along with the work she is doing with the highly prestigious Berkeley University in California. Working in such a fast paced industry the pupils were amazed to hear about projects from driverless technology to uncovering methods used by criminals to create deep fakes. 

After the presentation pupils had the chance to explore their own questions and consider the reasons they might like to get into a career in STEM. It was particularly great to see how our Year 9 and 10 girls responded to Sarah as a positive female role model in STEM, something which is a real focus at the moment. Finally all that was left was to say a big thank you and present Sarah with a small token of appreciation from our pupils.

The event itself really underpinned why our Etone Values, Employability Skills and hard work are such and important aspect at Etone College as Sarah shared the same ideals of the Etone Learner with our pupils. A big thank you to Sarah and good luck with the rest of the PhD – Wherever you find your start in life, it can take you anywhere!

On Wednesday 28^th June a group of Year 8 pupils went on a trip to Warwick University to take part in their FabFest Arts and Humanities Event. The event kindly hosted by the university was to provide pupils from a younger age the chance to experience what university life is like as we look to promote high aspirations from our pupils. This term our value is Being Supportive and it was great to see how the university was sharing that value with the event. It was also great to see how supportive our learners were with other schools as we made our way through the day. 

Over the course of their time at the university the pupils had the chance to learn about Latin American History through an engaging interactive seminar session and what it is like to study film industry through analysing clips from Jurassic Park, Indiana Jones and Star Wars. They also had the chance to use virtual reality headsets and write their names in mandarin during a bespoke lunchtime session. In the afternoon, pupils were guided around Warwick university campus and learned about the different sculptures on the site and the artistic design behind them. They also designed and names their own sculptures. At the end of the day, pupils had the opportunity to ask additional questions to the students guides about what life is like at Warwick University, the benefits of going to university and the different courses available. 

We want to say a big thank you to the university who complimented our pupils on their conduct and shared with us just how fond they are when Etone arrive for a visit. With such a strong relationship with the university it ensure that our Humanities and Create departments can share some truly inspirational opportunities with our pupils. We can’t wait to come back next year.

On Wednesday 28^th June we were thrilled to welcome our prospective Year 12 students to Sixth Form for our Taster Day. In recent years Etone College has enjoyed many successes out of our Sixth Form provision including a record number of applications, continued strong results, prestigious destinations. Most recently we have celebrated with our Football Education Academy as they have succeeded in winning the WBA Challenge Cup for a second year in the row.

As the day began, we were greeted with the excited faces of our outgoing Year 11 pupils who are eager to rejoin us in September along with some new faces from pupils joining us around the Nuneaton area. Each student received their individual welcome pack including their very special limited edition Etone pen and their individual timetable for the day. Following the gifting Miss Churchard, Head of Sixth Form welcomed our students for the day and delivered some key messages about the fantastic opportunities the next two years will hold for them.

With that our pupils then got the chance to explore life at Post 16 with some truly inspiring taster sessions such as developing an understanding of the psyche of a serial killer, taste testing best loved brands against supermarkets own and constructing code in Computer Science. Whatever subjects our pupils selected for their options they were extremely enthusiastic about the experiences of the day and now anticipated results day with a yearning to arrive at Sixth Form ready to start Year 12. With just the Year 11 Prom left to go we can’t wait to see you all in the new year!

On Saturday 17th June a small group of students attended the university open day for South and City College in Digbeth where there is a university degree in Popular Music. The course is different to traditional music degrees as it has a focus on developing musical skills relevant to the music industry while providing opportunities for students to work in the industry as they study. Students were able to visit the university’s own venue where students are able to organise and perform in their own gigs as well as visit the recording studios. Highlights included visiting the area around the college and seeing the art and incredibly we were allowed to have a close look at a mixing desk donated to the college by Metallica

For more information on the course itself, you can find it here: https://www.bcu.ac.uk/courses/popular-music-ba-hons-2023-24

On Monday Etone College had the joy of hosting our Primary School Football Festival for primary schools within the Nuneaton and surrounding area.

Over the past term Miss Taylor has been leading Year 8 and 9 girls on the Football Go Lead programme. Each week the pupils showcase their Employability Skills by using teamwork, organisation and problem solving as they develop their coaching techniques. As part of this our girls have been running their own football club after school as a precursor to our pupils preparing to lead the primary festival after school last night.

After welcoming our guests to the fantastic facilities Etone has to offer, the pupils split up into smaller groups ready to begin the coaching. The festival started with come simple dribbling skills and passing techniques before moving on to some games. We are incredibly proud of our pupils and want to say a massive well done to all involved.

This year we have been thrilled by the response to our Parental Support Sessions. These events have been well intended with the purpose of the programme to provide key information to parents and carers on key themes or areas around the school. So far we have covered; Careers, Work Experience, UCAS, Literacy and Numeracy, Revision Strategies and many more. 

On Wednesday it was the final support session of the year, Supporting your child with SEND. As part of the virtual event Mrs Smith our SENDCO and assistant SENDCO Miss Sandilands shared some key information about how we support all of our pupils at Etone to ensure they received the same enriched and balanced curriculum as everyone else. 

The session was an opportunity to promote our values that every child deserves to achieve the best they can and underline our vision of ‘Progress for All’. At Etone College we make sure every child is treated as an individual and to that end we endeavour to meet their needs wherever these are presented. In the changing times since the COVID 19 Pandemic the needs of pupils have differed vastly to prior and working hard with our research advocates and organisations such as the EEF we have developed our responses.

The session was well attended and it was a great opportunity for Mrs Smith to share our vision for all pupils and answers any questions parents may have had. 

We would like to thank everyone in attendance and particularly Mrs Smith and Miss Sandilands for their work in preparing and presenting the session.

To find out more or see the materials for this event or any of our previous events check out our Parent Support Page: https://www.etonecollege.co.uk/parent-carer-support-workshops/

You may have heard that the Knife Angel has made it’s way to Nuneaton. The Knife Angel is a sculpture created in 2018 from knives collected through 200 amnesty Knife Banks in the UK along with some seized by the police force.  The contemporary sculpture formed of 100,000 knives was created by artist Alfie Bradley and the British Ironworks Centre, based in Oswestry, England.^[1]

The aim of the sculpture is to raise awareness of knife crime and provide education that looks to prevent further crimes from happening. The sculpture has been in Nuneaton for the month of June and those who have visited it have found the impact to be quite striking.

With this terms Etone Value being Supportive it was great to consider how we as a community can support the aims and values of the project. To highlight this we were thrilled to receive a visit from Stephen Crowshaw, Community Safety Project Manager for Warwickshire County Council and the Nuneaton Justice Centre. As part of the workshop Stephen was able to give an overall explanation of the Knife Angel, it’s importance and ask pupils about what they felt after visiting it. After a brief history of what the Knife Angel stood for and how it was mad, welded onto a steel structure so they cannot be removed and will remain in perpetuity. 

Following this Stephen was kind enough to give our Criminology pupils a separate session discussing his own experiences as an ex police officer dealing with knife crime cases including how social media and peer pressure is often used in joint enterprise cases. 

We would like to thank Stephen for his involvement and for providing our pupils with an opportunity to find out more about the impacts of knife crime. If you would like to find out more about the Knife Angel or visit it check it out here: https://shorturl.at/avA19