Last month we launched our Etone College Parent/ Carer Support Workshops with our Supporting with Literacy and Homework session. Building on the success form this we were thrilled to invite our Etone friends back into the school for our Help your Child Revise session on Wednesday 2^nd March.

Within each session we aim to inform our parents and carers about the key areas of school life and provide some useful strategies and tips for supporting with your child’s education at home. During this month’s session pupils were invited in with parents as we considered; some of the barriers that children face when engaging with revision at home, what pupils are revising for and developing some techniques and methods for revising at home.

It was fantastic to see such an overwhelming attendance as we discussed the modern day joys of technology along with the battles we face with ensuring exam pressure is never too much for our pupils.

As on parent put it “It’s great to be back on site with staff and sharing any concerns we have with our children. My child is about to go through their GCSE exams and as it’s the first time since Covid they are really worried. Having this session makes me feel much more confident in being able to support them both with strategies but also understanding what is expected of them.”

As part of the session we have shared information from our previous evenings and also some key areas for advice and guidance both from Etone and beyond. Check out the links below:

Support Workshop pages: Information from our previous sessions – HERE

Beating Exam Stress: Ofqual advice for parents and carers – HERE

Exams 2022: Department for Education guidance on the 2022 summer exam series – HERE

Etone Revision Site – Information and materials to further help with revising at home – HERE

At Etone College we pride ourselves in offering our pupils a wide range of opportunities. Beyond the classroom, pupils can get involved with a whole host of clubs events and activities that develop their skills, enrich their experiences and enhance their knowledge to better prepare them for their next steps. With clubs focused on subject specific support and clubs which allow pupils to explore new interests or hobbies we encourage our pupils to take part and find something they like.

Whilst our clubs have been in full swing all year, we are excited to be launching our new reward system. The Etone College Extra Curricular Clubcard. All pupils must do is attend 5 after school club sessions to receive 10 house points. If pupils attend 10 sessions within a term, they will receive additional house points and a prize draw entry for the end of the term. Pupils can earn as many entries as they choose to and attendance for each session will be registered whether that be a new club or attending one club regularly.

Make sure that you try as many clubs as possible to maximise your chances and we wish you the very best of luck.

To find out more about our extra-curricular offering check out our page here: https://www.etonecollege.co.uk/extra-curricular/

This half term we are focusing on self-belief. This is one of our six Etone Values that are integral to being an Etone Learner. Having self-belief is having the confidence to achieve our goals.  All pupils have received an assembly on this value and how they can demonstrate this value in all areas of school life and beyond.  We will be rewarding pupils who demonstrate this value – one member of each tutor group every week – with a certificate and House Points – as well as the opportunity to be entered into a prize draw.  Please can you work with us to encourage our pupils to have self-belief and:

·       Have confidence to achieve the goals that they set themselves

·       Be resilient and not give up – try, try and try again – use their prior learning, exercise books, resrouces  and peers to try to work out problems

·       Try to learn from any mistakes and see them as a learning opportunity

·       Respond to teacher feedback to be the best that they can be

As part of this, it is also important for pupils to show resilience – one of our key eight employability skills that we embed into all aspects of life at Etone to prepare pupils for their future destinations. 

On Thursday 10th February year 10 Enterprise and Media pupils took part in an exciting adventure to Watford’s Warner Brothers Studio Tour: The Making of Harry Potter.

With it being a while since pupils were able to physically visit venues it was warmly welcomed by all pupils as an opportunity to explore how the behemoth film series was developed, created and became the biggest franchise in the world. Media pupils were able to consider the specific design features, tools used and the careers that could wait for them in film production. Linking this to their current Media course and to sixth form and beyond pupils could see how a basic concept would be worked on with special effects to get the desired impact on the silver screen.

Enterprise pupils were equally as enthralled as they were able to explore the various impacts a film series has not just on the film company but also suppliers, contractors and subsidiaries from local set designers to the shops near the studios who would see a boost in sales during filming.

Mr Bowley was excited to get back out into the real world with the pupils “Since the pandemic pupils have been able to use online experience to really enrich their understanding of our subjects. However, nothing can quite fill the place of physically going somewhere. The experience has been the ticket to getting our pupils to apply how the theory of Enterprise and Media links with the real world application. It is no doubt this will help them as they move forward in their paths to become future directors, designers, entrepreneurs and marketing executives.”

The pupils were especially well behaved showing the Etone Values across the day with the venue stating “It has been lovely to host Etone College today. The pupils were exemplary and show great potential in a future in the film industry.”

Theme: Growing Together

Etone College are recognising Children’s Mental Health Week which takes place from 7-13 February. During the week we will we learning about our mental wellbeing in Learning for Life lessons and through our subjects.
Each subject will be promoting this theme in different ways. Pupils will:

ICT –find out how screen time can affect mental health but also how to use apps in a positive way to benefit health and wellbeing.

PE – find out about the benefits of fitness and how it links to wellbeing.

English – discuss their emotions – both positive and negative (emotions tree) and complete the kindness in a jar activity.

Food – learn how healthy eating supports wellbeing and what helps our wellbeing.  They can come to after school food club to make Valentine biscuits – gift them to family or friends to make them feel happy (give to others).

Music – sing a song that makes you feel happy  (hairbrush microphone optional!) and reflect on how singing brings people happiness and improves their wellbeing.

MFL – the benefits of learning a new language (learning a new skill) and a taster session in a new language.

Geography – connect with others through lesson activities about people .

Science – discover the importance of sleep and the benefits to our wellbeing.

Art – learn about how art can benefit wellbeing and complete a mindfulness project.

History – learn about role models in History, their dreams, their struggles and how they showed resilience to overcome them.

Maths – have fun by completing maths puzzles in lessons – puzzles are a great way of relaxing whilst using your problem solving skills.

Learning for Life – learning about your mental health and about Children’s Mental Health Week.

At home, remember our 5 top tips for mental wellbeing so:

• Try to connect with others
• Keep physically active
• Try a new hobby or interest
• Focus on the present
• Give to others

Don’t Forget: Thursday 8^th February – drop into the Sixth Form after school for “Time to Talk” Day. Have a drink and a chat and take part in the activities that staff are providing to help you relax and unwind at the end of the day.

What a fantastic start to the year it has been for reading at Etone. With some fantastic entries into the Extreme Reading and Christmas Read challenges it has been great to reward pupils for their efforts. Following on from this we entered January continuing to promote a culture of reading through a staff book swap station.

Now we turn our attention to the reading event of the year: World Book Day. Created by UNESCO on 23rd April 1995 as a worldwide celebration of books and reading, World Book Day is currently celebrated by over 100 countries around the globe. Each year authors and publishers work hard to spread the values of reading, particularly with the younger generation. This year marks it’s 25th Anniversary and Etone College staff and pupils intend to observe the day with the full credit it deserves with some brilliant initiatives:

Read for Good Readathon

The charity Read for Good encourages children to read through its unique motivational approach inspiring reluctant readers to give reading a go, and keen readers to read more widely. Pupils can choose whatever they want to read – from comics to classics and audio books to blogs – they are not being assessed, it’s all about reading for fun. And, they are motivated to read because the money they raise in sponsorship helps to provide a regular supply of brand new books and a resident storyteller to every major children’s hospital in the UK.

At Etone, pupils will be given a ‘Readopoly’ challenge charge on which to record their reading. The more books they read, the more entries they will have into our prize draw to win one of five £25 vouchers.

For more details on how to support your child please click this link: HERE

100 Reads Challenge

Alongside the Readathon, each tutor group has been challenged to see if they can read 100 books between them before World Book Day on March 3rd . There are lots of prizes to be won by the tutor group and points awarded towards the House Competition.

The BIG Book Quiz

Pupils in KS3 will take part in a book quiz during their firm time. The winning team from each tutor group will be chosen to represent their house in the BIG BOOK QUIZ FINAL on World Book day itself.

Whose Shelf is this?

During the week beginning 28th February pupils will be able to have a go at our fun quiz ‘Whose shelf is this?’ where they will need to use their best inference skills to work out which member of staff’s bookshelf is shown.

World Book Day

Non-Uniform day On March 3rd we will run a non-uniform day to celebrate World Book Day and also to raise money towards the House Charities. The cost of the day will be £1 to each pupil wearing non uniform and they will be asked to make their donations into buckets as they arrive at school. For pupils who choose to ‘dress up’ to represent a character from a book, there will be no charge. Pupils dressing up will have the opportunity to win prizes throughout the day for their costume.

Scholastic Book Fair

Our World Book day celebrations will culminate in a Scholastic Book Fair that will run from 16th to 24th March and where pupils will be able to browse and buy a range of books. Details will be sent out closer to the date with information about the books available and the best way to pay.

Please help us support these events and your child by encouraging reading as much as possible at home. Remember it could be a fiction novel, autobiography or even an article in the newspaper, it doesn’t matter as long as they enjoy it.

To find out more about the Readathon or World Book Day just follow these links:

https://readforgood.org/join-the-fun/

https://www.worldbookday.com/

If you require further information about any of these events from Etone, please contact Mrs K Smith at school.