‘Cool’, ‘amazing’, and ‘exciting’ were just a few of the words which Etone pupils used to describe their sessions with Damani Dennisur on National Poetry Day (3^rd October 2024).   Damani’s performance poetry was exciting, dramatic, and engaging for years 7, 8, 9, and 10 showing them how relevant and impactful poetry can be.

Some workshops included poetry writing, feeding creativity and encouraging pupils to express their ideas.  Eric and Autumn, Year 7 were particularly pleased with their poems and enjoyed sharing them with Damani at breaktime in the library.

Dark tonight,

Falls of sun light,

Stars fall into each other

As the darkness of space welcomes skyfall.

Eric, Year 7

We are very much looking forward to welcoming Damani back to Etone in the future.

On Friday 4^th October Etone College hosted their biggest Coffee Morning yet. The event was held to raise funds for Macmillan Cancer Support as our first Charity event of this academic year.  As you are aware, Etone with the help of our Community Champions, take part in lots of events and initiatives to raise fund and show support to a number of local and national causes. Last year we were proud to take our total to beyond £10,000 since September 2021 setting a school record. 

This year we have set the target to reach £15,000 by the summer. As a staple of our Autumn term we like to invite our Year 7 parents into the school to join in with the fun as they eat cake and drink coffee whilst getting a chance to catch up with their child in the school environment. It was lovely to see how our pupils were able to convey the importance of the event and how it showed active citizenship, underpinning our Etone Values including caring. One parent describe the event as “a great way to introduce ourselves to the school. Supporting a very worthy cause and giving us a chance to see how good it is here for my son.” With plenty of cakes on offer our parents were also generous with their donations and we are pleased to say we raised a total of over £400 and counting, a record for this event.

During the morning two other special events took place. First of all it was the first full performance of our Etone Choir and School Band. The pupils had been busy rehearsing and played a full set list including some classics form the Beatles, a very heartfelt rendition of Hallelujah by Leonard Cohen followed by their finale, a performance of their rendition of the Four Chord Song as made famous by the Axis of Awesome.  

The other event which has to be mentioned was the Etone Bake-Off. With Mr Clinton hoping to clinch the win for a second year in the row the competition was rife. We had some truly amazing entries and some special guest judges from our Matrix Central team to boot:

Paul Hollywood – Mr Evers (Deputy Headteacher)

Prue Lieth – Mrs Goodyear (Matrix Trust Governor)

Alison Hammond – Miss Newsome (Matrix Trust Central Team)

Noel Fielding – Miss Sandilands (Head of Sixth Form)

Matt Lucas – Mr Smith (Headteacher)

We would like to thank all of our parents, staff and pupils for being involved and look forward to the next event.

On the 1st October, 83 Year 11 Geographers headed to Carding Mill Valley in Shropshire to complete their GCSE fieldwork. We managed to leave behind the rain in Nuneaton and had a lovely day investigating the river environment. Pupils completed investigations into the river depth and width as well as the sediment shape and size, all of this work will help pupils to answer the questions in their Paper 3 for Geography.  It was great to get out into nature and enjoy some fresh air even in October! We had a fantastic day and the pupils joined in with enthusiasm and were a real credit to the school. 

Something to Shout About

On Wednesday Mr Bowley met with the newly appointed Community Champions for the first time this academic year. After reaching a record setting £10,000 in three years at the end of last academic year, the sights are set on achieving something truly amazing this year. Not only is charity important, but with the global and national picture showing fractured communities Etone College is dedicated to supporting all and bringing people together. With the underlying Etone Values this is something we believe passionately in.

To mark this the plans for the year are truly special. With the upcoming Macmillan the first focus as we look to build on our previous success and potentially crown a new Bake-Off champion. However, in February we are excited ot be hosting residents from local care homes for our Partnership Pancakes as we celebrate our 50^th birthday.

Once pupils had discussed the logistics of the year, it was time for them to receive their badges. A little-known fact is that the large size of the Community Champions badge stems form the fact that our champions have the biggest hearts around. Or at least, that’s what Mr Bowley says. Well done to all of our new and existing champions as we look forward to the year ahead.

This Week Mrs Barlow met with the Careers Ambassadors for the first time after successfully applying for their roles. This leadership opportunity is a cornerstone of Etone College as pupils who are eager to promote the importance of careers and support by being role models in their engagement with our Employability Skills. Often our ambassadors are the first in their year group to achieve the Employability badge for a specific skill and the first to achieve all four in a year.

Across the calendar our pupils support themselves and others, attending training from external providers and guiding their peers through the world of careers at Etone College. This programme compliments the full package of careers and this first meeting was vitally important in setting the targets for the year and plans moving forward. A big well done to all involved. We look forward to working with you as we enter Etone’s 50^th Year!

A stunning 82 pupils engaged in our Summer Reading Challenge this year, with an amazing 66 receiving their bronze reading award!  Well done to everyone involved, reading makes such a huge difference to your education and should be highly valued.

On Friday, 27th September, we drew our prize winners for the ‘Summer Reading Challenge Bonus’.  Our winners were Laila-Madison and Lotus from year 7 who both won books.

Etone pupils celebrated Roald Dahl day with some marvellous activities!  Year 7 battled it out with a lunch time quiz, matching up characters to their books.  Pupils from years 7-9 took a challenge card home to complete some fun tasks including telling jokes and making up silly words, just like Roald Dahl liked to do.  We had lots of wonderful contributions to creating dream jars as seen in the book, The BFG.  Finally, we finished off by announcing our two winners, Autumn Moore and Katie Benfell, for their amazing creative talents.

Whilst Etone is a safe and happy place, we of course take our duty to educate pupils in keeping themselves safe and well at all times.

With a train-line close to the campus, we recognise the important of rail safety for our young people and we are so thrilled to share we have been awarded the Silver Rail Safe Award. This is following our dedicated programme delivered through our Learning for Life and wider Personal Development curriculum.

As shared from Rail Safe Friendly “ This is a great way to share best practices with fellow educators to ensure that all young people across the country are kept safe.” 
We thank the organisation and all of our dedicated delivery partners for their efforts.

On Thursday it was time for our annual Open Evening event. Like all schools, the aim of the evening is to share the goals and hopes for the pupils of our school with perspective Year 7 parents and families. However, unlike other schools Etone is an extremely special place and our open evenings are unlike any other.

Each year our team of dedicated staff along with pupil helpers deliver a truly fantastic showcase of all the school has to offer. Not only do we share our curriculum, but we show just how much we care about our community and wellbeing of all Etone stakeholders.

With some old time Etone classics including Businesses’ taste testing, where a packet of McVities Hob Nobs costs 180% more than their Asda alternatives, then of course our delicacies from Modern Language and our canteen.

This year all departments truly outdid themselves with the key success being our Etone’s 50th Birthday Party in History. The department did a wonderful job of joining together the success of our new build, showcased in all its glory along with our enriched histories. Delving into the archives of photos and information along with a sobering letter dated from 1939 providing instructions to the headteacher should was break out.

This helps us reflect on the truly inspiring journey our school has been on for the last 50 years. We are so proud of all our community and we can’t thank you enough for your support. Many thanks all!

Each year our ever popular Parental Support Programme is geared towards giving our Etone Families opportunities to see how Etone develops our young people. In turn we are also able to build strong relationships and supportive strategies for you to try with your child at home.

On October 17th we are hosting our first session of the year with: Help Your Child Revise aimed at KS4 and KS5 parents. During the session we drill down on how to support and highlight the support that is out there for parents.

These events are always well attended and we look forward to seeing you on the 17th.