Thursday, 4^th July saw an amazing turnout for Etone’s got Talent! 2024.  Etone’s Choir and Dance Squad opened each act before a fierce battle commenced to be crowned the winner.  From comedy, to bands, from singing to dance, from impressionists to acrobatics, from violinists to rap, Etone has it all!

Our esteemed judges – guest judge, Hoop Guy from BGT, ably supported by Mrs Price, Mr Clinton and Mrs Beasley – certainly had a job that few envied as they scored each act and deliberated to choose Etone’s winners.

However the final results are in and after a thrilling night, we have the following to announce…

1^st place – A Bindley, year 11 – singing ‘She used to be mine’ (Griffin House)

2^nd place – P Holdaway, year 11 – singing ‘Warwick Avenue’ (Dragon House)

3^rd place – joint RJB & SYB, year 9 (Centaur house & Griffin house) rapping their own composition ‘Gone Clear’ and E Sharkey, year 7 – singing ‘Six’ (Dragon House)

Well done to everyone involved.  It takes a huge amount of confidence, talent, creativity and skill to enter such a competition and we are immensely proud of each and every one of you.

Students at Etone College have been exploring the policies and issues of the main political parties for the 2024 General Election. 

In form times, students discussed the different election manifestos, considering policy areas such as the economy, health and education. These discussions helped students to reach conclusions as to which parties would be best to vote for in the Etone Mock Election on Friday 28^th June. 

During the Monday Period 1 Learning for Life lessons, students learned about the election process – the voting system used for the election, the rules regarding the election process, and the election timetable. 

Students also attended General Election assemblies delivered by Mr Bonner and Ms Daffern, where the main party leaders and their core values were presented. 

On Thursday 27^th June, fifteen Year 9 students went to the University of Birmingham with Mr Bonner and Mr Barclay-Elliott to attend a Future Voters Forum. At this event, students were invited in groups to create their own political parties, with their own distinct ideological beliefs. Students were also involved in a Mock Parliament debate, to decide whether to support Votes at 16, or compulsory National Service. 

On Friday 28^th June, students voted during form time in Etone’s Mock General Election, with completed ballots sent down to the ballot boxes at reception and the careers office. These votes were verified and counted by our School Councillors on Monday 1^st July, with the results shared and declared during form time on Thursday 4^th July. 

It was great to see students engaging in this process and voting in a democratic mock election. 

The following students were all selected by PE staff to complete their multiskills award due to their fantastic leadership in lessons.

 They are now multiskills coaches and will be leading in lessons and in extra curricular clubs.

Yesterday, they took part in a whole day training event where they had to plan, lead and evaluate their own sessions. They all worked very hard throughout the day developing their understanding of the role and how to cater for all pupils when designing a session.

Well done to all!

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.