Newsletters

Spring Term - 9th May 2025

Welcome to our latest news update, including a focus on resilience as we approach Year 9 exams and other in-school assessments, a celebration of the Camden Music Festival at the Royal Albert Hall, and sporting success and participation in rugby and athletics.

Exams and assessments

We would like to congratulate our Year 11 students, almost all of whom have now completed one written GCSE exam: Business Studies and Sociology GCSE papers were today, and other students in school had a bespoke intervention session for their English exam on Monday. We would like to congratulate them on their hard work and resilience shown during their revision period and the exams themselves and wish them luck for the exams as they continue.

As a reminder, the arrangements for Year 11 attendance during this period are in our newsletter from 25th April.

Year 9 Students will complete their end-of-year assessments next week, Tuesday 6th – Friday 16th May.  

Written exams will take place in the sports hall between Monday 12th and Wednesday 14th May - next week. Practical subjects have in-class assessments that started this week and will run to Friday 16th May. Their individual exams can be found on their timetable on SatchelOne. They should be using the following to revise:

• Resources and activities set on SatchelOne, or given to them in class.
• Revision activities that have been set for their curriculum on Seneca, Carousel or Sparx.
• General revision activities that they can find on BBC Bitesize

Important Information for Exam Students: Using Social Media and Examinations/Assessments

To help protect the integrity of exams, last year Exam Boards introduced extra security measures when downloading question papers on the day of the exam. As part of this work, in October 2024, an injunction was obtained to prevent anyone from interfering with public exams.  

The guidance for students sitting exams is as follows:

While we like to share our experiences online, when it comes to exams and other assessments, we have to be careful.

• Sharing ideas online can be helpful when you’re studying or revising. However, sharing certain information can break the rules and could affect your results.

• If you’re not sure what you can and can’t discuss online, check with your teacher.

• If you receive exam content on social media, you must tell your teacher.

• Don’t be caught out by scammers selling fake exam papers.

Firstly, in Year 7, Joshua W and Michael ran out winners in their heats and finished 2nd and 3rd in the final of the 100m. The team also finished second in the relay. Michael and Theo both dominated the shotput, finishing 1st and 2nd respectively. Noar J finished 2nd in the 800m with Matthew not far behind. Luke set a personal best in the long jump and Luka and Joseph both finished in the top 3 in their 200m races.

In Year 8, Evan & Kingsley finished 2nd and 3rd in the 100m final. Huxley and Khamil both finished in the top 3 in their 200m heats. Whilst in the 800m Ben W finished in the top 3 with Tommy not far behind him. In the throwing events Cooper and Bobby both got PB’s in the Shot and Discus. The Relay team finished second.

In Year 9 Zeph and Josh both won their 100m heats before a 2nd and 3rd place finish in the final. Josh and Idriss both finished runner up in their 200m races. Rowan won the 800m with a lifetime best time. In the field, Tony and Qayyum finished 1st and 2nd in the shot putt. Idriss won the high jump and Zeph and Colin finished 1st and 2nd in the long jump. Other notable performances on the day came from Harry, Kobi. And to round the day off in the main event, the Year 9 relay team grabbed gold.

All in all, a really successful day at Hampstead Heath Athletics Track.

Athletics Club is every Tuesday after school; everyone is welcome.

Year 9 Saracens Rugby Tournament

Mr Lee writes:

In sport this week our Year 9 boys travelled to Saracens Stone X Stadium to compete in a Rugby tournament. There were 6 schools in total and similar to last week, William Ellis got put in the tougher group of schools. The first group game saw Croxley Danes narrowly beat Ridge Free by a single Try. Next up were Ellis. They took to the field with an almighty roar, inspired by Lee, their manager, coach and minibus driver they were going to show Ridge Free that they weren’t just here to make up the numbers. The game started off at a very high intensity; tackles and rucks from both teams. It was a physical affair, end to end action, with all the boys giving their all. It didn’t take long for Ellis to open their tournament scoring with a great team attack ending with Theo scoring, diving across the line for the first Try of the game. Shortly after, Ellis scored a second when an amazing run by Rowan who then fed the ball to Jack who broke the opponents' line, racing down the wing to make it a second Try to Ellis. Ridge Free managed to pull one back before a wonderful solo effort by Rowan finished the scoring and gave Ellis a 3 – 1 victory.

Shortly after, with very little time to recover, and with no substitutes for the day, Ellis took to the field again vs Croxley. All the boys demonstrated the same passion as in their first game and scored a quick Try with Guilliam getting his first of the day. Ellis continued to give it their all, with the runs, tackles and effort being applied by everyone. Unfortunately, 2 games in quick succession proved a little much for our boys with fatigue setting in. Before we knew it. Croxley had scored 3 Try’s giving them victory and top spot in the group phase.

But it didn’t finish there, Ellis still had a chance to end the day with a win, as they faced the second placed team on the other side of the draw, Finchley Catholic. Despite not battling for top spot on the day, the boys were determined to finish on a high. Within 5 minutes, Guillem, switched to the wing and dived across the Try line to open up the scoring in the final game. Ellis continued to press for a second against a very stubborn Finchley side, with the game being cut short due to the tournament over-running. The game sadly finished with Ellis only scoring a single Try, but still claiming the win.

Next week discover how the Year 8’s do when their tournament kicks off.

European Football Academy - Open Trials for Football Scholarships 

The European Football Academy are again inviting boys and girls aged 4 to 18 to join their FREE Open Trials on May 17-18, 2025. This is a chance to train with UEFA-qualified coaches, in a safe environment whilst making new friends of multiple backgrounds and grow as individuals - the lessons learnt in sports can become invaluable life skills. For many, it's also an opportunity to showcase talent and explore possible pathways to professional football academies like Arsenal, Chelsea, and West Ham.

Some scholarships and financial support are available for those who qualify.

To find out more, Download the Open Trials Flyer or contact the academy director.

To sign up, please visit: www.europeanfootball.academy/open-trials

London School Of Economics Social Mobility Summit

The 93% club at LSE is hosting this opportunity for students in Years 11-13 during the May Half Term break.

STORE PROJECTS - Free Design After School Clubs for 14-18 year olds interested in design, architecture and engineering! 

This is an exciting opportunity for students to join the TAKING A BREAK series of design workshops to help create a public bench for Kings Cross that will be exhibited at London Design Festival 2025! Four different workshop series focusing on innovative materials: Modular Encounters (May 27-28), Sitting on Glass (June Tuesdays), Extruding Plastics (June, Thursdays), and With Cans we Can (June-July Wednesdays). All workshops take place at STORE STORE Camden. Priority is given to students who receive or used to receive free school meals.

Email school@storeprojects.org with your child's full name, school, year group, and preferred workshop to register.

Free Open Day at the Royal Veterinary College’s (RVC) Hawkshead Campus – explore the world of Biological Sciences and Veterinary Medicine, 14th June 2025 

Get ready for an exciting day at the RVC’s Hawkshead Campus (Hawkshead Lane, Hatfield, Hertfordshire, AL9 7TA)! Open Day is on 14th June 2025,10:00am-4:00pm. This immersive event is perfect for prospective students, parents, and advisors and is open to all. Dive into pathway presentations and chat with lead academics and Student Ambassadors from Biological Sciences, Veterinary Medicine & Veterinary Nursing. It’s free (if you are in receipt of Free School Meals apply to our FSM Bursary for support with travel). Explore campus tours, behind the scenes access to hospital facilities, undertake hands-on clinical skills, rare access to Boltons Park Farm, and student accommodation. Professionals from Accommodation, Admissions, Learning & Wellbeing, and the Students’ Union will be there to share insights. Discover what it’s like to be an RVC student and see if it’s the right fit for you. Register to attend via this Sign Up Link.

Yours faithfully,

Izzy Jones

Headteacher