Newsletters

Autumn Term - 24th October 2025

 

Welcome to our latest news update, including exciting news from trips and visits and sporting events this half term as well as a review of our admissions events. Towards the bottom are listings for the Camden Holidays and Food Programme, with a packed week of activities for young people locally during the half term break. We wish you all a restful and happy half term: students return on a week A on Monday 3rd November.

Open Events and Year 7 admissions

This week we hosted our final Open Morning of the Autumn season leading up to secondary school applications deadline day. As a reminder to families with a child in Year 6, the deadline for parents and carers to apply for a place for their child to start Year 7 in September next year is 11.59pm next Friday, 31 October. 

We have had over 250 families visit our events over the last few months. As ever, visitors have been impressed by the enthusiasm and engagement of our student tour guides, and we eagerly anticipate finding out who our Year 7 for Septmeber 2026 will be on Offer Day in March.

Further information about the Secondary Admission process can be found here.

Eco Club's Rewilding Project 

The first of a series of trips for the Eco Club, to a rewilding site in Kent, took
place earlier this month.

Thank you to Jane, a Year 10 Parent, for organising this exciting opportunity.

Jane writes:

"What an incredible day we had. After travelling down by school mini bus to the ex- farmland, we arrived and settled into the classroom for snacks and to learn about why the UK is one of the most nature depleted countries in the world;
travelling back to the ice age discussing animals that existed then through to modern day, looking at the successful reintroduction of extinct species
such as beavers and white tailed eagles, brought about through rewilding
projects.
 

Aurouchs (ancient cattle)


   

             Beaver                              White  tailed eagle

Following this, we went to meet some of the farm animals: Truckee the pig, whose rootling behaviour creates lots of microhabitats, and a herd of heritage cattle grazing off dominant grasses allowing for wildflowers to flourish. The cattle were as curious about us as the boys were of them!

After lunch, we headed down to a previously cut wildflower meadow, to gather up green hay full of wildflower seeds. We took this hay to a donor site - an adjacent field. Here the ground was prepared, so the hay could be spread to introduce the seeds and in turn create more wildflowers, which are vitally needed by many insect species. To do this, the boys scythed the tussocky grasses down to the ground and then scraped the surface with rakes to create some patches of bare ground. These areas are ideal for the flower seeds to germinate. We also spread the seeds of yellow rattle, a parasitic plant that suppresses the growth of dominant grasses giving a chance for the wildflowers to grow.

We rounded the day off with a campfire and smores before heading back to
school.

These rewilding efforts will go a long way in helping to increase
biodiversity on the site- an amazing effort by the team!"

Eco Club will be visiting the rewilding project again each month until Spring.

Arup Architecture Careers Outreach Day

Mr Parry writes:

The objective of this event was to offer an introductory outreach event to introduce participants to Arup, the Architecture profession, and Architecture at university. The aim of this event was to inspire and expand the horizons and ambitions of students who may not otherwise have such exposure, whilst equipping them (and their teachers), with practical information to pursue this career.

Key Stage 3 Cross Country Success

Mr Levitt writes:

Congratulations to Harry (top left) for winning the Camden Cross Country Cup in the Year 8 category on Wednesday 15th October on Hampstead Heath. He ran a really controlled race sitting behind the leader until the final 400m before making his move and sprinting for the line. Other notable finishers were Bowie (Year 8) who finished 5th, Robert & Theo and Ben & Otis, who all finished in the top 10 of their Year 7 and year 9 races respectively.

Well done boys!

If you would like to try Cross Country, Cross Country Club is on Mondays after school. All abilities welcome.

 

Competing at the Inaugural Hampstead Rugby Competition

The first Hampstead Rugby Competition was held at Highate Wood School last week, with a William Ellis team spanning 4 year groups! The touch rugby tournament was the first of 6 hosted by Hampstead Rugby Club for its surrounding schools.

This was a great introduction to tournament rugby for our Year 7 students, and an excellent leadership opportunity for the Year 9s and 10s in the team. The boys represented the school superbly and enjoyed playing against some strong competition, finishing the event with 2 wins, 1 draw and 1 defeat.

Rugby club is on every Thursday after school and is taken by Coach Mark from Hampstead Rugby Club. Rugby lessons start for all KS3 students after half term. With wetter weather on the way, please make sure all students come to PE lessons with studded boots. Mouth guards are recommended and are available to buy from the PE office.

 

Duke of Edinburgh Silver Award

Well done to the 24 LaSWAP students who have taken their first step towards completing their Silver Duke of Edinburgh Award by completing their practise expedition on the weekend of the 17th-19th October.

All the students completed the hike in unpredictable conditions showing great spirit, teamwork and resilience. They were commended for their considerate camping and following of the countryside code. Now their focus turns to the volunteering, skill and fitness elements of the qualification, before their final expedition in 2026.

 

Creative Arts

Ms Sinnott writes:

Great examples of mark making in Year 8’s art lesson.

Year 8 & 9 Trip to Normandy

Ms Rodgers writes:

Last Thursday, 16th October, 31 Year 8 and 9 students set off to France bright & early (6.30am!).

We spent Friday in a French school, where students took part in a French PE lesson with their French counterparts, then got to know each other through a Speed Introducing type of activity and then we did a Town Trail together where we discovered the wonders of Pont Audemer, with each small group of WES students having their own French student guide to get to know and work with.

On Saturday, students explored the French market town of Lisiuex and practised ordering food & buying souvenirs in French, as well as tasting a selection of French cheeses! After the market, students either did aerial trekking, showing great resilience with challenging routes or they visited the outdoor interactive Viking museum nearby.

On Sunday we visited Honfluer to see a recreation of a Viking longship that is being made using the same tools used in the Middle Ages and saw an excellent interactive museum which showed the history of William the Conqueror and the Battle of Hastings.

After a visit around the town, students visited St Therese Basilica and its wonderful dome, and listened beautifully to the guide telling them about the history of St Therese.

Staff at the accommodation we stayed at were delighted with the behaviour and manners of our WES boys, and are looking forward to another visit next year!

Huge thanks to staff supporting the trip; Mr Denning-Sen, Ms Lagard & Ms Joseph.

Students said:

When I found out about the trip, I couldn’t wait for it to happen. Now, I’m so happy I came. I really enjoyed climbing high up the trees, getting toured around the Basilica, and going to a French market! I also greatly improved my French! Thanks to the teachers for organising this trip! - Donnie

This was so fun! I found that every activity was so fun and therefore I am incredibly happy that the teachers made it happen! - Joseph

The trip was very interesting with lots of different activities. My favourite activity was the aerial trekking because it was scary but fun at the same time but in the end it was really good because of the amount of challenges you had to face. - Denzel

The trip was a good way to learn French (obviously), build relationships with friends and also take a break from your devices. No devices at first seems like something no one really wants, but after your away from it for a while, you realise life can be quite a lot better without it - for a while at least…

Overall it was very enjoyable being able to see the French lifestyle in the countryside and observe the scenery and whatnot. - Anonymous 

The French trip taught me a lot of the French culture, food and history. I enjoyed spending my time with my friends having laughs and just chatting. I hope we go again it was a delightful experience. - Neron

KS5 Students' trip to Poland with Lessons from Auschwitz 

Ms Wilson writes:

In what has become an annual event, we were delighted that two of our KS5 students were able to participate in the important Lessons From Auschwitz Project with students from schools across London. Emily and Rebecca were the students who took part in this this year, and have written about their experiences below. We look forward to hearing more from them – as dissemination of their learning is part of the next stage of this project.

Rebecca and Emily write: "We initially signed up to this trip to gain a greater understanding of the Holocaust and a wider perspective of Jewish life before, during and after the war. As well as this we learnt about the other victims whose lives were taken by the Nazis. We started the experience by attending an orientation seminar in which we gained a deeper understanding about pre-war Jewish life and recognising the experiences of different individuals across Europe who were oppressed. We were also spoken to by a Holocaust survivor, Eva Clarke, who told her and her families experience of the war and how they were affected by it. 

The following week, Wednesday 22nd October, we took a one-day trip to Poland in which we visited a Jewish cemetery in Oświęcim, Auschwitz I, and Auschwitz II (also known as Auschwitz-Birkenau). These locations were chosen to help us understand the extent that the war impacted Jewish communities. For example, before WWII Jewish people made up 58% of the population of Oświęcim however, following the death of the last known Jewish person in 2000, the population of Jewish people is now zero. Although a large amount of this community was deported to death and concentration camps, there’s was still a portion that survived and following the liberation of Poland from the Nazis, chose not to return.

From this trip we have gained a broader appreciation and understanding of the individual innocent lives that were taken by the Nazis in the Holocaust."  

Recent Events in the Sixth Form Centre

The Sixth Form Centre was delighted to host two quite different events this week: on Wednesday afternoon, EPQ students attended a webinar delivered by the University of Southampton on developing a successful research question, and on Thursday, the students held the inaugural LaSWAP film club, with a screening of Coraline – voted for by students from a list of scary-themed movies.

Both these events show the resourcefulness of our students – going the extra mile to enrich their lives, both intellectually and socially.

Sixth Form Students' Camden Giving Participation

We were delighted to recently host the first of several workshops planned throughout the year, run by Camden Giving. This is an organisation which raises money for distribution to charities working in Camden, as chosen by people living, working and going to school in Camden – including, this week, 21 of our WES@LaSWAP students!

Students chose how to distribute £10,000 of charity money. Out of a shortlist of four charities, they decided to fund two projects: Your Bike CIC and a new Youth Centre in Queens Crescent – Time Out QC. Two of the Year 13 participants were Istihaq, studying Biology, Chemistry and RS, and Sam, studying History, English Literature and Sociology. Istihaq said “I learnt loads of different skills – debating and evaluating the merits of different projects. It was really interesting – and fun!” Sam said “It’s great that my school has given me the opportunity to do interesting paid work, which has also helped me to contribute to my community.”

SEND Notice

Camden Libraries Community Conversations 

Camden invites families to attend one of the Community Conversations they are holding in November  to find out what you love about Camden Libraries and what you'd like to see libraries doing in the future.

Families requiring any access requirements, for example with BSL or community language interpreters, or transport to get to a venue can email libraries@camden.gov.uk or call 0207 974 4444 by Monday 3rd November to discuss support.

European Football Academy Trials 1st-2nd November

The European Football Academy invite youn people aged 4-18 to join their free Open Trials on 1st-2nd November 2025 with the European Football Academy - an Ofsted-registered academy offering premier football coaching.

This offers the opportunity to train with UEFA-qualified coaches in a secure environment whilst developing friendships and life skills. Past participants have progressed to professional academies including Arsenal, Chelsea, and West Ham.

Trial Information:

📅 Dates: 1st-2nd November
📍 Locations:

• Archbishop’s Park (Waterloo)
• Paddington Recreation Ground (Maida Vale)

To register, visit https://europeanfootball.academy/open-trials or email info@efalondon.com for further information.

Free and low-cost half-term activities for children and young people 

Camden Rise have organised a range of low-cost or free sports, play, youth and autumn creative activities – including Halloween and Black History themed arts and crafts - across the borough for half term week. Find out more about the activities on offer here.

Yours faithfully,

Izzy Jones

Headteacher