Friday 26th January 2024

Dear Parents/Carers,

Thank you to all those who attended Progress Review Day last week Wednesday. The day provided an opportunity to discuss your child’s progress, I hope you found the day beneficial.

It was good to see many of you at Sixth Form Open Evening. The application process is now open on our website.

SNS Additional Resource Provision

As part of our commitment to young people with special educational needs, particularly those with social, emotional and mental health needs, we presented an expression of interest to Hackney Council to create an additional resource provision (ARP) for 30 students. I am pleased to say we were successful in our application and Hackney Council has started the consultation process with key stakeholders within the community. The consultation opened on Thursday 11th January and will run until Wednesday 7th February 2024. You can find the consultation documents using this link. Should you have any questions, please contact schoolplaceplanning@hackney.gov.uk.


Year 10 Parents’ Evening – Wednesday 31st January 2024 4.00pm – 6.30pm

Our Year 10 Parents’ evening will take place on site on Wednesday 31st January. Students are to book appointments with their teachers using their contact book. Please contact your child’s Form Tutor if your child is having difficulty in booking meetings.

Funding for talented athletes in Hackney

Applications are once again open for the Greenwich Leisure Limited (GLL) Sport Foundation, which means any athletes living or using a leisure centre in Hackney are eligible to apply for support. In 2023/24 the Hackney scheme has supported a wide range of athletes, from regional level athletics hopefuls to budding swimmers as well as athletes having competed on the international stage. The youngest Hackney athlete is just 10 years old, with 62% of those supported aged under 21. Support ranges from a free Hackney membership at the Training level and scales up to include a variety of financial support for any athletes eligible for the Talent, Achievement or Ambassador levels. For more information on the eligibility criteria and how to apply, please use this link. Applications for 2024/25 close on Tuesday 20th February. If you have any questions please contact Hackney’s Community Sports Manager Allie Nelkon via allie.nelkon@gll.org

Hackney Music Gala – Tuesday 30th January 2024

We are delighted to announce that we have been given a slot in the Hackney Music Service Gala taking place at the Empire Theatre on Tuesday 30th January. We have decided to perform the show stopping numbers: ‘Hard Knock Life’ and ‘Sun’ll Come Out Tomorrow’, so our awesome Orphan Chorus will have the chance to relive some ‘Annie’ magic in a professional theatre. Tickets can be bought via the Hackney Empire Box Office, come along to see our young people in action on a professional stage. Any questions feel free to contact the Head of Music, Ms Amy Foden at Amy.Fod@sns.hackney.sch.uk.

Year 7 Student Disco – Thursday 8th February 4.30pm – 7.00pm

We are delighted to invite all Year 7 students for the upcoming Year 7 Disco, a fantastic opportunity for our students to enjoy a fun-filled evening with their peers. The disco will take place in the Theatre starting from 4.30pm – 7.00pm. Students are encouraged to wear non-uniform and bring a small amount of loose change to purchase drinks and snacks during the evening. The gathering promises to be an enjoyable experience for our Year 7 cohort, fostering a sense of camaraderie within the year group. Students must be collected from the school by 7.00pm.

To secure a spot for your child, please log in to ParentPay using the provided link and make a payment of £1. Should you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to reach out to your child's form tutor.

Virtual Workshop on Understanding and Managing Anxiety – Thursday 1st February 2024

On Thursday 1st February 2024, from 10am – 11am, the City & Hackney Mental Health Support Team (MHST) are delivering a free online workshop aimed at helping parents, carers and professionals understand and manage children and young people's anxiety. Anxiety is a normal feeling that is experienced by all of us differently. For children and young people, anxiety can impact their relationships, academic achievement and self-esteem. If you would like more information about managing your young person's anxiety. If you wish to attend the workshop, you can reserve your free space via Eventbrite using this link.

Year 7 Bookbuzz Challenge

To promote Reading for Pleasure and wider reading, all Year 7 students have been given a free Bookbuzz book and we ask you to encourage your child to read their book as part of the Bookbuzz Challenge. There will be prizes awarded for completing tasks in the challenge, and the English class with the most points will win a class prize. You can discover more about Bookbuzz books using this link.

Hackney Language Diversity Research

Classes in Years 7 - 11 have been invited to take part in the research aiming to provide a clearer representation of linguistic diversity in London schools. The project is run by the postdoctoral fellow of Department of Language and Linguistics at the University of Essex, Dr Sophie Liggins. Parent/carers of students invited to take park will of received consent forms to complete.

If you have not been contacted but would like your child to take part in the research, please listen to the audio here and complete consent form here. The online survey will take place from Monday 5th February during school time. If you have any further questions in regard to the research and your child's involvement, please email Dr Liggins via s.liggins@essex.ac.uk

Language of the Month January

As we celebrated this month’s Language of the Month being Arabic, on Friday 12th January, students had the amazing opportunity to try traditional Arabic desserts tasting in accompany of Arabic music, a quiz testing knowledge on Arabic speaking countries' flags and had an opportunity to check out a selection of books in Arabic or by Arabic writers. This was linked to the language of the month that students have chosen. Event was very well received by students and staff members who visited at lunchtime.

Father2Father Parenting Programme

Father2Father is a programme specifically designed for parent/carers from African and Caribbean communities, whose children may be experiencing emotional wellbeing or behavioural challenges. The 12-session programme includes topics such as de-escalation, parental presence, reconciliation gestures, and understanding trauma amongst young people and adults. Please visit their website for further information.

Key dates, Cultural Events and Opportunities in the Community

Please see a link to our key dates here for this term on our school calendar that include Information Evenings, Forums, and Parents’ Evenings.

You can also find local cultural events taking place this month using this link as well as opportunities in the community that your child may want to sign up to using this link.

Wishing you a restful weekend.

With best wishes

Zehra Jaffer