I hope that you and your family had an enjoyable summer break, whether it was at home, within the UK or abroad. As we have become accustomed to, our first experience with students this year was completing Lateral Flow Tests in preparation for students returning to school full-time. 1000s of tests were completed and I am relieved to say that we did not have any positive cases.  For the testing we used support staff and exam invigilators and they have universally commented on how polite and well-behaved students were.  In what was a very busy start to the term, we were also finishing the setup of our new Data Management System and in the coming weeks we will be sharing more information about how you can access the Bromcom Parent and Student App.

Building Successful Futures

The next academic year is one that we are all incredibly excited for.  It is a chance to return to some sort of normality and reintroduce the range of activities that go on outside of the classroom and help prepare students for a life beyond Welling School.  This message of looking to the future and realising one's potential was a theme I shared with all students in assembly last week.  I spoke about the uniqueness of every child at Welling School and the limitless possibilities available to them. Our vision of ‘Building Successful Futures’ sits at the heart of our school and I am very clear that students should be able to follow a pathway that is right for them.  For example, an area that we have strengthened this year is our pathway for students who would like to go to college and gain a trade. We are calling this our Aspire Pathway and at the end of last week we met with groups of students in Year 10 and Year 11 about starting a GCSE equivalent in Construction next week.  We have also recruited a new member of staff, Mr Eyres to lead this pathway. Mr Eyres is an experienced teacher whose background includes serving in the British Army as a Royal Engineer, running his own electrician business, and teaching construction and English. Mr Eyres is developing a range of opportunities for KS3 and KS4 that will support both boys and girls.

A-Level and GCSE Results 2021

There was so much to celebrate this summer.  Over the past 18 months students faced unprecedented disruption to their education and the A-Level and GCSE results demonstrated their resilience and determination to succeed. As a whole school community we recognise and celebrate their success. More details about the A-Level and GCSE results can be found on our website or by clicking on the links below:

A-Level

GCSE

Summer Works

At the end of last term I wrote to all parent/carers about our planned works. I am delighted that the refurbishment of the Art, Music and DT areas was complete and that we now have our new Year 7 and Year 8 catering area open.  However, we still have work to complete during October half term and during the Christmas break.  The main area of refurbishment to complete is in Science, and over October half term the school is expecting two science labs to be completed. The school, like many other businesses, has also been affected by significantly longer delivery times and this means that we are also waiting for new Apple Macs for our Music Technology Suits and furniture for the 6^th Form Centre.  We are also experiencing a delay getting the network set up for the new Year 7 and Year 8 catering area. This means that until further notice students will need to continue using cash.

New Staff

For September 2021 we have a number of new staff joining Welling School:

NAME	POSITION
Miss T Adigun	Computer Science Teacher
Mr R Cabbell Manners	Maths Teacher
Mr N Clarke	Head of Faculty – Humanities
Mr B Eyres	Head of Aspire Pathway
Mr A Foster	English Teacher
Ms M Giannini	Assistant Headteacher Learning and Progress
Mr S Howell	Maths Teacher
Mr A Islam	Lead Practitioner Maths
Miss A Marshall	Science Teacher
Ms K Maxwell	Director of Practice Development
Mrs M North	Business Studies Teacher
Mr A Sen	Maths Teacher
Miss O Vosper	English Teacher
Mrs M Wilson	Maths Teacher

Pastoral Key Contacts

We know that parent/carers are regularly in contact with staff responsible for their child’s wellbeing. Contact details are below:

Year Group	Head of Year	Care & Guidance Assistant
Year 7	Mr R Collins	Mrs L Borley
Year 8	Mr R Ward	Mrs D Davies
Year 9	Ms J Jarvis	Mrs L O’Neill
Year 10	Mr W Bartlett	Mrs K Elsmere
Year 11	Mrs V Nosa-Oviasu	Ms S Steel
Year 12	Mr I Oleyede	Mrs R Henry
Year 13	Ms V Humphrey	Mrs R Henry

Each Key Stage has a member of staff with overall responsibility. Contact details are below:

Key Stage	Senior Leader
Key Stage 3	Ms M Giannini
Key Stage 4	Mr J Sanghera
Key Stage 5	Ms M Major

If you have any safeguarding concerns about your child or any other child at Welling School you should email the school on dsl@wellingschool-tkat.org. This email is monitored outside of school hours. The school’s Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) is Mrs Kallend (kathy.kallend@wellingschool-tkat.org) and the school’s Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead is Mr Loizou (theo.loizou@wellingschool-tkat.org).

Mr Hemsley, Deputy Headteacher (paul.hemsley@wellingschool-tkat.org) has overall responsibility for academic and pastoral matters and should be contacted if you have contacted members of staff above and your query remains unresolved.

COVID Update

A range of measures remain in place, in line with government guidance and because we consider them to be beneficial to the day-to-day running of the school. We are certainly not being complacent, and within each classroom cleaning stations remain. Regular handwashing, good hygiene habits and ventilation are as important as ever and may just reduce the prevalence of winter colds, as much as they will help prevent the spread of coronavirus. Now that we have finished in-school testing we will be issuing to all students on Monday 13 September home testing kits for the remainder of September. I strongly encourage all members of the school community to maintain the habit of twice-weekly home testing. All results should be reported to GOV.UK.

Upcoming Year 6 Open Events

During the first half of this term we have a number of Open Events taking place for prospective Year 6 students. This year our Open Saturday is slightly later, on Saturday 2 October. We will be offering three different time slots and asking parent/carers to book at time.  Our Open Mornings take place every day on the week commencing Monday 4 October and we will also be offering a booking system. We hope by limiting the number of people on site at one time will enhance the experience for all. If you know parent/carers who have children in Year 6, please do encourage them to come and look at the school. We also know that our students are our best ambassadors and we will be looking for a range of students to help on Open Saturday and during the Open Mornings.

Key Dates for the Diary

On Thursday 23 September we have a Year 11 Parent Consultation Evening.  On Thursday 30 September we have a Year 7 ‘Building a successful start to Welling School’ Event.  Further details about both of these events will be shared this week.

Finally, I would like to welcome new students and parent/carers to the Welling School community, and look forward to working with you and your child throughout the course of this year and beyond. If you have any queries in relation to this letter please email office@wellingschool-tkat.org.

With very best wishes.

 Yours faithfully

Mr R Pett

Headteacher