Dear Parents, Guardians and Friends
And so, we have reached the end of another term and another academic year. Those little Year 7 students who joined us in September have grown in confidence and stature. Year 8 have enjoyed all our traditions for the second time around. Year 9 are ready to begin their GCSE studies in the autumn while Year 10 can see the home straight for those same courses. Year 12 will soon be applying for university, apprenticeships or jobs. We have waved farewell to Years 11 (at least temporarily) and 13 who combine a long summer break with a slightly anxious wait for results. We have also said a thankful goodbye to some of our staff including Mrs Graham, Mrs Nyazika, Miss Chana, Miss Hamad, Mrs Ord, and Mr Webley.
There is a Jane Austen quote doing the rounds at the moment: “What dreadful hot weather we have! It keeps me in a continual state of inelegance”. Well, inelegant or not, we have had a very busy end to our year as the walls have – metaphorically, at least – come off our classrooms.
Here is just some of what we’ve been up to…
Our annual Colour Run made its usual entertaining mess and raised thousands of pounds for the Friends of The Holt School.
Year 10 have been out on work experience and working with new people, learning new skills and seeing something of what life may have in store for them.
Years 7, 9 & 12 have been up to all sorts in our Activities Week. Alongside residential trips to Valencia and Puy de Fou, we’ve had a lot of fun at school and off site.
Year 9 learning Morris Dancing:
Year 9 filmmaking competition:
Year 9 were treated to a performance of Romeo & Juliet by The Globe Players:
Year 8 composing some electronic dance music (EDM):
Years 7 & 8 produced some shadow drawing, sun prints and land art:
Year 7 had a fantastic time exploring Buddhism through a range of creative activities. They made Tibetan prayer flags, designed colourful Hama bead mandalas, and built their own Buddhas from clay:
Year 12 enjoying a silent disco:
Year 12 (and Year 8) swung their way through Go Ape!:
Year 12 also gained an insight into undergraduate life at The University of Sussex:
The Geography Department took Year 7 to Rushall Farm to study food production and river surveying:
Miss Harris writes about yesterday’s successful Culture Day,
“A big thank you to our Student Leadership Team for organising Culture Day 2026 and to all the sixth form, and lower school helpers to helped out on stalls. It was a wonderful day exploring all sorts of cultures; whether that be in technology where students made their own flags, English who looked at some chart-topping songs from other cultures, or history looking at fashion through the ages. Thank you to all the department who led and planned sessions focused on an exploration of culture. We so enjoyed our performers on the field during lunch and period 5 and of course seeing the range of outfits representing our diverse student and staff body.”
The day included dance displays…
…food from around the world….
…and henna art:
Our staff got involved, too:
Today has seen us finally able to host our Sports Day – twice postponed because of the heat. Our Year 10s (for whom this is their last one) made the excellent suggestion that we might squeeze it into our final day. As ever, a spirit of competitive camaraderie has pervaded the morning and demonstrated something of what makes The Holt such a special place.
So, certainly hot, possibly inelegant, but still full of life, we have reached our finishing line for 2025/26. Well done to all our students, and thank you to all our staff! We are ready for a cooldown and some R&R before the starting gun goes again in September for another lap. We thank you for your support over the past year and hope that you enjoy at least some down time over the coming weeks.
Ben Adams
Assistant Headteacher