Dear Parents, Guardians and Friends,
Often the “new year” is cited as beginning in January, whereas for schools often it’s September. Here at The Holt, we have a “new year” after Easter too when the old House Year ends and our new one begins with points tallies reset to zero and Heads of House planning their winning strategy for the months ahead.
Broderers were our winners this year, with a landmark three House Year victories in a row! Ms Hayes, the Broderers tutors and our Y7 to Y13 Broderers celebrated with a pizza lunch on Friday. There was music, Papa John’s pizzas, biscuits, and discussion about whether a fourth consecutive victory would be possible…
A big congratulations to Ms Hayes and her Broderers’ team!
Whilst most Year 11s are now firmly focused on preparation for those looming GCSEs, for Jasmine- our Youth MP- there are still meetings to run and political agendas to be implemented. She’s finding time, in amongst revising irregular verbs, solving equations, and memorising Macbeth quotations, to meeting with local MPs, and members of the council with her co-Youth MP from Maiden Erlegh.
Jasmine tells us:
From collaboratively organising and running events, to participating in open and insightful discussion during meetings, being part of the Youth Council has proven to be very exciting, impactful, and rewarding. It is a passionate and inviting community that made me feel immediately welcome and only ignited my interest in striving for a better society.
This experience gave me the confidence to run for the YMP elections, and I am grateful to be working alongside Laima in this position on matters close to our hearts, and more importantly the hearts of young people in the borough. In our 2-year term we want to focus on mental health, skills education, opportunity, and sustainability, among others, through orchestrating campaigns, pushing for change and advocacy. Thanks to this role and my time in the Wokingham Youth Council, it feels possible to make real, tangible change.
The Youth Council is always looking for new members who want to implement positive change in the borough and get younger people involved in what those changes look like. More information is available here: https://directory.wokingham.gov.uk/kb5/wokingham/directory/service.page?id=s0rjcFO4sUI
Our Year 12s have also been looking to the future as they were taken to Farnborough to explore a range of post 18 options. There was guidance on university and college, apprenticeships and employment, professional careers, or the UCAS process itself.
Mrs Salamut-Ward writes:
Year 12 attended the UCAS discovery fair last week at Farnborough International Exhibition Centre. There were over 150 universities represented at the fair which gave our students the chance to hear from student ambassadors, find out more about different courses, and explore different opportunities which are available. Year 12 were really engaged in the afternoon, asked some great questions and of course managed to claim some great freebies and tote bags!
A big thank you to Mrs Thomas for organising the trip and for the staff that accompanied.
Our Year 7s and 8s are partaking in the UKMT Junior Maths Challenge this week. Mr Green has explained below.
The UKMT (UK Mathematical Trust) Junior Maths Challenge is an opportunity for some of our high-attaining Year 7 and Year 8 mathematicians to stretch their skills in a national maths competition. Students try to answer interesting and thought-provoking mathematical questions in a multiple-choice quiz. The focus is on logic and reasoning rather than memorising lots of formulas or facts. All students receive a participation certificate with good scores being awarded bronze, silver, and gold awards. High scoring students may also be invited to participate in further rounds of the competition such as the Maths Olympiad.
If you think you are up to the challenge here are some example questions from the Junior Maths Challenge:
Thank you to Mrs Donald-Onuama for coordinating this, and to the maths department for facilitating.
Whilst Made in Dagenham finished their performances before Easter, the majority of the cast held a celebration at lunchtime today and are off to watch the stage show of Mean Girls in Woking this evening. I have been lucky enough to secure a place on this trip and naturally, as it’s Wednesday, I will be wearing pink!
Elizabeth Harris
Assistant Headteacher