Dear Parents, Guardians and Friends
It’s been another action-packed week at The Holt, with students seizing a wide range of opportunities and showcasing some truly excellent work.
Last Friday, Mrs Salamut-Ward and Mrs Graham welcomed the NACE inspectors as part of our re-accreditation process, and I’m pleased to share that we were successful. The NACE award is highly prestigious and hard to achieve, and this success is a fitting recognition of the dedication and commitment Mrs Salamut-Ward has shown in developing provision for our more able students over the past four years since our previous award.
It cannot be overstated how much work has gone into keeping stretch, challenge and grapple at the forefront of our pedagogy, and into ensuring this approach benefits all students so that they truly experience the “rising tide that lifts all ships.”
The assessors highlighted our exceptional students, who spoke warmly about feeling genuinely cared for by staff and valued their teachers’ subject knowledge, alongside the strong super-curricular opportunities and careers education on offer. They also praised the positive ethos of our staff and the quality of the CPD provided.
I am sure you will all want to join me in congratulating Mrs Salamut-Ward and our More Able Assistant, Mrs Graham, on this excellent achievement, as well as our teachers who deliver Quality First Teaching. This is very much a team effort.
Speaking of super-curricular activities, the February edition of Holt Magazine has now been published for your reading pleasure. This edition has been written by students from across different year groups and is led by Mrs Fallon from the English Department and Mrs Totolan-Moore from the MFL Department. You can access it by clicking the link below or by visiting the weekly bulletin area on SharePoint.
If your daughter is a budding writer, please do encourage her to get involved. Students meet every Friday to work collaboratively on developing their writing and formatting the magazine for publication on the school website. All are welcome.
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We have also received this update from our Early Entry Coordinator. Mrs Whitehouse has reported:
We are delighted to announce that a record 7 students have been offered a place to study at either Oxford or Cambridge Universities next year! This includes Spanish and French at Oxford and Architecture, Natural Sciences, Education and Linguistics at Cambridge. All the students who applied to Oxbridge have excelled in their preparations with super curricular activities, entrance exams and interviews. They all dedicated a lot of time and effort into their applications, and we are proud of all of them for aiming high! Congratulations!
Our careers lead, Mrs Johnson, organised a lunchtime talk with NSG on Monday. She reports:
Students had an exciting opportunity this week to take part in lunchtime careers talk with the Lead Engineers from NSG Environmental Ltd, giving them a real insight into the world of nuclear engineering.
During the session, students learned about the different career pathways into the nuclear sector, including apprenticeships, technical training routes and university options. The engineers shared their own journeys, helping students understand how school subjects — particularly science and physics — connect to real roles within a highly skilled industry.
A highlight of the talk was the chance to try simulated practical activities designed to reflect real working conditions. Students experienced the challenge of completing tasks such as handling equipment while wearing industrial-strength protective gloves, demonstrating the precision and problem-solving skills required when working with specialised engineering components like gear systems.
The session gave students valuable exposure to a cutting-edge industry and helped bring classroom learning to life, while encouraging them to consider engineering as a future career pathway.
Dr Lewis (Head of Physics) Commented:
It was a really rare and valuable experience for some of our year 12 students to meet their work experience mentors before the actual placement. Hopefully this leads to more work experience and even more apprentices in the future!
On Wednesday, Year 7 attended a road safety talk organised by our PSHE Lead, Mrs Hornblow. Students watched an engaging Pedestrian Road Safety theatre performance, Streetwise, which highlighted the potential consequences of lapses in concentration and risk-taking behaviour around roads, and encouraged the use of safety measures such as crossing patrols, zebra crossings and pedestrian light-controlled crossings. Students will have the opportunity to reflect on the presentation, and we encourage parents and carers to reinforce these messages as students navigate our busy roads.
Our new Student Leadership Team has hit the ground running and is preparing for today’s bake sale in support of the breast cancer charity Sakoon. This initiative links with the excellent work being led by Mrs Hornblow and the PSHE team to raise awareness and educate students about breast cancer. I’m sure your daughters will enjoy the delicious treats while supporting such an important cause.
The Senior Leadership Team and the Head of Year 9 have been meeting with students individually to talk through their Key Stage 4 options for next year. It has been great to see how thoughtfully students are approaching these decisions, and many are looking forward to the upcoming taster day, where they can explore their options before making final choices.
Now step aside, Gordon Ramsay – we’ve had some new chefs in town this week! Our Year 11 students have been completing their Food Technology NEAs and, in scenes reminiscent of MasterChef, teachers (myself included!) have turned food critics, with the privilege of tasting their culinary creations – and they did not disappoint.
From delicate homemade pasta with rich tomato sauces, to spicy jerk chicken, fragrant jollof rice, freshly baked burgers and buns to beautifully presented salads, alongside perfectly seasoned sauces – not to mention delicious Biscoff and Oreo cheesecakes, panna cotta, millionaire’s shortbread and rich chocolate mousse – it has been an absolute treat. I am particularly proud of their achievements as their Head of Year.
Unfortunately, we are unable to share images as these are exam pieces, but I would like to thank Miss Hurry and the Food Technology Department for the time, care and expertise they invest in supporting our budding chefs.
Mrs Connor
Assistant Headteacher