Head's Newsletter 12 February 2021

Five of our Year 12 chemists put their knowledge to the test on Saturday 6th February in the Cambridge Chemistry Race, a competition where sixth formers race to finish increasingly difficult chemistry questions related to, and outside of, the A-Level specification in a period of two hours. Ibrahim Alkashem, Chloe Danno, Martha Old, Jade Tedaldi and Abimen Thusyanthan were chosen to represent the school after taking the lead in the internal try outs held in November. The team held their own in the competition, placing a respectable 34th – an excellent achievement considering most other teams consisted of Year 13 students, and several of the questions consisted of material not yet covered! Although the competition had to be shifted to an online format, the organisers still found ways to make it engaging and interactive. The team especially enjoyed the interface used in the closing ceremony (apparently very similar to Club Penguin!), where they could interact with other contestants through a virtual avatar. Overall, it was a great experience, and it was fantastic to see our Year 12s build their confidence in chemistry outside of the classroom, even in these challenging times!

A huge thank you on behalf of the School's Charities Committees for the very generous donations made for the Mufti. Days this term. We have so far raised over £3700 to be shared equally between Joel Community Services and Great Ormond Street Hospital which is absolutely fantastic. If you have not donated and would like to do so, ParentPay will remain open until the end of term.

Staff arranged for food to be delivered to the Kingston Food Bank drop off centre in Tolworth just before Christmas. A massive thank you to everyone who donated.