School has been buzzing with activity throughout the first two weeks of October

Not only have we been celebrating Black History Month, but we have also marked the European Day of Languages with a broader week-long celebration of languages at Seniors and we have been highlighting the fantastic contribution that our dyslexic students make to the school community on World Dyslexia Awareness Day.

There have been a number of initiatives and events to celebrate Black History this fortnight, from film screenings and history trails to a memorable assembly from Mrs Turvey about the tracing of her own family history and the challenges posed by the legacy of slavery in tracking down records. We all felt incredibly privileged to share in her very personal account. Students from Year 10 and above, along with some guests from The John Roan Sixth Form, were very fortunate to hear a talk from Alexandra Wilson, a young black barrister and author of ‘In Black and White’ [In Black and White by Alexandra Wilson — Alexandra Wilson - Barrister (essexbarrister.com)] at a Wollstonecraft Speaker Special. There were – as ever - some great questions from the students and we were left with some thought-provoking questions about the British justice system.

Modern Languages week has been a smorgasbord of: inspiring speakers and activities, such as David Rennie from Cambridge University; karaoke in different languages; assemblies from our MFL scholars and as I write, I am hearing about 70 students doing the macarena in the Theatre. It is good to see the return to joy that in-person learning brings after months of screen-based studies.

Thank you for your generous support of Harvest Festival at both sites. As usual families have been extremely kind and we have seen a happy trail of BHS girls crossing the Heath carrying their 24-packs of loo roll! With the changes to universal credit, we know the foodbanks are expecting increased demands and the contributions are always appreciated.

It was very pleasing to see so many students heading out on fixtures and to tournaments this week. Year 5 have had a particularly strong start to the season, but Year 6, 7 and 8 too. At the Greenwich Schools Cross Country this week, we brought home two 1^st placed teams, one 2^nd and one 3^rd. Congratulations to Sports Scholar Marley who is Greenwich Champion in the Year 8 age group.

This weekend a large group of staff and students are heading up to Alton Towers on a Computer Science trip to learning about how roller coasters work and, no doubt, scaring themselves silly on them too.

Wherever you are spending your half term, I hope it is rejuvenating, healthy and happy. Thank you for all your support this half term and we look forward to seeing you all again in November.