Where does the time go? It's hard to believe that only a few weeks ago, our newest Year 7s joined us at The Cottesloe School for the first time. Their rapid adjustment to secondary school life, along with the seamless integration of other new students, is a testament to our welcoming school community. Across all year groups, students have tackled challenges head-on during this half-term. Year 13 students have made strides in exploring university and apprenticeship options, while Year 12s have immersed themselves in their A-Level studies. Year 11s have successfully completed their first set of mock exams, Year 10s have embarked on their GCSE journey, and Year 9s have embraced their decisions about some subjects through the Choices curriculum. Year 8s, meanwhile, have been honing new skills and laying the groundwork for the beginning of their own subject decisions next spring.

Beyond the classroom, our students have embraced a wealth of opportunities. From Duke of Edinburgh's Award expeditions to Aladdin auditions and rehearsals, sporting fixtures, and a variety of clubs and activities, they've been actively engaged in their education. The Sixth Form Wellbeing Ambassador training, Action4Youth programme, and the recent Year 11 trip to  France have all enriched their experiences. And this week, all of Year 7 will be treated to a magical adventure in London, watching the musical Wicked. As we approach the half-term break, I'm filled with pride at the progress our students have made and the opportunities that lie ahead.

Aladdin

We’re really looking forward to the show in December. The school production of Aladdin, featuring performances from our very talented students, will take place in PA3 on Wednesday 4th, Thursday 5th and Friday 6th December 2024. Look out for an email with details of how to purchase tickets. The cast and crew are very excited to welcome you to Arabia this winter! 

Restart a Heart

Mrs Moore and the South Central Ambulance Service team supported an incredible 423 students in learning DR ABC and CPR last Monday. Thank you to Mrs Moore for organising the day and helping students learn something so important.  

If someone has a cardiac arrest, a defibrillator can help restart their heart while you’re waiting for the emergency services to arrive. There are more than 30,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests in the UK each year and currently less than 1 in 10 survive. Without immediate intervention with a defibrillator, most cardiac arrests are fatal. Every minute without CPR and a defibrillator, reduces survival chances by up to 10%. Whilst we hope it won’t be something that happens at school, we have three defibrillators on site should we ever need to help someone in this way at school. Following on from the success of the training, we have reminded all staff of the locations of the three devices in school, and encouraged them to watch a short video that explains the process to follow if they ever needed to use a defibrillator. You may find it a useful watch: How to Use a Defibrillator (AED) - First Aid Training - St John Ambulance 

Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust Careers Opportunities

BHT have a wealth of different career information opportunities open to students from Year 7 upwards. If your child might be interested in a career related to healthcare, BHT would encourage them to explore the opportunities further via their website BrigHT Futures @BHT - Welcome to Buckinghamshire Healthcare 

The Trust is offering a series of after-school ‘discover careers’ talks across the coming academic year. All secondary school students from Year 7 and above are invited to attend the free careers talks with students  welcome to attend as many as they can. The talks will help students to learn about working for the NHS from different perspectives, understand more about how healthcare professionals work together as multidisciplinary teams and to perhaps discover roles they might not have thought about! The next talks are about careers in nursing and midwifery (14th November), careers in allied health such as physiotherapy, diagnostic radiography, speech and language therapy, operating department practice, dietetics, orthoptics, occupational therapy, paramedic science, podiatry (5th December) and careers in Psychology (13th February). Find out more about each talk and book spaces for students and parents: https://www.tickettailor.com/events/buckinghamshirehealthcarenhstrust 

Sport Fixtures and results

It’s been a busy and successful week with our sports teams. Subsequently, deciding which students to give a shout out for has been more of a challenge than usual. We’ve got a number of fixtures to play this coming week - it’s mainly football with some Year 11 and Sixth Form netball on Wednesday.

The results for last week are: 

• Year 9 boys football vs Queensbury (7-1 win) - National Cup fixture
• Year 10 netball vs St Michaels (9-7 win) 
• Year 9 netball vs St Michaels Year 10 (6-6 draw). Our team played against St Michaels year 10 team due to an admin error on their end, which means we take the points for the fixture. Despite playing a team that is a year ahead of them the year 9s battled hard with the fixture resulting in a draw. 
• U18s football vs St Edwards (2-1 win, in extra time) - National Cup 

We took several teams to the English Schools National Cross Country Cup (Round 1 - County level). We achieved some fantastic individual and team results! The  junior girls team (Poppy, Lottie, Freya, Abi, Lizzie and Isabella) came 6th in the county. Special mentions go to Poppy who came 4th and Lottie who came 11th, out 50 runners, over a 2.3km course.

The junior boys team of Sebastian, Theo, Cameron and Vinny ran really well but was unfortunately affected by injury. 

The intermediate girls team consisting of Olive, Olivia L, Grace, Olivia C and Sophie came 5th in the county. There were 45 runners in this race and Olive came first overall! She ran 2.7km in 11:11 mins, finishing well over a minute before the second runner. 

The intermediate boys consisting of Aaron, Digby, Josh, Roy, Aus and Donnie came 4th in the county. They have qualified for the regional round taking place at Stowe School in November. An amazing achievement, well done boys!

The PE team would like to highlight the following sports people this week for their contributions: Mr Loveday has nominated Donnie (Year 9 football). Even though football is not Donnie's regular sport, Mr Loveday said that he showed great resilience and did not look out of place in defence, despite the fixture being a cup match of high importance. Reading the game well, good positioning, and strong tackles by Donnie proved to be a massive help to the year 9 team, providing them with the stability they needed. 

Mrs Savage spoke highly of Flo (Year 9 netball) for her great movement within the circle and fantastic shooting accuracy, playing a vital role in the year 10's victory. 

Mr Loveday has also nominated Fin (U18s football). Fin was outstanding, playing defensively in the national cup fixture. Despite only being on the pitch for sixty minutes due to an injury, no one was able to get past Fin. Without a doubt, Fin's performance was imperative to the success of the U18 team. 

Vacancies If you know of anyone who would be interested in joining the Cottesloe team, please share the information on our website: Vacancies

• Caretaker
• Inclusion Manager
• Assistant Teacher/Learning Support Assistants
• Teacher of Computing
• Teacher of DT

Year 12

Students will visit Oxford Brookes University on Wednesday as part of their preparations for considering their futures beyond school. 

Year 10

On Tuesday, during PSHCE, students will learn more about the Unifrog platform and how it can help them support decisions around the next steps in their Cottesloe Journey and beyond. 

Year 7

Wednesday is the day for (nearly) the whole year group to see Wicked, the musical at the Apollo Victoria Theatre in London. They are going to have an amazing time!

I hope you and your family have a wonderful half-term holiday. Whether you're exploring new places, enjoying outdoor activities, or simply spending quality time at home, I hope this time off from school provides your family with the chance to take a break and also have some fun! Thank you, as always, for your ongoing support.

Best wishes, 

Louise Baldwin

Head of School