Dear Parent/Carer,

Christmas Newsletter 2009

I would like to take this opportunity to wish you all a happy festive holiday and a successful new year!

We have had another very successful term at Feltham. A huge thanks to all the students and staff for the work they have put into ensuring that achievement and ambition for further success is now embedded in all our activities. A real sense of pride has developed in our students:

• Pride in their work
• Pride in their progess
• Pride in their attainment and all their achievements from academic, sporting, artistic to social responsibility
• Pride in their community

We are continuing to focus all of our attentions on ever improving teaching and learning at Feltham. We are determined that every student enjoys their learning and is offered a curriculum that allows them to succeed beyond all expectations. Students at Feltham will leave school with the qualifications and skills that they need to be successful adults with powerful opportunities. Ever improving opportunities for students to gain A* and A grades, alongside the ‘gold standard’ 5+A*-C with English and Maths, is our aim. We are looking in particular at how we can further empower our girls to ensure that they take up the opportunities offered and raise their expectations for their future.

I am delighted to report that we have a very strong team of teachers in place this year and I am sure you will have had positive feedback from your children about their learning. We have not had to rely upon supply teachers to provide long term cover. We are aware from your feedback that this was an issue that you felt had a negative impact on learning and enjoyment of learning in the past.

Thank you to all of you who attended our Support for Success Evening in November. The feedback you gave was very helpful and we have now re-worked our reporting and assessment in line with your recommendations. You will have a letter from your child’s Achievement Co-ordinator outlining the changes we have made, which included re-introducing a subject teacher and parent consultation.

Attendance at school and punctuality are another key focus for improvement. Attendance improved last year and we are expecting it to improve further this year. Despite concerns about swine flu, we have not had any noticeable increase in illness this term. Our student tracking clearly shows that attendance at school has a huge impact on achievement. Poor attendance results in under-achievement and therefore lessens drastically future opportunities and life chances. Punctuality to school has historically been poor. I am very pleased to report that our new punctuality procedures have greatly improved student punctuality. There is a far greater sense of urgency to get to school on time! Thank you for all your support.

We have had two successful drop down days this term, when the timetable has been suspended to allow for different learning challenges to happen. These days are used to develop independent learning skills, teamwork and leadership. We have had very positive feedback from students about how much they enjoyed the activities that were arranged and there was a real sense of energy and focus evident on these days. Please check the website for latest news and cultural events – www.feltham.hounslow.sch.uk. You will also be able to visit our Sports College section for all the latest results. We have had another very successful term – congratulations to all our sports people.

I would like to congratulate all of our students who achieved Duke of Edinburgh Bronze Award this term. It is the first time for a number of years that we have had so many students achieving the full award. I was very proud to see them all collect their certificates at the Awards Evening. Thank you to parents who supported their children undertaking this award and to the staff involved in making sure it all works so smoothly.

We were very pleased to be given the opportunity to host the ‘Speak Out’ Borough Final. Speak Out is a public speaking competition supported by the Jack Petchey Foundation. We had two Year 10 students in the final who were an absolute credit to the school. Their speeches were intelligent and powerful, delivered with confidence.

We had a Year 10 Citizenship Charity Event last week for the first time. The students did a fantastic job and made us all very proud! The winning group won £3,000 to give to their chosen charity, which was Aik Saath, who promote anti-racism youth schemes. Many congratulations to the three girls who made up the winning group. Their enterprise was quite admirable. They had managed to publicise their cause on local radio and in the local press.

The Hounslow Education Business Partnership Awards Ceremony was held at Heathland School this term. Feltham Community College received a special award for exceptional partnership working with BP. In the Sixth Form we have a Business and ICT Academy which works very closely with BP and other international businesses to provide summer holiday internships for our Sixth Form students. Thank you to all our business partners that are supporting us in encouraging a flourishing enterprise culture in school.

We have not had a visit from OFSTED as yet. However, I am glad to report that our School Improvement Partner has agreed with our judgement of ‘good’ for pupils’ achievement and the extent to which they enjoy their learning. Monitoring by the Local Authority and London Challenge stated that the progress made by the school over the last year had been outstanding. All of us are confident that our students, your children, have the highest class of education available. We are determined to continue our journey to being judged an outstanding school.

You may remember that we are one of five schools in Hounslow that are benefiting from Building Schools for the Future. We are also planning on becoming a Trust School. Early in the new year we will be organising a number of parent/carer consultation evenings to explain our Trust School plans and the partnerships we are looking at supporting us. It would be good to see as many of you as possible as you are obviously our most important partners.

Finally, a big thank you for all your support, it makes an enormous difference.

Yours sincerely

Victoria Eadie
Headteacher