A huge thank you to all of our wonderful students who volunteered to be guides at our Year 6 Open Evening last night.

We were delighted to welcome over 900 visitors through our doors, and our student helpers played such an important part in making the evening a success. They welcomed families, showed visitors around our school and shared their experiences with such confidence, enthusiasm and pride. We are incredibly grateful for the time and effort they gave. They represented our school brilliantly and were fantastic ambassadors for our community. It was wonderful to see them taking such pride in their school and helping our prospective families feel so welcome.

It has also been a really positive few weeks for our students more generally. We continue to see good progress across the school, with students working hard and making strong contributions to our school community. It is particularly pleasing to see that our rewards are regularly outperforming behaviour points, which reflects the positive choices, effort and achievements of so many of our students.

Thank you, as always, for your continued support.

We wish you and your families a really enjoyable weekend.

Best wishes,

Mrs May

Executive Headteacher

Creative Writing has changed from Wednesday lunchtime to Monday lunchtime with immediate effect

_____________________________________________________________

Gaming PC Building Club at ARCCH – All year groups

Commences Monday 5th October - 3pm-4.05pm

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Please visit our website to see the new enrichment list for Term 1

https://willingdonschool.org.uk/learning/enrichment-programme

Dear Parents, Carers and Students,

Another fantastic week of interhouse netball, this time with year 10 competing! A huge well done to 10BHA for winning this week in a really tight game ending in a golden goal! All teams have earnt house points and every coaching group was represented- well done year 10! Final scores are below. Next week it's Year 9s turn to compete and scores will be updated on social media throughout the week!

Please use this form to share details and photos of your child’s success. These may include sporting achievements, competitions, personal milestones, or other accomplishments they have achieved outside of school.

As we will be showcasing these on a display board in the PE Department, we would appreciate it if photos could be provided in the highest possible resolution and quality.

If you experience any issues attaching photos to the form, please send them as email attachments to JBarlow@willingdonschool.org.uk.

Thank you for helping us celebrate and recognise the fantastic achievements of our students!

https://forms.gle/riUcdCQw5jxfn2eC8

gstables@willingdonschool.org.uk

pastoral-11@willingdonschool.org.uk

Dear Parents, Carers and Students,

Year 11 have had another busy and productive week at school, with students continuing to demonstrate a positive attitude towards their learning and preparation for the important months ahead. Thank you to all the Year 11 students that gave up their time to support staff in subject departments and lead tours of the school during our Year 6 Open Evening this week on Thursday.

dscowen@willingdonschool.org.uk

pastoral-10@willingdonschool.org.uk

Dear Parents, Carers and Students,

It has been another positive week for Year 10, and I would like to begin by recognising the many students who continue to demonstrate a commitment to mastering personal excellence. This is evident through their active participation in a wide range of extra-curricular activities. These opportunities help students develop valuable life skills such as teamwork, resilience, leadership, and commitment, all of which will benefit them well beyond their time at Willingdon.

It has been particularly pleasing to see such enthusiastic engagement in House Netball this week. Thank you to all students who have taken part and represented their House with pride. Your willingness to embrace opportunities outside the classroom contributes greatly to our school community.

A huge congratulations must also go to our Year 10 Netball Team, who won the Partnership Tournament this week. This is a fantastic achievement and reflects the dedication, teamwork and determination shown by all involved. We are incredibly proud of the team and their success.

This week's assembly focused on the important topic of organ donation. Students engaged thoughtfully and respectfully throughout, and it was a pleasure to see such maturity when discussing a topic of significant personal and societal importance.

I would also like to thank the large number of Year 10 students who supported our Open Evening this week. Students represented the school exceptionally well across departments, led parent tours, spoke confidently to prospective families, and took part in interviews for our promotional video. Their commitment to the school and willingness to give up their time was greatly appreciated and showcased the very best of our year group.

As we continue to establish strong habits for Key Stage 4, Study Hall will begin next week for students who have struggled to complete homework consistently or have outstanding homework tasks. This support programme is designed to help students develop effective study routines and maintain the high standards they have demonstrated in lessons so far this year. We appreciate your support in reinforcing the importance of completing homework and independent study.

Many parents and students have been asking after Mr Keast, and I am pleased to share that his knee surgery was successful. He is now recovering well, and we wish him a continued smooth recovery.

Finally, I would like to thank all parents and carers for your ongoing support this term. Year 10 have made an extremely positive start to Key Stage 4, and this is very much a partnership between school and home.

Your encouragement and support play a crucial role in helping our students achieve their best, and we are grateful for all that you do.

Have a wonderful weekend.

The Year 10 Team

pastoral-9@willingdonschool.org.uk

Dear Parents, Carers and Students,

As we approach the halfway point of the first half of the autumn term, I would like to congratulate Year 9 on continuing to demonstrate our Personal Excellence values. It has been fantastic to see so many students showing ambition, respect, honesty and compassion throughout the week.

I had the pleasure of walking around lessons with our school governors this week, and it was particularly pleasing to see how focused and engaged our Year 9 students were. The governors commented on how relaxed the students appeared, how well they were concentrating on their work and how keen they were to contribute and answer questions when prompted. The quality of work and the positive learning environment were excellent to see. This is a real credit to the students themselves and to the support you provide at home.

Areas for Development

There are a couple of areas we would like students to focus on as we move forward. Firstly, please ensure that homework is completed and submitted on time so that students do not fall behind with their learning. We have also seen a slight dip in attendance recently, and we would really like to see this improve over the coming weeks. Regular attendance is essential to ensuring that students make the most of every learning opportunity.

Celebrating Success

There have been some fantastic achievements to celebrate this week. A particular congratulations goes to Miss Harris Moss’ coaching group, which has achieved attendance in excess of 95% this week. Well done to everyone in the group for this excellent achievement.

We would also like to recognise the students who have achieved more than 30 achievement points this week.

Congratulations to:

• Stella R L

• Daniel S

• Jade K

• Jack P

• Freya L S

An excellent achievement by all of you! Your hard work and commitment have not gone unnoticed, and some chocolate treats are coming your way!

Open Evening – Leading by Example

I would also like to express how incredibly proud I am of the many Year 9 students who volunteered to support our Open Evening yesterday. It was fantastic to see so many of you giving up your time to support different departments, welcome prospective families and confidently take parents around the school.

We received numerous positive comments from parents about the maturity, confidence and politeness of our students. Once again, you represented yourselves and Willingdon School in a truly fantastic manner, demonstrating our Personal Excellence values and leading by example. Thank you to everyone who volunteered and helped make the evening such a success. You should all be extremely proud of yourselves!

Sponsored Walk and Sporting Success

Last week’s sponsored walk was a fantastic success. It was wonderful to see so many students taking part, enjoying themselves and pushing through to complete the course. Despite the hot weather, students showed great determination, particularly during the final stages of the walk. We were also delighted with the excellent attendance on the day and would like to thank everyone who contributed to making the event such a success.

More sporting success this week, with our Under-14 girls’ football team, made up of a combination of Year 8 and Year 9 students, securing an impressive 3–0 victory in their match. Congratulations to all the girls involved. It is fantastic to see our students representing the school so positively and getting involved in extracurricular activities. We would strongly encourage all students to take advantage of the many opportunities available to them, whether in sport, the arts or other enrichment activities.

Homework Club Reminder

A quick reminder that our after-school homework club runs every day except Friday. Students are welcome to attend the computer rooms, where our learning mentors will be on hand to provide support with homework, revision and any areas of learning they may be finding challenging. This is a great opportunity for students to stay on top of their work and build positive study habits.

Thank you, as always, for your continued support. It has been another positive week for Year 9, and I am incredibly proud of the way our students continue to represent themselves and the school, both inside and outside the classroom.

I hope you all have a restful weekend, and I look forward to another successful week next week.

Kind regards,

The Year 9 Team

mdupont@willingdonschool.org.uk

pastoral-8@willingdonschool.org.uk

Dear Parents, Carers and Students,

Welcome to this week’s Year 8 community update. It has been a busy and vibrant week across the year group, filled with engaging practical lessons, creative rehearsals, and fantastic sporting success.

In lessons this week, overall student behaviour has been fairly good, and it has been great to see so many students working hard. In Science, Year 8 have been discovering how human hearing works and exploring the biology behind sound perception. Over in Design and Technology workshops, students have been crafting their own custom clocks, while in Geography, students have been unleashing their inner entrepreneurs by creating and pitching their own unique brand concepts.

Assembly times have been equally engaging this week. Year 8 listened attentively to an important presentation on organ donation, gaining a valuable understanding of how healthcare decisions impact real lives. Meanwhile, behind the scenes, a selected group of talented Year 8 students has been rehearsing tirelessly for an upcoming Spanish singing performance to mark the European Day of Languages. We are extremely excited to see their linguistic and musical skills showcased in assemblies next week.

On the sports field, we have a fantastic result to celebrate! A massive well done to the Year 8 Girls Football Team, who put in an outstanding performance to win 3 - 0 against Ratton School this week. Their determination, team spirit, and skill on the pitch were a wonderful reflection of the year group’s potential. Please do send us more sports achievements! We love to hear it. 

As we look ahead, we want to remind all Year 8 students about maintaining high standards of behaviour throughout the entire school day, including break and lunchtimes. It is vital that students remain respectful at all times, follow instructions from staff promptly, and remember that staying out of out-of-bounds areas is essential for everyone’s safety and well-being. It is also essential to stay respectful on the way to and from school, students must embody our school values at all times! 

Finally, attendance was down slightly again across the year group this week. We kindly ask for your continued support in ensuring your child attends school every single day whenever possible. Consistent attendance makes a huge difference to learning outcomes and helps students stay connected with their peers and studies, because every day really does count.

Thank you for your ongoing partnership and support. Have a wonderful weekend!

The Year 8 Team

pmuller@willingdonschool.org.uk

pastoral-7@willingdonschool.org.uk

Dear Parents, Carers and Students,

Firstly we would like to celebrate our Year 7 students who participated in the Becoming Willingdon Summer Challenge!

These students showed so much ambition and it was great for us to see their incredible work, well done! Students who participated earnt points for their house and also got to enjoy a free ice cream from the ice cream van! Well done Year 7!

We were so impressed with the way Year 7 conducted themselves on the sponsored walk last week. They all walked exceptionally well with no issues or complaints, they made us so proud! 

Outside of school, Farrah W, who plays for the Eastbourne Netball Club, attended trials for London Mavericks a couple of weeks ago and has received an offer to join their Emerging Athlete Pathway this season! Farrah is very excited about the opportunity and has her 1^st training session this Friday with the club. Good luck Farrah! 

Also this month Millie N has taken part in the City of Brighton & Hove Ken Deeley Open Meet swim event. She competed brilliantly and achieved silver in the 100m butterfly event, which was her PB as well. Well done Millie!

Please do keep sharing any achievement your child has out of school, we love to hear about them.

Have a lovely weekend.

The Year 7 Team  

We are pleased to share details of upcoming college and sixth form open events. These visits are excellent opportunities to explore campuses, meet staff and students, and learn more about the courses and facilities available.

East Sussex College Group 

(3:45 pm – 6:45 pm)

Please register your interest here:                  ESCG Open Events

Eastbourne

•      Wednesday 14^th October 2026

•      Thursday 19^th November 2026

•      Thursday 18^th March 2027

Lewes

•      Thursday 15^th October 2026

•      Thursday 19^th November 2026

•      Thursday 18^th March 2027

Hastings

•      Tuesday 13^th October 2026

•      Thursday 19^th November 2026

•      Thursday 18^th March 2027

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Bexhill College 

No registration required

•      Wednesday 21^st October 2026

       (6:00 pm – 8:30 pm)

•      Thursday 22^nd October 2026

(4:00 pm – 6:30 pm)

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Plumpton College 

(9:00 am – 2:00 pm)

Booking required – please book here: 

Plumpton Open Events

•      Saturday 10^th October 2026

•      Saturday 21^st November 2026

•      Saturday 16^th January 2027

•      Saturday 13^th March 2027

•      Saturday 16^th June 2027

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BHASVIC (Brighton, Hove & Sussex Sixth

Form) (4:00 pm – 8:00 pm)

•      Wednesday 11^th November 2026

•      Thursday 12^th November 2026

•      4:00 – 5:00 pm: Quiet slot allocated only for    

those with SEND

•      5:00 – 8:00 pm: all other students

•      A registration of interest form, and additional information, will be provided on the following page in the weeks leading up to the evenings: BHASVIC Open Events

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Seaford Head Sixth Form

•      Thursday 8^th October 2026, 6:00 – 8:00 pm

(All Sixth Form staff & subject leaders attending)

•      Saturday 10^th October 2026, 10:00am–12:00 pm

(Head of Sixth Form & Headteacher in attendance - no subject leaders attending)

Talks, tours, and the chance to meet subject teachers and students.

For more information and to book, please contact Clare Callard on:

clarecallard@seafordhead.org or 01323 872723 

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Contact

For any questions about these or other open events, please contact Mrs Rooney on:

01323 485254 ext 281 or srooney@willingdonschool.org.uk

We do pass on information about community events/ organisations that may send in flyers to the school but please note these are separate from the school and we do not run checks on the organisations involved.

SPREAD AWARENESS: Follow us and share our posts on social media and explain why you are supporting CWCF. Encourage your friends and followers to do the same and join you in making a difference!

FUNDRAISE: Host a fundraising event. It could be a coffee morning with friends and family, or maybe you want to set yourself a challenge and do a sponsored run! No matter the event, pop into the office or call 01323 488561 for more information about organising a fundraising event for us.

VOLUNTEER: If you have a spare few hours during the week, why not donate some of your time to helping out in our office or volunteer at fundraising events? Get in touch today via fundraising@childrenwithcancerfund.org.uk and become a CWCF volunteer.

DONATE: Donations make a huge difference to the work we do here at CWCF. We simply wouldn’t be able to function without them. Your donation can help provide a family holiday at one of our caravans, grant wishes for families and help our families with any unexpected expenses. Every single donation, however small, adds up to make a big difference.

Let’s keep on standing together in the fight against childhood cancer 🎗️

Well done to this week’s Sparx Maths Champions! This week’s awards have gone to those students who showed the most improvement in their Maths homework this week.

Sometimes you don't want to spend your whole evening reading about jobs you already know you're not interested in... 

Why not look at some of the hundreds of short videos, summarising what a job title really means. Check them out for yourself, then you can decide whether you want to go forward and find out more. 

https://www.mypathcareersuk.com/a-z-of-jobs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHMkqGYq5nk

Next week we welcome back inspirational rap artist, author and poet – Breis. KS3 students are in for a treat and will learn about the history of hip-hop and experience some of his lyrics. 

Congratulations to our two Year 10 students who performed in the Eastbourne Poetry by Heart competition as part of the Eastbourne Literacy Festival in the classic and freestyle sections. They worked hard on their performances and conveyed depth of emotion. These students also launched our ‘open-mic’ poetry sessions in the library at lunchtime on Thursdays. Open to any student who would like to test out performing a poem as part of Poetry by Heart.

Our Poetry by Heart Grande Finalists gave an emotive performance of Dulce et decorum est by Wilfred Owen as part of the intermission in the Eastbourne Lit Festival Poetry by Heart competition. We our very proud of all their hard work. Well done!

WCS took part in the first Eastbourne Literary Festival Schools Literature Parade last Friday: a celebration of stories and the joy they bring. Looking forward to seeing how the parade grows in future years. Well done to everyone who took part in this first parade.

Four Year 10 students were selected to take part in a prestigious film screening of 'The Hate U Give' by Angie Thomas at the Towner Gallery. They participated in talks before and after the screening and were presented with signed copies of the book. The book explores some key themes explored as part of the GCSE History course. Other copies are available from the library.

This week’s Year 7 Literacy in Coaching Time focus was on methods we can use to build a reading habit. Students looked at habit stacking: the idea that you can link a new habit to one that you already have.  

Year 8 focused on how Sparx Reader regular careful practice can help students to make rapid progress in their reading comprehension skills. These skills are useful in life and across all our subject areas.

The deadline for Sparx Reader completion to 100% SRP is always Monday by 8:30am.

Students who have not completed previous pieces to 100% SRP should click ‘catch up previous’ to ensure all careful reading is up-to-date. Please ensure any incomplete sessions have been caught up.

Our first 21 students have earned Gold Reader status. Fantastic work. Let’s see how many students can reach this goal before the end of term. Remember to earn one gold star, you need 100 SRP extra before the Monday 8:30am deadline. Gold Reader Club is up and running for our first two groups of Year 7 and Year 8 students. It is exciting to see the concentration on careful reading in the mornings.

Year 8 Reading in Coaching Time

Well done to 8MJF who are regularly reading Frankenstein in coaching time. This week Doctor Frankenstein became very ill after he brought his monster to life. Henry Clerval came to visit and nursed him back to health. Tune in next week in coaching time to find out what happens next.

The visit provided valuable insights and inspiration for our student leaders as they continue to develop their roles within the school community. A huge well done to all the students that attended. They represented Willingdon brilliantly throughout the day and were a credit to themselves and our school.

During lesson walkthroughs this week, it has been fantastic to see our Year 11 students highly engaged and focused in their learning. Across a wide range of subjects, students have demonstrated ambition, resilience and a determination to deepen their knowledge and understanding.

We are looking forward to another successful week next week as students continue their preparations for the mock examination period.

Please note that next week is a Week A (Green Week) on the student timetable.

Thank you, as always, for your continued support.

The Year 11 Team

Further to my letter dated 7th September, I am writing to provide an update regarding the post-16 college application process and the use of the Careers East Sussex platform (https://careerseastsussex.co.uk/).

1. Action Required: Profile Completion

By now, students should have completed both the ‘Your Profile’ and ‘Your Next Step’ sections on the Careers East Sussex platform. This task was originally set as homework during Term 6 (with a deadline of Friday 17th July), and school staff have continued to support students with this since the start of the academic year.

We kindly ask that you check with your child to confirm this has been completed. If it has not yet been submitted, please ask them to finish it as soon as possible.

2. Application Timeline & Process

●     Mid-October: Colleges and sixth forms are expected to have uploaded their course listings, for September 2027 entry, onto Careers East Sussex.

●     Notification & Guidance: Students will be informed as soon as applications go live (exact date to be confirmed). They will also receive full guidance on how to navigate the platform and submit their applications.

●     Main Application Deadline: Monday, 30th November.

Students can apply to multiple post-16 providers directly through Careers East Sussex, including:

●     East Sussex College Group

●     Bexhill College

●     Seaford Head Sixth Form

●     DV8 Sussex

●     Plumpton College

●     Heathfield Community College

3. Alternative Deadlines & Direct Applications

The following post-16 providers do not use the Careers East Sussex application system or have earlier deadlines. Applications for these must be made directly via their respective websites:

●     Eastbourne College (Note: This is an independent college, separate from East Sussex College Eastbourne). Their scholarship application deadline is 10th October.

○     Website: https://www.eastbourne-college.co.uk/admissions/sixth-form-admissions/

●     Bede’s: Their scholarship application deadline is 13th October.

○     Website: https://www.bedes.org/admissions

●     BHASVIC: Applications open in early November, with a priority deadline of 4th December.

○     Website: https://www.bhasvic.ac.uk/admissions

If they have not already done so, please encourage your child to start exploring available courses. You can access each course directory using the table above.

Thank you for your continued support during this important transition process.

Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions.

Kind regards,

Sarah Rooney

Careers Adviser

Tel: 01323 485254 ext 281

Email: srooney@willingdonschool.org.uk

Students are reminded that school expectations remain in place when travelling to and from school. Please behave respectfully, follow the instructions of the bus driver, and show consideration for passengers, residents and their property.