It has been another positive and inspiring week, and I have been particularly proud of the behaviour of our students and their genuine curiosity for learning, both of which have been evident during our Year 6 tours.

Our student guides have been amazing once again, demonstrating confidence, warmth and a real sense of pride in their school. In particular, our Year 7 guides received some wonderful comments, with visitors describing them as incredible ambassadors for the school. It is always lovely to see our students making such a positive impression, and they should be very proud of the way they represent our school community.

Alongside the learning taking place in classrooms, we have also had a busy week of professional development for our staff. Two members of our team attended a session at the University of Sussex, exploring how we can best support boys to achieve the strongest possible outcomes. The discussions also considered the concept of masculinity and the importance of helping boys develop positive, healthy understandings of what it means to be a man, particularly at a time when negative portrayals of masculinity can be so prevalent. This is an important area of work, and it is encouraging to see our staff engaging with research and ideas that can help us better support the young people in our care.

Our focus on professional learning and innovation has also extended to digital technology and artificial intelligence (AI). Mrs Townsend-Smith enjoyed attending a two-day digital conference in Kent, providing a valuable opportunity to explore developments in this rapidly evolving area. Looking ahead, we are delighted that Mr Dubas-Fisher will be attending DigiFest in Eastbourne next week to support and develop our work in AI. We are also looking forward to welcoming Emma Darcy on Monday, who will be working with staff to further develop our knowledge and understanding of AI and its potential to support teaching and learning. As technology continues to evolve, it is important that we equip our staff with the knowledge and confidence to explore these opportunities thoughtfully, ensuring that innovation enhances learning and remains focused on the needs of our students.

We also took part in the East Sussex Heads' Meeting, bringing school leaders together to share ideas, discuss common challenges and consider how we can continue to improve outcomes for all our students. There was a strong emphasis on collaboration and the value of sharing effective practice across schools, ensuring that we can learn from one another and build on the excellent work already taking place in our local education community.

As ever, it is the combination of our students' enthusiasm, the dedication of our staff and our commitment to continuous improvement that makes our school such a special place to be.

Thank you to everyone who has contributed to another rewarding week.

Best wishes,

Mrs May

Executive Headteacher

Dear Parents, Carers and Students,

The interhouse netball event continued with Year 9 this week. Each coaching group was well represented and students are really enjoying the competition! A huge well done to 9ALE who got the highest score for Friston! 

Well done to this week’s Sparx Maths Champions! This week’s awards have gone to those students that got the highest ‘Independent Learning XP’ (as well as achieving 100% in their homework).

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,

I would like to begin by congratulating Year 11 on another fantastic week at school. It has been wonderful to see so many students consistently demonstrating our Personal Excellence values as they prepare for the next stage of their journey beyond Willingdon next year.

Students have continued working on their college applications during coaching time and have engaged positively with a range of opportunities designed to support their future pathways. This week, students attended an informative assembly delivered by representatives from Bexhill College, alongside a workshop led by visitors from BHASVIC, as well as additional careers and pathway sessions designed to help them make informed decisions about their next steps after secondary education.

dscowen@willingdonschool.org.uk

pastoral-10@willingdonschool.org.uk

Dear Parents, Carers and Students,

Mastering Personal Excellence and Exploring Life Beyond Willingdon

This week has provided another excellent example of the opportunities available to our Year 10 students as they continue to Master Personal Excellence and Explore Life Beyond Willingdon.

Our Coaching Time focus has been work experience, with students being encouraged to take responsibility for ensuring they are ready for this important experience. Work experience provides a fantastic opportunity to look beyond school, develop new skills and gain an insight into the world of work.

Congratulations also go to our football team, who produced a superb performance to win 3-1 at St Catherine's. Well done to everyone involved.

In assembly, Mr Crellin led our celebration of Languages Week, encouraging students to recognise the value of languages and the opportunities that communication and cultural understanding can create.

Finally, we are delighted that so many students are beginning to demonstrate the qualities we will be looking for in our Student Leadership Team in Year 11. Leadership is about making a positive difference to others, setting an example and taking responsibility. For our Year 10 students, this is a fantastic opportunity to step forward and ultimately leave a positive legacy at Willingdon.

We encourage all students to continue challenging themselves, getting involved and making the most of everything Year 10 has to offer.

Have a fantastic weekend!

The Year 10 Team

pastoral-9@willingdonschool.org.uk

Dear Parents, Carers and Students,

As we approach the end of our second full week before half term, I would like to say a huge well done to Year 9 for another fantastic week.

We have seen lots of amazing lessons taking place across the year group, which was particularly evident during several learning walks I completed with members of SLT. It was fantastic to visit coaching time and lessons and see so many students making full use of their time, demonstrating our Personal Excellence Values and taking real pride in their learning.

We also had a great assembly this week focusing on languages and the importance of embracing language learning. We discussed the opportunities that learning a language can provide and the benefits it can have later in life. We would encourage all students to make the most of their language lessons and take advantage of the opportunities available to them.

Attendance

Attendance has been excellent this week and has improved from last week. A particular well done goes to 9SMI and 9ALE, whose coaching groups have reached the fantastic figure of 96% attendance. Well done!

Reward Points

Congratulations also go to the students who achieved the highest number of rewards points this week:

● Maya C

● Sofia V

● Stella L

● Danielle K

● Jack P

A fantastic achievement, well done! Your sweets are on their way to you!

Open days

I would also like to say again how impressed I was with our Year 9 students during the open days this week. So many students volunteered to lead and show prospective Year 6 students and their parents around the school.

They were enthusiastic, professional and represented themselves and the school brilliantly. Their knowledge of the school and the opportunities available was fantastic. They were excellent ambassadors for Willingdon. You should all be very proud of yourselves.

Year 9 Football Success

A huge congratulations also goes to our Year 9 football team, who took part in the annual Bexhill College football tournament on Thursday.

Competing against nine other schools, the team performed brilliantly and finished in first place, which is an amazing achievement!

There were also some fantastic individual performances:

🏆 Seb F: Golden Glove Award, conceding just one goal throughout the entire tournament.

⚽ Alfie G:  Player of the Tournament, with an outstanding performance and six goals.

An incredible achievement from the whole team. Well done, boys, keep up the great work!

Uniform and Equipment

As the weather is becoming colder, please can I remind students to come to school prepared for the changing conditions.

Students should now be bringing a coat to school, as well as having the correct equipment with them each day. Please also ensure that students are wearing their jumpers and blazers together, in line with our uniform expectations.

Thank you, as always, for your continued support.

Wishing you all a fantastic weekend.

The Year 9 Team

mdupont@willingdonschool.org.uk

pastoral-8@willingdonschool.org.uk

Dear Parents, Carers and Students,

A huge congratulations to Year 8 for the excellent behaviour and focus observed during recent leadership walkthroughs! Teachers were incredibly impressed by your dedication, and this standard was maintained wonderfully during coaching time. Keep up this brilliant standard of work, you are setting a fantastic example for the school.

The excitement is building as the Interhouse Netball competition kicks off next Monday! We have some exciting fixtures to start the tournament, so come along and support your houses. Monday's opening matches are:

• 8MJF vs 8CFA

• 8JBA vs 8CPH

  
  

Good luck to all the teams competing, let’s see who takes the early lead on the leaderboard!

Don't miss out! Spaces are filling up for our exciting Science Museum trip taking place in November.  This is a brilliant opportunity to experience hands-on science and discover new technologies. Make sure you log onto parentpay to sign-up details as soon as possible to secure your spot!

As it is International Languages Week, our coaching sessions this week have focused on the incredible power of language. We explored where speaking a second language can lead you in the global job market. Being bilingual opens doors to amazing careers in:

• International Business & Law

• Global Journalism & Media

• Diplomacy & Translation Services

• Travel, Tourism, & Engineering

This is the season of colds and flu, but so many of you are showing incredible resilience. A massive congratulations to everyone maintaining excellent attendance and showing up ready to learn every single day. Your determination to keep pushing forward despite the autumn bugs does not go unnoticed.

Have a great week, Year 8!

The Year 8 Team

pmuller@willingdonschool.org.uk

pastoral-7@willingdonschool.org.uk

Dear Parents, Carers and Students,

A huge thank you and well done to all those Year 7s who have helped with the Year 6 morning tours of the school this week. The students have been praised by the Year 6 parents, with many stating they have been polite, knowledgeable and extremely smart during these tours. 

A big well done also to the Year 7 Netball team who last Friday took part in the Eastbourne Partnerships Netball Tournament. The girls played exceptionally well, getting through to the final, where we unfortunately lost to Cavendish. However, second place across the town is an exceptional achievement, well done! 

Please can we ask you again to speak to your children about how to behave appropriately during social times. We are still seeing a huge number of students pushing, shoving, play fighting, grabbing one another etc. We are out on duty every break and lunch and are spending the entire time telling the Year 7s to get their hands off one another. This physicality is leading to students being hurt and, as a result, we had to ban Year 7 from the field for the second half of this week.

As part of your chat, can you please let them know we will be sanctioning students who cannot stick to our hands-off policy. 

Thank you for your support. Have a lovely weekend.

The Year 7 Team  

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.

Dear CWCF supporters.

We are thrilled to reveal that Children With Cancer Fund (Polegate) will be returning to the Arlington Bluebell Walk next spring. We will be taking over the running of this beautiful spot for two days on Monday April 5th and Tuesday April 6th.

Last year’s event raised a record-breaking £6,232.98 which has helped Children With Cancer Fund to provide wishes, respite breaks, put on events and otherwise offer support to children with cancer and their families in East Sussex and Brighton and Hove.

And next year we would like to smash that total!

So please put the dates in your diary, tell all your friends and family. And if you would like to come and help out, it’s never too early to sign up!

For more information, please email community@childrenwithcancerfund.org.uk

Thank you once again for all your ongoing support of Children With Cancer Fund.

Laura and the CWCF fundraising team

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

Dear Parents and Carers,

Thank you for your continued support and for the respectful way in which you communicate with our school team. At Willingdon Community School, we are committed to the wellbeing of both our students and staff.

To help streamline communication, ensure you receive answers as quickly as possible, and keep our main phone lines clear for urgent student safety matters, please use the following guide when contacting the school.

1. Direct Information Channels

Before telephoning reception for routine queries, checking these resources first provides instant answers:

• The Community Bulletin: For weekly announcements, key term dates, event details, and general school news.

• The School Website: For key policies, the school calendar, uniform guidance, letters (including trip details), curriculum booklets, parents' evening info, homework, SEND resources, enrichment programmes, and emergency closure updates.

• Your Child’s Pastoral Team: For individual student well-being, attendance updates, academic questions, or personal concerns, please reach out directly:

  • Year 7 Team: pastoral-7@willingdonschool.org.uk | Phone Ext: 171 / 177

  • Year 8 Team: pastoral-8@willingdonschool.org.uk | Phone Ext: 275 / 290

  • Year 9 Team: pastoral-9@willingdonschool.org.uk | Phone Ext: 294 / 254

  • Year 10 Team: pastoral-10@willingdonschool.org.uk | Phone Ext: 255 / 233 / 227

  • Year 11 Team: pastoral-11@willingdonschool.org.uk | Phone Ext: 213 / 212

    
    

2. Main Reception & Urgent Matters

Our main reception staff remain available for urgent, on-day student safety emergencies and visitors on site. By reserving phone calls to reception for urgent matters, you help us keep our lines open for emergencies and ensure routine queries are handled directly by the staff best equipped to help.

3. Response Times & Communication Expectations

We always aim to respond to messages as quickly as possible. However, please keep in mind that office staff may need to consult teaching, pastoral, or leadership staff before providing a complete answer.

• Response Window: Please allow up to two working days for a response to routine communications.

• Working Hours: Staff are not expected to respond to emails before 8:30am, after 4:00pm, over weekends, or during school holidays.

• Awaiting a Response? If you are concerned that a reply has not materialised after two working days, please email talk2us@willingdonschool.org.uk, and we will ensure your query is directed to the appropriate member of staff.

Thank you for your understanding, patience, and ongoing partnership in supporting our students and staff.

Warm regards,

Willingdon Community School

https://eastbourne.foodbank.org.uk/

Plumpton College would like to invite students, parents and carers to our upcoming Plumpton College Open Events.

As always students will be able to join residential and campus tours, speak to curriculum and support staff, hear from our Principal and speak to current students.

October Open Event

📅 Date: Saturday 10 October 2026

⏰ Time: 9am - 2pm

📍 Location: Plumpton College, Lewes, East Sussex BN7 3AE

Other dates available

📆 Saturday 21st November 2026

📆 Saturday 16th January 2027

📆 Saturday 13th March 2027

📆 Wednesday 16th June 2027

During coaching time this week, students have been provided with important information regarding their upcoming mock examinations. They have also had dedicated time to develop their study skills and revise independently for their examination subjects.

We would appreciate your support in ensuring that your child comes to school each week with appropriate revision materials so that they can make the most of this allocated preparation time. Developing effective independent study habits now will be crucial in supporting students to achieve their full potential during the mock examination period.

It has also been fantastic to see an increasing number of students attending both lunchtime and after-school subject intervention sessions. The ambition, commitment and determination being demonstrated by students in taking advantage of these additional learning opportunities is extremely pleasing to see.

Please continue to encourage your child to attend interventions regularly and make full use of the support available from subject teachers.

• Key topics and content to revise

• Revision resources and support documents

• Links to useful revision websites

• Details of additional intervention opportunities

• Examination guidance and preparation advice

This information has been:

• Emailed directly to students

• Uploaded to Edulink

• Published within the 'Key Information - Year 11 Information -2026' section of the school website

The students who acted as tour guides were exceptional ambassadors for the school. Their confidence, maturity and enthusiasm were evident throughout, and they demonstrated our school values brilliantly. It was clear to visitors how proud they are to be part of the Willingdon community, and they represented themselves and the school exceptionally well.

Students have been working incredibly hard, producing high-quality work and showing excellent levels of commitment to their learning. The positive learning environment that has been evident in classrooms reflects the ambition and maturity of the year group as they approach this important stage of their education.

The year group fully embraced the event, with students putting a huge amount of effort into their fancy dress outfits and approaching the day with enthusiasm, positivity and school community spirit. It was wonderful to see students enjoying the occasion together while creating lasting memories during their final year at Willingdon.

Thank you to all students, families and staff who helped make the day such a success.

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 B (Purple Week) on the student timetable.

Thank you, as always, for your continued support.

The Year 11 Team

KS3 students experienced an inspirational session with rap artist, author and poet – Breis on Wednesday. Copies of his books are available from the library for those who want to check out his lyrics. Maybe some students will learn and perform them at Poetry by Heart? More details to follow.

Every Thursday lunchtime in the library lounge area, students are invited to recite a poem to prepare for Poetry by Heart. This week, two Year 8 students performed The Witch by Mary Elizabeth Coleridge in a beautiful dramatisation. If you are interested in performing a poem on Thursdays, sign up at the library. See Edulink for futher details about the Poetry by Heart competition coming soon.

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.

Delilah S-H; A great effort made consistently with her Year 7 recall booklet

Alivia J; She has been extremely kind to multiple members of staff and they have come to me to report this, she also has been really great at supporting struggling students and has made an effort to make them feel welcome

Autumn J; For playing such a huge roll in 9ALE’s netball win this week! Autumn scored all 7 of their goals!

Noah P; For being a brilliant historian who already knows far more than I do on most topics. A credit to my classroom and even only a month into his Willingdon tenure, smashing our personal excellence values!

This week we celebrated the International Day of Languages with a language song quiz during coaching time, the winning group will be announced and rewarded next week!

https://eequ.org/book/wildlife-and-tech-club-hastings-oct-half-term-with-naturebytes-3078

It has been wonderful to see so many of our students in school this week, making the most of the many enrichment opportunities available to them.

Our Year 9 football team headed to Bexhill and did us all proud, while some of our Year 11 students visited BASVIC in Brighton to explore life beyond Willingdon and consider their next steps.

Back in school, students have enjoyed Languages assemblies, a visit from an author, and our parent open mornings. It has certainly been a busy and rewarding week, and I am incredibly proud of all that our students have achieved.

I hope you all have a lovely and restful weekend.

Mrs Holden

We wrote to all parents / carers yesterday to inform you that we will be changing the way you can report absence for your child for the next four weeks. From Monday, this will be via the absence phone line between 07:00 and 08:20.

Please note the absence phone line will open at 07:00 from Monday 12 October. We apologise that this was not made clear in our letter to parents.

We recognise that a supportive school environment, in which every child feels welcomed, helps to create a sense of belonging.

With this in mind, we have decided to run our absence phone line from 07:00 each morning, on a trial basis for the next four weeks. This is to ensure that we can check in on student wellbeing and have supportive conversations with parents and carers. It will help us to tighten up our absence management process and free up our Attendance and Pastoral staff to use their time to work strategically in supporting our students.

We will no longer accept absence messages via Edulink, Arbor, text or email. Instead, please phone the school absence line between 07:00 and 08:20 on 01323 483144.

To report planned absences such as medical appointments, please phone the absence line between 09:00 and 15:00.

We will run this model on a trial basis for four weeks and will review its effectiveness before we make any permanent changes or amend the policy.