Welcome back; I hope you had an enjoyable and restful half-term. Following a busy September and October, that momentum continues into an equally dynamic second half of the Autumn term. Ahead of us lie the Year 13 mock examinations, our Sixth Form Open Evening, Science trips across several year groups, our annual Celebration of Achievement Evening, Parents' Evenings, and our eagerly anticipated school production of Oliver!, leading into December’s festive celebrations. 

I would also like to send our warmest wishes to our Hindu and Sikh families celebrating Diwali and Bandi Chhor Divas next weekend. May this festival of lights bring peace, warmth, and prosperity to your homes. Have a wonderful celebration!

What an outstanding and vibrant week at The Cottesloe School! The dedication shown by our students, both in the classroom and across extracurricular activities, embodied Prepare, Aspire, Succeed.

It has been another vibrant and action-packed week at school, with our students engaging in a wide variety of opportunities alongside classroom learning. From welcoming prospective families during our Open Mornings to celebrating creative talent at our Arts Award certificate presentation and waving off our Silver Duke of Edinburgh cohort on their expedition to Devon, the school has been buzzing!  

We had a really positive week last week, with all year groups getting settled into the routine of school life. Our newest members of Team TCS, the Year 7s, have been especially impressive, adapting to secondary school life with great enthusiasm. The weather kept us on our toes last week, with sudden shifts from sun to torrential rain and back again. As a reminder, now is the perfect time to ensure your child has a warm winter coat that still fits them. With the school site being so exposed to the wind, and many children waiting at bus stops/walking to and from school, a proper coat is essential. Please remind your young person that coats must be worn over blazers. Hoodies or round neck jumpers are not part of the school uniform and should not be worn as a substitute.

We’ve nearly completed the academic year, and although it's a shorter week, learning is still happening. Tomorrow, our Rewards trips are heading off for some fun at Legoland, Thorpe Park, and Chessington, and for students in school, there’s an exciting activity day planned. Meanwhile, our Year 12 students will have a fantastic day of interviews and career support with a variety of people from a range of different professions, companies and organisations, designed to help prepare them for life beyond sixth form.

It rained an awful lot last week! Thank you to all our students - and staff on duty -  for coping so well with the wet weather, which certainly threw some challenges our way during break times, lunchtimes, and for Years 11 and 13 as they signed out after their exams. Fortunately, the forecast for this week looks much warmer and drier - although not this morning! We are particularly looking forward to Thursday evening this week, when we will celebrate the end of the exam season with the Year 11 Prom. Mrs Woodburn has planned an incredible night for the students, and we cannot wait to see them looking fantastic in their prom dresses and suits. Elsewhere, we wish the very best of luck to our Warhammer Team as they head off to Warhammer World tomorrow. Wednesday marks our annual Sports Day - good luck to all the athletes taking part! It promises to be a highly competitive day, and we look forward to seeing which tutor group triumphs to become this year's champions.