With just one week to go before the October half-term break, a well-deserved rest is firmly in sight. Nevertheless, our community continues to uphold the highest expectations, and maintaining that momentum through next week will ensure we finish this opening half-term as strongly as we began. It has been a genuinely purposeful, productive, and rewarding start to the academic year. When we reach 3pm on Friday, I hope everyone in our community enjoys a restful half-term.

I hope everyone was able to enjoy the weather over the weekend—if forecasts are to be believed, it may well have been our last taste of summer before autumn sets in. Last week was another packed and productive one at TCS. We hosted two more successful Open Mornings for prospective families, while our Year 12s stepped up brilliantly for the Team Talk Challenge with Hidden Leaders. The whole school also completed both a Lockdown practice and a Fire Drill; both ran remarkably smoothly, and I commend students and staff for their calm, mature responses. Thank you to all the families who attended our online Tutor Meetings to discuss how students across all year groups (except Year 10 and 12) have settled in, as well as the wonderful turnout at the Year 10 Progress Evening appointments. It was fantastic to see families face-to-face as students begin their GCSE journey, helping focus their efforts and providing suggestions for next steps as they prepare for life beyond KS4. 

The third full week of the academic year is now underway, and the term continues to be filled with incredible energy and purpose. Our Year 7 students continue to impress with their seamless transition into secondary school life, while students across all year groups have shown a determined commitment to our core values: Prepare, Aspire, and Succeed.

Welcome to The Cottesloe School at the start of a new academic year!

Welcome to the penultimate week of the academic year! 

By this point in the academic year, the school heating is usually turned off until October. However, because it has been so cold this week, our exam students were really feeling the chill in the Hall and the Old Gym. Sitting still for several hours doesn’t generate much body heat, even with a jumper and blazer on. To ensure our students were fully prepared to focus entirely on their papers without distraction, we turned the heating back on. The weather looks to be warming up to more seasonal temperatures this week, so we hope to turn it off again soon. Despite the unseasonal cold, our students have shown immense resilience. A huge well done must go to our Year 11 and Year 13 students, who are now fully immersed in the main summer exam season and showing the high aspirations we encourage across all year groups. We also extend our praise to the Year 12 students taking Core Maths, Further Maths, and modular BTEC exams, all of whom are approaching their assessments with that same commendable drive to achieve their very best and succeed.