13 September 2019

Dear Parent/Carer,

Open Evening Arrangements & Other Notices

Open Evening - Thursday 26 September 2019

This year’s annual Open Evening will be taking place from 5.45 – 8.00pm on Thursday 26
September 2019, and many of your son(s)/ward(s) will be involved in the evening displays and
tours that we put on for prospective students and parents/carers.

EARLY CLOSE 1.10PM – THURSDAY 26 SEPTEMBER

In order to allow students and the staff to go home and then return for the evening activities, the
school will be closing at 1.10pm on Thursday. Students on Free School Meals will be able to get
their meal at break.

LATE START 10.45AM – FRIDAY 27 SEPTEMBER

As a large number of students will be helping next week, we will also have a slightly delayed start
to school on Friday 27 September. Students will be required to be back in school for registration
at 10.45am; they will then proceed with the remainder of the school day.

I should be most grateful that if asked your son/ward does help out on the evening. Currently the
school is consistently outperforming boys nationally and our students are our biggest asset; they
cannot fail to impress potential future parents/carers and students. If they are asked to help on
the evening, a separate letter will be emailed to you with full details and a link to reply.

Key Dates for All Year Groups – Autumn Term

EARLY CLOSE 1.30PM – TUESDAY 8 OCTOBER 2019

We will close school at 1.30pm on 8 October, to allow for some staff training. Students will have
a normal morning in school which will be followed by a normal lunch service and then afternoon
registration.

PROGRESS & PARTNERSHIP DAY – FRIDAY 11 OCTOBER 2019

Meetings will take place for all parent/carers of students in Year 8 to Year 13. Details will follow
in a separate correspondence.

NOVEMBER INSET & PPA DAYS

Friday 22 November is marked in the calendar as an INSET day, while Monday 25 November is
a designated PPA Day. Students are not required in school on either of these days.

SCHOOL PRODUCTION – THURSDAY 28 AND FRIDAY 29 NOVEMBER 2019

CHRISTMAS CONCERT – THURSDAY 12 DECEMBER 2019
Further details about these arts events will be circulated soon, but please do add them to your
diaries.

Continued on next page…

END OF TERM
Please be aware that the autumn term ends on Thursday 19 December. Students are required to
be back in school on Monday 6 January 2020.

You can view the complete school calendar on the school’s website: www.isleworthsyon.org. To
keep up-to-date with school developments, news, notices and information, we recommend you
visit our Social Media networks. You can follow us on Twitter (www.twitter.com/IsleworthSyon) or
‘like’ our Facebook page: (www.facebook.com/IsleworthSyon). Thank you for your continued
support.

Other Notices

Thank you to all parents/carers for your support in ensuring children have started the year
successfully. We are delighted to be back and, in particular, to have welcomed our new Year 7
and Year 12 students to the school and Sixth Form.

The vast majority of students returned to school fully prepared for learning, properly equipped
and looking very smart. There were some issues over appearance and I would just remind you
that our requirements can be checked by referring to the school website here. We have no desire
to be in any dispute over our published standards and continue to ask you for your support with
them.

We have endured some teething issues with our online payment system (Tucasi), following a
summer upgrade. The issues are nearly resolved but, if your child’s account has in any way been
affected, our thanks for your patience with this matter.

There have been a few parents/carers parking on the double yellow lines, or the zig zag lines
around the school. These restrictions are in place for the safety of all of our students. The police
have spoken to a number of people about this and the next step will be enforcement, which we
fully support.

Examination Results

Each summer our students receive their Advanced Level or GCSE results. Yet again, the
students performed brilliantly across both year groups and there were some amazing individual
achievements.

At Advanced Level, our students on vocational or A Level courses, demonstrated the value of
hard work. The overall pass rate was 97% and over a third (36%) of all grades were
Distinction*/Distinction or A*/A and 60% of grades were Distinction*-Merit or A*-B. We wish all of
our leavers all the very best with the next stage of their lives, whether that be in higher education
or in the workplace.

At GCSE our boys continue to out-perform boys nationally across all of the indicators and in many
instances, they are considerably ahead of the national measures. We are delighted that the
majority of last year’s Year 11 have returned to the Sixth Form and in bigger numbers than for
several years.
Continued on next page…
School Developments

We continually strive to make improvements every year. Over the summer we have moved and
upgraded several rooms, in preparation for a December bid for an expanded dining facility.

Our three whole school key objectives for the year ahead are to:

1. Promote and celebrate the school in the community.

2. Develop strategies for success on linear programmes.
3. Develop and embed the Isleworth & Syon Way.

There will be significant work undertaken in all three areas over the year ahead which will be
designed to ensure that your son/ward (or daughters in the Sixth Form) continue to be the best
that they can be.

Thank you for your support and yours faithfully,

Euan Ferguson
Headteacher