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Walthamstow School for Girls

Headteacher's Fortnightly Message

8 March 2024

Dear Students, Parents and Carers

This has been an inspiring couple of weeks. As you will see from some of the articles and photographs below, we have had visits to Cambridge, the Tate Modern and whole school activities for World Book Day and International Women’s Day. 

This year, we combined our World Book Day and IWD staff/ student dress up. Students dressed up as inspiring women or as characters from books. Inspirational women included Michelle Obama, Stevie Nicks, Emmeline Pankhurst and Margaret Ann Bulkley who lived as a man (Dr James Barry) in order to become a pioneering surgeon, carrying out the first successful caesarean delivery. This was not a fact I knew until one of our students told me this morning! Staff were characters from Dickens, popular murder mysteries, Shakespeare and Peter Pan. 

Meanwhile, we welcomed 14 volunteers from outside school for a ‘What’s my Line’ activity with our year 9s who had to guess their profession. They included a boxer, animator, writer, financier, scientist and structural engineer and included some of our ex-students. Visitors were very complimentary about our students, as ever, and this is such a great opportunity for them to see and talk to women who look like them who have been successful in a range of different roles. 

I joined the art department and our year 11s for a visit to the Tate Modern on Thursday where they were exploring the theme of power for their GCSE exam. It was a pleasure to talk to students about their interpretations of the theme: the power of nature, perspective, place, political power, culture and identity. In seeing the exhibitions first hand, they were inspired by contemporary artists and exposed to different media. Thank you to Ms Wills, Ms Healey and Ms Hepworth for organising the event. 

Thank you to all parents who attended year 7 parents’ evening, to our staff and to Ms Desbenoit for organising. Thank you to all parents who sought out Ms Desbenoit and I or who wrote to you with your glowing feedback. 

Wishing you a restful weekend

Helen Marriott
Headteacher
 

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