Good afternoon,

It’s hard to believe, but next week marks the final week of term! As we head into these last few days, there’s a real sense of celebration and excitement across the school. We have a packed schedule of events planned to mark the end of another fantastic year and opportunities to come together as a school community.

It would have been Elemie Wainwright’s birthday this week – we send our love to all our community and especially to her family and friends.

This week we celebrated Year 11 at our school prom. I was so proud of our students as they arrived in their wonderful dresses and suits. I was equally proud of their behaviour and how much they enjoyed being together.  Many of them thanked us for our support and were appreciative of staff who supervised the event. I look forward to seeing you all on GCSE results’ day on Thursday 21^st August 2025.

We look forward to celebrating the achievements of our pupils and making some lasting memories before we break up for the summer. A reminder that our final day is Friday 18^th July 2025 – more information about the start of the year next week.

Information for parents of all years

End of Year Trips & Sports Day

We are looking forward to the trips and sports day on Monday 14^th July and Tuesday 15^th July next week.  The weather forecast is showing that our heat wave will continue into next week. I know you will have thought of this but just in case - please make sure that your child has what they need to cope with the heat: water, sunscreen and a hat.  We will adjust the activities for sports day to take account of the heat. Our expectations of behaviour continue outside of school, and we need everyone to be ready to listen to instructions, meet at the right time and take care of each other. Please discuss this with your children so that they understand the importance of being safe. For those children staying in school, we have planned the day and are looking forward to them being here with us. Full details of the arrangements for the day have been emailed to parents/carers.

Health & Wellbeing Summer Programme

‘Door 43’ are offering a week of free, creative and confidence boosting workshops for young people aged 13-17. There will be opportunities to try something new, connect with others and explore ways to practice self-care, all in a safe and welcoming space.

Staff from the counselling and employability teams will also be available each day to offer support, guidance and signposting to their services.

Visit their website at Sheffield Futures or scan the QR code below to register your interest: -

Funded Holiday Clubs for Children in Receipt of Benefits-Related Free School Meals

This initiative offers free holiday club places for children who are in receipt of benefits-related free school meals. Each club offers a nutritious meal and a variety of fun, enriching activities for children to enjoy over the summer break. For more information, please visit https://sheffieldhealthyholidays.org

New Westfield School Website to be Launched

We are pleased to announce that, during the summer holiday, we will be launching the new Westfield School website.  When it is launched, the website will still be available at www.westfield.chorustrust.org and will provide up-to-date information, organised in a simplified structure to make it easier to find the information you are looking for. 

The new site will continue to contain the information most valued by parents and carers, including term dates and calendar items as well as curriculum and extracurricular information.  If, when you first visit the site, you find that it isn’t displaying correctly, this is a common issue with new websites and clearing the cache (CTRL + F5 or CMD, SHIFT + R on a Mac) on your device should rectify the situation.

We hope you enjoy exploring the new site!

Good news stories

Year 8 Visit to the National Videogame Museum

Some of our Year 8 students went on a day trip to the national videogame museum in Sheffield on Monday. Students spent some time getting some hands-on experience with games consoles from as early as the 1970’s, before spending an hour in a pixel art workshop where they learned about how videogame characters are designed, and they created their own animated drawings. A big thank you from the computing and business faculty to all the students, they were brilliant representatives of Westfield school, and we had lots of positive feedback from staff at the venue.

Dates for your diary

14/07/25 – Rewards trips for Year 7 and Year 9

14/07/25 – Sports day for Year 8

14/07/25 – Year 10 Boss Your Future event

15/07/25 – Rewards trips for Year 8 and Year 10

15/07/25 – Sports day for Year 7 and Year 9

17/07/25 – Celebration evening (invite only)

18/07/25 – Year 8, Year 9 and Year 10 vaccinations (selected students)

18/07/25 – Non Uniform Day.

21/07/25 – 23/07/25 – School inset days

24/08/25 – 31/08/25 -  School holidays

01/09/25 – 02/09/25 – School inset days

Reminder of our contact emails

safeguarding@westfield.chorustrust.org

attendance@westfield.chorustrust.org

enquiries@westfield.chorustrust.org

As always, thank you for your ongoing support.

Mrs G A Jones

Good afternoon,

This week has been an incredibly sad and difficult time for our school community following the tragic death of one of our students. Our thoughts and deepest condolences are with the student's family and friends, and we continue to offer them our full support. Details of the arrangements in school for the funeral will follow separately.

Good afternoon,

As we reach the end of this half-term, I would like to extend my sincere thanks to you all for your continued support and partnership. It has been a busy and rewarding few weeks, and I am incredibly proud of what our school community has achieved together. An especially big ‘well done’ to our current Y11 who have left school today to begin their study leave. We have held 31 exams and there are 19 more in the series.  Congratulations on your hard work and commitment so far – keep going.

Our pupils have worked hard, shown great enthusiasm for their learning, and supported each other with kindness and respect. Whether through classroom activities, sports, creative projects, or school trips, they have continued to impress us with their effort and positivity.

I hope everyone enjoys a well-deserved break over the half-term. We look forward to welcoming the students back refreshed and ready for an exciting final stretch of the school year.

09.05.25

Good afternoon,

I hope you had a restful and enjoyable May Day Bank Holiday weekend.

With the summer term now in full swing, there’s much to look forward to. Our students have been working hard, and we are entering a key period with exams, assessments, and end-of-year events on the horizon. This is a time of both focus and reflection, as we work to complete the academic year and prepare for the new year in September.

The first week of exams has gone smoothly, and I am incredibly proud of how well our students have conducted themselves under the pressure. It has been inspiring to see their focus, determination, and commitment to their studies. For many, this marks a significant milestone in their educational journey, and it is heartening to witness their hard work and resilience.

We are also looking forward to the year 7 parents’ evening next week. This is a wonderful opportunity for you to meet with your child’s teachers, discuss their progress, and share in their achievements as they continue to settle into life at Westfield School.

Thank you, as always, for your continued support and commitment to our school community.

Information for All Parents/Carers

Year 10 Work Experience

Thank you to everyone who has handed in their work experience forms, please can any students who have not yet secured a work experience placement speak to Mrs Ray or Mr Rastall in the careers office as a priority. During Work Experience, on Friday 4^th July, school is closed to students to provide teacher training. This does not affect our Y10s who are on Work Experience; they should attend their workplace as normal.

Year 10 College Taster Days

An email has been sent to all parents/carers of Year 10 students regarding taster sessions at Sheffield College. Please book early as these sessions are popular. For any further information please contact either Mrs Ray or Mr Rastall.

Year 11 Apprenticeships

If any Year 11 leavers are looking for an apprenticeship, here are a few great options:

Please note, school leavers can complete a Level 2 or Level 3 apprenticeship, also known on the AMRC website as an advanced apprenticeship.

• Sheffield City Council have released their apprenticeship offer for 2025, there are apprenticeships available in plumbing, bricklayer, joiner, painter, plasterer and gas fitter please visit Sheffield City Council jobs page
• Sheffield Apprenticeships website advertises apprenticeships across all sectors - Current Vacancies | Sheffield Apprenticeships
• AMRC have released their latest apprenticeships - Apprenticeship vacancies | AMRC Training

Year 11 Sheffield College Applications and Enrolments Update

The following information is for students in Y11 who have applied to Sheffield College:

If your young person has applied for college but not completed pre-enrolment, please ask them to check their emails and set up their prospect account. Here is the  Login link, if it is your first time logging in, please use the reset password feature using the email address you included on your application.  

Most students who have applied to Sheffield College should have now been for an interview. Interviews will cease from May Half Term due to the exam period and curriculum availability. Any students who haven’t had an interview will go to late/open enrolment.  Requests to change course at this stage could also lead to applicants missing out on interview dates and therefore being invited to late enrolment. 

Enrolment - Fri 23^rd August - Fri 30^th August.  Appointments will be arranged and sent out to all students who have received an offer. It is important students keep their appointment to avoid the risk of not securing a place on the course.

Late Enrolment – W/C 2^nd September, this will be for all remaining applicants who did not attend an interview. All applicants will receive details of an appointment via letter. 

Open Enrolment -W/C 9^th September All new applicant details will be sent to the relevant curriculum area, and they will contact the students as places become available.

Good news stories

Theatre Trip

We recently took 34 students to see the 'Bat Out of Hell' musical at the Sheffield Lyceum theatre. The musical is based on the hits of rock and roll legend Meatloaf intwined with a post-apocalyptic plot of rebels rising against the system. The highlights of the show were the incredible vintage motorcycle prop, fire pyrotechnics and getting to meet the lead, Glenn Adamson, who has also performed in ‘We Will Rock you' in the West End, 'American Idiot' and 'The Producers'. It was an absolute pleasure to take our young people to the theatre, they were impeccably behaved.

GCSE Languages Speaking Exams

Over the last few weeks, the students and staff in the languages department have worked tirelessly completing final preparations and undertaking GCSE Speaking exams in French, German, Spanish, Polish and Cantonese.

We are incredibly proud of the students. Their hard work, dedication, and resilience have truly shone through.

Thank you so much for all your support with these exams over the last few weeks. It is always a nerve-wracking time for our students (and staff).

Keep up the momentum as you head into the final stretch of your GCSE journey.

Ball Skills Festival

Our Sports Leaders recently lead the annual Ball Skills festival in the main hall at Westfield School, attended by three of our local primary schools. The event saw students taking part activities that linked to a different ball skill to earn points for their school. The students were able to showcase their skills in sports, for example, blind football, netball and rugby. Our Sports Leaders really did show a community spirit throughout the event, providing assistance where needed. Mr Francis wants to thank each school for their attendance, as well as acknowledging the effort and commitment given by each Sports Leader. Well done!

Dates for your diary

12/05/25 – Y9 Bronze Duke of Edinburgh training expedition

12/05/25 – Chimp Management mentoring programme meeting for parent/carers

15/05/25 – Year 7 parent/carers’ evening

Reminder of our contact emails

safeguarding@westfield.chroustrust.org

attendance@westfield.chorustrust.org

enquiries@westfield.chorustrust.org

As always, thank you for your ongoing support.

Mrs G A Jones

25.04.25

Good afternoon,

Despite our start to the summer term being two short weeks, there has still been lots happening in school. There’s much to look forward to, and I’m delighted to update you on some of the key highlights from around the school.

Our extra-curricular program has been updated and published on the school website. We have a variety of after-school clubs and activities, from sports teams to music and drama groups. If your child has not yet signed up, it’s not too late to get involved. Clubs are a fantastic way for students to explore new interests, develop skills, and make lasting friendships.

Lastly, I want to take a moment to thank our staff, students, and families for their ongoing hard work, commitment, and enthusiasm. It’s your collective effort that makes our school such a vibrant and supportive place for learning.

As always, should you have any questions or need support, please don’t hesitate to reach out.

28.03.25

Good afternoon,

As we reach the end of the Spring Term, I wanted to take a moment to reflect on the achievements and highlights of the past few months and to look ahead to the exciting opportunities the summer term will bring.

It has been an incredibly busy and productive term. From inspiring classroom lessons to extracurricular activities, our students have been engaging with learning in such a positive way. Some of the key moments I’d like to share include:

• Fantastic Academic Progress: We’ve seen students making excellent progress across all year groups, and I’m particularly proud of our Year 11 students who have worked tirelessly in preparation for their upcoming exams.
• Extracurricular Success: Our school sports teams have had a brilliant season, and I would like to extend my congratulations to all the students who participated.
• Enrichment Opportunities: Our commitment to broadening our students’ horizons continues, with many students taking part in various trips and workshops this term, from the higher education progression partnership careers event with our Y7 students to the Y11 Geography students attending their urban landscapes visits to Sheffield.

As we break for the Easter holidays, I encourage students to take some time to rest, recharge, and spend time with family and friends. We’ll be back in school on Monday 14^th April ready for a busy Summer term ahead.

Information for parents of all years

Update to our Rewards Strategy: Celebrating Success

As part of our on-going mission of school improvement, we have recently introduced a number of new strands to our rewards strategy in school which provide staff with more ways to provide positive feedback to students, and parents/carers, around the success and achievement that takes place in school every single day.

Praise stamps in planners

This method of positive feedback remains an integral part of our rewards strategy as it is an immediate acknowledgement that celebrates student success, as they achieve in the classroom. Each stamp equates to 1 achievement point. Stamps are collated and reported to form tutors once a week in PDT.

Commendations

This is a new method of formal praise that will be given by staff for more significant achievements in the classroom. Commendations are centred around the 5 ATL characteristics that we guide our students to achieve in school. An example could be a student who is given a commendation for Resilience as they initially found a task particularly challenging but then respond positively to feedback from their teacher and subsequently complete the task successfully. Commendations are logged electronically on Arbor by staff and equate to 5 achievement points each time.

ATL Postcards

Another new method of formal praise, awarded for excellence in our ATL characteristics of Respect, Resilience, Resourcefulness, Being Ready to Learn and Reflective. These could be awarded to a student who produces an exceptional piece of extended writing in lesson, or a student who demonstrates a consistently strong attitude at the start of every lesson over a topic.

Weekly Celebration Email to Parents/Carers

Starting next term, parents/carers will receive a weekly email every Friday afternoon providing an overview of all the successes their child has had in school this previous week. The email will describe a summary of how many achievement points the student has received and also provide an overview of the Commendations and/or ATL postcards they have been awarded.  Further details can then be found about these rewards on the parental Arbor App.

End of Year Rewards Trips

Parents/carers will soon receive a separate letter about the new rewards trips that are being made available to all students on either Monday 14^th of Tuesday 15^th of July. We passionately believe all students should have access to these trips and want all students to attend. Priority trip allocations will be given to those students with excellent records in the key metrics around attendance, punctuality, achievement and conduct around school. All staff in school are looking forward to this exciting day for the whole Westfield School community.

If you have any questions or feedback about any of the new additions to our rewards strategy described above, please contact Mark Clayton

Student Equipment Required for Lessons

We want to ensure that students are ready to learn in their lessons. Having the right equipment is key to this. It is important that students have their own set of equipment.

Every student is expected to have:

• Student planner
• Pencil case.
• Three black pens.
• One purple pen.
• Pencil.
• Rubber.
• Ruler.
• Sharpener
• Highlighter pen.
• Whiteboard pen.
• Scientific Calculator (can purchased through school).

Good news stories

Y7 Higher Education Progression Partnership

Our Year 7 students attended a Higher Education Progression Partnership (HEPP) workshop on Tuesday this week. The workshop provided students with the information they need to make informed decisions about their future choices. Students looked at how to prioritise tasks, set goals and develop their time management skills. Feedback from the day was very positive.

Y9 & Y10 Girls Netball Team

On Wednesday the Y10 and Y9 girls played a friendly netball match against Birley Academy. It was goal for goal until the final minutes when Birley took the lead resulting in a 9-8 loss. It was a fantastic game to umpire.

A massive thank you to all our netball players this season, we will back in September.

Y9 Football Team

The Y9 Football team played their final game of 24/25 academic year and beat a very strong Meadowhead team 3-1. This has seen the team progress into the Premiership next academic year and is a great achievement for the team. They have shown true team spirit and will now play against the best in the city next year. Mr Francis would like to personally thank each individual student who has played for the team this year, you have all been fantastic, have developed into well-mannered young people and have shown the desire to strive for the best within a sporting setting. Well done!

Contemporary Dance Workshop

Our Y10 BTEC dance students took part in an exciting contemporary dance workshop with the Northern School of Contemporary Dance Centre of Advanced Training (CAT) scheme this week! The workshop was led by a professional dance artist and our students experienced contemporary dance technique, creative work and learnt about how they could pursue a career in dance.

NSCD is the leading dance conservatoire in the north, and auditions yearly for talented young dancers aged 12 – 16 to join their prevocational training programme in Leeds as well as providing weekly dance sessions. You can find out more here: https://www.nscd.ac.uk/takepart/cat/

TAG Rugby Festival

Last Friday 18 of our Sports Leaders hosted the annual TAG rugby festival at Westfield School. Nine teams from four of our Family of Schools attended and each team was taught the basic rules of TAG rugby before the tournament began. For the first time ever, there was a draw in the final match and resulted in us reviewing the league tables to count how many tries were scored and conceded. As a result both Halfway Juniors and Mosborough Primary were declared winners of the event. Our Sports Leaders were fantastic and were very attentive to those who needed extra support.

Points Network Games

On Tuesday this week, 19 of our Sports Leaders attended the Points Network Games at the EIS. The Leaders manned stations where students were encouraged to score as many points as possible in the allocated time. Over 650 primary students attended the day and our Leaders showed tremendous encouragement, positivity and work ethic to ensure the festival ran smoothly. The Leaders were selected to showcase their abilities and to gain experience at a citywide event to enable them to develop in confidence, attitude, and drive to be the best person they can be in helping others.

Dates for your diary

14^th April – Return to school
15^th & 16^th April – KS4 theatre trip to see An Inspector Calls
17^th April – Year 9 DTP vaccinations

Reminder of our contact emails

safeguarding@westfield.chroustrust.org

attendance@westfield.chorustrust.org

enquiries@westfield.chorustrust.org

As always, thank you for your ongoing support.

Mrs G A Jones