School Newsletter
Published on 23/05/25
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.
Information for Parents of All Years
Ofsted Inspection
We are now in the window for our next Ofsted inspection. This means that we will be notified on a Monday that inspectors will visit our school on a Tuesday and a Wednesday. They will visit Personal Development Time, lessons, observe behaviour in corridors, break and lunchtime and talk to children and young people. Please talk to your children and young people about this possible visit so that they are prepared and understand the importance of showing their best work and behaviour. Parents, carers and children will receive official notification and a link to a survey when we are notified of the inspection – we know we can count on your support. We are very proud of our school and our school community and want the inspectors to see us being the best we can be.
Changes for 2025/2026
We are planning for the new school year and in response to parent and student feedback we would like to propose some changes to the school day.
From September 2025, we propose to revert to an 8.30am start for the school day (it currently starts at 8.20am). This will mean that it will be necessary for the school day to finish school at 3pm (currently 2.50pm).
Why Do We Want to Make This Change?
Our current 8.20am start does not suit all our children and young people. We know from our conversations with parents/carers that many of you preferred the 8.30am start. You can use the following link to share your views on the timing of the day: https://forms.office.com/e/v6ZhxWn0rK
What Else Are We Planning?
Within the new school day, we are going to rearrange the timetable to make it possible to:
- Reinstate food at break time with the agreement of Mellors, our catering company.
- Create more time at lunch time for everyone to eat, play, socialise and take part in extra-curricular activities.
- Create the opportunity for training, celebrations, the provision of student academic support or to act on any poor choices of behaviour quickly within the school day.
- Provide improved supervision of students at lunchtime
To achieve this, we propose to have one lunch time for everyone with staggered times for eating in the dining room for each year group.
Year 11 Study Leave
A reminder that study leave starts on 2 June 2025 and the final exam is 18 June 2025 with a contingency day on 25 June 2025. Year 11 remain on roll until Friday 27 June 2025. Results day is Thursday 21 August 2025 when we welcome Year 11 back to collect their results in school. More information about this will follow shortly.
Year 10 College Taster Days
All Year 10 students need to book a taster session with Sheffield College. Students should book one taster session on one day only. Please see the links in the letter emailed to parent/carers on the 2 May 2025.
Here are the instructions on how to book:
- Click on the relevant ‘click here’ campus link in the letter.
- Click on the orange Select Tickets box.
- Click on the orange Get Tickets box.
- Select one relevant AM pr PM taster session from the list (click on the blue plus bar once to add your ticket)
- Click the orange register tab and fill out the requested details. You will be issued with a ticket reference number and a downloadable e-ticket.
- Download and print the e-ticket or show the QR code email on the day.
PE Uniform
As proud Subject Leaders for PE at Westfield School, we wanted to take this opportunity to praise our fantastic students’ level of engagement and participation within PE lessons this year.
I would also like to send a polite reminder of our expectations regarding Westfield School PE uniform. Students are expected to wear the items on our compulsory PE uniform list during PE lessons, other items of sports clothing are not permitted.
We are mindful that there are 7 weeks left of this academic year, however, we felt it useful to send this reminder now to provide parents/carers with the time to purchase Westfield PE kit should you need to in advance of September 2025.
Compulsory items of PE kit:
- Westfield polo shirt/t-shirt or plain black polo shirt/t-shirt.
- Black shorts, tracksuit bottoms or sports leggings. We do not allow 3-inch tight shorts.
- Westfield hoodie or plain black sweatshirt/hoodie (to be used only in PE lessons).
- Suitable sporting trainers are permitted; however, we do not allow the use of pumps in any form.
- All students must have suitable swimwear; swimming trunks above the knee or a one-piece swimming costume.
- All jewellery to be removed.
Optional items of PE kit:
- Westfield PE shorts – black or navy short (3-inch sports shorts are not permitted).
- Black jumper or sports coat for outdoor PE.
- Shin pads are advisable for sports such as football and rugby.
- Boots suitable for activities on the field are advisable.
Mouth Guards:
We strongly encourage parents to purchase and reinforce the importance of wearing a mouth guard with their child when taking part in rugby during timetabled PE lessons.
Students taking part in extracurricular rugby fixtures and tournaments will be expected to have and wear a mouth guard to participate.
If you have any questions or queries, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Thank you for your continued support
Good news stories
Rounders Festival
On Friday 16th May over 100 students from our Family of Schools attended the annual Rounders Festival at Westfield. 27 of our Sports Leaders umpired, scored and ran each game in blazing conditions. Every student from our Family of Schools had the opportunity to play rounders in a round robin league tournament before heading into the semi-finals and then the finals. Our Sports leaders were fantastic, they were so engaging with the students, helpful and managed to perform to the best of their ability. Thank you to all the 4 schools who entered the competition, and as always thank you to the 27 Sports Leaders who have really made a difference to our community.
Year 8 Athletics
Our Year 8 athletics team recently competed against other schools in Sheffield. It was a fantastic event, and the students were a credit to the school. It was a joy to watch them all compete.
Well done to students participating in the 100, 200 and 300 metre heats, who secured 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 6th place wins.
We are still awaiting the results for long jump, javelin and shot putt.
Well done to everyone involved!
Year 10 Future Bound Trip to Endeavour
Some of our Year 10 students visited the Endeavour Centre in Sheffield as part of the Future Bound programme this week. The group took part in a coaching session with their mentors covering:
- Work Experience Preparation
- Post-16 routes
- Y11 prep / revision
Students also finalised details for their social action projects due to take place on 12 June 2025. One group is fundraising for Disability Sheffield with a bake sale in school and the second group are holding an event to help combat loneliness in the elderly and improve intergenerational confidence in the community. It was great to see students thinking about both their own future and being aware of the needs of others through their social action projects – well done everyone!
Dates for your diary
03/06/25, 04/06/25 & 06/06/25 – Geography fieldtrip to Edale
06/06/25 – 07/06/25 – Duke of Edinburgh bronze expedition
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