Assemblies this week have been led by Ms Miller have been about learning. In itself this is interesting as we talk and think about lots of things in assemblies but do not always spend that much time reflecting on what we spend most of our time in school doing – learning!

The title has been the very reassuring “How we learn - (and why forgetting isn’t as big an issue as you might think!)”. I am not going to repeat too much of what was covered in the assembly as that is something for students to bring home with them but the core points for reflection were as follows:

5 things we should all know about how we learn

1. Everyone forgets
2. We only learn when we think hard
3. Prior knowledge helps us when learning something new
4. Our brain cannot deal with too much new information
5. We get better at things when we practise a lot over time

What can you do?

• Come to school regularly, on time and be ready to learn
• Be engaged and willing to give everything a go
• Learning is active – don’t be scared to think hard
• Mistakes are fine… use the feedback from teachers to help you
• Tell someone if you are struggling

If you get a chance at home, please do encourage reflection on these points. As was emphasized at the Information Evenings we have held in school for every year group over the past few weeks, communication is key and parents and carers should not hesitate to get in touch with questions or concerns about any aspect of school life with the form tutor as the first point of contact.

As the term gathers pace, fixtures, practices and rehearsals are in full swing. The Bigg Band sounded great on Wednesday after school and we are tremendously looking forward to the school production of the Wizard of Oz; minibuses are heading out and arriving each afternoon for fixtures and the enthusiasm for them is contagious. A highlight for me this week was hearing a lot of noise as the Year 7 boys’ rugby team returned from an away fixture on Thursday evening; they had apparently sung their way to Wheatley Park School, played (and won), and then sung their way back. The singing left something to be desired but the spirit was wonderful three weeks into their Wallingford School life.

Finally, a reminder that we finish at 12.40pm on Thursday 6^th October in order to prepare for our annual Open Evening. We are really looking forward to welcoming new families to the school, showcasing our brilliant students, staff and facilities, in particular the new block. With the new block comes more capacity and we will have 242 places for Year 7 in September 2023 which reflects the success and growth of the school over time.