Friday 21st June

Welcome to the final Secondary Newsletter of this year! What a fantastic year it has been. Looking back over the Newsletters for this year, it is hard to believe everything that the pupils and staff have achieved: exciting and numerous trips for MUN, DofE and various departments, hugely successful whole school events like Discovery Days and Spring Fayre, multiple awards ceremonies for everything from Maths to Sports and consistently excellent teaching and learning in secondary classrooms. There have also been exams(!), reports, parents’ events, House events, sporting success stories, charity drives…. the list goes on! None of this is possible without the consistent hard work and dedication of our Secondary staff, the support of our parents or the enthusiasm of our pupils. I would like to extend a huge thank you to the whole school community for helping to make my first year as the Head of Secondary such a fulfilling experience.

Secondary Sports Day
This week we held an event which is definitely one of the highlights of the school year; Secondary Sports Day. Yes it was hot; but we had a fantastic day! The pupils really brought a ‘can-do’ attitude and threw themselves into the activities. I was very happy to see that some of our Year 11s attended the event; and were keen to take part. There was a penalty shoot out, ‘round the world’ badminton, long jump and volleyball. (pictures below). Mr. Burch also created a fully scripted ‘silly races’ activity. Especially beloved by Y11,12 and 13 (see below for proof of this!). There were sprints and relays on the running track. The male teacher vs. students relay was hotly contested (you can see a video below of the tight final leg below) but ultimately that was a win for the students. However, the staff were able to best the students in the teacher vs. students football match (pictures below). An enormous thank you from me goes to the PE department for organising the whole day; especially Mr. Turnbull who outdid himself with the organisation of such a successful event this year.

Year 6 - Year 7 Transition Day
This week started with us welcoming the current Year 6 students into the Secondary school; as they will be Year 7 very soon! They had an assembly and treasure hunt to start the day; getting to know their tutors and other Secondary staff and finding their way around the Secondary school rooms. Then they were able to have some specially planned ‘taster’ lessons with Secondary teachers. You can see in the pictures below, that they had a varied experience. 7A had Art with Ms. Seabrook, Science with Ms.Naserghodsi, and Geography with Mr. Davies. 7B had Maths with Mr. McNaughton, Science with Mr. Roberts and Art with Ms. Seabrook. I hope that the pupils feel a bit more prepared for joining us in Secondary next year. A big thank you to all of the teachers involved in the day; especially to Mr. Trovo for organising it all.

Prize giving assemblies 
Today ended with our annual Prize Giving Assemblies. It is always a reflective time, as we reward pupils for all of their hard work and recognise their achievements. There was chocolate for all prize winners, and the chance to win a speaker in the prize winners' raffle. We also had a raffle for attendance; anyone who met the goal of being in school 95% of the time was also in with a chance to win one of the speakers. It is also a time that we say goodbye to the staff and pupils who are leaving Britannica this year; they will be greatly missed by us all. We wish them all the best with their future plans. Picture (featuring lots of chocolate) below!

Duke of Edinburgh International Award - Bronze Qualifying Journey 
On Monday & Tuesday, Y9 and 10 students took part in the qualifying journey to earn their Bronze Award. They set off early on Monday morning from Nyugati train station to head to Esztergom. From Ezstergom they had to walk to the camp site in Domos - 20KM away! It was a long, hot day but the students remained positive and arrived at the campsite where they put up their tents and cooked a meal together. Luckily, on Tuesday the students didn't have to walk as far - only 13.5KM. But, due to the heat and their tiredness it took them longer than expected, they arrived at the bus stop a mere two minutes before the bus! On the plus side, they got to take in some beautiful views and enjoy the Duna-Ipoly National Park. At the end of the trip some comments of "never again" were overheard but by Thursday they were discussing the Silver Award trip and reflecting on their impressive achievement. All those who took part should be very proud of themselves, it is not easy to hike with a big backpack, especially when it is very hot, and map reading using a paper map & compass is tricky! So a big well done to all. And huge thanks to the staff who supervised the trip: Ms Ward, Ms Atkin & Mr Plummer.  See pictures below.

KS3 Geography
Year 7 enjoyed being creative and putting together some climate videos. Ms Ward was very impressed with their imaginative and unique ways of presenting the information and the excellent editing skills. See videos below.
Year 8 have recently enjoyed putting their knowledge of maps, volcanoes and earthquakes to the test in order to 'escape the room'. Competition was fierce and there was a race to find all the clues in time to escape. Most of the groups managed it and Ms Ward was impressed with their collaborative skills and geographical knowledge! See pictures below.

Year 9 Hungarian lesson - ice cream treat!
As a part of their last Hungarian lesson, Y9 went to get an ice cream so they could practise their conversation skills and also enjoy some delicious treats on the really hot summer day. :) Thank you for your hard work this year and your Hungarian teachers hope that you can keep up with the Hungarian language in some way. See pictures below.

Y9 and Y6 Historical Investigation Workshop
The Year 9 prepared a series of presentations and workshops for the Y6 to engage and use historical sources. This was to help them come to their own opinion, whether it was right for the USA to drop the atomic bomb on Japan.This was a great opportunity for the Year 6 to apply their skills of interpreting primary and secondary historical sources, comparing them on their reliability and significance. The result was an almost even split on agree and disagree. Pictures below.

Italian ECA pizza time
As a part of the last Italian ECA lesson this year, we had some pizza and practised the food vocabulary by learning the name of the ingredients and different pizza types. We also listened to some famous Italian songs and had a great time! Buona vacanza a tutti, ci vediamo a Settembre! Please see pictures below.

School Uniform 
As you prepare for the next academic year and the children continue to grow, you might be thinking about ordering school uniform for them again over the summer. You will find details of our uniform code and how to order in our Parent Zone here. 
Orders should be placed online, but to help ensure that the correct sizes are ordered, we offer a uniform trial service of essential items here at school for your convenience. You are welcome to book a slot for a uniform trial using our booking form here. 
Throughout the next academic year, our uniform trial service will be available as a regular slot on Wednesday afternoons too.

I know that next week is still very busy! The activities planned for next week look varied and exciting. Everything from Dragon Boat Racing to Lasertag, Cyberjump to water parks and Bike rides to museum visits. Both Year 11 and Year 12 are away on residential trips to Germany and Austria. For those staying in Budapest, it looks as though it will be a slightly more comfortable temperature next week; although still lovely and warm.

Wishing all of the pupils a wonderful final Activities Week and everyone a fantastic summer. Remember that next term begins at 8:20 on Tuesday 27th August 2024.

All the best, 
Holly Stroud
Head of Secondary

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