We were delighted that 14 Year 10 students from Townsend Church of England School attended The Scholars Programme Graduation hosted by The Brilliant Club at St Anne’s College, University of Oxford, on Thursday 21 May and accompanied by Miss Beades and Mrs. Buckland.

The graduation celebrated the hard work, resilience and academic achievement of students who successfully completed The Scholars Programme, including their final university-style assignment and celebrated their final grade.

During the visit, students experienced university life, explored the historic college environment and celebrated their success alongside students from other schools.

Did you know?

• The University of Oxford is ranked the Number 1 university in the world.

• Oxford is the oldest university in the English-speaking world.

• Teaching at Oxford began as early as 1096.

• Oxford has over 100 libraries.

• The Bodleian Library is one of the oldest libraries in Europe.

• The university is made up of 39 colleges.

• St Anne’s College was founded in 1879.

• Oxford has educated over 30 UK Prime Ministers.

• More than 26,000 students study at Oxford.

• Students from over 160 countries attend the university.

One of our students proudly delivered a graduation speech on behalf of Townsend, reflecting on the experience of completing the programme:

“Hello, I am a representative of Townsend Church of England School, as one of many who took part in this year’s Scholars Programme. We were looking at the Measurement and Definition of Depreciation, which is something that I had never done before and I’m sure that it’s something that many of us hadn’t done before. It was challenging, which tested our limits yet an enjoyable journey. One of Townsend’s values is to Love the Journey, which I think was an important value to keep in mind when doing this programme. To love the journey is just as important as loving the result.

Finally, I would like to thank Vicki Law PhD, for guiding us through the programme and encouraging us to do our best. I’d also like to thank the Head of Year for accepting us into the programme and giving us this amazing opportunity.”

Congratulations to all 14 of our Year 10 Scholars for their dedication, perseverance and fantastic achievements throughout the programme. We are incredibly proud of you all.

Miss N Beades
Head of Year 10

On Tuesday 9th June we have our final curriculum enrichment afternoon of the year in school. All students will have alternative activities P2, 3 and 4.

The rest of the school day is as normal. Students will explore a variety of themes in their year groups, as follows:

Curriculum Enrichment Plan

Year 7- 3 workshops with Herts Services for Young People on Aspirations, Personal Branding, and Resilience.

Year 8- 1 hour on Mental Health awareness week activity about personal wellbeing 2 hours of spirituality activities with STEP about community and your role.

Year 9- Oracy Odyssey – A structured set of 12 oracy-focused challenges to build student’s oracy skills through practical activities about different purposes of talk. They will debate and develop presentational talk so they can become more aware of the different types of talk and how to articulate themselves in different scenarios.

Year 10- Careers Carousel- 2 hours of a careers carousel with external visitors from various different worlds of work – students will participate in group talks and question time. They will then work through a follow up task about their future skills and the world of work, completing a careers questionnaire.

Year 12-  Oracy Odyssey – A structured set of 12 oracy-focused challenges to build student’s oracy skills through practical activities about different purposes of talk. They will debate and develop presentational talk so they can become more aware of the different types of talk and how to articulate themselves in different scenarios.

We look forward to a fun and active day full of different skills and information to develop life skills and personal growth.

Mrs M Buckland
Assistant Headteacher