24 April 2026
Dear parents and families,
Welcome back! I hope you had a good Easter break and that your children are feeling positive about the term ahead; it promises to be an extremely busy one.
In this letter:
· Good luck to our Year 11 and Year 13 students
· The term ahead and key dates
· Staffing update
· Uniform reminders and warm weather
· Social media update
Good luck to our Year 11 and Year 13 students
I am sure you will all join me in wishing our Year 11 and Year 13 students all best wishes as they approach their final exams and assessments in a few weeks’ time. We know they don’t need luck, because they have been working really hard and are being well prepared by their teachers in school. Our SPACE VI form students are performing their final pieces over the coming month. It is not too late to book a ticket to see their production of Jekyll and Hyde on 06 and 07 May, or the dance production of Romeo and Juliet on 13 and 14 May. The GCSE written papers begin in earnest in the week commencing 04 May, although practical and speaking exams are already underway. We thank all of our parents and families that are supporting our students at what can be both an exciting, but stressful, time.
The term ahead
Bookings are already live for our Year 8 parents’ evening on Wednesday 29 April, from 4:00pm.
Our Year 9 Duke of Edinburgh cohort have a parent information evening on Thursday 07 May from 4:00pm.
Year 9 meningitis vaccinations take place in the week commencing 04 May.
The New York trip heads out on Thursday 21 May, and we wish them bon voyage!
A new enrichment timetable has been published for term 5 and the schedule has been shared with the children via Bromcom.
Staffing update
We are pleased to welcome Mrs Ebdon to the team, joining us as the head of Windsor House. Mrs Ebdon has been settling in and getting to know her House group this week. As always, if you have any queries or concerns about your child’s pastoral care or safeguarding, please contact their tutor in the first instance. We are also looking forward to welcoming back Ms Gwilliam, our Head of Dance and Drama, from her maternity leave later this term.
Uniform reminders and warm weather
As the weather (finally!) starts to warm up a bit, I would like to remind all families that we still expect full school uniform during the summer terms. Whilst students may wear their white shirt and tie without a school jumper when it is warm, hoodies are still not allowed at any time. If your child is prone to feeling the cold, please do ensure that they have their school jumper – and a coat if necessary – with them every day. Ties must also be worn, with shirts buttoned to the top.
We have seen an increase recently of children expecting to borrow school uniform items on a regular basis over a longer period. Whilst we are happy to lend items as a temporary measure, for example if school shoes break and new ones cannot be obtained until the next weekend, we cannot sustain this for longer periods and do expect families to supply all compulsory items for their child. If you are experiencing financial hardship, and this is causing you to struggle to provide full school uniform, please do contact your child’s tutor in the first instance.
Social media update
You may have noticed that our Facebook page has been inoperable for some time. We are not sure what is causing the page to be inaccessible and are struggling to get an answer from Facebook themselves. Please do have a look at the parent updates pages on our website in the meantime, for all the celebratory news of the wonderful things our MWA students have been up to. We will let you know when the Facebook page is re-activated.
With thanks, as always, for your continuing support.
Yours faithfully,
Mrs H Jones
Principal
