Category: WLD Updates

Enrichment Day 2

Despite the weather, Enrichment Day 2 was very successful, if very tiring!  Some of the pictures are on the website here.

Staffing updates

As most people will know we have a number of retirements of long-serving members of staff during the course of this year.  Mrs…

Year 11 Mock examinations

These start tomorrow (Monday 3rd December).  The purpose of mock examinations is to enable students to tackle recent past papers under conditions close to those of the real exams.  It is very important for parents and carers, along with us, to manage Year 11 well…

Uganda Charity Projects - Project25Zero and Chilli Children

We had the pleasure and privilege of listening to Ian Richardson speak to our Year 7 about his involvement in two charity projects (Project25Zero and Chilli Children) in Uganda and how we can get involved.  Last year's Year 7 raised…

Staff changes

It has been wonderful to see the interest in the Deputy Headteacher post that has arisen due to the retirement of Mrs Laverty at the end of the year.  She will be much missed, but a lot of people want to replace her!  I have shown nearly 30 people around the school and have…

Walton-le-Dale remembers...

As the whole country (and the wider world) stops to remember those who have died in war, it is appropriate and moving that the main reception area of school has been taken over by a cascade of hand-made poppies. Thank you to all those who have contributed to this…

Support for each other

One of the main reasons why I choose to work at Walton-le-Dale is the support that students and staff show for each other.  I see it in countless ways each day, sometimes in the tragedies such as the ways in which everyone supported the friends of Tim Hindle, sometimes in…

Enrichment Day

We finished the last half-term on a "high", with a wonderful first Enrichment Day of the year.  The centrepiece was the very large Careers Fair, which every student accessed, and many thanks to all the colleges and employers who contributed.  It was great to see an ex-student,…

Memorial for Tim Hindle

During Enrichment Day on Friday a number of students will be planting a tree and a lot of bulbs in our garden at the front of school in memory of Tim.   A suitable plaque will be designed and laid in the New Year.  A mural is also planned for inside "D" Block on a nature…

It has been great to see so many parents and carers of Year 7 students today at our settling-in evening.  This is an event to discuss how our new Year 7 have settled into life at Walton-le-Dale.  A couple of things have come up this evening which I thought would be worth…

Sometimes these updates will cover just one topic - and this is the case today.  We are making some changes to the way in which we report to parents and carers on your son or daughter's progress in school.

Firstly some principles

• All our study of individual student results shows us one…

The death of Tim Hindle has been affecting us this week, as you would expect.  His memorial service on Saturday was well attended by staff and students and we raised a lot of money in his memory at the Macmillan Coffee morning on Friday - it was busy as you can see from the photo above.  We are…

In any community or family there are times to be happy, times to celebrate, times to be sad and times to grieve.  This week the school has been shocked and saddened by the sudden death of Tim Hindle  (Year 9 in Red section) from a brain tumour.  Our thoughts and prayers are with Tim's family and…