Our first students of the year have had offers from Russell Group universities; from Nottingham and Queen Mary's for Chemistry, and Exeter for Art. Another student has been offered a place at Sheffield for Economics, with more expected soon. Students in the sixth form have had a couple of particularly engaging speakers recently; one a BBC special correspondent delivering a presentation on careers in the media and the importance of diversity, the other a BT Stem researcher talking about preparing for employment.
As our sixth formers look beyond the school, so the younger students are too, with two trips presented to them this week. The European trip is a sports trip to Holland at Easter 2016, to play football against some local and international teams. This follows the success of the expedition earlier in the year to Barcelona. The other trip students learned about this week is to China in October 2015. Students have benefited from recent visits to the USA and Iceland, and as we have introduced Mandarin to the curriculm this year, it seemed like an appropriate moment to plan a visit to China. Further details have been circulated to students this week.
Closer to home we have started the preparations for Christmas with our tree in the market place. Students are able to purchase decorations for the tree for a small donation to the academy charities. Make a Wish and Great Ormond Street will also benefit from money raised on our annual 'Festive Jumper' day on the last day of term.
Our newly refurbished Grand Hall was the venue for a community event last weekend, hosting a large wedding party, as you can see below. The Grand Hall at The Bushey Arena is now the largest venue in Watford after the Colosseum, and is available for hire.
