Thursday 17 July 2025
#AHSWalksTall
#AHSWalksTall
Dear Parents and Carers
Firstly, the hugest thanks for the much valued support of all students, parents, carers and staff throughout 2024/25. It has been a joyous year, our strong, independent and confident students have thrived, and we are looking forward to building on our successes in 25/26, with your help. Thank you!
Last week, I attended House Drama. Huge thanks to all students, staff, judges and parents and carers who made the evening such a huge success. The performances, using the stimuli quote of 'All the world's a stage' were captivating, it was an absolute privilege to see such commitment and confidence in our students. Well done to Anya and Deepali for winning the judges' particular prizes, Ascott House for 1st place, Waddesdon House for 2nd and Hughenden House for 3rd. But overall, well done everyone, I highly recommend this evening to all in our community next year.
On Monday afternoon, we held our Colour Awards, again a very lovely afternoon celebrating the impressive achievements and effort of our brilliant students. Our hugest thanks to Bridget Harrington, Alumna, who spoke so eloquently about her open and positive approach to seizing every opportunity, to Mrs Bush and Dr Weir, our Chairs of Governors, for assisting, and all other staff, parents and carers, and students for making the afternoon a delightful event. Particular thanks to Phoebe (Year 12) and Mr Warner for the musical interlude.
On Tuesday evening, we held our Summer Showcase (pictured above and below). An absolute delight of an evening, thank you so much to all students, staff, parents and carers who made this possible. Again, I highly recommend this evening to all in our community next year, our students are simply brilliant, and I am immensely proud of them.
Sadly, we need to say our final goodbyes of this year. Mr Elgin first joined AHS in 2013 as an English teacher, later taking on the roles of KS3 English Coordinator, Digital Champion and Thinking Skills lead, before becoming Curriculum Manager for English in 2017. He has led the department to develop an exciting, broad curriculum, introducing students to a diverse range of texts from myths and Classical epics to contemporary texts and contemporary approaches to linguistics. More recently, Mr Elgin has been supporting us to further develop literacy and reading across the School, particularly in the context of a digital, AI influenced 21st century world. He will be very much missed by staff and students alike, and we will always remember his starring roles in the Staff Pantomime, such as the beanstalk and the magic carpet.
We say a heartfelt goodbye to Mr. Stephen Pitchers, our Assistant Headteacher for Personal Development, who is moving on to a new role in Kent. We thank him for all he has done to enhance our students' journey beyond the academic, coordinating countless trips and visits, enriching our extra-curricular activities and supporting student House and fundraising events. We are incredibly grateful for his dedication and significant contributions to our school community and wish him all the very best in his new venture.
Yesterday, 24 of the best linguists in Year 10 were invited to take part in an extra activity day in the library. The day was based around solving a murder mystery. The Headteacher, Mr Topman, had been murdered and the students had to work out how, why and by whom. They were divided up into teams of 3, with each team having at least one person who could speak French, German or Spanish. The teams had to work together to solve a range of language based activities. These ranged from codes, to Greek, to dictation to grammar based battleships. Each activity gave them access to a video file containing a police interview with one of the suspects. They then had to combine all of this information to reach a final conclusion. The students showed great resilience and perseverance with the tasks, some of which are extremely challenging. A wonderful sense of stubbornness was in the air as they simply refused to be beaten by certain activities. In the end, the team that got everything correct and solved the most tasks won, congratulations to Shalani, Ire and Hadassah.
Mr Baird
Curriculum Manager - MFL
Well done to our Eco Committee who have been instrumental in the school achieving Eco School status and being awarded the green Flag award again this year.
Dr Weaving
Eco Group
Ella was delighted to be invited to swim in the 2025 Scottish Summer Meet that took place in the Aberdeen Aquatics Centre this weekend, a 50m, 10 lane pool. All the home nations host a meet at the end of the summer where the top swimmers for each event in each age group are invited to compete against each other. Being born in Scotland, Ella is eligible to compete and was invited to take part in a number of events, ending up competing in 8 in total.
She did very well in all the events, but special mentions for the 100m and 200m butterfly where she made the finals, finishing 9th and 4th, just missing out on a top 3 spot in the 200fly. She was also pleased with her 400IM where she again just missed a medal spot finishing in 4th and a huge PB in the 400 free saw her jump from the 18th qualifier to the 7th fastest on the day.
Overall, a great weekend! Congratulations Ella, we are super proud of you!
Mrs Carey
PE & Swimming Teacher
Gabriella had a fantastic race last week, despite the heat, setting a personal best and qualified for the English Schools National 800m final in Birmingham. She had another great race on the Saturday, in the ESAA school track and field final. She came 8th, with her second fastest time of the season.
The weekend was an amazing opportunity for Gabriella and she has risen to the occasion getting her 2 best times of the season, setting a pb, increasing her rankings on power of 10. We are looking forward to next season and more success for Gabriella and we are extremely proud of her. Huge congratulations!
Mia in Year 8 competed in the World Dance Competition earlier in the month and amongst other awards gained 2nd in her group Jazz performance and 3rd in her small lyrical group. The dedication and effort you put into dance is truly amazing. Well done Mia, what an fantastic achievement.
If your child is eligible for the HAF programme (if they are in receipt of free school meals) they will be allocated a unique 16-digit code to enable you to book activities.
Once you’ve got your code, you’ll be able to log into the Holiday Activities website – where all the activities taking place are displayed.
Mrs Ali Lucero
(Pupil Premium Lead)
Children of all ages are accessing the internet, often on their own devices. There are a number of safety measures parents can take but most don't know what is good and how to install mirroring Apps. This is a guide to what they are and some examples.
We’re pleased to share Brook’s RSE at Home offer – their FREE webinar series for parents and carers who want to further support their children’s relationships and sex education at home.
These short, 30-minute webinars are delivered online via Zoom, where Brook’s experienced staff provide support and practical guidance on how to start conversations and navigate potentially tricky topics at home, such as consent, online safety and healthy relationships.
First day for students who are transferring from other schools to Year 12 at AHS - Wednesday 3 September
First day for Year 7 and ALL Year 12 students ONLY - Thursday 4 September
All students return to AHS - Friday 5 September.
Wishing all well for a very happy summer. As ever, thanks for your much appreciated support for our School during the past year.
Marieke Forster