Seacole

It has been my pleasure to lead the Year 11 Seacole class of 2023 for the past 5 years and watch them grow into impressive and mature young adults. They are a group of students who experienced the challenge of covid and online learning through Years 8 and 9, but while this interrupted their learning, it also added to their resilience and ability to cope with the rigour of GCSEs through Year 10 and 11. I am so pleased that many of them will be seeking to continue their educational path with us in September and I look forward to supporting them in that process wherever possible.

As always, the end of Year 11 brings with it some memorable leaving events as that chapter in their lives comes to a close. On Friday 23rd June, we had a wonderful leavers assembly which no doubt stirred some memories of Year 7 Induction Day back in July 2018 with a few fantastic (and occasionally embarrassing) photos highlighting the start of their secondary school life. The assembly that finished their leavers event was amazing to be part of, with all of the Seacole Year 11 students proudly wearing their graduation gowns and enjoying a video charting their 5 years at The Leigh Academy.

The prom at Dartford Club on Thursday 29th June was another fabulous occasion, with the most incredible fleet of cars we’ve ever seen bringing them into their final send-off event. The next time I see them will be for their GCSE results on Thursday 24th August and I am looking forward to seeing the joy on many of their faces when they finally realise their hard work has paid off. 

The recent college sports days were excellent events and I was very proud of the way Seacole students gave it everything in our bid to try and win the trophy back from Shakespeare. Unfortunately we were just edged out by Shakespeare again but congratulations to all Seacole students, especially those who went on to win their events and also those who pushed themselves to perform to the best of their ability in our bid to win the trophy back. Next year....!

The two stand out performers for Seacole were Dara and Eddie (pictured below). Dara won the 100m, 200m and 300m and also went on to win the same 3 events at The LAT Sports Day on Monday 10th July. In doing so, Dara won the prestigious trophy of 'most outstanding female athlete' of the day against every other LAT school. Eddie won the 1500m at both events as well, and very nearly broke the 5 minute barrier in the LAT Sports Day. We look forward to more great things from those two superstars!

More success has come from Sophie in Year 9 - our Karate superstar! Earlier this month Sophie had a trip to Scotland where she competed in the world championships in Dundee. She competed in various different kumite (fighting) categories. She started with 'Open Weight' in the 14-15 yr category with 65 other fighters. This was her biggest category to date and Sophie fought her way to a bronze medal which is a fantastic achievement. Sophie then went on to compete in Sanbon and Rotation where her team fought their way through to the final in both categories, taking home 1 gold and 1 silver medal. After a full day of kumite, Sophie finished her final event at 10pm in the individual weight category, winning the bronze medal. What an exhausting day!

Sophie has the European Championships in France in November 2023, and then is off to Mexico in 2024 for the next World Championships. Keep going Sophie - we're all very proud of your dedication and achievements!