Dear Parents/Carers, As we draw the autumn term to a close, I write to thank you for your continued support of the school and to inform you of the arrangements for both the end of term and the start of the new term in January 2026. Autumn Term We have had a very positive first term of the year. Attendance to school has been very good. This term, Baylis Court School has been recognised as being in the top 25% of schools in similar circumstances for Key Stage 4 pupils’ attendance. Next week in Celebration Assemblies, over a third of our pupils will be recognised for their fantastic attendance to school so far this year. I thank parents and carers for encouraging good attendance to school. Our new Year 7 cohort have made an excellent start. I was very proud of the number of new pupils selected to represent the school as Tour Guides on Open Evening, having only been with us for a few weeks at the time! Equally our new cohort of Year 12 students who have demonstrated commitment to their studies through a positive attitude. Year 12 and 13 students have contributed to the whole school by taking on positions of responsibility, representing the School at Open Evenings, Consultation Evenings and leading events to raise money for charity. We are looking forward to introducing our new Student Leadership team next term; interviews are taking place for Year 12 students this week and next. Pupils have enjoyed a range of experiences in school to complement their learning. These have included careers challenges, work-experience visits, sports fixtures, university visits and fieldwork studies. We hope that you have enjoyed reading about them in the fortnightly newsletters. We are so proud of all pupils who have engaged in these experiences. Every single visit that has taken place has resulted in people external to Baylis Court School complimenting our pupils on their attitude to learning, maturity and independence. We have been overwhelmed with the praise that they have received and if your daughter has been part of this we hope that you are also rightly proud of her. In addition, I am grateful to the teachers who have provided opportunities for so many pupils to support their learning and develop their interests with educational visits. Christmas lunch and Baylis Christmas Jumper Day We are looking forward to the Christmas lunch at school next week on Wednesday 17 December. Your daughter is invited to wear her own, or a Christmas jumper in place of the top part of her uniform to school. There is no need to donate money for this event but, should you want to, donations can be made to Save the Children online. Please be reminded that full uniform of trousers or skirts are expected. Pupils will not be allowed to wear their own clothes in full – it is not a mufti day. Last day of term The last day of term is Friday, 19 December 2025. Formal lessons and the planned curriculum will continue until this day. Pupils will be dismissed from school at 12:20. Mock Examinations Our Year 11 pupils made us so proud earlier this term demonstrating how hard they had worked in preparation for their mock examinations. They have been making ongoing revision plans and have developed targets to improve their outcomes in the summer. We return in the new year to mock A level examinations taking place for Year 13 students, starting on Wednesday 7 January 2026. The timetable has been shared with students and is available on Teams. We are confident that all students will approach this set of examinations with the level of commitment expected of those in their final year of study. Revision and demonstrating a positive attitude towards learning will be the key to their success. Pupil drop off and pick-up Parents/carers who choose to drive to drop pupils off or pick them up from school are respectfully reminded that drop off needs to happen before the yellow zig-zag road markings on Gloucester Avenue. These road markings indicate a ‘no-stopping zone’. The restrictions are in place to ensure the safety of pedestrians at the school entrance. Vehicular access to the school site is only permitted for staff, visitors and the parents/carers of pupils who have been issued accessibility passes to drive onto site. These passes are issued to those who have mobility issues and/or require transportation to the school site.
May I take this opportunity to wish you and your families a safe and relaxing holiday and a peaceful and healthy New Year. For those who are celebrating, I wish you a very happy Christmas. I look forward to welcoming our wonderful young people and staff back to school in January 2026. Yours faithfully,
Christine MacInnes Principal
On Friday 28 November, our Year 9 students took part in the SEGRO School Challenge. Their task was to design a new building for the old O2 site in the Slough Trading Estate. The brief asked them to develop an idea that would benefit the community, operate as a profitable business, and be sustainable. Working in groups, the students created their concepts and pitched them to business volunteers. The top three teams then presented to the whole Year 9 cohort. From there, the winning group was chosen to represent Baylis at the SEGRO School Final on 11 December. They did an excellent job pitching an open event for their new community building. They presented to seven different judges and a panel of business volunteers. They performed brilliantly and should be very proud of themselves. Congratulations to Laiba, Sahej, Aleena, Haleema and Bhawana who did an amazing job at representing Baylis Court School
Reading Corner
Welcome to the new section of your newsletter where you will find book recommendations, reviews and more! If you would like to submit an item for consideration into this area, please email Mrs Bounds: RBO@Bayliscourt.slough.sch.uk
Year 7-11 Recommendations:
Sixth Form Recommendations:
Scholastic Book Fair Update
Thank you to all the students that supported us during Scholastic Book Fair this year, not just by purchasing, but also by assisting with the display and monitoring the activity, helping answer questions when I was busy with other student queries, really appreciated. We had so many sales that we managed to reach enough spend to claim back some Scholastic book credit (meaning the school will be ordering £160 worth of free books!) We will use the Scholastic credit to look through the book suggestions we have received to date and order some of these, emailing students when they have been delivered (most likely January 2026). It was personally so lovely to see a lot of excitement and buzz around the Scholastic book fair, with students enthusiastically discussing some of the literature on display. Thank you again to everyone for their enthusiasm and support during these two weeks.
Careers in… PE!
Studying PE isn’t just about playing sports! Journalism, Photography, Doctors, Politicians, Nurses and Sales could benefit from taking Sports Studies.
What skills do I need to go GCSE PE?
- Be organised and bring your correct equipment
- Be determined to achieve within PE
- Be daring and try learning new skills
- Be self-reflective and take on leadership roles
How will it fit in with your other subjects? Studying PE isn’t just about playing sports and getting fit. There is a wide range of literacy involved, a crossover of biology and media. Firstly, PE looks at current affairs in the Sports media which covers topics such as English, Art and design and media. Secondly, studying PE will help you with deepening understanding of what names of muscles, bones and the body’s response to exercise in a scientific way.
Dear Parents/Carers, As a school we know that many of our pupils participate in the Roblox game – the game however should not be played by anyone under the age of 13, yet this has been particularly difficult for the makers of the game to control – please see below for the new measures the game makers are taking to ensure that the age limit is adhered to. The introduction of the Online Safety Bill earlier this year has brought welcome controls over what we and our children can access online. As internet speeds have increased and the digital world has expanded, the ability for anyone of any age to reach almost any content has grown at a pace far beyond our capacity to safeguard against it. The risks have become unmistakable. Adults now face increasingly sophisticated attacks from hackers and scammers, while children remain acutely vulnerable to online predators. Although some internet services initially resisted tighter regulation, the government’s commitment to reducing online harms has ultimately prevailed. For children, one of the most persistent avenues for predatory behaviour has been online video games. These are spaces where young users gather, communicate, and interact, often with limited verification or oversight. Roblox, a platform widely associated with younger players, is now beginning to address this by introducing facial analysis age checks and optional ID verification for users over 13. These real-world verification measures are designed to confirm a user’s age more accurately and to restrict interactions that could place children at risk. In practice, they signal an important shift in how major platforms are starting to manage online safety and respond to the expectations set out in the Bill. You can read more about these checks on the SWGfL website: https://swgfl.org.uk/magazine/roblox-announces-facial-age-checks-for-chat-features/
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