Head's Welcome
Dear Families, It’s been a "whirlwind of visitors" kind of week, and we are delighted to share some of the highlights with you in this weeks newsletter. We believe in bringing the outside world into Canbury whenever possible, and this week provided lots of fantastic opportunities. We were honoured to welcome Ms. Diane White Ward, Councillor for St Mark's and Seething Wells, to the school. It was a wonderful opportunity to showcase the incredible work our staff and students do every day. I had a productive discussion about the vital role Canbury plays within the SEND sector and how we support our children to thrive. Our Key Stage 3 students took part in a brilliant workshop delivered by the team from the Rose Theatre. It was a joy to see the students building confidence and exploring their creativity through drama. For our students looking toward their next steps, we were incredibly lucky to host a visitor from Jimmy Choo Fashion College. It was an inspiring session that highlighted the grit, talent, and professionalism required in the fashion industry, a real eye-opener for our aspiring designers and creatives. Lastly earlier this week, Mrs. Anindita-Beckman and I headed to the ExCeL Centre to attend the BETT exhibition. For those who haven’t heard of it, it’s the world’s leading showcase for education technology. It was a fantastic opportunity to see the latest innovations, from assistive communication tools to immersive learning tech. We are already buzzing with ideas about how we can integrate some of these advancements here at Canbury to better support our students' learning journeys. Watch this space! Wishing you all a restful and happy weekend. Mrs Rich
In this week's newsletter
Head's Welcome Students of the Week Dates for the Diary What we've been up to Student Corner Celebrations Other news and updates, including lost property
Students of the Week
Dates for the Diary
- Friday 30th January: House Bake Off to raise money for fruit trees (see details below)
- Thursday, 5 February - 5-7pm: Year 7 Progress Check evening (online)
- Friday 13th February - 8.15-9.15am: PSHE/RSE coffee morning
- 16th – 20th February 2026: Half Term
What we've been up to
Canbury Belonging
Reenie held our second Canbury Belonging Session this week - thank you to Ella, Lloyd, Mani, Theo, Rosie, Alice, Nico, Miss Kay, Mr Fayers and Mrs Milestone for taking part.
Below is our word cloud on what Sports - including horse riding, bouldering, yoga and going to the gym - means to us.
Rose Theatre Drama Workshop
The Hall was a hub of activity on Tuesday morning as the Rose Theatre Group held a Shakespeare Drama Workshop with us. KS3 absolutely loved the session and there were lots of happy faces and scores of 10 all around! We loved seeing their freeze frames of Shakespeare scenes alongside some group wide activities to help them connect and interact together.
Scrapbook Club
Arya, Daisy, Ella and Reenie made an enthusiastic start to our new club, designing the front covers of their new scrapbooks. It was wonderful to see these students expressing their unique creativity.
From Mayfair to Canbury: A Masterclass with the Jimmy Choo Academy
We were delighted to welcome Frederik Willems, Programme Leader at the prestigious JCA | London Fashion Academy, to our Art Department this week. Frederik, a veteran of the fashion industry and former Head of Design at Pink Shirtmaker, delivered an inspiring talk and hands-on workshop for our students from Year 9 through to the Sixth Form. The session offered a rare "behind-the-curtain" look at the professional world of high fashion and working alongside industry legends like Professor Jimmy Choo OBE. During the practical workshop, students were challenged to push their creative boundaries. Key highlights included: The Art of the Croquis - Students learned the secrets of professional fashion proportions and how to create dynamic, fluid figures. The Business of Design - Students gained valuable advice on building portfolios and the importance of entrepreneurship in the modern fashion landscape. It was a privilege to see our students so engaged with a leader in the field. This experience has undoubtedly sparked new ideas for their upcoming projects. A huge thank you to Frederik and the JCA for such a transformative afternoon!
Year 8 Rock Salt Separation
There were some amazing separation techniques with rock salt with Y8 in science last week!
Student Corner
Language Notebook
We have loved seeing Danai's personalised notebook and all of the wonderful language work he is completing within it. Well done!
Connectives Poster
Well done to Lexi for her brilliant poster on connectives in English this week.
POTENTIAL SPOILER - Traitors Winner Prediction
LOOK AWAY NOW IF YOU ARE NOT UP TO DATE! We have taken a poll of who we think will win Traitors this evening! See below - we can't wait to find out who is right.....
- Stephen or Faraaz - Rory and Mrs Milestone
- Jack or Stephen - Olivia
- Faraaz - Mason
- Stephen - Alice, Arya, Brooke, Lysandar, Mrs Strawbridge, Mrs Davies, Miss McDonnell
- Rachel - Hattie, Lexi, Jerusha, Sofia B, Ms Hanna-Shaikh, Ms Cowlam
Celebrations
Harry has received a Jack Petchey award at his karate class for his commitment last year which means he has won a £300 grant for his club! What an amazing achievement - well done!
Other News & Updates
Careers & Work Experience Board plus Volunteers Needed
We have a new careers board at school - thank you to Reenie, Lexi and Sofia B for your help - as well as an updated page on our website (see below). Every few weeks we will choose a new industry focus to showcase some of the different job roles that are available, and some of the skills you might need. We hope these new resources will open up a whole new area of discussion for our students and help them discover different career options that they may not have previously considered.
We are also looking for volunteers who might be willing to showcase their careers in the following ways:
- Short case study for the careers board and website
- Being present at our inaugural careers fayre on 20th April 2026
Please email Mrs Milestone if you would like to take part and she can discuss this in more detail with you.
Business Notice Board Items
We are moving some of the notice boards around and have taken down the Business Workshop items from the notice board by the science lab. If you would like to keep your items, please come to collect them from Mrs Milestone in Wellbeing.
Local activities and clubs for children and young people
Cold and Wet Weather
Please make sure you send your child in with a waterproof coat as the weather is very mixed at present. Students will not be allowed out in the playground without suitable clothing, especially if it is raining/ sleeting/snowing.
Winter Hints & Tips from our Head Students, House Captains and House Vice Captains
Credits:
Created with an image by lucid_dream - "Charity Money Jar"