Crew Brunel kicked off the week in a calm and positive way with a mindful session in the sportshall. We spent some time burning off a little energy – kicking a ball around, skipping, playing throw and catch, and enjoying some relaxed time together before settling into the week ahead. It was a great way to start with focus, connection and a clear head.

On Tuesday, we continued our Passage work, diving back into our science books from Year 7 and 8. It was interesting to look back at how far everyone has come, identify the progress made, and reflecting on their learning journey so far.

Midweek, we explored our final Wise Wednesday topic for this term. With all our topics now finished, students will begin creating and refining their own presentations, bringing together the progress, insights, and reflections they’ve gathered throughout the term.

Later in the week, we looked at praises and conducts, checking out who has climbed to the top of our Crew praise leaderboard. It was great to see so much positive recognition being shared.

We rounded off the week with our whole-school community meeting, where we celebrated character traits and shared real examples of staff and students showing them in action. We also found out who topped the praise leaderboards across the school – huge congratulations to Liam, Matilda, Pippa and Ayden who all tied for the top spot in Year 9! A fantastic achievement. As always, there was time for apologies, appreciations and stands, strengthening our community spirit.

Another brilliant week for Crew Brunel – well done everyone!

Miss Mitchell

This week, Crew Brunel returned after a well-deserved two-week break, refreshed, energised, and ready to dive back into learning and community life. It was great to see everyone recharged and eager to catch up with one another. We kicked things off by checking in and sharing stories from our time off — some relaxing, some adventurous, but all full of fun memories.

Once we’d reconnected, we jumped straight back into our learning. We revisited our reading routines and explored our weekly Wise Wednesday topic, sparking thoughtful discussions and establishing expectations for a strong start to the term.

A highlight of the week was the launch of Passage. Designed to prepare students for the next stage of their academic journey, Passage offers students a structured opportunity to reflect on their learning, identify strengths and areas for improvement, and assess their readiness to progress to GCSEs.

During this week’s session, we explored the purpose of Passage, its importance in supporting both academic and personal growth, and the specific expectations for each student. By providing a clear roadmap for success, including defined milestones and achievable targets, Passage ensures that every student understands the steps they need to take to reach their full potential and transition confidently to the next stage of their education.

We rounded off the week with a whole-school community meeting, celebrating a fantastic first week back. It was a wonderful opportunity to recognise everyone’s contributions, highlight achievements, and reinforce the strong sense of community that makes our school so special. A big congratulations to Pippa for being awarded the Spanish Star of the Week. Her excellent work and beautiful craftsmanship and quality have really stood out. Well done, Pippa!

This week has set the tone for a term full of focus, resilience and collaboration. Crew Brunel is back, buzzing with energy, and ready to take on everything the weeks ahead have in store.

Miss Mitchell

What a fantastic final week of the half term it’s been for Crew Brunel! We kicked things off in true Halloween spirit with a themed party that included some frightfully fun games such as Trick or Treat and Pin the Stem on the Pumpkin. Students were told there was a special Boo Basket up for grabs at the end of the week — and tokens could be earned through various activities. The student with the most tokens would be crowned the winner!

Midweek, we held a Year 8 and 9 Community Meeting, where we reflected on how awesome our students have been this term. Teachers shared lots of praises and appreciations, recognising students for their effort, kindness, and commitment both in and out of lessons.

Our creative challenge this week was to design a Halloween costume, and the results were Creeptastic! From scary monsters to clever, funny designs, students really let their imaginations run wild. A special well done to Pippa, whose creative design won her an extra 10 tokens!

We also kept an eye on praises and conducts — every praise earned 5 tokens, while each conduct resulted in 2 tokens being deducted. It was great to see so many students gaining tokens through positive actions and great behaviour.

To top off our busy week, Crew Brunel took part in a Penalty Shootout Fundraiser to raise money for our chosen charity, the Coral Reef Alliance. There were plenty of laughs and friendly competition — and congratulations to Blake for winning the hamper!

We ended the week on a high with a whole-school community meeting, celebrating the end of our first half term of the year. It’s been a fun-filled week full of teamwork, creativity, and community spirit. Huge shoutout to David, who has absolutely smashed it this half term by finishing at the top of our praise leaderboard with an impressive 43 praise points! Well done, David.

In true Crew Brunel fashion, our students showed great teamwork and strategy — instead of competing individually for the boo basket, they decided to join forces and pool their tokens. This led to two teams forming and battling it out throughout the week to see who could collect the most tokens. The competition was fierce, but in the end, the girls took the win! Well done to the girls’ team for claiming the Boo Basket!

Now it’s time for a well-deserved rest over the half-term break — I can’t wait to see what the next one brings!

Miss Mitchell