During October, to express the Halloween excitement, a spooky story competition took place. Students were encouraged to put pen to paper and let their imagination free as they created thrilling short stories that sent shivers down spines. I would like to congratulate Prem Ghatora [8R] on his story called “Her.”

Here is an extract…

“Breathless. Exhausted. Frederick’s breathing grew heavy. His chest ached. His head throbbed. Sweat trickled down his temples. To be honest, he was drenched in sweat. His legs were sore yet he still kept running. The barren dead trees around him made him feel small, weak. While tough gusts of wind pushed him away, the crow song could be heard in the distance. He could hear the rapid unsteady beat of his heart. The air was poisonous and repulsive, making him want to retch. This dismal place made him shiver. His legs were in agony making him want to yell, but he knew he couldn’t stop. Otherwise it would be the end. He couldn’t stop because he was being followed, hunted. By Her… Frederick didn’t even want to recall her name. It made him shudder…”

Brilliant! As a result of his terrifically terrifying tale, he was awarded a quill writing set, a journal and a collection of stories by Susan Hill. Well done, Prem!

Alisha Rizwan [10G]

Parents of Year 13 students were invited to meet with senior teachers to discuss their child's higher education apprenticeship and career plans for Post 18.  Teachers also discussed attainment in the September UCAS mocks and students had the opportunity to review their targets linked to their first choice university courses and apprenticeships.  Given that there were so few faces-to-face parent meeting over the last eighteen months, it was a fantastic opportunity to meet with parents in person.  Parents also appreciated being able to come into school to meet with teachers and the turnout was excellent as over 90% of parents were in attendance.

Mr Slade has worked as a Librarian for over 15 years and is excited to welcome students to our new Learning Resource Centre.

For KS3 students, Mr Slade recommends books by Anne Fines, Charlie Higson, Roald Dahl and C.S Lewis. For KS4 be recommends books by HP Lovecraft, Rick Yancer, MM Kayes, Malorie Blackman and Isaac Asimov.

He is currently re-reading the entire Discworld series by Terry Pratchet.

For more reading recommendations and the opportunity to join book clubs, students should come to the LRC. Students are welcome to at lunchtimes on selected days and every day after-school. 

This year’s Senior Student applications were outstanding.  We had nearly thirty applicants, who all prepared exceptional personal statements to support their applications.  The interviews were as impressive and the panel of Senior Teachers were blown away by the preparation that had gone into the interviews and the clarity and eloquence of the presentations. 

It was exceptionally hard to whittle down the applicants to the 16 required to make up the team but after 2 days of deliberation, the decision was finally made.

The Team have already begun their work with other year groups as well their specific projects for the academic year.

Well done to 2021 Senior Team, and we can’t wait to see you leave your indelible mark on the Heston community under the stewardship of Gurpreet Arora [Head Boy] and Maryam Hussein [Head Girl].

All students from Year 7 to Sixth Form will find books they will love in our new Library, with a range of diverse books from anime, Shakespeare, action and adventure to historical fiction. Students can use books and ipads to research, take part in book clubs or just use the space as a quiet place to work. I feel honoured to be one of the new Library Monitors and to be part of a school in which it takes reading and literacy very seriously!

Prem Ghatora [8R]