We want to open our term five round-up with a spotlight on some of our incredible Cotham Post 16 alumni. Firstly our congratulations to Hannah Yun Chamberlain and Rose Dayan, who have worked/are working on three of the West End shows that won Olivier Awards in recent weeks. Hannah danced and acted in the part of Young Norma in Sunset Boulevard at the Savoy Theatre (7 Olivier Awards including Best Director, Sound Design and Best Actress in a Musical - Nicole Scherzinger). Rose is working as an assistant stage manager, currently on stage with Sarah Snook (Olivier Award for Best Actress) in The Picture of Dorian Gray at the Haymarket Theatre. Before that she worked as an ASM on The Little Big Things (which won the Supporting Actress Award). Furthermore, our congratulations to George Calascione who was reelected to his seat as a Green councillor for the Clifton Down ward in the recent local elections. 

While we celebrate the successes of former students, we must also give our respect and commendation to our brilliant, resilient Year 13 and Foundation cohorts. As always, we end term five with exam season in full flow. We are exceptionally proud of our incredible students who are handling themselves with power and dignity. Two long years of hard work has brought them here and we know they will do themselves proud. As much as we know you are all feeling the pressure of this moment, just know that your best is good enough. Keep going; be kind to yourselves and make time for rest. We still have a way to go next term and we are with you every step.

Before exams got underway, there was of course plenty of celebration, with sun-soaked leavers events for our Year 13s and Foundation students. Games, pizza and karaoke in the courtyard was a fantastic way to mark the end of a brilliant year for our Foundation students, the vast majority of whom we look forward to welcoming back onto Level 3 courses in September. Year 13 also didn’t disappoint, with a leaver celebration filled with tears and laughter. The students put together a nostalgic (and hilarious) short film commemorating their time at NBP16 - shout out to the fantastic Yumna for her sublime editing skills! We always say that two years go by so quickly, but we have loved every minute spent with this year group.

Personal development beyond the classroom is a theme of every termly update, and this one is no different. Origami club is going from strength to strength, run by our student Ibrahim who is the master of folding! We also have a community table tennis tournament underway - with fierce competition at every stage and even a few staff stepping in to represent! Congratulations also goes to our students building their skill sets through enrichment this term. In particular, to our amazing Gold Duke of Edinburgh cohort who smashed it on their final expedition. And of course to our fabulous Geographers who may have been the first cohort ever to have sunshine on their residential field trip to Slapton. Karaoke featured heavily here too - it’s definitely part of the Cotham Post 16 genetics at this point!

All that remains is to wish our students a well deserved half term break. With futures on the mind, we would encourage students to make sure they keep an eye out for the weekly Post 16 Futures Bulletin, which is emailed to them directly but can also be accessed here at any time. This break will be an important opportunity for our students to get some rest and take time for self care. We encourage them to have a look through the ideas and resources in our end-of-term Wellbeing Bulletin, which will be emailed to them before the break and you can preview it here.