On Wednesday, 14 May, Alumni Development Officer Ellen Monk and Alumni Trustee and Communications Lead Teri Webster had the extraordinary honour of attending the King’s Garden Party at Buckingham Palace. This truly unforgettable occasion was made possible courtesy of Alumni Co-Chair and Trustee Ian Pittaway. As well as their alumni work,  Ellen is our Learning Resources Manager and Teri is a Learning Mentor on the Green Lane site – between them they have over 45 years’ service to Robert Clack School.

 

From the moment they arrived at the Palace gates, the atmosphere was electric with excitement. Guests, dressed in their finest attire, had gathered from across the United Kingdom—each with their own story and reason for being invited. It was a special privilege to be among them, walking the immaculate gravel paths and soaking in the grandeur of the Palace gardens—a hidden gem in the heart of London. 

 

The event was a stunning showcase of British pageantry. Military bands played timeless tunes as attendees mingled and enjoyed a quintessentially British afternoon tea, complete with dainty sandwiches and exquisite pastries. The beautifully kept lawns, stately trees, and vibrant flowerbeds created a picturesque setting for a truly memorable day. 

 

The presence of Their Majesties King Charles and Queen Camilla added a sense of occasion and delight. Their entrance was marked by a formal procession of Beefeaters and the playing of the National Anthem as they appeared on the steps overlooking the thousands of guests. Excitement rippled through the crowd as the royal couple made their way down to greet attendees. 

 

To everyone’s delight, His Majesty made his way toward Ellen and Teri, warmly engaging with those nearby. Teri even had the honour of shaking the King’s hand—a moment she described as both humbling and exhilarating - a memory she will treasure forever. 

 

This particular Garden Party held special significance, celebrating individuals who have made notable contributions to the fields of education and skills. Both Ellen and Teri said they were deeply inspired by the many fellow guests they met—individuals from all walks of life who had been recognised for their dedication, service, and positive impact on society. 

 

As they left the Palace grounds, still glowing from the day’s experiences, Ellen and Teri expressed immense gratitude for the opportunity to represent the alumni community and the school at such a prestigious and heart-warming event. It was, without question, a day they will never forget. 

Entrepreneur Academy Final

By npower • February 22, 2026
On Thursday 13 th February we held the final presentations of our Sixth Form Entrepreneur Academy — Dragon’s Den style — and our students absolutely delivered. The brief: Create a product or service for 16–21 year olds that could be used by college or university students. It could be an invention or an innovation, tailored to a specific audience, with full cost research and a clear business case. The results? Innovative ideas. Professional presentations. Exceptional teamwork. 🏆 Winners: Imperium – an inventive mobile banking app designed specifically for the student market. A genuinely original concept, clearly aligned to the needs of their target audience. 🥈 Runners-up: Magniglasses – a smart glasses concept with a more affordable, accessible design. A brilliant example of innovation with commercial awareness. Every team impressed our judges with: • The quality of their ideas • Confident, professional pitching • Strong market research and costings • Clear marketing strategies It was fantastic to see many teams applying insights from our guest speakers — and even incorporating Out of Home advertising into their marketing plans following their visit to Bauer Media Group . A huge thank you to our volunteers and judges who generously gave up their time to support and challenge our students. The future of entrepreneurship is in very safe hands.

Alumni Power In Action

By npower • February 22, 2026
It’s always fantastic to see our students thinking ambitiously about their futures. Recently, Year 12 student MP shared her aspiration to become a Social Worker and asked whether Mrs Monk could connect her with a former student working in the field. Mrs Monk immediately reached out to Nanah Kamara who was more than happy to help. Nanah left Robert Clack in 2019 and, after completing her undergraduate degree, is now a fully qualified Social Worker. A meeting was set up via Teams on Wednesday 11th February, and MP came exceptionally well prepared — asking thoughtful, probing questions about relevant work experience, degree structure, and the training involved in qualifying as a Social Worker. A huge thank you to Nanah for giving up her time to support the next generation and for being such a positive role model for our students. Moments like this truly show the power of our alumni network.

UKMT Intermediate Maths Challenge

By npower • February 10, 2026
On January the 28th, 340 of our most able Mathematicians took part in the UKMT Intermediate challenge. The challenge is a national competition where our students get to compete with the best Mathematicians in the country. The challenge has students utilise their mathematical reasoning and fluency in using the basic mathematical techniques learned from school to solve unique and interesting questions and challenges on the paper. The problems on the Intermediate Mathematical Challenge promote critical thinking skills, often making pupils apply their knowledge in unfamiliar ways in order to solve a problem. Our results have just come in and we had 82 Bronze awards, 36 Silver awards and an amazing 9 Gold awards. To put this into context, only 11% of entrants achieve the Gold awards nationally. A special mention to Abisman Rajakumar for achieving the highest in the school and David Karpovych for the highest in Year 9. They, along with 5 others, will have the opportunity to go into the follow-on Kangaroo round for the elite Mathematicians in the country.  Mr Rahman, Ms Hibbit & Ms Tahir

Essex Number 1

By npower • February 9, 2026
This season George in year 11 has been the starting Goalkeeper in the county under 16 schools football team.  The Essex team are enjoying a particularly successful season, they are currently awaiting their national cup quarter final away in Devon which is due to take place this month. Georges involvement is no surprise to the PE department, he is an outstanding all round sports man who is not only our goalkeeper, but also a key part of the Athletics, Cricket and Rugby team. Well done George and good luck in the next round.

Year 11 Rugby into the Essex Cup Semi Final

By npower • February 8, 2026
On a wet and windy afternoon on the 5 th February the Year 11 Rugby team travelled to the Essex/Cambridgeshire border to play Joyce Frankland Academy in the Essex Cup ¼ final. On a pitch that was heavy in places and swamp like in others this was always going to be a game for the purists and running Rugby a tough ask. However, after a period of early pressure from Joyce Frankland and a vocal local crowd from the adjacent astro turf the Robert Clack boys certainly knew they were in for a battle. This plus some strong carries and tackles from their strong centre acted as a wake-up call to our boys. They started to take a hold of the game and some strong forward play combined with slick back play which was testament to the boys considering the conditions led to us scoring 3 quick tries and taking the sting out of the home team. Being up 20-5 at halftime the boys started the second half quite slowly and this led to the home team getting their tails up again and scoring a penalty try to make the game closer that is should be. Robert Clack then scored again to take the game out of sight and secure the place in the semi final where local rivals Campion await which will be an incredibly tough test but one that we will give 100% to. The boys involved in this game were excellent ambassadors for the school and conducted themselves with respect throughout which at times was put to the test so testament to them and the way the Robert Clack values show through in this group.

Year 4 News - Spring Term

By npower • February 5, 2026
This term in Year 4, the children have been very busy learning all about the Anglo-Saxons. In reading lessons, they have thoroughly enjoyed following the adventures of the main character, Oslaf, in our class text Winter of the Wolves.  In History, the children have been learning about Anglo-Saxon conquests and how England was once divided into seven Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. They have also learnt about the achievements of the Anglo-Saxon king, Alfred the Great and how Christianity first spread in England during this time. Our Science and Design and Technology learning have been closely linked, with children exploring electrical circuits and how electricity works. As part of this, they designed and made their own electrical circuits using simple circuits. In RE, the children have been learning about Hinduism and how Hindus worship. To deepen their understanding, they visited the London Sri Murugan Temple in Ilford, where they were able to see a wide range of Hindu statues and artefacts. The children learned about different deities and the reasons why Hindus pray to them. This valuable experience gave the children a deeper insight into their learning about Hinduism.

Year 3 News - Spring Term

By npower • February 5, 2026
The end of term for Year 3 was certainly a busy one. The children completed their Prehistoric Artwork unit by creating cave wall posters for a classroom display, as well as finishing their own textured cave walls to take home. In Science, the children also had the opportunity to investigate different rock types, soil types, and fossils, thinking about where they might be found and how long they may have been there.  The children also enjoyed some Christmas celebrations, including a class party, a pick‑and‑mix station, and even a visit from Santa and his elf. Year 10 presented the Primary School with their own pantomime, which was thoroughly enjoyed by all the children. So far in 2026, the children have started their new Science topic of Forces and Magnets, completing experiments to see how friction can affect an object while spinning and how different surfaces create friction when sliding. The children were tasked with working scientifically, so they created a question to investigate, predicted the outcome, and then set up their investigation to gather their final results. They have also investigated which materials are magnetic and how magnets can attract and repel each other.

Vision and Voices Trip

By npower • February 5, 2026
Year 9 Vision and Voices students took their second trip of the year to the National Gallery, where they developed their oracy skills by focusing on three key paintings. All students were highly engaged throughout the activities and were fantastic on the trip.

Year 11 Student pursuing a career in Psychology

By npower • February 4, 2026
Year 11 student Nwayinnaya recently approached Mrs Monk to explore a potential career in Psychology. Former pupil Chiamaka Oleh, who is now working in the field, was keen to help and generously gave up her time to offer guidance. They met via Teams on Wednesday 4th February, where Nwayinnaya was highly proactive, asking thoughtful and probing questions throughout the conversation. A huge thank you to Chiamaka for sharing her experience and supporting Nwayinnaya on her career journey.

Year 10 Boys represent Saracens

By npower • February 3, 2026
Gifton, Teddy and Mazeed from our successful year 10 boys Rugby team have all been selected to play for the professional Rugby side, Saracens in their performance development group. Trials took place over a number of months and had close to 1000 students involved in the process from the South East of England. The Robert Clack boys represented Saracen at their home ground, the StoneX stadium. The boys are part of the year 10 team that made the county final last year and are currently waiting to play the quarter final this year in the hope of making it to back to back Essex finals.  The PE department and the whole school are extremely proud of the whole team, but these 3 in particular deserve special recognition for their achievements. Mr Goyette