Southfields Academy

Our Year 10 GCSE Computer Science students stepped into the birthplace of modern computing, with a visit to Bletchley Park the home of The National Museum of Computing.
From cracking codes to creating games, the day was packed with hands-on learning:
🔍 Explored encryption through a Codebreaking & Ciphers workshop
🕰️ Saw a real Enigma machine and learned about WWII intelligence
💡 Discovered early computing innovations, including Colossus
👾 Programmed their own Snake game on original BBC Micro computers
🎮 Tried out classic games on vintage systems
TechHistory

On 7th May, the Year 10 Travel and Tourism students visited The London Dungeon as part of their learning for Component 2, focusing on meeting customer needs and tourism trends. As well as being educational through exploring the history of London, the experience was also thrilling and immersive. The theatrical performances were incredible, keeping everyone on edge - and there were certainly plenty of screams! We also had time to explore a bit of the South Bank and enjoyed lunch on the green. It was a fantastic visit, with all students fully engaged and representing the school exceptionally well.

On Thursday, 30th April, Riverside Radio broadcast their breakfast show live from Southfields Academy to celebrate The National Year of Reading. The hosts, Jason Rosam and Alison Palmer interviewed some of our staff- asking what their favourite children’s books were when they were growing up-and how our school community promotes reading for pleasure across all year groups.

The Riverside Radio team also invited a group of our students to speak on the show to discuss their passion for reading. All involved enjoyed this incredible opportunity and they showed remarkable enthusiasm and professionalism throughout the experience. It was wonderful to see the confidence of the students who were interviewed as they stepped up to the microphone and represented the school so brilliantly. The feedback from the radio team was overwhelmingly positive—they were impressed by our students’ communication skills and maturity when responding to questions. Southfields Academy is very proud of everyone involved for embracing this unique opportunity and making it such a success!

As if having a local radio station broadcast live from the school wasn’t enough, on the same day we were also thrilled to welcome Sarah Crossan, the multi-award-winning author, for a very special visit. Crossan is best known for her novel One, which won the VILIP Carnegie medal and YA Book Prize in 2016. Some of her other popular titles include, The Weight of Water and Apple and Rain. After speaking on the radio, Sarah Crossan delivered a presentation to all of our Year 10 pupils. This hour was filled with discussions about poetry, writing in verse and the appreciation of language constantly changing and adapting. Crossan also gave the audience a deeper understanding about her latest release- April’s Book of the Month at Waterstones bookstore: Gone for Good. The presentation ended with every Year 10 pupil being gifted a signed copy of Crossan’s new thriller- courtesy of Book Clubs in Schools- who were celebrating their birthday that day too! 

On 15th April, 20 of our Year 9 students took a significant step towards their Bronze Duke of Edinburgh Award with a practice walk at Wimbledon Common. Accompanied by Ms Lenton, Mr Robertson, and Mr Munro, the group departed from the Academy, covering an initial 2.5km to reach the Wimbledon Common Windmill Museum. Once at the Windmill, students were split into groups and tasked with navigating a 15km route around the common. Using only their maps and local landmarks to guide them, they successfully managed the trek before reconvening for the 2.5km return journey to Southfields Academy. It was a brilliant opportunity for the students to hone their navigation skills and immerse themselves in nature. We are now looking forward to an equally successful practice expedition in May

Miss Lanning took 12 Year 7 and 8 students to Spencer Cricket Club for a cricket workshop on a warm, sunny afternoon. The session, led by club coaches, started with a short warm-up before moving into drills that focused on batting technique, bowling accuracy, and fielding skills such as catching and ground work. Students worked in small groups and rotated between activities, which kept everyone involved and gave them a chance to build confidence across different aspects of the game. It was an enjoyable and well-run session that helped the group develop their understanding of cricket while making the most of the good weather. Thank you for hosting 🏏

Before the Easter holidays, our Year 13 Sociology students attended a revision booster session at White City, Westfield with Tutor2u. They were a real credit to the school, demonstrating outstanding behaviour, enthusiasm, and excellent sociological knowledge throughout the day. Staff at the event commented on how well our students engaged, outshining other schools. Students also gained valuable exam technique advice, which will support them in the lead-up to their final exams.

On Thursday 12th March, our 09S-EN1 students attended a special gala at Wandsworth Town Hall to celebrate their incredible contributions to the Journalism Project 📰✨
From interviewing the Mayor of Wandsworth (and asking the important questions 👀🎤) to Shayanah and Ava opening the show alongside Newsround reporters, the evening was full of memorable moments.
We were especially proud to be the first group to receive an award for the class’s outstanding articles 🏆👏
A brilliant celebration of our budding young journalists — the future is bright! 🌟

Back in February we were incredibly proud to present our whole school production of Romeo & Juliet: South London Edition. Set in 2026 inner South London, this powerful modern adaptation followed Romeo as he found himself torn between loyalty to his friends and his deep, life-changing love for Juliet. In a world shaped by reputation, social pressure and rising tensions between communities, the story explored the courage it takes to choose compassion over conflict. Our students delivered a moving and mature performance that captured both the
intensity of young love and the consequences of violence.
This truly was a whole school achievement, with students aged 11–18 involved on stage and behind the scenes. We were especially impressed by our Sixth Form Stage Management and Technical Team, who led lighting,
sound, staging and backstage coordination with professionalism and confidence. Their leadership and collaboration with younger year groups demonstrated outstanding teamwork and responsibility.
We are immensely proud of every student who took part. The commitment, talent and support shown throughout the rehearsal process and performances reflect the strength of our performing arts culture and the creativity that
continues to thrive across the school.

The wonderful charity “Book clubs in schools” heard about our World Book Day festivities and offered to donate 50 books so that teachers could hand them out to students.
The books were wrapped up so it added to the mystery of what was inside!
The books gave the students the opportunity to join in with the World Book Day fun and some teachers even were running in class competitions with books being the prizes!

Southfields Academy celebrated World Book Day on Friday 6 March; it was, as always, a fun and colourful event!
We were delighted to see so many staff dress up to celebrate their favourite stories.
Additionally, tutor groups received book tokens to pick out books of their choosing in local participating book stores.
We’d like to give a special thank you to Ali Palmer from Book Clubs in Schools for providing dozens of free books, which teachers handed out as prizes on the day.
Until next year!