Weekly Message 182 – 31 March 2023
31st March 2023
As the Spring Term reaches a conclusion, we reflect on a fabulous six weeks. You will have read in the Weekly Messages all the wonderful activities that have taken place as part of our broad and balanced curriculum and those offered to enrich the curriculum and develop personal skills. This week has been no different as you will read below.
Parents and carers will also be in receipt today of the end of term letter from the Co-Heads of School which we trust you will find informative.
We remind pupils, parents and carers that the school re-opens to pupils following the Spring break on 17 April 2023 and in the meantime our best wishes to you all.
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Years 7 and 8 – Disco
To celebrate the end of term and their hard work and dedication, Years 7 and 8 pupils were invited into school for a disco on Thursday evening and it was a huge success. With our Year 9 Buddies running the drinks stand to keep the dancers hydrated, everyone had a wonderful time and the feedback from the pupils has been really positive. Thank you to all who gave their time to set up and support at the event.
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History Movie Night
On Wednesday, we saw a number of our Year 11 pupils bringing their popcorn and Pepsi to join the History Department for Movie Night. Tying in nicely with the final unit of their GCSE studies on the Vietnam war, staff and pupils watched the Tom Hanks and Meryl Streep helmed modern classic ‘The Post’, coving the Washington Post newspaper’s publication of the Pentagon papers.
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Year 9 Guided Choices
A letter was sent to parents/carers of pupils in Year 9 on 29 March 2023 with the link to the Guided Choices form which needs to be completed by 26 April 2023. Also provided were the links to the Guided Choices 2023 booklet and videos on each subject.
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Nurturing Group Celebration
The Nurturing Group started in September with 12 pupils in the school’s Nexus Academy. The Nexus staff have provided sessions on Art, Forest School, Cooking, Maths, Literacy, PE and Social and Emotional Communication Skills. Each session has included a snack of toast and jam around the kitchen table and over the two terms we have devoured 32 loaves of bread and 13 jars of jam.
Today, we finished our last Nurture session with a party to celebrate. The pupils have left Nexus today having made new friends and feeling confident and proud of themselves. It has been an absolute pleasure working with you all.
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Year 10 Work Experience
This week Year 10 have been out of school on their much-anticipated work experience. We have had some lovely feedback about our pupils, who have been working hard and enjoying being out in the wider world. They have made us incredibly proud! Thank you so much to everyone involved in offering and finding work placements for our young people, it has been a week to remember.
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Jazz Café
Last Thursday saw our pupils perform in our sold-out Jazz Café concert. The evening included performances of jazz standards and soul classics from our ensembles including the String Ensemble, Guitar Ensemble, Concert Band, Soul Band, Year 7 Choir and Show Choir.
There were accomplished solo piano performances on our baby grand piano as well as singers performing with our live band. No backing tracks were used at all on the evening, with performers accompanied by our house band of pupils and staff.
It was a fabulous evening of entertainment, with pupils demonstrating the incredible musical talent they have. Our thanks also go to all those working behind the scenes making it the special evening it was.
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Noughts and Crosses Theatre Trip
On Friday 24 March we set off with Year 11 and Year 10 GCSE Drama pupils to Poole. The performance was fantastic and full of elements to write about for their exam in May. The pupils were a credit to the school and their responses to the performance were a delight. Thank you to parents for the late collection, the trip was most certainly worth the travel.
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English House Challenge Results
We were so impressed with the pupils’ contributions to the English House Challenge to redesign the cover of their favourite book. With over 100 entries, it was so difficult to choose the top three. Big congratulations to everyone who entered; you’ve all done yourselves very proud!
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Helping Children and Young People with Managing Device Stress and Anxiety
Below is a link to information from National Online Safety on helping children and young people with managing device stress and anxiety.