Message from the Head
Dear Parents,
On Thursday morning, we remembered the Holocaust victims in a very poignant assembly by some of Year 7 and Mrs Griffiths. As a community, we reflected on the themes of discrimination and prejudice and the inhumanity of some humankind.
Earlier in the week, Mrs Morgan talked to the students about the need to dream big, to be resilient, to get back up when knocked down, to work hard to achieve your dreams, to be inspired by role models and to never give up. I know that both of these assemblies were appreciated by our students and staff and made us all think. Thank you, Mrs Griffith and Mrs Morgan.
We also took delivery of a Green Wall today – thank you very much to Dr Alvarez and Mr Goodhead for thinking of us and donating this to us. It’s not green yet but will be….. It is an amazing thing with water that pumps around it and nearly 200 pockets for plants to grow. Can’t wait to get this in action!
School council is very important and we are going to get ours up and running again. Form reps have been contacted to schedule a meeting and students from all year groups will be able to have an input into the running of the school. First job on the list -green wall! I also meet with prefects once a week, although this has been curtailed due to mock exams it is back up and running from next week, plus we have our trusty estates and media teams. Some work in progress here but we are really committed to giving the students a voice in school.
Information has come out regarding Y9 options and I’m sorry if there are some choices that you would prefer which aren’t available – please let me know. It takes a while to be able to see if we can offer something new (like GCSE PE this year) but we will always consider if we know there is demand.
I have been enjoying teaching Philosophy for Children with Year 6 over the last few weeks. Today we discussed ‘Does the mind control the body or the body control the mind?’. It’s pretty high brow ‘stuff’ and we were discussing the ancient philosophers Aristotle and his pupils Socrates and Plato. We usually start these sessions with a ‘Would you rather?’ question and today’s question was ‘Would you rather cuddle a koala or be the pal of a panda?’ I will leave you debating that!
NottAlone is a useful resource for information on teenage mental health, please do look at some of the sources and resources out there.
Local mental health advice and help for young people in Nottingham and Nottinghamshire. | NottAlone
It is not an easy world to navigate at times. I will confirm a date shortly for a talk for parents about managing anxiety around exams and obviously, this may be helpful for our current Year 11 students.
I know we have had some mild /asymptomatic cases of Covid this week and we have consulted with the local authority who confirmed with me that we are at about the same level as other schools in the area and although mask-wearing is no longer mandatory in school, we are leaving this very much to the individual.
With very best wishes for the weekend,
Helen Barsham
Head
Message from the Head of Juniors
Good afternoon,
On Wednesday, Dr Alvarez from Nottingham City Council visited the school to lead the Years Five and Six pupils in a project based around architectural sketching. In the first session, they were introduced to perspective and axonometric drawing. Next week, they plan on visiting Nottingham Trent University to use these skills to draw some of the building, and the following week, they will be visiting the Council House, where they will also have a talk from a City councillor.
The Junior School Council met this week and came up with some interesting ideas including competitions they are looking to organise and possible clubs. We have had some really positive feedback on the new house system with children being awarded house points when, for example, they are demonstrating resilience or kindness, in addition to merits for their academic work. Children will be receiving new house badges in the coming weeks.
Our new summer dress has been approved and next week we will be taking some photographs of a key stage one pupil modelling the dress; these will be shared with you soon and we will notify parents when the dress is available to order. In the Summer Term, if they wish to, Year Six girls may begin to wear the Senior uniform instead. This is a white shirt, tie, green skirt (slightly different style) or grey trousers, black tights or green socks or tights. Uniforms can be purchased from Schoolwear Solutions.
As you are aware, we have seen a rise in Covid cases in the Junior School this week. Please continue to keep us informed if children have symptoms or receive a positive test.
This week’s Stars of the Week can be viewed here.
Have a lovely weekend,
Mrs Wright
Head of Junior School
Key Dates for the Week Ahead
Monday 31st January |
Year 8 Boys Basketball Finals |
Wednesday 2nd February |
Intermediate Maths Challenge Year 10 Parents’ Evening Year 5 & 6 Architectural Sketching Project
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Thursday 3rd February |
Year 5 and 6 DART (previously known as DARE) D.E.A.R (Drop Everything and Read) Year 11 Trip to Poetry Live! Year 7 Theatre Trip |