Welcome to this week's newsletter
Dear families,
Schools are always an exciting spectrum of day-to-day interactions, moments of joy and fascination, and tantalising possibilities for the future. For this to happen we must be focused on getting the best from every moment and every opportunity, and precisely plan for an even better tomorrow.
At Manor School we are doing that very thing. Please let us update you:
- We welcome Mrs Donovan back from maternity leave. She will be teaching a few lessons as part of the Modern Foreign Languages department but most of her time will be in the maths department.
- We have worked out a revised timetable to ensure all students in maths have access during their week to teaching from a permanent member of staff. Senior leaders will be taking on a greater role teaching in maths whilst other colleagues are unable to be in school.
- Students have been studying the valuable lesson of Humanity through their understanding of the Holocaust Memorial. Assemblies and lessons on this topic have lead to some stunning poems written by Year 8. They surpassed themselves in their Curiosity and Empathy. We have selected 3 examples for you to read here.
But now, the big news!
We - as you are hopefully aware - are part of a select group of schools who were handpicked to take part in the Healthy Minds programme from Bounce Forward, in collaboration with The Harry Kane Foundation.
Next week is Children’s Mental Health Week. We, Bounce Forward and Harry & Kate Kane will be using our collective voice, raising awareness of children’s mental health and wellbeing. We will be sharing how the project we have been running since September supports young people to build a personal toolkit, helping them to manage their own mental fitness.
On Tuesday Kate Kane and the team from Bounce Forward, led by their CEO Lucy Bailey, will be joining us on site at Manor School. They will be taking part in Bounce Forward lessons, some of which will be filmed for broadcast by the BBC on Thursday. Students will then be able to meet Harry Kane via video link and ask him questions about his own personal resilience development. Many other students will watch the video link together from our Main Hall.
This week students have been submitting questions to put forward to Harry and signing up for those highly sought-after seats in the hall. It is great that so many students can be part of this celebration of how we, at Manor, are embracing this road to mental fitness.
Please do watch on Thursday when our students will be shown as news items. This will be shown on the BBC News at 1pm and 6pm, on Newsround and possibly The One Show. In addition, our Nene Education Trust Deputy CEO, Mr Matt Coleman, will be with Lucy Bailey on the BBC Breakfast sofa in the morning.
Please see below some of the feedback students have already shared as part of evaluating the impact of the ongoing Resilience project.
And now, returning to the tantalising possibilities of the future. We have been pondering this week: should we use this opportunity as a platform to develop a Manor School Resilience Activities Week for the summer term? We will share more next week and ask for your views.
Have a great week.
Dr Newman and the Manor School family
Futsal winners
We would like to congratulate our U15 boys who have become district champions, having qualified for this week's finals after finishing top of their group earlier this month. They beat Wollaston 2-0 in what was a well fought out battle between two decent sides, with goals scored from both of the Oliver S's. Congratulations to all 8 involved.
Safer Internet Day
Safer Internet Day 2024 will be celebrated on Tuesday 6 February, with thousands of people across the UK working together to champion youth voice and engage in conversations about how we can all work together to make the internet a great and safe place.
Our students will participate in online safety activities during tutor time throughout next week, followed by a Work World Wellness lesson on Monday 12 February.
Please click the following links for parent/carer tips and guidance from the UK Safer Internet Centre.
Consultation Evenings
We have two Consultation Evenings planned for the start of Term 4:
- Year 10 Consultation Evening: Thursday 29 February
- Year 9 Consultation Evening: Thursday 7 March
Bookings for meetings with teaching staff must be made using the Arbor app or online portal by following the link to the Consultation Evening on the dashboard.
You will be able to start making the appointments for the both consultations at 8:00am on Thursday 8 February and the system will close to new appointments at midday on the day prior to the event.
If you have not already done so, the simplest way to register is to sign into the parent portal - please visit https://login.arbor.sc/ and select 'Forgotten password'. You will then be sent an email containing further instructions. Once you have registered, you can download the app from Google Play or the App Store and log in with your details.
If you have any queries or concerns regarding this event, please contact Ms M. du Pille (mdupille@manor.school).
Mental health discussion tips
Talking to your child about mental health doesn't have to be scary. Please see the following parent/carer guide for top tips and conversation starters.
Year 9 knife crime sessions
On Monday 5 February (lessons 1-4) and Monday 12 February (lessons 1&2), students in Year 9 will be taken off-timetable in order to participate in workshops titled ‘Carry a basketball, not a blade’.
There is a practical element to this and so students will be required to be in their PE kit on the day they have the practical session. This must be their Manor PE kit in line with our PE uniform policy.
Year 9 will be in their tutor groups for these sessions - the timetable for the two days is as follows:
Careers information and guidance
Year 13
55 students in Year 13 have now successfully applied for music conservatoire and university undergraduate courses. Thank you to Mr Skeggs, Mr Stephenson and Mrs Williams for all their hard work in preparing their students’ UCAS references.
Many have already received offers and will be making decisions about their firm (or 1st) choice and their reserve (or 2nd) choice places. If students have received all of their offers by 16 May, then the deadline for informing UCAS of these decisions is Thursday 6 June. If students receive offers after 16 May but before 17 July, the deadline is Wednesday 24 July.
Applications for Student Finance open on 31 March. The deadline for applications is Friday 31 May.
All Year 13 students will be encouraged to prepare/update their Curriculum Vitae this term. Our work-seekers will need their CV to help their applications for apprenticeships and work in the local economy. Students going to university are also likely to need an updated CV for summer work applications, plus applications for work or placements whilst at university.
Tutors will be working with all of our Year 13 students in WWW lessons for the remainder of this term. Students requiring additional information, advice and guidance should see Mr Hill (shill@manor.school) or ask their tutor. Alternatively they can make an appointment with Mrs Smedley (lsmedley@manor.school) in main reception.
Year 12
Students in Year 12 should have completed a post-18 intentions survey. This will inform Mr Hill of the information, advice and guidance students may require. All students will be attending group workshops to provide this support before the Easter break.
Students in Year 12 wishing to complete a work experience placement at the end of the summer term need to see Mrs Smedley (lsmedley@manor.school) as soon as possible.
Year 11
The vast majority of students in Year 11 have now successfully applied to their next destination and tutors have provided an update on these applications. Mr Hill will be following up these updates with 1:1 meetings for the remainder of this term.
If students need additional information, advice and guidance they should see Mr Hill in his office (opposite the LRC) at break or lunchtime on Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday. Alternatively students can make an appointment with Mrs Smedley (lsmedley@manor.school) in main reception.
If students need further information regarding the Manor sixth form, making an application or their subject choices they should see Miss Collier (ccollier@manor.school).
Upcoming careers talk
We will have a guest speaker coming into the school on Thursday 15 February for a careers talk on the telecommunications industry. They will be talking about their career journey from their motivation to work for the industry, to academia and their transition for working for a company with a long-standing history and reputation.
Students in Years 11-13 have been invited and can request their place by emailing lsmedley@manor.school. This opportunity will also be opened up to Year 10 students if there are any spaces left.