A message from the Principal
In ‘Our Manor’ newsletter over the past few weeks we have introduced the concept and vision for our Work. World. Wellness. curriculum. Over the next few weeks we will look more closely at what each of those sections entails in more detail. This week Cheryl Collier explores the ‘Work’ provision across the school. Also in this week’s edition of ‘Our Manor’ we have a focus on Maths, plus a look at our plans for blended learning should we go into lockdown or need to provide remote learning for individual students. It has been a big week for us this week as we moved our Year 6 Open Evening & Year 11 pledges experiences entirely online. All of the resources from those are also included here.
I hope you are enjoying the style and content of ‘Our Manor’. As always, if you have any comments or suggestions about content you would like to see covered, then please do not hesitate to ask.
Jay Davenport, Principal
An introduction to 'Work'
Whilst actively participating in ‘Work’ discreet lessons on a Wednesday afternoon, students will be required to be adaptable and flexible in developing their skills and learning, as they are unlikely to train for a single job for their life. The Work curriculum outlines four attributes students will develop in order to successfully transition through school, further education, and into the world of work so that five years after they leave Manor School, students succeed in their chosen pathway.
Developing self-awareness - students increase their awareness of their own personal strengths and interests and how they relate to others so that they view themselves positively, with a hopeful and aspirational picture of themselves in the future.
Exploring opportunities - students explore adult roles in their communities and the range of occupations that contribute to the products and services people use in their daily lives. Where possible, students will have access to visitors and/or guest speakers who will share their experiences. Enrichment across subject areas (outside of the discreet lessons) also creates opportunities for students to develop their transferable skills and become more ‘employable’.
Deciding and acting - students develop transferable skills in research, goal setting, evaluating options, and reaching decisions independently which are well informed.
Transitions - students become aware of the style and nature of transitions to KS4, KS5 and beyond, and students are prepared for these phases of transition.
What about the context? Why is this important locally?
Raunds and East Northamptonshire is a community that has traditionally been embedded in footwear and farming. Over several generations, opportunities within these industries have declined as they have become increasingly mechanised or diversified and this has led to a change in the local employment structure. There are many new and emerging industries in Northamptonshire and our immediate surrounding area. Logistics, engineering (especially linked to the motor sport industries), retail and bespoke/craft food and drink production are all either well established or up and coming; thriving in the locality and ripe to provide formal and informal opportunities for ‘work’ both within and beyond school. When this is combined with outstanding transport links and several world-class universities within an hour of our school, there are huge opportunities to exploit in order to provide significant choice and raise aspirations for all.
The ‘Work’ road map summarises the 7-year learning journey for a student and incorporates the following:
- Introduction to work / why should I work
- Attitudes towards money (personal finance)
- STEM
- Information, advice and guidance (transitions/pathways)
- Careers education
- Risk and reward
- Local labour markets and sectors of industry
- Enterprise and entrepreneurship
- Preparing for work and employability skills
Cheryl Collier, Lead for 'Work'
Maths focus
Welcome to the new academic year. This year we have the following teachers working within the maths department:
All of us have the wish to develop the maths skills and confidence in each and every student. We know that having confidence in maths is key to being successful. Myself, Mrs Radd & Mr Ahmin have older sons/daughters and have already gone through what it is like to help them through GCSEs/A-Levels. Mrs Charles, Mr Brown and Mr Harris still have younger sons/daughters so they have that joy still to come. So, we do understand on a personal level how the last six months have affected families and education.
That said, it is even more important in many ways that we can support and develop students now and in the future. Some of the things we have noticed on the return to school is that students have forgotten more of the basic skills than they usually would after the summer holidays. Skills such as times tables, remembering geometry facts, simple algebra and even meanings of some of the words we use in maths have been temporarily forgotten. These sorts of skills can have an impact on confidence. As we are fortunate to have longer sessions at the moment, we are working hard to refresh these skills/memories in lessons.
We have a motto in maths that “if you don’t use it, you lose it”, and this is what has happened. Skills that maybe haven’t been used as much – or at all – have been buried a little deeper in students’ memories. One of the strategies that we will be using to combat this is the use of ‘Flashback 4’ starters in each lesson. This involves a set of four questions that will progressively delve into memories:
- Question 1 – A question from last lesson
- Question 2 – A question from last week
- Question 3 – A question from last month
- Question 4 – A question from last year
There is also a vocabulary check for common words used in maths.
Another tool that we will be using is the Blutick website, which was particularly helpful to students during lockdown. There will also be competitions and revision plans available. Furthermore, I will be releasing an assembly to students next week and I will make this available to parents too.
In the meantime, if I (or any member of the department) can help, then please let me know.
Jo Bristow, Director of Learning (Mathematics)
Year 6 into 7 Open Event
If you missed our Year 6 into 7 Open Event live launch on Thursday, the presentation plus additional videos and interactive materials are now available on demand. To access the materials, visit the open event section of our website:
Year 11 Pledges Evening
This week we held our virtual Year 11 Pledges Assembly and Evening for students, parents and carers of Year 11. The evening event shared strategies for revision and understanding how to learn, and our commitment to supporting students in this important year.
Links are below for the main evening, the Maths and Science videos, and some of the FAQs answered on the night.
Carl Brown and Chris Bateman
Theatre competition
The next instalment in our House competitions programme is running from Wednesday 7 to Wednesday 14 October, and this time has a theatrical theme.
Interested students should record a video of themselves lip synching to a song of their choice ('clean' songs only please), and then send the video to house@manor.school, remembering to include their name and House. 500 House Points will be awarded to the House with the most entries, and an additional 500 House Points will be awarded to the individual winner(s).
Football Referee's Course
The Northamptonshire Football Association are running a one-day referee's course at a number of local schools for 14+ year-olds in November/December. The one-day course takes place from 10am to 4pm, where participants will be taught the laws of the game as well as get practical experience in games by the NFA tutors. Prospective dates/locations are as follows:
- 15 November - Sir Christopher Hatton Academy, Wellingborough
- 22 November - Kingswood School, Corby (TBC)
- 6 December - Sponne School, Towcester (TBC)
For more information or to book a place, please contact Mel Blackmore via blackmorem@hattonacademy.org.uk
Blended learning
Walking around lessons this week it has been brilliant seeing excellent learning taking place in classrooms, with students highly engaged in high-quality, challenging activities and tasks to move their learning and understanding forward. However, we are also fully aware that there are some students not in school as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. As we continue to develop our technological capabilities, and most importantly our staff and student competence and confidence, we are able to refine our plans to support students in learning at all stages.
We have now created two further infographics outlining our strategy for blended learning. We believe that learning is a continuum and at any given point could be in one of three predominant zones:
Learning in school. The current restrictions and arrangements are in place. The majority of students are in school and experiencing high quality lessons, taught from the front in their year group pods with homework set to review and consolidate learning.
Individuals learning at home. For students who are learning at home as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, students will be set initial work using resources that are not directly linked to the current point in the curriculum but will enable students to consolidate and review prior learning. From the second day of absence, students will be set work via school email or Microsoft Teams. Individual strategies will be put in place to support families where technology access is limited.
Remote learning. In the event of a partial or whole school closure, remote learning will be delivered and could take a number of forms:
- Project-based learning may be used for students, working independently and published via the school website.
- Pre-recorded online teaching may be used and published via the school website and Microsoft Teams.
- Live online learning may be used via Microsoft Teams. The second infographic outlines the procedures that we will apply in the event of live online learning.
If remote learning becomes necessary, the amount of live online learning experienced by students will vary depending on a range of factors including staff capacity, the appropriateness of the curriculum for live learning, and the technical access of both staff and students. We will be explicit at each stage the expectations for those affected.
As we continue to develop our strategy, we are continuing to provide ongoing professional development for our teachers in preparation for all eventualities. It is our intention that over time we will support students who are not able to learn in school by inviting them into the lesson via Microsoft Teams. We will communicate with families as we progress our work in this area.
Chris Bateman, Assistant Principal
REACH rewards
Our REACH values and personal characteristics are Resilience, Empathy, Aspiration, Curiosity and Humanity. These are significant in our school because it is these that we hope to see in our young people five years after they have left Manor School. Our Work. World. Wellness. curriculum and enrichment programme are designed in order to enhance these values and personal characteristics in our students. We no longer reward students for getting the basic things right such as uniform and equipment etc.
We reward students who earn a defined amount of points (fifteen points) in each value by presenting them with their value badge. For example, a student who earns fifteen resilience points will be rewarded with their resilience badge. If a student earns all five REACH badges in an academic year then they will be rewarded with their School Colours in the form of a REACH badge dated with the academic year on it.
We also reward students for the total number of REACH points they earn, in any combination, in an academic year. We encourage students to ‘Go for Gold!”.
- Bronze Award = 30 REACH points
- Silver Award = 45 REACH points
- Gold Award = 60 REACH points
The total number of REACH points is reset each academic year and we introduce a new REACH badge for that year.
From October half term we are also introducing the Principal’s Commendation. Two of these will be awarded each term. These awards are for students who go over and above in demonstrating the REACH values. These students will be invited to the Principal’s office on the Friday break time of the last day of each term to be formally presented with their award and enjoy hot chocolate with the Principal.
Next half term will also see the return of our REACH Champions of the Week. Every day we celebrate one of our REACH Champions through our social media platforms, in our in-school communications and in the weekly parental newsletter.
Hayleigh King, Strategic Lead for Praise and Rewards
Get involved in computing, enterprise and digital literacy activities
There are various ways students can get involved in enrichment activities for computing, business and enterprise this year, starting with the following:
The iDEA Award – Inspiring Digital Enterprise Award
iDEA is an international programme that helps you develop digital, enterprise and employability skills for free. Through our series of online challenges, you can win career-enhancing badges, unlock new opportunities and, ultimately, gain industry-recognised Awards that help you stand out from the crowd.
The iDEA Award is open to all students – they just need to sign up with their Manor School email address. If they are unsure, or wish to reset their iDEA password if they already started it last year, please see Mrs Wilford.
Students can also help the school monitor their progress with the award by signing up with the ‘organiser code’: MSSC11 (https://idea.org.uk/profile/edit)
More information can be found at https://idea.org.uk/about
The Bebras Computing Challenge 2020 (in partnership with Oxford University)
All students in KS3 will take part in the Bebras Computing Challenge in partnership with Oxford University. The competition will take place in the week commencing 2 November. The challenge takes 40 minutes to complete and is made up of a series of problems which can be solved with logical thinking and no prior knowledge is needed.
Students will be given their login and password to take part in the challenge from home.
Past challenges are available to practice with at http://www.bebras.uk/
Students finishing in the top 10% in their age group nationally will be invited to enter the Oxford Computing Challenge in March, so it is really worth getting involved.
Please keep an eye out for more opportunities as we progress through the year such as STEM and coding. If you have any further questions, please email compandbus@manor.school and one of the team will get back to you.