Welcome to this week's newsletter
There's so much to talk about with lots going on in and around school this week and in the coming week. However, I must take this opportunity to mention our final Curriculum Day of the academic year, which took place yesterday. These days are opportunities to immerse ourselves in key themes and topics related to Work.World.Wellness. We know this is an important part of our curriculum as it supports student to be happy, healthy, employable in the future, and have a positive view of the world whilst also preparing them for life beyond school. The manner in which our students embrace the learning and challenges presented to them on our Curriculum Days is always inspiring, and yesterday was no exception. It was great to also welcome the members of our Local Advisory Board, most of whom are parents, to witness the great things happening over the course of the day. The work yesterday forms part of students' ongoing work in their discrete Work.World.Wellness lesson that they have each week. More information about yesterday’s Curriculum Day is contained in this week’s newsletter.
Already looking forward to the next one!
Lee Towers, Head of School
Curriculum Day
Students were out of lessons on Thursday 30 June for the final Curriculum Day of this academic year. The day saw each year group participate in a variety of talks, workshops and projects related to a specific branch of Manor’s Work.World.Wellness. curriculum programme.
Year 7 – Ecosystems and biodiversity
Year 7's activities were based around the values of being an Eco-School, with students looking at how we can promote biodiversity in our local ecosystem. Guest speakers from Stanwick Lakes, including former Manor student Huw Williams, delivered a presentation about the work they do to maintain biodiversity, with students able to look at a variety of samples such as animal skulls, leaves and preserved specimens of species that are found in the local area. In a different session, students took to the sports field in order to investigate the daisy population using quadrats and a random-sampling technique. Students also designed a bee-friendly garden that would provide food, water and shelter for the insects.
Year 8 – Charities
Year 8 students learnt about the role that charities play in making the world a more equitable place. Guest speakers from Cransley Hospice, Rushden Mind, Christians Against Poverty and Raunds Food Bank spoke to students about the work that they do both as individuals and as organisations, with students able to ask questions about their fundraising methods and challenges that they faced during the pandemic. There were also sessions on the work of Animals In Need, the British Heart Foundation, Spurgeons and Re-Solv. Students then spent the afternoon coming up with their own ideas for a charity, creating posters that outlined their mission statement, how they would raise funds and why people should donate to their cause. Finally, students were given ‘money’ to donate to what they deemed to be the worthiest charity.
Year 9 – Diversity
Year 9's activities were centered around the theme of diversity, with a number of presentations from guest speakers about the many ways in which people can differ, why it is important to talk about discrimination and inequality, and how they can better support each other and members of the local community. Red Jolley spoke about her experience with selective mutism, Year 10 student Tiffany M talked about racial discrimination and how it has affected her, Prince Caesar (Director of Bakup Services CIC) spoke about challenges that the Windrush Generation have faced, and former Northampton Mayor Rufia Ashraf discussed representation in leadership roles. There was also the opportunity to discover what it is like to be deaf as well as learn British Sign Language in a video from Emily Andrews. Students rounded out the day by considering what they had learnt, how it will help them in the future, and what they pledge to do going forward.
Year 10 – Dragons’ Den
Students spent the day participating in a variety of business activities inspired by Dragons’ Den. After initial brainstorming of potential ideas, students went on to attend six workshops to help them develop the business:
- Product specification – establishing their unique selling point
- Distribution – working out how their product/service gets to the consumer
- Pricing – developing short- and long-term strategies
- Financing – considering their revenue, running costs and profit projections
- Promotion – creating branding and promotional materials
After lunch, students went head to head within their classes to pitch their companies in order for their teacher to choose a winner. The winning group from each class then went on to present their pitch to the panel of dragons who selected the best pitch and best idea winning groups.
Wind in the Willows
Well done to all those students involved in the Wind in the Willows project, which saw four performances take place at Stanwick Lakes last week. The acting, singing and dancing was fantastic, and it was great to see students from across the Trust collaborating together to put on a fabulous performance.
If your child is interested in being involved with more performing arts opportunities, then register for an open day in September with Silhouette (who are a performing arts theatre group) via the link below.
Playwriting project
We will be working with Silhouette Youth Theatre to engage in a very exciting playwriting project, which links with the Royal Shakespeare Company, and the new 37 Plays competition (visit 37plays.co.uk for more details). Students will work with Silhouette to have playwriting sessions and online weekly support to write a play to be submitted to the 37 Plays competition in January. If chosen as a lucky winner, their play will be performed by professional actors, which is an amazing opportunity.
If students have a love of writing and a passion for drama (they do not need to be performers though), they should register their interest with Miss Barron to be involved in this project. There are only 30 spaces available, and this will be allocated on a first come first served basis.
Sixth Form induction
We cannot wait to welcome our new sixth formers back to Manor on Monday 4 July. Students should be on site at 8:35am and head straight to the Main Hall. All students will be given a personalised timetable in their first session. Students (and parents/carers) can find lesson overviews and transition tasks on our website.
If you would like more information about attending the induction, or making a late application, please email dcarter@manor.school.
Year 7 and 9 progress tests
In the last two weeks of this term, Year 7 and 9 students will be undertaking assessments in English and maths, with Year 9 taking a further assessment in science. These assessments are from a national organisation and will allow us to benchmark the progress of our students against a huge national cohort. We will then use the outcomes to identify gaps in learning and plan accordingly in the new academic year. Your child will not need to do any preparation for these assessments and further details of what they involve will be given by subject teachers over the next week.
If you have any questions about this, please email gturner@manor.school.
Summer concert
We are pleased to announce that we will be having a summer music concert on Monday 4 July from 6pm. The concert will showcase our students' musical talents, with performances from a range of musical styles and as soloists or within ensembles.
If you would like to purchase tickets for the event, you can do so via the link below.
School Games Mark Award
We are delighted to announce that we have achieved the School Games Bronze Mark Award for the 2021/22 academic year.
The School Games Mark is a Government-led award scheme launched in 2012, facilitated by the Youth Sport Trust to reward and recognise schools' engagement (provision and uptake) in the School Games against a national benchmark and to celebrate keeping young people active, and we are delighted to have been recognised for our success.
We are extremely proud of our students for their dedication to all aspects of physical activity and school sport, including those young volunteers, leaders and officials who made our events possible. We are committed to using the School Games to try and engage those young people who haven’t previously been active or represented our school and to try and ensure that all our students have a positive experience and want to try out new activities beyond school too in our community. We believe in the power of physical activity and sport as a school and give opportunities to those young people that need it most either as a participant, leader, official or volunteer.
As part of our application, we were asked to fulfil criteria in the areas linked to the five School Games outcomes and we are pleased that the hard work of everyone at our school has been rewarded this year.
We look forward to applying once again in 2023!
