Welcome to this week's newsletter
We wanted to take the opportunity in today's newsletter to thank you for your participation in the survey we asked you to complete in July. We also asked our staff and students to do the same. The purpose is to use the feedback to continue to drive forward our school, ensuring that it the very best it can be for us all. In the coming weeks we will be sharing with you more detailed plans on the next steps.
In the meantime, we thought we would share some headlines with you. Families told us that they find Consultation Evenings really useful, information about attendance and punctuality is effective, and they appreciate the curriculum and the events students have access to. We will be looking at some key areas to improve, which from the feedback included communication, a platform for homework, and reporting on the progress and attainment of students.
It was a real pleasure to see so many families at the Year 7 Settling In Evening this week. The benefits of the extended provision for transition that we put in place have been clear to see. Having said that, it is a reminder that we have two year groups in Year 8 and 9 who have had very few opportunities to be in school. For this reason, we will be looking at opening the school during the school day for families of current students to come and have a look around and see what we can offer. Look out for this starting from next term.
As always, thank you for your continued engagement with us and support of the school.
Lee Towers, Head of School
Year 11 Consultation Evening
Our Year 11 Parent/Carer Consultation Evening will take place on Thursday 3 November as a face-to-face event in school. 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 at 9:00am on Monday 17 October and the system will close to new appointments at 11:59pm on Tuesday 1 November.
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.
Sixth Form Open Evening
We will be holding our Sixth Form Open Evening on Monday 14 November. Tickets are available to book now from TicketSource.
School transport
If your child uses one of our bus services, please remind them of the following expectations when using school transport:
- Only use the allocated vehicle as outlined on your 2022/2023 bus pass
- No eating/drinking on the buses
- Find a seat and remain seated during the journey
- Where available, seatbelts must be worn
If students have concerns about anything relating to their bus travel, please encourage them to log this via #ManorWatch.
Cooking equipment and utensils
All equipment required to produce the products made in KS3 food technology lessons is supplied by the department. No equipment or utensils should be brought into school.
Please can you only provide a clean apron, ingredients as stated in the student's class on Teams (on the dates stated), plus a plastic container with a lid to take food products home safely.
Thank you for your cooperation.
Black History Month
To mark Black History Month, students have been finding out about a different historical event or person during tutor time every day through October. So far they have learnt about Lenny Henry, the role of African soldiers in the Roman Empire, Venus and Serena Williams, the WW1 British West Indies Regiment and much more.
The British Library has a variety of free online content such as a Black literature timeline and performances from Black British poets should families wish to expand on their learning.
Careers events
We regularly host in-school careers talks and workshops from across a range of professions and industries. The upcoming opportunities listed below are open to students in Years 11, 12 and 13. If there are any spaces, the events will be opened up for Year 10 to attend as well.
- 17 October - Creative careers in the theatre, music, dance, design and digital industries
- 3 November - Heating, plumbing and engineering careers talk
- 11 November - Electrician careers talk
Students who are interested in attending any of the above events should email our careers administrator on lsmedley@manor.school.
Details of additional upcoming careers events can be found on our website.
Bake Sale
Our Cambodia expedition team are holding a Halloween Bake Sale on Friday 21 October at break and lunch time. Students should bring cash to school with them in order to purchase a treat. The money raised will go towards funding the Cambodia expedition.
Anyone wishing to donate cakes, biscuits and other baked goods to help the cause should see Miss Hustwait.
PE notices
After half term we have District basketball competitions for Years 7, 8 and 9, plus the District cross country competition. If students would like to be considered for the basketball team they should attend the after-school basketball clubs with Mr Mitchell-Bunce, and if any student would like to be considered for the cross country team they should speak to their PE teacher.
As we get into the autumnal weather with it being a bit colder and wetter, please could we take this opportunity to remind everyone that PE lessons will continue to go ahead outside. This means that students must be prepared for being outside, remembering that they can wear a navy jumper or fleece, a waterproof jacket, tracksuit bottoms, and hats and gloves too. It is also advisable that students have a change of footwear for the field, ideally football boots, plus a change of socks and a bag to put their muddy boots in after. Students are not permitted to wear hoodies or large outdoor coats for PE.
Extra-curricular timetable
Freedom Leisure clubs and activities
With half term just around the corner, Freedom Leisure are running a number of new clubs and activities to keep young people entertained through the week's break and beyond.
Halloween Xplorers: Xplorers are family-friendly navigational challenges, where children have to find markers around a local park. Three challenges have been arranged for Rushden (Hall Park), Thrapston (Peace Park) and Twywell (Hills & Dales) during the half term week. It costs £1 per child to take part, and is catered towards the younger ages.
Junior Netball:A new netball club will be taking place on Mondays at The Pemberton Centre for 8 to 13 year-olds, led by a fully qualified netball coach. Running from 4:15pm to 5:15pm, this is a six-week course which works out at £3 a session. The first session is on Monday 31 October.
UV Dodgeball: There's lots of fun to be had at the next block of dodgeball sessions as they will take place under UV light. Sessions will take place every Thursday at The Pemberton Centre from 4 to 5pm, working out as £3 per session across the six-week block. The first session is on Thursday 3 November.
SEN youth club
Don't forget that you can access your child's student details, attendance, REACH points and homework tasks via the Arbor parent portal app.
Credits:
Created with an image by Vitalii Vodolazskyi - "Hands holding book with title career guidance."