Published April 1, 2022
Today is the 1st of April and in the absence of an April Fool’s Day prank, I thought I’d share a joke instead:
Q: Who’s the coolest person in a hospital?
A: The Ultrasound guy.
I’ll stick to teaching.
Teaching & Learning Update
Talking of teaching and learning, this week we have conducted book reviews of a selection of pupils from across Years 7-10 to monitor the quality of work, progress, presentation, and also feedback and pupils acting on feedback. We have been very pleased with what we have seen and with the pride that both staff and pupils take in their work. We’d encourage you, as parents and carers, to also look through your child’s books so that you can see the range of activities and progress that they are making.
An Extremely Busy Week
All weeks are busy in school, but this last one was exceptionally busy! We hosted a number of external guests in school and have provided some fabulous opportunities which will have really benefited the pupils involved!
- Monday: Apprenticeship Session for interested Year 11 pupils
- Tuesday: Safe Drive, Stay Alive for all Year 11 pupils
- Wednesday: Hosting the Salisbury Book Awards and welcoming author Kirsty Applebaum to school to speak to all Year 7 pupils and pupils from other local schools. Kirsty also ran a workshop for Year 7 Higher Ability pupils! Read more about this here.
- Thursday: CV writing workshops for Year 10 pupils, Eric Williams assisting with one of the final practise sessions for the Year 10 Public Speaking contest (happening next Tuesday)
- Friday: Strategies to Success hosted 5 workshops (one for 40 pupils in each year group) looking at successful study and revision skills. Also, Year 10 GCSE Drama students rehearsing and performing all day!
Uniform
With the onset of the warmer weather (past couple of days are the exception!), after Easter coats will no longer be permitted to be worn inside the school building. We have allowed this to happen during the winter due to having windows open for ventilation purposes however, after Easter classrooms will be at a suitable temperature not to have to wear coats indoors.
Also, may I take this opportunity to remind you that hoodies and jumpers are not part of the school uniform.
Sports for Champions
Next Tuesday, we welcome Commonwealth Games athlete Robert Mitchell representing Sports for Champions. He will be leading our pupils in lots of activities and our aim is to raise a minimum of £520 which will go towards Sports for Champions UK and anything above this amount will be split 60/40, with 60% coming back to the school sports department.
The morning visit will last from 9am – 12.30pm with each year group going through in 40 minutes intervals. Pupils will be attending school in PE kit that day and, as part of the fundraising, we’re asking for a £1 for the privilege of not having to get changed from uniform into PE kit and back again! Donations can be made via the school gateway app from Monday onwards and we’ll also be collecting on the day.
Many thanks for the sponsorship that you have sourced already for this initiative.
Arrangements for Next Friday
Next Friday is the last day of term. We will be finishing after afternoon registration (12:15).
It will be a non-uniform day and we will be asking for donations to go towards the Ukraine fundraising that we have undertaken this term. You will be able to donate via the school gateway from Monday onwards or pupils can donate in person on entry to school on Friday.
Transport for next Friday:
There will be town buses provided by Salisbury Reds taking pupils to the city centre.
In addition, the 66 bus will pick up at 12:22 and the Tourist bus to Winterslow will be leaving at 1pm.
Covid Update
As of today, the latest guidance from Wiltshire re living with Covid is as follows:
- Children and young people who are unwell and have a high temperature should stay at home and avoid contact with other people. They can go back to school, college, or childcare when they no longer have a high temperature, and they are well enough to attend
- Adults with a positive COVID-19 test result should try to stay at home and avoid contact with other people for 5 days, which is when they are most infectious. For children and young people aged 18 and under, the advice will be 3 days
Achievement Points Race
- 1st Place: Margaret House: 39,084 points
- 2nd Place: Vincent House: 37,013 points
- 3rd Place: Teresa House: 36,495 points
- 4th Place: Vincent House: 32,037 points
Have a lovely weekend!
Mr Rooney