Announcements

Even though it has been a very wet couple of weeks, it has certainly not dampened our spirits!  Last night we held our first careers fair in over 3 years to help inspire our students from years 9 to 13.   Consisting of 34 different stallholders, from a mixture of universities, further education providers, local and national businesses, the evening certainly gave our students an idea of what the future could look like for them, encompassing our vision of ‘Educating today’s students for the world of tomorrow’.

 

GCSE HISTORY TRIP TO BERLIN 2022

During the October half term break Mr Jones led this amazing trip, our first overseas trip since the pandemic.  45 of our year 11 students embarked on a visit to Berlin to see the sites they have been studying during their GCSE studies on The Cold War, Weimar and Nazi Germany. After an epic coach journey starting on Saturday afternoon, the party arrived on the Sunday morning and immediately did a walking tour of the key sites to familiarise themselves with Berlin. These included the Reichstag building and the Brandenburg Gate. During the next few days, the students visited the Olympic Stadium – venue for the 1936 Olympics, Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp, The TV Tower, Cecilienhof Country House -The site of the Potsdam Conference, The Topography of Terror, The Berlin Story and the East Side Gallery amongst many others. The students also visited the famous Rausch Chocolate shop, the biggest in Europe. The group behaved impeccably and arrived home exhausted, but full of stories, for the last few days of the half term holidays.

 

THE POWER OF ENRICHMENT - TERM 1

Enrichment activities are just as important as academic subjects as they both complement each other to help develop well-rounded students and teach them life skills that will prepare them for the future.   

There are many benefits of enrichment, below are just a few of them. 

• Improved academic performance as a result of skills learnt during enrichment, such as time management, organisational skills, problem solving, critical thinking, debating and leadership skills 
• Empowers young minds to think creatively, problem solve and think outside the box 
• Boosts confidence and self-esteem 
• Provides opportunities for students to explore their interests and discover new hobbies that may influence future career choices 
• Learn to collaborate with others by working in groups and develop leadership skills, whether that is participation in a team sport, a group project or learning to teach others 
• Creates social opportunities, by being part of a team, it provides a sense of belonging and helps them build friendships outside of their usual circle 
• Health benefits when participating in sports, giving children an opportunity to compete in further team events. 

Throughout the term there has been great excitement as students try new activities, please see below some of the great successes this term. 

We also have run many creative activities that our students have enjoyed learning this term to include – knit and knatter, choir, Cluedo, chess, quiz, singer songwriter, origami, Warhammer, textiles, card games, photography, mindful art and maths puzzles. 

 

CREATIVE DAY OF THE DEAD COMPETITION FOR KS3

I would like to share with you some of the amazing creations for this competition. The winners were Amelie R 7L, 2nd was Kate B 8L, 3rd was Aman B 9L and Highly commended were Grace H 9L and Holly L 7L. All in Lowbury House!

We have recently updated our ‘Success in the Community’ board which celebrates our students’ successes and whilst there are too many to mentioned, we have incredibly talented athletes and performers in sailing, rugby, netball, BMX and dance.

 

SUPPORT FOR UKRAINE - SLEEPING BAGS REQUIRED

I appreciate that we are regularly being asked to offer support for various causes and that the current economic climate means things are challenging for many people locally, however, I hope that people might be able to offer donations for this if they have unused sleeping bags filling up a cupboard at home.  One of the volunteers at the West Berkshire Foodbank in Newbury drove over to Ukraine earlier in the year with supplies and is heading out again soon. The Foodbank is organising some dry supplies although not much can be spared from what is needed locally, but given the onset of winter in Ukraine, sleeping bags are now an urgent requirement as well. If you have a sleeping bag that you can spare or no longer use then please bring it into school where any donations will be gathered up and taken to the collection point for delivery to Ukraine. For any queries please contact Jeremy Waite jeremy@sports-solutions.net

In the run up to Christmas, I just wanted to remind you about some important events

• Sixth Form Open Evening - 24 November
• Christmas Concert – 1 December
• Purple Sock Day – 2 December
• Christmas Jumper Day – 8 December
• Presentation Evening – 12 December

Have a great weekend and thank you for your continued support.

Mr Prosser
Headteacher