Middle School Newsletter

We're ready for another great week in Middle School. Read on for an update of all the amazing things that happened last week! 

Autumn 1 Key Dates
Friday 4th October:  Student Voice Representatives Announced
Friday 4th October:  Year 7 Road Safety performance
'The Riot Act' 1:30pm - 3:00pm
Monday 7th - Thursday 10th October: Bikeablity Course - Year 6
(Selected Students)
Thursday 10th October: Year 6 SATs Workshop for Parents
8:30am - 9:15am & 5:00pm - 5:45pm (Letter to follow)
Friday 11th October: School closed for INSET Day
Monday 14th October: Year 6 Pathways - Moving onto secondary at School 21 Workshop for Year 6 Parents & Students 5:30pm - 7:00pm (Letter to follow)
Monday 14th - Thursday 17th October: Year 6 Mock SATs 1
Tuesday 15th October: EVO Games 
Friday 18th October: Family Film Night 5:30pm - 7:30pm - (Title TBC)
Monday 21st - Friday 25th October: Half Term Holiday
Thursday 31st October: Year 6 height and weight check 8:45am
Thursday 31st October: Middle School Quiz Night (English themed!)
4:30pm - 6:00pm
Friday 1st November: Above & Beyond Out & About trip (October winners)

*Year 7 iPads: The school is currently reviewing the lease agreements we offer to families to ensure that the best offer is provided. As soon as this process is complete, we will notify families about dates for information sessions, sign up and delivery. We apologise for the wait and any inconvenience caused. 

Middle School Attendance Winners

Year 5 Machu Picchu 98.3%

Year 6 Kosciuszko 98.8%  MIDDLE WINNERS

Year 7 Rockies 98.5%

Year 8 Fuji 97.0%

September Above and Beyond Out and About Winners

Big congratulations to the students selected by their coaches this month for the Out & About hot chocolate (and fruit smoothies!) trip. Ohana, Thierry, Shailah, Sharia, Aysia, Asiya, Iqra, Deanna, Cavelle, Sharia, Elona, Marcia and Saira have all been fantastic role models this month, living our five values of Community, Humanity, Openness, Responsibility and Excellence. Letters were late being sent, but keep an eye on the post for these! 

Year 6 Weekly Recap!

We had a busy week in Year 6! Our highlights included our scientific studies on light and our leadership assembly with Ms McLear about what it means to be a leader. We also continued to work hard on our Ancient Greece studies and used role play to create our own Ancient Greek Agora.

Y7 Design Challenge

Students in Ms Bannis' English class became 'overnight' designers and were tasked to recreate the front cover of a new manuscript. The results of the design competition are as follows:

First place: Alyssa and Ria
Second place: Mya
Third: Laila W and Laila E

Congratulations designers! Ms Bannis will be giving out mini awards and gifts in class this Wednesday!

Year 7 Virtual Racers revv up!

The Maths in Motion project this term has students using a wide range of maths skills to help them program every aspect of a virtual racecar - from the amount of fuel, to the maximum safe speed, to the types of tyres for the weather conditions! Soon the cars will be prepped to race to find a winner in our group. This virtual car will then go on to compete in a Newham race! Wish us luck!

Celebrating Excellence in Our Community

Below is a picture of Freya, from Year 7, from last Sunday. Freya swam 1/2 mile in The Serpentine in a time of 37 minutes 03 seconds. Freya was one of the youngest (if not ‘the’ youngest) participants on the day having turned 12 (the minimum age) 9 days earlier. This was the first time Freya has attempted open water swimming and we are all very proud of her achievement. Well done Freya!

*If you have a story of an accomplishment outside of school that you would like us to share in the newsletter, please email it through, with a photograph if possible, to Ms Kyrk on akyrk@school21.org.uk . 

Robots are go in Year 5!

This week, Year 5 have kick started their project by creating their own robots! On Tuesday, we built our creations using the Lego kits then programmed them to move using Lego WeDo on the Chromebooks. By Thursday, we had created robots that could sense any obstructions and stop themselves before they collided. Some trios even modified their original robots to create a completely unique design!

Thanks to everyone who came along to Meet the Team last week! It was so lovely to chat with everyone whilst they went on their 'teacher treasure hunt'. Watch your post for your appreciation messages for your children - we will send these home soon!  

School Lunches

A reminder that Year 5 and 6 students continue to receive free school lunches as part of the Mayor of Newham's initiative, however, when students start Year 7 they must pay for their school lunches through your Parent Pay account. A letter was sent again last week regarding this, including how to sign up through the Newham website if you feel you are eligible for Free School Meals. 

The letter is available again by clicking here. 

All families can sign up for Free School Meals (if eligible) at any time; it is advisable that current Year 6 parents look into doing so this year to avoid delays when their child starts Year 7. 

If your account runs out of funds, students are to visit Ms Nandra in E1 at lunch time - she will support students to get their lunch that day, and will contact parents to remind them to top up the account. 

If you have any questions or require any support to sign up for Free School Meals, please contact Ms Nandra through the front reception or via email at rnandra@school21.org.uk. 

Walking Home Alone Permission

All Year 5 and 6 students whose parents give permission for them to travel home alone must complete the online permission form sent home earlier this week. The link for doing so is available again here. 

Please note that students will not be permitted to walk home unless this permission has been received. If you have any problems completing the form, please contact the front reception for support. Thank you for your support in this matter. 

Middle School Homework

This year all of our 12 coaching groups / classrooms have their own Google Classroom set up. All home learning tasks will be set through these online portals. Parents are warmly invited to sign up as guardians on these classrooms; this will give you the opportunity to see all the tasks set for your child so you can keep up to date and support them at home. If you would like to be added to your child's classroom, please follow this link to add your details. 

Please note the classrooms and student logins are being set up over this week so there may be a short delay before you are able to access them. Please bear with us! Year 7 and 8 students must log on at school to be able to access their Google Account. If your child is having issues or cannot remember their password, please direct them to see their coach or Mr Roworth and the IT team at school. Thank you for your support. 

Recognition Board

Another big week of recognition - 502 names over the week! Congratulations to everyone included on the boards - you have stepped up to live our values of Openness, Community, Humanity, Excellence and Responsibility! 

The Lunch Menu for This Week is Week 1!