Co-Headteachers: Mr Peter Hyman & Mr Oli de Botton Middle School NewsletterKey Dates Attendance Update 5 Matterhorn 100% WINNERS! 3:30pm - 7:30pm Tomorrow night!Tomorrow evening from 3:30pm - 7:30pm the Middle School teachers will be available to meet to discuss your child's progress over the year so far, and their targets moving forward. The letter with more information is here. Please note, there are different systems depending on which year group your child is in. Please note that some of the teachers will be in the main hall from 4:00pm as they finish teaching later, and some may have to leave before the finish time of 7:30pm. The busiest time for people dropping into teachers in the main hall is from 3:30pm - 4:30pm - please be aware that there may be a waiting time if you visit us during this slot. Year 5/6 teachers have booking systems for their students to make a specific time to see them. If you have any questions regarding parents' evening, please contact your child's teacher or coach, or email Ms Kyrk. Please ensure you collect a class list of teachers from the front reception when you arrive. We look forward to welcoming our parent/carer community tomorrow evening! Parking from Lessons - Update The Middle School team has been reflecting on the successes and next steps in the school’s development. A focus for this half of the year is on tightening our systems that support students in their classrooms, and help ensure they come ready to learn and are engaged and working hard in all their lessons. The Middle School’s system for supporting the culture and behaviour in lessons means that if a student is making choices which disrupt the learning there are clear steps to address and support them to correct this. These steps are a reminder, then a caution, then a ‘time out’ in the classroom for the student to 'reset' before they continue in the lesson. If at this point the disruption continues, a teacher may need to ‘park’ a student, meaning they will be given work to complete independently in a different classroom so that the learning can continue. Teachers do not make the decision to ‘park’ a student lightly, and work hard to support the correction to the behaviour through the first three steps of our system. Teachers use their initiative to keep the conversation at this level before needing to escalate. Parents will receive a text if their child is parked from lessons, as all students who miss their learning will need to attend an end of day reflection (3:15pm - 3:30pm in the first instance, longer if there is more than one instance) to discuss a plan to amend the behaviour for the next lesson. Please note, this system is used mostly with Year 7 and 8, and if this is a necessary next step for any child in Years 5 or 6, we will speak to parents/carers first. Year 5 and 6 students will still receive a text if parking is necessary, but will complete their reflection in break or lunch time. We thank you for your support on this matter. Little Shop of Horrors! Last week saw three spectacular nights of this year's musical 'Little Shop of Horrors' hit the stage. Every year, the professionalism and performance levels in our musical gets better and better; this year it was a true representation of our value of Excellence. The singing, dance sequences and acting were all truly phenomenal. Huge recognition must be given to Ms Crowhurst and Ms Hansen, all of the music and performing arts teams and peri teachers, the staff who took part in the performance, the staff who supported the rehearsals, Ms Linehan and Ms Christie for their incredible hard work on management and costumes, all of the parents and carers and, of course, our brilliant students who absolutely shone in their performances. The music team will be in contact about the photos and filming that was done throughout the performances. We can't wait for next year! KidZania Takeover! Before the holiday, the Life Skills project group visited KidZania in West London. Through the visit, they got to immerse themselves in the make believe city, taking on different jobs and activities throughout the day. All of the students were a credit to our school, demonstrating the values throughout their visit, and all had a brilliant time! Thank you to all the adults who went along to support and a special thanks to Ms Christie for her hard work organising the experience. Millionaire Reader's Club Congratulations to Zain in Y6 for reaching his silver badge for reading 2 million words! Who will be the next Word Millionaire? To become a word millionaire too, all you need to do is get reading, then log onto the Accelerated Reader program to answer some questions about what you've read! Ask your class teacher, coach or Ms Druce and Ms McLear if you need help accessing your account. Kooth Free Online Counselling A reminder that Kooth Online Counselling is available and promoted at School 21 to all of our young people. It is a portal through which free, anonymous counselling is offered by trained professionals. Click here to visit the website to learn more about and to access this offer. Latest Star Winners - Update! Congratulations to this weeks' additions to the Red Star winners list: We also welcome the newest winners of the prestigious Blues Stars! Congratulations to: Welcome also to the 4th level in our recognition milestones to the Silver Stars winners! Recognition Last Week Over 800 names added during our first week back from half term. Year 7 snagged the highest number of recognition names last week, and Year 5 still holds the record for the most recognition across the year so far! The other year groups are close behind though... Keep demonstrating our values and making our school #middlestrong! First Aid Notice If you son/daughter needs to take medication at school it has to be brought to school by an adult and a form needs to be signed. Please do not send medication in with your son/daughter as this is going against our school policy and the medication may not be administered. Your help and cooperation is greatly appreciated. Important Middle School Links: Information on ParentPay and School Lunches Payments - click here. Email Ms Nandra (rnandra@school21.org.uk) if you need any assistance. Walking Home Alone Permission - to register your permission for your child to walk home alone, please click here. See your child's teacher/coach with any questions or concerns. For access to the online Homework Google Classrooms please fill in your details through this link. See you child's coach/teacher for help if needed. Use this link to see all the homework set for your child. The Lunch Menu for This Week is Week 2!Calling all potential Girl Guides! Girlguiding UK have recently opened the only units in Stratford, based in the East Village, next to the Olympic Park. Girlguiding is more than 100 years old, but what we offer is up-to-date. Today our girls still camp and cook, but they also campaign, quad bike, challenge gender stereotypes, try science experiments, write plays, learn circus skills… the list goes on. Girlguiding can benefit School21. Our enhancing and developing small-group work, peer to peer support, and enquiry-based learning goes alongside the national curriculum. Our sessions boost confidence, and teach valuable life skills to complement what is taught in the classroom, such as independence, friendship, and self-evaluation. We give girls a space to explore, as well as exciting opportunities. Whether it’s
their first night away from home, the first time they’ve presented to a group, or the first time abroad, Girlguiding is all about embracing the new and extending horizons. |