Co-Headteachers: Mr Oli de Botton
Head of Middle School : Ms Anna Kyrk
Coronavirus UpdateI wanted to update parents and carers as I understand this issue may be causing some concern. As set out in our previous letter the school remains in constant touch with Public Health England, the Director of Public Health in Newham and the Department for Education to make sure we are following the most up to date guidance. At present there are no issues to report. I will of course let you know if things change and please do let the school know if you or your child are worried about anything.There is, however, a small change in the guidance which suggests that if you have returned from any part of Italy in the last 14 days and have symptoms of the virus, (cough, high temperature or shortness of breath, even if symptoms are mild) you should contact 111 for advice. Please check the details here which includes guidance if you have visited other countries in the last 14 days: Please do let us know if that is the case.We are trying to make sure we can communicate well with all parents so want to understand who has access to the internet at home. Please click on the link https://forms.gle/nnw7Nyrg46s5qQKx7 and complete the form if you do not have access or call 0208 262 2121 or email info@school21.org.uk Overall, the school continues to emphasise the importance of hand washing (at least 20 seconds with hot water and soap) and we are keeping a careful eye on any absences. Please make sure you are letting us know about absences in the normal way (phone 0208 262 2121, choose option 1 and leave a message before 8:30am or email attendance@school21.org.uk) and highlighting if there are any issues. For additional guidance please see:- Mr de Botton
Key Dates
Wb Monday 9th March - British Science Week
Friday 20th March - Middle School Maths Quiz Night 5:00pm - 6:30pm
Thursday 26th March - School closed to students - Great Oracy Exhibition III
Monday 30th March - Out and About Above and Beyond Trip - March winners
Wb 30th March - Year 6 'Dress Rehearsal' Mock SATS
Thursday 2nd April - Year 5 & 6 Tea Party Recital
(Letters will be emailed today)
Friday 3rd April - Middle School reports sent home
(Spring Term progress - TBC)
Friday 3rd April - Last day of term (1pm finish)
Monday 6th April to Friday 17th April - Easter Holidays
School Closed to all Students
Attendance Update 5 Matterhorn 98.1%
6 Kilimanjaro 99.2% WINNERS!
7 Ben Nevis 97.2%
8 Olympus 96.7%
Year 6's Year 7 Offer Letter Gentle ReminderPlease may we remind all Year 6's parents/carers to return the Offer Letter reply slips, confirming your child's place at School 21, by Friday 13th March 2020.
Above and Beyond Out and About - February WinnersOn Monday last week the February nominees for going Above and Beyond demonstrating our school values accompanied Ms Kyrk to Cafe XIX for hot chocolate and a chat about their fantastic contributions to our school culture. Congratulations to Adeeba, Alyssa, Allan, Eisa, Emma, Denisa, Sion, Isaiah, Nyla, Isabella, Bryn, Rayyan and Alicia for being last months winners. Who will be chosen in March?
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.
British Science Week - Poster Competition This week it is national Science Week for 2020. School 21 will be holding a science week to celebrate this in July this year, however, the Middle School is calling for students to create posters matching this year's theme to enter into the official event's poster competition which is currently running. This year's theme is 'Our Diverse Planet' and poster topics can be on any interpretation of this - from the biological diversity on our planet (ecosystems, global issues, endangered species, etc) to the diversity of different careers and jobs out there in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, to the diversity of people in our world
who have made a difference in these areas. Rules for the Competition:
- Posters must be 2D and completed on either A4 or A3 paper
- Work must be original (no copied work or pictures / images from other sources)
- Any media is allowed to create posters, as long as it is 2D
- The due date for entries is Friday 20th March
Prizes:
- The top 5 entries from the school (anonymously judged by the science department) will be sent of to represent the school in the official British Science Association's competition (sponsored by the Guinness Book of Records)
- The top 6 entries from each Year group will be invited along to attend the Big Bang Science Fair happening in July this year To see some past winners for inspiration, click here.
To read more about British Science Week and for resources on this year's theme, click here.
Art + Science Fusion Currently in projects, one of the Year 7 groups is working on the first drafts of their sculptures, based on a chosen chemical reaction they performed and observed at the beginning of the project. This week students worked with paper, masking tape and cardboard to build a model of their final sculpture, then critiqued these together to prepare for creating their final drafts.
World Book Day Last week saw many book characters come to life as the school celebrated World Book Day 2020. There were some amazing and very creative costumes throughout the whole school and the students enjoyed meeting up to read with cross-year group partners in the afternoon. All students across the school also worked to craft their own special sentence which will go on display on one of over a thousand leaves which have been placed around the school. Thank you to the English team for their hard work on organising the day, and for the support from our community in organising all of the wonderful costumes! Prize Winners!
Congratulations to Sana in Year 5 who won the 'Guess the Book Title' Competition and Akarni in Year 8 who won the 'Book in a Jar' Competition that Ms Fisher in the library ran over World Book Day.
Little Shop of Honors - Nothing Horrifying Here!The Honors list for ‘contributions to entertainment’ grew quicker than the baritone plant Audrey 2 last night after the students of School 21, Stratford, hit the stage with their brand new musical: Little Shop of Horrors! From expert 6th form performers provoking empathy, laughter and shock, to a year 7 powerhouse commanding the stage with a faultless accent and nuanced acting. There were no leads in this production, just sheer, collective brightness - perhaps even as shiny as the sounds from the
professional musicians in their glamorous and equally bright, neon braces! The auditorium was electric from start to finish! There were powerful harmonies from The Ronettes, witty snapshots of those who struggle to live ‘DOWN ON SKID ROW’ and glitzy dance choreography always perfectly in unison. This was a production where being in the chorus was being a lead. Far from the bin bag costumes and bumpy line retrieval’s of my day, this performance was slick and professional, like a West End warm up. The audience relentlessly hollered and whistled. They smirked and howled. They stood and applauded. And, if anything like me, felt the true, magical power of the arts. Theatre’s ability to send ripples of love, warmth and joy into its community all through a little bit of
live music, dance and story. Showing for one more night only, The Little Shop of Horrors starts at 6pm tonight in the Hall. Please note, the only thing horrifying about this performance was the reminder, when they all sat crossed legged under gentle lighting, that these performers are children, some as young as 9, and they’re already taking the stage by a storm!! Never feed the plant. Always feed, no matter how costly, the arts! Rachel Spedding. ‘Little Shop of Horrors’. Thursday 27th of February.
Millionaire Reader's Club Congratulations this week to Taheem in Year 5, Ibrahim in Year 6 and Isabel in Year 7 who all reached their 1 million words milestone last week. Also to Milo in Year 7 who hit 2 million words last week! 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.
Latest Star Winners - Update!
Congratulations to this weeks' additions to the Red Star winners list:
Year 5: Amoy, Andrei, Kayden, La-Tayasia, Obi, Reginae, Sameeha, Sana
Year 6: Alex, Ava-Grace, Ayuub, Georgie, Harjun, Khyri-Zayn, Nabeel
Year 7: Abdurahman, Claudius, Ibrahim, Khalid, Sean
Year 8: Burhan, Delio, Mubarik, Yahya, Yasmin We also welcome the newest winners of the prestigious Blues Stars! Congratulations to:
Year 5: Aashariya, Abdullah, Amelia, Hussain, Salem, Surya, Zahra
Year 6: Alexia, Aneesa, Lia, Mimi, Nafisah, Rasia, Shahan
Year 7: Alyssa, Amina, Joel N, Ria, Temi
Year 8: Daria, Isaac, Sahmara D Welcome also to the 4th level in our recognition milestones to the Silver Stars winners!
Year 5: Helena, Joshua, Mala
Year 6: Allan, Daisy, Natas, Sara, Sophie
Year 7: Isabel
Recognition Last Week Over 800 names added again last week with Year 6 earning the highest number of names added last week, and Year 5 still holding onto a very small lead in the record for the most recognition across the year so far! 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 3!
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.
Lead by trained volunteers, our Olympic Park groups meet once a week. Our girls work towards earning badges in a huge range of areas, in teams and on their own initiative, and there are activities year-round. We’re for girls only, and every girl is welcome. Girls aged 5-7 are Rainbows, 7-10-year-olds are Brownies, and our Guides are 10-14. 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.
We are particularly short of Guides (aged 10 – 14) and would appreciate your support in reaching these students. I do not profit from running this group, all leaders are volunteers. We charge £25 per term, which works out as roughly £2 a week, and all of this money goes on running the unit. We have a hardship fund for families in need, and are an inclusive unit with multiple members with disabilities. We have leaders who sign and leaders who have extended experience with children with special educational needs. Girl guiding is a force for good, and I do believe that guiding experience is a great asset for girls throughout their lives.
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