Co-Headteachers: Mr Peter Hyman & Mr Oli de Botton Middle School NewsletterKey Dates Attendance Update 5 Machu Picchu 99.2% Our overall attendance for middle school last week was up over our target of 96% at 96.5% which is an improvement! Some of our Year 7 and all of our Year 8 groups were under this target last week, however - please support your child by ensuring they are at school ready to learn each day! Year 7 iPads - Collection days today and tomorrow! (Monday 20th / Tuesday 21st Jan) ALL PARENTS / CARERS IN YEAR 7 SHOULD READ AND ACTION THIS NOTICE: A reminder that iPads ordered through the school can be collected today from the front reception area between 3:30 - 4:00pm and again from 5:30 - 6:00pm. The agreement to sign for devices purchased through the school is available here to read before you arrive for collection. Tomorrow and Wednesday (Thursday for Matterhorn) are our Bring a Parent to School mornings! If you have registered, you just need to arrive at the front reception at 8:40am for a short briefing in the Middle School courtyard before we drop you in your child's first class for the day. Please remember that we cannot facilitate push chairs and younger siblings are not able to attend unfortunately, as we can't have the lessons disrupted. We are also not able to allow late arrivals to join the classes either to minimise disruption. If you would still like to sign up to attend, you can do so by clicking this link. You should expect to learn alongside you child from about 9:00am to just before 10:00am, when you will be collected from the classrooms. We look forward to welcoming everyone! Clubs start this week! Clubs start this week in Middle School. There is a notice board for students to check which clubs they are in and when these are held in the Middle School courtyard. If you have any further questions regarding clubs, please contact Ms Paul - apaul@school21.org.uk. All students who applied for clubs have been successful in securing a place apart from photography club. The list of clubs this term is included below: 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. Year 7's Wicked Theatre Trip One of the Year 7 project groups is currently looking at how characters are always more than they appear. Last week the group visited the West End to see Wicked and learn the real story of the 'Wicked' Witch of the West, who might not have been so wicked after all... The students represented the school brilliantly and really enjoyed the performance, even though we were all a bit tired the next day! Getting to the heart of the matter... In Year 6 students are currently learning about the circulatory system and how to maintain a healthy lifestyle in their science lessons. This week we looked at the heart and how it works to pump blood around our bodies. To learn more, the students dissected lamb's hearts and found the atria and ventricles and identified the different arteries, veins and valves. The students were very professional and scientific in their approach to the task and were so interested that people that originally opted to not take part decided to join in! The Red Shoes Experience This year School 21 has continued is ongoing partnership with Sadlers Wells and some of our Year 7 students were able to take part in the curtain opener for a showing of The Red Shoes. We look forward to other opportunities that are coming up to continue working with the dance organisation. A big thank you to Ms Jenkins for her work in establishing this link and these opportunities for our students! Latest Green and Red Star Winners - Update! Congratulations to this weeks' additions to the Red Star winners list: Year 5: Aashariya, Abdullah, Michelle We also welcome the first winners of the prestigious Blues Stars! Congratulations to:Year 6: Recognition Last Week Last week we had 616 names added to the Recognition Board! A big milestone is fast approaching - next week we will surpass 10,000 names having been recognised since the start of the year! Student Safety Advice - Mobile Phones With winter well on its way and hours of darkness lasting for longer each day, it is advisable to speak to your child about staying safe on the journey to and from school, especially in regards to carrying their mobile telephone. This link: https://www.met.police.uk/cp/crime-prevention/violence/stay-safe/ gives information on things to consider to help stay safe when out and about with your mobile phone. Please read through this with your child and ensure you are equipping them with the knowledge to stay safe! Dear Parents/Carers, Thank you to those who have registered with the Easy Fundraising platform, the donations have already started to come in! For those who haven’t, this platform allows us to turn everyday online shopping into donations for the school which can then be spent on equipment and facilities. If you haven’t registered yet and are happy to help (at no cost to you!), we ask that you do two things: 1. Sign up to Easy Fundraising and register School 21 as your cause of choice here: https://www.easyfundraising.org.uk/invite/GO6EW2/. (We get a £5 donation for every person that signs up via that link!). 2. Install the donation reminder on your computer: https://www.easyfundraising.org.uk/donation-reminder/. This is a totally unobtrusive button that sits on your internet bar, and pops up with a subtle reminder every time you shop with a retailer that donates to us. Finally, please share with any family and friends. All at School 21 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. Probable Moderate pollution has been forecast for Monday 20 January. Advice for the general populationAdvice for at risk individuals Enjoy your usual outdoor activities.Adults and children with lung problems, and adults with heart problems, who experience symptoms, should consider reducing strenuous physical activity, particularly outdoors. In addition to Defra's advice above, the following are some practical ideas your school or educational institution may want to consider in partnership with parents and guardians:
Further information on air pollution in London and what the Mayor is doing to improve it is available here. In the next few months additional guidance and helpful tools will be published by City Hall to help you identify further actions which you, with the support of your local borough, can take to tackle pollution in and around your school or educational institution. If you have questions concerning this pollution alert please contact airqualitylondon@london.gov.uk The Lunch Menu for This Week is Week 3! |