Middle School Newsletter

To our Middle School Community,

Welcome back for another great week in our Middle School. Thank you to all of the parents who came in to meet with the coaches and class teachers. A report on your child's achievement will be sent home this term as well so please keep an eye out for this towards the end of the term. There are a lot of different events coming up as the end of the calendar year approaches. Please note these dates down! 

Dates For Your Diary

Wednesday 28th November:  iPad collection sessions (3:30 - 4:00pm & 5:30 - 6:00pm)* 
*TO BE CONFIRMED - Please see below for more information. 

Tuesday 27th November: Year 6 Parents workshops - Year 7 and Beyond Pathways presentations with Mr de Botton 8:45am - 9:45am & 5:00pm - 6:00pm

Friday 30th November: Above and Beyond Out and About Trip for November

Friday 30th November: Festival of Light Concert 1 (Year 3 to Year 5) 4:00pm - 5:15pm (Year 5 students can be supervised at school from 3:15pm - 4:00pm)

Friday 30th November: Family Film Night 5:30pm - 7:15pm The Greatest Showman (£1 entry, includes popcorn and squash drink)

Monday 3rd December - Thursday 6th December: Year 6 Mock SATs tests

Tuesday 4th - Friday 7th December: Book Fair 3:00pm - 4:00pm (in Room B7 off Primary Courtyard)

Thursday 13th December: Festival of Light Concert 2 (Year 6 to Year 8) from 6:00pm

Friday 14th December: Christmas Jumper Day & School Christmas Dinner

Wednesday 19th December: Exhibition of Beautiful Work 4:30pm - 6:30pm

Friday 21st December: Last day of term (school finishes at 1:00pm)

Monday 7th January: INSET Day (School Closed for Students)

Tuesday 8th January to Friday 15th February - Spring Term 1

Uniform reminders:

Please ensure your child is leaving for school each morning in the correct uniform:

• On PE days School 21 polo shirt, black tracksuits and black trainers only

• Winter coats instead of hoodies. Water proof/resistant coats with a hood are best as we still go out to play in light drizzle.  This is important as the weather gets colder! Students wearing hoodies will be asked to remove these. 

• It’s very important that uniform items are clearly labelled. Looking after pieces of uniform is the responsibility of the students. Labelling items helps us if they are misplaced.

We appreciate your support with this matter.

Conduct outside of school

We ask families to support the school in ensuring your children are representing School 21 appropriately, sensibly and safely before and after school. We have had reports of students outside of the school gates using inappropriate language before school, and also for not demonstrating appropriate conduct at local shops on the high street after school. We will follow up these reports with calls home to parents. Please be aware that the school advises local residents and business owners to contact the Police if they feel students are not conducting themselves appropriately. Please ensure you take responsibility for your child and speak to them about expectations when they are travelling to and from school. This will be addressed as well during assemblies at school.  

If you would like your child to attend Magic Breakfast Club, please email Miss Dilger. 

cdilger@school21.org.uk 

Please indicate weather your child is in Primary, Middle or Secondary School. 

Middle School Class Attendance Winners (wc 19/11/2018)

Year 5 - Snowdon - 98.4%
Year 6 - Everest - 100% Overall Winner 
Year 7 - Ben Nevis - 97.9%
Year 8 - Fuji - 94.4%

Fantastic achievement for Everest with everyone in everyday! Keep it up!

Student Voice Representatives

This week Ms Mclear will be holding assemblies for all Middle School year groups over this week and next, giving information on how students can self-nominate to be considered as representatives for their coaching group / class. If your child is keen to run for this position, talking to them at home about what attributes and skills they have that make them a good choice will help! Watch this space for more information about the selection process. 

Y7 iPad Update

Unfortunately there has been a delivery delay in our iPad order, so the planned collection this afternoon must be rescheduled. We are hoping collection can now happen on Wednesday 28th November this week from 3:30pm - 4:00pm and 5:30pm-6:00pm. We will confirm this with a further text and email. We apologise for the inconvenience caused. 

Foyle's Bookstore Trip

Over the holidays a number of students participated in the Summer Reading Challenge. Those who completed the challenge accompanied Ms Fisher, our librarian, to Foyle's Bookstore last week and were able to choose books as a prize. Congratulations to those who stepped up to this challenge, thank you to Ms Fisher for organising the trip and happy reading everyone!

Year 6 Pathways Presentations

A reminder that tomorrow all Year 6 parents, carers and families are invited to visit the school at either 8:45am - 9:45am or 5:00pm - 6:00pm to meet with Mr de Botton and Ms Kyrk regarding School 21 in Year 7 and beyond. At this event parents will have the opportunity to speak to teachers and students about what School 21 offers as students move into the secondary years of their education. You will be able to have a tour of the school and learn about future pathways to ensure that School 21 is the right choice for your child.  Please register at the front desk just before the start times if you wish to attend. We look forward to seeing you! We are planning on running this session again in the Summer term for our current Year 5 families.

November Family Film Night

This month's family film night will be held straight after the Years 3 - 5 Festival of Light concert on Friday, 30th November. We will be showing The Greatest Showman from 5:30pm to 7:15pm (approximately) in the Middle School Courtyard. A £1 donation is requested to attend which includes a bag of popcorn and drinks of squash throughout the film. We hope to see lots of our Middle School Community there! Any donations of cakes, sweets and other snacks to sell are welcomed (please ensure these are nut free) and can be brought along on the night. 

Recognition

Last week was full of incredible above and beyond examples from across the school. Check this week's recognition board for your name.

 Staying Safe on the Way Home

As some of our community walk home alone, it is important to ensure that safety is considered, especially as the days are getting darker earlier. Follow this link for further information and tips from the NSPCC on helping your child to be safe when walking home alone. https://learning.nspcc.org.uk/media/1103/out-alone-keeping-child-safe.pdf   

Overdue Library Books

Please return your overdue library books! We currently have over 500 books overdue. This means that students are unable to borrow popular books. 

Students are allowed to borrow up to three books for a loan period of one month and can be renewed after this period should the need arise. Any books that are lost or damaged must be replaced. 

Mrs Fisher
Librarian

This Week's Lunch Menu is Week 3!

School 21 Oracy Teach Meet

This years oracy teach meet is happening on Wednesday 5th December at School 21 from 5:00pm - 7:00pm. Light refreshments will be provided.

This event would suit anyone interested to find out more about how oracy skills are implemented across the curriculum or what is happening in the classrooms of school 21. Unfortunately this event is not suitable for children and we will not be able to accommodate buggies. 

If you would like to come and hear how teachers across the school are using oracy to craft rich and innovative classroom practice empowering students to find their voice, please register for a ticket on the eventbrite page here:  bit.ly/2PLOpGN. 

Dear Parent/Carer,

FREE ‘Magic Breakfast’ for ALL Children!

We have been given a grant to support us with our new Breakfast provision which will start on Monday 26th November 2018. This grant runs for 18 months but we hope to continue after that time.

Our Breakfast Club will be open from 7:45am every day. No children from 8:10am will be able to go through the School Reception Office. All children must enter via the School Reception Office to be registered. The children can tuck in to a healthy breakfast, enjoy a variety of fun activities including arts and crafts, books and reading, sports and exercise, and then go on to their classroom, ready to learn by 8:30am.

There is no cost for this fantastic morning session, we only ask for your kind volunteer donation. There will be a donation box in the School Reception Office every morning. To make it easier for us, please register your child by emailing Miss Dilger but you can just turn up on the day!

But that’s not all, every morning, we will have bagel station open. One outside the Primary entrance at 8:15am and one outside the Secondary entrance from 7:45am where pupils can take a fresh plain bagel. This will be available to all children in the school free of charge.

Our bagels are specifically made to be “child friendly” and are low in sugar and low in salt.

Research has shown that children who have a healthy breakfast achieve more at school – make sure your child doesn’t miss out!

We look forward to seeing you at breakfast!

Miss Charlie DIlger
Primary Deputy Head