Welcome to this week's newsletter
It's been another very busy week at Manor School, not least with our Curriculum Day on Wednesday. These days are crucial to our students in helping develop the whole child and prepare students for life beyond school through our unique Work.World.Wellness curriculum.
I had the privilege of dropping into a number of sessions to see the students learning about essential topics such as charity and biodiversity in our local ecosystems. It was a delight to see the students learning in very different ways. You will find lots more about the day in today’s edition.
The notice of the strike days has presented us with a number of challenges to overcome this week, largely because for Manor School it falls on the same week we have Sixth Form Induction and Transition Week for Year 6. We have already communicated this week about the year groups and students in school. We appreciate that it is not ideal to close to many students so close to the end of term but the point of the strikes is to cause disruption.
There is lots more happening in the coming weeks so do please keep reading the newsletter.
Have a great weekend!
Lee Towers, Head of School
Curriculum Day
Students were out of lessons on Wednesday 28 June for the final Curriculum Day of this academic year. The day saw each year group participate in a variety of talks, workshops and projects related to a specific branch of Manor’s Work.World.Wellness. curriculum programme.
Year 7 – Ecosystems and biodiversity
Year 7's activities were based around the values of being an Eco-School, with students looking at how we can promote biodiversity in our local ecosystem. This involved classes attending five of the following sessions:
- Pond life – learning about indicator species; looking at a water sample under the microscope
- Eco-School – exploring the school site in order to create a proposal for wildlife-friendly areas (e.g. where to put nest boxes)
- Bees – learning about the importance of bees as pollinators; designing a bee-friendly garden
- Insect home – creating an insect home using materials such as plastic bottles and twigs
- Wildlife survey – using mobile apps to identify wildlife found around the school; learning about food chains
- Litter campaign – learning about the importance of a clean environment; completing a litter survey; creating a campaign to prevent littering
Year 8 – Charities
Year 8 students learnt about the role that charities play in making the world a more equitable place. Guest speakers from Raunds Food Bank, Christians Against Poverty, Re-Solv, Age UK Northamptonshire, and the Sick Children’s Trust spoke to students about the work that they do both as individuals and as organisations, with students able to ask questions about their fundraising methods and challenges that they have faced during the cost of living crisis. There were also video-based sessions where students learnt about the work of Cransley Hospice and Mind. Students then spent the afternoon coming up with their own ideas for a charity, creating posters that outlined their mission statement, how they would raise funds and why people should donate to their cause. Finally, students were given ‘money’ to donate to what they deemed to be the worthiest charity.
Year 9 – Diversity
Year 9's activities were centered around the theme of diversity, with a number of presentations from guest speakers about the many ways in which people can differ, why it is important to talk about discrimination and inequality, and how they can better support each other and members of the local community. Guest speaker Red Jolley spoke about her experience with selective mutism, Year 11 student Tiffany M talked about racial discrimination and how it has affected her, and guest speaker Kiran Johnson shared with students his experience as a young transgender man. There was also the opportunity to discover what it is like to be deaf from visitor Emily Andrews, which was followed by students learning British Sign Language. Students rounded out the day by considering what they had learnt, how it will help them in the future, and what they pledge to do going forward to support marginalised groups in society.
Year 10 – Dragons’ Den
Students spent the day participating in a variety of business activities inspired by Dragons’ Den. After initial brainstorming of potential ideas and establishing their unique selling point, students went on to attend five workshops to help them develop the business:
- Distribution – working out how their product/service gets to the consumer
- Pricing – developing short- and long-term strategies
- Financing – considering their revenue, running costs and profit projections
- Promotion – creating branding and promotional materials
- Pitching – learning what makes a good elevator pitch
After lunch, students went head to head within their classes to pitch their companies in order for their teacher to choose a winner. The winning group from each class then went on to present their pitch to the panel of 'dragons' who selected the overall winning group.
Year 12 – Wellness
To help students relax, enjoy themselves and have a break from their study pressures for the day, Year 12 started off the day with an hour’s private use of the Flip Out facilities at Rushden Lakes. Upon returning to school, students attended a wellness session with NET Wellbeing Lead Amy Bradshaw. There was then the opportunity to play rounders on the sports field after lunch or to take some personal reflection time.
Industrial action
As you will have seen from the media recently, there are a further two days of industrial action planned to take place on Wednesday 5 July and Friday 7 July. As on previous days of industrial action, we have assessed the likelihood of impact on our school and the resultant risk.
The planned industrial action has fallen in the same week as our transition weeks for incoming Year 7 and 12 students and our current Year 7 and 8 trip to Paris. The industrial action will not affect the trip to Paris.
To ensure that we have sufficient staff available to run these events, which cannot be rescheduled, we have taken the decision to move to remote learning for all students in Years 7-10. This will include some live lessons from teachers where these teachers are available as per their normal school timetable. Students should check their calendars in Teams to access live lessons as per their normal school timetable. If there is not a lesson in their calendar, they should access the resources that will be made available on the school website.
The exception for this is students in Year 10 who study dance and drama, who will come to school on Wednesday, and Year 10 students who study art who will come into school on Friday.
For full details of our plan for these two days, please see the email to parents/carers that was sent earlier this week.
Word of the Week
Each week, the English department focuses on encouraging students to use one ambitious word – it is displayed in classrooms and discussed during teaching. It would be great if adults at home could try to encourage the use of this word too. You could try to fit into a conversation or even question your young person on the meaning. It will be fantastic for the students to see us all working together to help improve their language. Thank you for your support.
The Word of the Week for 26-30 June is prismatic.
Year 7 and 8 food tech lessons
Please note that due to trips reducing student numbers, there will be no practical food technology lessons next week. Please do not send any ingredients in with your child.
Summer music concert
Tickets are now on sale for our summer music concert taking place on Tuesday 4 July. The evening provides an opportunity to see the range of brilliant musicians within our school performing a range of musical styles from classical to pop as soloists or within ensembles.
Year 8 HPV vaccination
The School Aged Immunisation Service will be on site for Year 8 students to receive their HPV vaccination on Tuesday 11 July. Please can parents/carers complete the consent form (link in the letter below), even if you wish to decline.
The Dream
Students from all schools across the Nene Education Trust have been working with Silhouette Youth to create a production of A Midsummer Night's Dream, with 21 Year 7 students from Manor involved. Over 150 young people will take to the outdoor stage at Stanwick Lakes to tell this incredible story using the Performing Arts. They have created their own songs to go with the story and have worked hard to use drama and dance to tell the tale.
Tickets are now on sale for each of the three performances in July, and can be booked via the following links:
Year 13 results day webinar
Parents/carers of Year 13 students may be interested in an upcoming 'Preparing for Results Day' webinar taking place on Tuesday 4 July at 6pm. This session will offer guidance and reassurance on clearing, insurance offers and supporting your young person through results day. The webinar will take place over Zoom and can be accessed via the following link.
Online safety guide
During the summer holidays, without the distraction of school, internet usage for many young people can increase all the way up to September. Please therefore see the following parent/carer guide to keeping children safe when using the internet, social media and playing online games.
Careers update
Year 8
On Monday 3 July, Northampton College are coming into the school to deliver a presentation to all Year 8 students about apprenticeships and T-Levels.
Year 9
#IDEK Theatre Company will be coming into school on Monday 3 July to deliver a performance to both Years 9 and 12 exploring how to navigate the process of narrowing down their options and making choices at Key Stage 4 and post-16.
Year 10
Students are halfway through their assemblies about their post-16 options. Please note that the presentation from Northampton College has been moved from Friday 7 July to Friday 14 July.
Year 12
Good luck to the students in Year 12 who have chosen to take up the work experience opportunity and will start their placements next week. We also have ten Year 12 students who will be attending their second insight day on Wednesday 5 July at Watson Farley & Williams, an international law firm.