Welcome to this week's newsletter
This week has been the final week in our competitions series and what a week it has been. We have had a record number of students entering the various subject competitions and the quality of the entries has been very impressive. The buzz and excitement that has been generated by the competitions has been very noticeable in tutor times. Nearly every student has participated in at least one competition, which has been pleasing to see. These Competitions Weeks are an example of our enrichment offer to all students in our community.
Sadly though, we had to postpone the REACHfest due to the weather. The risk assessments do not permit the use of the inflatables during wet weather. Bouncy Kings have been kind enough to offer us an alternative date, which we have agreed for Wednesday 13 September. Whilst it is not ideal to be unable to celebrate the House winners at the end of this term, students can look forward to REACHfest in September. This will also be a good advert to the new Year 7 students and will help to engage them in what we do here at Manor School.
Huge congratulations to our students for a great performance at Stanwick Lakes yesterday, as part of the Whole Child Project. The hard work and energy form students representing schools from across the Trust was great to see. The weather held out for most of yesterday’s performances but unfortunately today’s performance have been cancelled due to the weather forecast. This has not dampened the enthusiasm for the project moving forward and we are excited to see what the next stage in the journey will be.
Looking forward to the end of year celebrations next week.
Have a good weekend.
Lee Towers, Head of School
Year 11 prom
Students celebrated the end of Year 11 with a very successful leavers prom at Barton Hall on Thursday 6 July. We would like to thank all students for their conduct and hope they had a fantastic time.
We would like to extend our appreciation to those that made the evening a success with a special thanks to the following:
- Emma's Sweet Treats for donating cupcakes
- Hannah Thompson from Focussed for giving up her time to take photos
- Nathan from DeeJay Solutions plus Wicked Pics Photo Booths for providing the evening's entertainment
We will be sharing a link for the professional photos next week so that students can purchase directly from the photographer.
Music for Youth National Festival
The Manor School String Ensemble performed in Birmingham's Town Hall on Saturday 8 July, as part of the Music For Youth National Festival. It was already a fantastic achievement to progress to the national stage from the regional festival, but their performance on Saturday was outstanding! They performed with a high level of musicianship, including technical ability and ensemble skills. They have worked so hard and to hear them perform in such a prestigious venue was an absolute pleasure. The feedback from the music mentors was absolutely fantastic as well. Congratulations to Kiera, Kamran, Alexander, Yasmin, Amelia, Noah and Oliver.
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 10-14 July is alabaster.
Mental health survey
We are looking to find the trends and patterns in our school community to continue furthering the work that we are doing to support mental health and wellbeing. We are therefore asking students to complete the following short survey (some students may have already completed it during their computer science lessons, in which case they do not need to do it again).
September training day focus
Matt Coleman (Director of School Improvement for the Nene Education Trust) has written a letter to parents/carers regarding training that staff across the Trust will be completing on Tuesday 5 September. You can download it by clicking on the following link.
Rowing taster sessions
Northampton Rowing Club are running a series of junior taster sessions specifically for young athletes that will be heading into Year 8 in September 2023. The sessions will take place across Saturday 12 and Sunday 13 August. Please download the following for full details.
Careers news
It might be the penultimate week of term but there has still been plenty of careers-related activity taking place for our students, including a group of students visiting the University of Northampton (more information can be found later in this newsletter).
We also had selected students in Year 10 take part in a careers session on site run by a member of staff at the restaurant Ember. Students learnt about his career and what it takes to work in the industry before being taught how to cook a pork loin dish.
Please note that Mr Hill (our careers advisor) is available all-day Monday, Tuesdays 9-11am and 2:15-3.15pm, and Wednesdays 9am-1:20pm for booked careers appointments. These can made by emailing lsmedley@manor.school or shill@manor.school. Alternatively, students can drop in at break, lunch or after school.
Sports Leaders celebration event
15 students from Years 7-10 were selected by Miss Hustwait to attend a Sports Leaders celebration event at the University of Northampton on Thursday, where they got to experience three different workshops before a campus tour and ending with a presentation of awards.
The workshops were on sports journalism, the impact of limited vision on decision making, and working with visually impaired athletes. They were all fantastically led by the staff and students of the university, with our students getting a real practical insight into elements of different courses on offer.
During the presentation at the end of the day, despite there being a number of students who could have been awarded for their leadership contributions to Manor this year, two students particularly stood out and so received a special trophy - congratulations to Darcy C (Year 8) and Madeleine H (Year 9).
Credits:
Created with an image by FS-Stock - "A Young single scull rowing competitor paddles on the tranquil lake"