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Our Manor 1-5 March 2021

Message from the Principal

As I take a moment to reflect before welcoming our students back to school on Monday morning, I am reminded of what we have faced and what we have overcome as a community – in school and beyond – over the last twelve months.

We couldn’t have predicted what has happened on our journey over the last 12 months. Having dealt with a Crypto virus, receiving a great Ofsted report and a national pandemic, we are proud of the way we have handled all the challenges and learning as leaders, teachers, staff, students and family members. The truth is that we have reinvented schools and education many times over the last year and we have learnt a huge amount.

There will be significant benefits from being forced into new ways of learning and living and I am sure we have not experienced all of them yet. We will use the learning we have acquired as well as the momentum and impetus we had just before the first lockdown to make our brilliant school even better than it already is.

Over the last week our incredible team lead by Tom Hatton has carried out over 1800 lateral flow tests while teachers and staff have been preparing for our return to school.

Below you will see a series of infographics which we hope summarises the letter I sent to you on Wednesday 3 March.

May I take this opportunity to thank you for all your support; I hope we can get our Manor community back to ‘normal’ again soon. Stay safe.

Jay Davenport, Principal

Student lateral flow testing

We have been immensely proud of the maturity shown by students who have arrived on site this week for their lateral flow tests, and would like to thank the parents and carers who have sent us some very nice messages thanking the team (led by Tom Hatton) for their incredible work.

By the end of today most students in Years 7-11 will have completed two lateral flow tests in school. Sixth Form students will complete their first test on Monday 8 March and then they and other students will complete their subsequent tests with the appropriate 3-5 day gap over the coming fortnight.

When students complete their third and final in-school test they will be issued with a home testing kit containing seven lateral flow tests. You can also order further tests for those in the household as per the guidance in the letter from the Nene Education Trust sent on Monday 1 March. Students who have consented should complete two tests a week with 3-5 days between each test. You should inform the school of positive test results. There is no need to inform us of any negative test results, instead following any instructions provided in the kits.

Homework

We are aware that as we return to school we are entering a transitional period as we move from Show My Homework (now known as Satchel One) to Microsoft Teams for the setting of homework.

Microsoft Teams can now perform many of the features that Show My Homework does and it is likely that we will move entirely to using this as the platform for setting homework from September 2021. This will only happen when students timetables are automatically synced with their Microsoft Teams calendar and parent summary emails of Teams usage and assignments is operational. Until these two conditions are met all homework will be set by teachers on Show My Homework/Satchel One.

If you or your child has forgotten their access details for Show My Homework/Satchel One, please contact homelearning@manor.school in the first instance.

Site improvements

We have made a series of improvements to the school site during the school closure, with the redecoration and refreshing of areas both inside and outside the school buildings. This includes the instalment of a new path in the Year 10 pod between the mobiles and the sports field for easier access. A new fence between Manor School and the Raunds Playgroup centre has also been completed.

School transport

As we return to school on Monday the normal school transport services will resume. Payments will be updated to reflect the missing time at the beginning of this term.

If you have already paid the instalment for term 4 then a refund of £29.50 will be processed over the coming weeks via WisePay back to the debit/credit card used.

If you have not yet paid the instalment for term 4 then a new instalment of £66.50 will be set up and allocated to your WisePay account for the remainder of this term.

Mrs Bannard (Operations Administrator) and the Finance Team will contact you via SchoolComms to inform you when your refund has been processed or when you can pay the new instalment.

Instrumental lessons

We are pleased to confirm that all instrumental lessons will begin again from Monday 8 March. All students who have instrumental lessons have already been emailed the timetable for their lesson, and all the same procedures are in place as they were before Christmas.

If you have any queries, please email mbarron@manor.school

Extra-curricular clubs

Extra-curricular clubs will be restarting from Monday 15 March, with each year group allocated a set day.

  • Mondays: Year 10
  • Tuesdays: Year 7
  • Wednesdays: Year 11
  • Thursdays: Year 8
  • Fridays: Year 9

Further details including a full timetable of activities on offer will be shared next week.

School uniform

May we please remind you that if you are considering purchasing any branded items from our school uniform suppliers please complete the following form:

British Science Week

This year British Science Week runs from Friday 5 to Sunday 14 March. Strangely, the national lockdown actually means that there are more ways than ever to get involved this year! The theme this year is ‘Innovating for the future’.

In keeping with our REACH characteristics I would encourage everyone in the community to get involved and be more curious about the world around them.

Below is a menu of online activities that you can pick from as a family, as a parent or as students. We would love to hear about what you learned from them on Twitter by tagging the school @manor_school and using the hashtag #BSW21. Most require booking but all are free of charge.

There is also a poster competition for students. Click here for the opportunity to win exciting science prizes – younger siblings can also take part.

House competition

As an additional way to engage with British Science Week, we would like students to participate in a House competition by accurately answering as many science questions as possible using the Tassomai app.

We will award 500 House points to the student who answers the most questions correctly on the app between 5-14 March. 500 House points will also be awarded to the House with the most students in the top 30 across the school.

If you have any questions about using Tassomai, please contact your child's science teacher.

Mr Turner, Director of Learning (Science)

Television subtitles

Many children are spending more time than ever watching television, which is why we wanted to share this brilliantly simple idea with you – turning on the subtitles can double the chances of a child becoming good at reading.

The next time your child is watching TV or streaming on a mobile device, there could actually be an opportunity to improve their reading skills at the same time. In fact research has shown that it can double the chance of your child leaving school as a proficient reader. You can turn them on for the whole family or most streaming services will now allow you to do it just for individual children if you like.

Weekly REACH Champions