Welcome to this week's newsletter
It was great to see our staff and students performing last weekend at the Raunds festive lights switch-on in the snow. We hope you got the opportunity to see them. They really did themselves and the school very proud indeed. Lots of people in the crowd commented on the quality of their performance. It was good to so many familiar faces from school there in support of our students.
Our sports teams continue to go from strength to strength in their fixtures. Again, it is great to see staff, students and parents/carers out supporting them - we know that those participating really appreciate it. For fixtures that start before 4:30pm, please sign into reception and you will directed from there. After 4:30pm, the main gate will be opened.
We wanted to take the opportunity to praise all those students taking trial examinations this week. They have all conducted themselves in an exemplary fashion and we are sure their efforts will pay dividends.
Thank you to all those families that have been in contact with us about the recent COVID measures we have implemented based on the guidance sent to school. Further measures are being taken in school to hopefully impact on the number of cases we are experiencing - you can read more on this below. We appreciate that not all families are of the same view about the measures we are, or are not, taking. In this regards, we would just reiterate to families that we follow national guidance and advice from Public Health England in relation to this matter.
Enjoy the weekend.
Lee Towers and Glenn Martin, Co-Principals
COVID update
We continue to request that students come to school with a mask and wear them in all communal areas. Masks are optional in classrooms, at this stage. Staff will continue to wear masks in communal areas as well. We will continue ventilate classrooms as far as we possibly can and CO2 monitors are being installed in classrooms, as per government guideline to measure air flow. Assemblies will be virtual from this point forward and staff meeting will also go online where colleagues cannot socially distance in well ventilated rooms. Regularly cleaning touch points continues to remain a priority.
As face coverings are now also mandatory on public transport, it is strongly recommended that face masks are worn on school transport, unless aged under 11 and medically exempt. We would also like to remind you that students should be conducting lateral flow tests at home twice a week - we recommend Sunday and Wednesday evenings.
At this moment in time we are preparing for testing after Christmas and so it is highly likely that there will be a staggered return at the start of next term. We will be in touch with our consent form in the coming days and once our plans are finalised with the details we will communicate these to you.
Senior Leadership Team
REACH Rewards 2020-2021
We wanted to take the opportunity to thank all those students and families who have been in touch with us about the REACH rewards for last academic year. We are very conscious that there is a cohort of students who have not had their celebration event.
It is our intention to host a celebration event to recognise those students. We appreciate that not doing so could impact on student motivation and esteem towards the REACH values that we really cherish in our school.
Plans are underway to ensure we capture these achievements in the short term in the form of a celebration event but also in the long term so we have an annual record of the achievements in the form of a honours board in school. It is worth noting that our intended event in December to celebrate last year’s achievements is now being remodified due to the increase in COVID cases in school as well as the recent government guidance. It is likely that this event will be held in January. Further information will be sent to families early in the new year.
Praise and Rewards team
Bebras Challenge
During November, over 500 Manor students took part in the Bebras Computational Thinking Challenge, organised in partnership with Oxford University. 22 students earned Gold Awards, achieving a special invitation to the next round of the competition in February. Well done to Felix P (Y12), Ethan L (Y10), Mark H (Y9) and Joseph S (Y7) who scored highest in their categories.
Performing Arts journalists
Congratulations to Leah Jane N (Year 8), Aisla C (Year 9), Ruby C (Year 11) and Emilie W (Year 11) who are now the Performing Arts journalists. Look out for their first pieces of work in this newsletter in the coming weeks as they write reviews on our Christmas Concert and pantomime.
Cambodia expedition 2023
Following on from last week's announcement of our 2023 Cambodia expedition, we have more information about what it involves and how much it costs.
Camps International have put together an online presentation that can be accessed via the link below - click the arrows at the top of the screen to move to the next slide.
There is also a letter containing the key details which you can download via the following link.
Online safety
This week's parent/carer online safety guide from National Online Safety is around raising awareness of age-inappropriate content and how to speak to your child about it.
Manor Maths Challenges
Things are getting festive in Mrs Radd's blog with 3 Christmas-themed puzzles to have a go at.
MSL newsletter
The Manor Sports and Leisure team have produced the first edition of their newsletter, which sets out to inform the local community of the support and services they have to offer.
The first edition looks at the changes and new launches that have taken place over the past two years.
Medical Mavericks World magazine
The team at Medical Mavericks produce a magazine for school students that covers stories about anything STEM/Medical related, along with careers guidance, quizzes and videos. You can download the latest issue via the link below.
Christmas hamper appeal
We are once again holding a Christmas hamper appeal, with hampers to be collected by Raunds Food Bank the last week of term.
We are asking for donations of the following items:
- Tinned goods e.g. tuna, beans, dessert, soup
- Rice
- Pasta
- Biscuits
- Sweets/cakes
- Christmas puddings
- Coffee/tea/hot chocolate
- Personal hygiene goods e.g. toothpaste, shampoo
- Household goods eg. washing powder
- Hand sanitizer/masks
Students should pass on donated items to their tutor, where each tutor group will be producing their own hamper.
Thank you in advance for your generosity.
Christmas Jumper Day
On Friday 10 December, staff and students are invited to support the charity "Save the Children" by taking part in the annual Christmas Jumper Day.
Students on this day are able to replace their Manor School blazer with a Christmas jumper. All other standard uniform requirements will still be compulsory.
Donation buckets will be on the gates at the beginning of school and in pastoral throughout the day. We would appreciate as many staff and students participating in this festive event to raise as much as possible for a worthy cause.
Festive performing arts events
Tickets are on sale for our Christmas Concert (Thursday 9 December) and pantomime (Monday 13 and Tuesday 14 December). Tickets for these events can be purchased via TicketSource.
PE notices
Just a polite reminder that PE lessons will continue to take place outdoors, and that all students are expected to wear the appropriate PE uniform. Students are not permitted to wear coats or hoodies, but are allowed to wear gloves and woolly hats in addition to the normal navy PE jumpers, tracksuit bottoms and leggings. Please could I also ask that uniform is clearly named and that students are aware that it is their responsibility to ensure they have all their belongings when they leave the changing rooms.
As the evenings are getting darker earlier, it is becoming difficult to run some of our after school extra-curricular clubs for PE. We are aiming to continue to run as much as we can, but please be aware that the finish time is likely to be around 4:00pm rather than 4:30pm for the clubs that usually take place outdoors. There will be no badminton or handball on Wednesday 9 December, and there will be no hockey on the last two Fridays of the term either.
Toni Hustwait, Curriculum Lead for PE and Sport