Welcome to this week's newsletter
It was great to see so many smiling faces at the Raunds Christmas light switch-on last weekend. My own children certainly enjoyed themselves. A big thank you to all those involved in organising and hosting the event. The lights in the town look stunning in the evening.
Well done to all those students who represented the school on stage in a exceptional fashion at the switch on. If you missed it, do not panic! You have another opportunity to see the great talent on show again when they are performing at the Christmas concert on Thursday next week.
A final well done to all those coming to the end of the trial exam season. It is arguably more challenging preparing for trial exams than it is for the real thing. Our students have risen to the challenge.
Enjoy the weekend.
Lee Towers, Head of School
Medicines in school
Prescription medicines will only be administered at school when it would be detrimental to the pupil’s health or school attendance not to do so, and where we have parents’ written consent.
The only exception to this is where the medicine has been prescribed to the pupil without the knowledge of the parents.
Pupils under 16 will not be given medicine containing aspirin unless prescribed by a doctor.
Anyone giving a pupil any medication (for example, for pain relief) will first check maximum dosages and when the previous dosage was taken. Parents will always be informed.
The school will only accept prescribed medicines that are:
- in-date
- labelled
- provided in the original container, as dispensed by the pharmacist, and include instructions for administration, dosage and storage
The school will accept insulin that is inside an insulin pen or pump rather than its original container, but it must be in date.
All medicines will be stored safely. Pupils will be informed about where their medicines are at all times and be able to access them immediately. Medicines and devices such as asthma inhalers, blood glucose testing meters and adrenaline pens will always be readily available to pupils and not locked away.
Medicines will be returned to parents to arrange for safe disposal when no longer required.
Over the counter medicines are not considered as prescribed and therefore will not be administered by school staff.
If you are unsure or need to inform school of medication being taken, please speak to your child's tutor who can liaise with the year group Progress Leader. Please do not send students into school with prescribed medication without the school being made aware as per our supporting students with medical conditions policy.
Paris and Germany deposits
If your child has been accepted onto the Paris or Germany trips, the deposit is required by Monday 5 December.
Unclaimed places will be offered to students on the waiting list before the end of term.
If you have any queries regarding this, please email nbannard@manor.school.
Year 11 comprehension tasks
Every Monday in form time, Year 11 students will be working on their comprehension skills. This week they will have read the below extract and completed a series of tasks on this extract.
Please support your children at home by reading over the extract again with them and then completing the follow-up comprehension tasks with them. Although this is a Year 11 task, all year groups would benefit from this.
For any support, please contact kdicker@manor.school
Flu vaccinations
Flu vaccinations will take place for Years 7-9 on 16 January 2023.
Please complete the consent form (sent by email) by 9:00am on 11 January.
Musical auditions
There is a final opportunity to audition for our version of Six: Teen edition, which is now open for Year 9 upwards. If students would like to audition they should email Miss Barron (mbarron@manor.school) by Tuesday 6 December.
Christmas Music Concert
The Manor School Music Concert is being held in the Main Hall on Thursday 8 December at 6pm. This is a wonderful opportunity for our students to showcase their musical talents and celebrate the festive season. If you would like to attend, tickets are available to purchase via TicketSource.
Christmas hamper appeal
The Year 10/11 ASDAN class will be running our annual Christmas hamper appeal this year, in conjunction with the Raunds Food Bank. We are asking for non-perishable donations of food items, as well as any household goods or toiletries such as hygiene and cleaning products. Fresh food, alcohol and cash donations will not be accepted. All contributions will be much appreciated, especially at this time of year and as we sit within the cost-of-living crisis.
Please send any donated items with your child to pass on to their tutor, with hampers to be collected by the food bank on Thursday 15 December.
CPR training
There is a free CPR and AED training session with Raunds Town Council taking place on Tuesday 13 December, demonstrating how to deal with a non-breathing adult and child. The session is supported by the town council and will be delivered by East Northants First Responders.
If you are interested, please complete the booking form.
Competitions week
The first competitions week of this academic year is taking place from Monday 5 to Friday 9 December. There will be a number of opportunities throughout the week for students to earn points for their house. We are strongly encouraging all students to take part in as many competitions as possible, with points available for participation in addition to first, second and third places.
Christmas Jumper Day
On Thursday 8 December, our school will be taking part in Save the Children’s Christmas Jumper Day.
We know times are tough, so please remember that donations are optional (it’s having tons of fun that’s mandatory!), and any amount you can spare - 10p, 20p, 50p - makes you an awesome fundraiser.
Also, this year, whatever anyone donates will make double the difference because the UK government is going to match all donations to Christmas Jumper Day between 1 December and 1 March. All that extra cash will go towards a wonderful cause, helping 200,000 mums and babies in Kenya get the food and medicine they need.
Remember, there’s no need to buy a new jumper. You could upcycle an old jumper, get crafty or head to your local charity shop to buy a pre-loved festive knit.
Christmas jumpers will replace blazers only. Normal school uniform is to be worn with a Christmas jumper. Full Manor uniform is expected for those not participating.
How to donate:
- Via text - text OURMANOR2 (£2), OURMANOR5 (£5) or OURMANOR10 (£10) to 70050
- Via the web - visit our fundraising page
- In person - monetary donations can be handed to form tutors on Thursday or placed in the collection buckets at the gates in the morning
Together, we can make the world better with a sweater. Thank you for your support.
Extra-curricular timetable
As the winter evenings mean that it gets dark earlier, clubs may finish earlier than usual where we have no outdoor lighting. For this reason also, hockey club will not run for the remainder of this term.
There will be no sports clubs on at lunchtime next week due to the dodgeball house competitions.
Cost of living support
Warm rooms in Raunds
Irthlingborough Library afterschool group
Raunds Santa's Grotto update
Raunds Town Council is very disappointed that because its provider has withdrawn their support at very short notice, it will not be possible for this year's Santa's Grotto to proceed as intended on 16-19 December. However, the Council will donate all of the presents from this year's event to the Hill Street Vintage Collection Santa on a Tractor fundraiser and to Raunds Food Bank.
The Mayor of Raunds, Councillor Richard Levell, said, 'It is a great shame that we are unable to put on a Christmas Grotto this year, but I am pleased that we have come up with an alternative plan'.
The Chairman of the Events Committee, Councillor Magdalena Levell, said, 'The Council looks forward to working with Brian Kettell (Santa on a Tractor) to deliver to the children of Raunds the Christmas presents we bought for the grotto'.
Santa will be visiting Raunds on Sunday 11 December and spreading plenty of Christmas cheer - please see below the Santa on a Tractor schedule.
