Weekly email – 29 September 2023

A message from Ms Greenhalgh

Yesterday we held our annual Open Evening for Year 6 children and their families and it was fantastic to welcome so many people into school. I’d like to say a big thank you to all the staff and students who made the event such a success.

If anyone attended the Open Evening but didn’t get the chance to fill out our survey, you can still do so here – we’d love to hear what you thought. One parent said “For us, we had a perfect experience. Thank you so much for everyone who gave up their time and for organising this event.” It’s always lovely to get such positive feedback.

On the subject of feedback, this week we’ve had really positive feedback from parents/carers of Year 7 students who have now been with us for a few weeks – we’re delighted that the overwhelming majority (98%) said that their child had settled in well and is happy at Millthorpe. We welcome feedback at all stages of your child’s journey through Millthorpe and encourage all parents/carers to let us know how we are doing, either directly by emailing: feedback@millthorpe.southbank.academy or by completing Ofsted’s Parent View survey.

Please do take a look at our social media accounts so that you can keep up to date with news and announcements – you can find us on Twitter/X, Facebook and Instagram.

Congratulations to those students who were nominated by their faculty to have hot chocolate with me earlier today. Well done to Anna, Oliver, Rosie, Jack, Toby, Amber, Mickey, Bodhi, Raya, William, Frank and Nancy.

And as always, well done to all those who received a Golden Ticket this week – you make me a very proud Headteacher!

Wishing you all a very happy weekend and I’ll look forward to seeing everyone back on Monday for an ‘A’ week.

With best wishes,

Gemma Greenhalgh
Headteacher

Year 11 Information Evening

A reminder that parents/carers of Year 11 students should have received a letter inviting them to our Year 11 Information Evening on Wednesday 4 October. The full letter can be seen here, together with a link to the booking form.

SEND dates for your diaries

A reminder that we will be holding virtual SEND Review meetings on Wednesday 22 and Thursday 23 November – please save the dates in your diaries.

Online support for students and parents

We have recently launched Padlet, a new online support app which is a directory of support available for students and parents. This can be accessed via the below QR codes and the content will be updated regularly.

Support for students:

Support for parents:

Dance auditions – Elf the Musical

We will be holding dance auditions for ‘Elf the Musical’ for students in Years 8-11, after school on Monday 2 October. If you are interested please come to the Drama Hall after school – you will be taught a short routine and audition in small groups. If you would like to, please do bring a change of clothes. We expect to be finished by 4.30pm.

Letter from Mr Figures – GCSE Geography field trip

Dear Parents/guardians,

We would like to inform you about an essential upcoming event for Year 11 students who are currently enrolled in GCSE Geography.

On 12 and 13 October, a mandatory GCSE Geography field trip is scheduled. This is a crucial part of your child’s curriculum, offering them an invaluable opportunity to apply their classroom learning to real-world scenarios.

To ensure that your child is aware of this field trip and its significance, we have handed out letters directly to them. We kindly request that you check in with your child to ensure they have received this letter and are aware of the field trip.

The field trip will provide your child with practical experience, deepen their understanding of geographical concepts, and allow them to gather data for their coursework. It promises to be an enriching and educational experience.

Celebrating our students successes and achievements

Each half-term we produce our Millthorpe Messenger enewsletter which celebrates the successes and achievements of our students and school community. In addition we also love to share good news on our social media channels, Twitter/X, Facebook and Instagram.

If your child(ren) has done something you, or they, are proud of, perhaps raised money for charity, achieved sporting success, starred in a show, shown kindness to others or something else, please let us know. Just email news@millthorpe.southbank.academy with a few details and ideally a photo or two, and we can do the rest!

We are very proud of our students and would love to celebrate their achievements and good deeds with our wider community. We look forward to hearing from you.

Karaoke Club

We relaunched Karaoke Club today for the first time since pre-Covid and it was a roaring success. Over 50 students attended. First up to sing was Brad in Year 11 with “Slide Away” by Oasis, followed by Stan and Lucy in Year 7 with “I know him so well.” The students didn’t stop singing for the whole of lunch time and it was so lovely to see so many of them having fun, from all year groups.

#WakeUpWednesday

National Online Safety have been sharing their excellent weekly guides with us for a few years now, and we are sure that many parents and carers have found them really useful to help shape conversations with their child in order for them to stay safe online. They have now responded to feedback to ask for guides on other areas of concern for young people and their first is a guide to the dangers of vaping.

We are aware that we shared another useful article on this topic with you on 15 September, but thought this was also worth sharing with you if you need more information and/or want to talk to your child about vaping.

Safeguarding

If you have significant concerns for the welfare of a child, in addition to being able to contact Mrs Cole, Mrs Cooper or Mr Beever during school hours by emailing safeguarding@millthorpe.southbank.academy, you may wish to make direct contact with the York MASH (Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub) on T: 01904 551900, option 3. They operate an out-of-hours service so concerns can be raised with them at any time.