A message from Ms Greenhalgh
I I hope you’ve all a lovely week and managed to stay warm and dry! Hopefully the weather this weekend will be a little kinder to us!
Congratulations to all those students who have received a Golden Ticket this week. It’s so lovely to see so many of you being the best that you can be. Keep up the great work. Well done also to our Year 11 students who are gearing up to sitting their GCSE exams shortly. I can see the commitment and focus you are all showing and am very proud of your efforts.
A quick reminder that school will be closed on Monday 6 May for the May Day Bank Holiday.
Next week is a ‘B’ Week – I look forward to seeing everyone back in school on Monday. Have a great weekend.
With best wishes,
Gemma Greenhalgh
Headteacher
What is my child learning at the moment?
Please see below to find out what your child has been learning about recently in order to have productive discussions about their education:
Conversation starters
- History: Why did the Barons force King John I to sign Magna Carta? (And why did he not sign it?) Why did he break it? Why has history been unkind to King John by suggesting he was a terrible king?
- Geography: What makes a suitable location for a renewable energy facility?
- RE: Was Jesus a radical or revolutionary person? What was Jesus’ attitude to women?
Conversation starter
Classes are studying a variety of topics in Block 3: Adaptation and Inheritance, Separating Mixtures & Electricity and Magnetism. Students studying Adaptation and Inheritance – you can ask what information does DNA carry? Students studying Separating Mixtures can be asked how can we obtain a pure substance? Students studying Electricity can be asked how does electricity travel in a circuit?Year 9 – Faculty: English
Conversation starter
Year 9 have begun their new unit, Poems from Other Cultures. This will be an exciting journey of exploration into a range of different cultures and a rich poetic tradition, with students being given the opportunity to discover other voices and deepen their understanding of the world. Poetry analysis forms a considerable portion of the GCSE literature syllabus, so we are excited to introduce your children to the unique pleasure of poetry in Year 9. A good place to start: can your child explain what Dub Poetry is to you?
Year 10 – Faculty: Performance
Conversation starters
- Drama: Students are continuing their study of ‘Blood Brothers’ by Willy Russell – we have just completed Act One and are moving into the 1970s! Alongside this, students are studying technical aspects of theatre design – costume, set, lighting, sound, puppetry – and practising answering exam questions focussed on these areas.
- PE: Summer sports are our focus (despite the weather!). Students will be doing either athletics, cricket or rounders over the next few weeks.
- Music: Badinerie set work analysis: What are the harmonic features of Badinerie by JS Bach? Composition: Independent work on completing free composition coursework.
Conversation starters
- Computing: we are practising mixed exam questions to prepare for the GCSE exam. These mostly focus on Paper 2 questions as this was identified as a key area of development for students.
- German and French: we are revising key topic vocabulary and preparing for our speaking exams which began this week.
We hope that you will find this information useful when talking to your child about their learning.
Additionally, you might want to take a look at the curriculum section of our website which has lots more information about what your child is, has, or will be learning over the academic year.
School day timings
From Monday 29 April we will be making some small changes to the school day timings to cater for the Year 11 exams which require longer afternoon sessions.
The new school day timings are as follows:
- 8.45-9.15am: Registration
- 9.15-10.15am: Period 1
- 10.15-11.15am: Period 2
- 11.15-11.30am: Break
- 11.30am-12.30pm: Period 3
- 12.30-1.15pm: Lunch
- 1.15-2.15pm: Period 4
- 2.15-3.15pm: Period 5
Student Examination Handbook
Parents/carers of Year 11 students – please take a look at the Student Examination Handbook which has already been shared with students. This covers everything from things to do before the exams, regulations, equipment needed, absences, results and contingency days.
You can see the handbook here.
Parent Forum
We are reaching out to parents and carers who would be prepared to contribute to a parent forum, in which we will seek your views and suggestions about our approach going forward. More details about the format of the forum are to follow but it is expected to involve meetings in person.
Numbers need to be limited in order to be able to function effectively, so if we are fortunate enough to receive more volunteers than we can accommodate, we will look for a balanced group representing different age groups etc. Remaining volunteers will be invited to future forums. If you are interested, or for more information, please contact us at admin@millthorpe.southbank.academy with ‘Parent Forum’ in the subject line.
Year 10 Pre Public Examinations (PPEs)
Year 10 PPEs will take place from 10-21 June. Further information and a full timetable will follow in May.
SEND: Save the dates
Nibble and Natter event
Now that the summer term is well and truly underway, we’re delighted to announce our second ‘Nibble and Natter’ event. The event will take place on Thursday 23 May at 4.00pm in the school library. Our guest will be Jen from Family Matters York, who will discuss the work of Family Matters (who we are; what we offer) and their course ‘Parenting Children with Additional Needs’. For more information, you can visit their website.
SEND reviews
Our SEND reviews will take place on Tuesday 18 June. Our focus this term is preparing all our students for the next steps in their learning journey. We will be visiting primary schools to start our enhanced transition process with our new cohort starting in September. If you have any questions about SEND provision, please email: send@millthorpe.southbank.academy
There’s lots of useful information on the school website and you can take a look at the support available for parents on the local offer website: Universal Offer Calendar.
Toulouse and Beyond fundraiser
You may remember that before the Easter break we took part in a Trust-wide rugby challenge, called ‘Toulouse and Beyond’ to raise money for OSCAR’s Paediatric Brain Tumour Charity. We’re thrilled to announce that the final total raised by the South Bank Multi Academy Trust was £1690.
Well done to everyone who took part and to everyone who donated to this worthy cause.
Anyone who would like to get involved in further fundraising for the charity might be interested in the Inflatable Run taking place at Harewood House on Saturday 29 June. You can find out more here.
To help raise awareness, we also wanted to share the attached information with you which provides information about the signs and symptoms of brain tumours in children.
Ex-Millthorpian visits school
We were delighted to welcome Millthorpe alumnus, Chris Kamara, into school recently.
Chris now runs the South London Fire Service and took time out to speak to some of our budding sports stars about his career as a professional footballer. Chris spent an hour chatting to a group of students about what life was like for him having signed as a pro footballer for Leeds at the age of nine. He even brought in a few of his shirts, including his England shirt when he represented them at U19 level.
A huge thank you to Chris for giving up his time and we are looking forward to inviting him back into school soon.
Water safety
With warmer weather hopefully on the horizon, we know there will be the temptation to spend time near and in water. With 21 water fatalities in York in the last five years we wanted to make sure our students are aware of the dangers, so this week in assemblies, students in Years 9-11 have been learning about water safety. This included a video from the Royal Lifesaving Society UK. Before we show the video to our younger students in Years 7 and 8, we wanted to forewarn parents/carers as the video is quite hard-hitting.
Any parents/carers with concerns should please contact Mr Wright.
What to do if someone is drowning?
Do NOT become a casualty yourself! Use anything you can to get them out of the water, but don’t put your own safety at risk – you can’t help them if you yourself are in trouble.
If you manage to get them out of the water but they are not breathing then:
- Try to wake the casualty.
- Lie them on their back and tilt their chin and head backwards
- Give them 5 rescue breaths.
- CPR.
- If you are on your own, then once you’ve done 5 rescue breaths and one minute of CPR you can take the time to call the emergency services. 30 chest compressions followed by 2 rescue breaths over and over again until they start breathing normally or help arrives (if there’s more than one of you then take it in turns).
- If the person in trouble starts breathing normally again before help arrives, then roll them into the ‘recovery position’
Taster session for parents/carers of children with additional needs
In conjunction with Family Matters York, SBMAT are offering a taster session, ‘Time Out for Parents: Parenting Children with additional needs’. The session, which is for parents/carers with children with additional needs at any of the Trust schools, will take place on Tuesday 7 May at Scarcroft Primary School.
Further information can be found in the flyer below. To book a place, visit https://bit.ly/3TscNfl or scan the QR code.
Northern Powergrid’s Youth Insights Panel 2024
Northern Powergrid is currently looking for young people aged 14-19 who would like to apply to become a member of their Insights Panel 2024.
The Youth Insights Panel will give young people a voice in Northern Powergrid. Perspectives from the panel will shape decision making and future thinking in energy delivery. The panel agenda will be developed in partnership, leading to meaningful and relevant engagement, which will provide a real opportunity for young people to influence important decision making.
Further information can be found here. Anyone interested in joining the panel can apply at: https://forms.office.com/e/f9F6qdZz1S
If you require any further information, please contact: youthinsights@solutionsfortheplanet.co.uk
Job of the week – Librarian
Our Careers Lead, Miss Watts, loves books and she says if she wasn’t a teacher, this would be her ideal job! In her words “The thought of spending my day being responsible for all those books, media resources and IT equipment is just wonderful” As a librarian you will also help support customers find the right resources for them and help them use the facilities to get the most out of them.
For more information on becoming a Librarian you can watch this video.
Askham Bryan College Open Evening
Askham Bryan College’s next open evening will be held on Wednesday 12 June from 4.30-6.30pm. It is aimed at students thinking of following a Further Education study programme or an apprenticeship.
York College Open Evening
York College’s next open evening will be held on Wednesday 19 June from 5.30-7.30pm. (Please note that the College previously advertised this event as taking place on 20 June, but further to the announcement of an England football fixture on that date, the event has been brought forward to 19 June.)
The event is aimed at students in Years 10/11 thinking of studying at York College.
Spotlight on Pharmacy Careers
On Wednesday 24 April from 3.30-4.30pm the Humber and North Yorkshire Health and Care Partnership is hosting a webinar focusing on careers in pharmacy.
If you would like to know more about the different routes into a career in pharmacy, the range of roles in pharmacy, what it’s like to work in a pharmacy role and career progression, you can register for the online session here.
Understanding Supported Internships for Parents/Carers in North Yorkshire
- Are you the parent/carer of a young person with an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP)?
- Do you live in North Yorkshire?
- Do you know about Supported Internships?
North Yorkshire Council is leading a series of brief (45min) online sessions for parents/carers, which will explain all about the Supported Internship pathway to employment for young people with EHCPs. Each session will focus on provision within a particular area of North Yorkshire and feature Supported Internship Providers from that area.
Take a look at the attached flyer for details and to sign up for one (or more if you wish) of the sessions, or click below:
17 April, 4.00-4.45pm – Selby Area
18 April, 4.00-4.45pm – Scarborough/Whitby/Filey
23 April, 4.00-4.45pm – Skipton Area
30 April, 4.00-4.45pm – Northallerton Area
01 May, 4.00-4.45pm – Harrogate Area
#WakeUpWednesday – A guide to Energy Drinks
Close to a third of children in the UK consume energy drinks at least once every week. While these high-caffeine beverages might be touted as a shortcut to a boost in focus and productivity, even a moderate intake can lead to significant impacts on the heart, sleeping patterns and mental wellbeing.
With celebrity spokespeople, colourful branding and the potential added element of peer pressure, it’s unsurprising that young people are sometimes drawn to these products, often unaware of the potential negative impact they might be having on mind and body. This week’s #WakeUpWednesday guide dives into the health pitfalls of energy drinks and offers expert tips on addressing concerns.
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.
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