A message from Ms Greenhalgh
Our Year 11s have kicked off their GCSE exams this week, with Religious Studies Paper 1, Drama, Biology Paper 1 and German Reading and Listening now ticked off the list. The students have all behaved meticulously, showing great maturity and dedication – keep it up Year 11! A reminder that the exam timetable can be found on our website, together with the exam handbook – you can find them both here. If your child is struggling with exams and revision, please do take a look at our Padlet, where you can find lots of online support, or you can visit the NHS website: Help your child beat exam stress. Please do get in touch with us if you have any concerns.
It was great to see some of our Year 11 students taking a well-earned break from their GCSEs as they joined Year 7 for a belting rendition of Sweet Caroline at Karaoke Club today. Fabulous effort everyone!
Thank you to the Year 7 and 8 girls who hosted a Bake Sale this week – the treats were delicious and they raised a fantastic £115 for Cancer Research.
Congratulations to those students nominated by their faculty to have a hot chocolate with me today in recognition of their hard work and remarkable attitudes. It was lovely to chat to the group which included Nessim, Imogen, Lewis, Glenda, Sophie, Alice and Liam. We may have to move to ice lollies instead of hot chocolate next week if the weather holds!
We’ll be back after the weekend on Monday for an ‘A’ Week. Enjoy the warm, sunny weekend!
With best wishes,
Gemma Greenhalgh
Headteacher
Welcome to parents of Year 6 children
Welcome to those parents/carers of children currently in Year 6 who will be joining us in September. We hope the weekly emails and our Millthorpe Messenger (our good news newsletter which comes out at the end of each term) will give you a flavour of what goes on at Millthorpe.
We’d also like to remind you about our Millthorpe Friendship Afternoon which will take place on 16 May 2024. You should have received a letter about this earlier this week. This afternoon will allow your child to have the opportunity to meet key members of Millthorpe staff, make friends and join in with a team building activity. Parents/carers will also have the opportunity to hear from members of SLT about the rest of the transition programme, the curriculum your child will follow and an opportunity to see a showcase of Millthorpe’s Performing Arts.
For full details about the event, please take a look at this letter from Miss Boyd, Assistant Headteacher and Transition Lead.
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 starter
Our Year 7 students are continuing to enjoy their class reader, Andy Mulligan’s “Dog”. You may want to ask them about why a dog is called Spider, and to describe some of the adventures, and misadventures, he experiences!Year 8 – Faculty: Performance
Conversation starters
- Drama: Students are moving on to their new topic, Audio Plays, beginning by looking at how actors use their vocal skills effectively to play a range of different characters. Please do ask them for a demonstration!
- PE: Summer sports are our focus. Students will be doing either athletics, cricket or rounders over the next few weeks.
- Music: The Romantic Era: How did music develop between the Classical and Romantic eras? What are the features of music from the Romantic era?
Year 8 – Faculty: Global
Conversation starters
- Computing: We’re learning how hackers get our data by using different types of network attacks.
- German and French: We are consolidating prior learning and revising key grammar concepts to prepare to start the GCSE course.
Year 10 – Faculty: Maths
Conversation starter
Ask your child to describe how to create a right angle using a pair of compasses and a straight edge. What other angles can they create in this way? Students could also research different geometric patterns that they can create using a pair of compasses.
Year 11 – Faculty: Creative
Conversation starter
We have been giving students final tips and advice ahead of their GCSE exams. Please ask your child to explain what they are revising.
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.
Year 10 PPEs
The Year 10 Pre Public Examinations will take place from Monday 10 – Monday 24 June. For full information and an exam timetable, please see Mrs Armitage’s letter to parents/carers.
Key Stage 3 End of Year Assessments
Our final term of the year is in full swing and we are approaching our end of year assessments for Key Stage 3 students.
Assessments will take place on:
- Year 7: 20 – 24 May
- Year 8: 3 – 7 June
- Year 9: 10 – 14 June
We carry out formative assessment in most lessons through low stakes assessment strategies and then frequent summative assessments periodically to consolidate specific topic knowledge and recall previous learning. This assessment week should feel no different for students as they are used to testing their knowledge.
However it is important that we incrementally and age appropriately prepare them for the exams they will encounter in Year 11 and focus on building good study habits, reviewing and relearning work they did earlier in the year. It is also a good opportunity for students to experience a larger scale assessment so they are able to cope with the higher stakes assessments of Year 11. Crucially the information both students and teachers gain from the assessments is invaluable to our planning and intervention.
Please note the following information:
- Not all subjects will have end of year assessments due to the nature of their subject and curriculum plan – you can find out more here.
- Students will normally sit their assessments during their lesson in their own classrooms.
- Students with access arrangements, eg a need for extra time for assessments and exams, will receive this.
- Students will be informed by their class teacher when their assessment is and guided to revision topics.
- We encourage students to revise using our ‘Fab Four’ revision strategies which can be found here.
- Revision resources can be found in a subject’s Google Classroom and exercise books.
Further information on KS3 Assessments can be found here.
The assessments form part of the holistic level/grade which you will receive in the summer report. This holistic level/grade is a combination of classwork, homework and all assessments across the year.
We also appreciate that some students may find assessments worrying or stressful. Please let us know if we can support your child further during this time.
Warmer weather
Now the weather is finally getting warmer, please send your child(ren) to school with a refillable water bottle which they can replenish at a number of points across school during the day.
Practical Vocabulary Learning Strategies: Modern Foreign Languages
In order to be able to write and speak with confidence, students need to learn lots of vocabulary by heart.
Memorising new language takes a lot of effort but it is definitely worth it and it is a lot easier if you know how to do it effectively. The sooner your child can find what works for them the sooner they’ll see the benefit and progress they make. We’ve put together a list of suggestions about how you help them to learn new words by heart. You can support them by making suggestions and helping them try out some of the strategies below. Students are always welcome to use the back of their German or French exercise book for any vocabulary practice.
Please take a look at the full guidance here.
Job of the week – Outdoor Pursuits Manager
Ahhh, the great outdoors! All that lovely fresh air and all those wonderfully challenging activities. In this role you’d be helping all of us who are up for the challenge of kayaking, abseiling, gorge walking…. the list is endless. As an Outdoor Pursuits Manager you’d be running a centre that arranges all of this and allows it to happen. If you like working with people from all walks of life and being outdoors, then this could be the career for you.
For more information on becoming a Outdoor Pursuits Manager, you can watch this video.
Getting Sorted event at York College
York College is holding two Getting Sorted events aimed at current Year 11s who are planning to start York College in September who may feel worried about new environments or situations. The events will be held on Wednesday 31 July and Wednesday 14 August.
Further information can be found here.
York College apprenticeship vacancies
York College is currently advertising a number of apprenticeship vacancies which can be seen on the attached pdf. Each vacancy has a hyperlink to the Apprenticeship Service website, where you will find full job details and where you can submit your application.
Also attached are Hair & Beauty and Construction vacancies, which require an email or phone call directly to the employer.
A note on closing dates: vacancies often close earlier than the stated date, so if you are interested please make sure you apply as soon as you can.
You can also read the attached guidance on how to write a strong application to ensure the best chance of success.
Make Space for Girls Festival
The Make Space for Girls Festival is a month-long programme of over 30 FREE events aimed at 10-18 year olds. It includes sports and exercise, arts and crafts, health and wellbeing, the performing arts, social awareness events and more. The festival is about creating a welcoming park for teenage girls and reducing the drop off of park use as girls enter their teens. The Festival encourages girls into the public space trying new things, meeting new people and having fun.
#WakeUpWednesday – A parent and carers guide to Helldivers 2
With a peak simultaneous player count of almost 500,000, it’s safe to say that Helldivers 2 has taken the games industry by storm, attracting a wide array of fans from all over the world and, more importantly, from various age groups. Many young gamers are actively playing this title, both with friends and with strangers via online multiplayer despite the game’s 18+ rating.
Unfortunately, the gore and violence of Helldivers 2 (combined with its in-game purchases and the ability to play with unfamiliar people online) present significant online safety concerns for its younger players. This Wake up Wednesday, National Online Safety’s guide explores these issues in detail and advises on minimising the risks to children and young people. Please take a look if this is something that your child is playing.
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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