Weekly email – 5 December 2025

A message from Mrs Rothenburg

This week our Year 11 Drama students performed their final Devised Exam pieces, the culmination of a whole term’s work which accounts for 40% of the students’ final GCSE grade. The performances were of an incredibly high standard and it always amazes me how our students can take something as small as an image or song lyric and turn it into the most powerful performance. We were all so proud of every single performer – well done to everyone involved.

At the start of the week, I met with the Gardening enrichment club who have been very busy ensuring the planters outside our learning support classrooms are ready for spring. They have also been creating bird feeders and developing a proposal for murals to brighten the surrounding walls. It was great to hear their plans and I am looking forward to seeing them create a lovely space for students to enjoy.

On Wednesday, I met with our new Lead Students to congratulate them and discuss their plans and goals for the next 12 months. The Lead Students, who are all in Year 10 and were appointed following an interview process, will each be linked to our ‘Deep’ model.

Congratulations to:

• Deep Learning: George D and Alice M
• Deep Experience: Rosie F and Oscar G
• Deep Support: Harriet B and Dorothy L

Congratulations to those students who came along to Principal’s Breakfast this morning including Erin, Daisie, Ada, Arwen, Eden, Emily, Edward, Raphael and Adam.

Next week, we are looking forward to welcoming families to our SEND Review Evening, on Tuesday 9 December and the Year 11 Progress Evening on Wednesday 10 December. Those parents/carers concerned should have received information about these events but if you have any questions, please do get in touch.

I look forward to seeing everyone back in school on Monday for a ‘B’ Week. I hope everyone has a lovely weekend.

Kavina Rothenburg
Principal

Dates for your diary

• Tuesday 9 December: SEND Review Evening
• Wednesday 10 December: Year 11 Progress Evening
• Thursday 18 December: Christmas Dinner
• Friday 19 December: School closes for Christmas break

2026

• Monday 5 January: Training Day (school closed to students)
• Tuesday 6 January: School reopens after Christmas break

What is my child learning at the moment?

Please see below to find out what your child has been learning about in recent lessons in order to have productive discussions about their education:

• History: This term we will be unpicking how the Normans brought ‘a truckload of trouble’ to Anglo Saxon England. Ask your child how the Normans won the Battle of Hastings and how they eventually conquered England. They will also have a go at their first formal piece of essay writing, so check in their books to see how they do.
• Geography: What is the water cycle? How is this related to rivers? What are the four types of erosion in a river?
• RE: What is the Bible? How did William Tyndale risk his life to translate the first copy of the Bible into English?

• Drama: Scripted Drama – ‘Our Day Out’, Willy Russell. Students are completing their unit of study on ‘Our Day Out’ by completing a written theory test to review the knowledge they have gained over the course of this unit. They are also performing a scripted scene from the play in pairs to demonstrate how their practical performance skills have developed – please do ask them for a performance!
• Music: Students have been developing their piano skills to begin to play two hands together whilst reading bass and treble clef. They’re learning to play Jingle Bell Rock.
• PE: Students are in their final week of sports and the girls have been developing their skills and gameplay in badminton and gymnastics. Ask your child if they can tell you about the different serves in badminton. And can they tell you about the different balances and flight they have developed in gymnastics. The boys have been developing their skills in football and rugby. Ask your child if they can tell you about the different types of passes in football.

• Art: After an intensive research and design development phase Year 9 are now busy making their clay pots. Please ask your child about how to join clay onto clay using the Millthorpe Scratch, Slip, Slide & Smooth method. We have been impressed with their teamwork skills so far as they set up and clear away to work with clay in D6 and D7. The pots will be completed by Christmas ready to air dry and be fired in January while students draw the pot they have made and plan a colour scheme for the painting stage.
• Design Technology: Students have settled into their new rotations in Food, Product, Design, Engineering and Graphics. Students are learning about innovations and emerging technologies across the different subjects and using a range of materials and equipment.

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 will be learning over the academic year.

Millthorpe Christmas Charity Appeal 2025

A reminder that our annual Christmas Charity Appeal is in full swing. Once again, we are supporting four great local charities which help those in need and some of the most vulnerable people in our city: Carecent, The Collective Sharehouse, RAY (Refugee Action York), and SASH.

Donations can be brought in next week and placed under the Christmas tree in the foyer by the main office. The deadline for bringing items into school is Friday 12 December, when the Student Leaders will organise everything ready to be collected by the charities. You can see a list of all the items requested by the charities here. Thank you in advance.

Use of your child’s image and name

We want to celebrate and share your child’s successes and achievements, big and small, inside and outside of school. We also love to give our families an insight into the daily life of our wonderful school. Where we can, we want to recognise students by name and use pictures to tell the story, but we understand that there may be some parents/carers who prefer not to have either names or images of their child used in this way. We collected consent (or otherwise) when your child joined Millthorpe but the wording of the questions doesn’t helpfully reflect how we now typically use names and images.

We would therefore be very grateful if you could complete this very short form so you can clearly set out whether you are happy for us to use your child’s image or name in school communications, and also for us to share them with the press. We hope this will make things clearer for everyone and speed things up, particularly when we have groups or teams of students we want to recognise. Until we hear from you, we’ll continue to abide by the consent you have already provided.

To help clarify what we mean by school communications, below are some examples:

• Use of image in school communications: group/team and individual photos or videos included in the weekly email, termly newsletter, school website or school social media channels, eg Instagram, X.
• Use of name in school communications: child’s name included in any of the above, including lists of recognition pass and shout out recipients (either with or without an accompanying image).

Uniform and appearance

We are really proud of how well our students wear their Millthorpe uniform and the vast majority of students meet the expectations which can be viewed here. As we approach the end of term, we want to remind everyone about uniform standards and expectations around appearance.

Our policy applies once students have crossed the blue line into school. If a student isn’t meeting any element of the policy, staff have to address this which can result in time out of form time or lessons whilst the issue is rectified. We want to minimise these disruptions, so would appreciate your support in making sure your child is wearing the correct uniform, is not wearing excessive make up or jewellery and that hair and nails are natural. Thank you in advance.

Attendance matters

As mentioned in last week’s email, the DfE released a report ‘Why Attendance Matters‘ in August 2025, at roughly the same time the Children’s Commissioner for England published her report ‘Why attendance remains my priority‘. Each week we will share extracts from these research pieces so parents are aware of the national attendance picture.

DfE extract 2: How attendance affects attainment

Recent research by the Department for Education shows just how closely attendance and attainment are linked.

At primary school, children who attend school nearly every day in Year 6 (95-100% attendance) are 30% more likely to reach the expected standard in reading, writing and maths compared to similar pupils who attend 90-95% of the time.

The link is even stronger at secondary school. Year 11 pupils with near-perfect attendance are almost twice as likely to achieve grade 5 in English and Maths GCSE, compared to similar pupils attending 90-95% of the time. In other words, missing just ten extra days a year reduces the likelihood of achieving these grades by around 50%.

We’d love to work together so that your child can be in every day, absorbing every minute of education on offer each week. Please contact the Attendance Team if you want to discuss support around increasing your child’s attendance.

Reading assembly

Students in Years 7-10 had an assembly this week highlighting the importance that reading can have not only on their academic outcomes but their future careers. All students in those years have been asked to complete a short survey to help inform us about the interest students have in reading and the sorts of themes, books and topics that they enjoy. Students in Years 7-9 have completed this survey in their Computer Science lessons.

Year 10 have been asked to complete this through their Google Classroom. Please can you encourage your child to complete this form by next Friday 12 December if they have not done so already. Thank you.

Enrichment

Enrichment sign-up for Term 2 will open next week. Students will make their choices during form time throughout the week. Parents and carers can view the full range of activities on our school website and may wish to discuss the options with their child. Please note that some clubs have a cap of the numbers that they are able to accommodate, this is noted in the enrichment session descriptions.

Nut allergy reminder

We have several students and staff in school with serious nut allergies and may have more who are currently undiagnosed and as such we are a nut-free school. Some people have reactions that are so extreme that they may experience symptoms even if a packet of nuts is opened near to them and accidental contact can cause severe symptoms.

Please can parents/carers be mindful of this when they are putting together snacks and packed lunches? We recognise that many students really enjoy nuts as a snack and that many of the Christmas treats containing nuts are very tempting, but can we politely request that they are not brought into school in support of the students and staff that suffer from this sometimes extreme and potentially dangerous food allergy. We also ask that students refrain from sharing food they have brought in to limit the risk of accidental exposure to nut products.

Thank you for your support in this matter.

Deadline for all DofE paperwork

There will be an awards ceremony held in January 2026 at Millthorpe School for students in Year 10 and 11 who have fully completed their Duke of Edinburgh Award. More details around the time and the day will follow shortly.

In order to be included in this awards ceremony, all paperwork needs to be completed by midnight on Friday 12 December 2025. If your child will not have finished the paperwork or completed the Award in that time this is fine, they will be able to attend future award evenings.

Engine idling

If you are waiting to pick your child up, please remember to switch off your engine:

• Engine idling releases more toxic fumes than a car in motion.
• It is also illegal under Section 42 of the Road Traffic Act (1988).

Also, for the safety of children and other road users, please avoid the areas near the school gates to drop off and pick up, as these get very busy and are awkward to navigate. Thank you for your support in this matter.

Art Interform Challenge

Last week, we witnessed another very successful interform challenge, thanks to the outstanding efforts of our Year 7 participants and Mrs Cockburn.

Inspired by Keith Haring’s work, our creative nominees were tasked with recreating the break dance silhouettes shown in their brief. The students worked together in rapid time and collaborated to create some impressive, finished projects which made for great viewing.

Miss McCartney, a dance facilitator as well as Progress Leader, was very impressed by the work and the influences Mrs Cockburn brought into such a fun and fantastic activity. Students also got the opportunity to watch some breakdance to further their understanding of the silhouettes they were working with.

A massive congratulations to 7PHU who took home their first win of the term! Their work can be seen below.

Plans for a new mural

Earlier this week, the Gardening Club delegation, accompanied by Mrs Langan who runs the club, came to discuss their plans for a mural with Mrs Rothenburg.

The mural will be outside the Learning Support classroom where the club has already worked on some planters and created some lovely bird feeders.

Mrs Rothenburg was really interested to hear the group’s ideas for the new artwork – well done to Alice, Addison, Isla, Megan, William and Gabby.

Science Club flies!

Last week we were lucky to welcome Joshua Ang to Science Club. Josh is a Doctor who is completing research in the Biology and Natural Sciences Department at the University of York, funded by the Wellcome Trust.

He spoke to students about the life stages of a black soldier fly and they got to see these different life stages of living flies under a microscope. Students demonstrated great microscopy skills when viewing these. They then got to watch a video of Joshua’s lab and hear about the work he and his colleagues do to genetically modify flies to help with dealing with waste and infectious diseases.

The students were really enthusiastic throughout and particularly enjoyed Joshua’s quiz and insect snacks at the end of the session!

Staying safe online at Christmas

With Christmas just around the corner, many young people will soon be unwrapping exciting new devices – tablets, phones, games consoles and more! As children explore these new gadgets, it’s important for parents and carers to set up age-appropriate parental controls and talk about staying safe online.

Setting up controls early helps children enjoy the digital world safely, while giving you peace of mind. If you’re unsure where to start, the websites below offer clear, practical guidance for parents:

• SWGfL – Resources for Parents: Advice on safety settings, online risks and digital wellbeing.
• UK Safer Internet Centre – Parents and Carers: Easy-to-follow guides for setting parental controls on popular devices and platforms.
• CEOP Resource Library – Information on online safety, reporting concerns and supporting young people.

Taking a few minutes to check privacy settings and filters now can make a big difference. Let’s help all our children enjoy a safe and happy online experience this festive season.

Work experience

As many of you may be aware, school has moved to a new way of experiencing the workplace so ‘work experience’ that students may have attended in the past will be different. We are engaging groups with employers in school and developing employability skills, through project work directly linked to workplace initiatives.This does not, however, prevent students who wish to find their own placement within a company to do some more ‘hands-on’ work experience in their own time, and outside of school time from doing so. Part of the experience is the sourcing of that themselves.

It is always interesting to hear from students who have done this. Recently we heard about the opportunity Freddie Psyanczyn sourced and took advantage of. He was able to shadow civil engineers at Hambleton Steel, a steel fabricators. Freddie was able to follow several members of the team throughout his time there. With a particular focus on marketing, he spent his time carrying out tasks linked to this role. He also had his work displayed on the company TV screens at the entrance.

Well done Freddie, you look like you had a great time.

Sports round-up

Cross Country event – 18 November
Last month, in what were very cold and wet conditions, a team of 30 Millthorpians took part in the York and Selby stage of the English School’s Cross Country Championships.

The following students all qualified for the County stage of the English School’s Cross Country and will run again on 17 January 2026.

• Inter boys – Jack Cahill (13^th)
• Year 7 Boys – William Bell (8^th)
• Year 7 Girls – Eva Lawson (20^th)
• Junior GIrls – Marianne Lowson (1^st), Rosie Davies (2^nd)and Immy Brook (19^th)

Netball round up
U14 girls vs U15B Tadcaster
Result: 5 – 4 win to Millthorpe
Player of the match: Chloe Bennett

Millthorpe U14 girls vs U15 B Joseph Rowntree
Result: 13 – 2 to Millthorpe
Players of the match: Imogen Bind (chosen by Jo Ro) and Anna Healy (chosen by Miss Watts)

Millthorpe U15 girls vs Joseph Rowntree
Result: 16 – 9 to Millthorpe
Players of the match: Ella Croft (chosen by Jo Ro) and Alice Hitchen (chosen by Miss Watts)

Football round up
U12 boys tournament at Vale of York Academy
Millthorpe finished sixth out of ten teams.

Player of the tournament: Max Blenkins

The boys played some really good football at times throughout the tournament, in some very cold conditions. They kept a positive attitude throughout, even after going a goal down in a game they would support each other and keep positive about the outcome. Well done boys!

U15 Boys vs Huntington School
Result – 7-3 win to Millthorpe
Player of the match: Hat trick hero Louie Hill

Job of the Week – Architect

Architects work to design structures, using a mixture of creativity and technical knowledge to ensure the structures are fit for use and safe. They are often employed by organisations, although architects with more experience can work on a self-employed or consultancy basis. Architects normally have a degree which can take up to seven years to complete, although it is possible to follow the apprenticeship route.

Watch this video for more information about becoming an Architect.

Futures for All – inspirational talks

Futures for All (previously Speakers for Schools) is an incredible social mobility charity which empowers state-educated young people by opening doors to -changing opportunities. In addition to their work experience programme, Futures for All also regularly broadcast live inspirational talks which are recorded and then hosted on their website.

As we launched our Christmas Charity Appeal last week, we thought it would be good to share this talk called ‘Do Something For Nothing’ with Joshua Coombes, Hairdresser, Author & Speaker. This is a passionate talk about the value of helping others and how you can start.

In 2015, while working at a London hair salon, Joshua Coombes took to the streets with his scissors to build relationships and offer haircuts to men and women experiencing homelessness in the capital. Joshua began posting images on insta to amplify the voices of those he met. The stories that accompanied these photos resonated, and others began to get involved in their own way. In this broadcast we find out about #DoSomethingForNothing and how you can too.

Just click the image below to view.

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.

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.

Other apprenticeships are available and can be accessed through the Careers section of your child’s Google Classroom.

YIK’s Parent Carer Forum

To find out more about events and support available from the YIK Parent Carer Forum, please take a look at their latest newsletter here.

WakeUpWednesday Guide – Electrical Safety and Devices

This WakeUpWednesday guide explores essential electrical safety habits for homes and schools. This week’s guide highlights simple steps that can prevent overheating, fires and other hazards linked to everyday electrical devices. It offers clear, reassuring advice to help adults spot risks early and model safer routines.

It explores common risk areas, including unsafe charging habits and overloading sockets, and explains how to identify early warning signs such as damaged cables or poorly ventilated devices. The guide also touches on protective measures like RCDs and safe power bank use, supporting families and educators in creating safer environments for young people. Please take a look.

Assembly Shout Outs

This week’s Assembly Shout Outs are from the Science Faculty and recognise individual students or groups and how they have demonstrated one of our core values. This week’s shout outs go to:

• Year 9: Freshy for always being the first in 9y1 to complete their Sparx Science.
• Year 10: Ethan for consistently working hard in all lessons.
• Year 11: Riley for his 100% Sparx Completion and 100% attendance at Intervention.

• Year 8: Nyla for her consistent hard work and determination to always improve.
• Year 9: 9X1 for your fantastic hard work during revision week, showing real ambition to succeed and setting yourselves up strongly for the future.
• Year 10: Holly for her outstanding hard work and ambition in every single lesson. Holly consistently gives her best and sets a fantastic example for others.
• Year 11: Alex, Ngawang, and Lawrence for always putting in maximum effort and aiming high.

• Year 8: Matilda and Pearl for their contributions in Science lessons this term. Well done for working hard and clarifying your understanding.
• Year 10: all of 10y1 – our lessons are so enjoyable because of your hard work and being inquisitive learners.
• Year 11: Mehar for her hard work in Biology – clarifying key concepts demonstrates your ambition to do well.

• Year 7: how well 7y1has worked in the first term since arriving and are a real pleasure to teach.
• Year 8: 8Y1 – well done for all the work and revision they completed for their block 1 assessment.
• Year 9: 9y3 – well done for all the work and revision they completed for their block 1 assessment.
• Year 10: 10X2 for being amazing at completing their homework on time every week – thank you.
• Year 11: well done to 11X2 for your engagement and effort in lessons.

• Year 7: Seoin and Shirley who both have over 26000 XP points on Sparx Science outstanding effort!
• Year 8: Edmund has 13000 XP on Sparx Science absolutely amazing effort!
• Year 11: Phoebe for a massive improvement in her Chemistry test!

• Year 7: Toby for consistently working hard in every Science lesson, making active contributions and helping those around you – keep up the great work!
• Year 9: Stanley who consistently works hard in every Science lesson and perseveres through challenge.
• Year 10: Elsa who is such a pleasure to teach; she completes every task to the highest standard demonstrating hard work and ambition.

• Year 8: Alex who has been doing everything he can to improve in science lessons. His efforts really demonstrate our values of hard work and ambition.
• Year 9: Albie who has been consistently giving his all in every science lesson. Perfectly demonstrating all three of Millthorpe’s values.
• Year 10: Henry who has been producing some phenomenal work, both in physics lessons and in further physics enrichment. Truly embodying our value of ambition.
• Year 11: Alice for her consistent efforts in science. Every single lesson she demonstrates our values of fairness and hard work perfectly.

• Year 8: 8y3

• Year 7: 7ySc2 for their enthusiasm and engagement in the Space topic
• Year 8: 8x/Sc3 who always come to science lessons with positivity and enthusiasm to engage and specifically Hector Whitelam and Mason Elliott who have both been asking very interesting questions about our recent work and always contribute positively to class discussions.
• Year 9: Amelia and Imogen for their consistent hard work during science lessons. I also want to shout out Lucas Doughty who always completes his Sparx homework on the day it is set.
• Year 10: Year 10 triple chemistry class for their hard work when preparing for their recent assessment.
• Year 11: Both Year 11 classes this year who have been working really hard!

(Please note that a small number of other students received shout outs but due to permissions we are unable to publish their names – well done to them too!)

Online support for students and parents

We wanted to remind you about our online support app called Padlet, which is a directory of support available for students and parents.

Padlet signposts the user to a range of websites and resources, providing support and advice relating to mental health, exam stress, online safety, self care, managing emotions, young carers, family support and more.

You can visit the Padlets by scanning the QR codes or clicking the links below.

Visit the Parent Padlet
Visit the Student Padlet

Safeguarding

If you have significant concerns for the welfare of a child, in addition to being able to contact Mr Beever, Miss Gater or your child’s Progress Leader during school hours by emailing safeguarding@millthorpe.elt.org.uk, you may wish to make direct contact with 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. In a mental health emergency, please call York CAMHS Crisis Team on 08000516171.