A message from Ms Greenhalgh
Well, here we are, at the end of our first half term of the year! It has certainly flown by. I am very proud of everything that has been achieved over the last seven weeks. You can read about some of the highlights in our e-newsletter, Millthorpe Messenger, which will be in your inboxes tomorrow. And don’t forget, if you have any news to share, please contact us with your stories E: news@millthorpe.southbank.academy
I hope you all have a great half term break and we’ll see everyone back at school on Monday 31 October, for a ‘B’ Week.
Kind regards
Gemma Greenhalgh
Headteacher
Relationships & Sex Education (RSE) and Health Education
Government guidelines outline that, from the age of 11, it is compulsory for all schools to provide an RSE and health education curriculum. At our school, we believe that it is important to provide our pupils with a thorough and balanced curriculum, including age appropriate information about sex and relationships.
This letter explains our approach and how to request that your child is removed from sex education lessons.
The details of what will be taught to the various year groups are set out in the school’s RSE and Health Education Policy, which can be found here.
Year 7 Cells Model Competition
In science lessons, Year 7 students have been learning about the structure and function of different types of cells. Now that all of our pupils have completed this topic and been introduced to this microscopic world, we are excited to give Year 7 pupils an opportunity to enter our new cells model competition!
Pupils wishing to enter the competition should create their own model of a type of cell they have learned about in lessons, from materials of their choice and hand this in to their science teacher. Pupils can make the model cell from anything they wish – in the past we have seen models range from being made from paper to being made of delicious cake! We want to see how creative our young scientists can be.
These model cells will then be judged anonymously by all the Millthorpe science teachers on their creativity, scientific accuracy and quality. We will choose our favourite entries and award some very special prizes.
We would love to see as many different pupils enter as possible. To enter the competition, pupils should hand their model to their science teacher or hand it into the science office (upstairs in A block) by Friday 4 November. Winners will be announced shortly after this date.
Any further questions, please email Mr Newman.
Cost of Living Crisis – Support in York
If you and your family are struggling with the cost of living, please have a look at the attached leaflet which has been put together by City of York Council and local organisations.
You can also find help and advice on the following websites:
Careers newsletter
This year we have introduced a careers newsletter to keep our pupils and their families/carers up to date with all the latest information about careers and post-16 opportunities.
All students at Millthorpe receive targeted careers education within PSHE lessons throughout the academic year. In addition, we provide students with a range of opportunities to access up-to-date careers information and education at workshops, career fairs, and from visitors in school. Year 11 pupils are also provided with two hour-long 1:1 careers advice sessions with our school careers advisor, Rachael Howlett.
Take a look at the Autumn Careers Newsletter. If you have any questions, please contact Miss S Watts, our Careers Lead.
Post-16 education and training
City of York Council have produced a useful guide for students and parents which is full of great advice about post-16 opportunities. You can view the guide on our website together with upcoming open event dates at a number of post-16 providers. Click here to find out more.
York College open event
York College’s next open event is taking place on Thursday 3 November from 5.30-8.00pm. Any Year 11 students who would like to attend should register their interest here.
Safeguarding
If you have significant concerns for the welfare of a child, in addition to being able to contact Mrs Cole or Ms Simpson 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.