Weekly email – 13 September 2024

A message from Mrs Rothenburg

We’ve had another fantastic week in school. It’s great to see our new Year 7 students settling in so well and becoming more confident with finding their way around the school. I have been very pleased to see so many of our older students helping them when needed.

Thanks to all our returning students for adapting to the changes in the school day timings so quickly. The movement time between lessons has already had a really positive impact on students’ readiness to learn, with lessons starting promptly and the corridors feeling much calmer between lessons.

As always, I have visited many lessons this week. It has been amazing to see our students working so hard, showing resilience and enjoying their learning. Our new start to lessons ensures that all students ‘Go for Gold’ and learning can start immediately. During those lesson visits I have seen our students tackle challenging subject material with a keenness to learn and make progress.

The Senior Leadership Team and I are really looking forward to having a 1:1 meeting with all Year 11 students next week. This is designed to help us understand the support, guidance and interventions each student requires during their final year at Millthorpe. Students have received their meeting time and have already completed their reflection document ready for the meeting.

Thank you to everyone who came along to our Year 7 SEND Information Evening yesterday. It was lovely to meet so many parents and carers. If anyone has any queries, please do reach out to our SEND Team who will be happy to help. They can be contacted by email: send@millthorpe.southbank.academy.

Well done to those students, including Jake, Grace, Oliver, Rosie, Kieran, Poppy and Zakariya , who were nominated by their faculty to enjoy a hot chocolate with me today. It was lovely to hear about your positive start to the term so far.

Dates for your diary 

• Thursday 19 September – Year 11 Aspirations Day
• For those families with children in Year 6, we will be holding our annual open evening on the evening of Wednesday 2 October. Further information can be found here.
• Applications for a secondary school place for September 2025 can be made from 12 September 2024. The application deadline is 31 October 2024. Further information can be found here.

I hope everyone has a lovely weekend. We’ll be back in school on Monday for an ‘A’ Week.

With best wishes,

Kavina Rothenburg
Acting Principal

Welcome to the September edition of Sensations – Excel Learning Trust’s termly newsletter

I hope you had a wonderful summer break and the autumn term has got off to a good start for you and your family.

What is my child learning at the moment?

Please see below to find out what your child has been learning about in the first couple of weeks of this new academic year in order to have productive discussions about their education:

Year 7 – Faculty: English
Conversation starter
Year 7 have begun their theme-based unit on Childhood, and will be studying a variety of classic and modern texts of different genres linked to this theme over the course of the term. You could ask them about some of the reflection work they have done about the meaning of childhood, and to describe some of the different childhoods that are experienced around the world.

Year 8 – Faculty: Maths
Conversation starter
Can you draw a circle and label up these five key words on it: radius, diameter, circumference, chord and tangent?
Mathematicians have been working with pi for over 4000 years, how do we use it today?

Year 9 – Faculty: Science
Conversation starter
Year 9 students are studying a variety of topics in Block 1: Motion and Pressure, Reactions of Metals and the Earth’s Atmosphere.

• Students who are studying Motion and Pressure – you can ask how do we calculate speed?
• Students studying Reactions of Metals can be asked if they remember the signs of a chemical reaction? And how can we show that hydrogen has been made in a chemical reaction?
• Students studying Earth’s Atmosphere can be asked what caused the early atmosphere to form? What gases did these release? What happened to the water vapour? What did the carbon dioxide do?

Year 10 – Faculty: Global
Conversation starter

• Computing: What is a computer system? What is an embedded system? What is a CPU and how does the FDE cycle work?
• French: Students have been studying sport and online life in France. Quel sport préfères-tu?
• German: Students have been learning about school life. What differences are there between schools in the UK and Germany?

Year 11 – Faculty: Humanities
Conversation starter

• History: How did medieval beliefs about the causes of the Black Death differ from the actual causes? What unusual cures or treatments did the desperate people of England try and why? What similarities are there between the Black Death 1348-1350 and the Covid-19 pandemic?
• Geography: What flood management strategies are used in York? How do they work to reduce the risk of floods?
• Ethics: We are learning about the nature and purpose of families. You could ask your child to explain the difference between polygamy and bigamy.

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.

Summer Holiday Reading Challenge – the results!

Over the summer holidays, our students and staff were once again challenged to take part in our Reading Challenge. All they had to do was be photographed reading a book in an obscure or unusual place.

Thank you to all those who entered! Your entries proved that you really can, and should, read anywhere and everywhere. As with all great competitions, there must be winners, so every form had the opportunity to cast their vote. Huge congratulations go to:

• Sam in Year 9, reading whilst learning to scuba dive in Tenerife.
• Mr Abdi on the train back to Leeds for his birthday celebrations.

Sam received a £10 Amazon Gift Voucher to buy his next book and Mr Baybutt has a personalised prize for Mr Abdi….

Keep on reading everyone!

Communicating with school

To make sure we can deal with enquiries as effectively as possible, respond to urgent enquiries promptly and to make the best use of teaching colleagues’ time, we’re making some small but significant changes to the way we ask you to communicate with us.

Schoolcomms update

As you will be aware, we often use the Schoolcomms platform to communicate with parents/carers. In the coming weeks, Schoolcomms will be making a change to the SMS numbers that parents/carers use to contact you.

Currently, when we send a text to a parent/carer and they reply, this utilises a landline number which can cause confusion. Schoolcomms will therefore be replacing this landline number with a mobile number, which means we’ll also be able to provide services such as WhatsApp and picture messaging in the future.

We will share the new number with you as soon as we have it. Please look out for this message so that you do not miss out on any important messages.

A public thank you for a wonderfully generous donation

Mrs Sladen and the Performance Faculty were blown away by an incredibly generous donation this week. We were contacted to see whether we would like 90 brand new copies of Willy Russell’s “Blood Brothers”, completely free of charge. As this is the set text for the GCSE Drama course, these brand new copies will be really well received, and used, by our GCSE Drama students for years to come. Mrs Sladen was delighted and said that this remarkable donation has saved the school in the region of £1000.

Pictured: Mrs Sladen and her class putting the books to good use!

Matilda rehearsals

Rehearsals for this year’s school production, Matilda, begin next week:

• Monday 16 September, 3.30-5.00pm: Drama Hall – Principals, Kids, Big Kids – first read through
• Tuesday 17 September, 3.15-4.15pm: M1 – Full Cast – singing rehearsal

Any member of the cast who has not yet joined the ‘Matilda Cast’ Google Classroom should do so as soon as possible please as Mrs Sladen will use this as the main method of communication.

If you are unsure as to which category you fall into, please see the cast list in Google Classroom. If you have a script, please bring it with you and feel free to bring snacks and drinks to keep you going!

Sparx Maths

The Maths department are pleased to share that we will be using Sparx for homework again this academic year. Please find attached information about what to expect from Sparx and how to support your child with their maths homework.

Karaoke Club is back!

Karaoke Club returned for the new academic year and we had an amazing lunchtime, with a number of students singing for us. The new Year 7s who attended were welcomed by Karaoke Club regulars from older year groups and the audience participation was the best it has ever been!

Fearless Volunteer Youth Panel

Fearless, which is part of Crimestoppers, enables young people to pass on information about crime 100% anonymously. Their Youth Panel is made up of young people aged 11-17 from across the UK who volunteer their time to help Fearless shape the work they do. Members of the Youth Panel talk about all things Fearless and regularly ask for feedback and input to ensure Fearless is delivering the best service for young people.

Some of the things Fearless covers include:

• Social media content creation
• Ideas for campaigns
• Opinion on local crime issues and emerging crime trends
• Ideas on how to reach and engage with young people

So if you are aged 11-17, are creative and open minded, have knowledge of local issues affecting young people and are a good communicator with a broad range of views and opinions, why not apply to be part of the Fearless Youth Panel.

If you are interested in this opportunity, you can find out more and apply here. Alternatively you can speak to Mrs Cole.

Closing date is 27 September 2024.

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.

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

Family Matters York workshops and events

Family Matters York are offering FREE workshops and events this autumn:

• Time Out for Parents: Parenting the Primary Years
• Handling Anger in the Family
• Left to Their Own Devices
• Time Out for Couples
• Peer Couple Support

To find out more, please visit the Family Matters York website. To register, please email jenwootten@fmy.org.uk or call 07393 147259.

School of Rock

Two of our students, Kurtis Moss (Year 8) and Esther de la Pena (Year 9), will be performing in York Stage Ltd’s production of School of Rock at the York Opera House this month.

There are a few tickets left for the show which runs from 13-21 September – you can see Kurtis and Esther on stage in the following shows:

• Saturday 14 September, 2:30pm
• Sunday 15 September, 4.00pm
• Wednesday 18 September, 7:30pm
• Friday 20 September, 7:30pm
• Saturday 21 September, 7:30pm

Tickets for the show are available online.

#WakeUpWednesday – A parent and carer guide to supporting conflict resolution

As children go through life, they will inevitably come into conflict sooner or later. These disagreements can range from seemingly minor squabbles to far more serious disputes, and dealing with them in an effective, mature manner is an absolutely vital skill – one that takes some time and effort to cultivate.

In children and young people’s formative years, it’s incredibly important for parents and carers, alongside school staff, to know how to teach them conflict resolution, as well as being able to model this skill effectively. This free guide offers expert advice on helping youngsters avoid unnecessary conflict and supporting them in finding solutions when clashes arise. Please take a look.

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.