Weekly email – 13 December 2024

A message from Mrs Rothenburg

It’s been another lovely week here at Millthorpe, with lots to make me very proud!

The courageous cast of Matilda took to the stage in assemblies this week, performing parts of the show for their peers in preparation for showtime next week. They were all incredible, taking everything in their stride despite a few nerves beforehand. Please come along to see the show next week – it’s going to be a great production!

Some of our Year 9 students had the pleasure of organising and hosting a Business Networking Event at the stunning Middlethorpe Hall on Monday evening, supported by Middlethorpe’s General Manager, Lionel Chatard, Conference and Banqueting Co-ordinator, Julia Betteridge, and Head Chef, Ash Binder. The students collated a list of local businesses to invite, identified a guest speaker, designed the invitations, planned and made canapés and hosted beautifully. Thank you so much to the Middlethorpe team and a huge well done to all involved. You can read more about this in next week’s Millthorpe Messenger.

We have been overwhelmed with donations for our Christmas Charity Appeal this week – thank you so much for your generosity. You can read more below.

Our students have all been working hard this term, but a special mention must go to our Year 11s who have been really focused on their studies. They had their first Walking Talking Mock on Monday for maths, which was really successful. The students were very engaged and we know the session will have a positive impact as they prepare for their PPEs in January.

In recognition of their hard work, all Year 11 students will gather in the hall next Wednesday afternoon during Period 5 for some festive fun. We think they fully deserve a treat before we head into the PPE exams after the Christmas break!

It’s hard to believe that next week will be the last week of term! We have Christmas Dinner and Christmas Jumper Day to look forward to on 18 December as well as our Matilda production on 17, 18 and 19 December. Also next week, our Progress Leaders will lead recognition assemblies for all year groups. Amongst other awards, the top three students from each year group will receive special recognition for their efforts of being a Gold Standard Learner during Power Play Week.

Congratulations to our star students who came along to Principal’s Breakfast today, including: George, Mickey, Ngawabg and Callum. It was lovely chatting to you all!

School will close for the Christmas holidays at the normal time on Friday 20 December.

I hope you all have a great weekend and we’ll see everyone back in school on Monday for a fabulous, festive ‘A’ Week.

With best wishes,

Kavina Rothenburg
Acting Principal

Matilda tickets

To give us time to do the necessary administration with the Matilda tickets, we have now removed the facility to buy tickets on ParentPay. There’s no need to panic though! If you haven’t got your tickets yet, they can be purchased on the door ahead of each evening’s performance.

Here’s a little sneaky peek at what you can expect. Please do come along to support our wonderful cast!

What is my child learning at the moment?

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

Year 7 – Faculty: Performance
Conversation starters

• Drama: Students are completing their unit of study on ‘The Demon Headmaster’ by completing a written theory test to review the knowledge they have gained over the course of this topic. They have also performed 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 are developing their musicianship through singing and rhythmic control. They are currently working on a group performance of Ole Le Loila – a Finnish reindeer calling chat.
• PE: In PE students have moved onto their fourth activity/sport of the year. The boys are developing their skills and learning in rugby and football and the girls are developing their skills and learning in basketball and gymnastics.

Year 8 – Faculty: Creative
Conversation starters

• Design & Technology: Students are now a few weeks into Timeblock 1 and studying Cultures through Graphics, Textiles, Food Preparation & Nutrition and Product Design. Please ask your child about what they are designing and making. They have multiple choice quizzes for homework (Google Forms) on Google Classroom and can also show you the work booklets we use to help explain their project to you.
• Art: Year 8 students are designing their own Celtic Illuminated Letter design. This involves responding to feedback about how to refine their drawing skills and applying their knowledge of Celtic Art. Following the completion of their line drawing, students will revisit colour theory and plan a colour scheme using coloured pencils. The fades and blends will be re-created in coloured ink before outlines/detailing is added with metallic pens and fineliners. Researching Celtic Illuminated letters for design and colour scheme inspiration is a good way to support your child’s learning in Art.

Year 9 – Faculty: English
Conversation starters
As an exciting end to the term and a taster for what is to come, students will be introduced to their new unit this week: The World in a Grain of Sand. This is a brand new unit for this academic year and focuses on exploring poetry as a stimulus for creative and descriptive writing. We are very excited to teach it and hope your children will be as enthused as we are!

Year 10 – Faculty: Maths
Conversation starters
What do you need to know to describe a linear (straight line) graph? Can you create your own Christmas tree design using linear graphs?

Year 11 – Faculty: Science
Conversation starters
Year 11 have begun their preparation for their upcoming PPEs this week. We have been looking through their End of Year 10 Exam, focussing on areas of improvement and really digging into the mark schemes and exam techniques. We have given each student a personalised feedback sheet based on question-by-question analysis of their papers. When we return in January, we will continue with a programme of revision before the PPEs commence. All Year 11 Science lessons for both Triple and Combined Science are uploaded to the respective Google classrooms.

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.

Year 11 Pre Public Exams (PPEs)

In preparation for their GCSE exams next summer, Year 11 students will sit their PPEs from 7-31 January 2025. Mrs Armitage’s letter about the PPEs can be found here and you can also view the PPE timetable here.

Year 11 students will watch a presentation in Form Time next week to help them with revision and creating a revision timetable ahead of their PPEs. So that you are aware of the information that will be shared with them, you can see the presentation here.

‘Walking Talking’ Maths mock exam

Year 11 have taken a Maths ‘Walking Talking’ Mock this week to help them feel more confident and prepared to approach their Maths exam.

The ‘walking’ part refers to Miss Tucker or Mr Tebbs taking the students through the paper and every question, decoding the question and explaining how to approach the question. The ‘talking’ refers to talking through the working out which the students saw live on the big screen via a visualiser.

Progress Leaders

As per the letters sent out earlier this week, here is a summary of our Progress Leader structure from January 2025.

• Year 7 – Miss Ramplin
• Year 8 – Mrs Cooper
• Year 9 – Mrs Pennington
• Year 10 – Mrs Cook
• Year 11 – Miss McCartney

Student Reception

From January, we are moving our Student Reception away from the Main House Office and onto the upper corridor between C and D Block. Please see the box below for a clear breakdown of how these two offices should be used:

STUDENT RECEPTION

• Signing in after 9.15am
• Leaving for medical appointments
• Clarifying any room changes
• Reprinting of timetables

MAIN HOUSE OFFICE

• Illness*
• Injury (eg in PE)
• Confiscated item pick up
• Lost property pick up / drop off

*please note we will not dispense paracetamol unless it has been sent in by a parent and handed in to the office.

Toilet use during lessons

As many of you will be aware, we encourage students to go to the toilet during social time and/or movement times which are built into the school day. This is to maximise learning time and reduce lesson disruption as students miss vital teacher instructions when they are out of the room for an extended period of time.

From January, teachers will add all toilet visits to the Class Charts activity feed, visible on parent and student accounts. With over 85% of parents logged onto the Class Charts app you’ll be able to spot any patterns that suggest there is a medical need that requires attention or if a conversation about maximising learning time is appropriate.

From internal tracking, we know that more than 97% of students use toilets in lesson time infrequently, so we expect this to be something that is only significant to a very small number of students. Students with a ‘medical toilet pass’ can use the facilities whenever they are required.

Millthorpe Christmas Charity Appeal

Once again we have been blown away by everyone’s generosity shown for our annual Millthorpe Christmas Charity Collection. The Student Leaders had a great time this morning sorting through and organising all the donations ready for them to be collected by our chosen charities: SASH, Refugee Action York (RAY), Carecent, and Collective Sharehouse.

Thank you again to everyone who has donated to those most in need within our wider community.

Christmas dinner

A reminder that Christmas dinner will be served on Wednesday 18 December this year. Students can enjoy a traditional turkey dinner or a vegetarian option, whilst wearing their Christmas jumpers (see below) and being entertained by some of our students who will be performing a selection of festive numbers!

Tickets, priced at £2.85, are now available via ParentPay. If your child has any dietary requirements, please let us know on ParentPay and if your child would like the vegetarian meal, please add this to the notes section when booking.

Children eligible for free school meals?
Children who are eligible for free school meals will not have to pay and do not need to register via ParentPay. Parents/carers should have received a text message with a link to add their child’s preferences. Please only use this link if your child is in receipt of free school meals.

Christmas Jumper Day

A reminder that we will be taking part in Christmas Jumper Day on 18 December, raising money for Save the Children.

On the day, students can wear their Christmas jumper instead of their blazer and school jumper, but they will still need to wear the rest of their normal school uniform and the correct shoes.

Anyone wishing to take part should donate a £1 either on the day or via ParentPay. All donations will be going to Save the Children’s Christmas Jumper Day fundraiser.

Meal preferences for Iceland Trip 2025

A reminder to parents whose children are going on the Iceland trip next year – please remember to complete your child’s meal preference for the Hard Rock Café using this Google Form by 20 December 2024.

Job of the week – Interpreter

Are you good at languages? Then this may be the ideal job for you. An interpreter helps people who speak different languages or sign language to communicate. This could be in person, over the phone, via video calls – the list is endless. In this job you could work with a variety of different people including the police, businesses, health or education.

For more information on becoming an interpreter, watch this video.

Derwent Training Apprenticeship Open Event

Derwent Training is holding its annual Apprenticeship Open Event on Tuesday 11 February 2025 to celebrate and coincide with National Apprenticeship Week. The evening will be on a drop-in basis between 4.30pm and 7.00pm so there is no need to book.

The evening will give visitors of all ages the opportunity to speak to apprentices about their own experience, meet with some of Derwent Training’s partner employers and have a look around the specialist training facilities.

Further information can be found here.

Parent Carer Forum

To find out more about events and support available from the Parent Carer Forum, please take a look at their latest newsletter here. It details a consultation on the autism strategy in York, which the Parent Care Forum is encouraging all families of children with autism to contribute to. This consultation informs commissioning and  should be informed by family experience.

SEN and Safeguarding update from Excel Learning Trust

Every month, Sue Wight, Director of SEN and Safeguarding at Excel Learning Trust circulates tips and advice regarding SEN and safeguarding to parents/carers.

The December SEN and Safeguarding newsletter can be found here.

#WakeUpWednesday – A guide to keeping young people safe over the festive period

The holiday season is fast approaching! While we hope you’re excited to kick back, relax, and enjoy some well-earned rest with friends and family, it’s still vitally important that we do all we can to safeguard the children and young people in our care over the festive period.

However, it can be tricky to know what specific steps we can take to ensure our winter break is as calm and risk-free as possible, which is why The National College has put together this week’s free guide. Check out their expert advice on keeping youngsters safe over the festive season.

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 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.