Weekly email – 14 March 2025

A message from Mrs Rothenburg

Next week, we are looking forward to welcoming author Tom Palmer into school. If your child would like to attend Tom’s session, please see the information below. We will also have Inside Out Theatre Company in school next week performing for our Year 10 students. Their aim is to bring theatre to those who may not ordinarily go to the theatre, so we’re really looking forward to their visit.

We’re back in school on Monday as usual for an ‘A’ Week. Have a great weekend!

With best wishes,

Kavina Rothenburg
Acting Principal

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: Maths
Conversation starters
Can your child explain:

• How does interest on a loan or bank balance work?
• What happens to the cost of an item when you add 10%, then reduce by 10%?
• Why is a 50% reduction in price, followed by a 25% reduction in price not the same as a 75% reduction to the original price?

Year 8 – Faculty: Science
Conversation starters
Classes are studying a variety of topics in Block 3: Adaptation & Inheritance, Separating Mixtures & Electricity, and Magnetism. Students who are studying Adaptation & Inheritance – you can ask what information does DNA carry? Students studying Separating Mixtures can be asked how can we obtain pure substance? Students studying Electricity can be asked how does electricity travel in a circuit?

All Year 8 students have weekly Science homework to complete on Sparx Science – this is due every Thursday at 9.00am! The next Sparx Science Homework is due on Thursday 20 March. All Year 8 Science lessons for both are uploaded to the Year 8 Science Google classroom.

Year 9 – Faculty: Global
Conversation starters

• Computing: We are continuing to look at GSCE level logic circuits and how to construct logic circuits from logic expressions.
• German: We are finishing our topic on childhood and completing a listening and reading test to assess our skills. After this, we will start to discuss ‘rights and responsibilities’, including what is most important to us.
• French: We are starting our new topic of ‘my rights’, where we are learning how to talk about what is important to us, what makes us happy and what we are allowed to do.

Year 10 – Faculty: Humanities
Conversation starters

• RE: Students have started learning about the Five Pillars of Islam, studying them in closer detail and what these practices mean for Muslims in their daily life. What are the Five Pillars of Islam? Which ones have we looked at so far? How are they different from each other? How might each pillar be practised differently for different Muslims?
• History: Why did the Korean War become an international crisis? What role did Joseph Stalin, Kim Il-Sung, Harry S Truman and General Douglas MacArthur play in making this war an international issue? Can you explain three major turning points in the fighting?

Year 11 – Faculty: Performance
Conversation starters

• Drama: Scripted Drama Texts in Practice NEA preparation – performance of two extracts from ‘Things I Know to be True’ by Andrew Bovell in preparation for the upcoming final exam. Please do help students to rehearse and learn their lines at home!
• Music: Students are now very much focused on the listening exam and should be revising the areas of study and set works at home.
• PE: Students have been developing their skills in football, netball, badminton and dodgeball. Over the next six weeks students will be given the opportunity to choose their activity in core PE to help them in the build up to their GCSE exams.

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.

Building belonging: starting the school day punctually

At Millthorpe we are always working hard to build a sense of community and belonging and this starts during form time every morning. Regularly missing form time and assemblies means some students start to lose connection with what Millthorpe is all about, making it harder for them to build that sense of belonging we want them all to feel. Form time is dedicated to developing our culture curriculum, overlearning core subject content and pulling all students together around shared values like tolerance, something that has featured throughout this week’s assembly.

The vast majority of students arrive on site by 8.40am ready for an 8.45am start in form time. However, this week we have seen a rise in students being late to school. Please can parents/carers continue to support their child to be ready and arrive at school by 8.40am. When a student starts the day on time, they are signalling to us and more importantly themselves that they are ‘Ready to Learn’.

We look forward to welcoming all students on the gates between 8.30-8.40am next week.

Culture Day – 27 March 2025

As reported in last week’s email, we are thrilled to be hosting our first Culture Day on 27 March.

On the day, students and staff are invited to wear cultural or traditional dress to celebrate their culture. Alternatively, students can design a badge to wear on the day which represents their culture. The details have been shared in assembly this week.

If your child would like to wear cultural or traditional dress or wear a badge, their Form Tutor will complete a Google Form on their behalf during Form Time next week.

During the day, students will also have the opportunity to learn about the 21 different languages that make up our Millthorpe community; sample food from around the world in the canteen; and take part in activities at lunchtime that celebrate the different cultures at Millthorpe.

The timetable of events will be shared with students at the beginning of the w/c 24 March. We can’t wait to share news and photos from the day with you!

Young carers at Millthorpe

This week we had the opportunity to recognise Young Carers Action Day (Wednesday 12 March 2025) through our Form Time reading activity. All year groups read an excerpt called the ‘Morning Routine’ from the fiction book about Young Carers called ‘The Late Crew’ by Rab Ferguson, a local author.

The Young Carers Action Day 2025 theme, ‘Give Me A Break’, highlights the important need for young carers to have time to rest and recharge and calls on schools and employers to offer support. At Millthorpe all staff are aware of who are young carers are and we also have a thriving young carers drop-in, so this can be acknowledged and support offered.

Please take a look at the attached letter to all parents/carers which highlights how to recognise when a young person has a caring role and how to get in touch if you would like to share that your child is a young carer.

Students can loan ‘The Late Crew’ and the second in the series ‘The Late Crew and the Copy Cat Creature’ from the school library.

Summer GCSE exam timetable 2025

The full timetable for this summer’s GCSE examinations can be found on our website. If you have any queries, please contact the School Office.

Students – reminder to download the Class Charts app

Class Charts allows students and parents/carers to keep track of achievements and behaviour and track upcoming detentions.

We want all students to have access to Class Charts, which can be accessed through the website or by downloading the app to their phone, so please remind your child(ren) to get the app if they have not already done so.

Last term students received a letter via their school email that contained their Class Charts access code as well as instructions of how to set up their account. If your child needs their code again, they should speak to their form tutor or progress leader.

School meal prices

Due to Government increases in the National Living Wage and changes to National Insurance contributions for employers, our Catering contractor, Dolce, has been in contact recently to advise us of price increases. We understand that any increases can be difficult to manage but have worked with Dolce to try and ensure that these increases are as small as possible.

These price increases will take effect from 1 April 2025 – details can be found here.

Those pupils entitled to a free school meal will be unaffected by this change, as the school will cover this increase in cost.

Tom Palmer Author Visit

A reminder that on Thursday 20 March we are lucky to be hosting a visit from author Tom Palmer. Tom has written a wide range of books from sport stories to war stories, with topics such as spies, ghosts, planes, rugby, football and running. Many of his books are accessible reads and very popular with many students in school.

If your child would like to attend the session which will take place during Period 4 (12.30-1.30pm) in the library, please ask that they come and see Miss Brooks in the library. There will be the opportunity to buy a book at a discounted price for signing, or students can bring books of Tom’s they already have for signing.

Students inspired by organ workshop

Last week, 28 Music students attended a fabulous workshop with Dr Max Elliot from York Minster and Tom Bell from the Royal College of Organists in which students learned about how organs work, looking at the different pipe and reed types and learning how to create different combinations of stops to depict different instruments in the orchestra. Students were given the opportunity to have a go on the organ and it was a real joy to see the excitement on students faces when they played such a powerful instrument.

Geoffrey Coffin has continued his relentless work in restoring our organ with ongoing tuning and repair work taking place on regular evenings when students have left for the day.

We will be starting organ lessons soon, so if anyone would like further information, please get in touch with Miss Longbottom.

Year 10s shine in Experience of the Workplace initiative

Over the past three weeks, our Year 10 students have been taking part in their Experience of the Workplace activity. Several employers came into school to set the students a real-life project from their workplace. Students were then given the time to research the project, create a presentation, which involved working to the employers’ briefs, and then present their findings to both their employer and their classmates.

Miss Watts, Careers Lead said “It was an absolute pleasure to see so many amazing presentations. It was clear that the students had fully immersed themselves in the tasks set and produced coherent, logical and well thought out presentations. Some of our employers are so impressed with our students’ outputs that they are planning on using them in their own workplaces (crediting the students of course). We are so proud of our Year 10s!”

The NHS are planning on taking the leaflets and posters created (below), and mass producing them for the wards at York District Hospital. One colleague commented “I just wanted to tell you what an absolute privilege it was to oversee the presentation lesson completed with the NHS representatives this morning. The presentations were all amazing and I was so impressed by the way every single student contributed and the ideas they came up with. I was incredibly proud of them.”

Marta from Robertson Construction commented “It was a pleasure to be involved, and I thoroughly enjoyed the experience. The students were fantastic throughout the day, and in my feedback highlights how well they engaged with the tasks and activities. They should all be really proud of the effort and enthusiasm they put in – they did an excellent job.”

Thank you to all our employers who have been wonderful. We are so grateful for the support of: Robertson Construction, Aureos, Indigo Greens, NYBEP, NHS, York College and GMI Construction.

Weekly Mindfulness session

It was great to see so many people at our first Mindfulness Session this week!

Held every Wednesday lunchtime from 1.45-2.00pm in the gym, these sessions offer a fantastic opportunity for students to take a break, relax and learn simple techniques to reduce stress. Please come along – no equipment is needed!

English Schools Cross Country Championships

Year 8 students Marianne and Rosie will both be representing Millthorpe this weekend at the English Schools Cross Country Championships in Sussex.

Good luck girls – we’ll be cheering you on from York!

Tom takes next steps in his rugby career

Tom in Year 11 has made it through three weeks of gruelling trials to get into the Rugby Union Yorkshire Academy Player Development Group. The training and focus on developing as a player will now ramp up for Tom as he embarks on the next step in his rugby career.

We wish him all the very best!

Musical success

A massive well done to Matthew for a distinction in his Grade 5 saxophone, Alyssa for a merit in her Grade 3 flute, and  Isabelle for a distinction in grade 5 piano.

Congratulations to all of you!

Ex-Millthorpian to star in new CBBC show

Huge congratulations to ex-Millthorpian, Arthur Kay, who following his success in ITV’s ‘The Bay’, is about to star in his first season of ‘High Hoops’ which is due to be released on CBBC and BBC iPlayer on Monday 17 March.

Arthur, who some of you may remember as Buddy in our Christmas production of Elf the Musical, left us last year after completing his GCSEs.

In High Hoops, Arthur plays Conor, one of the lead roles in the ten-episode series. Filmed in Halifax, West Yorkshire, the comedy series is about a failing school basketball team and the arrival of tall, gaffe-prone but unstoppable Aoife O’Neill. It’s a show about determination, finding your tribe, and being true to yourself.

Following Aoife and her brother Conor as they move to a new area and a new school. They see this as an opportunity to change their lives.

Written and created by Sinead Fagan a lifelong basketball player and coach, High Hoops is a sharp, witty, and aspirational comedy set in an urban comprehensive.

Arthur worked super hard in the lead up to his exams last year, juggling the filming of High Hoops with his GCSE exams and revision.

Well done Arthur – we can’t wait to watch you on screen next week!

Inaugural Excel Staff Recognition Awards

Next term, Excel Learning Trust will hold its Inaugural Staff Recognition Awards 2025 celebrating the incredible individuals who make the Trust community thrive.

These awards provide a way for the Trust to express its gratitude for the tireless effort, hard work, dedication and passion that members of its community bring to the table. There will be awards for support staff, teaching staff, leaders and volunteers, who will be recognised for the amazing impact they make and for ensuring that our children experience educational excellence every day.

One very special award is the ‘Excelling Through Parent or Community Recognition’. Awarded for those who build strong relationships outside of the Trust and for making sure that our school is not just a place for children but a hub of support and connection, this is parent or community nominated. If you would like to nominate someone from Millthorpe or any of the other Trust schools, just complete this short nomination form by Monday 14 April 2025.

The award winners will be announced at a celebratory event on 10 July 2025.

Job of the Week – Toxicologist

In this job, you look at anything that could be poisonous or dangerous to animal or human health. Working as part of a wider team, you can specialise in the many different areas of toxicology that are available. Your work needs to be accurate in order that all the research you do can help identify the effects of toxic material.

Watch this video for more information about becoming a Toxicologist.

Destinations Festival

Destinations Festival is a one-off event hosted by Inspiring Choices in collaboration with Askham Bryan University Centre, CU Scarborough, University of York and York St John University.

The event which will take place on Wednesday 9 April at York St John University is aimed at young people in Year 9 and above from any background who have an interest in attending university and would like to know more.

On the day there will be professionals from a variety of careers sharing their advice at our drop-in sessions, talks on student life and how to apply to university, guidance and support for certain groups including students eligible for DSA (disabled students’ allowance), and taster sessions where you could be solving a mystery in the crime scene house!

For further information and to register, please click here.

#WakeUpWednesday – A guide to Roblox

Online multiplayer games like Roblox are enjoyed by millions across the world and can be a great way for friends to socialise; however, they can also expose young people to a variety of potential harms. Roblox is a multi-platform game that enables people to play anonymously, which can often be something that attracts people to misuse the game and put younger players at risk of harm.

In addition to interacting with random strangers across the world, it’s important to be aware of other risk factors, such as in-game purchases and potential scams that can put young people at risk financially. The National College has created this week’s free guide offering parents and educators expert advice about what can be done to ensure that young people have a safe and enjoyable experience with Roblox. Please take a look if your child plays Roblox.

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.