Millthorpe remembers
Following on from remembrance assemblies led by Mr Baybutt last week, our whole school community fell silent for two minutes at 11.00am on Thursday to mark Armistice Day. Mr Jackson sounded the Last Post in the quad, as all students impeccably observed the silence.
Parents’ Forum
Members of the new Parents’ Forum met for the first time last night to discuss the results of the recent Parents’ Survey. We’d like to thank those who gave up their evening to attend.
Participants shared their ideas on students’ learning journeys, student progress and personal development. There was a lot of great feedback which will now be taken back to the Senior Leadership Team (SLT). One idea that can be actioned straight away is to make parents aware of the week’s assembly topics. This will enable conversations around the dinner table on certain subjects, help them to reiterate key messages and to explore the topics further.
Every week students take part in two assemblies, one from a member of SLT and the other led by their Head of Year. Topics are mapped across the year to ensure all major personal development areas are covered as well as national/international awareness events.
The general themes are:
- Broader Curriculum: developing interests and talents
- Character Curriculum: Discuss traits like resilience and confidence
- Next Steps: Careers and post-16 opportunities
- Modern Britain: Discuss topics like protected characteristics
- SMSC: Spiritual, moral, social and cultural
- RSHE: Relationships and sex education
- Citizenship: locally and as a global citizen
- SLT Assembly: Sexual harassment (Not covered with Year 7 due to today’s vaccinations)
- Head of Year Assembly: Young carers (see later in this email for more details)
Young Carers
All year groups have received an assembly this week on Young Carers awareness and we are really pleased to announce that our Young Carers drop-in sessions have also returned. The sessions run on Wednesday ‘A’ Week, from 12.30-1.00pm for students in Years 7 and 8 and 1.30-2.00pm for students in Years 9, 10 and 11.
Christmas Concert
The Music Department are hoping to stage a short Christmas Concert on the evening of Wednesday 15 December. Full details will follow in the weekly email over the coming weeks.
Outstanding Learning Conduct
Teachers of students in Years 10 and 11 have recently completed the Learning Conduct tracking for these year groups. Year 11 students have received their data and Year 10 will receive it on Monday. The results are amazing!
In both Year 10 and 11, 94% of students have an average learning conduct of 3 or better. A 3 is awarded where students are meeting all expectations and are working hard in lessons, completing all of their work and homework, responding to challenge and seeking to improve. Students who work at a learning conduct grade of 3 historically achieve their target grades in their GCSEs.
Additionally, more than half of both year groups have an average learning conduct of 3.5 or above. Year 10 have slightly edged it with 54% of Year 10 achieving this remarkable feat, compared to 52% of Year 11. These students will have achieved 3s and 4s in every subject and in subjects where their learning conduct is a 4, historically, students surpass their GCSE targets.
We are really impressed with our KS4 students as they are clearly working incredibly hard on their GCSE courses. Well done to both year groups!
Ecological project
Building on the connections our Art Technician Mr Fletcher has with the Vangarde Shopping Centre, the retail park’s site management team are very keen to work with Millthorpe School on an ecological project.
The team at Vangarde are taking part in an ecological challenge, which involves creating natural habitats for bees and other insects, and are competing with other shopping parks around the country to win a prestigious prize for the York site.
The project breaks down into the following stages:
- Build six bird boxes, four small bee hotels, two large insect hotels made from pallets, and the care and maintenance of a large planter on the site which is currently neglected.
- Create bird box kits and bee hotel kits which can be customised and assembled by Millthorpe students.
- Source twelve pallets to create two large insect hotels, to be assembled by students.
- Once all the items are completed, a handover to Vangarde Shopping Park will be arranged, with possible press involvement and an article explaining and promoting the project.
We are asking for three student volunteers to take on the large planter. Students would be involved in the initial design stage, plant selection, getting their hands dirty and occasional maintenance as the seasons change. We feel that this a brilliant opportunity to give some budding David Attenboroughs the chance to support local wildlife as they try and make it through the winter.
If your child is interested in the above or you simply want to find out more about the project please email Mr Fletcher directly on E: j.fletcher@millthorpe.southbank.academy
Year 8 boys’ football team
Congratulations to the Year 8 football team who followed up their impressive 8-1 win over Jo Ro with another convincing win, this time against Bootham.
Mr Boothman said “The lads were on the front foot from the off, scoring within the first two minutes. Bootham came forward straight away for a well deserved equaliser but this was the only resistance that the team came up with. A barrage of attacking football put Bootham to the sword with Millthorpe coming out with a 10-1 victory. A confident performance from the Bootham centre back and goalkeeper saved the Bootham team from an even heavier defeat! There were many standout performances but credit has to go to the whole team for an outstanding evening of football! Well done!”
Parent Guide to Netflix
Netflix is an incredibly popular on-demand streaming service which saw a surge in use by children during the pandemic and beyond. Today’s Wake Up Wednesday guide from National Online Safety highlights some of the risks involved in using Netflix, and also some really helpful advice for parents and carers.
Eborienteers Club
Orienteering club, Eborienteers, holds its club night at Millthorpe School every Monday evening during term time. It is run by a British champion, Steve Whitehead and they would love to welcome members along. (Children must be accompanied by an adult.)
For further information, please visit the Eborienteers website or email Bryan Greener (one of the organisers) at contact@eborienteers.org.uk
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