Welcome to this week's newsletter
Please, if you can, watch or listen (in the car) to the videos which accompany this letter to get the more personable version of the explanations and information below.
Dear families,
The students at our school are fabulous. Over the last few weeks we have shared stories of kindness, compassion, humanity, success and spirit shown by many, both in school, when visiting other schools and in the community. This was demonstrated by the sixth form students pictured below which we reported on in the newsletter back on 22 September. It was a pleasure this week to recognise their humanity by awarding them the first Principal’s Commendation of the year.
We have lots of exciting things to look forward to in school over the next few weeks. The chess club continues to grow, with students from all year groups taking part. In November a team of them will be competing in the Northants Junior Chess Competition and we will be starting our own league and internal Manor Chess Championships. Any students who are interested should see Mr Brooks to find out more.
Curriculum Day will be taking place on Wednesday 18 October, complementing our Work, World, Wellness weekly programme with a series of workshops.
After half term, students in Year 8 will also be showcasing their REACH values as they embrace being a student ambassador for the day. In this roll the students have the responsibility to meet and greet visitors, demonstrating the warm welcome we value so much at Manor School. They will also have the opportunity to show initiative, trustfulness and problem solving as they support the office and pastoral staff for the day. Mr Isaacs will inform Year 8 parents/carers of the day your child will be part of this programme in the week proceeding their turn. As a fully exclusive school we will be offering this opportunity to all students. If you would like to discuss how we might make reasonable adjustments for your child please contact Mr Isaacs, Progress Leader for Year 8.
Auditions are taking place next week for our annual extravaganza. This year we are performing Matilda the Musical. Open auditions will be on Tuesday, with some students called back for character auditions on Thursday. Break a leg everyone!
Communications reminder
Please use the following methods to communicate with us, selecting the most appropriate audience for your communication:
- For enquiries about suitable shoes, use enquiries@manor.school
- For all general enquiries relating to your child, use the form tutor's email address
- For enquiries about matters relating to lessons/subjects, use the Head of Department's email address
- For enquiries about SEND, contact hnotley@manor.school
- For enquiries about medical issues, contact dnatrass@manor.school
- For concerns that have been raised elsewhere and not yet been resolved, contact cbateman@manor.school (curriculum), dcarter@manor.school (behaviour), cradd@manor.school (SEND) or msturgess@manor.school (attendance)
If you are unsure who to contact, please email enquiries@manor.school who will distribute it to the most relevant person.
Events at school
We have listened to parent/carer feedback about information regarding upcoming school events. Therefore from this newsletter onwards there will be a rolling 10-week calendar of school events. This is designed to help you plan for your family well in advance and attend every possible event pertinent to your child. Thank you to the parents/carers who have helped us with this.
Powerful and sticky knowledge
At Manor School we teach a knowledge-rich curriculum. That means we focus on acquiring knowledge which has been collectively decided as being the best that has been thought and written. This includes a variety of writers, from all parts of the world, and thinkers from all the ages.
The knowledge we teach is known in education sectors as ‘powerful knowledge’. The power of this knowledge is that it allows those who have it to think beyond their experience - it gives power to students. It takes students beyond their everyday experiences by giving them access to knowledge from the academic disciplines such as biology, chemistry and history. Powerful knowledge for example in science gives rise to the big ideas of and about science that allow students to generalise and think about the concrete world in abstract ways, e.g. matter is mostly empty space, life evolves as a result of random processes and the Earth has no top nor bottom.
We believe this knowledge is central to our students’ success and, therefore, supports their future dreams and ambitions. At Manor School, students are taught that knowledge is powerful and ‘sticky’, meaning that once students have sufficient knowledge and an understanding of how to learn, they will be able to independently build on that knowledge, thus making themselves the master of their fate, being ready to lead and participate as full citizens.
The idea of sticky knowledge is based upon the understanding of cognitive science i.e. the science of how we learn. Learning is now defined as knowledge that is embedded in long term memory which can be retrieved. To understand this, think in terms of the brain containing a series of facts held together with connections. We call this web of interconnected knowledge a schema. When learning new knowledge, the most successful learning will interconnect the new knowledge with the knowledge already in the brain. This means the existing knowledge is ‘sticky’, binding the new knowledge into the schema. The more interconnected knowledge there is, both the more easily the new knowledge is bound to it and to more easily it is retrieved later on.
Just like any muscle, the more you exercise the brain the wider and denser the schema becomes and the more knowledge is learned. Therefore, there are some basic things you can do to help your child with this:
- The more cultural and learning experiences you can expose your child to the better.
- Expand your child’s vocabulary through encouraging reading, watching the news & documentaries and discussions about them.
- Help your child to make revision ‘fact cards’ each day when they come home. Use these as a family to do recall quizzes each day (great to do in the 3 mins before having tea each evening). Regular recall also helps to strengthen the schema and makes the long-term memory more secure. This will have a direct positive effect on their achievements throughout school.
Dr Louise Newman, Principal
Tassomai
Students in Years 7-11 should now be logging in and using Tassomai on a regular basis to support their home learning.
If your child has previously had an account, which is the case for Year 8 upwards (unless they have recently joined the school), their Tassomai account is already set up. All they need to do is visit app.tassomai.com and log in with their school email address. If they can’t remember their password, they can reset it by clicking on ‘forgot password?’.
From here, they need to select their English, maths and science sets from the drop down. It may help to have their timetable available to check the class code. Some of the Year 10 and 11 maths and science classes will have two versions of the class with either [H] or [F] after the class code. Students should select [H] for higher tier or [F] for foundation tier. If in doubt, select the [H] option.
If your child is in Year 7 or is new to the school, they will have a preset password. Please watch the video link below to hear the password (Tassomai section starts at 2:38). Your child will need to set a new password on first login and select their classes from the drop down menu.
House and REACH points reward
To replace the cancelled REACHfest, a Halloween themed reward has been organised for Year 8-11 and Year 13 students from the winning Quercus house. The reward is also for all Gold REACH point winners from last year.
On Friday 20th October, students from Years 8 and 9 will be invited to attend during lessons 1 and 2 in the main hall, with students from Years 10, 11 and 13 invited during lessons 3 and 4.
Should students not wish to participate or be involved in this event, they must stay in their normal lessons. More information will be provided to students closer to Friday itself.
Lost property
If your child has lost any of their belongings, please may you ask them to check the lost property collection in the LRC before the end of this term as it will be cleared out during the half-term break.
Careers and education advice
Year 11 IAG meetings have been happening this week and will continue after half-term.
Please find below details of the open events that Colleges of Further Education are offering this term, as well as a guide for students applying to Colleges of Further Education.
In other news, seven Year 13 students have made early UCAS entries to music conservatoires, medical school and Oxford or Cambridge.
KS4 science trial exam revision
Science teachers have posted advice on Arbor to their Year 11 students on what/how to revise for their upcoming trial exams. Copies of the information shared with students can be downloaded below in order for you to support your child with this.
Elevate Education
On our next whole school Curriculum Day (Wednesday 18 October) we are welcoming Elevate Education, an organisation that focuses on supporting students with effective revision strategies.
We would like to invite parents/carers and students in to school in the evening from 5:30pm for a workshop designed to support parents/carers with the same messages. The workshop will last for approximately 45 minutes.
The workshop will take place in the Main Hall and Senior Leaders and school staff will be available from 5:00pm to welcome you and answer questions about exam preparation or the exam season. Please register your attendance for this event by completing the following form:
Alternatively you can email Ms M du Pille (mdupille@manor.school) with your name, your child’s name and tutor group, and how many people will be attending.
Mr Hurren, Assistant Head of School
Sports results
Here are the results from this week's fixtures:
- Tuesday 10: KS4 netball team won 12-9 against Higham Ferrers, whilst the Year 9 team lost 13-1
- Thursday 12: U15 girls football team won 5-0 against Higham Ferrers and also won 3-1 against Weavers
Cross country competition
Extra-curricular timetable
It has been brought to my attention that some members of our community have concerns regarding the opportunity we have provided some of our sixth form students to lead extra-curricular clubs. This is an enrichment opportunity for them in the first instance, which allows them to practice and apply their leadership skills and talents. It is important to note however that these students are not left unsupervised and a teacher is always present for safeguarding and first aid support.
In order for us to provide the breadth of clubs we can, the fact that sixth form students want to run these clubs is a credit to our school, and gives the rest of the school further opportunities to participate in extra-curricular activities.
To provide further assurance, the student that runs the rugby club is a qualified RFU referee and so completes the RFU safeguarding and headcase course requirements every year, and is a highly responsible and conscientious student.
If you have any questions or concerns about this, please feel free to contact me directly (thustwait@manor.school) so that I can answer your questions and provide assurances to you.
Miss Hustwait, Curriculum Leader for PE
After-school community club
Junior Parkrun
Online safety
The Big Ambition
The Children’s Commissioner for England has recently launched ‘The Big Ambition’ to hear directly from children, young people, and parents across the country. This is an opportunity to hear from all children, in every part of the country and in every setting. The survey will be used to encourage policymakers to think about children and young people’s needs, to ensure children’s voices are reflected in the decisions that will affect them in years to come.
If you would like your child to have that national voice, please ask them to take part in The Big Ambition survey:
For more information about the survey, please visit their website.
Free online courses
We have been contacted by The AIM Group who deliver free online Level 2 accredited courses to help better understand some key issues around young people's mental health and wellbeing, along with a range of other qualifications that may help with developing your own careers.
Here are some of the 30+ subjects available:
- Neuroscience in the Early Years
- Children and Young Peoples Mental Health
- Understanding Autism
- Specific Learning Difficulties
- Nutrition and Health
- Adverse Childhood Experiences
- Bullying in Children and Young People
- Mental Health Awareness
- Counselling
- Team Leading
- Functional Skills - Maths
- Functional Skills - English
The qualifications are completed within a 6–12 week period in your own leisure. They are equivalent to a GCSE Grade C. You can do as many as you like, however you can only do one at a time.
The only criteria you must meet to be eligible is:
- Aged 19 or over on or before 31st August 2023
- Have lived in the UK/EU for 3+ years
- Not already on a Government funded course
If you are interested in undertaking one of these free online courses or would like further information, then please complete the following link ASAP. This will then allow The AIM Group to contact you to discuss and get you started on your chosen course
If you have any questions prior to expressing interest, call Shane Cooke on 0203 923 4013 or drop him an email at shane.cooke@theaimgroup.co.uk