Events Coming Up
25th Wear Something Different Day – Green Themed
25th Coffee and Cake morning for grandparents
25th Yr11 BTEC Child Development – Little Shipmates (as per letter)
November
4th November Inset Day
6th Year 11 Presentation Evening
Saturday 30th November – Christmas Themed Craft Fayre. Tickets are now on sale through Arbor under Shop, £2.00 for adults and £1.00 for children. Under 2’s are free. All funds raised will be going towards our ‘International Fund’ for students who are competing, performing or working overseas. If you would like to book a table to sell your goods, or know someone who would, please click this link. Spaces are limited due to the number of tables already booked.
We would also love to have donations brought in for the tombola that we will be running at this event. Please bring all donations to the main reception
Message from the Leadership Team
Dear Noadswood families,
As we get ready to enter the last week of the half term, we’d like to congratulate everyone on their achievements, efforts, resilience and many high spot moments during this first half term.
This week, the Head Student Team have led assemblies with me on the theme of World Mental Health Day, this week – proud as I could be of them, speaking on important matters like this to all their peers, and keeping live a commitment to reminding one another where we can go for support and how best we can strive to look after ourselves.
I have also had the second rehearsal of term with my glorious KS3 choir this week – the power of music in raising that dopamine in the best possible way has been often proved, and I can guarantee that happens in our school hall when we sing what has become our ‘theme song’, of Rolling in the Deep (move over, Adele) and our new songs for this term we can’t wait to share with you at events, soon. I am proud to be a small part of our incredible commitment to Music at Noadswood alongside our real professionals!
It was a pleasure to welcome so many Year 7 families to our ‘Meet the Tutor evening’ yesterday and really embodied our Noadswood ambition to achieve the power of collaboration between home and school to best support your children. We were so thankful for your time and energy at the end of a busy Thursday, and likewise I am thankful to my colleagues, at the end of week 7 of this half term, for their equal commitment, too.
In the spirit of support, we’d like to remind families that we do have financial support for families that need it, in the form of Skool kit and supermarket vouchers. This is not means tested and is available to anyone who may need it. Please reach out to your child's year leader team and we can arrange delivery of these to you.
Remember their contact details can be found at the link below on our website, along with many others of us, including me (You can also message us via ClassCharts): Contact Us
We’ll write more about this in next week's newsletter, but it was wonderful to welcome Chris Lubbe, former bodyguard of Nelson Mandela to talk about his experiences of life within South Africa to our school. We were delighted to extend this invitation to local primaries and were thrilled that Marchwood Juniors could join us. A fantastic opportunity for our school community and a wonderful way for Mrs. Blowers to celebrate a significant ‘21st’ birthday.
A huge thank you to Mrs. Blowers and her team for this superb enrichment opportunity – I felt privileged to learn from Chris, alongside our KS4 students, and I feel steadied and inspired by him. I know many young people and colleagues feel the same.
As part of our membership of the mighty New Forest District of Secondary Schools, I volunteered for Noadswood to host a Wellbeing Conference that local training provider, Stacey Miller is keen to run for local young people across the Forest. I have worked with Stacey for a long time, in more than one school, and it will be an enthusiasm-fuelled, valuable day for sure. You can read about her here: Home - Stacey Miller Consultancy | Substance Misuse and Mental Health Education and Training Consultant
This week, Stacey was welcomed back to Noadswood to work with our prefects and head students on some training and they will need to let Miss Fitzgerald know by the end of this week if they would like to be part of this conference on Monday 4th November when the school is otherwise closed to students. Miss Fitzgerald and I look forward to welcoming students from across the Forest, but most especially our own as always!
As well as for the students, we do all we can to provide high quality training and professional development opportunities for colleagues. We’d therefore like to congratulate Miss Walker and Mrs Eldridge on completing recently National Professional Qualifications in Leading Literacy, representing 12 months of learning that they use all the time in this important area of school leadership.
Rounding my week off with Hot Chocolate with some more Year 7s any minute now, reminding me once again of how lucky I am to do this job, no matter its complexities and challenges in the mix; I am very thankful to work with your children every day.
Perhaps you’d like to find out more about what we do and challenge and support us in our work by joining our Board of Trustees (Governors)? I spent nearly three hours with them last night, and one or two of them have more or less moved in of late! It is a voluntary role and they more than give what they should, so if we had one or two more people, it would be marvellous. If you would like to learn more, just drop me a line at headteacher@noadswood.hants.sch.uk
You can also use that email address to contact me at any time – maybe you have a worry, or you are thinking something is taking too long, or you’re uncertain. Drop me a line and we can work through it.
Best wishes,
Kathryn Marshall and the Noadswood Leadership Team.
Wear Something Different Day
The school will be hosting our first ‘Wear Something Different Day’ for this academic year on Friday 25th October. This is now live on the Arbor shop until Wednesday 23rd of October and we kindly ask for a £1.00 contribution for all students who wish to take part. As there will be 5 'non-uniform' days this academic year, you can now pay £5.00 for them in one go. This is only available to you up until Wednesday 23rd of October. After this time, you will have to pay each term. If your child would like to pay their contribution in cash, Mrs Wyse will be collecting this.
If you are worried about the financial implications, please email mwyse@noadswood.hants.sch.uk to let her know. Please also make sure your child brings in their PE kit on this day if they are timetabled to do PE.
Coffee & Cake Morning
Calling all grandparents! We are inviting you to a coffee and cake morning on Friday 25th of October from 9.45am in aid of Oakhaven Hospice and Air Ambulance. Letters have been sent home to all parents/carers who need to book you on through Arbor if you would like to attend.
Signposting
We are fortunate to have recently partnered with the charity, Beauty Banks. The charity provides toiletries and selfcare items to students who may struggle to access them, especially in these financially difficult times. Hygiene is fundamental to a child’s development and wellbeing therefore, alongside the charity, we hope to help students who may not have regular access to certain, essential products.
The charity has currently provided us with:
• Shampoo
• Condition
• Shower gels
• Antiperspirant
• Tooth brushes
• Tooth paste
• Face wash
If you believe your child may benefit from these please see Miss Dixon (M12), Mrs Penny or Mrs Merrifield (FL) at the end of the school day.
Local Safety
As partners in your child's education and well-being, we wanted to take a moment to address some important matters related to safety within our school community. Firstly, we’d like to focus us all on the importance of safe driving around our school premises. We kindly request that all parents, carers, colleagues and visitors stick to speed limits, traffic rules, and to eliminate distractions while behind the wheel. By doing so, we create a safe space for our children to arrive and depart from school each day. This is something we know most families do and thank you for this.
Furthermore, considerate parking plays a pivotal role in ensuring the safety of our students as well as being considerate to our local community. We kindly ask that all families park responsibly, avoiding blocking driveways or other designated areas. Thoughtful parking not only facilitates smooth traffic flow but also ensures the safety and accessibility of our school grounds for all.
Your children's safety is of utmost importance to us, and we kindly ask for your support in promoting safe driving, considerate parking, but also the use of helmets for cycling. Bikes are a fantastic mode of transportation, as we know, promoting physical activity and independence for our young people – our new cycle compound makes for a much better experience on arrival at school, too. Encouraging safe cycling practices and being aware of their surroundings will further enhance their safety and we hope a commitment to cycling for life!
We believe that by working together as a community, we can create an even safer and more secure environment for our children. We know we can lean on your partnership in reinforcing these safety measures at home and in conversations with your children.
Under 16 Girls Hampshire Cup against Kings
We are so proud of our students' sporting achievements. We’d like to spotlight this week our Under 16’s girls' team. The under 16's girls played their first match in the Hampshire cup against Kings in Winchester on the 9th of October. Kings were strong opponents, but the girls picked up from where they left of last year and the game finished 2-1 to Noadswood.
Excellent performances from the whole team and a proud team manager as always.
Next match Costello away on Monday the 21st October