Welcome to this week's newsletter
Hello families.
Please, if you can, watch or listen (in the car) to the videos which accompany this newsletter to get the more personable version of the explanations and information below.
We have all had a truly positive start to the new year, here at Manor School. The smiles, happiness and kindness from students and staff alike have even outshone the sunshine.
Students have been learning through our Student Induction Programme, enabling them to know what we want for and from them and how they can be successful both academically and in the way they present themselves.
Here are a few quotes from students about their first days:
- “It has been great to get back to the positive, friendly environment of Manor School. The staff, the students and the lessons have been welcoming and unique” Callum, Year 9
- “The first days have been a great reintroduction to the school and has really helped me adjust!” Dominic, Year 10
- “During the last two days at school I have learned about what it means to be aspiring through the story of Cain and Abel, and by continuing to work hard you will succeed” Molly, Year 10
- “The first day back was quite stressful because there was a lot going on but overall it was good and I was happy to be with my friends” Lexi, Year 8
- "Tuesday night I was really excited to start. The first day was fun” Sara, Year 7
We look forward to next week when students can continue to live the values and virtues through their academic lessons, pastoral and social times. Please talk to your children about their experience and how they will live the virtues of Resilience, Empathy, Aspiration, Curiosity and Humanity going forward. We appreciate all you do to support them being Ready, Respectful and Responsible.
Recognition – ‘I was caught using my Humanity’
The human connection is so important to us all. A sense of belonging and achievement can lead directly to positive mental health and wellbeing. Therefore, we are actively promoting Humanity at Manor School for this reason. To do so we have found a new and incredibly popular method called Humanity Slips.
Staff give these to students for any act of kindness, gratitude, generosity, care or something which adds richness to someone, e.g. sharing a joke, quote, or fun fact.
The joy of them is the frequency of the recognition of doing the right thing, along with the verbal thank you from staff for ‘using your humanity’. The reward is a prize draw each week, with multiple winners. ‘The more you’re in it, the more likely you are to win it’.
This recognition has brought joy to staff and students this week and will continue, becoming one of our new Manor Traditions. If you have any ideas for other traditions for the benefit of the students, please contact school via the enquiries email address.
First day assembly highlights
The key messages shared with students this week have been:
- We will have success for all
- We care about all students
- We will do this in a positive environment
- Every minute of every lesson is vital - lessons will start on time
It is normal in our school to:
- Be extra polite to one another
- Be nice to each other
- Consider the impact of your actions on others
- Do as we are asked or told first time, every time
- Hold ourselves to a higher standard
This is how our school will look:
- Students and staff treating each other well
- Students wearing their uniform correctly
- Students on time ready for learning
This is how our school will sound:
- Extra polite interactions, full sentences, correct tone
- Every greeting met by a response
- Students warmly challenged EVERY TIME this does not happen
This is how our school will feel:
- Students living the values
- Students following the routines
- Staff being very polite to students and students being as polite to staff
These are our Term 1 imperatives as they are the foundations for high quality learning, enabling success so students can achieve their dreams and ambitions.
Dr Louise Newman, Principal
Communicating with school
At Manor School, we really value the triangle of home-school-student communication. It is essential that the home to school communication is really effective in order to support the progress, attainment and pastoral care of our students.
In most cases, the most effective point of contact is your child's Form Tutor. They will be the person that will see students for a minimum of 30 minutes every day and be able to liaise with other colleagues in school to answer queries. Their email addresses, along with the email addresses of all subject teachers, is shared on our school website under the 'contact us' tab. If your query is subject specific, we encourage you to contact the subject teacher directly.
If you are not sure who to contact, use the enquiries@manor.school email address and the team of staff at reception will identify the appropriate member of staff to handle your query.
Our teachers and support staff are busy, often teaching or involved in their day-to-day activities during the school day. As such, please do not expect immediate responses. We intend to respond to emails within two working days in most cases. If you have an urgent communication please contact the enquiries@manor.school address as this is monitored during the school day.
During school holidays the concerns@manor.school email account is monitored by senior safeguarding leaders. This form of contact should only be used for emergency safeguarding concerns during periods of school closures. The account is not monitored during term time.
Mr Bateman, Vice Principal
Arbor
Our platform for sharing attendance, REACH points and student timetables is called Arbor and is used across the Nene Education Trust. Parents/carers are able to use the Arbor parent portal to view your child's information.
Over time, we will seek to include further information on the Arbor portal, which will eventually be used as a source for most communication and trip consents.
The simplest way to register is to sign into the parent portal - please visit https://login.arbor.sc/ or https://manor-school.uk.arbor.sc/?/home-ui/index and select 'Forgotten password'. You will then be sent an email containing further instructions. Once you have registered, you can download the app from Google Play or the App Store and log in with your details.
If you have an issue logging in, please ensure that you are using the email address that you receive school communication from. Following this, in the first instance, please contact enquiries@manor.school should you have any queries about the portal.
Students in Years 8-13 have all ensured they are able to log onto Arbor, their school email and Teams from school this week. Year 7 will also make sure they are able to do this in their first Computer Science lesson next week. Instructions for students are linked here should you need them.
Breakfast club
Breakfast club will be resuming from Monday 11 September in the restaurant from 8:00-8:30am. Students can purchase toast or a waffle as well as hot and cold drinks.
Students who are FSM have an allowance of 60p every morning which they can use to purchase toast or a waffle.
Students are welcome to come in and sit and relax before the school day, or they can work on homework tasks where Mrs Webster will provide support if needed.
School photos
A photographer will be visiting Manor on Tuesday 19 and Wednesday 20 September to take all students' school photo. Please therefore ensure that your child is in full uniform on both of these days.
Year 7 lockers
All students in Year 7 now have the opportunity to hire a locker for their use whilst they are a student at Manor School. These are allocated to any student who requires one and the same locker will stay with them from Year 7 to Year 11.
The one-off cost for hiring a locker is £30 and will be allocated on a first come first served basis. If you would like your child to have use of a locker, please make payment by selecting the correct option via your WisePay account. Once payment has been made, we will arrange for your child to be allocated a locker.
Year 7 CAT4 and progress tests
Next week Year 7 students will be undertaking CAT4 assessments and progress tests in English, mathematics and science. These progress tests are from a national organisation and will allow us to benchmark the progress of our students against a huge national cohort. We will then use the outcomes to identify gaps in learning and plan accordingly for the best learning in English, maths and science.
The CAT4 assessments test the cognitive ability of your child in four different ‘batteries’:
- Verbal: reasoning with words
- Quantitative: reasoning with numbers
- Non-verbal: understanding and analysing visual information
- Spatial: thinking about and manipulating shapes
The results can then be used to inform teaching planning but also groupings to ensure that children work in an environment where they can thrive. Ultimately, we will use these to produce target grades for students for the end of GCSE.
There are no preparations required and no additional equipment needed, but we do suggest that students bring a reading book with them in the event that they finish early. The assessments will be spread over Tuesday, Thursday and Friday.
If you have any questions about this, please feel free to contact me via email gturner@manor.school
Mr Turner, Associate Assistant Principal
Competitions Week
The first competitions week of this academic year is taking place from Monday 11 to Friday 15 September. There are a number of opportunities for students to earn points for their house by entering the subject competitions outlined in the poster below. We are strongly encouraging all students to take part in as many competitions as possible.
Students will receive 5 enrichment points for every entry they submit, with these points going towards the overall house point totals.
We will be announcing subject winners and the winning house in a future edition of this newsletter.
FAQs
Can students go out of lesson if they have a double lesson?
Students will be allowed out at the lesson transition time only if they really need to go. Learning will continue - it is not to be used as a lesson break.
Why do students need to bring blazers into school on hot days?
It is vital for students to get into simple and absolutely fixed routines within school, where the process is itself a routine, i.e. what students wear and how. This frees up cognitive overload (the brain being unable to process more information as it is at capacity in the working memory) allowing students to be more open to learning and decision making. In addition, if the routine is established then there is no confusion, no need to add to communication and it prevents subgroups of students exerting influence over other students to get them to follow, actions which can lead to bullying.
Therefore, we insist on building those routines from day 1 and sticking to them. Students have been allowed to remove their blazer at any time during the day, except in assemblies. Assemblies are formal occasions, deserving the respect of formal attire and the room is air conditioned. Many students have chosen to continue to wear them despite the weather, at their discretion.
Why are staff in hi-vis?
Students must always feel safe in school. If you are a student moving around school and can clearly see several adults because they are wearing hi-vis then the students feel safe. They can, if needed, approach the nearest adult for support.
What should my child do if they feel unwell whilst at school?
Try and manage it in the lesson - sipping water often helps. If the problem persists or they feel worse and it is in lesson, tell the teacher. They will call a Senior Leader who will take them to Student Services to seek First Aid. If it is at break or lunch, your child should take themselves to Student Services. We will make informed decision about their wellbeing and where possible support your child to stay in school. We will contact you if we believe your child is so unwell that they need collecting to go home and to bed.
This FAQ section will be part of each newsletter. Should we receive lots of similar queries, we will address them through this forum rather than to individuals for efficiency and clarity.