Events coming up
8th June Geography Fieldwork 9th June Geography Fieldwork 9th June Bude Information Evening 10th – 12th June Ironbridge Residential 11th June This is Me Choir singing at Merceode Lodge Care Home 18th July NoadsFest – Early Bird tickets on sale now through Arbor
Message from the Leadership Team
Dear Noadswood families, A very warm welcome back to all to the final half term of this year – wow, how has that happened? But here we are, without the summer weather to inspire us that we had in the half term break, but nonetheless, there have been plenty of magic moments this week. Including the way everyone conducted themselves during the full-on storm that pounded us right across Monday lunchtime. Beautifully timed by whoever oversees the weather (!) – the students dealt well with it and didn’t take us into the realms of chaos, which is what we’d expect of our young people, but it’s good to acknowledge it when it happens. We make no apology for continuing to reiterate our collective applause for our Year 11 students on the excellent way they have returned to school. Many have now reached the midway point of their examination period and have demonstrated maturity, resilience and determination throughout, and maintained smiles and good cheer throughout. I don’t take that for granted at all. We are incredibly proud of their approach and would also like to thank all students who have made the most of the revision sessions, intervention opportunities and additional support offered by staff, including those who came in during the break. Across the school, there is already a great deal of important enrichment underway this half term with even more to come. Our thanks go to students and staff involved in a range of enriching experiences, including Geography fieldwork (again rather challenged by the weather, but everyone pulled together so well) and the History trip to Ironbridge, both of which will provide invaluable opportunities to bring learning to life and deepen students' understanding of their subjects. My three highlights of this week include a lovely Hot Choc sesh today with two Year 7s rewarded for their overall brilliant contribution to the school and the year group this year, one for their terrific work in Life Skills learning and then one year 8 student for their knockout History assessment in which Mr D’Arcy struggled to find one target to set, that’s how knockout it was. All four have very different stories to tell about their enthusiasms, interests, successes and next steps in life: they all shared so confidently and listened to each other with such respect. Absolute legends, all of them. One leaves us to move abroad with their family, one of whom will be serving in the military in Cyprus – we wish them all the very best for the future and thank them for their service, too. Yesterday, I also celebrated yet again with our talented jiuj itsu superstar, Alexis, now the British champion. Such success in the midst of her GCSEs, too!
My second highlight was working with my senior and junior This is Me Choirs this week. Undaunted by some sort of internet meltdown for a few minutes until I was helped by Mr Moody, one of our rescuers from IT, we practised for our upcoming visits to two local care homes: Merceode and Carpathia. We thank them for inviting us to connect with them through music and I am thankful, too, to so many talented and warm-hearted students. My third highlight, throughout the week, has been the way in which Year 7-10 students have adopted the new phase of our Digital Detox, with the expectation that the phones going into lockers now in place, and silent in the bottom of the bags no longer part of our expectations as our Year 11s leave. As you know, this is so that the Digital Detox is meaningful for all, which we believe in strongly. It is also to ensure that the corners of our site where people were previously using their phones 'in secret’ will now be safer. It’s genuinely the case that there has been less nonsense in and around toilets and fewer corners of the site feeling less safe with stealth use of the phones taken away as a preoccupation in people’s heads. Best wishes to you all for a happy weekend, and our thanks for your support, partnership and challenge, as always, Kathryn Marshall and the Noadswood Leadership Team
Safeguarding Advice
In light of recent accidents and incidents, it’s more important than ever to remind our young people about staying safe around water. Whether at the beach, rivers, lakes, or swimming pools, young people should always swim in supervised areas, follow local safety signs and avoid entering the water alone or under the influence of peer pressure. Strong currents, cold water, and hidden hazards can quickly turn a fun activity into a dangerous situation, even for confident swimmers. We encourage families to talk openly about water safety, ensure children understand their own limits, and reinforce the importance of looking out for one another.
Reassurance following a turbulent week in Southampton:
As you will no doubt know, there were incidents of unrest in Southampton earlier in the week, following such an incredibly sad and complex matter that has been widely covered in the news and on social media. We have been written to and asked to share with you from Hampshire County Council that ‘Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary, alongside partner agencies, continues to monitor the situation closely and is working in partnership with Hampshire County Council to help ensure that communities remain calm, safe, and well supported. The safety and wellbeing of children, young people, and families remains our highest priority. We are deeply saddened by the recent events affecting local communities, and our thoughts are with all those impacted.’ Here at Noadswood, we are also so saddened by it all, and understand that recent events may cause concern or prompt questions from young people. We will continue to provide a safe, calm, and supportive environment, we are happy to respond thoughtfully and sensitively to any questions anyone has, offering reassurance and guidance as appropriate. Do get in touch with your child’s Year Leader team if your child has been worried or impacted by these matters in any way and we can be of help.
Music
Over the past few weeks, I’ve had the privilege of seeing some of our student talent outside of the classroom in a variety of settings. In the world of musical theatre, I was blown away by Abbie Coats performing her role as Elsa in the Gantry Youth Theatre production of Frozen Jr. – from start to finish, it was wonderful to see one of our Noadswood students in a lead role absolutely nailing it. Though I wasn’t there to witness it, Abbie also participated in West End Calling, a national Musical Theatre competition with over 2000 contestants from across the UK. She first auditioned in January and got through to the regional heats, which had a live audience and a judging panel of West End performers - Abbie won the regional heat against approximately 24 other contestants in her age group. This then put her through to the semi-finals in London in early May, again with a live audience and judging panel of West End performers. She sadly didn’t make it through to the final; the level of talent she performed alongside was reportedly ‘incredible’, so she was really pleased to have got as far as she did. Back in the New Forest and Waterside, I managed to visit the Waterside Primary School Spring Fair to see Libby Bullivant-Holt and Hanna Gibbons perform as part of the afternoon entertainment – though I’ve been serenaded with many of their duets during their rehearsals after-school in the Music block, it was still refreshing to hear them alongside their solo sets. Whilst at the event, I learned that they had also entered a Battle of the Bands event for the Milford on Sea Music Festival. With four bands facing head-to-head with three songs of their choice, the winner will kick off the three-day festival. Though they weren’t crowned champions by the end of the (very loud) event after their fantastic performance, they have been offered a performance slot on the Saturday evening – if you wish to support our students, the event and the music scene in the New Forest, there’s a poster attached to this news entry with some more details! If there are ever any Performing Arts events students are involved in outside of Noadswood, please do tell us – we all love to celebrate their success wherever we can! - Mr Watkins