Welcome to this week's newsletter
The week started with a very proud moment as a Principal. On Monday, I was privileged to see our students perform at the Royal Theatre in Northampton as part of the Silhouette Youth Theatre production of ‘Lord what fools these mortals be’, an original piece of theatre based on comedic scenes from some of Shakespeare’s best loved plays. As a Royal Shakespeare Company associate school, alongside Northampton Academy and Kingsthorpe College, we are lucky to get access to this wonderful opportunity. Being able to perform to a large audience in a professional theatre is a great chance to experience the fantastic world that drama and performing provide. Our students rose to the occasion and performed to the highest level, very much holding their own alongside high-quality performances from the other associate schools as well. A fabulous evening and an impressive performance. Thank you to all the students, staff, parents and carers who were supporting these great students at the Royal. The biggest thanks goes to Miss Downie and Miss Colyer who spent many hours in rehearsals, helping our students reach such great heights.
It was also brilliant to speak to Chris, one of our Head Students, about his experiences at the Derngate. Year 12 musicians were involved in the NMPAT Festival, which provided an opportunity to showcase their talents, once again, in a professional theatre. Thank you to Mrs Jarvis for supporting these students and raising their aspirations with their performance levels.
I have been able to see all students in assemblies this week, talking about dreams and ambitions. It is a positive reminder of what great students we have at Manor when I see students living and breathing the high standards that we expect of them. Walking into lessons this week, I have seen students who are supported and focused on their work, helping them complete challenging tasks that will develop them academically and socially. The feedback from Mr Currell from Raunds Park Infant School was very impressive. Our Sports Leaders supported with the Park Sports Day at St Peter's yesterday and they were a great example of our Manor core ideas. In our school we have students who are the embodiment of our three core ideas of Ready, Respectful, Responsible, and who are great examples of our REACH values. Well done to our Sports Leaders for leading the way and setting an example to younger members of our community.
Finally, I was able to spend a great evening at Kettering Park Hotel on Thursday with our outgoing Year 13 students at their prom. In over twenty years in education, I have seen students come and go from the schools I have worked in. These Year 13s will be a group I will always remember because they warmly welcomed me to Manor and they have always been reliable and helpful. To see so many staff give up their evening to celebrate with them should be a clear message to this cohort that they are valued and they will be missed. Thank you to the staff who attended and especially to Miss Collier for her work with the students and organising the evening. We will say our final goodbyes to these super students at their Leavers' Assembly on Monday, which will be an emotional day for many.
Take care in this hot weather but have a great weekend in the sunshine
Adam Crawte, Principal
Equipment
Back in February, we launched our Be Ready Bags, which include a whiteboard pen and mini-whiteboard as part of students' daily stationery.
The introduction of this has had a significant positive impact on the learning that takes place in the classroom. Students have been able to work more efficiently and participate in a greater variety of activities. In turn, teachers have been able to check for understanding throughout lessons and address misconceptions quickly. Thank you for your supporting your child to arrive to school prepared with the equipment they need.
Just as a reminder, a "Be Ready" bag should contain a:
- Mini whiteboard
- Whiteboard pen
- Black writing pen
- Pencil
- Ruler
- Scientific calculator (recommended - not currently compulsory)
We do insist on students having the A4-sized 'tuff bags' as they also store their timetable, reading book and powerful words vocabulary book.
If your child needs to replace their "Be Ready" stationery bag, they will be available for purchase (with equipment as listed above) via ArborPay for £2.50. This will be available for collection from the LRC as soon as payment is made. We are also pleased to inform you that individual items can also be purchased with cash. Please find a price list and visual below.
Thank you in advance for your support.
Staying safe
We want to remind all students, parents and carers about the importance of staying safe, especially when travelling to and from school. Please share the following with your child(ren).
If you are ever approached by someone you don’t know - especially if they ask you to go with them, offer you something, or make you feel uncomfortable - it is very important to:
- Stay calm and walk away confidently
- Never go anywhere with someone you don’t know, even if they seem friendly
- Do not accept gifts, food, or lifts from strangers
- Tell a trusted adult immediately, such as a parent, carer, teacher, or member of staff
- If you feel threatened or unsafe, call 999 straight away
Let’s look out for one another and keep our school community safe.
Year 10 and 12 trial exams
Year 10 and 12 students will be sitting trial exams in their subjects from Monday 23 June to Wednesday 2 July. The timetables can be found below.
Summer Concert
Tickets are now on sale for our Summer Concert on Tuesday 1 July. The event is an opportunity to see the range of brilliant musicians within our school performing a range of musical styles, from classical to pop, and as soloists or within ensembles.
Geography competition
Children's Geographies journal is running a competition to design a new logo or cover. The competition is open to all ages worldwide, with a special encouragement for children and young people to enter. Designs can be hand-drawn, crafted, or digital - just make sure it reflects the journal’s focus on children, young people, and geography.
Children’s Geographies is a peer-reviewed international journal exploring geographical and interdisciplinary research on children, youth, and families. It welcomes input from fields like sociology, anthropology, urban design, architecture and cultural geography.
They are looking for bold, simple, playful designs that represent children’s geography - think maps, nature, landmarks, and young people exploring the world.
- Deadline: 28 June 2025 (next Friday)
- Prizes: £100 (1st), £50 (2nd), £20 (3rd)
Winning designs may be further developed with the publisher, Taylor & Francis.
If your child would like to be entered into this competition, please inform them to hand in their entries to Mr Andrews or e-mail them to jandrews@manor.school
Sports news
KS3 hockey
On Monday 16 June we took a team of KS3 students to Wrenn for their first experience of playing a game of hockey. The students were fantastic and demonstrated all the school values, especially resilience in the scorching heat! The tournament was a friendly tournament purely about gaining experience, but the students would not be happy if we didn't mention score lines and scorers, so... in a closely contested game against Weavers it was 0-0 right until the final 30 seconds when a ball through saw Callum C in to take a last minute winner. Against Wrenn we won 4-0 with Oakley C scoring twice, Logan A scoring once and Callum C adding another. More importantly though all the students from the schools enjoyed themselves and this is a success in itself!
Well done to Henry S, Callum C, Kaiden P, Evan EL, Grayson T, Chloe N, Jack M, Ellis W, Oakley C, Logan A & Sofia M
Year 7 rounders
Ten Year 7 students competed on Wednesday 18 June at the district rounders tournament at Wrenn. Manor were in a pool with Sir Christopher Hatton and Rushden. Unfortunately, we lost both games but had some amazing hits from Tilly A and Sofia M scoring a rounder each. Our final match was against Wrenn, where we narrowly lost the game with only two rounders in it.
A well done goes to all of the Year 7 team for their first rounders tournament together - Tilly, Sofia, Emily T, Hannah M, Amia, Maria, Chloe, Kourtney, Amelia and Ettie.