Our Manor 20-24 November 2023

Computational thinking challenge

Over the last fortnight, 464 of our students took part in the Bebras Computation Thinking Challenge. This is an annual competition run in conjunction with Oxford University that allows students to extend their logical problem-solving skills.

The Bebras Challenge is organised in over 60 countries and designed to get students all over the world excited about computing. This year alone 408,339 students took part in the UK, and over 3 million worldwide, making it the largest computer science competition in the world.

The problems that the students have to solve are not easy and require them to access wordy questions before applying the information they have to the scenario. The final mark is out of 135, with questions ranked by difficulty.

We are incredibly proud of all who took part for their curiosity, aspiration and, of course, for their resilience. We will have the final results by Monday 27 November, and will invite those who reached the top 10% in the UK to take part in the second round of the challenge in the near future.

Why not try one of the questions they may have faced? I have included a challenge as an example.

Student illness and attendance

As we approach winter, there is an increased chance that your child may become ill. We know that sometimes our students cannot come to school because they are really unwell - and that's the right thing to do for them and other students. Medical advice is clear however that children with mild illness will often be well enough to attend - for example if they have a cough, or cold, without a temperature. The NHS guidance Is my child too ill for school? is designed to support parents/carers in their decision making about mild illness.

We would also like to remind parents/carers of the procedure concerning students feeling ill whilst at school. Students should first try too manage it in the lesson - sipping water often helps. If the problem persists or they feel worse and it is in lesson, they should 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 an 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. We would encourage parents/carers to discuss this process with your child and ask you not to simply arrive at school to collect them unless we have made contact with you.

If you would like to speak to a member of the attendance team regarding any attendance concerns, please email attendance@manor.school.

Sixth form applications

Thank you to everyone who attended our Sixth Form Open Evening last Thursday. If you couldn't make the event, please email ccollier@manor.school for a copy of the information provided during the talk, as well as asking any questions you may have.

Applications for the sixth form are now open. Students are encouraged to keep their options open, make informed choices and also apply to our sixth form alongside other applications. Students do not receive an automatic place at the Manor sixth form - they must apply.

The deadline for applications is Friday 12 January 2024. Click here for the application form.

Loughborough University trip

On Wednesday 15 November, we had the pleasure of taking 31 of our Year 12 students to Loughborough University for a tour around the campus and the sports facilities, with the Elephant Group also attending an Elephant Access launch event.

Students were inspired by their visit to this top university where they learnt about the path to university, university life, how to choose subjects, and what they what they can do between now and completing sixth form in order to stand a good chance of receiving an offer from a top university.

We are now looking forward to a conference in the spring, as well as working with different universities between now and the next Curriculum Day in February.

Elephant Group conference

A reminder that an online conference for parents/carers of students in the Elephant Group is taking place 6-7pm on Monday 27 November. Please see the flyer below for the Zoom meeting link and passcode.

Medical careers advice

Applications for a free NHS virtual work experience programme are now open to all students aged 14 years and above. Please click the following link for details.

We also have a biomedical scientist from Kettering General Hospital coming into school on Wednesday 6 December to deliver a careers talk. Any students in Years 11-13 who are interested need to email Miss Smedley on lsmedley@manor.school if they would like to attend.

Online safety

The UK Safer Internet Centre have produced the following privacy and safety checklists for two of the most popular social media apps.