Our Manor 2-6 December 2024

Welcome to this week's newsletter

It has been another full and productive week at Manor. On Monday I was able to see our Year 8 and 9 girls football team come close to beating Moulton School in a cup match. They narrowly lost on penalties, which was a shame because all the players gave their all for the full match, fighting back from a goal down and competing to the final whistle, led by Miss Hustwait. The equalising goal for Manor was a superb long-range effort that matched the effort put in by the team. The match was officiated by some of our sixth form students and the team was supported by other students and members of the PE department. These types of events show our community working together for the benefit of others, which was inspiring to see.

Thursday night saw the Manor Christmas Concert taking place, in which we were treated to a festival of music. Mrs Jarvis, Miss Downie and Miss Bishop were responsible for this production, and it was great to see a range of talented musicians on display from all year groups. We were treated to a range of vocal performances, instrumental soloists and duets, as well as our Year 11 band State of Mind, who played some classics and one of their own songs. As well as the talent on display, there was a great sense of support and teamwork which made the evening go smoothly. Once again, this was a proud evening as principal and I was impressed by the commitment and skill shown by the students involved.

As we head into December, I am reminding all parents, carers and students of the importance of regular school attendance, especially as we head into the dark winter months and minor illnesses start to creep in.

Unwell vs unfit

It is important to draw a distinction between a child being unwell and a child being unfit for school. Medical advice is clear that children with a mild illness will often be well enough to attend - for example, if they have a cough or cold etc. In other words, this may mean a child should attend school even if they are feeling unwell.

Moments matter

We know that students who have poor attendance at school eventually fall behind their friends and classmates. Children who do not attend school regularly struggle, not only in the classroom but also with friendships. We believe that our community is stronger together, with all of our students in school, on time, every day. We are building life skills and life-long friendships but in order to do this, students need to be in school.

Finally, if you are trying to contact a member of staff, please use the 'Contact' link on the school website for the most efficient means. This will send your email to the relevant member of staff, but also to an email box that is regularly checked by a group of staff who will know more about your child and will be able to respond to you in a timely manner. Unless it is an emergency, this is the quickest way of getting a response. If it is an attendance issue or appointment you are contacting us about, the attendance team can be reached by calling the main school number (01933 623921) and selecting the attendance option from the list.

Please avoid calling or coming to the school as our reception staff will only be able to forward you query to the relevant email box, which can be done via the website. Avoid contacting the school by phone or in person, unless it is an emergency which requires an immediate response from a member of staff. Teaching staff are uncontactable during the day due to teaching commitments, SLT members are supporting staff and students around school, and reception staff have administration tasks that they have to deal with, so they are unable to deal with non-emergencies. The website contact form is the best way of getting your query addressed in a timely manner.

Have a great weekend, despite the poor weather that is forecast.

Adam Crawte, Interim Principal

Christmas at Manor

Send a Christmas card

Students are able to send a Christmas card to their friends via our in-school festive postal service. See the image below for details.

Christmas hamper appeal

Christmas Jumper Day, Thursday 12 December

Students are invited to wear a Christmas jumper in replacement of their school blazer in return for a donation to Save the Children. Full uniform is expected alongside their Christmas jumper. This is not a mufti day - students not wearing a Christmas jumper are expected in full uniform.

There will be prizes awarded for the most outrageous Christmas jumpers.

Donations can be made on the gate or via our JustGiving page.

Christmas Fair, Tuesday 17 December, 4-6pm

Our sixth form students have organised a Christmas Fair to raise funds for the Air Ambulance and Kelly's Heroes charities. The event is free to attend and is cash only (a token exchange system will be used to pay for items and activities). All are welcome to attend - Christmas jumpers encouraged!

Christmas lunch, Wednesday 18 and Thursday 19 December

Our catering team will be putting on a fabulous festive meal during the last week of term. Please see the poster below for the menu. You can book Christmas lunch for your child(ren) by filling in this form.

Lost property

Any items of lost property need to be collected from the LRC before the end of Friday 20 December. There is currently a large quantity of items that have not been claimed by students.

Anything left in the lost property collection after this deadline will either be donated to our ready room or disposed of.

Year 9 vaccinations

The School Aged Immunisation Service will be visiting Manor School on Monday 24 February to deliver the 3-in-1 teenage booster and meningitis vaccinations to Year 9 students.

Please complete the e-consent form linked to in the below information letter - the link will close at 8am on the day of the session.

My School Fund

My School Fund is an exciting new initiative where you can earn e-gift cards for both you and your selected school when you shop at Sainsbury's and Argos.

For full details, please see below or visit the My School Fund website.

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Sports news

Congratulations to our Year 7 and Year 8 basketball teams who have both qualified for the district finals at Weavers Academy on Thursday 12 December. We'll share with you the results in next week's newsletter.

Well done to our Year 9 and KS4 netball teams who completed their district league games last term. We can now confirm that our Year 9 team finished fourth in their league, and the KS4 team finished sixth. Thank you to all students who played and continued to show a committed and mature approach to performing in a competitive environment.

The U17 boys football team progressed nicely into the next round of the county cup with a 4-2 win against Latimer Arts College. With all but one of our players being in Year 11 and going up against a team with mostly Year 12 players, this was a very impressive win. The team now has two wins out of two in the cup competition and we look forward to hearing who we are playing away against in the next round.

Well done also to our U15 boys football team who won their district league and will now have a play-off final against Hatton Academy next May.

On Monday 2 December our U14 girls played in the county cup quarter final against Moulton. It was a hard fought contest with the game finishing 1-1 at full time, so then it was on to the dreaded penalties. A number of the girls volunteered to take a penalty but unfortunately we lost 3-2 which ends our cup run. The girls have played some fantastic football though and should be really proud of their efforts. Well done to Poppie E, Darcie B, Olivia M, Amelie B, Isla R, Kimberly L, Erin U, Mia B, Lillie K, Lexi Y, Maisy B, and especially to Summer S who scored our goal during the game, and Emily M who was voted player of the match by the opposition for her composure and grit in goal. We look ahead now to the U15 girls football district league which will take place after February half term.

We are still waiting for the information related to the U13 girls football district league but as soon as we have this we will share our final placing.

Finally, a big well done goes out to our sports leaders who have once again been in action and provided assistance with the sportshall athletics competition held at Manor last week. We have received a message from the PE lead from Denfield Park Primary School who commented that our leaders were "very helpful and polite, and their timing was impeccable".

Extra-curricular timetable

Please be aware that there will be no Design Technology after-school clubs taking place during the last week of term.

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Dates for your diary

House points

Credits:

Created with an image by sulit.photos - "Closeup of shoulder of a vaccinated young Asian girl with adhesive bandage in thumbs up. Young people, children and kids vaccination for covid-19 vaccine."