Welcome to this week's newsletter
The festive season has slowly begun to creep into Manor. Monday started with advent calendars appearing across the school and the LRC being decorated with paper chains made by our craft club. As the week progressed, we were delighted to host the Nene Education Trust Christmas Concert on Wednesday evening. It is always wonderful to welcome our partner schools to Manor to perform alongside our students. We welcomed students from seven other schools, including our close neighbours St Peter’s and Park Infants, as well as a school from Wellingborough. The standard of performance was fantastic, and the bravery shown by students performing in front of a room full of adults was brilliant. This was followed by even more of our students taking to the stage for the Manor Christmas Concert. The performances from all of the groups and soloists were incredible. It was also great to see our staff choir perform two numbers—giving the students a run for their money! Christmas is all about being together and supporting one another, and it is wonderful to see our Manor community demonstrating these values so clearly this week. As December continues, we will be holding more events to celebrate the festive season and support each other. These include Christmas Jumper Day and the Manor Christmas Fair, organised by our sixth formers. Both events will raise money for charity at a time of year that is as much about giving as it is about celebrating. Our sixth form students have also taken part in a careers curriculum day to help prepare them for the world of work. Year 13s took on the role of interviewers to support Year 12s with application and interview preparation. Getting ready for those next steps is so important, and helping young people feel confident in interviews and proud of their strengths is a key part of that journey. I hope you have a restful and relaxing weekend.
Adam Crawte, Principal
Half-price blazers
Our uniform provider, Karlsports, is currently offering blazers at half price, making them £16-£18.50 each. With the colder weather setting in, this is the perfect opportunity to grab one for your child to layer over their Manor-branded jumper. Click here to visit their website.
Archery taster session
On Wednesday 3 December, coaches from the Archers of Raunds came to Manor to offer an archery taster session for our students. Thirteen students attended the session and were taught the basics of the sport with many of them hitting the bullseye on the targets within their first few shots. They will be hosting two more sessions on Wednesday 10 and Wednesday 17 December, and there are still some spaces available if anybody else from Year 7 through to Year 13 would like to have a go.
Christmas paper chain
As mentioned in a previous newsletter, our craft club students were extremely busy in November making the longest paper chain they could in the space of one month. The completed paper chain is now hanging up in the LRC, stretching across the room multiple times. Well done to everyone who took part.
Alumni band concert
We’re thrilled to announce that Fallen Mavericks, a legendary band from Manor School, are returning for a special fundraising concert. This promises to be an unforgettable evening filled with incredible music, energy, and nostalgia. We can’t wait to welcome them back! The concert will be on the Thursday 18 December in the Main Hall at 7pm, and tickets can be purchased here.
Christmas at Manor School
There's lots going on at Manor over the next couple of weeks to help students get in the festive spirit. Please see the flyers below for information on what's on offer.
Sports results
Football
On a dreary wet and windy night, our Year 10 boys travelled to Kingsthorpe College for their County Cup match. The conditions made football difficult, with driving rain and a swirling wind affecting every pass and touch.
Kingsthorpe started strongly, and despite some determined defending, our boys found themselves 2–0 down after two quick attacks. Their response was outstanding however, with the team showing real fight, resilience and togetherness, refusing to let the game slip away.
The comeback was sparked by David H, who produced a brilliant finish to make it 2–1. Moments later, he struck again with another excellent goal, levelling the score and swinging the momentum firmly in our favour. Alongside him, Jacob M-W delivered yet another superb all-round performance, covering every blade of grass and driving the team forward at crucial moments.
With the game tied at full-time, the match moved into extra time. The boys continued to battle in the awful conditions, but a late Kingsthorpe strike proved decisive. Despite pushing hard right to the final whistle, the team were beaten 3–2.
It was not our night, but the effort, character and team spirit on display were exceptional. The boys left everything on the pitch and should be proud of their performance.
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Our U13 girls football team were also in action this week, and played their final two games of the league against Wollaston and Huxlow. While we wait for all the scores to be entered to find out where we finished in the table, it is an opportune time to thank all the girls who have played over the past four weeks as they have shown determination, commitment and sportsmanship throughout. We also need to give a special mention to Emily M and Harley F who have both given up their time to officiate our games, having done so professionally and drawing comments of praise from other staff members and spectators. Games cannot be played without officials, and to have these two students take on the role means the staff can focus on coaching their teams. In our first game against Wollaston the final score was a 2-0 loss, but despite only playing with eight players our girls fought well, clearing the ball and closing down shots. The first goal was a well-taken shot after a well paced through ball which then rebounded off Isabelle into the goal. The second goal was also a well struck shot that hit the inside of the cross bar and bounced just inside the goal line before bouncing out of the goal. Despite conceding two, this was a great game with us having our own opportunities in front of the goal too. Our second game versus Huxlow was more evenly matched and finished 1-1. Both sides moved the ball up the pitch and defended well, with both goalkeepers making some good saves. The deadlock was broken when Emily C managed to get the ball past the defender for an initial shot which was saved but parried back to her to finish on the second time of asking. Chloe P and Tilly A were also close to adding to the tally but couldn’t quite get it past the keeper. In the final few minutes, Huxlow equalised with another well timed run past our defensive line which saw their player one on one against Isabelle P. It would have been nice to finish with another win, but overall probably a fair result. The girls always ask who the player of the match is, but this is such a hard decision as all of the girls were brilliant so it is difficult to just choose one! It has been a pleasure to take the girls to their games each week, and both Miss Hustwait and Miss York are very proud of each of our players. See you all after Christmas for some more football!
Futsal
Our players delivered an outstanding showing at this year’s U15 futsal tournament this week, finishing top of their group after two excellent performances. Their attacking play was sharp and dynamic, with David H leading the line superbly and causing constant problems for opposition defences. At the other end of the court, Harrison B produced a series of strong, composed saves to keep the team firmly in control throughout the group stage. The boys progressed to a thrilling final, where they battled hard in a fast-paced, high-quality match. Despite their best efforts, they narrowly came up short, but the performance was full of determination, teamwork, and character. Every player should be incredibly proud of how they played and how they conducted themselves across the whole tournament. They represented their team brilliantly on and off the court.