Our Manor 15-19 April 2024

Welcome to this week's newsletter

Dear families,

Welcome back to school for the summer term - sunny skies are on their way. Today the countdown is at D-minus 13. This means there are 13 days until the first exam of the summer series for Year 11 and 13 (2 May). For many parents/carers and students alike, this is a time of high challenge and acute nervousness. At Manor we teach students that they can control the outcome through preparation, planning and applying self-discipline to stick to those plans. Please encourage and support this message with any young person in your sphere of influence to help them successfully progress through this exciting time.

In addition to supporting the students academically and emotionally through this time, we also make some whole-school changes specifically for their benefit. These include removing the bells so that the students' concentration is not disrupted during any exam. In addition, we change the times of the school day so that everyone has an earlier lunch (between periods 3 and 4). This means that Year 11 get an opportunity to eat and start to digest their lunch prior to their afternoon exam and the rest of the school are back in afternoon lessons before the exams begin, ensuring there is no external noise which could disturb. Most exams take place in the Sports Hall, LRC and some areas of the Wellness Centre, therefore those rooms and the areas around them will be out of bounds during break and lunchtimes for the next 6 weeks and will have 'silence' signs up to show when exams are taking place. We would appreciate any conversations you could have with your child at home to explain why we have made these changes and make them aware of the reason and expectation of the silence signs around school.

I am also really pleased to share some great parental news about the success of one of our students outside of school. Laura V in Year 9 has not only represented England in an international Taekwon-Do tournament but also won gold and silver medals. We are so proud of you!

As summer approaches I am also reminded about the opportunities our students have to use their feedback to help us make our school even better. We were asked by students last year to consider a smart tailored dark grey short as acceptable wear for the summer months. As we approach the summer month of May, it is time to revisit this request and find a way to make it possible. Please look out for the student plans for this in next week’s newsletter.

Dr Newman and the Manor School family

Summer exam season

There are two significant changes to the school day and operations to ensure that the summer exam season for Year 11 and 13 students can be successful.

These changes take place from Thursday 2 May and run until Friday 21 June.

The timings of the school day will change to the following schedule:

  • Mornings will run as usual
  • Lunch will begin at 12:30
  • Period 4 begins at 13:10, followed by period 5 at 14:15

The start and end time of the day is not affected.

For the exams to take place, some areas of the school will be used daily which affects the rooms other students use and the routes around school. Please remind your child that the following rooms are used for exams during this period and they should not enter these areas, as well as being mindful of the noise level around these rooms:

  • Sports Hall
  • LRC
  • 40B/40C
  • Some exams in individual Wellness rooms/office spaces

In particular, the LRC will be closed for the duration of the exam period. Sixth Form Supervised Study will move to the Sixth Form Centre and sessions that are normally in the Sixth Form Centre will move to the Restaurant.

Music performances

The music department would like to say well done to the musicians involved in Little Big Band, String Ensemble, Vocal Trio and State of Mind, who over a few weekends in March performed brilliantly as part of the regional Music For Youth competition. All students had worked extremely hard in preparation for their performance and they were extremely successful, receiving wonderful feedback from the mentors.

Our Music Spring Showcase is back again this year, with many students being involved in the concert to showcase their musical talents. It is being held on Tuesday 23 April at 6pm and tickets are available to buy here.

Our Performing Arts department have been working really hard on preparing our performance of Matilda Jr: The Musical. This will be performed on Wednesday 1 and Thursday 2 May at 6pm each night. Tickets are available to buy here.

Student sport success

Congratulations to Laura V in Year 9 for her success at the Rotterdam Taekwon-Do Cup on Sunday 14 April. Laura competed as part of the Global Taekwon-Do UK England team, winning both a gold and silver medal. Well done!

Rewards event

Our termly rewards event was held on Monday 16 April. The 25 students with the most REACH & Enrichment points from each year group were invited to the main hall in the afternoon to watch a film, with cake and a drink provided.

Congratulations to all students who made it onto the guest list for the event.

Careers newsletter

The South East Midlands Careers Hub have produced a career newsletter for families with information and advice to help support your child in seeking opportunities.

Year 10 Tassomai sessions

This term, Year 10 are going to be focusing on science. During tutor times, students will be accessing science Litebite sessions recorded by our Director of Science, Mr Turner, covering key basic knowledge. In addition, students will be rotating around the computer rooms to access Tassomai or complete questions relating to the Litebite sessions.

There will also be an after-school session for students to come along and use the computer to complete Tassomai. The hours will count towards your child’s weekly science homework and towards a Year 10 science competition with a REACH prize for the most time completed. This will not only benefit students to gain subject knowledge but will also prepare them for after-school sessions in the future as they move towards Year 11. The sessions will be on Tuesdays after school starting from 23 April, meeting in the LRC. Please encourage your child to come along to this - it would be lovely to see as many Year 10s there as possible.

Miss Bishop, Year 10 Progress Leader

Extra-curricular timetable

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Upcoming Raunds events

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Dates for your diary