Canbury School Newsletter 10th may 2024. ISSUE 333

Dear Families, Friends, Students and Staff.

It's all been happening this week at Canbury, I hardly know where to begin.

Year 10 GCSE photography students enjoyed an educational visit to London yesterday to an art gallery or two and a stroll along the South Bank. Pictures below show them at work and admiring the view from Westminster. As a keen photographer I'm looking forward to seeing the fruits of their labour.

As the Year 10s headed off out, the Year 11 Leavers breakfast was taking place in the Maths room. Where usually you would hear the click of calculators and the sound of students working on their algebra, there was chatter, laughter, croissants, fruit and juice, not to mention the ceremonial signing of school shirts. Staff and students mingled, shared memories, looked excitedly to the future and generally agreed time waits for no one.

Today we welcomed in our Y7 cohort for September. They had a busy day, from getting to know you exercises and team building tasks, to a PSHE lesson and also a PE one. We see these tiny ones arriving at our door, and then, like the Year 11s and Year 13s who departed for study leave yesterday, as they enter the full public exam season, half of them are taller than us! Where does the time go?!

I am delighted to share with you the details of the charity we are raising money for at the annual Canbury school sponsored walk this year. The walk takes place on Friday 24th May (and not during half term as incorrectly stated last week!). The take home message is that we are supporting Kingston Bereavement Support, a local charity which provides free counselling, advice and support to children in the Kingston borough facing the death of a family member or friend. Further details below.

All that remains for me to say is enjoy the weekend and that lovely sunshine.

Mrs Rich – Head.

Upcoming dates for your diary.

Friday 24th May: Whole School Sponsored Walk.

Monday 27th - Friday 31st May: Half-term break.

Students of the week.

Year 7

Alex, for being supportive of his classmates by waiting quietly and listening carefully during group conversations! Way to go Alex!

Excellent memory and use of geographical terminology from Jerusha this week.

Congratulations to Alfie for his work on his RS project ‘Judaism’.

Excellent hard work in Maths from Alex, Danai, Olivia, Tristan, Oliver and Sofia B identifying the theoretical probabilities of a variety of different events.

Olivia for a great 800m in Games on Thursday.

Fantastic Friday Maths lesson for Eloise.

Year 8

Issy for completing her first 800m race - well done!!

Carl for his focused listening and contributions to class discussion in the Wellbeing lesson last week.

Well done Marley who successfully tackled a difficult text in his Literacy session.

Congratulations to Mason for winning the Gold “Quite Good at this Maths Lark” trophy and Theo for winning the silver “I like points” trophy on Dr Frost Maths this week.

Great work on gradients from Lysander, Eric, Marley, Alfie and Isla this week and on intercepts from Nico, Ryan and Remi whilst working on linear algebraic graphs. Amazing effort all round.

Excellent resilience shown by Carl, Issy and Harry in working hard and following instructions to complete their mobile Tappy Tap App in ICT. Well done!

Well done Lysander for being so helpful in assisting Remi completing his app in ICT. A great example of living one of our school values - being supportive.

Alfie for great running in the 800m and then throwing a fantastic 8.04m in the shot put.

Year 9

Well done to Finn for doing extremely well in Maths this week.

Congratulations to Bethany, Layla, Sam, Sophie, Evan, Lloyd and Theo for exceeding their Year 9 target grades on the recent Angles, Pythagoras and Trigonometry Maths Unit Test.

Bethany again - thank you so much for being very helpful in ICT and working with a pupil to make sure they understood the task.

Alfie deserves congratulating for the excellent way he has settled into Maths in his first week at Canbury, achieving a silver “Cucumber of Consistency” trophy on Dr Frost Maths.

Theo for using some excellent vocabulary at times this week.

Rory - showing huge determination to complete his 800m race again. Thank you everyone who cheered him on down the home straight!

Well done to Bethany for helping Rory to make progress creating his Tappy Tap App in ICT. That's another student living the school value of being supportive.

Evan and Lloyd for pushing one another all the way in the 800m race.

Year 10

Congratulations to Josh for exceeding his Year 10 target in the recent Maths test on Linear Equations, Inequalities and Graphs.

Matt, Hugo, William and Judah for creating an excellent case study to use in their GCSE Geography course.

Well done to Matt for showing resilience and a great attitude to learning, always completing his Business Studies homework and catching up on anything he misses.

Well done to Hugo, Matt and Josh for their continued enthusiasm and excellent classroom debates/discussions in Business.

Morgan for throwing a super 18m in the javelin in Games.

Hugo for winning his 400m heat in a very respectable time of 1:10m.

Year 11

Congratulations to Angus, Layla and Rose for winning the “My Teacher is Cool” trophy on Dr Frost Maths this week.

Well done to Layla, Katya, Chloe, Freddie, Lucas, Thomas and Angus for sitting their ICT Theory exams this week.

Sixth Form

Well done to Ellie for sitting her ICT Theory exam this week.

Altogether now - ahhhhh!

A lovely breakfast was enjoyed by the Year 11 and Sixth Form leavers. As always it was a jolly affair.

The sun has (finally) got his hat on - hip hip hip hooray!

We didn't need telling twice to get out into the sunshine this week, getting Vitamin D, study AND rest & relaxation done all in one!

Rest and play in the same day. That's the way to do it.

Sport round up.

At last - some brilliant weather for athletics. Whilst Morgan perfected his javelin technique, Ethan (left) and Logan (right) gave the high jump their best. Well done everyone.

In-coming Year 7s enjoy a day with us.

As detailed above, we gave our in-coming year 7s a lovely morning today as they spent time getting to know us and our ways. Here they are having a PE lesson, following their team work in a social skills session. So far so good students - we're looking forward to welcoming you back in September, it will be here before you know it!

Year 10s head to the centre of the capital.

It was a hot one when Year 10 photography students headed into London on Thursday. Mr Brinkmanis and Ms Starnowski did their best to keep students in the shade and well-hydrated as they worked on their coursework. Bravo team, you did a great job.

What a day for it!

Canbury School Sponsored walk - and who we're raising money for this year.

There's an added buzz in the air here at school and Mr Barnes has been cited cleaning his walking boots - which can only mean one thing - the Canbury School sponsored walk is nearly upon us! We're so excited at the prospect of a whole day out and about, enjoying the fresh air, picnicking in the park and spending time with our friends out of the classroom that we can barely concentrate.

Last year's walkers, who were sponsored a mind-blowing £2,300 to put their best feet forward. Let's try and beat that total this year.

The annual Canbury School sponsored walk is ALWAYS without fail, a joyous day and we know this year will be no different. The walk takes place on Friday 24th May, the day before we break for the May half term. Our chosen charity who we will be raising funds for is Kingston Bereavement Support, and specifically, it's 'Saying Goodbye' project.

Saying goodbye to a loved one is always hard, but when you are a child or young person, it's even harder. This tiny charity gives free counselling, information and advice to children coping with the death of a family member or close friend. Please join us on the day, or donate, or even better, do both! Thank you, and come on Canbury! We're going to raise a small fortune for a magnificent cause.

Here is the link to Kingston Bereavement Support's Saying Goodbye project.

Here is the link to our fundraising page. Thank you everyone.

Roll up roll up for the Summer Garden Party.

Please join us for the annual Summer Garden Party on Wednesday 26th June from 17:30-20:00. Ticket price: £16.50 per person (incl. BBQ Hog Roast and Salad Bar, Vegetarian and Vegan options are available).

A google form has been sent home. Please complete to confirm your attendance by Friday 7th June. If you haven't received the form do contact reception@canburyschool.co.uk and we will re-send to you.

In addition, we are looking for help. Please donate tombola prizes along with books, games, homemade produce incl. baked goods and jams. Please hand any donations or tombola prizes to Reception.

Bullying - never a good idea.

Kooth.com - what did your child learn from the (anti) bullying workshop?

Our thanks to Cassim Kaweesa from Kooth.com who came into school on Tuesday (following a hideous car journey because of the train strike) and ran a workshop on bullying for our Year 7 and 8 students. When we say ran a workshop on bullying, we really mean, on why bullying is a bad idea and not at all a Canbury value. Here is some of the feedback we got from our students:

  • It was nice to know what other people might be dealing with at home and to respect that.
  • It was very informative.
  • It was very interesting to hear other people’s stories.
  • We got to learn about other people’s stories, but we also got to talk about other fun things. It was good to know that, no matter how people present themselves on the outside, we might not know what’s going on inside.
  • We got pens that had a useful address printed on them, to a website where we can talk about things.
  • The speaker was kind.

Navigating the exam season - break it down.

If exam nerves are getting the better of your child (or indeed you, as their support team) then head over to this handy website which gives helpful tips, advice and suggestions on navigating what can be a tricky time. From planning regular snack and fresh air breaks, to breaking down revision into manageable chunks and also, sometimes, putting ALL the books away, this website may prove just the lifesaver you're looking for!

Calling all Year 10s, calling all Year 10s.....

Woo hoo! It's that time of year - the Duke Of Edinburgh Award season is upon us. Mr McGregor says please would parents and carers keep a look out for an email from school with all the details. We have been running the Duke of Edinburgh Award at Canbury for some years now, and Mr McGregor can guarantee that whatever happens, everyone will return to base exhausted, possibly wet, probably hungry, extremely dirty - and saying it was actually brilliant and they loved it, even if they DID moan along the way! Bring it on Year 10. You're going to have a ball!

And finally.......

FREE FUN! SEE YOU THERE.