16 September 2024 - Letter to Parents

06 September 2024

Dear Parents and Carers,

I hope that your child has settled in well and enjoyed their first week at school. We are really happy to see our students return; we have been busy planning another wonderful year of high-quality teaching and learning, brilliant pastoral support and lots of participation opportunities and it is great to have a full school once more. Welcome especially to our new Year 7 parents and carers! We were pleased to see improvements in our results this year, and to building further on these successes next year.

Timetables and Planners

We would like to remind parents and carers that your child has a two-week timetable. This week was Week A, next week is Week B, and this alternates throughout the term. To help you understand clearly which week it is across the school year, so that you can support in the important packing of bags for the right lessons on the right days, please see a ‘Week A or B’ timeline on our website, here: Orchard School - Calendar (orchardschoolbristol.co.uk)

Your child will receive a planner next week to help them with organisation, to record home learning, details of clubs and other important information. The planner must be brought into school every day. Unfortunately, there has been a slight delay at the firm that prints the planners, beyond our control, hence their introduction early next week. If you need to write a note for your child’s tutor or Pastoral Manager, we encourage you to use the planner, too. Just write your message on the right day and your child can pass it on directly.

Key Contacts

We sent out letters last Term with the names of the Heads of Year and Pastoral Managers so that you know who to contact first, should you need to. Below is a reminder of the staff responsible for each year group:

Year 7

Head of Year – Simon Davis

Pastoral Manager – Gary Scott-Mullen

Year 8

Head of Year – Jack Staynings

Pastoral Manager – Emily Bhakerd

Year 9

Head of Year – Fergus O’Donovan

Pastoral Manager – Debbie Murphy Piper

Year 10

Head of Year – Pete Hurran

Pastoral Manager – Beth Jones

Year 11

Head of Year – Khalid Naseem

Pastoral Manager – Tracey Pointing

Key Dates

There are some important dates to be aware of this term. From September we have Parent & Carer Information Evenings arranged for each year group. Please make sure you put these dates in your diary.

• Year 7 Parents Information Evening – Thursday 19 September 6.15 – 7.45pm

• Year 8 Parents Information Evening – Thursday 3 October 6.15 – 7.45pm

• Year 9 Parents Information Evening – Thursday 10 October 6.15 – 7.45pm

• Year 10 Parents Information Evening – Thursday 26 September 6.15 – 7.45pm

• Year 11 Parents Information Evening – Thursday 12 September 6.15 – 7.45pm

• Year 11 Exams Prep Information Evening – Tuesday 26 March 6.15 – 7.45pm

These special information evenings are a welcome to the year from school staff, and a presentation to give you an overview of the year, an understanding of the learning and academic assessments that are happening, the reports you will receive, opportunities for trips and visits, clubs and advice with managing the wellbeing and mental health of young people in this age group. Staff are on hand to answer questions afterwards, and ensure you feel confident with aspects such as home learning, access to laptops/resources, any support with free school meals or hardship fund applications. We look forward to seeing you. Please note that teachers are not present at these Information Evenings. The opportunity to find out about your child’s progress in each subject is at Parent Subject Consultation Evenings.

Parent Subject Consultation Evenings

The dates for these through the year are as follows:

• Year 7 Parent Subject Consultation Evening – Thursday 3 April 3.30 – 7pm

• Year 8 Parent Subject Consultation Evening – Thursday 5 December 3.30 – 7pm

• Year 9 Parent Subject Consultation Evening – Thursday 6 March 3.30 – 7pm

• Year 10 Parent Subject Consultation Evening – Thursday 14 November 3.30 – 7pm

• Year 11 Parent Subject Consultation Evening – Thursday 13 February 3.30 – 7pm

Please also note the following date:

• Year 9 Options Evening – Thursday 29 February 5 – 7pm

To help parents and children decide together which options subjects/GCSEs they might choose to take over the next two years in school. This is on the same date as the Subject Consultation, as we found this worked very well for parents this year.

Our Open Evening also runs on Wednesday 27 September 4pm-7pm. Please do come along if you have a child in Year 6. Staff will be on hand throughout the evening to update you with information on why Orchard really should be your school of choice. You do not need to book for this; please just come along and sign in at reception. You will be able to take a tour with some of our students, if you wish, or you may visit the faculties of your choice. If you have any accessibility requirements, please contact us in advance on 0117 377 2000 so that we can support you on arrival. Further details can be found on our website.

Teaching and Learning/Curriculum

We have begun our schemes of learning across all year groups and it has been a pleasure seeing how calm classrooms have been.
In most cases, departments will set homework at times which are appropriate to their individual class timetable. Homework will be signposted on Microsoft Teams and written in planners.

At KS3 homework will usually be set fortnightly.

At KS4 home learning will usually be set weekly.

The following faculties have specific days on which homework will be set:

Facilities

Over the summer, we have had a number of upgrades to facilities for students, and there are a number of planned works to further improve the buildings over the next term, too. We have a new bike shed for students, and a new Astro pitch, which is very exciting! Lots of classrooms have had new paint and carpets, and we are pleased that the MFL department are now back in the main building, following the refurbishment of the old primary wing. Their new classrooms look great!

Parking Outside School

May I remind parents and carers to be mindful of where you park if collecting children by car at the end of the day. Many of the streets around us are residential areas, and residents need to be able to enter and exit their properties without disruption. Furthermore, it is not safe for cars to park on pavements, causing children to walk on the roads. There is a public car park just past the school which is free to park in and just around the corner for children to walk to, should you wish to collect them by car.

The nursery next to us also needs clear access, so please do not park in the turning circle outside our gates or in the nursery car park. Many thanks for your understanding on this road safety matter.

Phones

During Term 6 we had a very successful launch of Yondr pouches, where students are required to lock their phones away in their pouches on arrival to school in the morning, and then in the afternoon unlock them on the way out of school. We re-launched this this week. Please remind your child that they must always have their pouches in their bags.

Behaviour for learning

We have updated our Behaviour for Learning policy with a view to supporting our learners to achieve the best outcomes possible. Here is a summary of the key changes:

Instead of an after-school detention escalation system of 30-60-90 minutes, detentions will now be escalated from 20-40-60-75 minutes.

If a student is late to school, arriving after 8.25 in the morning, they will sit a 10- minute break time detention in the assembly hall instead of an after-school detention. However, if the student fails to attend this detention at breaktime, the detention will move into the after-school escalation system.

If a student receives a corridor conduct sanction, they will sit a 20-minute detention after school instead of being placed into the Independent Study Room (ISR), to minimise disruption to learning time. Failure to attend this detention will result in an increase to 40 minutes’ detention the following day.

We know that the best place for students to be is in front of their expert teachers. Instead of staying in the Independent Study Room for 6 lessons if they receive a 4, students will sit in the Independent Study Room for 2 hours plus one social time (break time, lunch time or after school).

Our full Behaviour for Learning policy can be found on the school website. Please contact your child’s Pastoral Manager in the first instance if you have any further queries about the Behaviour for Learning approach at Orchard.

Attendance

It has been a really great start to term this week with great attendance across all year groups. We know that starts of the year are so important to good attendance across the year, so please do get in touch with your child’s pastoral manager if you have any questions or concerns, particularly in these early days- we are here to help.

As we head into the autumn term, it can sometimes be difficult to decide whether or not your child should come to school. It is important to remember that every day really matters; there is wide agreement among health professionals and educational professionals that school attendance is vital to the life chances of children and young people. Being in school improves health, wellbeing and socialisation. The greatest benefits come from children and young people attending school regularly, and we are here to support them. Please see further here advice from the NHS:

Is my child too ill for school? - NHS (www.nhs.uk)

Breakfast Club

For children who wish to have a free breakfast at school, we offer this service every morning and it is open to all. Students are welcome to arrive at the Student Reception between 7.50am and put their mobile phones in their Yondr pouches, then head to the main dining room for toast or porridge. On Fridays, there is also a free hot option of beans on toast or bacon/sausage rolls.

Community Events

New, free, adult learning courses are starting up this September, if you fancy developing cooking skills on a budget, or gardening. Go to the Lockleaze Neighbourhood Trust for more information.

The Lockleaze Neighbourhood Trust is also offering three free workshops for local men over the age of 18, run by Beyond Equality, exploring men’s issues, mental health and wellbeing. To learn more and express interest, see here.

Wishing you a lovely weekend.

With best wishes,

Mel Sweet, Headteacher