13 February 2026 - Letter to Parents

13th February 2026

Dear Parents and Carers,

We have had a great week at Orchard School, with some exciting events happening. Our students returned from a fantastic, if a bit wet, trip to Rome where many of the city’s incredible sights were seen and much walking was completed! We have had some good sporting results this week as well, including a fantastic Year 9 Boys’ football performance.

Our Year 10s have been having a great week on work experience and we look forward to seeing how they all got on after half term. Thursday saw us hosting an author visit from Ashely Hickson-Lovence and, on the same day, our Year 9 reading group attended Bristol Teen Book Award Finals at Redland Green.

The week after half term, we have an exciting term ahead including trips to Paris and a Year 9 activity centre residential. Year 11 will be receiving help and support in terms of revision and study skills in advance of their exams and Years 7-10 will be gearing up for their own important summer exams.

Key Dates

There are some important dates to be aware of this term. Please make sure you put these dates in your diary.

Year 10 Mock Exam Information Evening – Wednesday 20th May 6-7pm   

Parent Subject Consultation Evenings

The dates for these through the year are as follows:

Year 7 Parent Subject Consultation Evening – Thursday 23rd April 3.30 – 7pm  

Year 9 Parent Subject Consultation Evening – Thursday 19th March 3.30 – 7pm  

Please also note the following date: 

Year 9 Options Evening – Thursday 26th February 6 – 7.30pm  

To help parents and children decide together which options subjects/GCSEs they might choose to take over the next two years in school.  

A reminder also that school breaks up for the half term break today, 13th February. Students return to school on Tuesday 24th February as Monday 23rd is an INSET (training) day for staff.

Teaching and Learning/Curriculum

We have worked with our Faculty leaders to ensure that we collate the key information for each term. We are pleased to share this with you on our website, so you can quiz your child on what they have learnt. Quizzing is a simple strategy that really helps improve your child’s memory. The link for these knowledge quizzes is Orchard School - Exams, Assessment and Reporting under the tab ‘knowledge retrieval’.

Clubs – Term 4

Here’s a look at the brilliant range of clubs coming up next term: Orchard School - Clubs and Enrichment Please do encourage your child to get involved. We know that attending clubs is good not only for children’s physical wellbeing, but also their mental health as they help them to develop social, teamwork and leadership skills.

Sustainability and the Canteen

We are pleased to share an important update about our continued commitment to sustainability at Orchard School. From after the February Half Term, we will be introducing several changes to our canteen to further reduce waste, lessen our environmental impact and reinforce the correct student expectations for eating responsibly and respectfully in our dining spaces. Teaching our students these crucial life lessons is an essential part of our extended curriculum. Many of our students are in support of our drive to further reduce our Carbon Footprint and our Eco-Leaders, I’m sure, will be in support of these changes.

Removable of bottled water – these will be no longer be available to purchase or part of the meal deal; we will be using water jugs and recyclable paper cups, with fresh water, which students will be free to help themselves to or fill up their own bottles.

Reintroduction of plates, cutlery and trays – replacing some of the disposable items to significantly cut down on our waste.

Fizzy Drinks – a reminder that we have, for several years, been a fizzy-drink free school. Therefore, Radnor Splash will now replace the fizzy version in our canteen to support our Healthy School’s initiative. These must be purchased separately and do not form part of the meal deal.

These changes support our whole-school approach to promoting responsible, environmentally conscious habits. Students will still have access to fresh drinking water throughout the day via the water fountains around school and bottle fillers in the dining hall. Our catering staff is fully prepared to support the transition.
Thank you for your ongoing support as we work to improve our sustainability and reduce single-use plastics across the school. Questions about this can be directed to sbm@orchard.tila.school.

A reminder that students should bring a water bottle to school each day that they can refill at our bottle filling stations and that food must be consumed in the canteen only and rubbish/recyclables placed in appropriate bins. We thank you for reminding your child of these expectations around keeping our school environment tidy.

Attendance

Well done to 7W1, 8W1 and 8W2 for topping the attendance leaderboard last week. All are Wisley tutor groups, too, which will help Wisley students with their race to win the House Cup! Look out for your termly attendance report from us today. It details your child’s attendance so far this academic year, and it gives a breakdown of their attendance each day of the week. If you notice any patterns, please discuss this with your child. Please get in touch if we can help at all.

Belonging

We continue to celebrate LGBTQ+ history month with lunchtime clubs and activities, tutor notice slides, and a treasure hunt. All participation is awarded with House points.

This week, we have been trialling playing some music as students arrive on site in the mornings, in order to boost their mood and add to our warm welcome routines. Research shows that listening to music boosts wellbeing, and we have enjoyed students showing interest in Ms Fields’ song choices!

Behaviour Update – New ISR Room
Within every lesson and tutor time we have a 4-point system as part of our Behaviour for Learning policy:

Start with a 2

All students enter the classroom on point “2” which indicates Good behaviour, as we expect all of our students to be at least “good” in each lesson.

Gain a 1

If students perform exceptionally well all lesson, then the teacher will award a “1” – a celebration of their hard work and effort, brilliant contributions or dedication. 1s add up to House Points, certificates and further rewards.

Warning = 3

If students do not follow one of the rules, a warning is given by the classroom teacher. This is called a “3”.

Second incident = 4 Should the disruptive behaviour continue, a “4” is issued. The student is removed from their classroom to spend two hours and a social time. Here, the student is supervised to complete their work independently and parents or carers are informed.

Our Independent Study Room (ISR) allows students to silently:

Work away from the main class after a disruption

Reflect and reset in a supervised, structured environment

Continue learning rather than being sent home

From the first day back after half term, the ISR room will be moving to another part of the school, to the current classroom ‘G6’. Many students, particularly those with sensory sensitivities, attention difficulties, or anxiety will benefit from more space, less noise and ultimately a more inclusive space. We will carefully prepare students for this through communications with staff, and through tutor notices and additional support for pupils with SEND where appropriate.

Safeguarding

School is closed to all staff throughout the school holidays and staff will not see e-mails or messages, so therefore if support is needed for young people in the break, please use these services instead:

-999 in an emergency

-101 for non-urgent contact with emergency services

-111 for non-urgent health matters

-First Response (https://www.bristol.gov.uk/residents/social-care-and-health/children-and-families/concerns-about-a-child)

-Call the Samaritans – 116123

-Off the Record (www.otrbristol.org.uk) - mental health services

-Yuno at Brook (www.brook.org.uk) - sexual health services

-Call ‘Mind’ on 03001233393 – mental health charity

-Call Childline on 08001111

Whisper reports will be picked up by staff on the return to school after the holiday and should not be used for any urgent safeguarding matters nor to resolve community matters – please contact the appropriate service as above and keep us informed of any issues when school re-opens to pupils on 24th February 2026.

Parenting Workshops

The Pastoral and SEMH teams are planning to provide some workshops for parents covering a range of topics such as: Supporting your child with sleep and eating, anxiety, behaviour, emotional regulation, online safety, attendance and mental health.

If you would be interested in accessing these workshops, please could you fill in the form below to give us an idea of demand. Parent/carer workshops  – Prefilled form

Science Character Competition

We are thrilled to announce our latest faculty-based Character Competition, and this time it’s being run by the Science team, who would like students in Years 7-10 to enter by:

Identifying a science-based solution to a real school issue from one of the following:

Tackling litter or food waste

High water usage

Lack of biodiversity on school grounds

Students must look at 4 factors:

Problem identification (with phones or data if possible)

Scientific explanation (Physics, Biology, Chemistry or Environmental Science)

Proposed solution (model, diagram or prototype using household items)

Impact assessment (cost, feasibility, benefits to the school)

Students should submit either a short video of no more than 2 minutes, or a written report, Powerpoint presentation or a poster to charactercompetition@orchard.tila.school by Friday 20th March.

The prize is amazing! Students will be taken on a trip to WWT Slimbridge Wetlands Centre https://www.wwt.org.uk/wetland-centres/slimbridge/experience where students will have a chance to watch otters being fed, toast marshmallows and make S’mores, build dens, look at the resident amphibians in Toad Hall, and make a bug hotel or bird feeder to take away with them.

Community Events

You Are Not Alone is holding their next online drop-in on Tuesday 3rd March, 7pm- 8.30pm. These sessions offer support to parents and carers of young people with Austism, Autism traits and PDA. Please visit their website for further details.

A great, inclusive opportunity has arisen for students with additional needs to join Thornbury Town FC’s pan-ability football team. They are inviting players to join who may struggle with a mainstream team due to physical or social barriers. See the flyer below for details:

 With best wishes,

 Mel Sweet, Headteacher