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Orchard School Bristol

  • 24 January 2025 - Letter to Parents

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    Dear Parents and Carers,

     

    I hope that you’ve had a great week. Last week, our best attended club was Dungeons and Dragons, followed by Make and Munch Club (our lunchtime craft club) and then after school football. It was great to see so many students participating in our extra-curricular offers. In assembly, we have been focusing on our school value of what it means to be ‘determined’ and we have also been busy planning for Mental Health Awareness Week, which takes place during the week of 3rd February. You can find out more about this below. Science staff are hosting a STEM Day on Tuesday 28th January with 60 Year 7 and 8 students, which they are looking forward to, and 30 Year 9 and 10 students will be taking part in the UKMT Intermediate Maths Challenge during P5 on Wednesday 29th January. It’s going to be a great week! Finally, attendance to the Year 11 mock examinations was generally excellent, but this week we have been carrying out mop-up sessions for those who were poorly last week, ahead of the release of their results on 13th February at their Parent Subject Consultation Evening.

    Year 11 Exams Prep Information Evening – Wednesday 26th March 6.15 – 7.45pm

    Parent Subject Consultation Evenings 

    The dates for these through the year are as follows: 

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

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

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

    Please also note the following date: 

    Year 9 Options Evening – Thursday 27th 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.

     

    Inclusive Teaching & Learning

    As a Teaching Staff, we have been focusing on making our lessons as inclusive as possible for our students. This week in assemblies, we have been sharing 3 strategies that teachers are using to help all students access learning. They are:
    Chunking – breaking new knowledge down in to smaller chunks to stop overwhelm

    Diagrams – using diagrams alongside words to help students understand new concepts

    Visualisers – these are like mini-webcams that teachers use to model to students how to answer questions. The picture is projected on to the board.

    We have chosen these strategies after reading research about how to support all students, especially students with SEND.

     

    Easter Revision – Hold the Dates!

    We are scheduling Year 11 Easter revision for the first week of the Easter holidays (7th – 11th April). Please keep this week free from any holidays so your child can attend booster sessions for their GCSE exams. Further details about the sessions will follow in the next few weeks.

    Mental Health Awareness Week

    Orchard School will be taking part in Children's Mental Health Week on the 3rd-7th of February.

    The theme for the week is "Know Yourself, Grow Yourself". The Grove team and the student wellbeing ambassadors will be supporting students to recognise, understand and manage their own feelings and emotions. We will be doing this by using the "Zones of Regulation".

    On Friday 7th February at break time, students will be encouraged to visit four tables dotted around the school that represent the four zones of regulation. SEMH practitioners and student wellbeing ambassadors will be at each table providing strategies and tools on how to manage emotions in each zone. Students can complete a toolbox worksheet and when completed will receive House Points. 

    Attendance 

    There has been a slight drop in attendance this week across Years 8, 9 and 10. Students who miss school find catching up extremely difficult, so attending every day makes a massive difference to students’ achievement. As well as that, important information is given out every day in tutor – this week Year 9 have had information on options, for example, and we don’t want them to miss out. We do understand if your child is ill, but if it’s a sniffle, and they’re generally well enough to be out and about, please just send them in. We’ll look after them and contact you if need be.

    Just a reminder, too, that all students should be in school by 8.20am. We’re looking forward to the reward trip at the end of term for pupils who have shown great punctuality and attendance.

    Attendance and punctuality are the first steps to success

    Attendance winners this week

    Overall winner: Year 7

    Best House: Butterfield

    Best tutor groups: 7A2, 8W1, 9W2, 10W2 and 11D2

    Attendance to Work Experience

    We are now only a few weeks away from our year 10 students going out on their Work Experience placements. These take place during the week of 10th February – 14th February. This is a reminder to all parents of Year 10 that if a student is unwell during the WEX week, that you should still phone school as normal to alert us of any absence. Please also contact the student’s placement to let them know not to expect them.

    Safeguarding

    Raising Safe Surfers: A Guide to Protecting Kids Online is a free booklet that aims to educate and empower parents, caregivers, and educators to keep children safe while they navigate the digital world. The booklet addresses topics such as cyberbullying, online predators and internet addiction, providing practical strategies for parents to keep their kids safe online. The booklet can be obtained as a free Kindle eBook via Amazon here.

    Community Events

    Bristol Tea and Tech drop-ins

    North Bristol Advice Centre (NBAC)’s popular digital outreach service continues with new locations across north Bristol from February 2025. Bristol Tea and Tech drop-ins are held in community spaces across north Bristol and offer support to older people to develop digital skills and confidence to get connected, and do what matters to them online.

    A new six-week drop-in will take place at the Westbury-on-Trym Methodist Church. NBAC’s weekly digital drop-in in Lockleaze continues to run every Tuesday morning, from 10:30am to 12.30pm.

    For more information, contact Nicola on nicola@northbristoladvice.org.uk or 07936 943583.

    Rock Choir is offering free taster sessions at local venues. Click here to book onto one evening at BAWA!

    Have a lovely weekend.

     

    Kind regards,

     

    Mel Sweet, Headteacher