Newsletters

Weekly Bulletin - Issue 12 - Friday 4 December 2020

Issue 12 - Friday 4 December 2020

Dear Families

Since the last bulletin we have had one suspected and three confirmed cases of Covid-19 in the school community.  We have followed the advice from Public Health England in regard to staff and pupils.  
 
Please can we remind families that:
  1. If anyone in a household displays symptoms, everyone in the household must isolate until there is a negative test result received or it is the end of the isolation period.
     
  2. Pupils should not be sent into school if they show any of the following symptoms: high temperature, a new persistent cough, loss of taste or smell or if they are generally unwell
     
  3. If you are notified of a positive Covid test result within your household outside normal school hours, please send a text with the name of the pupil, which member of the household has the positive result and the isolation period directed by the NHS to 07851 254 246
Build

For those of you who have been logging onto our Eye in the Sky to see the progress of the building work you will have seen the following work in progress: the excavation of footings; the pouring of foundations; the installation of a crane and a mobile elevated working platform to enable the erection of the steel frame of the building.

Assembly 

This week's assembly celebrated the hard work and achievements of pupils who have attained externally accredited certification.  Pupils from Year 11 to Year 14 had an enormous range of certificates presented to them, including AQA Unit Awards, Entry Level Certificates, Functional Skills Certificates  and GCSE's.   Well done everyone, we are so proud of you!

Best wishes for the weekend.

Mrs Rigby
Head Teacher


Exams Certificates

As mentioned above, exams and accreditation certificates from last year were presented to pupils in Year 11-14 in this week's assembly.   Packs containing colour photocopies of those certificates will be will be sent home next week for you to keep.  Original exams certificates are kept in the Record of Achievement file in school and presented to the pupil when they leave.

Well done everyone !

Mrs Norris - Exams Officer


Racist Language

Unfortunately, some people may occasionally use racist language.  This may be for a variety of reasons: 

  • to cause offence 
  • to state something factually 
  • misunderstanding of language 

We want our entire Meadow High community to be anti-racist and addressing such issues as they arise.  The Ambitious about Autism website gives some great ideas for explaining racism. One of the key points is about being anti-racist. "Many people are non-racist. Go one step further and be anti-racist." This means being active in your response to racism and speaking out against racial injustice.  Set an example for your child or young person about how to appropriately stand up against racism."  

One of the key areas in addressing racist language is recognising intent.  Does the young person know that what they are saying is offensive?  It may be as simple as saying "that comment might hurt someone's feelings" or "someone might be offended by that word" and taking the time to explain why, in a way that the young person will understand.  This may be a one off chat or over several conversations.  Where appropriate, explanations and implications of using such language may be explored further. 

These conversations can be difficult!  Both the adult and the young person may feel uneasy - but that isn't a reason to not have the conversation.  We are mindful as a school that we don't just teach about black history for one month a year, we aim to continue to educate about different cultures, celebrate prominent people and listen to students' questions and queries throughout all lessons over the academic year.  We appreciate your support on this important matter and welcome any positive contributions you may have. 

Please see the Ambitious About Autism website link, which has some key areas of advice too: https://www.ambitiousaboutautism.org.uk/what-we-do/awareness/inclusion/race-and-racism/explaining-racism   

Miss M Taylor
Assistant Headteacher - Sixth Form


Pathway 1 Parents 

Please keep a lookout in your emails for the invite to the date requested for Pathway 1s Virtual pantomime.

Miss Bonnar
Pathway 1 Faculty Lead


Christmas Lunches

Monday 14th December for 6th Form & Pathway 1

(Classes VL, DL, IJ, MS, TW, CC, DH, CM, JE, SM, LD, MP, JR, YA)

Year 13 students - As Year 13 students don't usually attend school on a Monday, they have the option to come into school for Christmas lunch at 12.30pm on Monday 14th December.  If they would like to come they would be very welcome to stay for lunch and for the afternoon's tutor group activities

Tuesday 15th December for Years 7-11

(Classes 7CH, 7NC, 7CB, 8LB, 8FM, 9MN, 9MC, 9MK, 10JT, 10BA, 11CL, 11ZK, 11AM)

Letters have gone home this week, please return reply-slips by Thursday 10th December. 

Payment must be made via your child’s ParentPay account.  If you need help to activate your child’s account, please contact school reception.

On the day that your child is not having Christmas lunch, please provide your child with a healthy packed lunch.  The school will not be providing alternative lunch arrangements, unless your child is entitled to a free school meal, where they will be provided with a packed lunch (please indicate on the reply-slip).


Youtube:  Meadow High School Hello - NEWSFLASH!

       

   Introducing The Christmas Collection

 

Storytelling at Christmas - New Stories to share!

It’s story-time again as we head towards the Christmas holiday.  Meadow High School staff have been thinking about their favourite seasonal stories and recorded some new videos for you to enjoy.

We will be posting new videos on our youtube channel every Friday between now and the end of term.

The kind staff who will be reading are:

Miss Lennon
Mrs. Tudor
Mr. Brady
Miss Barratt
Miss Richards
Mrs. Rigby
Mr. Hornal
Miss Willis
Miss Bonnar

 

... and there is a message from someone very special who just happened to call by at the end of the day to ask who has made good choices this year ... and then stayed to record a short video for you - look out this Friday for that!

 

 

 

I will be starting us off with two signed stories this Friday  – who will it be next week? ... keep watching to find out!

We hope you enjoy the stories – if you get a chance, have a go at storytelling yourself too!  Practise using your storyteller’s voice or maybe write a brand new timeless tale.

 

 

Mrs. Sugden [on behalf of the Storytelling at Christmas team]
English & Communication Faculty Leader

This Week's Christmas/Winter Stories on
Meadow High School Hello Youtube are:

 

  • Mr. Noisy and the Silent Night - signed story (Mrs Sugden)

  • The Grinch Who Stole Christmas - signed story (Mrs Sugden)

    and

  • A Message from Father Christmas !

 


Christmas Card Competition

Limited Number Available To Purchase

We're delighted to announce that Sammy in 7CH and Mia in 6DH won our competition to design a Christmas card.  The cards are being printed and all pupils will be able to write them to friends, carers and family, courtesy of Friends of Meadow.

The standard of entries was very high and we'd like to also give a mention to 
Erin (6DL), Lacey (6DL), Daisy (11ZK), Lucas (11ZK), Zane (SM), Ben (11ZK) and Iqra (9MC) for their highly commended artwork.

Father Christmas paid a visit to the school grotto so we took the opportunity to get a snap for a card too!  These are our card designs:

...and those that nearly made it...

We've printed a few spares for sale.  An order form should be coming home via the school bag and is also available as a printable PDF below if you'd like a pack of these fantastic cards.

Christmas Card Order Form

All the best,

John Goodbody
Secretary, Friends of Meadow


https://www.giveasyoulive.com/


Food Bank Donations

Thank you so much for the donations for the food bank.  If you would still like to make a donation, please send in items which your child can place in the collection trolley in the Reception foyer.

Food will be taken to the Food Bank on
Friday 11th December. 

Please see below for a list of suggested items to donate.

Many thanks

Miss Nolan - Faculty Lead - Maths


REMINDER

Friday 11 December is
Christmas Jumper Day
 

Wear any jumper or non uniform
for a voluntary donation of £1.00.  

Donations are going to the Calvert Trust this year.

 


UPCOMING EVENTS

Friday 11 December 2020 - Christmas Jumper Day.

Monday 14 December 2020 - Pathway 1 and Sixth Form Christmas Lunch

Tuesday 15 December 2020 - Year 7-11 Christmas Lunch

Friday 18 December 2020 - Big Breakfast

Friday 18 December 2020 - Last day of term (2pm finish)

19 December 2020 - 3 January 2021 -  SCHOOL HOLIDAY

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

SPRING TERM:

Monday 4 January 2021 - Back to school 

18 January 2021 - School Photographer 

Wednesday 10 February 2021 - Annual Review Day - School CLOSED to pupils

Week 15-19 February 2021 - HALF TERM

 

To view the school calendar visit the website NEWS/CALENDAR

LETTERS HOME

Letter to Whole School re: Christmas Lunches

Letter to Whole School re: Big Breakfast

Letter to Sixth Form pupils re Sixth Form Christmas party

Letter to Pathway 1 pupils re: Pathway 1 Pantomime

Letter to Class MP re. Life Skills Audit   plus Life Skills Questionnaire

SCHOOL LUNCHES

Monday 7 December - Friday 11 December 2020

WEEK 3 - Autumn / Winter Menu 2020

Here is a printable pdf version of the menu


E-Safety Focus

There are a lot of games, apps and websites which our children can access online. The National Online Safety website aims to provide information to help parents keep up to date with what is available and help keep children safer on line.   We will share some of the tips from National Online Safety each week.   More E-Safety information and tips can be found on the school website PARENTS / E-SAFETY


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