Dear Parents and Carers

It was a great pleasure this week to have spent the day with the students on their Devon residential trip.  It was my first experience of a trip with Meadow High School, and it was great to see the students engaging fully with the archery, climbing, crate stacking and lake activities they were involved in.  Trips such as these are so important for young people as they develop valuable life skills, character and resilience.  I am already looking forward to spending some time with students on the other residential in Woburn later this term.

Back in school we had a number of activities going on and visitors to our school.  On Wednesday and Friday this week we welcomed our new intake into school for a range of taster activities.  This was the second of these events we have held, and they will place the students in good stead ahead of September.  We also had a visit from HS2, who provided a workshop and information session for our students.  This event was a valuable part of our careers and vocational programme.  

As we move into the new term, I would like to reiterate to parents the importance of excellent attendance at school.  It is important that all students thrive to attend for over 95% of the time, as there is a direct correlation between this figure and outcomes in education and securing next steps.  We are hopefully now past the season of flu, colds and seasonal illnesses, so it would be great to see student individual and collective attendance improve.  We are reiterating this message to students in school, but please can parents reiterate the importance of excellent attendance and punctuality at home.

Finally, for this edition I would like to share with you some student successes.  Over the last two weeks, we have had students representing the school at football at Under 14 and Under 16 level.  They have been participating in a number of tournaments, and they have been successful, winning the majority of their matches, whilst demonstrating incredible sporting values.  This week also saw a number of our students achieve recognition in the annual Jack Petchey Awards.  I am proud of all of them and I hope they enjoyed their success.

Jack Petchey Award Winners:

Zack (10ZK)
Basith (8CS)
George (6MS)
Benjamin (KB)
Oscar (6AP)
Samia (IM)
Lilly (11MK)
Neev (9AA)
Zack (6RL)
Kaytlin (6KB)

Leader Award - Mr Baker 

I wish you all an enjoyable week ahead.

Kind regards
Mr G Cunningham
Headteacher

HPV Immunisations
Parent / Carer Information Coffee Morning Wednesday 29 April

Dear Parent\Carer

It is time for year 8's HPV immunisations. I have arranged a coffee morning on Wednesday 29th April at 10am and invited a member of the vaccination team to come along. If you have any questions and want more information about the vaccine, they will be able to help.

If you are interested in coming, please come to reception and somebody will meet you there.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Rita Reed Welfare officer.

Kind regards,
Rita Reed
Welfare Officer

We are running a competition in school, and your child has the chance to WIN a £5 gift voucher to spend at our Scholastic Book Fair, which will be in the Library from Monday 27th April till Friday 8th May!

If your child wins, they will have a huge selection of BRAND NEW books to choose from, as well as stationery, diaries and sensory kits.

Your child needs to use their imagination to create a brand new character from their favourite story or book. They will complete this in school with their form class.

Your child should think about:

• What does their new character look like?
• Does their new character have any special skills?
• Are they human, or a different kind of creature?
• Do they eat or drink anything unusual?
• Are they a good character or an evil character?
• What do they do with the other characters in the story?

Entries should be given to the Librarian by Friday 1st May. Winners will be announced the following week!

GOOD LUCK and we look forward to seeing you at the Scholastic Book Fair!

Miss S Gaafar & Mrs S Kennedy                                   Mrs A Sugden
Librarians (Supporting and Delivering Learning)  English & Communication
                                                                                             Faculty Leader

Attendance Winners !

Our Attendance Competition between classes has commenced, in which the class with the highest fortnightly attendance is awarded with the Attendance Trophy.

Well done to class HA and all of our pupils who are doing their best to be in school every day!

If your child is suffering from sickness or other NHS-advised illnesses, we support their need to stay at home and recover. Please refer to https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/is-my-child-too-ill-for-school/ if in doubt, and rest assured that our Welfare Team will assess your child and contact you if we consider them too unwell to be in school.

Being around teachers and friends in a school environment is the best way for pupils to learn and reach their potential. Time in school also keeps children safe and provides access to extra-curricular opportunities and pastoral care. Every moment in school counts. For example, a child who is absent for three days over half a term could miss 18 hours of learning. The higher a pupil’s attendance, the more they are likely to learn and build their social skills, ready for a more successful future.

It’s important that we work together as a community to support the attendance of all our pupils and we continue to welcome your communication if there is anything you would like to discuss regarding this. In the first instance, please speak to your child’s Form Tutor or contact Miss Kelliher: attendance@meadowhighschool.org

Pathway 1
Key Stage 4 Whipsnade Zoo Trip 

We had a really lovely day at Whipsnade Zoo. The pupils were very excited and enjoyed seeing all the animals, especially the giraffes, elephants and lions.

It was great to see them using what we have been learning in Science. Some pupils were able to name animal groups like mammals and reptiles, and talk about what animals eat. They also spoke about what animals need to survive, such as food, water and shelter.

We are really proud of the pupils. It was a long day, but they tried their best, stayed calm and kept going. Many pupils also did well using their words to communicate what they needed.

Pupil voice:

• “I like giraffes because they eat leaves.” Isa
• “Lions are carnivores… they eat… ME!”  Rupinder 
   
• “This is in the fish group because it has scales and fins and it lives in water.” Mohamed
   
• “Mrs Majidi, the elephant is eating leaves… it is a carnivore!” Daniel
   
• “Tigers have hair, they are mammals.” Naeem
   
• “Penguins are my favourite animal. They have feathers and a beak, they are birds. Mrs Majidi why are they very smelly?” Jack
   
• “I love the zoo” Kayden

Thank you to all staff for your support on the trip. It was a great day for everyone.

Mrs S Majidi
Teacher

Upcoming Events

Useful Information

Term Dates for 2025/2026 - Issue 3 

Term Dates for 2026/2027 (Next School Year)

Calendar & Key Dates - Updated October 2025