As always Year 7 had a very busy and exciting week! As we approach the end of our first full term together, we are enjoying celebrating lots of successes and achievements. Next Thursday we will have our special Achievement Assembly to ensure many students receive the praise they deserve as well as enjoying lots of chocolate goodies that will be up for grabs!
Many Year 7 students continue to participate in rehearsals for the school production ‘We Will Rock You!’, an amazing opportunity to meet new friends and like-minded students from other year groups. Both Miss Barker and I have enjoyed popping down to see you in action and we cannot wait to watch you in the completed show next year. I hope we can have front row seats!
In our FAB Friday assembly this week, we have a new winning tutor set with 7.12 taking the Tutor Champion top spot! A massive well done, with nearly 1000 credits this week. Similarly, we want to say a special mention to the many students who have now received their bronze awards. To get the bronze award students have to earn 400 credits, such a big achievement, we are excited to see who now aims for the silver award of 600 credits. Keep it up Year 7.
If you haven't already sent in your MFL choice, please make sure this is done as soon as possible. The languages department will be organising classes over the next week to make sure they're ready for January, so your input is crucial.
Finally, a special mention to Taran C who always attends Geography Extended Study. This week he made the amazing Geography themed snakes and ladders (see photo). What a star!
Next week we have:
Well done Year 7!
Head of Year 7: Miss B Marshall
Assistant Head of Year 7: Miss H Barker
This week Year 8 have checked out their credits and attendance with tutors on Monday. Tuesday, we had an inspirational assembly from Mr Mordue explaining that not every day is perfect, however working together with the staff around them students can ultimately have a huge impact on what tomorrow could look like if they are prepared to put the work in. Some key questions were asked to get the students think about their own role in their education. On Well-Being Wednesday students watched a video from Prince Harry on the stigma round mental health support and where they can go for support, Thursday was Christmas Jumper Day and it was great to see so many festive jumpers hopefully we have raised lots of money for charity and as always, we finished the week with Fab Friday.
Students are still bringing items in for the reverse advent calendar and tutors have had to get bigger boxes due to everyone's kindness. Year 11 are launching another collection on Friday to collect for unwanted clothes as well so, students may come home and discuss this ready to bring items in for the run up to Christmas
Good luck to the cross-country team running at Berry Hill on Saturday, hopefully the weather is slightly milder!
The week beginning the Monday 9th January, Year 8s will be doing their Maths assessment which will be held in test conditions but in the classroom supervised by their teacher. They will be assessed on the first 4 topics taught since they have been in Year 8 - Arithmetical operations with negatives and decimals, Linear equations with unknowns on both sides, Parallel, alternate and corresponding plus Sets and unions. In depth information about these topics can be found on Complete Maths. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact your child's Maths teacher.
Head of Year 8: Mr D Mordue
Assistant Head of Year 8: Miss L Jordan
Well done Year 9! We’ve seen lots of fantastic work in lessons this week. In Maths students in 9T1 completed work on ‘Tesselations’. Students showed resilience when completing complex challenges. It was great to see students having the confidence to complete each challenge and students worked hard throughout the lesson. In Food Technology, students have been showing focus and creativity when decorating Christmas cakes. Students enjoyed completing this practical challenge and it was good to see a variety of designs!
During tutor time this week students have continued to reflect on the 9.1 reports, with a focus on Home Learning. This was another positive morning with students celebrating their home learning scores, and also setting targets to further develop home learning over the next term. We also shared ‘top tips’ to support students with home learning. On Thursday morning students read an extract from the book ‘I am Malala’ before discussing key themes from the extract. Our year group assembly this week focussed on supporting others and being kind at Christmas. On Friday morning, we enjoyed our Fab Friday celebrations. Well done to the following students who were recognised this week:
Positive Behaviour Points:
Home learning:
Attendance prize draw:
Well done to the following students who have achieved ‘Bronze Award’ for achieving 400 positive points this half term:
It was fantastic to see so many Year 9 students wearing Christmas jumpers on Friday morning. Thank you to all students who donated £1 for ‘Save the Children’. It was good to see students donating to this charity, even if they chose to not wear a Christmas jumper, thank you. Thank you also to students and families who have donated to our food bank appeal. Monday is the last day to make a donation and thank you for the donations you have made so far.
Next week we have our end of term Achievement Assembly on Wednesday morning and a Christmas Assembly on Friday, delivered by the Senior Leadership Team. There are lots of celebrations next week and we look forward to sharing this with you in next weeks bulletin!
The week beginning Monday 9th January, Year 9s will be doing their Maths assessment which will be held in test conditions but in the classroom supervised by their teacher. They will be assessed on the first 4 topics taught since they have been in Year 9 - Arithmetic with fractions, Expressions and formulae, Angles and polygons plus Sample spaces to calculate theoretical probabilities. In depth information about these topics can be found on Complete Maths. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact your child's Maths teacher.
Well done Year 9!
Head of Year 9: Miss I Sheldon
Assistant Head of Year 9: Miss A Lloyd
This week during Active Tutoring students have reflected on their contributions to the Reverse Advent Calendar (bringing in donations for the local foodbank), their PRIDE points and attendance as well as their group reading on Thursday morning. Please ask your child about the book they have been reading and their thoughts on the storyline so far. 'We were liars' by E Lockhart has received critical acclaim and won the Goodreads Choice Award for Best Young Adult Fiction. Also, in our Head of Year Teams bulletin on Tuesday, the following students were recognised, through winning the raffle, for their fantastic attitude to learning record: Christopher D, Annabelle F and Evie F.
In assembly this morning we invited students to think about their idols and encouraged them to reflect on the perfectly curated image we may get sold on social media, which may not be the full story! Using Andrew Tate (a well-known person on Tik Tok as an example), we reminded students to be mindful of who we look up to and that having 'inner conflict' about their heroes is to be expected; especially when we're exposed to information we hadn't considered before.
Finally, a big well done to the following students who are climbing steadily up the PRIDE points and should be winning their Bronze Award in the new year: Beth H, Joe R, Evie S, Chloe C, Harry J, Lucas P, Eva H and Sydney C. Fantastic effort!
Head of Year 10: Mrs L Munro
Assistant Head of Year 10: Miss C Thomas
We have reached the penultimate week of the first term of Year 11 and our year group have worked so hard throughout! Our students have continued to have and incredibly busy time, with this week both the MFL speaking exams and the Art exams having taken place.
Year 11 have also been given their school reports, on stickers in their planners so that they can reflect on these. Please ask them to show you these so you know how they're getting along.
On Monday 5th December 2022, 35 of our Year 11 Citizenship students visited the Palace of Westminster and the Supreme Court - a trip that was very enjoyable for all. The students had the opportunity to visit the two-house chambers and the court room, the centre of the nation's constitution.
Monday 12th December is the final day for donations to come in to school for the Reverse Advent Calendar. A huge thank you for everything that has been sent in so far.
On Tuesday 17th January 2023, our annual Careers Fair will be running to provide students with an opportunity to speak with potential Colleges, Universities, employers and apprenticeships. This will be a valuable opportunity to further inform your son/daughter on their options for post-16 and post-18.
You can sign up here: https://www.toothillschool.co.uk/forms/careers_2023.php
Finally, a quick reminder that the Toot Hill college deadline is the Friday 13th January 2023 and we look forward to receiving applications from Year 11
Head of Year 11: Miss L Hughes
Year 11 Achievement Leader: Mr R Wickens
We have been challenging students to try a new book for December. The Learning Lounge shelves contain a treasure trove of books to be newly discovered, ranging from brand new books which have been recently added to stock to brilliant well-loved classics. What could be better on a cold winter’s night than to be curled up with a book to take you on new adventures?
Some of our students have been busy making snowflakes to decorate our Christmas book display; they have made so many fantastic designs that we now have a blizzard on the library windows.
DofE Stars of the Week
There are plenty of volunteering, physical and skill activities going on this week! Congratulations to Oliver A, Niamh B and Hannah W from the Bronze Award, and Madelief J, Chloe N, Emma P and Molly P from the Silver Award, all of whom have uploaded all of their activities to eDofE. Well done!
Photos of the Week
Our students are engaged in some fantastic volunteering activities in their local communities. Molly P is volunteering for her local church and has been busy supporting at services, fundraising and organizing coffee mornings. Elliot P is helping to make Sconse and Devon Park a more pleasant environment for local people by volunteering for an hour a week. There is some fabulous cooking taking place too - here are Amber C's salted caramel florentines and Alfie E's colourful evening meal. Well done everyone.
DofE Ambassadors & the Young Leaders Award
Year 9's are invited to apply to become a DofE Ambassador this coming week and the deadline for submitting their application is Friday 16th December 2022 - application forms will be brought round to tutor sets next week. The six Year 10's who applied to become a DofE Young Leader have their interviews on Tuesday and the two successful applicants will be revealed by the end of term.
Useful DofE Links
Click for Ideas for Skill, Physical & Volunteering Activities, DofE Activity Log and DofE Assessor Report
Dates for Your Diary
FAQ's – see www.toothillschool.co.uk/dofe
Mr Tinsley
mtinsley@toothillschool.co.uk
Toot Hill School
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