We hope you and your families enjoyed a relaxing and enjoyable Easter holiday. We have returned to school last week at full speed in Year 7 with so many activities and engaging lessons to visit. This week in English, students have started to look at their study of poetry and in Science they have discussed their health (physical, mental and social health). In Maths, there have been many focused faces as student study at the use of protractors and pie charts!
In sports, the Year 7 football team have been working hard in their training sessions ahead of their Semi-Final in the South Notts cup against Arnold Hill. Wishing the team lots of luck ahead of this match and hope they make it to the Final! Students have also swapped activities in Games with students excitedly trying their new sports and activities. In addition, we are hoping that students can benefit from the warmer, brighter weather as we open the field at lunch times in the coming weeks!
We were so impressed by the huge number of students winning prizes and gaining multiple certificates in our Achievement Assembly before the Easter holidays. So many students are now collecting their silver and bronze badges and are wearing these proudly on their green blazers! Well done! If your child has not yet received their badge, and thinks they have enough credits, please encourage them to pop to the Year Office to collect their badge.
We have another busy term ahead, separately nicely by two Bank holiday Mondays, we will soon be at May half term and on our final push of the summer term and the countdown to the summer holidays. We can't believe how quickly Year 7 are flying through their first year at Toot Hill. We are so incredibly proud of the students, their hard work and the amazing and kind young people they are developing into.
Head of Year 7: Miss B Marshall
Assistant Head of Year 7: Miss H Barker
It was great to welcome all students back last week after what was hopefully a restful Easter break. Miss Jordan did an assembly on Monday via Teams to chat through the half term ahead. This was followed on Tuesday by an assembly in the concert hall with Dr Eardley who went over expectations of uniform and conduct so that school is calm place to learn.
Well-being Wednesday covered how to stay active and healthy which is the theme of this half term in general. Students were really knowledgeable with regards to how they can access activities and the benefits of staying active. Afterwards there was time for Newsround which obviously covered topical news from across the world including the situation in Sudan and an interview with Jamie Oliver regarding his new stories for children.
Thursday students read a brand-new fantasy extract and answered questions on the content as we continue to try and raise reading levels and engage students with reading.
Tuesday saw over 100 students travel to the Holocaust Centre in Newark to meet a Holocaust survivor. Feedback from the trip was amazing and all students dealt with such a harrowing theme in a mature fashion. Special mention to Joe who asked the survivor a lot of questions and showed his historical knowledge.
Head of Year 8: Mr D Mordue
Assistant Head of Year 8: Miss L Jordan
It has been fantastic to welcome our Year 9 students back to school last week. Well done to the year group for achieving 3,606 positive points this week. This is a positive start to the half term and it has been great to see students engaged and working hard in lessons. In Design and Technology students have started a new topic where they are focusing on a design brief and specification. In Food Technology students have also started focusing on ‘Food Provenance’ where they completed a theory lesson, learning new content which will be applied throughout the half term. In Geography students have learnt about the impacts of climate change on the UK, where they analysed a key text as a class.
During tutor time last week, we have focused on reminding students of our standards and expectations, whilst also prioritising time for wellbeing and reading. On Monday morning we shared key information about the half term ahead and reminded students of our learning routines. On Tuesday our wellbeing focus included ‘time to talk’ and on Thursday students enjoyed reading as a tutor group.
This week our Personal Development lesson focused on Parliamentary Democracy, where students learnt about what is meant by ‘Democracy’ and also what is parliament. Students have made a good start to this topic and tutors were pleased with engagement in the lesson.
We also enjoyed our first fab Friday of the half term on Friday morning.
We are continuing to see many Year 9 students achieve the Bronze, Silver and Gold awards for their positive behaviour points.
We are delighted to share that we now have a new award for students to achieve. The ‘Platinum Award’ is worth 1100 Positive Points. We are very proud to share that we have two of our Year 9 students who have achieved this award.
Our Extended Study provision starts on Monday. There are lots of opportunities for students to be involved in our Enrichment opportunities and we look forward to seeing our Year 9 students attending sessions.
Well done Year 9, it has been great seeing you back this week and well done for a great start to Half Term 5!
Head of Year 9: Miss I Sheldon
Assistant Head of Year 9: Miss A Lloyd
It was lovely to welcome all our students back from their Easter break this week to commence their final term of Year 10. There's lots to look forward to this half term with new activities offered during extended study, our Duke of Edinburgh practice expeditions, various enrichment activities and school trips and Parents Evening.
On Tuesday, 15 students visited the Electrical Engineering department at Nottingham College to find out about the Level 1-3 Electrical Engineering courses they offer. We were really pleased to see all the students working in pairs and engaging with all the tasks they were set. They were a credit to the school and the feedback from the lecturers who took the taster sessions was excellent - we are one of the best schools who have visited! There will continue to be opportunities such as these throughout the term so please keep an eye on The Careers Newsletter and communication from Mrs Farmer.
It was fantastic to see huge student and parental engagement with Parents Evening on Thursday and I enjoyed speaking with many of you during the evening too. If you were unable to speak to a specific teacher on the night itself, please contact them directly for feedback about your child or contact your child's tutor if you were unable to make the evening itself. I look forward to our second Parents Evening on Wednesday 26 April to our students in 'H' band.
Head of Year 10: Mrs L Munro
Assistant Head of Year 10: Miss C Thomas
A huge welcome back to Year 11 following the Easter break. We were so pleased to see so many of the year group in the holiday sessions and hope that they found these helpful.
Year 11 have settled back well in to the new term and last week we had the mock drama performances ahead of the real examinations. This week we have the language exams so a huge, good luck to all of our students doing these alongside the real Drama performance.
Year 11 have been provided with the most up to date Extended Study timetable, starting this week, and we look forward to seeing as many of the year group there as possible.
All students have now been provided with their examination timetable to share with you. Should you have any queries about this, please can you speak with their tutor as a first port of call.
Head of Year 11: Miss L Hughes
Year 11 Achievement Leader: Mr R Wickens
My Silver DofE Training Expedition experience by Evie B (Year 10)
On Friday we set out on an adventure in the rain to recap our map reading skills in the areas surrounding Bingham. After encountering some challenges along the way, we made it back to school soggy but happy.
Saturday was a day fully packed with a review of previously learned skills such as cooking on the trangia stoves, route planning and meal planning. This was to help prepare us for our practice expedition in May and qualifying expedition in July. A great day preparing our skills for our fast-approaching expeditions.
Photos of the Week - Skill
Some great 'skill' activities are taking place this week! Joe C has been cooking for his family every Wednesday and has submitted this evidence on eDofE. Looks great Joe - well done!
Whilst on the topic of food and nutrition, here are five great shots which Issac E provided which show him baking homemade sausage rolls. They look great! Well done.
Lastly, congratulations must also go to Fraser P who is learning Czech online so that he has some useful phrases to use when he tours the Czech Republic with the U16 Team GB Hockey squad as part of the upcoming World Championships. Fantastic, well-done Fraser!
Useful DofE Links
Click on the relevant link for Skill, Physical & Volunteering ideas, a DofE Activity Log or a DofE Assessor Report.
Upcoming Dates for Your Diary
FAQ's – see www.toothillschool.co.uk/dofe
Mr Tinsley
mtinsley@toothillschool.co.uk
“What is World Book Night? World Book Night is the annual celebration of books and reading that takes place on 23 April. People from all backgrounds are brought together for one reason – to inspire others to read more.
We know that reading for pleasure is linked to fewer feelings of stress and depression, better sleeping patterns and improved literacy.
Families can take part in the #ReadingHour 7-8pm on 23 April when everyone is encouraged to dedicate time to reading. People can read anything they want, in any way, or can even spend the time talking to others about books they’ve enjoyed. How about listening to an audiobook while preparing dinner, or reading to children before bedtime? This is the perfect Sunday night activity to relax before the busy week starts again. Anyone taking part in the #ReadingHour can join in the conversation online.”
(From the Reading Agency.)
Congratulations go to Stephanie in Year 10 for achieving DISTINCTION in her Grade 8 Piano. Stephanie has achieved the highest possible accolade for the highest level. She will now look to embark on achieving a Diploma in the instrument.
Along with this great news, we have a jam-packed extended study programme for this term. We have a newly established Concert Band that is aimed at students of all levels and abilities to be an inclusive group that all can enjoy. Along with this, we have a variety of options for students of all ages. Please see the timetable for this term.
Toot Hill School
Train to teach with the Nottinghamshire Torch SCITT