Year 7 have had a busy week during tutor time as they had assemblies from Dr Eardley regarding standards and from Mrs Millington who was coordinating World Book Day for Thursday. On the day itself there were numerous reading challenges throughout the day, a short story sequence read at the beginning of every lesson and staff dressing as famous literary characters to inspire everyone.
Extended Study started again and Year 7 attendance is heart-warming to see. A special mention to boys’ football training which always seems to have large numbers, there is a tournament Tuesday 8 March for C Team players and a semi-final coming up for the A Team Tuesday 15 March.
Reports have also gone live this week and we are really happy with student and parental engagement. It is so important to have open lines of communication and work together to provide the best learning experience possible.
In RSHE lessons next week, Year 7 students will develop their understanding of sharing material online.
Support link: https://www.thinkuknow.co.uk/parents/articles/Has-your-child-shared-a-nude-selfie-subtitled/
Visit the NSPCC for support with talking about difficult topics: https://www.nspcc.org.uk/keeping-children-safe/support-for-parents/talking-about-difficult-topics/
Head of Year 7: Mr D Mordue Assistant Head of Year 7: Miss L Jordan
Well done Year 8, another fantastic week! This week, as a year group, we have achieved 3006 positive points, well done Year 8! Students have been working hard in lessons, and we have been pleased to see students’ work when we have visited lessons. In Maths this week, students have been working out averages, including the mean, median, range and mode. Students were able to confidently use a range of methods to calculate an average. In Geography this week students have completed fieldwork where they have focused on ‘Hazards’. Students collected data on the school site which they will be using in their classroom lessons. It has been great to visit PSHE lessons where students have been discussing topics such as 'positive and healthy relationships'. Students shared rights in a family and romantic relationship where they showed maturity and respect when discussing this as a class. In English, students continue to enjoy their Learning Lounge lessons, where students have the opportunity to read as a class and also borrow books for independent reading. Thank you to the Learning Lounge who have been giving students a book token to use this week as part of World Book Day. It is great to be visiting lessons this week and seeing high levels of engagement, well done!
During our Personal Development Curriculum, we have continued to focus on our wellbeing on Wednesday’s and Online Safety for our Topical Thursday focus. This week students learnt about ‘phishing’ and completed a task where students discussed how to spot a typical phishing email. On Monday, students listened to an Assembly which included information on the option choices students can make for Year 9. This information has also been emailed to parents/carers.
We have enjoyed celebrating World Book Day on Thursday. During tutor set, students read an extract as a class before completing independent reading. Page 42 in the Student Planner provides students with some excellent recommendations for ‘books to read before you’re 14’.
Finally, the Year 8 Reports are available this week. We hope you have managed to take time to look at your child’s report. We are proud of the Attitude to Learning and Home Learning scores awarded to Year 8 students and we want to take this opportunity to thank parents/carers for your continued support. If you have any questions about your child’s report, please do not hesitate to contact your child’s tutor.
Well done Year 8, another great week! Keep up the fantastic work!
In RSHE lessons next week, Year 8 students will continue with developing their understanding of consent.
Support Link: https://www.brook.org.uk/your-life/how-to-give-and-get-consent/
Visit the NSPCC for support with talking about difficult topics: https://www.nspcc.org.uk/keeping-children-safe/support-for-parents/talking-about-difficult-topics/
Head of Year 8: Miss I Sheldon
It has been great to see students engaging with all the activities put on for them by Mrs Millington for World Book Day. From book hunts to vocab quizzes, to guessing what character each teacher is dresses as, it has been a lot of fun!
Year 9 also enjoyed their belated Achievement Assembly on Monday morning, with plenty of students going home with certificates for their successes.
Please accept our apologies for the disruption to this week's Parents' Evening, and bear with us while the next steps are figured out.
Year 9 Reports also were also emailed out this week. Please take some time to look at your child’s report. We are so pleased with the Attitude to Learning and Home Learning scores awarded to Year 9 students and we want to take this opportunity to thank parents/carers for your continued support. If you have any questions about the report, please do not hesitate to contact your child’s tutor.
Finally, here is the latest adventure from Food Tech - sushi! Have a lovely week everyone.
In RSHE lessons next week, Year 9 students will develop their understanding of honour-based violence and FGM.
Support Link: https://www.nspcc.org.uk/what-is-child-abuse/types-of-abuse/female-genital-mutilation-fgm/
Visit the NSPCC for support with talking about difficult topics: https://www.nspcc.org.uk/keeping-children-safe/support-for-parents/talking-about-difficult-topics/
Head of Year 9: Mrs L Munro Assistant Head of Year 9: Miss C Thomas
Over the last few weeks, we are increasingly discussing careers and aspirations with our Year 10 students. Every Thursday morning is committed to discussing Work Experience and other career guidance, with our careers staff visiting tutor rooms to support. Over the next few weeks, we will be welcoming live talks from ex-students to share with our Year 10s their career journey. We recognise the importance of demonstrating to our students that most career paths are not linear.
Please continue to support your child to finalise their Work Experience plans and complete the appropriate paperwork. Work Experience is calendared for late July, do contact your child's tutor or Mrs Farmer (ffarmer@toothillschool.co.uk) if you have any questions.
This week, it has been a pleasure visiting lessons to focus on the quality of student's reflections and development tasks in purple pen in their exercise books. Please find an example of good practice here.
Head of Year 10: Mr R Wickens Achievement Coordinator: Mrs C Hallam
Congratulations Year 11 on another successful week of mock examinations, it has been wonderful to see students engaging in their lessons and putting their hard work into practice within the assessments this week.
When visiting lessons this week students use of purple pen and FIT time has been utilised significantly to demonstrate greater depth and detail in work as well as to add amendments as a brilliant source of live feedback.
We would like to wish Maddie W a huge congratulations on her fundraising campaign for Barnardo's where she 'braved the shave' to raise money to support vulnerable children. We are so proud of you!
Year 11 Pastoral Lead: Miss B Marshall Year 11 Achievement Leader: Miss P Gordon
World Book Day - The Learning Lounge celebrated with their challenge 'What Book is That'. Students had to use clues to hunt for books around school. However, the titles were hijacked by teacher's names. Students had to find the correct name of the book to receive credits.
Learning Lounge also launched 'Blind Date with a Book' for KS4. Students were emailed a form which they had to fill in detailing their reading tastes. Once completed, Ms Marris & Miss Jones will then find their perfect book match. So, keep an eye on your school email as we will let you know when your blind date is ready.
This week has seen lots of Year 9s and 10s upload details of their skill, physical and volunteering activities to eDofE. Well done everyone - this is great to see!
This Week's Target
All students are encouraged to upload ALL of their activities to eDofE asap! Your eDofE app should look like this......
not this...
DofE Stars of the Week
This week's STARS have uploaded ALL of their activities to eDofE - well done! They are Hannah C, Alfie E, Amber G, Sze H, Merlin H, Tom Ja, Tom Je, Harry J, Hoi H, Ella L, Ellie M, Daniel M, Emma P, Amy R, Taylor S.
Photo Competition Winners
This week's theme is Volunteering. Meghan has been busy redeveloping a woodland near to where she lives with the aim of helping wildlife thrive and creating a relaxing area for people to walk and relax. In other news, Emily has been helping younger children with their dance at Bingham School of Dance, Madelief has been making pizza for residents at Westcliffe Care Home in Radcliffe-on-Trent, and Taylor has been busy assisting delivery of a local community bootcamp session in Woodborough. Well done to you all, keep up the great volunteering!
Payments
The deadline for making your 2nd Payment Instalment on ScoPay is Friday 11 March 2022.
www.toothillschool.co.uk/dofe
Please remember that plenty of resources can be downloaded from the school website.
Mr Tinsley
mtinsley@toothillschool.co.uk
Toot Hill School
Train to teach with the Nottinghamshire Torch SCITT