We have now completed four of the six weeks of this half term. In many ways this time has flown by but for families I do understand how difficult it can be to support home learning for children whilst at the same time working from home or managing everyday life. I would like to take this opportunity to thank families for all they are doing to support both your children and school, it is very much appreciated. I am extremely proud of the way we are all working together as a school community at this challenging time. This will continue to be extremely important now that we know that the earliest we will return to school with be March 8th. With this in mind please remember that you should not hesitate to contact school if you need any further support in helping ensure that your children are accessing their lessons each day. Thank you.
Blended learning for Y7 and Y8
In advance of our move towards an element of live content for Y7 and Y8 students, please see attached for two key documents:
1. Guidance on how to access Google Meet for the live lesson
2. A summary of for parents, students and teachers about supporting online learning
Google Guide Parents and Students KS3, Jan 2021
Bewerley Park trip for Year 7
We are optimistically hoping that the trip in July may still be able to take place. In this case, if you are able to make the payment by the deadline next week Monday 1st February then please do so as you usually would via wisepay. However, if you have concerns about this payment or need further support please contact main reception and ask to speak with the Year 7 team.
Places offering food support
York CVS and Healthwatch York have compiled a list of all the places where families can get food during lockdown if they are struggling, without needing Food Bank vouchers – you can download it here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-B91Jrb_5srFY3l1XHEiAXMpO79mjQvb/view?usp=sharing
Recommended Reads from Mrs Short – Week 4
Y7 – Millions (the not so great) Train Robbery, by Frank Cottrell Boyce.
(Purple. Level 4. Quiz 207463) It is both funny and thought provoking.
Damien makes a small den (hermitage) out of a cardboard box, and he sits in it watching trains. One day £229,370 falls from the sky and flattens it. He thinks it is a gift from God, but with just over two weeks until the national currency changes from pounds to euros. Will he have time to spend it?
You can watch a trailer by clicking on the link below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHcQF8LNvfE
Millions is the first book of a set of three. The other two are Framed and Cosmic and are available from the library.
You can read the first four chapters of Millions by clicking on the link below.
Also, don’t forget to complete a quiz for any books you have read. You can access Accelerated Reader quickly by using the following link
https://ukhosted83.renlearn.co.uk/1893564
You can borrow virtual books from York Explore. Just follow the link https://www.exploreyork.org.uk/
Y8 – A Good Day For Climbing Trees by Jaco Jacobs
(Green. Level 5.9. Quiz 235049) find out what the book is about by clicking on the link https://youtu.be/IsaLJJSuYMA
Marnus is the unremarkable brother sandwiched between two stars—the Adonis-like 15-year-old Donovan and the gifted nine-year-old Adrian “Marnus-in-the-middle, that’s me. Sometimes it felt like I was invisible.” However, when a “weird” girl named Leila comes to Marnus’s door with a petition to save a tree, he follows her to the park to see it, then joins her up in the branches to protest and save the tree from bulldozers.
You can read the first few chapters by clicking on the link below.
You can borrow virtual books from York Explore. Just follow the link
https://www.exploreyork.org.uk/
Also, don’t forget to complete a quiz for any books you have read. You can access Accelerated Reader quickly by using the following link https://ukhosted83.renlearn.co.uk/1893564
Y9 – The Shapeshifter Series by Ali Sparkes.
The first book of the series is Finding the Fox. (Colour Blue. Level 6. Quiz 208708)
Dax has an unhappy home life. He jumps at the chance of attending the boarding school, and upon arrival immediately feels at home. But when a journalist tracks him down his fox senses are on high alert. 
Finding Fox is the first book of a series of five, all are available from the library. You can read the first couple of chapters by using the link below.
You can borrow virtual books from York Explore. Just follow the link
https://www.exploreyork.org.uk/
Also, don’t forget to complete a quiz for any books you have read. You can access Accelerated Reader quickly by using the following link https://ukhosted83.renlearn.co.uk/1893564
KS4 – Woman in Black
This week’s recommended read for KS4 is The Woman in Black, a 1983 horror novel by Susan Hill, written in the style of a traditional Gothic novel. The plot concerns a mysterious spectre that haunts a small English town. You can read an extract here:
http://media.freeola.com/other/24439/thewomaninblackchapter5oakley.pdf
KS5 – Art during lockdown
Have a look a the BBC article below showing the way many 6th form students are coping with lockdown through the use of art!
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/in-pictures-52968564
Student Wellbeing – Feel-Goof Friday
Head of Year update – It’s Mrs Avey and Y11….
Year 11 Parent’s Evening – We are really pleased to be able to offer a remote parents evening to discuss your child’s mock results, their engagement with remote learning and their academic progress throughout Year 11. It is great to see so many students making appointments – hopefully, the process is simple and straightforward. A reminder to parents that students will make these appointments through their Google Classrooms in each subject and then record the times of the meeting. The pastoral team have spoken to lot of students individually since the mock results have been released and I know staff are really looking forward to the opportunity to do the same – we look forward to seeing you there. If you have any problems accessing appointments, please contact a member of the pastoral team for Year 11.
Y11 Careers – This week also saw an opportunity for our Y11 students to engage with careers education and next steps, with the online Year 11 Careers and Skills Fair taking place on 26th January. The event was live and was also repeated on 28th January at 6:00pm, further details were posted on our Y11 classroom by Miss Robinson, the Careers Advisor and Lead and this opportunity will be will continue to be complemented with a number of 1:1 appointments for Y11 students to discuss their next steps and plans for life after Year 11.
Year 11 Online Lessons – We remain very pleased with the enthusiasm and commitment with which the very vast majority of Y11 pupils conduct their online learning. As half term approaches, we are taking the time as a school to reflect on what has gone well with our remote learning and where we might be able to make further tweaks and improvements. The survey sent out earlier this week is to gain the direct feedback of Y10 and Y11 students – the pastoral team are in constant contact with our students about a range of issues via phone, email, text and Google Meet, but this survey also provide a chance for students to offer feedback and their learning and how they’ve engaged with remote education – we would really appreciate them completing it and welcome the feedback!
Year 11 Special Mentions
Through out live learning we have continued to be inundated with positive messages about year 11 from their teachers. Here is a sample from the many received just this week:
– Great RE work: Callum Franks, Olivia Marshall, Lewis Docwra, Tia Barlow, Kenzie Booth, Yonese Lazrak, Jordan Reynolds, Marcus Webster
– Big congratulations to all students in 11B3 Combined Science. They are working brilliantly and special mention this week to Lewis Godliman, Alessandra Hough, George-Gareth White and Leoni Hinchliffe for some fabulous contributions
– Continued brilliant work from 11S1 Triple Science and this week’s special mentions are to Jess Machen and Sophie Warburton for faultless pieces of work on plant and animal adaptations:
– Thank you to all our year 11 students in 11b1 GCSE Science, you are all amazing: All working exceptionally hard in German – Charlotte W; Josh R; Phaedra W; Hannah R; Lillie J; Daryl S; Tala H: Elise Saxton, Jess Simpson, Evie James – all working really hard in science and regular contributors to class discussion. They are fantastic students
– Max Myers – Excellent work in media
– Libby E; Jamie J; Curtis T in English
– Onett P – computer science; Isla L
– Excellence; Earl J; Regan; Yonese; Harvey; John; Kian; Libby – Sports Studies
– Jen M – Geography
– Jayde L – art: Emma L
– Paige O; Holly T- H&S
– Emma B; Lento Y; Sandy H; Rowan F – Good effort in on line learning
– Elise Saxton, Jess Simpson, Evie James – all working really hard in science and regular contributors to class discussion
– A shout out to all my hard working year 11 Geography students. I am so impressed by their application:
– 11b3 – couldn’t be more impressed. All engaged, all working well. 11c2 – So many I can’t name them all but Amelie has been outstanding in her efforts. I am so pleased with the effort and application so many of them are putting in, even after 4 weeks. Although it is not the same as having them in the room, they have made the time with them very enjoyable Mr McBride, maths.
Collective Worship
This week our Form Tutor Collective Worship is on the theme of Holocaust Memorial Day which falls on Wednesday 27th. Our collective worship has been created by students at Alsop High School in Liverpool. It explains what Holocaust Memorial Day is and explains some of the events of the Holocaust. It contains a moving speech by Holocaust survivor Ziggy Shipper. Our daily quotes are on the theme of Living Together.
Friday – “In the face of evil, we must summon our capacity for good. In the face of hate, we must love.” – Barack Obama, 44th US President