Message from the Principal
This week in Our Manor we have many positive stories to tell about the rich fabric of opportunities that we have been involved in or that are coming up in the near future.
As I highlighted last week, we completed our second digital parents’ evening this week, this time for Year 11. While there are still one or two technical impacts for some individuals, for the vast majority the system worked well and we were able to provide important updates on progress and next steps.
We have received the news this week that Wales will not be expecting students who go to school there to complete examinations in the traditional way, and this has generated a number of questions from students and their parents.
At present, in England, the examination series is going ahead. Many of the courses have been adjusted or reduced in size and the main exam period has been delayed for three weeks to provide more teaching time. Whether this remains the same over the coming weeks and months is still to be seen as we have experienced late changes across a number of school processes in the last few months.
What we do know is that students will be awarded grades next August. We also know that the things that students should be doing to maximise their chances of success with those grades remain the same, regardless of how the grades are awarded. They are:
- to attend school whenever possible
- work hard in lessons and at home completing all tasks set
- respond to feedback
- take opportunities to enhance their knowledge and understanding through wider reading and study of their subjects
By completing these things consistently and over time, the chances of success will be greatest. We also know that these same things apply across and throughout our school, no matter if you are in Year 7 or Year 13.
Elsewhere in the school this week, we completed our Remembrance service on Wednesday. We always recognise this important event and usually like to come together as a whole school community. This wasn’t possible this year but I was still hugely proud of the way in which all of the students respected the 2 minutes’ silence and engaged with the assembly and discussion. You can read more about this and many other aspects of school life in the following articles of Our Manor. Enjoy!
Jay Davenport, Principal
Remembrance Day
Whilst we were unable to hold a whole-school ceremony due to current restrictions, staff and students gathered in their pods on Wednesday for a two minutes' silence at 11am as part of the day's remembrance events.
Upon returning to their classrooms at the end of break, students watched a video from Mr Davenport who spoke of the importance of remembering those who were killed or injured whilst serving in World War 1. You can watch the video by clicking the following link.
Mr Towers, Vice Principal, laid a wreath on behalf of the school as part of Raunds Town Council's Remembrance Service on Sunday 8 November. You can watch the full service below:
Fantastic Year 7 transition feedback
We recently conducted a survey with Year 7 parents/carers on our transition process. Findings included:
- 90% felt that the transition process was useful
- 93% said their child had settled in well to Manor School
- 92% reported their child being happy at school
- 98.5% said their child feels safe and looked after well at school
- 100% felt that they received effective communication from the school
Additional comments we received included:
- “So far, our daughter is enjoying every moment in Manor.”
- “The school has shown great consideration with informing parents and students and preparing for the transition.”
- “My son J’s never enjoyed school until now. Thank you.”
- “The newsletters, communications and general care to students shown by the teachers is incredible and a real credit to the school. We, as a family, were particularly impressed with the transition videos and information provided - this certainly helped with making my child O feel more comfortable and welcome in these unfortunate times. Thank you!”
Thank you to everyone who completed the survey. We are incredibly proud to have received such fantastic feedback. If you have any questions about your child's progress or wellbeing, please do not hesitate to contact their tutor or Head of Year.
Year 11, 12 and 13 trial examinations
Trial examinations are an important part of the learning process as they allow students to experience the intensity of an examination period and answer the types of question they will encounter in the real examination under the same conditions. They are also a useful tool by which students, teachers, and parents/carers can judge the effectiveness of the learning process.
A programme of trial examinations for Years 11, 12 and 13 will take place between Monday 23 November and Friday 4 December 2020. During this time students will sit a range of examinations under examination board conditions. Normal lessons will continue for students when they are not in an examination.
There is still some uncertainty at a national level around when, or indeed if, external examinations will take place in 2021. You should be aware that these trial examinations in November, and a subsequent series of trial examinations taking place in March 2021, will play a key role in the determination of Centre Assessed Grades for 2021 should this become necessary. As such, it is vital that students are revising and preparing properly and that they are present at school during this period. There will be an opportunity for students to sit these trial examinations at a later date if they are absent, but it will not have the same value as the intensity of the examination period cannot be replicated on an individual basis.
We would request that you reinforce the examination requirements with your son/daughter. All students should arrive for examinations with the correct equipment consisting of pen (plus spare) with black ink, pencil, ruler, rubber and calculator. In addition, a compass and a protractor are required for mathematics examinations. Only clear plastic pencil cases are allowed in the examination room and if students bring drinking water into the examination the label must be removed from the bottle. There must be no communication within the examination room so mobile telephones and other electronic devices (for example iwatches and other smart watches, iPods, iPads, MP3players) must not be brought into the examination room.
Please be reassured that these trial examinations will not put students or staff under any additional risk and we will continue to comply with all national and local guidelines during the trial examination period. Thank you for your support in this matter.
Matthew Hurren, Assistant Principal
Anti-Bullying Week: Odd Socks Day
The theme for Anti-Bullying Week 2020 is: United Against Bullying. This year's Anti-Bullying Week takes place from Monday 16 to Friday 20 November, with the theme of United Against Bullying.
As per tradition, Odd Socks Day will mark the first day of Anti-Bullying Week. It’s an opportunity to encourage people to express themselves and celebrate their individuality and what makes us all unique. All students have to do is wear odd socks to school on Monday.
Sixth Form September 2021 admissions
We are planning an exciting range of opportunities for prospective students to find out why the sixth form at Manor is such a great place to study.
For details of what we have in store and to sign up for updates, please click on the link below.
Duke of Edinburgh Award
Doing their DofE is a great chance for your child to broaden their horizons, discover new interests, have fun, boost their mental and physical health, gain essential skills and achieve a highly respected Award.
If your child is in Year 9 they can sign up now by contacting Miss Smith or asking their tutor.
Languages update
We are pleased to be able to offer Year 9 students the opportunity to take up their second modern language again from Monday 16 November. This will mean all Year 9 students who studied Spanish last year will receive four hours per fortnight of Spanish, whilst maintaining their French (two hours).
In addition, students who studied German in Year 8, as well as any new beginners, will be able to attend a weekly German Club, again from next week.
With regard to current Year 8 students, plans are also underway to enable them to begin lessons in their second modern language. Please look out for further details.
Mrs Thompson
Term 2 House Competitions
A huge thank you to everyone who submitted entries to the House Competitions last term. Congratulations to our winners and in particular Redgrave House who performed especially well.
There are 3 new competitions running this term. The first closed this Wednesday and was to mark Remembrance Day with a poem.
We still have the Sport and Theatre competitions to take place as shown in the poster. Entries to be video recorded and sent to house@manor.school. The Sport competition goes live next Wednesday and is a challenge to see how much of the Cha Cha Slide Plank Workout students can complete.
Manor Maths Challenges blog
There was a fantastic response to the first issue of the new Manor Maths Challenges blog. A big thank you to everyone (staff and students alike) that sent solutions to Mrs Radd.
This week's edition features some additional problems to celebrate Maths Week, including an algebra problem for our KS4 and KS5 students.
Celebrating attendance
Based on the most recent published figures (15 October), national figures show that the average attendance rate for secondary schools is 89%. The attendance rate for Northamptonshire is marginally higher at 91%. We are therefore extremely pleased that the Manor School attendance figure is a fantastic 94.8%.
Thank you for your co-operation in ensuring that we stay above both the national and county attendance figures.
2022-23 admissions consultation
We are consulting on changes to our admission arrangements which will take effect for the academic year 2022-23.
The consultation will run from Monday 9 November until Monday 18 December 2020.
Please view the Northamptonshire County Council website via the link below, where you will find information about the consultation and an explanation of how to comment should you wish to.
The Manor School website also contains details of the 2022 policy that is being consulted on. Any questions regarding the school admissions consultation should be directed to Northamptonshire County Council who are managing the process on behalf of the Trust.
Tassomai online learning and revision
We are really excited to announce the launch of Tassomai for use by all students. Tassomai is an online learning and revision platform that uses quizzing to test and teach.
Researchers into revision and learning techniques found the best way to study and get knowledge to stick is to work for concentrated short bursts, regularly test yourself and to frequently switch between topics. The Tassomai app does by using an algorithm to decide out which quizzes should be taken as part of the Daily Goal for each subject and a ‘Combined Daily Goal’, which shows the total number of questions a student needs to answer correctly across all subjects. The Daily Goal could be anywhere between 15 and 40 questions per subject and all correct answers gain points. If a student is struggling with a specific topic, the algorithm will bring up more questions from that topic until their points improve! There is also a YouTube channel that features summary videos of science topics to support further.
For our Year 10 and 11 students, the Manor School teaching team can use data collected by the app to get a better idea of how to target revision on the lead up to the examinations and improve the chances of our students getting the grade they deserve.
Signing up to the app is really easy and available for all year groups!
- Visit app.tassomai.com/signup
- Enter the school’s unique code: 97M8KMP8
- Enter their details
- Choose correct classes from the drop-down menu. They can find their class codes on their timetable.
And that’s it! Once set up, students can download the app from Google Play Store or Apple App Store if they prefer to use a phone or tablet. You will hear more about Tassomai once everyone has started using it!
If you need more information about Tassomai, or have problems getting set up, please email science@manor.school.
Glenn Turner, Director of Learning (Science)
Ailsa’s Aim - Putting You First
Local charity Ailsa’s Aim, run by Sara and Niven Whatley, are delighted to announce a new charity partnership with Manor School.
Ailsa’s Aim was set up to repay the life-saving and fantastic work done within our communities, and their aim is to offer rays of sunshine and support to those who most need it in hospitals and schools.
They have set up a monthly donation service of PPE, school equipment and sanitary products to Manor School, and would like to welcome any donations towards this.
Please text RAUNDS and the amount you would like to donate to 70085 (for example to donate £5, text RAUNDS 5).
Text RAUNDS 3 to 70085 to donate £3. Texts cost £3 plus one standard rate message and you’ll be opting in to hear more about the charity's work and fundraising via telephone and SMS. If you’d like to give £3 but do not wish to receive marketing communications, text RAUNDSNOINFO 3 to 70085.
The Key Stage 3 Award is presented to...
Natasha P
We would like to nominate Natasha for this term's Excellence Award in PE as she has actively embraced the new leadership and coaching pathway, showing maturity, creativity and an ability to work with other positively. We look forward to seeing Natasha continue to excel on this pathway.
Awarded by Miss Hustwait
The Key Stage 4 Award is presented to...
Dylan C
It is a pleasure to teach a student with such a committed attitude to their studies. After our first assessment of the year there was some disappointment, but the way in which he has responded to the feedback and shown amazing perseverance to not let it bother him has been fantastic. Not letting it affect him but on the contrary, getting stuck into revision sessions and constantly being an active voice in lessons. Well done Dylan!
Awarded by Mr Sturgess
The Key Stage 5 Award is presented to...
Ellen B
Year 13 has continued where Year 12 left off for this student! They are committed to their studies and take full responsibility for their learning. Deadlines are consistently met and work is always produced to a very high standard, along with an ongoing dialogue with teaching staff about how to improve and produce their best work possible. Well done Ellen!
Awarded by Mr Sturgess
