Headteacher's Corner
Dear Parent/Carer
The normal rhythm of school terms has been thrown somewhat, but here we are at the end of another half term. It is fair to say that we are all still adjusting to the many impacts of the pandemic. It is also fair to say that we are entering a stage that feels even more precarious and difficult to navigate. On the one hand, we are hearing about the moves to cautiously release some of the lockdown restrictions, on the other we are facing up to the reality that there will be a long tail of impacts on how we go about our lives. Change is always difficult to manage; it is harder still when no one knows quite where the change will lead.
I was reading the ancient Greek myth of Pandora’s Box to my daughter this evening. For those who don’t know the tale, king of the Gods, Zeus, provides Pandora with a box, telling her not to open it. She cannot resist temptation and, upon opening the box, she releases all manner of evils into the world. She closes the lid too late to stop the evils breaking free, but there is one thing remaining: hope.
Hope is powerful. Hope is what enables us to see beyond present challenges to a time when things are better. Hope inspires us to believe in better, happier, healthier, kinder... There is little wonder that the rainbow, the great symbol of hope, has come to define this chapter.
I know, and fully appreciate, that this has been a very challenging time for families. Supporting your children to continue their learning at home, whilst you yourselves are trying to work or juggle other responsibilities, is very tough. Thank you for sticking with it and, as you can see from the examples below, supporting your children to continue producing some excellent work.
We were very grateful for the feedback you provided about the home learning that has been set so far. Our teachers have worked incredibly hard adjusting themselves to this brave new world. We have listened to the feedback and are making further changes from half term. Subjects have been working on putting together modules of work for the remainder of the year, which focus on transition and readiness for the year ahead. In the first week, your child will receive an overview of the learning for each subject. This will explain why this learning is important: how it will set them up for the year ahead. It will also give a short summary of what to expect each week. We hope that this will help students and parents to see the big picture. Teachers will still continue to set tasks from the modules on SMHW so that they don’t seem too overwhelming. Please also expect to see greater use of video instruction as teachers work hard to include recordings to go alongside some of the tasks.
Over the half term holiday it will be important for your child to have a break and, therefore, we are not expecting students to complete online learning.
It is now almost certain that we will not see students in years 7 to 9 in school at all before the summer. Even for students in year 10, any time in school will be highly limited, when and if it does happen before the summer. However, our desire to provide home learning with a focus on transition to next year is rooted in our hope-filled attitude toward the year ahead; we cannot wait until the Frogmore family can be properly reunited and I have a genuine optimism about the strengthened sense of community we will all feel when this happens.
Socially distant? Maybe. Closer than ever? Definitely!
Take care
Chris Vaudin - Headteacher
Student Leadership Quiz!
Our wonderful student leadership team contacted Mr Vaudin this week with the idea of putting together a fun quiz for people to do at home. There are five rounds of 10 questions – pause the video at any point if you need more time. It would be great fun to do this quiz with family or friends. The answers for each round are in a separate video at the end of the Froghorn. Many thanks to Lil, Josh and team for this excellent idea. Happy quizzing!
Excellent Examples Of Student Home Learning
Art
Science
Can we drink too much water?
ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF DRINKING SPORT DRINKS
Sports drinks are a functional beverage that helps replace the water inside your body & energy before and after exercise or a workout. Many athletes drink them to repair or prepare their body. The electrolytes and water are released when you sweat.
The advantages of drinking sports drinks are to give you energy before you work out and replace the fluids in your body after you work out. When our bodies are working out and burning off energy they are also losing vitamins and fluids that are important to help our bodies function properly. They have a good source of protein and carbohydrates.
The disadvantages of drinking sports drinks is the amount of acidity in them this can affect your teeth, this because of their high sugar contents. It has a bad effect on your health if you drink them too much as they have a similar amount of sugars as fizzy drinks like coca cola etc. they also contain a lot of caffeine, which if too much is consumed can have effect your nervous system. It can also lead to sleepiness, dizziness and hypertension.
My opinion on sports drinks is that they are good for you as long as you do not consume too many and only drink them after you have worked out. I feel like they can contain too many sugars, which can affect your body and you mental health. Overall, I think they are good and that you are responsible for the amount you drink.
Having auditioned for the National Youth Theatre prior to the national lockdown, Shona Chibisa (Y10) has successfully gained a place to become a company member, opening up opportunities to work with professional directors and other talented young people across the UK.
If you are interested in taking your passion for performance further, click on the link below to take a look at the audition process and start opening up those possibilities:
https://www.nyt.org.uk/auditions
Message from the Child and Family Support Worker
Mental Health Awareness Week
Mental Health Awareness Week this year was all about Kindness. Frogmore students have done us proud by submitting videos, artwork, photographs and PowerPoints on the topic of how we can all make the world a kinder place. Thank you to all those who submitted something and congratulations to Bethany Knight who won the competition! Special mention also goes to Amy Pankhurst for considerable effort and research that went into her well presented PowerPoint and to Erin Mitchell for a really original idea!
Please take a moment to have a look at the videos on the links below showcasing the brilliant and uplifting work:
Peer Mentors and Cyber Ambassadors News
Hello everyone. I hope you have all been keeping well. Just a quick message about anti-bullying from your peer mentors.
Back in October we talked in house assemblies about anti-bullying and how we went on a course to become anti-bullying ambassadors (if you don’t know about it, here is the link: https://diana-award.org.uk/anti-bullying/about/ ). We looked at ways to stop bullying and ways to tackle bullying, but in an engaging way. We have also put in place various things to help reduce bullying cases.
Being anti-bullying ambassadors we try and find ways to stop bullying and we believe that kindness is the best way to stop and tackle bullying. Just by being kind to others, you reduce the bullying count. For instance, stopping ourselves from saying something unkind is a form of kindness, even if it is not direct. Or just even asking someone if they are alright is still kindness. Another way is to be an upstander, just like we talked about in our assembly.
But in the bigger picture, be kind all the time; it will make everyone’s day. During this troublesome time, one thing can make someone’s day. Just send someone a message to let them know you are there for them or maybe send them some baked goods.
This week is also Mental Health Awareness Week. This year's theme is kindness. As part of this, the peer mentors are launching Frogmore Rocks!
We encourage everyone to paint/ decorate a rock with a positive message or a picture on it. Place this around your local area to help cheer up someone's day.
There is no limit to how many you can do, but remember to stick to the government’s guidelines when out and about! If you find one whilst out and about, remember to share on social media with the hashtag #frogmorerocks, then leave it there for someone else to find.
To make Frogmore rocks identifiable make sure you write Frogmore CC on it somewhere. Stay safe.
We are still taking donations for the food bank, which you can drop off on the trolley outside the main reception doors.
Thank you so much to all those of you who have donated so generously already! It's really been so positive for our Frogmore family to come together in support of our local community in this way.
The current shortages are:
- Meat
- Rice Pudding
- Custard
- Sponge Pudding
- Toothpaste
- Shampoo
- Razors
Please remember all items need to be long-life or packaged goods rather than fresh food.
Library News
Writing Competition
National Book Tokens has announced its new writing competition for budding authors aged 6-18. Click on the following link: https://www.nationalbooktokens.com/big-dreams?utm_source=nbt&utm_medium=email&utm_content=big-dreams&utm_campaign=20200515_writing-competition
Micro-fiction challenge
For those of you who fancy getting creative, I will be running a micro-fiction challenge every week. All you have to do is write a story in 100 words or less, and email it in to a.livingstone@frogmorecollege.co.uk by 4pm every Thursday, and I’ll pick one winner each week.
Careers Corner
Our Careers Adviser Christine Mirtle is offering guidance appointments by phone or email. The appointments are for 50 minutes, and are bookable for every Wednesday, apart from half term week. If you’d like an appointment, please email a.livingstone@frogmorecollege.co.uk with your name, preferred contact method (email addresses must be your college address), and whether you’d like a morning or afternoon slot and an appointment will be scheduled in for you.
Please click on the buttons below to read more interesting information on careers from our website, or to follow Frogmore Careers and Frogmore Library on Twitter:
Fundraising News
Easyfundraising: Did you know you could be raising a free donation for Frogmore Community College every time you shop at retailers such as Amazon, John Lewis and Sainsbury's who will donate a percentage of the amount you spend? It's really simple, and it doesn't cost you anything!
Please sign up and help us raise money for our students.
All you have to do is:
1. Go to http://www.easyfundraising.org.uk/causes/frogmorecomcoll
2. Sign up for free.
3. Get shopping! Donations will be collected and automatically sent to us. It couldn't be easier! There are no catches or hidden charges and we would be really grateful for your donations. Thanks for your support.