Headteacher's Corner
I think I am fighting a losing battle. I refuse to get into the Christmas spirit until we have broken up at the end of term. However, when my back was turned this week, the Christmas tree sprang up in reception, twinkly lights have started materialising and Mrs Downes has launched the 12 Teaching & Learning Days of Christmas challenge with staff! This last development really has brought some festive cheer as, each day, all teachers receive in their inbox a festive poem and an advent calendar themed teaching idea to be tried in lessons. Even me in my most Scrooge-like moment has to admit that this fun challenge has brought a great energy to lessons at the end of a long term. Thank you, therefore, to Mrs Downes for leading this and to teachers for getting involved so readily.
Last Thursday, we said goodbye to Nikki Lewin, our wonderful Welfare Manager. Nikki had been at the school for over 18 years and, in that time, had defined a role that filled a real need. So many young people, and their families, have benefited from Nikki’s outstanding support over the years. She has been a rock for students through their toughest times and has been instrumental in helping us do our best to make sure that every child feels happy and safe whilst in school. After dedicating so much time and commitment to our Frogmore family, Nikki has decided the time is right to spend more time with her own family. We have been truly privileged to have had Nikki as part of our team and will miss her greatly. I am delighted to report, however, that we have appointed Callie Izzett to a newly titled post: Child and Family Support Worker. She will be starting in January and will fulfil a similar role to that undertaken by Nikki. I know she is very excited to start working alongside our students, and we are very much looking forward to welcoming her to our team.
As ever, the run up to the end of term does not involve any winding down! There have been visits this week by year 8 to the Living Rainforest, following a very well-attended parents’ evening on Wednesday. Year 11 photographers have been out visiting the studios of Matt Moore; you can see the stunning results of their visit later in the Froghorn. Year 9 students are taking part in a coding challenge next week. Then, of course, I will be forced to get into the Christmas spirit as we have the performing arts Christmas Concert (for which there are only a few tickets left: get in quick!) followed in the final week by our Christmas lunch. I am delighted that so many students have booked a Christmas lunch – all tickets have been sold – and I look forward to serving the dinner and finally giving myself up to festive fun!
Thanks, as ever, for your ongoing support.
Chris Vaudin
Headteacher
We have a full calendar of events throughout the year, click the link below to view them.
Exam Timetable
Badminton District Competitions
Frogmore was represented by four brilliant teams in the badminton district competitions. All teams showed amazing perseverance and sportsmanship with the majority finishing as runners-up.
The teams were: KS3 Boys: Team A: Hayden Mitchell, Matthew Ellis, Raj Preece, Hridai Patel
KS3 Boys: Team B: Bailey Samhembere, Noah Piper, Harry Craig, Corban Groom.
KS4 Boys: Ethan Lau, Reece Frampton, Daiyaan Capp, Oliver Gurney.
KS4 Girls: Chloe Dale, Molly White, Jess Murfitt, Tina Wang.
Congratulations to all of the amazing competitors!
Year 11 Matt Moore Photography Trip
On Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday year 11 Photographers went on a trip to Matt Moore's photography studio in Aldershot. The day was aimed at helping their mock exam prep work while allowing the students to gain experience at what life would be like working in a real-life studio. The students had a great time, see below for their amazing work!
Student Leadership Team
On Thursday 29th November, we hosted a non-uniform day and asked for a contribution of £1 for wearing your own clothes. We also held a cake sale at break time and at lunchtime, we hosted a game show ‘Are you smarter than a 12 year old?’ (Inspired by Noel Edmonds game show ‘Are you smarter than a 10 year old?’). Four students (Tamzin, Jonah, Lea and Callum) and four teachers (Mr Maunders, Mrs Price, Miss Bruce and Miss Reed) went head to head answering trivia questions on a range of challenging topics. At the end of the four rounds the winners were revealed, the teachers! Congratulations, and thank you to everyone that took part!
Overall our day was very successful and all our efforts managed to raise an amazing total of £715.97!
We would like to thank everyone for their help on the day and all the donations to help us raise money for the toilets!
Written by Colette Paterson-Green, Head Girl.
Library News
Last week saw the premiere of the new Peter Jackson film, ‘Mortal Engines’, based on the book by Philip Reeve and which is released in the UK on 7th December. Mortal Engines’ is the first of four novels in Philip Reeve's quartet of the same name. The book focuses on a futuristic, steampunk version of London, now a giant machine striving to survive on a world running out of resources. The book has won a Nestlé Smarties Book Prize and was shortlisted for the 2002 Whitbread Award.
If you enjoy the film and haven’t read the book we have a copy in the library along with some of Philip Reeves’ other books. Mortal Engines was followed by three sequels: Predator's Gold, Infernal Devices, and A Darkling Plain. This was followed by the Fever Crumb prequel series: Fever Crumb, A Web of Air, and Scrivener's Moon, which depict events many years prior to those of Mortal Engines.
Last week the shortlists for this years Costa Book Awards were announced. In the Children’s book category, the four books are; The Colour of the Sun by David Almond, Bone Talk by Candy Gourlay, Orphan Monster Spy by Matt Killeen, and The Skylark’s War by Hilary McKay. All four books will be available to borrow from the library very soon.
Into Film Club runs every Thursday in the library from 3pm-5pm. This is a fantastic opportunity for students to watch a curated collection of films, write film reviews and be a part of the national Into Film Club. All students will receive a membership card and access to Frogmore’s online film club, snacks and drinks will be provided at the film screenings.
In order to take part students need to return a signed permission form, letters are available from the library. If you would like to know more, please visit the Into Film website ;https://www.intofilm.org/or speak to Miss Livingstone in the library.
All books issued from the library have a three week loan period, after which the books need to be returned to the library or renewed by a librarian. There are currently a number of books that are overdue, and students will be receiving reminders this week. Please could you make sure all bags, bookshelves and under beds are checked, and all overdue resources are returned to the library. There will be prizes for every tutor group without any overdues at the end of this term.
Fundraising News
Easyfundraising: Did you know you could be raising a free donation for Frogmore Community College every time you shop at detailers 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!
We have now raised over £1176 since joining this scheme!
Please sign up and help us raise even more.
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.
Recycle toners:
The College is now recycling empty printer cartridges, so please send in your used cartridges and we will send them off to be recycled and also make some money!
Milk bottle tops:
Please send in your washed, clean milk bottle tops as we can raise funds with these too!
Rag Bag :Don’t forget to put all your old clothes in the Rag Bag!
Also we are continuing to collect textiles in our recycling bank in the car park opposite the leisure centre. This is a great way to raise money for the college, with minimal effort. Please donate your bagged clothes, paired shoes, hats, bags, belts, towels and bed linen in the recycling bank.
The Rag Bag has raised £2323 over two years.
Thank you to everyone who kindly donated gifts for the tombola and hamper, we have enough gifts to run a tombola at Frogmore Junior School on the 14th December 3:15pm-5pm. Our next PTA Meetings for 2019 are: 16th January, 6th March, 24th April and 5th June. These are held at 4:15pm in the wellbeing suite.
The PTA are excited to announce that we have teamed up with Label Planet to offer parents the opportunity to purchase quality labels for your children's school uniform, whilst earning the school commission at the same time! This money can then be used to continue to help purchase some of the fantastic resources that benefit our children's learning. This term we voted for money to go to the science, English, maths and Language departments. Come along to our next meeting and help us choose which items to purchase for school for next term.
Easy to use! Label Planet's Stikins® name labels are made of an advanced vinyl; all you have to do is stick them onto the wash-care label of clothes. They are a one-size, multipurpose label which can also be used on school items such as shoes, plastic boxes, water bottles, pencil cases, etc. Help your school! For each order placed quoting Frogmore's unique code: 35789, we earn 30% commission for the school. Order online - click here to order your labels online and the school's code will be filled in automatically for you! https://www.stikins.co.uk/
Alternatively, place your order by telephoning 01270 668076 (remember to quote the school's unique code: 35789)
Other News
Credits:
Created with images by Samuel Zeller - "Red carpet on stairs at the MAH museum Geneva" • Nathan Dumlao - "untitled image" • HoliHo - "christmas christmas bauble star" • Unknown - "Christmas Background Free Stock Photo - Public Domain Pictures"