Headteacher's Corner
Dear Parents/Carers
The new school year has got off to a flying start! It has been fantastic welcoming all of the students back after the long summer break. It seems particularly incredible that our new year 7s have only been with us for just over three weeks, so well have they settled in and become part of our Frogmore family.
The beginning of the year is always a busy time as we show off the school to prospective parents. I was very grateful to the huge number of students who gave up their time last Tuesday to help at Open Evening; as ever, many of the visiting parents commented on the enthusiasm and helpfulness of the students. I would also like to thank the year 10 prefects and peer mentors who spent the day guiding the year 6 students around, they are such great ambassadors for the school and role models for the younger children.
We were delighted by our students’ successes in the summer: it was a great privilege to be able to celebrate with the year 11 leavers when they came in to pick up their results. We were delighted to see more students securing some top grades. We were equally delighted by the progress that students made from their different starting points. We wish the class of 2019 every success as they now embark on the next stage of their journey.
The new year 11s have made a cracking start this year. The parents' evening at the start of term was very well attended and provided an opportunity for some rich conversations to set the tone for the year ahead. We were also very pleased to see so many parents of year 10 students at the curriculum information evening on Tuesday. We have further curriculum information evenings for other year groups in the next few weeks and we look forward to seeing more of you then.
This term has also seen us implementing our new behaviour policy, with a greater focus on restorative practice. Whilst it is early days, we have so far been very impressed by the way that students have responded to our raising of the bar. Thank you to parents for the support you have shown us in the implementation of this new approach.
We end this week with our non-uniform day in aid of Macmillan Cancer Relief. The students will, I am sure, update you about the results of the staff tug of war – will the Ormond tutors hold onto their title…?
Chris Vaudin - Headteacher
We have a full calendar of events throughout the year, click the link below to view them.
Year 9 Watersports Trip
A group of 54 year 9 and year 10 students went on an adventure holiday during the summer holidays to Mimizan, in the South West of France. After the journey, students were excited to get going. Activities were; stand up paddle boarding, sailing, kayaking, canoeing, raft building and trail riding. A typical day consisted of a wake-up call at 8am, breakfast and then activities from 9.30am to 12.00pm. Lunch and free time followed, until more activities from 2pm until 4.30pm. The evening meal and free time led into even more activities from 7pm. We were all in tents for lights out at 10.30pm after exhausting, action packed days. One of the evening activities was called escape Le Lac and we had to escape capture by working as a team to get through a course, swim from the jetty to shore and then dig ourselves under kayaks to escape. As a treat for the hard work and great team work, a surprise pizza supper was on offer after we had showered and cleaned up. The sailing of the catamarans gave the year 9 boys a challenge when the instructor said they were pretty much impossible to capsize. I think Mrs McCready spent more time in the water than on the catamaran during one of the sessions! The kayaking and stand up paddle boarding enabled the groups to develop new skills whilst taking in the picturesque lake at Mimizan. Top bombing and somersault awards were handed out regularly for classic entries off the pontoon with Mr Ash and Mr Barfoot leading the way. We also had a day out to a local water park with lots of slides, a lazy river and a fabulous wave pool. The evening trip to the local market town enabled the students to fill up on lots of sweet treats. The journey home was very quiet with 54 very sleepy students!
PE News
A great start to the season for Frogmore year 11 football team, they played Bohunt School and won 4-1. Two goals by Zak Whittington, one by Aaron Carey and one by Tom King. Fabulous hard fought game, well done boys.
Performing Arts News
Gremlin Dance Challenge 2020 has started with a wonderful audition process.
The students in KS3 who have successfully made a place on the team will begin rehearsals shortly in preparation for the prestigious event held in Aldershot.
Last year Frogmore took a small team of year seven and eight dancers to this event and secured a fantastic second place in their category as well as the best choreography award. This year our number of dancers have doubled and we look to take two teams to enter into the KS3 category to defend our fantastic second place title!
Any students who could not attend the audition process can speak to Mrs Price regarding taking part in this years Gremlin Dance Challenge.
Car Parking
We would like to take this opportunity to remind you of our expectations for parking and dropping off or collecting students by car.
All students should be dropped off and collected from the bottom car park. Cars should not be driven up the drive and it is never permissible for cars to stop on the double yellow lines or on the service road. This is the case even if your child is late for school.
Please do not use the staff car park, especially the disabled bays: this is not permitted. We have a number of students with impaired mobility whose own transport need to use these bays. At times they have been unable to do so due to the bays being used by a non-blue badge vehicle.
Please support us with this policy. You will all know that the start and end of the school day is exceptionally busy and this practice will ensure the safety of everyone on site, particularly your children.
Library News
We are holding a Scholastic Book Fair. From Monday 21st October to Friday 25th October, there will be a book fair in the library for pupils to come and purchase books, with every book sold raising funds for the library.
If you would like your child to buy a book at the fair, but would prefer them not to carry cash, you can purchase Book Fair Gift Vouchers online from the Scholastic website, and these can then be exchanged for books. For more information go to www.bookfairs.scholastic.co.uk/gift-vouchers
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, and 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.
What’s On: Thursday 3rd October - Bright Star (to coincide with National Poetry Day)
Thursday 10th October: Inside Out (to coincide with Mental Health Day 2019)
Letters have been sent out this week to students who took part in this years’ Hampshire Book Award, inviting them to the Award Ceremony in Winchester on Tuesday 15th October. We are very excited that Paula Rawsthorne, author of the winning book Shell, will be there to collect the Award in person, and will also be giving an author talk and a book signing. If all reply slips could please be returned by Monday 30th September. Thank you.
After the success of last year, we are once again running the Booktrust Bookbuzz for all year 7 pupils. During their Library induction, every year 7 student will be given the choice of a fantastic selection of books, this book will then be theirs to keep. All the books will be delivered during the autumn term, and students will be given their selection during a library lesson. We hope they enjoy!
Message from our Child and Family Support Worker
Inclusion Hampshire run a wide variety of courses that parents may find helpful and informative. For more information about the courses available, please click the following link: https://bit.ly/2nIr3Fz
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 £1158 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.
PTA AGM is on Wednesday 9th October at 3.30pm held in our youth suite, Everyone is welcome!
Current Committee Role holders - Kristy Court (Chairperson); Debbie Bailey (Treasurer); Margaret Roberts (Secretary); Tracy Harvey (Uniform Shop); - will be stood down as per AGM procedures and these positions need to be re-filled for the coming year. If you are interested in more details about holding a role, or being an ordinary PTA committee member, or occasional voluntary helper, please join us at the meeting, or contact us on PTA@frogmorecollege.co.uk
Other News
Dear Parent,
May I take this opportunity to introduce myself, I am Elaine Rushby the owner of Rushby/Whyte Trampolining. I am a High Performance Trampoline Coach running Washindi Trampoline Club (teaching competitive trampolinists) and providing trampoline opportunities in Berkshire, Hampshire & Surrey.
You have been passed this letter as your child has expressed an interest in – Trampolining
Lessons are on a Thursday before school, 7.40 – 8.40am and after school on a Wednesday 3.00 – 4.00pm. The set up is 2 trampolines with one coach and no more than 12 children per class. Each lesson is £5.00 (payable termly based on 2018 prices)
All Washindi coaches are level 2 or above British Gymnastics coaches, first aid qualified and DBS checked. They come to you with over 10 years experience of working with children and are highly qualified, experienced and fantastic coaches.
If you are interested in your child attending trampolining please can you email/ txt me your email address and I can arrange for you to complete the relevant paperwork, organise payment and to be placed.
Elaine Rushby
Tel: 07711 280573
Email: elainerushby@hotmail.com
Credits:
Created with images by dimitrisvetsikas1969 - "sign school children" • TeroVesalainen - "thought idea innovation"