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NEWSLETTER - 8 JULY

HIGHLIGHTS

YEAR 8 BIODIVERSITY PROJECT PRESENTATIONS

Over the last few weeks, the Science department has been running a competition with The Sunninghill Trust based on biodiversity on the school site.  Thursday saw the winning projects from each tutor group being presented to the whole year group, Mr Will Dalton (Trustee of The Sunninghill Trust), Miss Lawson (Head of Science) and Mr Fletcher.  The standard was extremely high, with well-researched and thought-though projects that were also costed and had to demonstrate sustainability.  In total, nine projects were presented.

The winning presentation was based on developing  a living wall in school to help encourage bees and other pollinating insects, and reduce the heat radiation off hard surfaces.  Well done to Henry in 8D for his idea.

The runners-up were 8A Ben and Will, who focussed on the installation of bird boxes and 8C Danah, Sahaavi and Caitlin, who looked at the development of a pond in the main quad area of the school.

PROM

Last week's Year 11 Prom was a fantastic event for all who attended.

As a school, we endeavour to provide opportunities of celebration for students.  The year 11 Prom is one of those opportunities, the organisation of an event for over 200 people is time consuming for the staff who take this on out of their goodwill. 

The school runs the prom, and we have to decide who attends.  The criteria are set out clearly for all to understand.  We communicate the requirements and inform students and families of these and if they are at risk of not attending.

There are no surprises in our view when the unfortunate message is delivered.  Perhaps the surprise is in not thinking that we will follow through with the points we make. 

Regarding social media, it would be worth considering why this decision has been made rather than accepting that the school has in some way behaved inappropriately towards individuals.

It would be unfortunate if the staff who organise these events start to step away from doing so due to the way people respond on social media.  After all, staff give up a lot of their time organising the event, their Friday evening and tidying up afterwards. 

Having said that……..

It was lovely to see the students enjoying each other's company and the music.  Who would have thought that Oasis would be a dance floor filler in 2022!

Thank you to Mrs Thomas and Mr Hancock for their hard work making the event so successful and a wonderful celebration for students.

All the staff present commented how lovely it was to see the 234 students present enjoying themselves.  They were a real credit to their parents, carers and the school. 

UNITY RESPECT EXCELLENCE

Our school motto of Unity Respect Excellence underpins all elements of daily life at Charters, and thanks to Year 8 student Gabbie, our school community is now able to show these values through British Sign Language. Watch the film below to learn how to sign Unity Respect Excellence 

IMMERSIVE CURRICULUM DAY

Last Friday, the students in school participated in immersive activities to help deepen their understanding of different curriculum areas.

Year 7 had a day dedicated to maths, with them working as commodity traders dealing with price fluctuations.

Year 8 had a day looking at creativity across music, art and design and technology.

Year 9 had a day looking at news production across print and broadcast media.  Thank you to the members of our local community who came in to act out role-play elements and record video messages.

Year 10 had a day looking at different aspects of religion with talks and discussions from members of different faith groups in our community who discussed Judaism and Sikhism.  Including looking at what faith means both within and outside a religious context.  The moving documentary by JJ Chalmers ( ex-Royal Marine) was shown and discussed with students.

YEAR 6 TO YEAR 7 TRANSITION DAYS

This week we hosted the 270 new students we have joining us in September.  They took part in two days of activities to help them to get to know the geography of the school and experience some lessons.

In the evening, we hosted the parents who were able to meet with their sons and daughters' tutors.

We look forward to getting to know all the new students when they join us in September.

Thank you to all the Year 10 Prefects who helped on the evening and across the two days.

NEWS ROUND-UP

Read our news stories this week by clicking the links below:

HANDLING THE NEWS DAY

BIODIVERSITY PROJECT FINAL

SIXTH FORM BIOLOGY TRIP

INTERMEDIATE BIOLOGY OLYMPIAD

STUDENT'S FLIGHT WITH AIR CADETS

KNIGHT FRANK LETTINGS SPONSORS CELEBRATION OF ACHIEVEMENT

NOTICES

ARRANGEMENTS FOR THE LAST DAY OF TERM

Year 12 will finish school on Thursday 21 July at 3:00 pm

Year 7 – 10 will finish on Friday 22 July at 11:30am.  The school bus service will be running at this time.

HOT WEATHER NEXT WEEK 

Next week will see temperatures soar so please ensure that your children have a water bottle with them in school. Please remind them of the importance of filling up their water bottles during breaktimes.  They should not, at the end of a break when they are due in a lesson, be going to fill up their water bottles as this means they are late to, and disrupt the start of, the lesson.   

EQUIPMENT LIST FOR THE NEXT SCHOOL YEAR

We expect all students to have the following equipment with them at all times in school.  Some summer sales are starting, so it might be a good time to get this equipment before the rush.

Equipment

UNIFORM IN SEPTEMBER 

The school uniform requirements for September can be found here.  Please do remind yourselves of the expectations when buying new uniform items and shoes.  We believe that it is important that students wear their uniforms correctly.

If anyone is finding it difficult to purchase uniform due to financial issues, please do contact your Head of Year. 

SPAM

We understand that some families are experiencing our e-mails going into their junk or spam inboxes.  If you could highlight to your e-mail system that our e-mails are not junk, then that will mean that you do not miss important information. 

TRIPS FOR 2022 - 23

The planned trips for the next academic year 2022-23 are now available to view on the website here.

WERE YOU ONCE A STUDENT HERE?

Launch

Were you once a student at Charters? What do you wish you'd known as a 14 year old? Did you always know what career path to choose, or did it take some time? Everyone has a story to tell & we'd love to know yours. Sign up to our new Alumni Network and help to inspire the next generation.

CALL TO ACTION BUTTONS (7)               
 

CELEBRATION OF ACHIEVEMENT

If you have received an invite to the Celebration of Achievement Evening, which this year is being sponsored by Knight Frank Lettings, would you please ensure that you follow the link in the invite to let us know if you can attend. This will enable us to make the evening run as smoothly as possible and we thank you for your help.     

LOST PROPERTY RECLAIM TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY

Final chance to reclaim unnamed lost property before we recycle it.

If you’re still wondering where that PE kit went to, it could be that it was unnamed and is sitting in our large collection of unnamed, unclaimed lost property. During second break on Tuesday and Wednesday we shall once again host a stall of all unnamed lost property outside M6 for your child to have a final look before we recycle the items.

Please remind them if you think this could apply to your family.

SUMMER MUSIC CONCERT

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On Wednesday 13 July, we look forward to a fantastic musical evening at the Charters' Summer Concert starting at 7.00 pm in the Main Hall.  Please join us to support our very talented student ensembles and soloists. Further information can be found here and tickets are available on ParentPay. We look forward to welcoming you!

VACANCY FOR LEAD FIRST AIDER

We currently seeking a Lead First Aider to join our team.  If you are interested in this, or any of our other posts, please visit our Vacancies page.
 

COMMUNITY NEWS

FUEL SUMMER PROGRAMME

The FUEL Summer programme is ready and families living in RBWM who access free school meals are able to book onto FREE activities across the borough.

They are able to offer some spaces to children who do not have access to FSMs but would benefit from the free spaces. The Extended Eligibility Criteria is those that are:

·         Accessing Pupil Premium

·         Child in Care

·         Ukrainian refugees

·         Child being supported by Early Help or Social Care

·         Children with an EHC (education, health and care) plan

·         Young Carer

This year all families wishing to access the FUEL programme or professionals referring a family who meet the extended eligibility criteria will need to complete the basic expressions on interest form - Expressions of interest form

For further information and to book onto sessions, please visit website.

For any queries please email  haf@achievingforchildren.org.uk

 

 

VACANCIES BUTTON  OPPORTUNITY  Sport fixtures

PARENT CURRICULUM/SUPPORT INFORMATION

CALL TO ACTION BUTTON  CALL TO ACTION BUTTONS (1)  SUPPORTING

 

 

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