HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEK

These have to be the final school production and the final sessions of the Ball Kids programme at the Royal Albert Hall as part of the ATP Masters programme.  These events showcase all that the school stands for, working together and working hard to produce excellence. 

Those who saw the school production would all agree, I'm sure, that the students and staff did a fantastic job in providing first-class entertainment.  It was incredible to see the tears of joy from the cast and crew at the end of a job well done .  Thank you to all who took part, the parents who supported the production and to Mrs Ring, Ms Anderson and Miss Hamilton-Eadie.

Sunday saw the last sessions of our students being involved in the ATP Masters event as Ball Kids at The Royal Albert Hall.  They had to go through a training programme and a selection process to be on the court.  Well done to all of them - you were shining examples for the school.  A  particular well done goes to Toby who won a point from Emma Raducanu when he was encouraged to take over from her opponent Elena-Gabriela Ruse. You can read more about this event in our Student News section.  

MASKS IN SCHOOL FROM MONDAY 6 DECEMBER

We will be asking all students to wear masks in classrooms and all indoor areas.

Since half-term we have asked all of our school community to wear masks in communal areas.  This decision was made in order to keep our students and staff as safe as possible while mixing in communal spaces.  This has helped keep our case numbers down, however, we have started to see a slow creep upwards in our numbers over the course of this week and as such we will be going to masks in classrooms from next week. 

WINTER CONCERT

On Wednesday 8 December, we will be holding our Winter Concert in the Main Hall featuring performances from all of our musicians, some of whom will be performing with the school for the very first time!  Students have been rehearsing hard since September to produce an exciting and varied programme and it would be fantastic if we could give them a really good audience.  Due to Covid-19 restrictions, we are running a slightly different format this year, with Years 7, 8 and 9 performing in Concert A from 6.00 pm – 6.45 pm, and Years 10 to 13 participating in Concert B from 7.00 pm. Tickets are available on ParentPay at £4.00 each.   We would request that anyone attending the events takes a LFT before arriving and that attendees wear a mask for the duration of the event.  We look forward to seeing you there but may have to cancel the event at short notice if guidelines change.

CAROL SERVICE

Our annual Carol Service will be held in Holy Trinity Church on Monday 13 December at 7.00 pm. Students from both Junior and Senior Vocal Groups will be performing, along with our Chamber and Community Choirs. All have been preparing for many weeks now and the Carol Service is a wonderful way to finish off the term in a festive spirit.

Regretfully, due to Covid-19 restrictions, we are limited to an audience capacity of 100. Therefore, entry will be by ticket only, on a first-come, first-served basis, with a maximum of two tickets per family.  We are sorry that on this occasion the programme is not suitable for children under 10 years.  We respectfully request that, unless medically exempt, masks are worn at all times throughout the service.

Entrance is free of charge, but tickets must be obtained in advance from TryBooking and must be produced before entry.

SHORT NOTICE CLOSURE 

At the start of the week we saw snow on the school site which was a timely nudge for us that we should remind our school community of the closure procedures in case of heavy snow or any other reason resulting in the school having to shut at short notice.  There is no snow forecast, but as we all know, things can change quickly.

Please check the homepage of the school website (www.chartersschool.org.uk) for information regarding potential school closure.  Information should be available by 6.45 am on the day.  Alternatively, listen to local radio stations – details below.  Please note that the school will remain open unless you are specifically informed otherwise via the website/radio stations.

BBC Radio Berkshire (available on 95.4FM; 94.6FM; 104.1FM; 104.4FM and DAB) publish a list of all school closures and also announce these on air. 

Heart Thames Valley (available on 97FM and 102.9FM) will also announce any closure of Charters School.

NEW EMAIL: worried@

As many of you will be aware we introduced a new initiative to support students to come forward and report issues and concerns; our email address worried@chartersschool.org.uk.

We will be sending a question out on a fortnightly basis to all students to try to find out more about their experience of life as a student at Charters so that we can help to improve school life for everyone. On our first question sent out on 15 November 2021 we had 384 responses which is a brilliant start. The question was about whether students feel safe at Charters and there were 2 main themes that came out in student responses when they said they felt unsafe:

1. The lunch queues were raised as an issue where people push and shove each other and can be intimidating - this is something we as a school community will all need to work together to resolve and Mr Wright will be talking to students in assembly about this throughout next week.

2. People are using bad language and swearing around the school site – again this is something that all students need to be aware of and staff will be picking up and putting a real focus on.

If your child has concerns and needs someone to talk to then please encourage them to use worried@ to share their concerns and try to access some support.

CHRISTMAS JUMPER DAY

On Friday 10 December if you are STAFF / SIXTH FORM or YEAR 7 & 8 – wear your Christmas jumper to gain a Housepoint.

Christmas Jumper day in the UK is advertised and set up by Save the Children. If you feel you are able, please can you donate to save the children on our just giving site.

You might just think you're wearing a jumper for Christmas Jumper Day - but it is way more than that. Your spellbinding sweater is going to help kids get the stuff they need most to help them see the fun and wonder in the world!

https://www.savethechildren.org.uk/christmas-jumper-day/how-you-help

VIRTUAL CHRISTMAS DRAW

We’ll be holding a virtual Christmas Draw this holiday season and have an array of wonderful prizes which include hampers and vouchers.

Our target is to raise £3,600 to replace our stage lighting with ColourSource Par lights.

You could be lucky enough to win a SPARKLING AFTERNOON TEA FOR TWO at the Berystede Hotel or maybe a £550 voucher for a PHOTOGRAPHY EXPERIENCE at Venture Studios. If champagne is your thing, then CHAMPAGNE AFTERNOON TEA FOR TWO at the 16th century Great Fosters Hotel is another of our festive prizes. There's also a MIXED CASE OF WINE and a MIXED CASE OF FIZZ, HAMPERS FOR MEN, HAMPERS FOR WOMEN and HAMPERS FOR CHILDREN! 

We are asking parents/carers to log onto their ParentPay accounts where virtual tickets, which are £5 each, can be purchased.

You will not be issued with a ticket, but your name will be entered into the draw for each £5 spent. 

Payments can be made from today until midnight on Tuesday 14 December.

Tickets will be drawn at 10am Wednesday 15 December and the winners notified later in the day.

This draw has been registered with RBWM as a Small Society Lottery – SL0174 

Thank you for supporting this initiative which will enhance the Creative Arts for our students

WISH LISTS

Thank you to everyone who has already granted a Christmas ‘Wish’ for one of our departments by donating to our Wish List initiative.

Each department has put together a range of items that will help to enhance the curriculum and bring the syllabus alive for their students. A full list of ‘Wishes’ can be viewed here.

Thank you and merry Christmas

GIVE THE GIFT OF FRIENDSHIP

We have been humbled by the number of people who have donated funds towards our AV1 Robot fundraising campaign and would like to express our thanks for each and every donation. A special mention should go to consultancy firm, Leading Outcomes, for donating £3240 to enable us to purchase our first Robot.

Please watch our fundraising film below, which was filmed, edited and produced by Bayley Pricket, one of our very talented past students who is now studying Film Studies at university , with the help of seven incredible Year 9 actors.

We are encouraging our school community to share the film with others as we would ideally like to buy a number of robots to help students with chronic health conditions be heard and included.

Donations can be made here.

Thank you

 

 

STUDENT NEWS

BALL KIDS AT THE ROYAL ALBERT HALL

Twenty-eight Year 9 and 10 students were lucky enough to be on court with some of the world’s finest tennis greats last weekend at the Royal Albert Hall for the Champions Tennis tournament. This competition features former Grand Slam winners, Olympic medallists, and world number ones in a round robin competition over four days.

Charters students went through a selection process and had to work hard for many hours in training to ensure their skills were up to scratch in order to be on court with these tennis legends.

It was an amazing event but sadly the last time it will be held at the Royal Albert Hall.  Our students were able to build many life-long skills including teamwork, communication, cooperation, organisation, and leadership. They represented the school brilliantly throughout the four days both on and off court, and showed many examples of our school motto, UNITY RESPECT EXCELLENCE.

A few of the students were fortunate enough to be given a racket to play with or against one of the players.  For some they were live on the BBC red button during Emma Raducanu’s exhibition match on Sunday lunchtime plus various sightings on Instagram and TikTok.

The photo above is of the ball kids with the two captains of the teams who reached the final, Greg Rusedski and Mark Philippoussis.

Our students realaly enjoyed their time at this event.  Here's what tow of them had to say:

"I had a fantastic time, and it was really good fun to see the players and even play with two of them, it has been a great opportunity to learn new skills" - Toby, Year 9.

"A once in a lifetime opportunity. Being on the court with some of tennis's former greats was a dream come true, from backstage fun to meeting the pros and sharing the experience as a team, it was an incredible time at the Royal Albert Hall as a ball kid and I'll defiantly never forget it!" - Olly, Year 9.

MY SPACE - YEAR 11 ART

The current Year 11 Art students have completed their final outcomes for the 'My Space' project. Inspiration was collected from a range of cultural sources as well as their own identities, to create a personal response using sculpture, printmaking and collage.

The 'shrines' are on display at the foot of the #SixthForm stairs.

  

FESTIVE ENRICHMENT WEDNESDAY

 

 

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas in our Sixth Form, as students took the opportunity on Enrichment Wednesday to wrap presents and write cards for some of the elderly residents in our community. Next week they will be visiting local care homes, (at a distance) to deliver the gifts and sing Christmas carols.

DO YOU REMEMBER?...

It was 4 years ago today that our Inter-Girls Cross Country team became English Schools' Athletic Association Champions national champions. We were proud of them then and we are proud of them now. #Unity #Respect #Excellence

NOTICES

LATERAL FLOW TESTS

Please encourage your child(ren) to collect a home test kit from their Tutor or Student Services for use during the holidays and the day before we return to school. We believe around half of all test kits are now not being collected when offered by Tutors to students.  Lateral Flow testing should be carried out twice a week where possible and if you are running low on test kits, please ask your Tutor or at Student Services for new supplies.  Thank you for your support to keep Covid cases in school as low as possible.  

COVID-19 UPDATE FROM RBWM

The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead have issued an update for parents and carers regarding current COVID-19 measures. Please click here to read. 

CHRISTMAS LUNCH

Christmas lunch for students in Years 7 to 11 will be held on Monday 13 December.  Please visit the Christmas lunch page of the website here for full menu details and how to purchase. 

YEAR 11 BOOK CLUB

A group of Year 11 students have started up their own book club and it began this week. It is fantastic to see our students demonstrating Excellence and Unity by engaging in wider reading and literature outside the classroom. The club is open to all Year 11s and takes place on Thursdays in M8. We look forward to hearing about what they are reading.

WATER BOTTLES

Please can we remind students that they should bring a water bottle into school .  We are getting a large number of students appearing at Student Services asking for a drink.  We have lots of places where bottles can be refilled so there is no need to bring in bottled water.

SIXTH FORM ENRICHMENT SESSIONS

Sixth Form students have been attending English Enrichment sessions at Second Break over the past few weeks.  Three sessions have taken place, with three more available - please click here for details of the remaining sessions.  

SECURITY ALERT

Please be aware there are reports of schools receiving scam emails purporting to be from NHS offering free "Omicron PCR tests" to "avoid restrictions" (see image below of a screenshot of an email sent to a central London school on Tuesday).

Notices have been sent out regarding this on NHS Twitter and the Department for Education LinkedIn page so please stay alert.  

COMMUNITY 

THE 300 CLUB

1st Sunningdale Scouts are running a fund-raising initiative this December and set themselves the challenge of raising funds to build a new Scout Hut to maintain scouting in the area for the next 50 years. The 300 CLUB is a small lottery and they hope it will be a great option as a Christmas present for people who would like to support the local charity. Please click here for more details.

 

PARENT CURRICULUM INFORMATION

 

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