THIS WEEK

HIGHLIGHT(S)

It was amazing to see the immediate and empathic response from our Sixth Formers to the horrendous situation in Ukraine and the ensuing refugee crisis being created.  They quickly organised a collection of essential supplies to support the families who had nothing as they fled their homes due to the actions of President Putin and the Russian Government.  We intend to continue our support of the humanitarian effort as best we can.  When we have more information, we will let the wider community know how they can help if they wish. 

THE NEWS

There is no doubt that the news is hard to listen to, watch and read about at the moment.  The current situation in the Ukraine is creating concerns for all.  The news is particularly difficult for younger people to absorb, some of the posts they may have read or watched on social media are extremely misleading if not completely fake. 

We are encouraging the students to check the sources they are getting the information from and think about this critically.  Students are taught to do this in school across a number of different lessons.  We appreciate that your children will be asking you questions at home about the situation and you may feel that you are unable to answer them, that is okay not one of us has the answer to all the questions.  The following article form the BBC is very helpful in supporting some of these difficult questions.  Please click here to read.

We have already, during Key stage 3 History lessons this week, revisited how to review sources and how to critically evaluate what is being communicated.  The History department are also going to produce a short video to be shown to Year 10 and Year 11 during tutor time next week.

NEWS ROUND-UP

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

DONATIONS FOR UKRAINE 

STUDENTS ATTEND BEYOND COP21 SYMPOSIUM 

STUDENTS VISIT OXFORD UNIVERSITY

WORLD BOOK DAY

PHOENIX DANCE SHOW

NOTICES

ATTENDANCE

We are now in the ‘Living with Covid‘ phase of the governments approach to Covid.  As such we would like to refocus on attendance expectations that we had before the pandemic.  We set a target of 96% for our students pre-pandemic  and would like to, in the remaining term and a half of this academic year, reinstate this target.

As such between now and 22 July this will be the target for all students.  We are not accounting for any attendance figures up to this point during this academic year, as restrictions were in place.  The table below will help you in the conversations at home to reinforce good attendance. 

We monitor attendance on a daily basis and will be in touch with any families we have concerns with every two weeks if patterns are developing.  Students with 100% for each two weeks from this point will be entered in a draw for incentives such as a golden ticket for the Dining Hall queue, free ice cream and other spot prizes every two weeks.  

As you can see from the table below even if your son/daughter is at 80% at this point, if they are in every day between now and the end of term, they can achieve 90% attendance.   You can also see the number of days missed so far and the impact this has if the same percentage is missed again for the rest of the term.

PUNCTUALITY

We are keen to improve student punctuality this term.  The majority of our students have excellent attendance and punctuality however, we are seeing a rise in students that are a few minutes late to lesson and so we want to tackle this quickly.

To look at this in another way: If a student is 2 minutes late to 1 lesson a day over a week, they will miss 10 minutes of learning during the week.  This may not seem like much to them but, if they did this throughout the school year, they would miss an equivalent of just over 6 whole lessons which shows how much learning you can miss in those couple of minutes here and there.

Obviously, we understand that there will be times when students have a legitimate reason for being late to lessons which will be taken in to consideration, however sanctions will now be applied for minutes late to lessons to make up for missed learning.

Between 10 and 20 minutes late across a week - 30 minutes detention
Between 21 and 45 minutes late across a week - 1 hour detention
Between 46 and 75 minutes late across a week - 1 and a half hour detention

You will be able to see via ClassCharts whether your child has been set this sanction on a weekly basis.  We will be running reports from a Friday to Thursday and the sanction will be set on the Friday after school.

CURRICULUM AND ENRICHMENT TRIPS THIS HALF-TERM

The table below highlights the trips we have coming up during this half-term.

DATE	TRIP NAME	DEPT	YEAR GROUP
Thursday 3 March	Southampton	Geography	10
Friday 4 March	Southampton	Geography	10
Saturday 5 and Sunday 6 March	World Scholars Cup	Aspiring High	7,9 &12
Monday 7 March	Southampton	Geography	10
Saturday 12 March	Move It Dance	Dance	7-13
Saturday 19 March	Move It Dance	Dance	9
Saturday 19 and Sunday 20 March	D of E Bronze/Silver Training	DofE	9 & 10
Wednesday 23 March	V&A Museum	Art	10
Thursday 31 March	Woman In Black Theatre	Drama	10, 12 & 13

COATS IN CLASSROOMS

As the weather is now turning milder there is no need for students to wear coats in classrooms.  If students feel they will be cold they need to wear the school jumper, a blazer or wear warm layers under their shirts or blouses. 

INCONSIDERATE PARKING 

It has been brought to our attention again that drivers collecting students at the end of the day are parking extremely inconsiderately, causing long tailbacks and endangering students as they exit.  We strongly urge you to consider parking away from the school site and encourage your children to walk to meet you.  We hope all drivers appreciate the need for cooperation at such busy times so we can alleviate this problem.

COMMUNITY

This annual charity event is organised by both the local community of Sunninghill and surrounding areas plus the Rotary Club of Ascot.

The main beneficiary of the event will once again be the Ascot District Day Centre which provides a vital service to the elderly in the area who need a little bit of extra help and social company to enjoy their lives.   

It really is a great community fun day for everyone.  Please click here for information and highlights of the various trophies to be won on the day. 

 

    

PARENT CURRICULUM INFORMATION

  

 

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