HIGHLIGHTS

Firstly Happy New Year to you all and a warm welcome back to the Spring Term 2023. 

It was lovely to welcome back the class of 2022 for Presentation Evening on Thursday which was kindly sponsored by K J Smith Solicitors.  Many returned to share an evening of celebration and catch up after their first term at university or in the world of work.  Thank you to our guest speaker Mr Joshua Taylor  (Class of 2018) for his insight into university life .  Joshua left Charters to study at Brasnose College, Oxford and is now completing an MA in Philosophy at the University of Essex. 

In our start-of-term assembly with the whole school via TEAMS, we highlighted the successes from the last term and the opportunities coming up this term.  Year 13 move into the last five months before their exams and for Year 11 it is the last 4 months before they start in May.  This is going to be a very busy term for both year groups and we wish them well with their studies, remember there is lots of support in school.

WELCOME TO CHARTERS

Mrs S Jebb our New SENCO and Teacher of Geography

Mrs N Payne Our Deputy SENCO and Teacher of English

I am sure you will join me and wish them a warm welcome to our school community.

TRIPS THIS HALF-TERM

Once again we have a busy half-term for trips.  The ones we have going out can be seen below. 

Date	Trip Name	Dept	Year Group	Number of Attendees
Weds 18 January	Matilda the Musical	Drama	7	120
Weds 18 January	Cambridge University	PHA	12	16
Weds 18 January	Berkshire Book Award	Library	7&8	15
Thurs 19 January	Chelsea Football Club	Business	12	31
Thurs 2 February	Southampton	Geography	10	55
Mon 6 February	Southampton	Geography	10	60
Thurs 9 February	Southampton	Geography	10	58
Thurs 9 February	Oxford University	PHA	12	20

AUDITIONS FOR THE KEY STAGE 3 MUSICAL ‘OLIVER’

The Drama and Music department will be holding auditions for the Key Stage 3 musical next week, please see Mr Hoare or Ms Ring for details. 

NSPCC YOUNG PEOPLE’S BOARD FOR CHANGE

The NSPCC are looking for young people aged 11 to 16 to be part of their Board for Change.  If your son/daughter is interested in taking part then please follow the link HERE   

YEAR 7 & YEAR 8

Royal Holloway College, University of London, is looking for students in Years 7 & 8 who are willing to take part in a research project, details of which can be found in their message below.

Researchers at Royal Holloway are using MRI to investigate the brain’s response to learning new words. We hope this will allow us to understand why some children find learning new words more enjoyable than others and design better interventions for children who struggle. We would like to invite students aged 11-13 to participate in our research. Children who complete the study will receive a £25 and a picture of their brain. 

This study takes place in the Psychology department at Royal Holloway (we can arrange free parking on campus). During the study, children complete an MRI scan. MRI is a safe method that lets us take detailed pictures of brains. We are particularly interested in brain activity during word learning. We will also ask your child to play simple and fun games, based around reading, language, and problem-solving. Taking part will take approximately 3 hours. We are happy to see people in the evenings or on weekends.  

You can express an interest in participating by filling out a form on our webpage www.ncodelab.com/contact/taking-part or email us at ncodelab@rhul.ac.uk with any questions. A member of the research team will get back to you to determine eligibility. 

If selected students will receive £25 and a picture of their brain.

REVISION AND REVISITING WORK

We all know the value of making sure that we are as well prepared as we can be for a big event.  As we move towards public exams it is important to make sure that students are well prepared, the link HERE has lots of advice for all students.  Building good habits early is so important.

Revisiting work on  a regular basis to make sure it is fixed in our long term memory is fundamental, so please do encourage your sons/daughters at home to go over their work on a regular basis to help consolidate the knowledge and skills.  No one puts on a play with one last minute rehearsal after all!

THE REITH LECTURES

This year the BBC’s Reith Lectures broke from the ‘norm’ and instead of one person giving four lectures on a contemporary topic, had four people give a lecture on ideas outlined in American President Franklin D Roosevelt's speech in January 1941, on the eve of the Americans entering WWII.  This speech was about the four Freedoms of Speech, of Worship, from Want and from Fear.   With all we are experiencing as a society at levels both internally and internationally, they are well worth a listen to.

NEWS

Click on the images below to read this week's news stories.

Our annual Presentation Evening for year 13 students was a great success.

 

These are just some of the things that have taken place this week at Charters.  Take a look through our social media using these buttons to discover many more.

NOTICES

ATTENDANCE UPDATE

Thank you for the positive comments received following our messages regarding school attendance and the impact that this has on student achievement.

Following recent guidance from the DFE, we have introduced several points of recognition and celebration that run in a number of ways. Of course it is absolutely fantastic if students have overall 100% attendance for the whole term, or better still the whole academic year, but we do understand that we are all unwell at times, and that this can mean genuine school absence.

Our termly 100% prizes and golden tickets (which gives the lucky students a pass to go straight to the front of the lunch queue!) are reset every two weeks. Obviously the more two-week periods a student has 100% attendance, the more likely that they are to win a prize but we do understand that being unwell at times shouldn’t preclude you from being part of these celebrations. Thank you again for your support on getting students in when they are perhaps not “firing on all cylinders” but are able to come in to access their learning. It is always appreciated.

NATIONAL ONLINE SAFETY

We continue to subscribe to National Online Safety and use their resources in school to support both parents and students. In light of new devices as Christmas presents, we wanted to share with you some easy guides about setting up Android and Apple devices safely including parental controls. Please click here to read.

As always if you have any concerns with your child’s e-safety then please contact their Tutor or Head of Year to access advice and support.

REMINDER: COPPER COINS NEEDED

Thank you to all who have already sent in their spare copper coins.  The Maths department is looking for donations of 1p and 2p coins so that students can take part in the TRADING GAME this term and so if you have any coins you can donate it would be most appreciated.  

The Trading Game is played with a large number of students and begins to teach them about the effect on prices of supply and demand by emulating a very basic stock exchange.  Students start the game with two trading cards (each representing a commodity) and no money.  They are given 30 minutes to buy and sell their commodities at the six trading stations with the aim of making as much money as possible. Not all commodities are sold at all trading stations and as stock supplies change in each location, the prices fluctuate. 

We played this game with Year 7 students during last summer's Maths Day  and it was a great success.  We use real copper coins in the stock exchanges as the easiest way to keep track of which students are raising the most money by their trading abilities and are looking for a stock of coins so that we can play the game with more year groups.

If you can support this initiative we would be really grateful and students can give the coins to their Maths teachers during Maths lessons in the new year. Thank you.

WISH LISTS

Thank you to those who continued to donate to the Wish Lists during the Christmas break.  Thanks to your generosity, this initiative raised £2347.35 for departments throughout the school.  

UNIFORM DONATIONS

We would be grateful to receive donations of navy school jumpers, girls' blazers, lower and upper school ties and black trousers.

Please ask your child fto bring any donated uniform to Mrs Welham's office which is ii the Sixth Form block.  Go up the stairs and turn left.  Many thanks.

VACANCIES

Are you looking for part time work and would like to join our school community.  If so, take a look at our new vacancy for an Exams Invigilator, details of which can be found here. 

To view all the current vacancies at Charters, please click for the Vacancies page.

COMMUNITY

STUDENT OPPORTUNITIES FROM THE BERKSHIRE ENTERPRISE ADVISOR NETWORK  (BEAN)

FREE ADVIZA WEBINAR ON YEAR 9 OPTIONS

Dear 9 Parents

• Is your child worried about choosing their GCSE options?
• Do you feel unsure and unequipped to help?

Your child may need some guidance in helping them decide which options are best for them.

Don’t worry help is at hand…Attend the FREE Adviza webinar on Wednesday 11^th January 6pm-7pm.

The webinar will look at the routes into further education and apprenticeships from GCSE options chosen. We will also cover the different combinations of GCSEs that can be chosen, what they entail and where to locate information and resources to support with this.

What you will get out of it:

• A great opportunity to discuss options with a trained Level 6 careers guidance practitioner
• Get detailed knowledge and understanding of further educational routes
• Find out about useful resources for further information, tips and hints.

The webinar can be accessed via Zoom from the comfort of your home. You will not be seen or heard, you can just listen but you will have the opportunity to ask questions via the Q&A box.

The webinar can be booked online via the Adviza Portal. You only need to book one place per family.

FREE TICKETS TO NATIONAL OUTDOOR EXPO AND MORE

Raccoon Events are offering a discount on adult tickets for some of the events below, but all tickets for children (16 and under) are free with an accompanying adult.

There are still free adult and family tickets available for the National Outdoor Expo which is very family friendly and includes lots of hands on activities that kids can enjoy - including a climbing wall, bush craft training, a zip line and kayaking on the lake. 

Raccoon Events specialise in highly engaging events that encourage people to get more active outdoors. If you have children who love to run, hike, horse-ride, cycle or camp then this is a great opportunity for them to attend one or more of the events. The aim is to encourage participation in outside activities for both physical and mental health benefits. 

All of the events feature an incredible speaker line-up and interactive features which are included within the ticket. Details and ticket offers include:

The National Running Show, 21-22 January, NEC Birmingham
Speakers include: Colin Jackson, Dean Karnazes, Dina Asher-Smith, Eilish McColgan, Gary Robbins, Iwan Thomas, Jenni Falconer, John Regis, Joshua Patterson and Kriss Akabusi
Features include: Steve Cram training camps with the man himself, The Run Clinic, Ice Bath challenge and zones dedicated to strength training, pilates and recovery
More info and tickets at www.nationalrunningshow.com
OFFER: 25% off with code SCHOOLS book ASAP as limited availability

The National Equine Show, 4-5 March, NEC Birmingham
Speakers include: Charlotte Dujardin, Carl Hester, Esme Higgs, Alex Hua Tian, Piggy March, Sir Lee Pearson, Verity Smith and Rosie Tapner
Features include: Riding simulators, Inspiration Stage, Catwalk for equestrian fashion and retail experiences
More info and tickets at www.nationalequineshow.com 
OFFER: 50% off with code SCHOOLS when you book before January 31st. 

The National Outdoor Expo, 18-19 March, NEC Birmingham
Speakers include: Ben Fogle, Preet Chandi, Ray Mears, Alastair Humphreys, Mya-Rose Craig and Pete Whittaker
Features include: The Climbing Wall, Outdoor Kitchen, Wildlife Watching Pavilion, Bushcraft Zone, Stand Up Paddle Boarding on the lake and a Zip line. 
More info and tickets at www.nationaloutdoorexpo.com 
OFFER: Free tickets with code SCHOOLS when you book before January 31st.

USEFUL INFORMATION

FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA

We love sharing our student successes, out-of-the ordinary lessons, fantastic opportunities and much much more with our wider school community.  So why not follow us on our Social Media platforms where you can find out about all the unusual, and not-so-unusual, events that happen here at Charters.  Join us at:

   

PARENT CURRICULUM/SUPPORT INFORMATION

      

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