HIGHLIGHTS

It was wonderful to hear that the KS3 production of Oliver had over 60 students audition for the roles, I am very much looking forward to the performance in June. It was also fantastic to see the number of books that where dropped off for the book swap that Ms Gilbey held at the Year 11 parents' evening this week.  This is a great way to pass on a good read to someone else.  Thank you to the Year 10 students who helped out with the swapping and organisation.

INDUSTRIAL ACTION

The school will only be open to identified invited students on 1 February 2023 due to national action led by the National Education Union. 

Further days of action are planned on 2 March, 15 March and 16 March.  More information will follow once we are aware of the impact on school on these days

MOBILE PHONES

I am sure you are all aware of our Mobile Phone Policy, gate to gate is the line we use to keep it simple.  No phones should be seen in school during the school day unless a staff member has authorised their use and should be turned off in the students bag.  If they are seen, they are confiscated.  This is deliberately simple so there are no ‘grey areas’ as we believe that mobile phones distract from learning whilst students are in class.   There is lots of evidence that shows this to be true.

We are seeing increasing numbers of students who say they are tired and when we speak to them about why this may be, there seems to be a common thread.   They have their phones with them at night, which is leading to disturbed sleep patterns.  These disturbed sleep patterns then manifested themselves by students being tired in school, unable to concentrate and displays more irritability than the average teenager!!  Can we ask that you talk with your son/daughter about their mobile usage. It would be helpful if you did not allow them to have their phones or other devices in their bedroom at night as these disturb sleep patterns, which ultimately impact their ability to absorb and process information or new skills at school.

HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL DAY

During assemblies this week students have been learning about Holocaust Memorial Day which takes place every year on 27 January to coincide with the liberation of Auschwitz in 1945.  The Holocaust Educational Trust have promoted a theme based around shining a light on ‘ordinary people.’  This might include the stories of perpetrators, collaborators and perhaps most importantly survivors of the Holocaust and subsequent genocides that have occurred through since 1945. Students can read around this subject by choosing from the display in our school Library.

Today is Holocaust Memorial Day and a remembrance event will occur nationally at 4 pm, where people are invited to ‘light a candle’ to remember and reflect upon the darkness of this period. 

STUDENTS QUALIFY TO RUN FOR BERKSHIRE 

Six of our students who took part in the Berkshire Schools Cross Country Championships last weekend finished in top 16 in their respective races and now go on to represent Berkshire at the Inter Counties Championships.  Well done to all students who took part and good luck to those who will compete in the next round. 

U15 Girls: Ella 10^th 
U17 Boys: James 11^th and Harry 13^th 
U19 Boys: Josh 2^nd 
U19 Girls:  Manisha 5^th and Morgan 12^th 

NEWS

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

Read Libby's account of taking part in the Options Presentation

Trip to see Matilda, a huge success.

Students are looking forward to talk from Peter Radford next week.

A-level Business students discover what it's like to run a successful football club.

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

SIXTH FORM INTERVIEWS

Sixth Form interviews for Year 11 are taking place next week.

Students have been informed of their interview date and time.

Those students that are scheduled for Wednesday 1 February will be taking their interviews online via Teams.

ACTION NEEDED TO CONTINUE TO RECEIVE OUR EMAILS

We use our school database Arbor and ParentPay to email parents (and Outlook on an individual basis).

ParentPay emails will generally be about trips, activities, workshops and any other opportunities that need paying for and will go to the parent who has set themselves up as a payer on ParentPay. So if this is not the parent who organises life at home, please think about setting both parents up on ParentPay. The ParentPay help screens can guide you through this process.  You may also want to set up alerts for new items added to your account and to top up your child’s lunch monies.  Again, please refer to the ParentPay help screens.

ParentPay emails will come through from platform@parentpay.com

Arbor emails will come through from no-reply@mail.arbor-education.com; on behalf of  followed by the sender’s name, often Charters School.

We recommend that you add us to your safe senders list so that bulk emails are not filtered out into spam by your mail provider. You can usually do this via your mail settings. Please google the pathway for your mail provider if you are not familiar with the process.  We recommend that you do add us to your safe senders list as experience has shown that our emails may not continue to be delivered into your principle inbox particularly for larger bulk emails or if your mail provider upgrades their security settings.

The school Newsletter is emailed to parents on Fridays via Arbor and can be found on our website. Please look at this so you do not miss out on information. We try to minimise the number of emails we bombard you with, and gather the information together into the Friday Newsletter.

LABELLING PE KIT

Please ensure all of your child's PE kit is labelled/named. The PE Department are finding a lot of unnamed kit that is being left behind and cannot be returned to its owner.  

In the current financial climate it is a quick win to label kit rather than having to replace it!

SUCCESS BEYOND SCHOOL

We recommend investigating these live online seminars for parents.

To view and register, click here

COMMUNITY

CATHOLIC CONFIRMATION ENROLMENT AT ST FRANCIS CHURCH

St Francis Church,  Coronation Road, Ascot.has set the closing date for applications for its Catholic Confirmation Enrolment as 31 January 2023 and wanted to give a last opportunity to any baptised Catholic pupils from Year 8 and above to consider joining this sacramental program.

Sessions will be held on Wednesdays at 6pm-7.15pm beginning WEDNESDAY 8th February at  St Francis Church . Confirmation would be celebrated in the Summer term.

Further information and application forms are available via the parish office stfrancisascot@portsmouthdiocese.org.uk or 01344620591.

BERKS COUNTY FC - PLAYERS REQUIRED

GIRLS YEAR 7 & 8 FOOTBALL

The Berks County Year 7 & 8 Girls Football team (U12 Wildcats) are looking for players to join the squad.  They play in the Berkshire County Girls Football League on Saturday mornings and have their home games and training at Charters School. 

GOALKEEPER FOR YEAR 9 (U14) BOYS TEAM

A goalkeeper is required for the Year 9 (U14) Boys Football team.  Training takes place on Thursdays at Charters and home games are played on Bracknell Leisure Centre 3G pitch.

If you are interested and for further information please email - football@berkscountyfc.com or visit the BerksCounty FC website. 

ROYAL BERKSHIRE FIRE SERVICE

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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