HIGHLIGHTS

Wishing you all a very Happy Christmas and New Year

Another very busy week in school with the Carol Service and the Musicals event this week.  Such great talent in school is being showcased.  Thank you to all the students who read at the lessons in Nine Carols Service at Holy Trinity Church and to all the staff and parents who attended, such a lovely occasion for all.  You can see the amazing staff choir picture below. The Musicals celebration was full of such energy and enthusiasm that people left exhausted! 

Once again thank you to all who supported our food bank collection and the essential parcels scheme, your generosity has meant that families in your school community have been supported this Christmas.  I know that these families in the community are very grateful also.

I would like to wish all members of our community a restful and peaceful break over the holiday period and look forward to seeing all back in the  New Year.

NATIONAL TEACHING AWARDS

These Awards have now been going for 25 Years and are an annual event.  If you would like to nominate a member of the Charters staff then please use the following link National Awards - each member of staff nominated will receive a recognition postcard.  Please do take a few moments to complete a nomination I know that staff who would receive them would be thrilled.

UNIFORM AND EQUIPMENT

Please make sure that your child has the correct uniform and all the equipment they need for the start of term as this takes away a layer of potential negativity at the start of the New Year. 

ATTENDANCE

Being in school is vital to the success and our attendance this term, although above national figures and also above regional figures, is not where it should be.  The attendance figure is  92% and the persistence absentee figure (any student with attendance below 90%) was 22% in 2019 before the pandemic but these figures at this point of the year were:  95% and 9% respectively. So this tells us that we have more students missing significant periods of school.  There could be a feeling that it is not my child but please be mindful that over a school year having time off does impact on education outcomes.

This term we have had 68 school days so a student missing 10% of lessons has missed nearly 1 ½ weeks of school or 38 lessons, if 20% 3 weeks of school or 75 lessons – that is a lot of learning being missed,    More importantly, depending how this is distributed it may have had an impact on certain lessons on the timetable disproportionality.

Attendance is vital in underpinning success, please help us support your son/daughter by making sure they are in school as much as possible in the New Year.   Thank you in advance for your support with this.

CHRISTMAS DESIGNS

We are delighted to have the results of the Headteacher’s Christmas Picture Competition for this year...the winner is Christina in Y7 (Panthers), with two runners up – Emily and Amy.  Well done to all these students, the Headteacher and Senior Leadership Team are looking forward to using these pictures for their Christmas cards this year.

 

CHRISTMAS WISH LISTS

Thank you so much to everyone who has already donated to our Wish Lists, the generosity that you have already shown is amazing.  So far £4,119.81 has been donated towards our departments' wishes.

If you haven't done so already and you would like to make a Wish come true for one of our departments, please take a look at the list of Wishes.  You can make a donation via CAF Donate, our secure online giving platform, where we can claim an additional 25% on your donation from the Government if you are a UK taxpayer and choose to tick the Gift Aid box. Once you have done this, please email our Marketing Team so that they can order your Wish and deliver to the department in the new year.

Thank you for all your support.

CHRISTMAS DRAW

Small Society Lotteries - SL0174

Thank you so much to everyone who purchased tickets in our Christmas Draw. We raised a staggering £2120 and there are some very happy people in our school community who were informed today they they had won a prize. We would like to thank the generosity of Mercedes-Benz World, Windsor Escape Experience, Knight Frank, Ascot and Hedley Clark who sponsored our incredible prizes.

PRE-LOVED UNIFORM

Thank you to everyone involved with the Pre-loved Uniform Sale this week.  It was a success despite the grim weather with some quality donations followed by the sale which raised a £66.60!  All proceeds will go directly to our Unity Fund.

The next sale will be at the end of the Easter Term during the final week.  More details will be published nearer the time but we will aim to collect in those items which we are running short of and ensure the quality of goods for sale remains high.

YEAR 7 CHRISTMAS ARTWORK

Our Year 7 students designed Christmas images earlier in the term as a lovely idea for personalised gifts and a fundraising project for the Art department.  Parents could transfer the students' lovely designs into a selection of Christmas cards, postcards, keyrings, gift wrap, magnets and even chocolate bars!

This artwork chosen below were commended for their creative designs and earned points for their House. 

 

ALUMNI NEWSLETTER

Please take a look at the latest edition of our Alumni Newsletter by clicking on the image below.

If you were once a student at our school we’d love to hear what you think of our publication, and if you’d like to be involved in the next issue, please do get in touch.

NOTICES

HEADTEACHER 1976 -1987

This week we received the sad news that Mr Paul Beut, Headteachers of Charters from 1976 to 1987 sadly passed away after a long illness. Our thoughts are with his family and this difficult time for them. 

SCHOOL UNIFORM

As we near the end of term we understand that there might be one or two bits of school uniform that need to be sorted over the break. We have seen a slight increase in the number of students who have worn trainers to school for example.  Apart from any diagnosed medical need, we would ask for your support in making sure that all students arrive back after the break in full school uniform including black polishable shoes and wearing a school blazer. Thank you.

UPCOMING CAREERS OPPORTUNITIES

All students have Personal Development lessons, part of which includes careers advice. Please click the image above to take you to the Upcoming Opportunities page which is updated regularly with information and advice.

Some opportunities on this page involve a cost. Any student who feels that the cost of a course on this page is prohibitive, please do consider asking your parents/carers to apply for support through our Unity Fund or if you are in the 6th Form the Bursary Fund. 

NEWS ROUND-UP

Take a look through our social media using the buttons above and check out this week's news stories below.

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

Language Leaders Deliver Mini Lessons

Careers Speed Dating

Love for the Library

Ellie in Year 7 recently performed a dance at her local care home with her dance troop as an activity for the residents. Demonstrating our “Compassion” character value, she entertained her audience with some beautiful dancing. 

 

ADVENT

Our Digital Advent Calendar doors this week are noted below - visit our social media to watch the animated versions:

	FOR ALL OTHER DOORS UP TO CHRISTMAS EVE PLEASE VISIT OUR SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS TO ENJOY THE FULL VERSIONS.   MERRY CHRISTMAS!

  

 

 

FEARLESS

Our LPA Safeguarding Schools Officer from Thames Valley Police drew our attention to the Crimestoppers and Fearless confidential reporting lines.  If any young person wants to pass on information to police whilst remaining completely anonymous, they can do so via Fearless/Crimestoppers via phone or online.  Please visit the website below for more information:

Fearless: Anonymous Reporting for a Safer Community | Crimestoppers (crimestoppers-uk.org)

KEEPING CHILDREN SAFE ONLINE THIS CHRISTMAS

With the Christmas festivities just around the corner, children are looking forward to receiving gifts. For many, this may be devices that allow you to go online. Even with the best intentions, many parents have a false sense of how to keep their child secure, or think their child is more secure than they actually are.  This free resource HERE from RBWM partner Safety Net may be of use.

 

USEFUL LINKS

PLEASE CLICK ICON TO VISIT RELEVANT PAGE OF THE WEBSITE

 

PARENT CURRICULUM/SUPPORT INFORMATION

PLEASE CLICK ICON TO VISIT RELEVANT PAGE OF THE WEBSITE

  

 

 

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