MILLTHORPE WEEKLY EMAIL
Friday 14 October 2016

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Teacher of the Year
A Millthorpe teacher who has helped to support the welfare of hundreds of children has won the Teacher of the Year at the Press Community Pride Awards evening on Thursday 13 October. Sue Cordell, Director of Student Welfare, who was nominated for the award by fellow Millthorpe teacher Adam Baybutt, said she was “honoured and humbled” to receive the award and that it was a privilege to work with such a fantastic and committed pastoral team led by Scott Butterworth. Read more…

Year 7 Fortnightly SPaG Focus
The current fortnightly SPaG focus for Year 7 is apostrophes for contraction. You may wish to support your child’s learning by using the supporting resources which are available by clicking here. Visit the literacy page on the school website for previous SPaG focus supporting resources and other literacy materials.

Year 10 Work Experience Meeting Tuesday 18 October 2016
A reminder to Year 10 parents and carers that the Year 10Work Experience meeting is taking place on Tuesday 18 October at 6.00pm in the Main Hall and will last about an hour. If you have not already done so please visit www.surveymonkey.com/r/Y10_Work_Exp to let us know if you plan to attend.

Year 7 Tutor Meeting Wednesday 19 October
Students will be bringing a letter home on Monday with your appointment time for the Year 7 Tutor Meeting taking place on Wednesday 19 October. If you do not receive this letter or there is a problem with your appointment time please contact school.

Becoming a Fairtrade School
Over the next couple of years Millthorpe will be applying for Fairtrade School status. It is a three stage process, which will build upon the work we already do in school to promote and teach about Fairtrade. Part of the first stage of this process, to become a ‘FairAware School’, is to audit where Fairtrade is currently being taught across the school. In addition to this we will be reviewing where we currently use Fairtrade products in school and surveying student awareness about the trust. Later in the year there will be fundraising events and student voice opportunities. We will keep you fully updated as our work progresses. If you would like to be involved, we would love to hear from you: please contact Merry Wright, Geography teacher on m.wright@millthorpeschool.co.uk.

Time Out for Parents – The Teenage Years
Many parents and carers find adolescence the most demanding time in their relationship with their child. There are many new challenges to face and it’s often hard to know what to do for the best. Family Matters York are running a 5-week course for parents and carers of pre-teens and teenagers at Archbishop Holgate’s School. Please click here for more information and to book a place.

PE Sports Practices
Dates for the 2016/17 Sports Practices and fixtures can be found of the PE page on the school website.

Lost Property
Please help reduce the amount of unclaimed lost property by labelling all your child’s uniform, including PE kit, with their full name.

German Exchange
There are a few places still available on the German exchange. Students need to see Miss Ramsay if they are interested in taking part.

Downloading Microsoft Office
We have had a number of inquiries regarding the free Microsoft Office that can be downloaded whilst your child is at Millthorpe. To install the software (on up to 5 devices), students will need to know their username; this is usually their surname which begins with the final number of the year in which they started school followed by @millthorpeschool.co.uk: Year 7s are therefore 6surname@millthorpeschool.co.uk and Year 8s are 5surname@millthorpeschool.co.uk.

Students should all know their school network password (if not they will need to see Mr Ward in PC1).

Instructions for downloading and installing Microsoft Office can be found by clicking here.

Year 9 Parents’ Evening Tuesday 15 November 2016
We are pleased to invite all Year 9 parents and carers to parents’ evening on Tuesday 15 November. Students have been given a letter with an attached appointment form earlier this week; copies of these are available on the school website by clicking here. Appointment forms should be returned to your child’s form tutor by Friday 21 October. You can also complete the appointment form online by visiting www.surveymonkey.com/r/WJDBGV7.

Paired Reading
Our most popular intervention is ready to start next week with 125 students signed up to take part. Students from Year 9 mentor the reading of Year 7 and 8 students. This is a great way to start the day for our lower school students and an ideal opportunity for Year 9s to make a positive contribution to the Millthorpe community. Paired Reading starts at 8.40am in the library.

MILLTHORPE WEEKLY EMAIL
Friday 7 October 2016

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Open Evening
I would like to thank all students who volunteered their time to help make Open Evening on Tuesday night such an outstanding success. The atmosphere was fantastic and I was tremendously proud of all our students and staff. We’ve had loads of positive feedback from Year 6 parents who attended.

School Census
Each year the Department for Education collects data from schools in the form of a census compiled from our pupil database. It is a statutory requirement that we complete each census and this year the DfE has introduced some new data items that will be collected from now on.

If you have not already done so please click the following link to complete this information for your child: www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/census-2016

We have a statutory obligation to request this information for your child and record it on our database. You have the right not to give us this information: please indicate this by selecting the relevant box when you click the link above.

School Uniform
We are very proud of the high standard of our school uniform. In order to maintain this standard, we carry out periodic checks across all year groups. The focus for next week is skirt length. Our expectation is that skirts will be approximately knee length. We appreciate that it can sometimes be difficult to find skirts of an appropriate length. If this is an issue, please ask students to speak to their Student Support Officer about their own particular circumstances. Thank you for your continued support in maintaining the high standard of our school uniform.

Storage of Bicycles
This year, we have more students than ever cycling to school, particularly using the Philadelphia Terrace entrance. It’s great that so many students use this healthy and environmentally friendly way to travel. However, this has caused us some problems with capacity in our bike sheds; sadly, we have also had a small number of incidents of both theft and damage to bicycles. Although this is still a relatively rare occurrence, it is something we take very seriously and we will be deciding over the next few days what measures we can put in place to improve the security and capacity of our bike storage. This will include installing improved cctv coverage.

In the meantime, if your child cycles to school, you can help us by making sure:

– your child always locks their bike to an immovable object with a sturdy lock (but not the bike shed gates please!) Suitable locks will be available to buy from the site team (price tbc).

– your child removes any accessories (lights, pumps etc) before leaving their bike;

– you have adequate insurance for bikes away from home;

– your child wheels their bike to the front of school if there is no room in the sheds at the back.

Please let us know straightaway if your child experiences any problems with their bike so we can follow it up promptly.

Urgent Appeal
Following the recent and on going heavy bombing of the city of Aleppo in Syria, Friends Helping Refugees is organising an urgent appeal to fill a container by next Friday 14 October. Millthorpe has a history of working successfully with Friends Helping Refugees: last Spring’s appeal for food, toiletries and school items was a huge success thanks to your generosity. We are now collecting non perishable food, toiletries, warm jackets, coats and fleeces and sturdy shoes (all ages). Any donated items can be dropped off at school next week. Thank you in advance for your support and generosity.

ISSP Event – Renowned Classicist Peter Jones to visit St Peter’s School
Renowned classicist Peter Jones from University of Newcastle will speak on what the Romans’ life and culture really gave the English and our language. The event is free to attend; to book a ticket please click here following link: www.eventbrite.co.uk.

Year 7 Tutor Meeting Wednesday 19 October
We are pleased to invite all Year 7 parents and carers to meet their child’s form tutor on Wednesday 19 October. The evening will be held in the Main Hall between 3.30pm and 6pm. Please click here to read the letter on the website for more information. If you have not already requested an appointment time but would like to, please click the following link: www.surveymonkey.com/r/y7tutormtg.

Knock Knock Comedy Presents… Not on a School Night
Millthorpe is playing host toa night of comedy on Saturday 15 October. Tickets are normally £8 each; however Millthorpe parents and carers can take advantage of a special offer and get 2 tickets for £12 by visiting the following link: www.wegottickets.com/sct/5jXEkuaE8R. There will be a licensed bar and doors will open at 7pm with the show starting at 8pm and running to 11pm at the latest. Minimum age for the show is 16.

MILLTHORPE WEEKLY EMAIL
Friday 30 September 2016

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Open Evening Early Closure Tuesday 4 October
This is a reminder that school will close at 2.20pm on Tuesday 4 October in order for us to prepare for the Year 6 Open Evening. As with the early closure day on Monday for staff training, Tuesday’s lessons will be reduced to 50 minutes in order to ensure that students do not miss any of their taught lessons.

Year 7 Tutor Meeting Wednesday 19 October
We are pleased to invite all Year 7 parents and carers to meet their child’s form tutor on Wednesday 19 October. The evening will be held in the Main Hall between 3.30pm and 6pm. Please click here to read the letter on the school website for more information. To request an appointment please click the following link: www.surveymonkey.com/r/y7tutormtg.

Year 7 Fortnightly SPaG Focus
The second of our fortnightly SPaG focus areas for Year 7 is commas in lists. You may wish to support your child’s learning by using the supporting resources which are available by clicking here. Visit the literacy page on the school website for previous SPaG focus supporting resources and other literacy materials.

German Exchange
A reminder that if your child is interested in attending the German Exchange, they need to return the reply slip to Miss Ramsay by Friday 7 October.

Show My Homework
Year 7 students have been issued stickers with their Show My Homework login information. The stickers contain both student and parent/carer login details; you can access Show My Homework from the school website and by clicking here.

Learn to Code at Upload Live Saturday 8 October
Freeformers and Virgin Media, with City of York Council, are co-hosting a day of hands-on workshops. In the Code and Lab Zones you will code and build a prototype of your very own app before learning how to use the web to amplify your creation in the Promote Zone. Finally, in the Cyber Zone you will learn how to stay safe and protect yourself in the online world. The event is taking place on Saturday 8 October, 9.30am to 5.00pm at City of York Council, West Offices, Station Rise. Attendance is free: simply click the following link to register: www.eventbrite.co.uk. N.B. Although advertised for 16 to 25 year olds, students in any year group at Millthorpe are welcome to attend.

Knock Knock Comedy Presents… Not on a School Night
Millthorpe is playing host to a night of comedy on Saturday 15 October, featuring comedians including Jen Brister and Richard Massara. Tickets are normally £8 each; however Millthorpe parents, carers and staff can take advantage of a special offer and get2 tickets for £12 by visiting the following link: www.wegottickets.com/sct/5jXEkuaE8R. There will be a licensed bar and doors will open at 7pm with the show starting at 8pm and running to 11pm at the latest. Minimum age for the show is 16.

MILLTHORPE WEEKLY EMAIL
Friday 23 September 2016

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Early Closure Monday 26 September
This is a reminder that school will close at 2.20pm on Monday 26 September for staff training. On this day each lesson will be reduced to 50 minutes in order to ensure that students do not miss any of their taught lessons.

Year 7 Photographs
Year 7 students have been given a proof of their individual and tutor group photograph. Should you wish to order a photograph, please return the completed order form and payment to the school office by Friday 30 September. Alternatively, you can place your order online at www.braiswick.co.uk.

 York Independent State School Partnership (ISSP)
Many of our current parents and carers may be aware of our membership of the York ISSP, a collection of state and independent schools in York which provides events and experiences which intellectually challenge young people. For our new Year 7 parents and carers, you can find out more about the ISSP at their website yorkissp.org. One of their first events this year is a series of lectures for young people in Years 7 and 8 designed to inspire them. There is a letter with more information and an online registration form if you would like your child to attend.

Year 8 Girls HPV Vaccinations
Year 8 girls will be having their HPV vaccinations on Friday 30 September. If your daughter has a short sleeved school shirt it would be advisable to wear itnext Friday; otherwise a vest top underneath their long sleeved shirt would be helpful.

Year 11 SEND Progress Meetings
Relevant parents and carers will already have received emails inviting them to a SEND progress meeting on 10, 11 or 13 October. At this meeting you will receive staff feedback, progress monitoring and details of any intervention your child receives. It is also an opportunity to consider what is going well in school and what, if any, issues you may have. Students should also attend these meetings. If you have not yet replied but would like an appointment with Ms Griffiths (Director of Inclusion) please email admin@millthorpeschool.co.uk.

Year 10 Information Evening
Thank you to all parents and carers who attended the Year 10 Information Evening last night. If you were unable to attend, you can find a copy of the Presentation, Target Setting booklet and Revision Tips on the school website.

Canteen
The queues in the canteen have been moving through more smoothly in the last few days, with all students having a choice of hot and cold and vegetarian meals and at least 15 minutes to eat their lunch and get to Period 4 on time. This should improve further when we take delivery of the new till and oven; and the catering company have appointed another member of staff. Thank you to everyone for their continued support and patience.

Technology Materials
Parents and carers of Year 7 students can now pay for their child’s Technology materials on ParentPay.

Hospitality and Careers Fair
Hotels in and around York have joined together to launch the first ever interactive jobs and careers fair to highlight the variety of opportunities in the hotel and hospitality industry. The event is taking place on Sunday 25 September, 1pm to 6pm at The Royal York Hotel, Station Road, York. Please click here for more information.

Learn to Code at Upload Live Saturday 8 October
Freeformers and Virgin Media, with City of York Council, are co-hosting a day of hands-on workshops. In the Code and Lab Zones you will code and build a prototype of your very own app before learning how to use the web to amplify your creation in the Promote Zone. Finally, in the Cyber Zone you will learn how to stay safe and protect yourself in the online world. The event is taking place on Saturday8 October, 9.30am to 5.00pm at City of York Council, West Offices, Station Rise. Attendance is free: simply click the following link to register: www.eventbrite.co.uk. N.B. Although advertised for 16 – 25 year olds, students in any year group at Millthorpe are welcome to attend.

Hype Youth Choir
Hype Youth Choir is looking torecruit 30 children aged 11 to 17 to join their choir at The Hive, Manor CE Academy on Wednesdays, 6.00pm to 7.30pm; please click the following link for more information and to sign up: www.hypeyouthchoir.co.uk.

Senior Midday Supervisory Assistant Vacancy
We are looking to recruit a Senior Midday Supervisory Assistant to help supervise students during their lunch break. This is a permanent part-time post of 5 hours per week working 12.15pm to 1.15pm, Monday to Friday. For more information and to apply please visit the vacancies page on the school website.

Knock Knock Comedy Presents… Not on a School Night
Millthorpe is playing host to a night of comedy on Saturday 15 October, featuring comedians including Jen Brister and Richard Massara. Tickets are normally £8 each; however Millthorpe parents, carers and staff can take advantage of a special offer and get 2 tickets for £12 by visiting the following link: www.wegottickets.com/sct/5jXEkuaE8R. There will be a licensed bar and doors will open at 7pm with the show starting at 8pm and running to 11pm at the latest. Minimum age for the show is 16.

MILLTHORPE WEEKLY EMAIL
Friday 16 September 2016

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Dropping off and collecting students
Can we ask that parents and carers do not drive vehicles onto the school site but pick up or drop off their children somewhere outside the school gates where it is safe to do so. Large numbers of students arrive and leave school at the same time and we need to ensure the safety of all our students. Thank you very much for your co-operation.

Year 7 Fortnightly Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar (SPaG) Focus
Government changes to the exam system and qualifications mean that there is now a growing focus on students being able to demonstrate a good knowledge of spelling, punctuation and grammar (SPaG), which typically accounts for 5% of marks in public examinations. In order to support our students in improving their spelling and maintaining high levels of grammar and punctuation across all areas of the curriculum, students starting at Millthorpe have a fortnightly SPaG focus.

Each fortnightly SPaG focus will be taught in English lessons and tutor time and will also be addressed in all other subjects across the curriculum. All Year 7 students have been provided with a purple SPaG handbook. If your child loses their copy they will need to pay £2 for a replacement.

Our first SPaG focus is capital letters and full stops. You may wish to support your child’s learning by using the supporting materials which are available by clicking here. Visit the literacy page on the school website for the SPaG focus supporting materials and other literacy resources.

Year 10 Information Evening Thursday 22 September
A reminder to Year 10 parents and carers that the Year 10 Information Evening is taking place on Thursday 22 September at 6pm in the Main Hall. If you have not already done so, please click the following link to let us know if you plan to attend: www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/Y10_Info_Eve.

School Nurse
The School Nurse, Elaine Hawcutt, holds a ‘drop-in’ session every Tuesday lunchtime at 12.30pm in the school gym. Any student who wishes to speak to Elaine is welcome to attend. Elaine is not present in school at any other time.

Netball Fixtures
Please click here for the 2016-17 netball fixtures.

Girls’ Cricket Sessions
Yorkshire Cricket Board along with local cricket clubs are delivering cricket sessions to girls aged 8 to 15 to help develop their skills. The sessions will take place at Millthorpe every Tuesday, 5.30pm to 7.00pm and cost £3 per session. For further information and to book a place please contact Rachel Hildreth on 07736 275413 or r.hildreth@yorkshirecb.com.

Year 11 Information Evening
Thank you to the parents and carers who attended the Year 11 Information Evening yesterday. If you were unable to attend you can find a copy of the Presentation, Year 11 Calendar and Revision Tips on the school website.

Knock Knock Comedy Presents… Not on a School Night
Millthorpe is playing host to a night of comedy on Saturday 15 October, featuring comedians including Jen Brister and Richard Massara. Tickets are normally £8 each; however Millthorpe parents, carers and staff can take advantage of a special offer and get 2 tickets for £12 by visiting the following link: www.wegottickets.com/sct/5jXEkuaE8R. There will be a licensed bar and doors will open at 7pm with the show starting at 8pm and running to 11pm at the latest. Minimum age for the show is 16.

Senior Midday Supervisory Assistant Vacancy
We are looking to recruit a Senior Midday Supervisory Assistant to help supervise students during their lunch break. This is a permanent part-time post of 5 hours per week working 12.15pm to 1.15pm, Monday to Friday. For more information and to apply please visit the vacancies page on the school website.

Hotel and Hospitality Careers Fair
Hotels in and around York have joined together to launch the first ever interactive jobs and careers fair to highlight the variety of opportunities in the hotel and hospitality industry. The event is taking place on Sunday 25 September, 1pm to 6pm at The Royal York Hotel, Station Road, York. Please click here for more information.

Science Lecture at St Peter’s School
St Peter’s School is beginning a new year of its annual lectures. The first one, on Monday 19 September at 7pm in the Memorial Hall, is entitled ‘The Brave New World of CRISPR Gene Editing’, and will be given by Professor Matthew Cobb, University of Manchester. Tickets for the lecture are free and are available from www.eventbrite.co.uk. A poster with further details can be found by clicking here.

York Karate Club
York Karate Club will be holding classes at Millthorpe in the Main Hall after school every Thursday starting from 22 September. Classes are available to all children in Years 7 and 8 and cost £40 for the term. For more information and to register for the class please click here to read the letter on the website.

MILLTHORPE WEEKLY EMAIL
Friday 9 September 2016

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Welcome to our new Year 7 students and Parents/Carers
This Tuesday welcomed 203 new Year 7 students who moved from primary school to “Big School”. They are settling in very well and benefited from being the only year group in school for their first day. I know that parents and carers are always anxious about how their child is settling in. Any parent or carer who has concerns is welcome to contact the form tutor by writing a message in the planner and asking your child to present it to their form tutor. For serious issues, please contact the Director of Achievement directly: Miss Parr for Romans (7MEW, 7LDW, 7ALJ), Mr Baybutt for Saxons (7DJM, 7ARR) or Mr Nichols for Vikings (7RIY, 7LOW).

Year 11 Results
I hope you have noticed our announcement about August’s GCSE results for last year’s Year 11 on the website. We are currently waiting for Department for Education documents which will allow us to calculate the progress of students accurately, and when I have it, I will write soon with more information. However, I can say now that:

  • 70% of students obtained at least a C grade inboth English and Maths – up 4% from last year.
  • 44% of students gained the English Baccalaureate (Cs in English Language, Maths, two sciences, History or Geography and alanguage), which was a school record up from 41% last year.
  • Progress has remained strong but it is not possible to confirm an exact figure yet until national data has emerged.
  • 1 in 8 of our students achieved 10 or more GCSEs at Grade A or A*, an exceptional achievement.

These are very good results, and I am proud of the students who worked so hard for them and the staff and parents/carers who helped them to achieve them.

School Uniform
I would like to thank parents and carers for supporting my request to send children to school in the correct uniform. The overwhelming majority of students are dressed perfectly and we are speaking individually to any student who doesn’t have it quite right yet.

Mr Burton
Headteacher

First World War Legacy 110 Project
We are delighted to announce that York ISSP’s Legacy 110 Project, in which Millthorpe students Angus and Kirstin were key participants, has been nominated by the Legacy 110 committee to receive a national award. The First World War Commemoration Awards recognise and celebrate the huge effort made throughout the UK by individuals and groups to commemorate the First World War and give something back to their communities. York ISSP has been nominated under the ‘Schools and Young People’ category following their presentation at The Minster and their work on an exhibition in the Community Room at York Castle Museum. We will find out in the next few weeks if we have been shortlisted and if so, an interview panel in London will follow. We will keep you updated. The exhibition is on display until October so please do take the opportunity to go and see the outstanding work that young people across the city have produced to mark the centenary of the First World War.

Year 11 Information Evening Thursday 15 September
A reminder to Year 11 parents and carers that the Year 11 Information Evening is taking place next Thursday 15 September at 6pm to 6.45pm in the Main Hall. Please click the following link to let us know if you plan to attend: www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/Y11_Info_Eve

PE Information
Please click the following links for information from the PE department:

Key Stage 3 PE and Games Timetable
PE Sports Practices
Football Fixtures 2016-17

Homework Club
Those students who have previously attended Homework Club in Years 8 and 9 are welcome to return from Monday 19 September. Homework Club is fully supervised and runs from 3.20pm to 4.00pm Monday to Thursday. New Year 7 students will be invited to attend as appropriate by Mrs Griffiths, Director of Inclusion.

Year 10 Information Evening Thursday 22 September
We would like to invite all Year 10 parents and carers to our annual Year 10 Information Evening on Thursday 22 September at 6pm in the Main Hall. The evening will consist of a short presentation on the structure of the new GCSE qualification and how we set ambitious targets for our students.Please click the following link to let us know if you plan to attend: www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/Y10_Info_Eve

Year 10 Science Groups
Science groups in Year 10 this year have been given names instead of numbers. We have decided to do this because we are moving from setting groups to teaching them in mixed ability groups. We therefore, have two groups doing the Triple Science course and they are mixed; likewise, those students doing the Dual Award, who are in the same year half, are mixed ability. The groups have been named after famous scientists in the hope of inspiring our young people to do great things.

Senior Midday Supervisory Assistant Vacancy
We are looking to recruit a Senior Midday Supervisory Assistant to help supervise students during their lunch break. This is a permanent part time post of 5 hours per week working12.15pm to 1.15pm, Monday to Friday. For more information and to apply please visit the Vacancies page on the school website.

Forthcoming Science Lecture at St Peter’s School
St Peter’s School is beginning a new year of its annual lectures. The first one, on Monday 19 September at 7pm in the Memorial Hall, is entitled ‘The Brave New World of CRISPR Gene Editing’, and will be given by Professor Matthew Cobb, University of Manchester.Tickets for the lecture are free and are available from www.eventbrite.co.uk. A poster with further details can be found by clicking here.

York Karate Club
York Karate Club will beholding classes at Millthorpe in the Main Hall after school every Thursday starting from 22 September. Classes are available to all children in Years 7 and 8 and cost £40 for the term. For more information and to register for the class please click here to read the letter on the website.