Dear Families,
We have finished another exciting week with students having enjoyed girls football fixtures, sports leader events and a wonderful Sixth Form trip to the Coliseum Theatre in London to see the Handmaid's Tale Opera.
Year 11 and 13 students have also been receiving valuable feedback from their recent mock exams, while Year 8 and 9 students took part in shorter assessments in the Sports Hall.
All of these activities are helpful as students develop greater confidence and understand how to be successful in the world.
E-Safety Fortnight Newsletter
Tuesday 6 February is Safer Internet Day, and students are continuing to learn about how to keep themselves and others safe online through tutor time activities and their usual IT & Computing lessons. Next week we will also have e-safety assemblies.
Our young people are on the internet for as many as six to eight hours each day. It is an activity that can be fun and informative, but can also be dangerous, unkind and unfriendly.
We would not let young people take part in any other activity that causes such anxiety and unhappiness unchecked yet families sometimes do with the Internet. To help your child develop heathy habits online and stay safe online please take the time and read through the attached newsletter. It will be the right time to start the discussion this week. Thank you.
Measles - how to protect your child and others
You may have read or heard that cases of measles are increasing in England currently and while cases in Suffolk are currently low, we should prepare for and protect against the potential for increased cases. If your child has not been fully vaccinated with the MMR vaccine it is a good time to get this done to protect them. You can find out more about how to do this at www.tgschool.net/news/measles-scc-public-health-communities
Household Support Fund -for families who receive free school meals - Feb half term & Easter hols
For families who usually receive Free School Meals we have published information about the support available at half term and at Easter, you can read the information on our website.
National Apprenticeship Week 5-9 Feb - How much do you know about Apprenticeships?
Do you know that you can now train to be a Pharmacist, Lawyer, Engineer, Architect, Paramedic, Cyber Security Technician and many more professions via an Apprenticeship.
To find out more about this great option see this week’s Career's Newsletter, especially the Apprenticeship and Parent Information column.
Apprenticeship information will be shared with students during registration next week.
Year 9 Out to Work Day Friday 15 March - Reminder
If you have not already done so could you please complete the Google Form to say what your young person will be doing on the “Out to Work” enrichment day on the 15 March ie going to work with you/friend/relative or coming into school as normal.
Co-Curricular and Extra-curricular
Next week Y11 students will receive their reports showing mock and update predicted grades. This provides them with a clear overall picture of their current performance and how we will support them going forward.
Attached is our refreshed co-curricular calendar which has activities for students in Year 10, 11 and Sixth Form. You will receive from your child's teachers about when attendance is expected, and students can also choose to attend these sessions for the next 7 weeks, up until Easter.
We will also be keeping our www.tgschool.net/revision page up to date with resources, activities and key dates to help support students as they approach their Key Stage 4 & 5 Exams.
We also continue to provide a rich and wide programme of extra-curricular activities.
Celebrating & supporting our talented staff
We are incredibly fortunate with the range of expertise and talent that we have amongst our staff body, and not only do they share it though extra-curricular activities and trips many of them also compete and perform outside of school.
On Saturday evening two of our teachers are performing as part of the Wolsey Orchestra at the Apex in Bury, and it’s a brilliant programme: Rossini’s William Tell Overture (which features The Lone Ranger theme if any of you remember that!), Copland’s Dances from Rodeo, and Shostakovich’s 5th symphony. It is likely to sell out (as it did last year) but there are still a small number of tickets available able to buy online at www.theapex.co.uk/whats-on/booking.cfm?ins=1254190
Whatever you choose to do this weekend, we wish you all a wonderful weekend.
Thomas Gainsborough School