Dear Families,
As we end our first full week back with all students, we have seen so much positivity within our school community. It has been wonderful to hear the joyous stories from student experiences during last week's rewards trip and the growing confidence around school of the new year 7s. Students have attended school at every available opportunity and on time, well done to all students and families for supporting this. This has also been mirrored with the majority of our students being smartly dressed, in correct uniform and receiving merits for outstanding work within lessons.
Please do remember however that stretchy or jersey skirts are not part of the uniform expectations, thank you again for the positivity from parents who have quickly rectified this and again, please do let us know as families if you need any support with replacement uniform.
We will be making our second hand uniform available for families to come and help themselves on Friday September 20th from 3.15 until 4.15 pm via our main reception. Any additional donations will be gratefully received.
WEAR A WACKY TIE DAY - THURSDAY 19th SEPTEMBER
https://tgschool.net/news/wear-a-wacky-tie-day-thursday-19th-september
Mr Bradley, who recently retired from the Science department, was known for wearing silly ties. To celebrate his retirement we would like all staff and students to wear an alternative tie to school on Thursday 19th September. It can be as bright and wacky as you like! Students can donate £1 and money raised will be donated to our 5 house charities.
This year, students voted to support The Teenage Cancer Trust, East Anglian Air Ambulance, Save the Children, Dementia UK and the Suffolk Wildlife Trust.
MEDICAL ISSUES:
Could families please email medical@tgschool.net if they need to update the information regarding their child’s individual health care plan or if they would like to discuss their child’s medical condition / medication.
ORACY SURVEY EMAILED TO STUDENTS
This year we have planned a range of valuable new activities to help students develop their own voice across all areas of the curriculum and beyond. The power of talk is key to allowing our young people to succeed and flourish. As this young person captures so well:
“What makes me enjoy talking most is that everybody’s listening to you, and you’re part of the world, and you feel respected and important”.
To help us gauge where students feel most confident and the sort of activities they would appreciate, we have emailed them each a simple, short survey. Please encourage them to complete the survey, especially older students who do not have IT lessons where they will have the chance to do the survey collectively.
https://voice21.tfaforms.net/5122604?tfa_76=001P200000EcZ6L
YEAR 7, 9 & 12 INDIVIDUAL PHOTOS
Students in Years 7 9 & 12 will have individual professional photos taken during the school day on Tuesday 17th September. Students will return home with a leaflet containing the link to view their photos online should you wish to purchase them.
ENRICHMENT
This year we have an even bigger range of activities to support students’ wider development. These are either extra-curricular that go beyond the usual taught lessons, or co-curricular, which support the students’ work in the classroom, homework or coursework.
The full range of activities is available at https://tgschool.net/enrichment
These activities are all free, and students do not need to pre-register unless specified, they can either contact the staff member in advance or just arrive at the activity at the time and location shown.
Students can also use the library after school under 5pm each day (until 7 on a Thursday). The sports centre then opens at 5pm. Both locations are supervised by our staff and are good locations to wait until students are collected. Full information on late buses is on our transport page at https://tgschool.net/transport
All students benefit from these additional activities and should, wherever possible, attend at least one a week.
We also recognise the value of other out of school activities and students can also receive merits for these by collecting an enrichment log sheet from student services or their tutor. These should be signed by an adult leading the enrichment activity out of school and then when complete, return to Mrs Gilligan.
KEY DATES
During our next Enrichment Day TGS will be holding a Careers Fair for Years 10 - 12. We would like as many employers as possible to come along and speak to students about their chosen careers and the path they took to get them. If you would like to be part of this or know someone who would please take a look at our flyer and get in touch.
SCHOOL CALENDAR
This will be updated on a regular basis as the year progresses.
FAMILY FORUMS
Slides from our recent family forum are available at xxx. These are excellent events to find about the life of school for specific key stages and to ask any questions you may have. We have our Family Forum for Key Stage 3 on Thursday 19 September, and our Sixth Form Family Forum on Tuesday 17 September, both are at 6pm in the Assembly Hall of the main building. Families can either enter via main reception, or park by the astroturf and come in via the students entrance by the piano.
https://tgschool.net/family-forums
ACADEMIC REVIEW DAY
Our next Academic Review Day takes place on Monday 7th October 8.30am-5pm. This is an opportunity for students and their families to meet with their tutor, setting targets for the year ahead. Appointments will be 15 minutes long and will be available to book through the Parents Evening System link on the school website. Details will be shared in the next couple of weeks to inform you of how and when to make appointments.
CAREERS NEWSLETTER
Every week our careers newsletter is packed full of information about internal and external careers events including employer spotlights, apprenticeship adverts, careers events, University and college events and open days and more so please glance through it each week to ensure your young person does not miss out .
We also wanted to flag a ‘Future of Work’ event taking place on the 4th October in Bury St Edmunds about engineering and technical careers for teachers, parents and students aged 11-18.
There are more details on their website: https://www.futureofworkuk.com/
The Suffolk Conference: https://www.futureofworkuk.com/conferences/suffolk-norfolk
COMMUNITY EVENTS FOR STUDENTS
Sixth Form Articulation discovery day at Gainsborough House
Saturday Art & Design club for 13-16 year old’s at Gainsborough’s House
Cornard Dynamos U13 Girls - recruiting now
https://tgschool.net/news/recruiting-now-cornard-dynamos-u13-girls
Karate at Boxford Village Hall
https://tgschool.net/news/shindo-jinen-rya-karate-at-boxford-village-hall-co10-5np
Book Festival for readers aged 11-16 - Stowmarket Library - September 14th
https://tgschool.net/news/book-festival-for-readers-aged-11-16-stowmarket-library-september-14th