Headteacher’s Update
Dear Families
We have reached the end of a successful term, and this week has been the week to recognise this. We have had rewards assemblies, as well as a cinema experience for our students who have done the right things every single day. It has been a busy but brilliant end to the term. Christmas lunch today has been a huge success with the most students ever purchasing a lunch and immersing themselves in the Christmas spirit.
Our Christmas performance of Matilda was truly magical and a wonderful way to end the term. The students involved were incredible and have worked so hard to put on a wonderful show that I hope becomes a tradition in the school for many years to come. As well as the students it is important to thank the staff- Mrs Woods, Miss Hutchinson, Miss Jennings, Mr English, Mrs Moseley and Mr Hings in particular worked hard after school and at weekends to put together a wonderful performance. My thanks also go to parents who have picked their children up late after school and brought them to school on Sundays to rehearse.
This newsletter is a ‘bumper’ version that highlights all of the opportunities and achievements of the long Autumn term. There have been many and over the next couple of weeks it would be nice for you to take moment and have a read about these. We will continue to work to provide a breadth of extra curricular offer over the coming term.
My final message to you is to wish all of our community a Merry Christmas and we look forward to seeing all students back with us on Tuesday January 6th at the usual time.
With best wishes
Mr S Greiff
Celebrating Achievement & Growth
MFL
European Day of Languages
In the Autumn term, Manor High School MFL department celebrated the European Day of Languages, an annual event which promotes cultural diversity and celebrates the variety of languages spoken in school, not only within Europe, but from all around the world. This year, we invited the whole of Year 7 to participate in a French breakfast in the hall and students enjoyed pains au chocolat and brioches whilst participating in a languages quiz. Whilst they were doing this, the rest of the school participated in a tutor time quiz, with prizes and house points awarded to the winning tutor groups. Later in the day, students across all years were able to enjoy a Mexican, Spanish and French-themed lunch courtesy of our new catering company, with dishes such as fajitas, albóndigas and ratatouille available for students to try.
Modern Languages lunchtime clubs
Throughout the Autumn term, the Modern Languages department has been hosting Polyglot Club and Portuguese Club in alternating weeks. In Polyglot Club, students have the opportunity to discover different cultures through music, film, food and games. In our Portuguese Club, students learn a new language with our resident Portuguese expert, Miss Patel, herself a native Portuguese speaker, and learn more about Portuguese culture and other Portuguese speaking countries.
Upcoming events in MFL
In January, Onatti Productions will be visiting Manor High School to perform a Spanish play for KS3 students, Un Ensayo Desastroso. The play will be performed by Spanish native speakers and is aimed at students of 13-16 years learning Spanish as a foreign language. There will be lots of audience participation with students performing live and spontaneously for their peers whilst showing off their languages skills! French students can look forward to a similar experience in March 2026!
Barcelona trip 2026
The Modern Languages department was thrilled to receive so much interest in its annual European visit; this year 40 students will be going to the beautiful city of Barcelona. Participating students should have all submitted their passport details to Mrs Muggleton (dmuggleton@manorhigh.leics.sch.uk) and more correspondence will follow in 2026 regarding the trip.
Maths
As we come to the end of another busy term, the Maths Department is delighted to share some of the highlights from the past few months. Our students have shown incredible enthusiasm, resilience, and creativity in their learning, and we are proud of their achievements.
Sparx Maths
Students continue to excel with Sparx Maths, earning reward points and certificates for their dedication. Each week we celebrate a Student of the Week and a Tutor Group of the Week, recognising the hard work and progress being made across the school.
Visit from OAK Primaries
We were pleased to welcome colleagues from OAK Trust primary schools into the department. They were impressed by the excellent attitude to learning displayed by Manor students, a testament to the positive culture of curiosity and perseverance in our classrooms.
Culture Day
In November, students explored Maths through the lens of different cultures. Lessons included Egyptian and Chinese multiplication methods, alongside artistic explorations of Islamic geometric patterns and Rangoli designs. This day highlighted the global nature of mathematics and its rich cultural heritage.
Parental Workshop
In October, selected Year 11 parents joined us for a workshop on supporting GCSE preparation. Together, we explored strategies for effective revision and consolidation at home. The feedback was very positive, and we look forward to running further workshops in the new year—please keep an eye out for invitations.
Maths Club
Our Maths Club continues to thrive as a supportive space for students to work on current learning, homework, and revision. It runs every Wednesday from 3.15pm to 4.00pm in Room 23, and all students are warmly welcome to attend.
Primary School Visits
Earlier this term, Mrs Patel visited Brookside Primary School and Overdale Junior School to lead Maths relay activities. Pupils enjoyed tackling challenging problems and expressed excitement about joining their siblings at Manor High School in the future.
Looking Ahead
We have lots more planned for the new year, including celebrations for National Number Day and participation in the UKMT Maths Challenges. These opportunities will allow students to showcase their problem-solving skills and creativity on a national stage, and we look forward to celebrating their achievements.
PE
A busy Autumn term has seen Manor students in all years compete in the South Leicestershire Football, Netball, Table Tennis and Basketball leagues, with the indoor Athletics fast approaching in the last week of term. Some notable successes along the way saw the free scoring Year 7 boys win their football league, remaining unbeaten throughout, and the Year 8 basketball team crowning their first tournament using the new sports hall with league winning performances. Both teams have now qualified for the knockout stages of the Leicestershire competitions taking place in the new year.
At Manor we are always keen to promote local sports clubs and this term we invited the Leicester Riders Basketball and Kids Ultimate Frisbee to deliver taster sessions. I am pleased to say that both the Basketball (Friday evenings) and the Ultimate Frisbee (Wednesday evenings) have now set up base in the Manor High School sports hall delivering weekly clubs. If you are interested in giving either a go, please use the flyers in the weekly newsletters to sign up.
Within lessons the students have been making excellent use of the new Sports Centre. Badminton and Futsal lessons in particular have proved incredibly popular and we look forward to continuing them into the new year with even more extra-curricular sessions.
In early November a group of our Year 9 girls received training to be new GAL’s ambassadors. On the day they enjoyed activities such as Rugby Union and Clubbersize, as well as developing important leadership skills that they will put to good use when delivering festivals and competitions for the trust in the new year.
Science
It has been a very busy term for Science, and we are incredibly proud of our Year 11 students for the resilience they have shown during their recent mock examinations. As we remind them, this is a marathon and not a sprint, so it is important that they take time to recharge over the break and return refreshed and ready for the penultimate term before their GCSEs.
Mrs Jenkin, our Assistant Curriculum Leader, has also been extremely busy organising a range of enriching trips for our students. This has included a Year 9–11 visit to Cambridge University, while Year 7 and 8 students had the exciting opportunity to attend a live science theatre show. In addition, Mr Loweth visited Overdale Primary School, where he delivered an engaging assembly on light and shadow.
There are limited spaces remaining for the ZooLab biomimicry workshop for students in Years 8 and 9. If you are interested, please purchase a ticket via Arbor.
Our Science Club continues to be very popular. Ms Morrant has led a number of exciting activities, including exploring optical illusions, taking part in an egg-drop challenge, flame testing, using chromatography to study chlorophyll pigments in plants, and creating a “dancing man” made from wire.
This term, we were also delighted to announce that Dr Kellett has secured additional funding to support Triple Physics students within the department. This exciting opportunity has been made possible as a result of one of our former students being awarded an externally funded Arkwright Engineering Scholarship.
Our Eco-Club and Eco-ambassadors have been carrying out an initial analysis of how Green and Eco-Friendly the school is. Whilst we are very green, there is always room for improvement.
We will focus on improving Biodiversity, Energy Consumption and Waste Management of our school site. Form Reps have been gathering ideas from tutor groups and bringing them together to create an ‘Eco-Code of Conduct’ for students, staff and parents to follow to be greener.
Between now and the summer our main pints of focus are improving these key areas.
Biodiversity will involve improving our school garden and turning it into a diverse area for students, plants and animals to enjoy. Waste management will introduce new recycling bins round the school to reduce our landfill based waste. Energy consumption will involve improving energy usage within the school such as only having essential lights turned on.
These are just a few ideas for how we will be making our school Greener. Watch this space.
Design Technology
Two of our GCSE Art and Design groups were able to take part in a bespoke workshop on landscape perspective design. We had the privilege of hosting local artist from DMU who specialises in Game Concept & Comic Art.
Some of our GCSE students took advantage of a sunny day this term and experimented with creating natural structures made only out of found natural resources. These sculptures were then photographed and developed into paintings in response to British artist Any Goldsworthy.
Year 10 Art & Design students have been researching and responding to their first artist as part of their Natural Form project. Students have started working from their photographs of flowers and leaves they collected at the Botanical Gardens visit using Gouache in response to painter Georgia O’Keeffe.
Year 10 Art & Design students enjoyed a trip to a local dairy farm in Hungarton. After a tour of the land, students took part in on site sketches of landscapes and photographing the animals for their first project. They rounded the visit off with freshly made milkshakes of various flavours.
Year 11 Explore Their Futures at De Montfort University
Our Year 11 students took part in an exciting and inspiring trip to De Montfort University for the annual Futures Fair. The event brought together schools across the county with the universities many different courses and career specialists, giving students a valuable opportunity to explore a wide range of post-16 and post-18 pathways.
Throughout the day, students engaged in interactive workshops, spoke directly with industry professionals, and gathered practical advice on A-Level choices, vocational courses, and university life. Many enjoyed exploring the university campus itself, gaining a first-hand sense of what higher education can offer.
The Futures Fair encouraged students to think more deeply about their ambitions and helped many begin shaping their future plans with greater confidence. Staff were extremely proud of how our students represented the school, showing curiosity, maturity, and enthusiasm throughout the event.
We look forward to continuing to support our Year 11s as they prepare for this next exciting stage in their education and career journeys.
SEND
As we come to the end of a busy and exciting term, we would like to thank you for your continued support and share some of the fantastic activities that have taken place in the SEND department this term, with stories of creativity, teamwork, and lots of learning.
We would like to start our news with a warm welcome to Ms Jussab who has taken on the role of our new HLTA in charge of SEMH. Ms Jussab has already been hard at work preparing a range of carefully thought-out interventions to support some of our students in their overall wellbeing and development. With a focus on friendships, self-esteem and resilience, Ms Jussab aims to set our students up effectively for their year ahead. We have already received a lot of positive feedback from students and parents and are confident that the impact of these interventions will be felt by our student body.
Festive Activities
We have decorated the department for Christmas, helping to create a warm and welcoming environment for our students. The festive atmosphere has been enhanced by our very own large inflatable Santa filling our Hive space through to a selection of hanging snowflakes and a tinsel-adorned festive tree! The beautiful colours have been enjoyed by everyone and filled our last few weeks with festive fun!
Art Competition
Students from all year groups have enthusiastically taken part in our art competition, showcasing an incredible range of creativity and talent. It’s truly inspiring to see the unique perspectives and artistic skills reflected in their work. Each piece tells its own story, and the effort and imagination behind them highlight the passion our students have for the arts. This event not only celebrates their artistic abilities but also fosters a sense of community and appreciation for creativity across the school.
Movember Madness
As part of our Movember Madness fundraiser, Mr Hings and Mr Martin grew moustaches to raise money for charity. Students who were unable to grow their own moustaches joined in by wearing fake ones during interventions and taking photos for our charity board. Thanks to everyone’s enthusiasm, we managed to raise £47 within the department.
Interventions Highlights
Our interventions this term have been engaging and interactive, including:
- A murder mystery maths intervention, where students used algebra and collecting like terms to find the killer.
- Cowboy times tables, complete with cowboy music and fast-paced questioning
- A human number line, where students wore numbers on post it notes and worked together to arrange themselves in ascending order
- A courtroom role-play, where students debated whether Scrooge was guilty or innocent using quotes from A Christmas Carol
Raffle
Raffle tickets are handed out to students during interventions, giving them the chance to be drawn at the end of each month. With a coveted plush pumpkin being won just in time for a spooktacular time of year, all eyes were on who would be the next winner! Well, the news is out and we would like to say well done to Logan who chose the gumball machine as his prize. Congratulations Logan!
One of our fabulous students spent a week at the Radmoor Centre in Loughborough, immersing himself in what it is really like to work as a chef. With a clear ambition to pursue a career in catering and hospitality, he embraced the opportunity to learn professional kitchen routines, develop his practical skills, and experience the standards and pace of a real restaurant environment—culminating in a fantastic final dinner service. We are proud of the maturity, focus, and enthusiasm he showed throughout the week, and we are confident that with hard work and determination, he has every chance of turning this aspiration into a successful future career.
Wellbeing Ambassadors
We are proud to say that some of our students have been selected to represent the school as Wellbeing Ambassadors. These students have attended external training sessions to equip themselves with the necessary skills and experience to share valuable practice with their peers. Our students came up with some brilliant ideas of ways in which we could all look after our bodies and minds and shared alternatives to time spent on screens confidently. Perhaps over the festive break, you could find time to have a lovely winter walk, snuggle up with a book or take on a craft project to create some lovely memories.
Once again, thank you for your continued support. We hope you have a wonderful seasonal break and look forward to welcoming students back next term.
Pastoral Update
At Manor High School, our vision is clear: to work pro-actively and as a team to foster a sense of community and belonging, helping students become the best version of themselves — achieving excellent people, excellent results.
This term, our pastoral work has been firmly rooted in that aim, and we are delighted to share some highlights with you.
Key Achievements This Term
- Our Student Leadership Team is now up and running — and already making a difference.
We now have two Student Leaders, a Deputy Student Leader, and a set of student-led committees focusing on enrichment, careers, wellbeing, literacy and sport.
Alongside them, our team of Form Representatives have been actively gathering feedback from their peers. As a result:- We have updated our rewards, incentives and events for the year. Next week we run our first big rewards event with 45 students being taken off timetable for a cinema afternoon, munching on popcorn.
- Students have launched new eco-initiatives that will develop further in the spring term.
Embedding our Character Curriculum
This term we have continued to explicitly teach and celebrate the positive behaviours and values that shape excellent young people.
Our focus has been gratitude — a value strongly linked to wellbeing and belonging.
To mark the end of term, students from across the school contributed to a wonderful Gratitude Wall, showcasing the many people, moments and opportunities they appreciate.
This work matters: research shows that practising gratitude can significantly reduce feelings of loneliness and low mood over time. A study by psychologist Martin Seligman found that participants who wrote three things they were grateful for each day showed improved wellbeing even months later. We are excited to bring this evidence-based approach into school life.
(Please insert photo attached of Aisha’s gratitude wall – Even better a photo of her with some students next to the wall would be great)
Celebration Friday continues to grow in impact
Every Friday, our aim is simple — for students to leave school feeling positive and proud.
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- Double reward points are available.
- Students take part in competitions such as our weekly attendance draw, where anyone with 100% attendance that week is entered to win a voucher.
This initiative is building momentum and has become a highlight of the week for many students.
- Improving behaviour — a clear and encouraging trend
We are proud to share that our behaviour data shows real movement towards our vision.- Year 11 students have accumulated half the number of behaviour points compared with the same point last year.
This is just one example of the many indicators that show students are making strong choices and that our pastoral strategies are having a meaningful impact.
- Year 11 students have accumulated half the number of behaviour points compared with the same point last year.
We are incredibly proud of how our students have embraced the opportunities, values and expectations of this term. Thank you for your continued support — it makes a genuine difference.
We look forward to building on this success in the new year
Sporting Success for our Year 10’s
Congratulations to Quaresma in Year 10 who is playing football at an extremely high standard with Notts County in their Academy. He has recently returned from representing his club in a youth tournament in Alicante, Spain. We are all jealous of the time spent in warmer climes, but congratulate Quaresma for the dedication shown that has enabled him to reach such a high standard of football. He manages to train, tour and complete all of his school work also, this is true excellence!
Please see the photos below from a recent national swimming competition in which Arthur from Year 10 competed. As one of the youngest athletes in the field, Arthur raced against university-aged competitors and delivered an outstanding performance.
Throughout the competition, Arthur achieved personal best times and even won one of his heats—an exceptional result at this level of competition. Competing on a national stage against older and more experienced swimmers makes this achievement even more impressive.
Congratulations to Arthur on his dedication, determination, and remarkable success. This is a fantastic achievement and a testament to his hard work and commitment to the sport.
Magical Matilda Musical
Our school production of Matilda took place this week and was a huge success. There were four performances of the show across the two days – two in the evenings with almost 500 audience members joining us, and two daytime performances to almost 500 students from our feeder primary schools Brookside, Woodland Grange and Overdale. Thank you to everyone who came to support the performances – the show really brought our whole community together. The talent and professionalism of our staff and students really shone through in the performances and we are so proud of everyone involved. They have worked tirelessly since the summer rehearsing, and the levels of enthusiasm, commitment and resilience have been incredible. Special thanks go to the production team – Mrs Woods, Miss Jennings and Miss Hutchinson and also to Mr English for overseeing the sound and lighting, Mrs Moseley for props and stage management and Mr Hings for displays and stage decoration.
Sparx Maths Student of the Week
We’re delighted to celebrate this week’s Sparx Maths Student of the Week! This recognition is awarded to Elliott of 7.3 who has shown outstanding effort, determination, and commitment to their independent learning on Sparx. Their hard work not only strengthens their mathematical skills but also sets a fantastic example for their peers. Well done – we are very proud of their achievement!
According to Humphrey Book Series
We have been made aware that several titles in the ‘According to Humphrey’ series contain a weblink at the back of the book that no longer directs people to information about the books. Instead, the link has been compromised and now leads to inappropriate and unsafe material that should not be accessed by children at any age.
Below are images of some of the front covers in the series to help you identify the books should you have any at home. The link can be found on the back cover or may be also included on a page inside.
For clarity and reassurance, we are not aware of any children who have accessed this link at Manor High School. If you have any of these books at home, we advise you to remove them immediately. Be extra-vigilant with all children’s books that contain links and ensure that they are checked by an adult.
Club Timetable Week Beginning 5th January 2026
Thank You for Your Food Donations
We would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who generously donated food items. Your kindness and willingness to help have made a real difference to those in need within our local community.
We are pleased to confirm that Oadby Food Bank has collected all of the donated items. Thanks to your support, these essential supplies will now go directly to individuals and families who rely on the food bank’s services.
Acts of generosity like this highlight the strength and compassion of our community. Your donations, no matter how big or small, are truly appreciated and help provide vital support to those facing difficult times.
Thank you once again for your continued kindness and support.
Safeguarding Update
Please see attached letter regarding online safety, which is especially important over the break.
In case of any concerns over the break please alert First Response at Children’s Social Care on 0116 3050005 or Leicester City on 0116 454 1004.
Many thanks and have a great break.
In order to continue to support student and family mental health over the break, please see the link below for how to support mental health during the break and at this time of year.
Other useful links:
SEND Dept
T: 0116 2729791 (or 0116 2714941 ext. 791)
E: SEND@manorhigh.leics.sch.uk
Lead Operational DSL & Senior Mental Health Lead Ashma Ghani
T: 0116 2729760 (or 0116 2714941 ext. 760)
E: AGhani@manorhigh.leics.sch.uk