Headteacher’s Update
Dear Parents
Students should be wearing coats over their blazers, not in replacement of the blazer. A reminder that hoodies are not allowed in school, with no exceptions. Also when students have PE lessons please ensure they come with the required clothing to be able to go outside for their PE lessons. PE is a crucial part of our curriculum and students are required to be equipped accordingly.
We have concluded now our Year 11 and Year 10 Pre Public Examinations and teachers are in the process of marking these. Year 11 will have a Results Evening in December, which we will write to Year 11 parents about separately.
This week I have spent some time with other Headteachers in the East Midlands who have been keen to see our school and what how we operate. We have walked the school, spoken to students and dropped in to lessons. Our students are always happy to talk to visitors and to talk about their experiences in school and the atmosphere around school is always delightful. Years 7 8 and 9 have been keen to speak to visitors about the use of iPads in lessons, which is growing as confidence is building. Visitors have been amazed at what students and our teachers are doing in lessons to enhance the student experience.
When we launched the scheme we explained that students needed to have a stylus to write with. We gave you a list of options that you may find appropriate, with a range of costs. I highlight these again for you. It is important that students have these, they are writing on their ipads as they would in books, so need to be equipped accordingly please.
Buy SANDSTROM SSTYBK21 Stylus Pen – Black | Currys– £4.99
Next week sees Year 9 parents’ evening, and we look forward to seeing you all there.
With best wishes
Mr S Greiff
PSHE
Please see out curriculum area on the school website for further details of the curriculum and what is covered in PSHE a letter will be sent next week with details on what we cover.
Attendance Matters
Why is excellent attendance important?
Excellent attendance and punctuality are vital for success at school, and to establish positive life habits that are necessary for future success.
Through attending regularly, pupils can:
• Build friendships and develop social groups.
• Develop life skills.
• Engage in essential learning and other school social events.
• Achieve to their full potential.
• Minimise the risk of engaging in anti-social behaviour.
What YOU must do:
• Try to telephone the school before 8.30am each day of your child’s absence.
• Tell the school in advance, of any medical appointments and bring in appointment cards/letters.
• If you are not sure whether your child is well enough to attend school, send them in anyway as they often perk up on arrival.
• Have a backup plan for if your child misses transport, call on a family member, neighbour or friend.
• If you and your child are experiencing difficulties with school attendance then talk to us as a first step so we can help!
What WE will do:
• Check your child’s attendance every day.
• Phone home to discuss your child’s attendance with you.
• Invite you into school for attendance meetings if we are concerned.
• If we cannot establish a reason for absence, then we may make a welfare home visit.
• We will NOT authorise any term time absence that is not unavoidable.
Careers Opportunity
Thank you for the really positive uptake for the opportunity with Steve Ignall and the smd team. We have had over 80 students show interest. These talks and tours will be occurring during school time and will be on the 25th and 26th November. Students have been told by form tutors as to when their time is.
Please could all students bring back a signed smd photo/video consent form (they were given these on Thursday / Friday). Do not worry about the date in the grey section of the form – this will be completed if photos are taken. Please fill in your child’s name in the grey area and then complete the form in the white area (your signature, date of signature, printed name and contact details). Many thanks
Duke of Edinburgh
We are currently in positive communication with the Duke OF Edinburgh team to ensure all of our students from last year’s Bronze and Silver Awards get the certification they deserve. Please ensure that students have updated their eDofE as best they can.
Going forward, we are also looking at how we structure our DofE provision here at Manor High School and have been communicating with the DofE team about this too. Our aim is to absolutely continue running both the Bronze and Silver awards as we have in the past.
We will be in contact with you as soon as we have a launch date set but please rest assured that we really value the DofE and we are fully behind continuing to run it here at Manor High School
New lunch time queuing plan
To ensure our lunch queues work even better than they have been, we have been using the following timings for students to come and queue for food:
Week A: Bradgate and Clarendon students can queue for their lunch from 12:40pm to 12:50pm. Knighton and Watermead students can then queue for their lunch from 12:50pm to 1pm. After 1pm we have free time were students any house can come back for more food etc.
Week B: Knighton and Watermead students can queue for their lunch from 12:40pm to 12:50pm. Bradgate and Clarendon students can then queue for their lunch from 12:50pm to 1pm. After 1pm we have free time were students any house can come back for more food etc.
Please note:
– Year 11 can still only use the Year 11 hatch.
– Queueing expectations remain the same for all students: no more than two students across, always facing forwards, give people in front of you space (i.e. do not push up to people), absolutely no pushing.
– the hatches do stay open after the times specified above so there is more than enough time for students to get their food. It has worked well so far!
In order for this system to work students have to wear their lanyards at lunch when queuing. If a lanyard is not worn they may be removed from the line and have to wait until 1pm – lanyards show which house you are in and help us to monitor the correct students are queuing at the correct times.
Christmas Dinner 2024
Our traditional Christmas Lunch will take place on Friday 20th December and all students will eat with the rest of their tutor group and House in the hall, regardless of whether they are having the school Christmas Dinner or a packed lunch. We would encourage all students to sign up for the lunch as it is a key part of our end of term celebrations, and an opportunity to socialise with the rest of the tutor group. We would also like to encourage the wearing of Christmas jumpers on this day along with their school uniform.
• Tickets for the two-course Christmas meal can be purch
ased from School Gateway for £2.80 per person (the price includes a drink). The cost is covered for students eligible for Free School Meals.
• Please select either the vegetarian, or roast turkey option of which there is also a Halal choice available on School Gateway along with the preferred pudding.
• Deadline for ordering meals is Thursday 28th November at 9.00am. Tickets will be issued to students on the morning of the last day of term.
• Water will be supplied on tables but no other drinks (or food) will be available to purchase on the day from The Hatches or other food serving areas.
• Students are welcome to bring their own drinks (energy drinks are not allowed).
• Anyone not purchasing a Christmas meal will need to bring a packed lunch – please remember, we are a nut free school.
Sparx Maths
We are excited to inform you that students at Manor High School continue to benefit from the Sparx Maths platform. All students have access to this website and students in years 7, 8, 9 and 10 will also have their homework set on this platform.
We know you want to support your child’s maths progress, so please see the information below which explains how Sparx works and how you can help your child complete their homework each week.
What is Sparx Maths Homework?
• Sparx provides personalized homework to each child, with questions that are challenging yet achievable, and tailored to their learning needs.
• The majority of each week’s homework will be based on recently learnt topics, but it will also include some questions from previous topics to help reinforce their learning.
• Students access their homework on their online Sparx account, where they’ll get immediate feedback for each question about whether their answer was correct or they need to have another try.
• While homework is accessed online, it is predominantly a written homework and students should record their work on paper. Sparx has a “bookwork checks” system to help students form this habit.
• Every question in Sparx has a support video attached to that your child can get help independently.
How can you help your child with their homework?
• Provide a quiet space for your child to focus on their homework each week.
• Encourage them to start their homework early so they can get help from their teacher before the deadline if they get stuck. To ensure no gaps form in your child’s maths knowledge, homework is not marked as complete until all of the compulsory questions have been answered correctly.
• Check the weekly email you’ll get from Sparx and praise your child for starting or completing their homework. Encourage them to finish it before the deadline if they haven’t already done so.
• Try not to help your child with a question until they’ve had a go first. It is essential they try to complete their homework independently so that Sparx can give them questions that are at the right level for them. Remember they can watch the support videos if they need to.
• Please also encourage your child to find support through attending our weekly Maths club on Wednesday after school until 4 o’clock. They will find Maths teachers available to help them with Sparx maths, revision or class work that they wish to catch up on due to absence. Alternatively we can provide additional guidance and support for those students looking to improve their progress and attainment in the subject.
For further information and guidance, please click on the link below.
https://sparxmaths.com/parents/
PE Notice
We have been very impressed with the engagement in lessons from our students, even despite the inclement weather. We have seen a decline in weather over the last couple of weeks, and we want our students to stay as dry as possible. We have mentioned to all students that they should bring spare shoes and socks in case they get their feet wet in PE lessons. We also suggest the purchase of a waterproof jacket. We are mindful of cost for parents and therefore are not going to provide a more expensive branded option- some suggestions are below. We are more than happy for students to wear these.
Gelert | Waterproof Packaway Jacket | Waterproof Jackets | SportsDirect.com
Regatta | Stormbreaker Jacket | Waterproof Jackets | SportsDirect.com
Regatta | Laiyah Ld99 | Waterproof Jackets | SportsDirect.com
Gelert | Packaway Ladies Jacket | Waterproof Jackets | SportsDirect.com
Regatta | Kids Stormbreak Waterproof Jacket | Waterproof Jackets | SportsDirect.com
Rugby and Hockey start for years 7,8 and 9 on the week commencing 4th November, it is essential students have mouthguards for these activities, please see below an example reasonably priced mouthguard.
Sondico | Ergo Fit Fusion Mouthguard | Mouthguards | SportsDirect.com
At £5 these are great value and should last the life of their time here at Manor!
Alumni
We are reaching out to any past students of our school who may be willing to inspire our current students. We are looking for people to share their experiences of life after Manor High School all the way to the world of work. If you think you have a family member or even friend who was a Manor High School student and could possibly help us with this please get them to email at: admin@manorhigh.leics.sch.uk (FAO Mr Croucher). Many thanks.
After School Study Centre and Interventions
Please can you reinforce to students that if they are staying behind at school to use the study centre (either to work or to wait for a parent to collect them) they must not leave site first and then come back. We have had a number of students leave site at the end of the school day, head to the shop and then arrive back at school 15 minutes later saying they need to wait in the study centre. We cannot allow students to just come and go like this as it is not safe and also not fair to staff who are supporting in the study centre.
The same is the case for interventions. If a student has an intervention session after school they must leave session 3, stay on site and then head to their intervention. Some students have been leaving site at the end of the day, heading to the shops and then wanting to be let back onto site 15 minutes later. This is also not acceptable.
Thanks for your support with this.
Year 11 – Positive Steps 16 Site (PS16)
Deadline dates: the deadline for applications is Monday 16th December. Please note that any year 11 students who have their 1-1 careers talk during the weeks commencing 16/12/24 and 6/1/25 have a slightly later deadline of Monday 13th January. In order for us as a school to process your applications please ensure you have sent your applications off via the PS16 website by these dates.
Year 11 students have been sent their log in details to the PS16 website. These were sent to students’ school email accounts. This is the site students use to make applications to schools and colleges in Leicester and Leicestershire.
We have also shown our students a simple guide of what to do once logged in to the site. We showed this during assembly. This has also been shared on ClassCharts so that students, parents and carers can refer to it (it is a Power Point).
Please ensure that students keep their log in details safe. Students can now start using this site as set out on the Power Point – ensuring their personal details etc as well as personal statements are up to date on the system.
Year 10 Work Experience
Our aim is for all students to be out on work experience as it is a really valuable experience. Students have been given a copy of both the standard application form and also the self-placement form. We have sent a letter to parents explaining this (the letter is also attached to this newsletter). We have also sent out FAQs related to work experience – please do refer to these (they are also attached).
Please can you ensure applications forms come back to school as soon as possible, the latest date being 29th November (if you have any issues please contact us). Please also find attached the student guide to work experience which is really useful.
Safeguarding Update
We are recruiting!
If your child would like to be involved in supporting Manor to have a culture of safeguarding, then please ask them to look out for notices next week for our first Anti-Bullying Ambassadors meeting! We welcome all students from any year group to join me in sharing ideas on how to continue to make Manor High a safe place to come to school.
Online Parenting Courses – Family Lives
Being a parent has never been easy. There are no manuals for it, and previous generations may not be able to provide the insight you’re looking for. The family unit is more dispersed than ever, with some families existing hundreds of miles from what may be called a ‘core unit’. The rapid pace of societal change in the UK rapidly outstrips the knowledge of the immediate past. The result is that many parents may find themselves lost in a maelstrom of contradictory advice. For adults, time has never been more compacted. Family Lives has produced a series of online parenting courses, to make this challenge a little easier. If interested please follow the link below:
https://www.familylives.org.uk/how-we-can-help/online-parenting-courses
Family Lives offers a confidential and free* helpline service for families in England and Wales (previously known as Parentline). They can be contacted on 0808 800 2222 for emotional support, information, advice and guidance on any aspect of parenting and family life. Their website is also a rich source of useful support and advice.
(* Free from landlines and most mobiles)
Newsletters
Please click this link to view our Anxiety newsletter.
Please click this link to view our online safety newsletter.
Extra Curricular Activities & Other Useful Information
Youth Volunteer Opportunities
Toilet Passes
Please be aware that toilet passes are only issued to the few students who have a medical need to have free access to the toilets, ensuring they are able to go at any point during the lesson. Medical evidence will be required.