2020 END OF TERM 4
MESSAGE FROM THE HEADTEACHER
Dear Parents and Carers
Today marks the normal end of Term 4 here at The Sittingbourne School, but as we all know, there is absolutely nothing normal about the current situation that grips the nation.
Your children are at home and you are having to manage the demands of work, home-schooling and the physical restrictions of ‘lockdown’. This is not an easy time.
We have been working hard in the school to support our students and families as best we can. Miss Lorman and the team have worked tirelessly to distribute hundreds of Free School Meal Vouchers, and we hope to shortly receive more information on the government’s new FSM voucher system that should be in place for Term 5. Of course, we will keep you informed as and when we know more.
The school has remained partially open to support key worker families and our more vulnerable students, and we will continue to do this over the Easter holiday. Should the situation change for any of you whose children fall into these groups, please be assured that we will be able to support you with child care at short notice. We understand that there is an evolving picture with regard to work commitments and we aim to be helpful wherever we can be.
As you are aware, lessons are happening in Google Classroom and teachers and support staff are keeping in touch with students, albeit in the virtual world. We are seeing some fantastic engagement from students and we ask that you continue to encourage your child to spend 2-3 hours a day on school work. If we put all the negatives aside, this situation does present young people with the opportunity to develop their independence and curiosity outside of a typical classroom. The lessons being delivered have been thoughtfully structured so that students can manage in their own time and without the immediate help of teachers. The more you can involve yourself with the learning – and the fun – the better; but we understand this may not be simple for everyone to do, as you will all have different challenges in your lives at present.
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1 MESSAGE FROM HEADTEACHER CONTINUED...
We are constantly stressing to the students the importance of community, and now more than ever this rings true. To help keep our school community strong throughout this time, we have created a new digital magazine that will be shared with all students and parents. We really hope that you enjoy reading it – perhaps you could read it together with your child. We will strive to get it out to everyone on weekly basis during term time, throughout school closure period.
To keep things as normal as possible, we have published our usual end of term newsletter. This one typically celebrates all the great things that happened in school and outside of school before the gates closed. It also contains some key information, including safeguarding and a consultation on Relationships and Sex Education.
In closing, I would like to take this opportunity to wish you and your families a very safe and peaceful Easter period and we very much look forward to online school starting again on Thursday, 16 April, which is the first day of Term 5.
Yours faithfully
Ms Y Peden Headteacher
The majority of letters and communication will be sent to you via Edulink email. Please keep an eye on your emails, our school website and our official social media sites (Twitter, Facebook) for up to date school information, thank you. www.thesittingbourneschool.org.uk 2 RELATIONSHIPS AND SEX EDUCATION: PARENT CONSULTATION From September 2020, all secondary schools in England will be required to deliver relationships and sex education (RSE) as part of their core curriculum. We will be incorporating this into our Character Education lessons, as we believe that strong and healthy relationships are underpinned by our core character values.
Our draft curriculum map for Character Education is available for you to consult here. As parents, we value your feedback. If you wish to give feedback on the proposed RSE curriculum, please complete the Google form below.
Click here to leave your feedback, thank you
TSS CHARACTER EDUCATION CURRICULUM 2020-2021 To view the Character Education curriculum map mentioned above which is set out by year group, please click here.
INFORMATION REGARDING IMPORTANT SAFEGUARDING ISSUES
We have been informed that some parents have received an email stating the following: ‘As schools will be closing, if you’re entitled to free school meals, please send your bank details and we’ll make sure you’re supported’.
We can confirm that this is a scam email and is not official. We urge parents that if you receive any emails like this, please do not respond, and delete it immediately.
During this lockdown, there seems to be a growing use of the app Houseparty. Please click the link below for information about this app.
What is the Houseparty app?
Click here for updated advice from the government regarding schools and the Coronavirus.
3 ONLINE RESOURCES FOR STUDENTS
As part of our remote teaching and learning programme, we have built a new website which includes entries from all our different subject areas. These provide direct links to the most useful websites to help students with their work while they are studying at home.
This is another brilliant learning resource for students and underpins the amazing work being done by all the teaching and support staff in school who are doing everything they can to maximise the opportunities for learning during this period of school closure.
4 COMMUNITY ACHIEVEMENT POINTS FOR TERM 3 Orion: 5866 Aquila: 5574 Phoenix: 5467
Orion Winning Tutor Groups: 7-Ori-1 (1445 points), 8-Ori-2 (571 points), 9-Ori-4 (905 points), 10-Ori-3 (190 points) Orion Winning Students: Year 7: Rachael U, Year 8: Keira H, Year 9: Dinoyan P, Year 10: Liam P & Jorja W Aquila Winning Tutor Groups: 7-Aqu-2 (982 points), 8-Aqu-1 (561 points), 9-Aqu-4 (328 points), 10-Aqu-3 (429 points) Aquila Winning Students: Year 7: Tamzin B, Year 8: Josh D, Year 9: Elouise D, Year 10: Sophie G Phoenix Winning Tutor Groups: 7-Pho-1 (551 points), 8-Pho-4 (537 points), 9-Pho-1 (620 points), 10-Pho-1 (402 points) Phoenix Winning Students: Year 7: Charlie H-D, Year 8: Oliver J, Year 9: Chloe H, Year 10: Tia B
TUTOR GROUP ATTENDANCE SCORES FOR TERM 4 9-Aqu-2: 98.8% 8-Ori-2: 98.0% Archer-Orion-3: 97.8% 10-Pho-1: 97.8%
HIGHEST COMMUNITY ATTENDANCE FOR TERM 4 Orion: 94.7%
All students and teachers now have free access to Seneca - a revision and homework platform making studying more fun. Seneca is an interactive way to learn official course content. Their web app covers 150+ exam board specific courses condensing what students need to know for their exams. The software is able to identify gaps in learning. For instance, when you get a question wrong, the platform will repeat the topic in different formats and their smart algorithm has proven to make students remember topics 2x faster. Seneca is totally free for students, teacher and parents. You can sign up via www.senecalearning.com. 5 YEAR 11 CELEBRATION ASSEMBLY On Friday 20 March 2020, we had a fantastic celebration assembly to congratulate and celebrate all Year 11 successes over the previous two terms. This was planned to occur at the end of Term 4, but due to the hit of Coronavirus we did not want our Year 11s to miss out on the second round of celebrations for all of their hard work and dedication to their studies. The year group have worked exceptionally hard and will achieve a set of fantastic grades, which they deserved to be congratulated for.
The afternoon saw many awards being given for each subject, along with tutor attendance and individual successes across the board. Students cheered and congratulated each other for their successes. The year group sang a song together and finished the afternoon with a thank you pizza and Easter chocolates. It was a brilliant afternoon, albeit emotional, as it would be the last time that all of our Year 11s would be sat in the main hall together at once.
They are a fantastic year group and have been, and will continue to be, a credit to the school. We continue to support students in their learning and further education applications and wish them every success in their studies in the coming months.
6 INSPIRING MINDS - CREST AWARDS CLASS OF 2019 During a recent Year 11 Assembly, 20 students received their official Inspiring Mind – Bronze Crest Awards from The British Science Association. Stefan Colley, Project Manager at Canterbury Christchurch University, presented the certificates to students and spoke a little about the various projects that the students had carried out last year. Mr. Colley praised the students for their dedication, commitment and hard work in achieving these awards.
The school currently has a further 16 students working with Canterbury Christchurch on the 2020 Bronze Crest Awards and parents will be invited along to the showcase event in a few weeks’ time to celebrate the achievements of this year’s cohort.
HOSPITALITY AND CATERING PRACTICAL ASSESSMENTS Just before we enter the season of examinations for Year 11, many of the students studying Hospitality and Catering Level 1/2 are feeling relieved to have written up, planned and cooked their two assessment dishes. The students were given a huge challenge to propose four dishes, justify and explain why they selected them and then planning exactly how the two dishes would be cooked and presented together at the end. Photographs have been taken and students really did push themselves to complete their assessment task in the allotted time. Sadly, photographs of current controlled assessments are against the Exam Board rules to publish, but we can assure you, they were brilliant! Well done to our Year 11 Hospitality and Catering students. 7 PFIZER SCIENCE IN A BOX On Friday 6 March, we welcomed back Pfizer to deliver their Science in a Box initiative to 30 of our Year 9 students. The workshop gave students the opportunity to look at how medicines are developed from molecular modelling, to synthesis, to testing, to finally packaging and marketing.
This event allowed them to look at A Level chemistry principles such as the use of electron microscopy as well as identifying functional groups through NMR (nuclear magnetic resonance) spectroscopy. The team from Pfizer complemented our students as a result of their outstanding engagement and inquisitive questioning. We look forward to welcoming Pfizer back to TSS during the next academic year.
BIG BANG @ DISCOVERY PARK On Friday 13 March, 12 Year 9 students attended the Big Bang Event at Discovery Park in Sandwich. The trip gave students the opportunity to talk to employers and engage in interactive workshops within STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) based subjects. This allowed students to see the wide variety of different jobs available, while giving them the opportunity to think about which career paths they may wish to take in the future.
All students interacted with as many employers as they could, with a number of the students now considering a range of different careers including neurology, engineering and construction as well as careers within the police force. Students also competed in a bridge building challenge with the Royal Engineers Museum, in addition to attending a seminar delivered by Education Edu looking at polar exploration. We look forward, as a school, to seeing how the event continues to develop in the future.
8 CAREERS FAIR As part of Careers Week 2020, nearly 1500 students ranging from Year 7 to Year 14 visited employers from a wide range of industries at the school careers fair, which was held on Thursday 5 March in the Sports Hall.
Students heard about the various roles and opportunities available in organizations such as Morrisons, Knauf, UHY Hacker, Macknade, Wire Belt, Mid Kent Electrical, Consort Medical, Fivium, Kent Police, Avante, Barclays, Engie, European School of Osteopathy, NHS, and Physiotherapy 2 Fit.
There were also opportunities for students to speak to Hadlow College and Kent Medical School, as well as a number of our local universities, about what life is like as a graduate, and they heard about the vast number of degree courses available to them in the future.
Those students interested in securing apprenticeships also had the opportunity to speak to three apprenticeship training providers who joined us. For some of the lower school students, this was the first time they had been able to speak directly to providers about apprenticeships.
Students spoke to two travel companies who offer voluntary and paid work abroad and found out about why some students choose to do this during a GAP year. It was lovely to welcome back some of our ex students who enjoyed speaking to current students about their journey from when they left school to the successful careers they are now pursuing.
Employers were extremely complimentary about how engaged our students were and how they conducted themselves. Approaching and talking to employers is not easy, but the briefing students had received during Careers Week about “how to talk to employers at a careers fair and body language” certainly prepared them for this event and helped them to “stand out”.
If you work for a local company and would like to be involved in the 2021 Careers Fair, why not contact Mrs Seymour on [email protected] and register your interest now?
We would like to thank Morrisons and Macknade Fine Foods for their kind donations of bottled water, cake and fruit. 9 WORLD BOOK DAY CELEBRATIONS On Thursday 5 March, here at TSS, we celebrated World Book Day in style. Every student, from Year 7 to Year 13, had the privilege of collecting a free book of their choice. All Year 11 students also received two English revision guides.
There were over two thousand books for students to choose from. The collection ranged from popular favourites like ‘Diary of a Wimpy Kid’ and the Darren Shan ‘Zom-B’ series up to classics such as ‘Dracula’ and ‘Treasure Island’. There was even a range of modern top sellers such as ‘Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine’. There were also a range of non-fiction texts and a range of revision guides for KS4 students.
Although the rain outside was persistent, the atmosphere in the hall was exciting, bright and cheerful.
The staff at TSS hope the students enjoy their books and we look forward to hearing their reviews on them when they have finished.
MEETING CAROL ANN DUFFY A lucky group of students spent World Book Day at The Whitstable School with students from other schools in Swale Academies Trust. The whole day was based around poetry.
In the morning, students from the University of Kent’s School of English led a session where our students created poems inspired by Instagram posts.The results were original and impressive. Next on the agenda was a poetry reading and Q&A session with former Poet Laureate, Carol Ann Duffy. Duffy has been on the GCSE and A-level syllabus for many years, so this was a great opportunity for students to gain an insight into some of her poems. After lunch, the University of Kent students ran another poetry workshop; this time the focus was black-out poetry using extracts from Virginia Woolf. Once again the students’ individuality and creativity shone through. At the end of the day, we all gathered together to share some of the work that students had created during the day.
It was great to see how students had been inspired throughout the day and how well they had engaged with the workshops. Some of their creations were truly remarkable, given the short space of time that students had to produce their poems. Many are already looking forward to next year’s poetry celebration. 10 NEWS UPDATE FROM THE TSS LIBRARY Competitions were held in the library and classes visiting were all able to take part. These competitions included: Non Fiction Book in a Jar, Guess who wrote the Tweet, WBD Big Bonanza Quiz, Design a book cover from the blurb and Guess the Silhouette.
Students also took part in a whole school game of Literary Cluedo. The aim was to find out which character was the literary thief, which object they had stolen and where the object was hidden by finding the clues placed around the school. It was revealed that Katniss Everden stole the conch from ‘The Lord of the Flies’ island and hid it in Wonderland.
Many students participated and the winning students were: Reanna N, Luka G, Sam M, Sophie F, Elise V, George W and Jessica C. Prizes and vouchers were awarded and congratulations to you all!
We are also pleased to announce the winners of Accelerated Reader during Term 3: ● Michelle K, Year 7, for reading the most words ● 7P4 and 8O4 for the most 100% marks on quizzes
Even though students are working from home currently, remember they can still complete quizzes on books they have read.
How to do this: 1. On the Launch Pad of RM Unify click on: External Links 2. Scroll down to Curricular, find and click on Accelerated Reader. 3. Click 'I am a student' - Username is the student's 01.... number that you should know and the password is TSS1. (not case sensitive) 4. Click on the middle orange box 'Accelerated Reader' 5. Type in the quiz number or title of the book and then you can complete your quiz. Please note, the only times that you are able to quiz on a book is during school hours: Monday to Friday, 8.00am to 4.15pm.
We will still be recording your 100% quizzes for the whole class termly prizes. Plus, an achievement point will be added for every quiz you complete and pass (85% or above) while school is closed. We look forward to announcing the students who completed the most quizzes from home. Happy reading!
11 CULTURAL CORNER: Cultural corner: on folk songs and balconies
One of the most heartwarming moments of the current global situation has been the images and video clips of people joining together on their balconies to sing. Residents of neighbouring apartments have come together in communities across the world to show solidarity and support for each other and for their health care workers during an unprecedented time in our history.
One song which has been heard resonating across the balconies is ‘Bella Ciao’. It is a folk song which was originally sung by women working in the paddy fields of northern Italy between April and June. It was their job to protect the delicate rice plants, and clearing the weeds, a task called ‘monda’. It was back-breaking work, with long hours and low pay. The women would sing to support each other while working to help them get through the days. During the second world war, a different version was popular amongst Resistance fighters.
The song has taken many forms since. In class, we listened to a French/Italian version by Maître Gims, Vitaa, Dadju, Slimane and Naestro. Maître Gims is a very popular French hip hop artist and this collaboration was top of the French charts in May 2018.
12 ‘THE POWER OF WORDS’: A WHOLE SCHOOL VOCABULARY PROJECT
At The Sittingbourne School, we are committed to preparing all our students for a successful future. A major factor in this is their ability to use and understand a wide range of vocabulary. Researchers at Oxford University Press found that students with a strong command of vocabulary cope better in lessons, gain higher qualifications and have better employment prospects after leaving school.
In order to broaden students’ vocabulary, and improve their ability to decode unfamiliar or more specialised vocabulary, we are increasing our focus on word roots. We know that 60% of the English language is drawn from Latin and Greek origins, a figure which is even higher in technical language. Understanding word roots, and the word families they belong to, makes unfamiliar vocabulary more accessible, whilst introducing students to the ‘hidden stories’ behind words. Recognising word roots helps our students develop deeper word knowledge, which, in turn, accelerates the growth of their vocabulary.
Over the two terms, students have been introduced to two word roots a week, along with the subject specific vocabulary drawn from them. Students have been challenged to use the vocabulary creatively in tutor groups, with the best sentences shared across the school! Winning sentence so far have included:
‘The photocopiers and internet systems were only intermittently working due to a lack of interchangeable which would have fixed the problem.’ (Although the jury also liked ‘I exported my father to an aquarium in Canada.’) ‘I am currently building a portfolio of evidence to support my application for the role of aquaculturist, where I will be responsible for the cultivation, importation and exportation of live plants and fish across the globe.’ ‘Contrary to what you are saying, I think the contrast between light and dark is too easy to see. The stars were luminous tonight, brighter than any Christmas illumination.’ ‘I realised that there was a huge sale on audible. I've been listening to 20th century audio books ever since.’ ‘Deep down in a subterranean passage, below the dry Egyptian terrain, a spherical gold tomb containing jewels was found.’ ‘The unique sight of a unicorn riding a unicycle past Subway made me subconsciously rub my eyes in disbelief.’ ‘My transaction was automatically declined by the transcontinental bank because of an expensive transport decision that uses the latest automated ticket system.’
Please share our love of language with your children at home! Perhaps you have a fantastic sentence using the word roots of the week that you would like to contribute? Please contact Mr Andy Trigwell, the school’s Literacy Lead – [email protected] with your ideas! 13 WELL-BEING EVENING, THE SKILLS CENTRE On Thursday 5 March, The Skills Centre opened its doors to an evening of pampering for staff at The Sittingbourne School. This event saw hair and beauty students offering treatments to staff for hair curling, braiding, shampoo and blow drying, manicures and pedicures and eyelash and brow tints. This was an excellent opportunity for not only school staff to have some down time to relax and be pampered after work, but for the students to practise their skills and develop their personal skills further by communication with new ‘external clients’. The evening was a fantastic success and the students involved should be very proud of themselves. We all look forward to the next event!
VINTAGE HAIRSTYLE DEMONSTRATION, THE SKILLS CENTRE Natalie Gorman, owner of Forever Hair and Beauty Ltd in Sittingbourne High Street, visited the salon at The Skills Centre on Thursday 6 February to demonstrate some vintage hairstyles to the students. She used students as models and created a selection of hairstyles from the 40s, 50s and 60s including Victory Rolls and Beehives. Students left the salon looking very glamorous! Natalie also brought along a selection of vintage hairdressing tools to give the students an idea of how such intricate styles would have been produced before GHDs, heated rollers and tongs!
14 LAVENDER BLUE MEDIA FUNCTION, THE SKILLS CENTRE On 28 February we hosted a business lunch for companies in Swale. Some of the representatives and leaders who joined the media function were:
The Wire Belt Company, Floplast, AbBaltis, Kite Packaging, 1 Stop Insurance, NAG, Wilkins Kennedy, Oregon, Pink Spaghetti, Bradley Group, Wilkins Kennedy, The Oast , Eco Village, Cucumber Catering and Jarmans. We also had a guest speaker from Swale Borough Council (Charlotte Hudson) who was answering questions regarding finance and expenditure amongst other things.
Everyone met for drinks in the cafe area where students were attentive and polite to any special requests. Some of the visitors were given invited to tour the kitchens. The restaurant areas had been laid out with the specific seating arrangements that were requested.
The menu was: Pan fried pork chop, roasted walnuts and caramelised apple puree Crispy salmon, roasted garlic mash, sauce vierge Pea & red pepper risotto
Crepe Suzette, pancakes with orange segments, sugar syrup and vanilla ice cream White chocolate mousse, palmier biscuits and raspberries filled with dark chocolate Fresh fruit salad with mint
Our students excelled themselves by creating some of the best preparation and dishes with a great team ethos. To finish, they were invited upstairs and given a round of applause.
15 SPORTING NEWS! INTER-COMMUNITY DODGEBALL COMPETITION This term saw the inter-community competition look at dodgeball. This was really popular, with competitions taking place after school each week. However, due to the recent Government guidelines to minimise close contact, unfortunately only Year 7 and Year 8 managed to complete their competitions.
During the first week, overall leaders from the inter-community so far, Phoenix, did not enter a team, and so the Year 7 competition was battled out by Aquila and Orion who split their squad into two teams. Orion stormed into an overall 3-1 lead early on, before Aquila fought back to place both communities into a position to take the win. However, in the final game worth double points, Orion won to extend their points score and complete a 6-3 victory. During week two, all communities participated but this time it was Aquila who were victorious. In a very tight competition, they beat both Phoenix and Orion; with Phoenix beating Orion to take second place.
As the Year 7 and Year 8 competitions were the only completed, after the two weeks it finished with Aquila 1st with a total of 19 points, followed closely by Orion in 2nd place with 18 points. Phoenix, due to a no entry in week one, finished in 3rd place with a distant 9 points.
INTER-COMMUNITY BENCHBALL COMPETITION An inter-community benchball competition was played by our Year 7 and 8 girls this term.
There was a great turn out from the Year 7 Orion and Aquila girls, but unfortunately no team entry this time from Phoenix. It was a very close battle between Orion and Aquila throughout the five rounds, but Orion were the ones who took the lead in the end.
The Year 8 girls competed the following week and we had a fantastic turnout from Phoenix and Aquila, but unfortunately Orion couldn't get a team together. It was a very intense and competitive match between Phoenix and Aquila, they were neck and neck by the 4th round, with the 5th round as the decider! After an incredible effort from both teams, it was Phoenix that took the win!
We are looking forward to resuming the competition when we return to school and seeing our Year 9 and 10 girls compete!
16 USEFUL INFORMATION EXTRACURRICULAR CLUBS: TERM 5
HOMEWORK HELP AND INDEPENDENT LEARNING Student Ambassadors’ Support: library 8.00-8.30am every morning. Resources and assistance are available to all students in the school library before school, at break, at lunch and after school.
Students should be doing Independent Learning every week. Core subjects set Independent Learning on a weekly basis. Most of this learning can be done on Google Classrooms which parents can access using their child’s login. If your child has any technical issues, please ask them to email Mr Williams, [email protected]. If they have any other issues regarding independent learning, please ask them to email Miss Mynott, [email protected]. 17 USEFUL INFORMATION SCHOOL TIMINGS
Year 7 to Year 11 Sixth Form
Period Start End Period Start End
Period 1 8.40am 9.40am Period 1 8.40am 9.40am Period 2 9.40am 10.40am Period 2 9.40am 10.40am
Break 10.40am 11.10am Break 10.40am 11.10am
Period 3 11.10am 12.10pm Period 3 11.10am 12.10pm Period 4 12.10pm 1.10pm Lunch & travel 12.10pm 1.00pm Lunch 1.10pm 1.40pm Period 4a 1.00pm 2.00pm
Tutor 1.40pm 2.00pm Period 5 2.00pm 3.00pm
Period 5 2.00pm 3.00pm
COMMUNITY STRUCTURE
AQUILA: Principal: Mr D Clarke Vice Principal: Mr R Dengate/Mrs C Hills Aquila Pupil Support Manager: Mr T Ayed
ORION: Principal: Mr J Crofskey Vice Principal: Mr A Ball Orion Pupil Support Manager: Miss K Hilton
PHOENIX: Principal: Mrs T Harvey Vice Principal: Mrs D Mulhall Phoenix Pupil Support Manager: Mr M Judd
ARCHER Year 11 Lead: Miss S Catt Year 11 Learning Leader: Miss L Allum Year 11 Pupil Support Manager: Miss G Povey
ARCHER Sixth Form : Principal: Mrs J Noble Vice Principal: Mr D Collins & Mr A Trigwell Sixth Form Pupil Support Manager: Mr M Harvey
Full contact details for community staff can be found on our school website under Information/Contacts.
18 USEFUL INFORMATION IMPORTANT BUS PASS ADVICE We are hearing of an increasing number of students who are having difficulties scanning their bus pass on transport supplied by TravelMaster. KCC Transport insist that TravelMaster take back any pass that does not work. Parents then need to immediately apply to KCC for a replacement pass. We appreciate that this presents a difficult and frustrating situation for students and parents/carers, but unfortunately it is beyond the school’s control.
The advice from KCC to protect your child’s bus pass is to:
● Keep the pass away from mobile phones. ● Keep it away from direct heat. ● Avoid bending the card.
If your child experiences difficulties scanning their pass on the bus, please speak to KCC immediately as a replacement will be necessary.
To request a replacement bus pass call 03000 41 84 84 with your child’s name, address and school. The cost for a replacement pass is £10.00 per replacement (you can have up to three replacement passes per school year).
19 USEFUL INFORMATION ATTENDANCE INFORMATION Please note that we authorise 5 days of absence provided a call is made. All absent days after this will be logged as unauthorised unless medical evidence is provided, regardless of whether a call is made to us. Further details can be found on our school website. If your child is unable to attend school, please inform the Attendance Officer via email or telephone as soon as possible (details below).
If you foresee your child taking a period of absence, a Leave of Absence form must be completed. This can be found on the school’s website in the Attendance section. This includes medical operations, holidays etc. As per Department of Education guidelines, we will not be authorising holidays during the school term as this can have a detrimental effect on your child’s progress.
Medical appointments: If your child has a medical appointment, please ensure you bring them into school before/after the appointment to ensure their attendance percentage is maintained above 96%. Evidence must be provided for all appointments to ensure the absence is authorised. Where possible, please try to make appointments for after school.
Attendance Team:
Mrs O Wheeler, Assistant Headteacher & Attendance Lead: T: 01795 472449 extension 231, E: [email protected]
Ms C Cox, Attendance Officer: T: 01795 472449 extension 232, E: [email protected]
Ms T Morris, SEAAS Officer: T: 07983 394 789, E: [email protected]
Sixth Form Attendance: T: 01795 411901, E: [email protected]
20 USEFUL INFORMATION SCHOOL UNIFORM EXPECTATIONS There is an expectation that all our students attend school in the full and correct school uniform. We also ask that they bring the correct equipment for their day. Please encourage your child to look smart and be prepared for school every day. Our Uniform Policy is available to review on our school website. Jewellery of any kind is not permitted in school. Should you child be found wearing items of jewellery, these will be confiscated and a parent/carer will need to come into school to collect. Wrist watches are allowed. Please ensure your child is aware of this expectation to avoid any confiscations.
PE UNIFORM The TSS PE kit is available to order online directly from Watermelon Workwear via their website www.watermelonworkwear.co.uk. We expect all students to be wearing the new compulsory items from the PE kit listed below. For your ease, kit orders can be delivered direct to your home or to school for your child to collect.
Our PE kit can also be purchased in store or online at Forsters School Outfitters www.forsterskent.co.uk/the-sittingbourne-school-209-c.asp.
Compulsory items required by all students are: unisex t-shirt or fitted top and shorts and/or tracksuit bottoms. Additional non-compulsory items are available to purchase: sports leggings and unisex base layer. * Year 10 students need only purchase a PE t-shirt.
KEY WORKER DISCOUNT Forsters School Outfitters are offering a 10% Discount to all key workers. Simply place your order online and email [email protected] with proof of your key worker ID and Forsters will refund you the saving. Please visit Forsters website for more detail.
21 USEFUL INFORMATION
DO WE HAVE YOUR UP TO DATE CONTACT DETAILS? We value your support and active involvement in our learning community. In order to ensure you do not miss out on valuable information, please inform the school as soon as possible with any changes (including new email address or mobile number). Please note: according to new guidance called Keeping Children Safe in Education (September 2018) the school is required to have at least two emergency contacts with a current telephone number for every student. An inactive phone number could lead to your child not being safe or the school needing to contact the police in case of an emergency. It is your responsibility to inform the school of any changes in your emergency contact numbers.
All newsletters, school reports, letters, etc. are sent to you via email only. Please therefore ensure that you have given us your up to date email address and check this regularly for our communications. Without this, you could miss out on vital information. We will continue to add information on our website. If you have not given us your email address, please urgently send an email to the address below stating your full name as well as your child’s full name and their date of birth. Thank you for supporting us in our drive to make communication more efficient and environmentally friendly. [email protected]
EDULINK ONE
Please remember to sign up to the Eduline One app, a mobile app that allows teachers, parents and students to communicate and access information in one place. We know that strong communication links are vital and this is one of our key objectives.
TELEPHONE CALLS, REQUESTS FOR APPOINTMENTS, DROP-IN SESSIONS AND MEETINGS We aim to respond to phone calls and messages promptly and will do so within a 24 hour period where possible and appropriate. The earliest daily appointment slot with any member of staff would be 8.00am, the last daily appointment is 5.15pm. Headteacher Drop-in Sessions run weekly on Tuesdays and Thursdays between 8.40am and 9.40am. These are the only appointments that do not need to be booked ahead. If you wish to make an appointment with a member of staff please contact the school office who will be happy to take a message and pass this to the relevant person to contact you. We are unable to accept ‘no notice’ appointments (with the exception of the Headteacher Drop-in Sessions).
22 TERM DATES FOR 2019 TO 2020
TERM 1
Term 1 starts: Tuesday 27 August 2019 Term 1 ends: Friday 11 October 2019
Staff development day: Tuesday 27 August 2019
Year 7 only – Wednesday 28 August 2019 New Year 12 Enrolment and Induction Day: Wednesday 28 August 2019 Whole school to start back on Thursday 29 August 2019 (Years 8, 9, 10, 11 and 13) Year 12 lessons begin on Monday 2 September 2019
School holiday: Monday 14 October to Friday 25 October 2019
TERM 2
Term 2 starts: Monday 28 October 2019 Term 2 ends: Wednesday 18 December 2019
Staff development day: Friday 22 November 2019
School holiday: Thursday 19 December 2019 to Friday 3 January 2020
TERM 3
Term 3 starts: Monday 6 January 2020 Term 3 ends: Friday 14 February 2020
School holiday: Monday 17 February to Friday 21 February 2020
23 TERM DATES FOR 2019 TO 2020
TERM 4
Term 4 starts: Monday 24 February 2020 Term 4 ends: Wednesday 1 April 2020
School holiday: Thursday 2 April to Wednesday 15 April 2020
TERM 5
Term 5 starts: Thursday 16 April 2020 Term 5 ends: Friday 22 May 2020
School holiday: Monday 25 May to Friday 29 May 2020
TERM 6
Term 6 starts: Monday 1 June 2020 Term 6 ends: Thursday 23 July 2020
Staff development days: Monday 29 June, Tuesday 30 June and Thursday 23 July 2020
Please note official government changes to the Bank holiday that was scheduled for 4 May 2020. This has been moved to Friday 8 May 2020 to coincide with VE Day Celebrations.
24 TERM DATES FOR 2020 TO 2021
TERM 1
Term 1 starts: Tuesday 1 September 2020 Term 1 ends: Friday 23 October 2020
Staff development days: Tuesday 1 September and Friday 23 October 2020 (provisional)
School holiday: Monday 26 October to Friday 30 October 2020
TERM 2
Term 2 starts: Monday 2 November 2020 Term 2 ends: Friday 18 December 2020
Staff development day: Friday 20 November 2020 (provisional)
School holiday: Monday 21 December 2020 to Friday 1 January 2021
TERM 3
Term 3 starts: Monday 4 January 2021 Term 3 ends: Friday 12 February 2021
School holiday: Monday 15 February to Friday 19 February 2021
25 TERM DATES FOR 2020 TO 2021 TERM 4
Term 4 starts: Monday 22 February 2021 Term 4 ends: Thursday 1 April 2021
Staff development day: Monday 22 February 2021 (provisional)
School holiday: Friday 2 April to Friday 16 April 2021
TERM 5
Term 5 starts: Monday 19 April 2021 Term 5 ends: Friday 28 May 2021
School holiday: Monday 31 May to Friday 4 June 2021
TERM 6
Term 6 starts: Monday 7 June 2021 Term 6 ends: Wednesday 21 July 2021
Staff development day: Friday 2 July 2021 (provisional)
Full term details can be found on our website
TERM 4 NEWSLETTER
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