Polesworth Matters

Dear All As we come towards the end of this half term I want to wish everyone a lovely break. However, our last week is by no means a quiet one... On Tuesday 11th February we have our Evening of Dance. Please come and support what is always an amazing spectacle of skill, strength, elegance and agility. I promise that you will not be disappointed. Year 8 have been attending assemblies for available Level 2 option subjects and on Wednesday 13th February we have our annual Year 8 into 9 Evening. I would encourage all year 8 students and parents to attend this event in order to access all the relevant and highly important information pertaining to option choices and possible future plans. Please be advised that school will close at 1.10pm on 13th to allow staff to prepare for the event. Our recent Parent Consultation Evening was a huge success and I want to thank staff and parents for their continued support and energy. It was extremely well attended and the feedback has been fantastic. I wish everyone a restful break and I look forward to seeing everyone after the holiday!

Headteacher

Headteachers Message Dance Showcase i Attendance Scientist of the Month

Early Finish Letter In Science Stars of the Month

Y8 into Y9 Curriculum Evening Letter PE News this Poetry Competition issue Contact Details

Deadline for Prefect Dance Showcase, 7th 11th 13th Early Finish, 1.10pm applications 6.30pm, Main Hall

7th Out of Uniform Y13 Science trip to Body 12th Year 8 into 9 Worlds Museum, London 13th Y11 History trip to evening

7th February2020 Key Dates 11th Raglan and — for Grosmont Castle February Y12/13 English trip, Jane CSW Talent Contest, 13th Eyre, Garrick Break up for Half 11th 14th

Leamington Spa Theatre Term Issue 274

At The Polesworth School we pride ourselves on our consistently high levels of attendance. For many years now, our annual attendance rate has been over the national average figure for secondary schools which was 94.4% attendance last year.

Excellent attendance is crucial to a child's overall education. It is impossible for us to provide our students with the highest quality of education if they are not attending consistently and accessing the many educational opportunities and experiences available to them.

Our Attendance Policy, available to download from our website, outlines the procedures we follow to monitor attendance and the strategies we put in place to address attendance concerns. As many of you will be aware, we always aim to send an automated text message home by mid-morning to inform you if your child has not been registered within the first half hour of the day. The message requests that parents make urgent contact with the school to inform us of the reason for absence and this helps us to ensure students who are absent are safeguarded. Additionally, it enables us to monitor absences, as well as ensuring we meet the legal requirement of recording all reasons for absence on the official register.

In order to maintain our focus on high attendance we make contact with parents if their child's attendance falls below 95%, highlighting any potential concerns and offering support if required. If that student's attendance continues to decline and there are no apparent mitigating circumstances for that decline, the school may choose to set an internal target for improvement, which again will include support from the school to help students to succeed. Unfortunately, for a small number of students, this approach may not prove effective and at this point the school may have no option but to engage the Local Authority's Attendance Service, who will set a legal target, the failure of which could result in prosecution.

While we do place a high emphasis on attendance, we recognise that there are occasions when it can prove difficult for students to attend, either through ongoing illness or through emotional difficulties that may emerge. In these circumstances, we are here to help and are keen to work alongside parents to address any problems which may be affecting their child's overall school experience. Our Youth Worker, Mrs Owen, plays a key role on helping students improve their attendance. She, along with other members of our pastoral support team meet regularly with students to encourage consistent attendance and are available to meet with parents to help address any problems that may be affecting a student's attendance, ideally nipping problems in the bud before they get too big. These members of staff are easily contactable through Student Services, by calling the school.

Thankfully, the vast majority of students tell us that they enjoy school and are keen to get the most out of their education. Regular assemblies highlight the latest House attendance data and annually, 100% attendance is recognised through prizes in assemblies. We also encourage our students to engage in healthy competition, helping their House to achieve the highest percentage attendance.

We are all too aware that none of the above would prove successful without the support of our parents and we continue to be grateful for the parental support we receive in ensuring high attendance remains a key feature of each student's academic experience at The Polesworth School.

LGBT History Month (February 2020) Poetry

Competition!

This year the theme for LGBT History Month is “Poetry, Prose and Plays” so we are launching a poetry writing competition here at school.

Your entry does not need to be entirely based on the theme of LGBT but can include any or all aspects of things to do with equality, acceptance, love, identity, peace, pride, human rights, reconciliation, community, togetherness etc.

Your entry should be no longer than 1 side of A4 either typed or handwritten, and should be submitted to Mr Barber by the 14th February. You can enter more than one poem if you wish. There will be a prize for the winning poem and hopefully we may be able to create an anthology of poems from the competition. There will be a box to post your entries into in the Study Centre or you can hand them to Mr Barber in Tomlinson Hall.

Dance Showcase

Scientist of the Month SEPTEMBERJanuary 2020 2019

YearYear 77 ScienceScience PheobeBarri Twells Lines

YearYear 78 ScienceScience DylanMaisie Spearing Powles

Year 8 Science Seth Chilton

Year 9 Science Ellie Hicks

Year 9 Biology Chelsea Collins YearYear 109 ChemistryBiology AmeliaAstrid HopkinsArnold YearYear 109 ChemistryPhysics TyEthan Cox GrillsHiggins

YearYear 1010 PhysicsBiology DeclanBilly KingJones Year 10 Chemistry Fawaz Sanusi Year 10 11 BiologyPhysics GeorgiaDaniel Maddox Smith Year 11 Chemistry Taylor Harris Year 11 Biology Alice Smith YearYear 1111 ChemistryPhysics MackenzieNicole Wilkes Gilbert

Year 11 Physics Cameron Sherlock Year 12 Chemistry Mia Roche

YearYear 1212 PhysicsBiology JoshSarah Kermode Wilcox Year 12 ChemistryForensic Charlie Howell Year 12 Cristina Dobanda Year 12 PhysicsScience Katie Moss Year 12 Forensic Science Laurie Kelly Year 13 Chemistry Tom Banks Year 13 Biology Meg Hogben YearYear 1313 ChemistryPhysics HarryEthan HudsonLomas Forensic YearYear 1313 CHEMISTRY CaitlinSam Rhodes Holmes Year 13 ForensicScience Science Elisa Watret

Science Stars of the Month

Nominees for Scientist of the month for their hard work

January 2020 Alexander Josefen Zac Smith ChLoe O'Brien Jack Longmore Jessica Wheeler Carys Jones Ellie-Louise Nickless Lily-Ann Edwards Jess Sadler Emma CLover Mayah Imaan Jack Underwood Evangelina Clarke Alicia Fearing Liam Sheard Maisie Powles Alfie Aston Lily-Mae Clamp Maisie Hughes Jenson langman Lily-Mae Mazi Lewis langley Oliver Cuthbert Kelsey Roe Harrison Johnson Matthew McKitton Madeleine Gould Vaughan Plester Josie Boucher Kyle Statham Imogen Smith Leah Mitton Madeleine Gould Stella Spies Euan Wilson Hope Palfrey Joshua Gray Freya Moore Harley Brown Amy East Chris Dutton Kiera Davis Ryan Wilson Leah Carvel ChLoe Engley Fin CLover Josh Kermode Will Barker Tom Fraser Liam Kirkham Ross Davies Madison Margetts luis Santos Evie Jenkins Kenzie McWilliams Robyn Watret Demi Reid Nastasja Gugleta Ellie Foster Finley Spragg Bailey Jackson Katie France Oliver lavender Tom Chesters Kelsey Davis Millie Brown Sam Rhodes Harry Stringer Freya Kurtulus Natasha Beasley Amaya Bailey Daisy Thorpe Ben Oldham

PE News Dan Rachel

Congratulations to Dan Rachel who has just signed a contract at City Football Club.

Library

Opening times: Letters

Monday–Thursday: 8.15am – 4.00pm Think you’ve missed a letter from school? Friday: 8.15 am – 3.30 pm Our letters—including Trip letters— can be found on our Students and Staff may use the facilities before and after website under the School Life section. school, or during break and lunchtime for book selection, research or for a quiet place to sit and do homework. Alternatively, there is a broad range of magazines and Lost Property newspapers, chess and Sudoku and other games to challenge the little grey cells! See Student Services where all In addition to the Library is a dedicated Sixth Form lost property is kept. Also be area. This is a quiet study area which is available for Year aware there will be a display of all 12 and 13 students to use during their free periods. lost property at each Parents’ Evening .

Don’t forget, you can Parent Pay Shop check all term dates Parent Pay Shop items available to purchase are School on our website - Ties, Revision Guides, Calculators and Art Supplies. www.thepolesworthschool.com Click on www.polesworthschool.com and then click on the shopping trolley.

@PolesworthSchl The Polesworth School - Official Contact Us

The Polesworth School Road Dordon Tamworth B78 1QT

Telephone Number :01827 702205 Fax Number : 01827 702206

School email for general queries : To inform us your child is absent : [email protected] [email protected]

Opening Hours Monday to Thursday: 7.45 am to 4.45 pm Friday: 7.45 am to 4.15 pm