Key Notes: 28 January 2022

28th January 2022

Ready to Learn

At Melbourn Village College we often refer pupils to the 3 'Keys to Success': Be Ready, Be Responsible, and Be Respectful. We use these elements to encourage pupils to take responsibility for their own behaviour and learning. This term we are focusing on the being ready element, and you may have already noticed that tutors are now checking their tutees' uniform and equipment each morning, recording in Go4Schools' behaviour section where a pupil has a 'lack of equipment' or is in 'incorrect uniform'.

We are checking that each pupil has the following basic equipment:

• at least one pen to write with (blue or black ink only)
• at least one pencil for drawing diagrams
• a ruler
• and their iPad, with sufficient charge - year 7s only

From Monday (31^st Jan) we are extending this to all exercise books and other required equipment for subject lessons as well.  Teachers will be expecting pupils to arrive with the right books for their lesson and will record in Go4Schools when pupils have come without their books.  We believe that by taking responsibility for their own preparation for lessons, we are starting pupils on the road to taking responsibility for their own learning and being active participants in the learning process.

We would very much welcome your support in ensuring that your child arrives to school every day with this basic equipment plus the correct books for the day and, when needed, a calculator for maths, PE kit for PE lessons etc.  If your child has a locker in school, you might encourage them to keep spare pens and pencils in their locker too.  To help support pupils in the short term as they learn these habits of 'being ready for school', tutors will also have a small supply of basic equipment that they can provide.

Face-coverings in School

Many thanks to pupils and to parents for supporting the temporary continuation of mask-wearing in communal areas. We want to remove this as soon as possible but need cases at MVC and in the local area to decline before we can do this in confidence. Our overriding priority at the moment is to try and limit the number of pupils and staff missing school.  

Covid Symptoms

As a reminder, If your child does develop any of the following Covid symptoms, please take them for a PCR test which you can arrange by visiting https://www.nhs.uk/ask-for-a-coronavirus-test or by phoning 119:

• A high temperature – this means feeling hot to touch on the chest or back
• A new, continuous cough – this means coughing a lot for more than an hour, or 3 or more coughing episodes in 24 hours
• A loss or change to their sense of smell or taste

If your child has already tested positive and is absent from school, they may return following negative LFD tests on day 5 and 6, or after two negative tests on any subsequent consecutive days. Regardless of the test results they should not return if they still have a high temperature.

Army Careers Visit for Year 10 Pupils

On Monday, pupils from Year 10 had a presentation on Army Careers. They learnt about the different routes into the Army, training, travel and career opportunities.

English and Creative Writing Club

A big thank you to all those year 7s attending the Creative Writing Club. This week we had 20 year 7s attend and it is wonderful to see their passion and enthusiasm for writing.

Due to Covid, it has been some time since the pupils were able to use the library, but it is now open during the Creative Writing Club and it is great to see so many pupils enjoying browsing the shelves and taking books out to read. Pupils have been writing some wonderful stories, many of which will soon be published on our Book Review website here.  In addition, members of the club are going to be working on creating an interactive map of the school, which will focus on the school site and its history. This is in its early stages, but the pupils have already come up with some great ideas.

In class, year 7s have been studying ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ and it has been great to see how well they have engaged with the play. This week, some classes have been writing their own scenes and acting them out in class – once again it has been great to see their enthusiasm to learn, perform and create.

Finally, a big thank you for all those who entered the poetry competition; the standard of poetry has been exceptional. Copies will be sent to the poet, Ash Dickinson, next week for judging and we will let you know the winners as soon as he announces them.

Computing

We were fortunate to have a Mr Lees visit MVC recently to talk to year 9 pupils about his career in software engineering. He gave them an insight into some of the different products that use software and how software engineers often work in teams and can work in countries all over the world. He also spoke of how the demand for software engineers is going to increase with some great job prospects for those interested! A huge thank you to Mr Lees for giving up his time to speak to the students.

Year 10 PSHE Lessons

It was the turn of Year 10 pupils this week to have some Personal, Social, Health and Economics (PSHE) lessons. They explored topics around the theme of “Exploitation”, learning about the dangers, warning signs and preventative measures they can take in relation to County Lines and child sexual exploitation.

Physical Education

With not every school in the Cambridge and District School Sports Association currently available for fixtures, we had a rare quiet week with only the one fixture on Monday. Pictured here are the Year 8 football team in their match v Stephen Perse school. PE enrichments also continued in earnest with lots of pupils taking up the opportunity to be physically active at a range of our clubs for free.

Next week sees the start of a busy couple of weeks for MVC sport in the lead up to half term. The pupils involved are reminded to wear full PE kit and wrap up warm if the fixture is outside! All fixtures are normally around 3.45-4.45pm and if away we try to return to school around 5pm.

• Monday 31^st Jan Year 7 girls football (2 teams) v King James Academy (away)
• Wednesday 2^nd Feb Year 8 boys basketball v Cambourne (home)
• Wednesday 2^nd Feb U/16 mixed badminton v Cambourne (away)
• Thursday 3^rd Feb Year 10 boys County Cup Football v Stephen Perse School 3pm KO
• Monday 7^th Feb Year 7 netball v King James Academy (home)
• Monday 7^th Feb Year 11 boys football English Schools ¼ final v Buckswood School (away) 2pm KO
• Tuesday 22^nd Feb Year 10 and 11 GCSE PE netball v King James Academy (home)

Sporting Achievement

Congratulations to Hannah who entered a triathlon at the weekend in Bingham.  She won the shooting element with an amazing score of 960/1000. She also did well in the run and swim. Well done!

Year 11 GCSE Revision and Support Sessions

Reminder that the Technology workshop will be open every day after school for use by the Design and Technology pupils. Other sessions are as follows:

Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday
GCSE Art - Mrs Heeks	Maths - Higher - Mrs Neville	Biology Booster Session - Mr Rahman
Further Maths - Mr Lawrence-Jones	Maths Foundation - Mr Holder	Year 11 - MEP - Mr Fan
Year 11 Chemistry Booster Session	GCSE Art - Year 11 - Mrs Ward	Drama GCSE - Mrs Nicholls
	Spanish GCSE Revision - Mrs Stanley	Computer Science Booster Session - Ms Smith
	Physics GCSE Revision - Mr Essien

Pastoral Support

See information about Parent Mental Health Support from Young Minds at the end of this newsletter.

History

On the 57^th anniversary of the death of Sir Winston Churchill, the History Department decided to share a fact about the man. Concerned that he would be travelling through the United States at the time of prohibition, Winston Churchill asked for a doctor’s note to ensure his supply of purely medicinal alcohol was not restricted. Here is that note. It just shows that good organisation and preparedness, as well as a certain individuality, can see you through the darkest of times. We can still learn a lot from the past!

150^th Anniversary

This year marks the 150^th Anniversary of the first Government-funded school in Melbourn in 1872!  The size of the grant depended on attendance and the subjects taught. Much as today, a condition of the grant was that annual inspections were carried out. However, at this time, attendance was very irregular as it was not compulsory, and children were often kept at home to help in the fields.  In the summer of 1873, there were 84 students on role, but only 30 were attending school! 

The first record of a school in Melbourn comes from the notes of the Bishop of Ely in 1596 (435 years ago!).  In fact, our MVC logo of three keys, originates from the Diocese of Ely Coat of Arms. This in turn is thought to have been the arms of Æthelwold, Bishop of Winchester (912-984), who was instrumental in establishing Ely as a Benedictine Monastery in 970, which eventually became Ely Cathedral in 1109. Æthelwold himself was a teacher at Winchester and his pupils regarded him with great respect and affection. His writings are believed to have played an important role in the development of Standard Old English. And so we come full circle!

Have a good weekend,

Simon Holmes

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