Key Notes: 4 February 2022
4th February 2022
High Numbers of Covid Cases
It has been a very challenging week Covid-wise. The first part of the week saw our highest number of pupils missing school this term with Years 7 and 9 particularly affected. Inevitably, staff have been affected too with both teachers and support staff absent from school. Whilst we did have to ask Year 9 to work from home on Wednesday, I am pleased that this was limited to a single day. I’d like to thank you for your support in ensuring that pupils are doing regular tests at home as this is the best way of catching cases early. The number of pupils missing school in both year 7 and 9 have started to decrease over the past couple of days and we hope this will continue into next week. I’d also like to thank college staff for covering for absent colleagues and apologise if this means we are slightly slower to respond than usual. Staff are working very hard to ensure the school remains open.
Chinese New Year began on 1st February. 2022 is the year of the Tiger and associated with the animal's attributes of bravery, confidence and strong will. Our pupils on the Mandarin Excellence Programme were invited by the British Council to present their New Year blessings to Chinese people around the world. The video is on Twitter.
The Luna New Year is also known as the Chinese Spring Festival and Year 9s have been doing paper folding and cutting using traditional red paper to make a 3D model of the word, Spring: 春
Cooking for Chinese New Year
Mr Fan came to team-teach Chinese cooking to GCSE pupils yesterday to celebrate Chinese New Year. Pupils learnt how to roll and cook a spring roll, boil dumplings and flavour cabbage and made some sweet and sour chicken and stir fry dishes. The particularly enjoyed tasting the food! Mr Fan was very engaging in his cookery and Miss Giles welcomed the skills and knowledge that he shared. GCSE students are currently exploring global cuisines and flavours, and therefore, Mr Fan’s Chinese cooking fitted in extremely well with their curriculum content.
Food and Nutrition
GCSE Food and Nutrition pupils have been working on presentation of a basic pasta and tomato dish. They have done a great job with swirling techniques and utilising the different pasta shapes available. Well done, they look delicious!
Safer Internet Day
8th February is Safer Internet Day with the theme 'All fun and games? Exploring respect and relationships online'. Digital Awareness have produced some guidance for parents and students on how to steer online safety conversations (see end of this newsletter).
Physical Education
A huge congratulations to our Year 8 Basketball Teams who competed in a home tournament against Cambourne VC on Wednesday night. There was some exceptional play from everyone involved. A big thank you also to our Sports Leaders and GCSE PE pupils who assisted with organising players, officiating, and providing lots of encouragement. All were excellent ambassadors for the school.
Fixture dates for your diary:
- Tue 22nd Feb Yr8 boys County Cup football 1/4 final v St. Peter's 3.45pm KO home
- Wed 23rd Feb U/16 boys Basketball qualifier v Comberton 3.45pm KO away
Cambridgeshire Constabulary Safer Schools Newsletter
The February edition of Cambridgeshire Constabulary Safer Schools Newsletter is being sent out with this edition of Key Notes. The subjects covered are as follows:
- Don’t be a fool money mule – A brief summary explaining Money Muling and how to spot the warning signs
- The Dangers of Vaping – Could your child be vaping illegal substances?
- Safer Internet Day – How to get involved and advice links for Parents/Carers
- Is this Love? – Highlights on healthy/unhealthy relationships
- Half term Fun and Games – Interactive online activity for 8-10yr olds
Accessing Pupil IT Systems
As Covid cases continue to rise in our area, more pupils are having to access their learning from home, using IT. Ms Smith has produced a guide to remind parents of how their children access our IT systems, and what to do if they forget a password! The guide is being sent out as an attachment with this Newsletter and is available to read online here.
Science
On Tuesday morning, our year 7 geographers and scientists were treated to a very interesting and exciting talk on their current topic ‘life in cold climates’ by Naomi Griffiths from the British Antarctic Survey (BAS). Naomi is an ex-teacher, who retrained as a programmer, and is now responsible for the database of all goods and materials that go down to the South Pole on the RRS Sir David Attenborough research ship. She talked about climate change, the Antarctic environment, and some of the research carried out by BAS. Pupils learned that penguins only live at the South Pole, and how they can survive in such hostile environments. To demonstrate just how cold the conditions are for researchers, pupils got hands-on with some of the many layers of clothing needed to keep warm. They then enjoyed watching Dr Wilson getting fully kitted out in all the gear (and he looked like a sweaty TellyTubby!).
More cross-curricular activities (with science!) visits and talks are planned for all pupils this year. Any parents/carers who are interested in coming in to talk to pupils about their work in science, please contact Dr Wilson (dwilson@melbournvc.org).
Have a good weekend,
Simon Holmes
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