Newsletters

NEWSLETTER 11 - 3 December 2021

Dear Parents and Carers,

I hope you are well. Earlier this week I sent out some information regarding the latest COVID information and the precautions we are taking at school. If you have not seen the letter it can also be accessed here; https://www.johnofgauntschool.org/attachments/download.asp?file=747&type=pdf

Last week we were advised by the Department for Education that we need to Lateral Flow Test students before they return in January. We have now created a schedule which follows below.

Also, this week we have been delighted to learn that we have had the highest number of first choice applications from Year 6 students in the school’s history. For the first time ever, next year we will be oversubscribed in Year 7! It has been such a delight to see the popularity of the school grow over the past few years, and we will be immensely proud to welcome so many Year 7 students in September. 

This week I have also met with the Department for Education about building improvements to the school site. At the end of December we have a full site survey taking place, and we are hopeful that later in the year we can share information about capital building improvements that will take place to the school site.

Finally, we are continuing to plan for a live Christmas carol concert on Wednesday 15th December. We believe it is important to still try and provide these opportunities for the children, but we are very mindful of the rising Covid case numbers. We are approaching this with an open mind and every precaution will be followed. There is also specific guidance from the government about this, which we will ensure we adhere to: School Christmas Events

As always, I hope you are able to enjoy a relaxing weekend.

Paul Skipp

Headteacher

 


In line with the latest DfE guidance for testing students before their return to school in January, we will once again be operating a phased return to school in order to carry out one on-site lateral flow test before students return full time. The table below provides information on how we are proposing to manage this for each year group. Further details regarding specific times will be sent out before the end of term however we want you to be aware of our planned timescales with as much notice as possible. Following this phased return all students will be back in school for Monday 10th January 2022.

 

Wednesday 5th January

Thursday 6th January

Friday 7th January

Year 7

Home

Test in school then home

In school

Year 8

Home

Home

Test in school then home

Year 9

Home

Home

Test in school then home

Year 10

Home

Test in school then home

In school

Year 11

Test in school then home

In school

In school

Post-16

Test in school then home

In school

In school

Please note that students taking external exams in January will be invited into school for their test on Tuesday 4th January. It is important that students are able to maximise their time in school before their exam. We recognise that this is before they were expecting to return however they will only need to come in for the test itself and will be free to return home as soon as this has been done. Parents of affected students will be notified of the intended time as soon as possible.


03 Dec 2021
How to access the first dose of Covid-19 vaccination for 12-15 year olds ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​
We are aware that for several reasons there are some children aged 12 and over who may not have received their first Covid-19 vaccination at school or at a local vaccination centre yet.  
Read more
03 Dec 2021
Army Officer Insight Day
Wednesday 8th December - 7pm
Read more
03 Dec 2021
The Girl Who Saved Christmas by Matt Haig
If magic has a beginning, can it also have an end?
Read more

Yr9 Reading Age & Spelling tests
All Day
From 06 Dec until 17 Dec
06
December
Week 2
3:30pm – 6:30pm
06
December
Year 11 into 12 Day
All Day
08
December
Yr11 Parents Evening
3:30pm – 6:30pm
09
December
Week 1
3:30pm – 6:30pm
13
December
Carol Service
until 8:30pm
15
December
Last Day of Term 2
All Day
16
December
TERM 2 HOLIDAY
All Day
From 17 Dec until 03 Jan
17
December

Congratulations to Hannah Higgs and Yvie McClean in Year 9 who have both passed their Grade 4 flute exam with Merit. The girls worked so hard preparing for their exam, and they thoroughly deserve this excellent result.


On Wednesday, the Year 9 students had their first virtual assembly introducing the options process.  Students were informed that they are NOT making any option decisions at this point in time, the assembly was an opportunity for them to start them thinking about the process, to be aware of subjects unfamiliar to them and to realise the timeline of events.  

Although students and parents/carers will have started initial discussions with subject teachers yesterday, during the subjects evening they will be provided with a lot more detail, guidance and support in the new year.  Please see the timeline below.

Mr Rhodes

 


Year 8 Outdoor learning groups braved the cold this week and set about clearing up the storm damage from last weekend. One of the elm trees in the woodland was felled by the high winds. The students put great teamwork and problem-solving skills into action when sawing it into manageable lengths for use as future firewood.

Mr Little

 


Last term, students applied to be a part of the Sports Council. We had lots of applications which made it a really difficult decision. The Sports Council was formed at the beginning of this term, and we have had several meetings since. I would like to introduce you to your year group representatives: 

Year 7: Poppy Fenby & Rory March

Year 8: Rose-Marie John & Kyle Williams

Year 9: Grace Scotney & Rio Rawlins

Year 10: Bella Kingwell & Poppy Shaw

Year 12: Charlie Batt & Jack Richings

If you have any questions, opinions or want something new on in PE then please talk to your representatives. 

I look forward to working with them over the year.

Miss Lewis


How to Grow a Grown-up - Parenting in a Pandemic

On Thursday 3 February from 6.30 pm we yet again have Dr Dominique Thompson giving a talk on how best to support your child particularly since lock down.

Dominique is an award-winning GP, young people's mental health and parenting support expert, TEDx speaker, author and educator, with two decades of clinical experience.

She is co-author of How to Grow a Grown Up (PenguinRandomHouse), a book written to support parents to raise independent and resilient young people in the 21st century.

To support parents further

Dominique hosts a private Facebook community for parents to create safe spaces to share their concerns or ask for help, and she writes regular blogs on a vast array of parenting topics. She also hosts webinars for parents on supporting their child’s mental health, and writes a regular free newsletter for parents.

Check out the www.growingagrownup.com website to find out more.

(Dominique is a mum of 1 and step mum to 4 young adults!)

For young people she has written The Student Wellbeing Series (Trigger Press) – a series of guides to life at university, and mental health.

Dominique has done two TEDx talks; ‘What I learnt from 78000 GP consultations with university students’  and ‘Understanding Why’.

Dominique is a Clinical Advisor for NICE, RCGP and Student Minds.

Dominique is lead clinical advisor for Aardman Animation’s What’s Up with Everyone? campaign, and for Being Well, Living Well Epigeum

Further information about Dominique www.buzzconsulting.co.uk

We hope that many parents will attend. On previous occasions parents have given positive feedback regarding Dominique's talk and Q&A sessions afterwards.


Virtual Author Visit

Michael Muchamore

This week and next, the Year 7 and Year 8 students have a treat in their library lessons in the form of a virtual author visit from the multimillion selling author Michael Muchamore. His bestselling (and super popular in our library) Cherub series is now followed by Robert Muchamore’s Robin Hood series. Mr Muchamore talked about his books, his writing process and had some interesting insight into the history of Robin Hood. He also shared where he gets his inspiration from and how much an author earns per book (this was a fact that shocked most students!).

As part of Wiltshire’s Year of Reading, we had the privilege of the virtual author visit arranged by the Learning Resources Hub at Wiltshire council.

Mrs Bruton