MANGOTSFIELD SCHOOL BULLETIN
September 22 2017
Headteacher's News
We had our Open Evening on Monday, our chance to welcome prospective families to the school and to make a lasting impression on them. We had well over 1000 visitors and feedback has been extremely positive. I include some comments about our wonderful students below. So many of them gave up their time to act as helpers and guides generally or in departments. It really makes a difference to a 10/11 year old to be met with warmth and positivity, which our students showed in abundance.
The staff, equally, is proud of Mangotsfield and created some really engaging activities to enthuse and inspire.
‘I wanted to contact you with regards to your Open Evening last night. We were really impressed and got a great feeling from the school. I must say, one of your students stood out –Olivia - she was engaging, inspiring and the most amazing ambassador for your school. There were other pupils who were very helpful and informative. They were a real credit to you’.
‘Zoe showed great professionalism in the way she talked and was able to relate to both adults and our 10 year old son. I am sure has a great future ahead of her. Also, a thank you to Connor, who joined us near the end of the tour and was equally open and professional. It was a very well- run evening and well done to you all in your continued efforts to improve our local school’.
Special thanks must go to 4 wonderful students who spoke so well at Open Evening. It was lovely to see that mix of younger and older students.
Archie Kenway Year 11, Siston 6
Richard Robsinson Year 7, Pomphrey 4
Erin Thompson Year 7, Siston 6
Megan Nicholls Year 7, Rodway 6
We have also been running Open Morning tours, which have been well received. Our students are always fantastic ambassadors.
Our attendance to date (up to 15/9) is 95.69%. Our target is 97%. Despite the huge push on this, it remains stubbornly hard to shift. Please support us in getting your child into school, particularly on Fridays and Mondays. This is a real block to academic potential and progress and we have to move on this together.
There have been a good number of re-marks come through from the summer results, and when these have been consolidated, I will go into them in a future edition!
Departmental News
Business Studies
Year 11 Business students are working hard on researching local businesses in preparation for their controlled assessment at the end of October. This assessment is worth 25% of their overall GCSE grade.
Students have been given the brief, that as independent researchers, they should focus on a business that has gaps in its use of E-commerce, or does not currently use their E-Commerce effectively. Students will have to make suggestions as to how this could be changed in order to improve the performance of the business. Our students are so excited as they will be visiting local businesses to interview owners and staff over the coming weeks!
Religious Studies
GSUS Live is a mobile education unit which is a multi-media classroom in a lorry trailer. It tells the story of three teenagers facing real-life issues.
Our students will be taking part in investigating how religious beliefs affect issues in people's lives regarding fear, forgiveness and rejection through their work with GSUS live and local Christian youth workers.
Assuming all goes to plan this will also involve year 6 students from the Tynings School on Friday.
Science
Tassimo or Tassomai?!
Science is excited to announce that we have got something better than a coffee machine! Tassomai is an unique tool that will support our students in preparing for their GCSEs.
In a nutshell, it is a web-based quizzing system that adapts to the strengths and areas needing improvement for each student.
Students in Years 9-11 will have a Tassomai log in by the 26th September. They should be completing a minimum of an hour a week of quizzes (preferably as 10 minutes per day).
A good way to engage your child in completing this is using the phrase “A little every day keeps the red wheel at bay!” – they should know what you mean! They are aiming to keep the wheel on their dashboard as green or blue as possible.
If you have any questions or your child has any trouble logging into Tassomai (www.tassomai.com) then please contact their Science teacher in the first instance.
Music
The benefits to learning to play a musical instrument have a huge knock-on effect on a student’s academic skills. These include:
♪ Improvement of memory capacity
♪ Time management and organisation
♪ Team skills
♪ Listening
♪ Perseverance
♪ Coordination
♪ Concentration
♪ Discipline
♪ Self-expression and stress relief
We are now booking lesson times with our visiting teachers and can offer tuition for Voice, Guitar (acoustic, electric and bass), piano/keyboard, flute, saxophone, clarinet, violin/viola, cello, trumpet.
Letters have been given to mentors to distribute but please see Mrs Borowski or Mrs Jervis in the Music Department for details.
Drama
What an excellent opportunity to present what we have rehearsed already during the school's open evening this week. A lot of fun was had by all and lots of parents commented on how professional and talented the main characters of the show are! A big well done to everyone.
Rehearsals for whole cast are on a Friday after school 3.30pm - 4.45pm.
Please can all cast members return their letter slips as soon as possible.
Student Achievements
A wonderful achievement for Isobel Aze in Year 7 (P12) who passed Grade 2 Piano with Merit.
Year 10 Work Experience - Date Confirmed 9th - 13th July 2018
Work experience for our Year 10s is taking place week commencing the 9th July. We encourage students to begin applying for placements as soon as possible. For more information please refer to the school website under 'Learning' and a copy of the letter home is under 'Parents'. Miss Phillips is your contact at school.
Year 11 Parents and Students
Thursday 28 September: Year 11 GCSE Support Evening - Assembly Hall 7pm
Year 11 have made a great start to the year particularly in their engagement with lessons and their response to the English Literature PPE last Friday.
However, in order for them to achieve the best possible outcomes in their GCSE exams, we believe a triangular approach with the school, student and parents working together to support them is vital. For this reason we would urge all parents to attend the GCSE support evening on 28th September where The Year 11 Raising Achievement Team will share information, advice and support for parents on issues such as revision techniques, resources, important dates and most importantly student well-being. You will have an opportunity to listen to advice from key subject teachers as well as ask any questions you might have. The evening begins at 7pm.
For further details please contact either Mrs Hanratty or Ms.Hobson.
We have amended the time (was 6.30 pm originally) after parent feedback.
Term Dates 2017-18
Term 1
Friday 1 September 2017 to
Friday 20 October 2017
Term 2
Monday 30 October 2017 to
Monday 18 December 2017
Term 3
Tuesday 2 January 2018 to
Friday 9 February 2018
Term 4
Monday 19 February 2018 to
Friday 23 March 2018
Term 5
Monday 9th April 2018 to
Friday 25th May 2018
Term 6
Monday 4 June 2018 to
Friday 20 July 2018
Inset Days 2017 - 18
Friday 1 September 2017
Friday 20 October 2017
Monday 18 December 2017
Tuesday 2 January 2018
Monday 9 April 2018