LATEST NEWS AT SCHOOL 21:
National School Attendance Award
Wonderful news on attendance! School 21 has received the National School Attendance Award for 2023/24 Autumn Term. This is awarded to schools whose Autumn Term 2023 secondary attendance was in the top 10% or top 25% of all FFT secondary schools in similar circumstances. This is based on the proportion of FSM pupils from the January 2023 school census.
Primary have also been doign great work on attendance! In the video below we join Year 5 Ellie Simmons class on their attendance award trip to Pizza Express, and sit down with Deputy Headteacher Mrs Kyrk to talk about why attendance is so important.
We would like to say a big ‘THANK YOU!’ to the whole School 21 community for your hard work supporting students to attend school!
West Side Story – Closing night!
It’s the closing night of our SOLD OUT School 21 Musical ‘West Side Story’! Huge congratulations and thanks to our students, staff and parent volunteers for the three AMAZING performances this week. More news soon!
World Book Day
We are looking forward to World Book Day this coming Thursday 7th March. There are lots of exciting activities planned for students and staff!
For Primary:
- Sticker competition – Primary students are invited to design a sticker for the teachers to use to celebrate reading. The winners will win a trip to Stratford library to take part in an author event.
- Students will be able to, if they wish, come in dressed as their favourite book character. Please do not buy any new costumes – we will have a costume swap shop on Friday 1st March (see poster below!).
- Reception and Year 1 – We invite you to come into your child’s class when you drop them off to join in with our celebrations.
- Year 2 – Year 6 – At 2:40pm on World Book Day, we invite you to come into your child’s class and join in with our celebrations.
- On World Book Day we will be holding a Reading Café in the Primary Hall after school between 3:15pm– 4:00pm. During this time, you are invited to come in with your child to enjoy reading for pleasure.
For Whole School:
- Peer reading – secondary and sixth form students enjoying reading together with students from primary.
- Staff will be dressing up as fictional characters from a variety of their favourite books.
- Look out for the orange lanyards that staff will be wearing, which will have the first line of their favourite book displayed on them – stop them and ask them about it, and why they would recommend that book!
- ‘Help Yourself To A Book’ stalls will be set up in and around the school for students, parents and staff to browse through and take any books they would like to read, or read with others.
Please note only Primary will be dressing up for World Book Day, not Y7 and up.
Football
Congratulations to our Year 5/6 girls’ football team on their fantastic 3-1 WIN in their match against Tollgate Primary School. They have been practising strong and building strong teamwork. This bond and friendship is only the beginning! We never give up till the whistle blows. We train as a team and never leave anyone behind.
Junior Bake Off!
If you are a student (9-12 years of age) and are passionate about baking then there is an amazing opportunity to apply for Junior Bake Off!, a Channel 4 program where the young bakers compete for a final win. Please find attached a flyer with information on how to apply. The application closes on 17th March 2024, Sunday and the filming of the shortlisted participants will take place in July 2024.
If you are interested in applying and would like to discuss this opportunity with a member of staff in the school, then please get in touch with Mrs. Gumbeer [email protected]
Primary Playground Donations
Spring Exhibition 2024
You are warmly invited to join us at School 21 on Wednesday 27th March for our Spring Exhibition 2024! Arrive from 3:45pm to explore performances, displays and fun activities around the school. All are welcome to attend.
LEARNING AT SCHOOL 21:
Reception
This week we have been preparing for our Teddy Bear Picnic. We wrote lists of what we might bring to the picnic, we made decorations, and we even built a castle for the bears. We have been practicing our performance, ensuring we use a loud and clear voice, face forwards, and use our hands to tell the story.
Year 1
Year 1 have been busy working an practising their play, which is based on retelling the story of The Great Fire of London. We are super excited to show this to our parents and families!
Year 2
Year 2 have been preparing for their Victorian walking tour which will take place next week on Monday and Tuesday. They have worked really hard in their tour groups to research their relevant topics, e.g. Schools, The Sewers and Architecture and have created a script to read to their parents on the walking tour. We really look forward to welcoming the parents on our walking tour!
Year 4
It has been an exciting week for Year 4 as we begin the creation of our Anglo-Saxon shields. We have drafted our designs and now we are in the construction process. We are using carboard, newspaper and paint to create these shields with a focus on making them 3-dimensional. Come along to the Night at the Museum exhibition Wednesday 6th March to see the final products!
Year 5
This week the Year 5 students have been learning fractions and percentages using the maths mastery approach. In English they have written an explanation text about what makes a robot a true friend. In science, they have separated mixtures by carrying an experiment. We have heated a salty solution! Additionally, they have created amazing Benin Bronzes sculptures. The students have had a busy week full of hands on learning. We are very proud of them!
Year 5 have enjoyed developing their scientific knowledge. This week they have been investigating the best tools are to separate mixtures!
Year 6
Year 6 have been working really hard this week to write informal letters based on our class novel, 'Letters from the Lighthouse'. After writing a the first few paragraphs, children got into a traverse to give warm and cool feedback to their peers. This peer feedback was then used to improve their writing when we got back to class!
Year 8
This week, Year 8 Food Technology students learned to make cheese twist and mango dip. This was followed by a sensory evaluation of their dish, where they commented on the appearance, taste, texture, and flavour.
Year 9
Year 9 geographers had a visit this week from a guest lecturer from University College London. She spoke to the students about weather and climate in the Arctic, as well as sharing insights on the life of geographers and scientists living and working in the Arctic- from techniques to research the composition of the atmosphere, to how these scientists avoid having to eat frozen sandwiches for lunch! Students had the opportunity to use 3D glasses to deepen their exploration of the region and sense of place- whilst we don't have any plans to organise an Arctic fieldtrip, we hope this was the next best thing. We were very impressed with the engagement students showed- maybe we have the next polar scientist in the Y9 group!
Year 9 have been working on a new Spanish Cultural Podcast! Our first episode is already published in Spotify. Episode 0: The trailer . Learn about what is going to be on our School 21 : Spanish Cultural Podcast and follow us so you get an update every time a new episode comes up .
Year 10
This week, Year 10 Hospitality and Catering students learned to make Beef lasagne from scratch. They made fresh pasta, ragu sauce, and bechamel sauce and finally assembled it into a delicious pasta dish.
Year 11 & Year 13
Take a look at our weekly 'Steps to Success' updates (countdown to the March Mocks) booklet HERE. The booklet includes the following:
- Year 11 Exam timetable
- Year 13 Exam timetable
- Year 11 Subject topic list
- Year 13 Subject topic list
- Tool kit for parents
- Revision tip of the week (this week's tip is mind maps)
- Candidate Exam Booklet
All students have been given a ‘Countdown to Mocks’ which provides them with the exact revision needed from each department. We are suggesting that students should be completing 3-4 blocks of 25 minutes of revision a night.
LOCAL NOTICES:
Glyn Hopkin Abbey Hub
Check out the different clubs and projects on offer at Glyn Hopkin Abbey Hub in Stratford HERE. Activities include LEGO club, Family fun days, Saturday play club and more!
