It’s been another busy week at School 21, and lots more exciting events to come!
We look forward to welcoming parents and carers to school next week on Tuesday 10th October (Reception – Year 6, ‘Meet the Class Teacher’ & Year 7 – Year 11, ‘Meet the Coach’) and also on Wednesday 11th October (Year 12 only). Your child’s Class Teacher in primary or Coach in secondary is your first point of contact in school, and will provide academic and pastoral support to your child throughout the school year.
As part of Black History Month, our staff are celebrating the work of key figures with ‘shout outs’ on School 21 Twitter. This week Miss Quinn would like to recognise Francisca Rockey, one of the founders of Black Geographers, who work to support the next generation of Black geographers and geoscientists. Miss Chettle has recognised Gwendolyn Zoharah Simmons, one of the three women leading the Mississippi Freedom Summer Project during the Civil Rights Movement in America. Follow @school21_uk to see more this month!
Parents and carers have been invited to take part in a survey as part of our partnership with Sterling Academy Youth, ahead of setting up a parent and carer focused workshop focused on furthering the school’s development on becoming an anti-racist organisation. Please check Reach More Parents (Weduc) for details.
In an effort to make sure our school communications are reaching and engaging all parents and carers, we are conducting an information audit in the coming weeks. If your email address has recently changed, please update your details via the Reach More Parents (Weduc) app, or email [email protected] to let us know!
The Autumn half-term break is approaching fast! A quick reminder that the school will be closed from Monday 23rd October to Friday 27th October. You can access a full list of our term dates here.
LATEST NEWS:
School 21 Community Choir – All welcome on Friday 13th October!
West Side Story – The Rehearsals Begin!
We were absolutely blown away by the West Side Story auditions last week. Every student who auditioned showed so much talent, professionalism and creativity. The cast list has now been finalised and has been shared with students and parents, ready for rehearsals to begin next Wednesday 11th October.
Any questions, please email me at [email protected]. Congratulations to all involved, we can't wait to get started!
THIS WEEK AT SCHOOL 21:
Reception
This week and last week we have continued our discussions around our school values. We have talked about Huda Humanity and how we can show kindness. We also learned about responsibility and Radu Responsibility. We build homes for Huda and Radu using our blocks, then used teamwork to help tidy up.
Year 1
In year 1, for writing and project lessons we have been learning about our local high street. So during COOL time we made our Stratford high street by using the blocks.
Year 3
This week, we have started our Geography project – Journey to Jo'burg. We have been learning how to use atlases and we have been using them to find capital cities. We learnt how to use the contents page and the index to help us find the information we needed. In our English lessons, we have written a setting description all about a journey through South Africa. We used fronted adverbials and expanded noun phrases in our writing and produced some fantastic work!
Year 5
In our Year 5 maths journey this week, we've embraced the world of mastery math. By incorporating manipulatives, we've added a hands-on and enjoyable twist to our learning, reaffirming that math is accessible and enjoyable for all. We greatly appreciate when our students question answers and seek deeper understanding. This week, our focus is on refining our skills in reasoning with large whole numbers.
Year 7
This week the year 7's have started designing their costumes and masks to celebrate the start of black history month, but to also carry on the work they have started in their coaching session which focuses on black history for this term too. They have all worked in their chosen groups to come up with the best designs, which will also be presented in an assembly and celebrated with their year group before the end of term.
Year 8
Year 8 have been working hard on their Stage Combat sequences in Drama, creating real looking fights on stage. They have all demonstrated the school values wonderfully during this Scheme of Work, particularly Responsibility and Excellence. Well done! If you see a student in this year group and want to learn a move, I'm certain they'll be only too happy to teach you.
Year 9
Students delved into chemical reactions and noted down what they can see. The reaction they observed was called the Elephant toothpaste experiment. I'll leave you to figure out why 🙂 In Chemistry jargon we mixed hydrogen peroxide with washing up liquid, Potassium Iodide and a bit of food colouring! Let's just say students understood the concept. PS… Don't try this at home!
Year 10
Our Year 10 Music GCSE and Tech Award classes have had a fantastic start to this academic year! As we build towards this years Festival of Light concert series, these students are working hard on their ensemble skills whilst simultaneously deepening their understand of music theory. We can't wait to share their work with you in December – more concert info to follow!
Year 13
Biology Field studies council trip – Sep 2023. This September we took our biologists to Epping forest where they spent two days sampling fields, insects and invertebrates. Students discovered toads under logs, dragonflies hovering over waters and trying to find silver crested newts in ponds.
Our students represented the school incredibly well, with the FSC team explaining this was the most positive A level group they have had. Everyone was tenaciously working through statistics practice after each investigation and designed their own. It was a lovely Tuesday afternoon where we spent lunch together for Dr Azom's birthday. Look out for their poster presentations in the coming weeks!
