Dear Families,
We're well into the final term of this academic year at School 21 and I wish all our students the very best of luck as they tackle their exams. We're all confident you'll do your best! Please keep an eye out for any transition information as we head towards another academic year.
Read all about the amazing activities that occurred before Half Term in this week’s issue.
There's also plenty of important information for parents below, so be sure to check it out.
Thank you, as always, for your ongoing support and feedback.
Moray Dickson – Headteacher
Mental Health Awareness Week
Mental Health Awareness Week was last month (12th-18th May) with the theme of ‘Community’. To mark this, Year 9 participated in some ‘self-love’ activities with a focus on sharing with their community.
Walk & Talk for mental health – students walked and talked mental health with friends and staff in our outside space. Morning Stretches and sharing strategies – students and staff undertook some gentle stretching and discussed their mental health. Morning Mindfulness – students relaxed and connected with themselves during a mindfulness session.
Due to the popularity of the event we will be repeating similar activities during assessment week to offer students some much needed respite from their studies.
Key Stage 2 SATs Week – well done Year 6!
In May, our Year 6 pupils took part in the SATS tests and approached the challenge with fantastic focus and resilience. To help everyone start the day right, we provided a healthy breakfast each morning, creating a calm and supportive atmosphere before the tests began. After a busy week of hard work, the children were treated to a well-deserved trip to the park, where they had a great time relaxing and celebrating their efforts.
Well done to all our Year 6 students — we are very proud of you!
Community Lunchtimes serving up a treat!
Here are a few snapshots of our fabulous secondary lunchtimes. The midday staff have worked really hard, alongside students, to provide an array of sporting and creative activities to keep students positive and engaged during lunch times.
Girls Football blossoming at School 21!
The Year 7 and 8 Girls Tulip Squad entered the Goals for Girls – G4G Euro Competition – last term. The G4G Football Festival was designed to break down barriers to female sports participation. This groundbreaking festival provided a platform for young female athletes to showcase their talents and reinforced the importance of wellbeing and community in sports. Through this tournament and the accompanying workshops, G4G hopes to establish an annual event to empower and inspire the next generation of female footballers and sports professionals. Well done to all the S21 members who took part!
Girls football continues to grow at School21; Secondary Girls football is on Tuesdays 3.30 to 4.30pm Primary School girls football is on Mondays 3.15-4.15pm
Well done also to the Year 10 boys football team who played Harris Academy winning 20-0. The group have improved considerably over the past year and we look forward to building on this next season in their final Year at the School!
Attendance Success for S21!
Congratulations to the entire S21 community as we have been awarded National Attendance Awards!
FFT (For Schools) National Attendance Awards are given to schools that demonstrate excellent attendance performance. These awards acknowledge the hard work and dedication of staff, students, parents, and carers in achieving high attendance rates. The awards are presented to schools that achieve top attendance results, either nationally or within similar schools. Well done to everybody for their continued hard work with this.
Learning and experiences across School 21
Reception
We have had such a fun half term looking after chicks to help with our learning about life cycles! We thought about how we can handle them with care and what they need to live. We have also got some caterpillars in a chrysalis ready to transform into butterflies! We have loved looking after these animals!
Year 2
Year 2 have been learning all about Mumbai in project last term. They learnt about homes, transport, weather, jobs and many more interesting facts about Mumbai. For the end product they made postcards using digital art representing key elements of Mumbai.
They are super excited for their postcards to be posted home!
Year 4
In preparation for their own musical, Year 4 went on an exciting trip to the West End to see Wicked the Musical. The children had a fantastic time watching the spectacular costumes, seeing some of the characters they will be playing and listening to the songs. The children cannot wait to perform The Wizard of Oz in July! Keep your eyes peeled for more information about the performance.
Year 4 also had a fun and messy week making empanadas for the end product of their South America Project. They began by peeling and softening potatoes for the filling and then made dough from scratch. Once the dough and potatoes were ready, the children chose what other ingredients they wanted to add to the filling. When the filling was mixed, they placed it inside the small dough circles and baked them. The empanadas were delicious!
Year 5
In Year 5, we have been exploring great sustainability practice in Scandanavia in the hope of inspiring change in our school. Children have worked hard to develop infographics for change; school gardens, more bike shelters and automatic taps were just a few ideas they came with. Alongside this unit, we finished the term strongly with a Geography Bee. Well done to everyone involved and our two winners!
Year 6
Children and parents thoroughly enjoyed themselves in our school playground before Half Term. With a variety of parts available, both parents and children collaborated to creatively build a play area. The laughter and active participation on our primary playground made it difficult for them to say 'goodbye' at the end of the session.
Well done to the Y6 girls football team who secured another win of the season beating Tollgate Primary School 5-3. Football training for Y5&6 girls is on Mondays 3.15-4.15. If you are interested in joining the team and attending training speak to Mr Rahman.
This term, Year 6 students learned tag rugby and took part in an intra-school event where everyone could compete with one another. As a reward for their excellence, standout players were entered into the Newham Tag Rugby London Youth Games Qualifiers at Langdon Secondary School. Competing against numerous teams from across the borough, they played with determination. Although victory wasn't ours this time, congratulations to the mixed team of boys and girls for their impressive performance.
Year 7
School21 entered our first ever Cheerleading Team in to the Newham games this year. Well done to the Year 7 Team that secured a silver medal.
The team train after school on Wednesdays. If you are interested in attending see Miss Lungu for more details.
Year 8
Well done to the Dance Team for securing Bronze medal at the Newham Competition this term. Dance is becoming one of our most popular and successful clubs at school21. If you are interested in being part of the dance team please see Miss Lungu.
Dance clubs are Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday lunchtime and Tuesday after school.
Year 10
Jack Petchey Speaks Out Competition – Newham Regional Final
In April, Ruwaidah Ahmed in Year 10 represented School 21 in the Newham regional finals for the Jack Petchey Speaks Out competition. Ruwaidah's performance was absolutely excellent and she had the crowd completely engaged – it was fantastic to see. She was one of 15 students from Newham to get to the finals, out of nearly 1500 entrants – a fantastic achievement! You can read Ruwaidah's speech below – it has a fantastic and uplifting message, and I hop you enjoy reading it as much as the audience at the final enjoyed listening to it.
Year 11
The Art Year 11 group put on a newspaper fashion show last term to celebrate the end of their coursework and exam prep in the art programme!
It was a creative break and well deserved for all their hard work in revising for their exams!
Year 6 Transition Drop In
Year 6 Parents please see the leaflet below, for a good opportunity to access support needed for transition to secondary school. There is one ‘Drop In’ session online THIS WEDNESDAY!
Free Parent Advice Sessions with an Educational Psychologist
Newham Educational Psychologists are offering free support sessions for parents. Are you a parent or carer concerned about your child’s emotional wellbeing, behaviour, learning progress — or simply navigating the challenges of parenting?
Our Parent Advice Service provides a unique opportunity to have a confidential one-on-one session with an Educational Psychologist (EP). These 45-minute sessions are: Free of charge Open to all parents and carers in Newham Designed to be supportive, informal, and practical There is no threshold to access the service, everyone is welcome. Whether you’re facing specific concerns or just want some guidance, we’re here to help.
To book or find out more, contact: [email protected]
