Today, staff and students were encouraged to wear black, green or yellow socks or hairbands and donate £1 to show support for those affected by Hurricane Melissa. In partnership with the Croydon BME forum, all funds raised will go directly toward purchasing essential equipment and resources for the affected schools to help them recover and continue providing education to their students. At lunchtime, Ms Brown held a basketball competition with a prize for the most baskets scored. Congratulations to Tymon for winning the competition with eight baskets scored.

On Monday afternoon, our Year 8 netball team drew against Royal Russell. It was a close match and, had it not been for a last minute injury, there is every chance we would have won. The game was captained by Princess, who was one of the players highlighted by the opposing coach for her strong performance. Player of the match went to Adeswa who plays in defence. This was the first game of the season against a very strong opposition; we look forward to seeing the development of our wonderful team.

This week our Year 11 students completed their second week of PPE exams. All students have completed these exams with diligence, focus and excellent attendance.

Notices:

Next week we are going to be creating house posters using our fingerprints. Each child in form time will stamp their fingerprint onto a piece of paper to then combine with the rest of the house. Each fingerprint will be unnamed and only displayed in school. Please let Ms Brown (kbown@orchardparkhigh.net) know by Monday 24 November if you would prefer your child didn’t participate in this activity.

A reminder that Year 11 parents’ evening is on Thursday 11th December at 4.00pm. Teachers will be sharing feedback on the results of the PPEs, giving guidance on how to achieve the very best results. Please prioritise attending this event if your child is in Year 11: we know that when we work together we give them the best chance to succeed.

Ms C Moran, Headteacher