Safety assemblies

Ms Smryk has led our assemblies this week focusing on Safety. Topics covered included online safety, mental health, exploitation, sexual harassment, domestic abuse and extremism. We are confident that our students know how to keep themselves safe and how they can receive support and guidance with any concerns.

Careers

Year 8 and Year 9 took part in a Green Careers session on Wednesday. It was led by four professionals working in environment and sustainability who talked through their academic journey and gave an overview of their fascinating work. Thank you to Mr Alabi for arranging this.

Remembrance

On Friday pupils commemorated the sacrifice of soldiers through our tutor time Remembrance session, the reading of poetry during the two minutes silence and forming a giant poppy at lunchtime. Thank you to Liam S who has been collecting money for the Royal British Legion selling poppies this week. Art Club made these beautiful poppies (pictured) which have pride of place in our reception area.

School dogs

Following on from my communication last week about our wellbeing dogs, the link to the school’s protocol is here.

Anti-bullying Week

Next week is Anti-Bullying week. PSHE lessons will focus on this important topic and Heads of Year will lead the assemblies. On Monday 14th November, children are invited to wear odd socks to raise awareness of the campaign. All other uniform rules apply, but their socks can be as whacky as they like. This is a good time to remind our community about the way we manage bullying at Orchard Park. We expect all children to be civil to each other, in person and online.

Our culture, our values and our education ensure that all young people at our school are clear on this. If a child is a witness/bystander, or a victim, they should report it to a member of staff they trust immediately. Typically, pupils will approach their Head of Year but any adult will assist them.

All reports are taken seriously: we investigate each concern and, as well as sanctioning the bully, we provide support. Children and their carers can also report it on this tab.

Year 11 mock exams

Lastly, the best of luck to our Year 11s who begin their Pre Public Examinations. This is an opportunity to see what they are capable of and the chance to further practise the habits and routines of exams. Good luck to you all – we know you will be fantastic.

Ms C Moran, Headteacher