Our school newspaper team have written a new year update. Read below:
Happy new year everybody! I hope everybody has had an outstanding Christmas and a happy New Year. There has been lots going on in our school recently and there is plenty planned for this year. Firstly, thanks to the major efforts of Mr Watkins, our newest teaching assistant and parent to two of our students, we are now awaiting a new school flag to represent our beloved school. It will be raised every day by the students who are part of our Combined Cadets Force (CCF).
Mr Watkins decided to raise the money himself after attending the interview for the Teaching Assistant post and noticing that the existing flag was starting to look a bit old and tired. He said first impressions are really important.”The school flag is right at the front and you cannot miss it when you arrive at reception, so it is one of the things that set the standard of the school for visitors and helps the students feel pride,” Mr Watkins told us when he came along to our school newspaper to do an interview.
The money was raised by recycling old wood pieces and epoxy resin to create a sleek bowl. It was completely made by hand and was auctioned off for £100. The flag is a hand-sewn Yorkshire flower illustration made by one of the country’s leading flag makers; Flying Colours Flags in Harrogate and measures five by three feet. Mr Watkins tells us his next fundraising project will involve auctioning off a miniature rocket horse, again made by his own hand! We can’t wait to see what else one of our newest staff members will contribute. It’s a testament to how strong our community is that people want to help the school in this way and we feel lucky to be a part of such a generous and supportive community.
On the subject of new members of staff, we have welcomed a number of new teachers, including in IT and maths, and teaching assistants this term as we continue to cope with covid as best we can. Every student was tested on the first day and right now we seem to be coping without too many cases but we are following strict safety guidelines including mask wearing, testing and following a one way system to keep cases as low as possible.
Our Year 11s are already doing their mock GCSEs so the halls are a bit quieter. Our enrichment programme is underway again with students writing a school newspaper (and this article!), learning how to build websites, do green screen editing, make bath bombs and loads more. Planning is underway for an outdoor, covid-safe summer celebration and we are hoping school trips can start again this year. More from us next month. We hope everyone in the community stays safe from covid.
