Weekly Update - 17 January 2025 - Calthorpe Park School

Letters:

CPS/Court Moor Staff Football Match on Friday 24 January!

Increased staff supervision of toilet facilities: Ensuring that all students feel comfortable and safe to use the toilets is extremely important to us. Recently, students have told us that this is not always the case. We have also experienced some vandalism in our toilets which spoils the facilities for everybody else and diverts valuable funds to complete repairs. From Monday, in response to this, senior staff will have an increased presence outside bathrooms during social time. We will now also supervise the set of toilets which are open during lessons.

In due course we will speak again to the students to check that the situation has improved. As always, we appreciate your continued support in helping us provide a safe and positive environment for all our students.

Student drop off/pick up: It has come to our attention that there has been an increase in congestion both on the school premises and the surrounding roads during drop-off and pick up times. By adhering to this polite notice, we can significantly improve the safety for our students and reduce congestion for all parents/carers, staff, and the surrounding community.

Please be mindful when dropping off your child(ren) and use the designated lane in the school site’s drop-off zone to ensure their safety and to facilitate the smooth flow of traffic.

We appreciate your attention to this important matter and your cooperation in helping us create a safe and welcoming environment for everyone in our school community.

Medical: Please note that with the exception of asthma inhalers, diabetic medication and epipens – students are not permitted to carry any other medications either prescribed or over the counter in school. This is for the safety of all students.

Year 10 Business Day: This is taking place on Wednesday 12 February 2025 and we are looking for volunteers who would be able to come in that afternoon to conduct short mock interviews with these students. No experience is needed and there is a list of set questions. Thanks to all those people who have already signed up – we’re looking for around 10 more people, so if you are able to commit to this time and help us, please complete this form.

Library: Click here for our usual Library news and Books of the Week.

The Maths Puzzle for this week is below, entries due in by Saturday 25 January:

Trips/Events:

Wicked: Last week, 40 students and five staff went to see Wicked in London for an opportunity to see a live performance of one of the setworks studied at GCSE Music.

The show briefly had to stop due to an actor being unwell, requiring a last minute understudy to take their place. She did a phenomenal job as Elphaba and performed an amazing rendition of Defying Gravity, where many students were overcome with emotion by the end of Act 1.

Many have been inspired to perhaps work in the musical theatre industry in future as either performers onstage or musicians in the pit band. Students had an amazing time and enjoyed comparing the performance to the recent film.

STEM Lego League: Mr Lugg and Mr Wright took Team Hydra to compete at Oxford Brookes University on Tuesday. They competed for 6 trophies against 35 other schools, winning the innovation project.

On the tournament day, teams delivered a five-minute presentation to judges in which they demonstrated how they have identified, designed and shared across their project, including bringing a prototype of the solution they have invented.

Well done to the team: Xavier M, Ethan B, Morgan B, Anna P, Alexander W, Rocco L, Milo O, William F and Jacob L

Bike Safety: Yesterday Pedal Heaven came into school to carry out nearly 50 free bike health checks for students who use their bikes to travel to school. It was an excellent event and we thank the Pedal Heaven team for coming down and carrying out the checks to help keep our students safe on the roads.

A reminder that those students who took part are able to take advantage of further offers from Pedal Heaven, including 25% off services and 10% off parts (offer expires at the end of February).