This year's school Christmas card design winner: Macie Munro (Year 7). See article below.
Welcome to this festive edition of the end of half term newsletter. I hope this newsletter finds you well and that your preparations for Christmas are well under way.
We have had yet another busy but brilliant half term and some snippets of what we have been up to are contained within.
As you may be aware, we received some significant funding to renovate our sixth form building to cater for the growing number of students opting to stay with us to continue their post 16 studies. As I write this newsletter, we have just been handed back this space and are currently furnishing and sorting out the spaces ready for occupation in the new year. Once we are back after Christmas and the building is functioning we will have a grand opening and find an opportunity for people to come and have a look round the beautiful spaces that have been created.
We have also received confirmation this week that our A level students from the last academic year performed very strongly in the national context with average point scores maintaining the high levels seen in 2021/22 compared to a downward trend nationally. For the A*-B Percentage threshold we have been informed that we were in the top 1% of schools nationally which is a remarkable achievement which we are all very proud of.
Thank you to all that voted in our Christmas card design competition. There were some really strong entries this year but the winner was Macie Munro in Year 7 who won with a significant proportion of the votes. Macie was awarded her prize and the Christmas card design now forms part of the Garibaldi history.
I would like to thank a large number of parents for attending our parent forum meetings. These are really beneficial for us and I hope for you too. So far we have looked at our OFSTED report and school improvement plans, how to help your child to attend school and staying safe online. We will publish the next set of forums in the new year but if there are any themes you feel would be of benefit then please do not hesitate to get in touch with your suggestions.
Although Christmas is a time of happiness, it is also a time for sadness for us as we say good bye to colleagues who leave us. Firstly, Ms Ashwell who has worked at the school, predominantly in maths, for nearly three years leaves us as she re-locates to another part of the country. Mr Wright, our Head of Business Studies leaves us as he heads into retirement. Thank you for your contribution to the teaching profession and the service given to Garibaldi over the past 6 years. And finally we say goodbye to Mrs Stocks, our Business Operations Manager who also retires after 23 years’ service to the school and community. Mrs Stocks has done a wonderful job leading our central services team and bringing to life a range of projects to make our learning environment safe, vibrant and engaging for our students. We wish all three colleagues the best wishes for the future and for the positive impact you have had on our school, students and community.
Finally, our last day will be a non-unform day where we would encourage students where possible to wear a Christmas Jumper or red clothing to get into the festive spirit, however this is not mandatory. Instead of making monetary donations we are requesting non-perishable items to donate to our local food bank which students can place in containers as they arrive into school in the morning. School will also finish at the slightly earlier time of 12.45pm and reopen at the usual time of 8.30am on Monday 8th January 2024.
From all the staff, students and governors of The Garibaldi School, I wish you a happy and prosperous Christmas and New Year and thank you for your continued, unwavering support.
Best wishes,
James Aldred
Head Teacher
Our Year 7 and 8 students were invited to take part in our annual Christmas Card Competition and we had an array of beautiful designs. The competition was to design this year's school Christmas card. This was a chance to represent the school and create a piece of artwork to show off artistic skills and something to be proud of.
After much deliberation our four finalists were shortlisted anonymously to go to a live online vote by our school community of students, parents and staff. After a massive 889 responses a winning design was selected. The design has been added to the school Christmas card which has been sent to print to be distributed to our school community.
A huge congratulations to Macie Munro in Year 7 for her absolutely outstanding piece of art which incorporated the Garibaldi School logo in her christmassy design. Macie was presented with a £20 Amazon voucher and a copy of her printed card in a frame by Mr Aldred.
Well done to everyone that took part and all the amazing Christmas creations!
We are proud and pleased to confirm our school’s Outstanding Vision and Strategy Award, presented at the recent Nova Education Trust Transformational Awards 2023 held at University of Nottingham; this is a great achievement. Thank you for the continued support from students, parents, staff and the wider community #pride #respect #achieve
On Thursday 30th November, James Aldred, Tracey Stocks, Kev Chatten and Bonnie Bleasdale were treated to an evening of celebration at University Park for the inaugural Nova Trust Awards. James Aldred and Sarah Sayer, Chair of Governors, collected the award for Outstanding Vision. It was wonderful to see our very own Garibaldi students, brothers Elliot and Zach Thompson and Year 10 vocalist Mia Rathbone, performing at the start of the evening as part of the Nova Trust Chamber Orchestra.
Various students from schools in the NOVA trust were selected to form a brand new NOVA Orchestra which came together to play at their first event, the NOVA Transformation Awards at Nottingham University on 30th November. Mia Rathbone (Voice), Zach Thompson (Trumpet) and Elliott Thompson (Piano) headed over to the University in the afternoon for an amazing rehearsal in the Great Hall. All students behaved exceptionally, performed extremely well and were a real credit to The Garibaldi School. The event itself in the evening was a really special occasion and such a wonderful opportunity for our students to be a part of. Well done to all involved, an extremely proud moment!
Tuesday 12th December marked the annual Garibaldi Awards Evening for our Year 11 and 13 alumni cohorts of 2022-23. We were so pleased to welcome back students, their parents and other family members to celebrate in their successes and achievements. As always at this time of the year the Main Hall was turned into an intimate festive setting which helped to create a special atmosphere for the evening. Over seventy prizes were awarded with nominations coming from teachers, mentors, Heads of Year and the Head Teacher. It was fantastic to hear so many positive and personal comments in support of the award winners and an opportunity to reflect on the hard work, resilience and talent that contributed to their achievements. The Head of Year 11 prize was awarded to Sienna McGrath, while the Head of Sixth Form prize was awarded to Macie Graham; both were very worthy recipients. At the end of the evening Mr Aldred reminded those present of the challenges, in the last few years, that these two cohorts had faced in securing their achievements, including the impact of the Covid pandemic. He thanked all those who had supported our students in their successes and looked forward to their achievements yet to come. His Head Teachers prize was awarded to Jack Orton for his truly remarkable academic progress, his high levels of attainment, attendance and attitude to learning. This rounded off a lovely uplifting evening where student achievement and success was front and centre.
The Anti bullying 2023 Make Some Noise about Bullying!
Our activities started on the 8th November where all students attended an assembly launching this years activities.
All students spent Monday 13th November, Period 6 with their mentors, where they had an opportunity to produce a piece of work along the theme of Make Some Noise. This could be something creative, like a play of skit or it could be a song, rap or poem. Alternatively, students could choose to make a poster, or a leaflet about kindness, spreading anti bullying messages and highlighting to others how and where to seek support.
Over the course of the week, all students and staff were encouraged to spread a little message of kindness on kindness postcards. This could be a message to another student or to a member of staff. Messages on the postcards were then posted in a post box in Student Services. Any student submitting a little message of kindness received an anti bullying product to wear with pride and showcase themselves as Anti Bullying Ambassador.
The week was rounded off with a non uniform day around the theme of make some noise. Students were encouraged to wear bright clothes or odd socks, the proceeds will be split 50/50 between the Anti Bullying Alliance and Children in Need.
Year 11’s finished their first round of mock exams recently and their conduct throughout the exam period was fantastic. What was doubly pleasing was that on the days of the mock’s attendance was between 96 and 97% which all helps in supporting the students in their final year.
Thank you to all those involved with supporting our Year 11 students during this journey towards their GCSE's in the summer - parents, carers, teachers, mentors, and wider support for helping them to get to this point and maximizing their full potential.
Well done!
As Year 11 approach the end of their GCSE's at The Garibaldi School there will be a number of exciting opportunities available to them to celebrate their time with the school. All the key information has been sent out to parents and the letter is attached for further reference. But we have a lots of exciting things planned for our Year 11 students - Prom, leavers hoodies, celebration assembly and a trip to Alton Towers.
We like to celebrate how hard our students have been working and give them some time to make some memories together to take on with them as they take their next steps in their journey.
Over the course of the last half term Year 9 have been working hard in lessons and have taken steps to gather as much information as possible about potential option choices they would like to elect into for their Year 10 and 11 GCSE years. In doing so, this has enabled Year 9 to complete an initial trawl of option choices to allow subjects to put them into option blocks to ensure that Year 9 students get their preferred choices where possible.
Although option choices at this point are provisional students can now focus on ensuring that they understand the content of each GCSE or vocational course to ensure that the subjects they choose are most applicable to them ensuring ultimate success post Garibaldi.
To continue on their pathway of electing their options, there are some key dates of events that we would like to make you aware of. These events will enable Year 9 to continue making the all-important informed decisions. The dates and events are:
Curriculum Information Evening - Wednesday 24th January 2024
Option Taster Day – Wednesday 31st January 2024 (Provisional)
Year 9 Parents Evening - Wednesday 21st February 2024
Deadline for completion of option choices - Friday 15th March 2024
Any queries about the options process, please contact your child’s Mentor in the first instance.
On Tuesday 7th November a small group of Year 11 and Year 12 students went down to the Birmingham NEC for the National Schools and College Leavers Festival. This was an exciting opportunity and chance to meet and speak with a variety of apprenticeship providers, college and university representatives along with a range of industries. Students had the opportunity to find out information and an insight to careers in everything from; the forces, care, aerospace, mechanics for JCB and Aston Martin to University life. A great day out that emphasises the importance of gaining high grades in GCSE’s and potentially A-levels to go onto the next steps.
On Friday 1st December, in sub-zero conditions, The Garibaldi School Geography Department led the Year 11 Geographers on a fieldtrip into Nottingham where they investigated how the quality of life varied between different locations. Investigating Nottingham CBD (and the Christmas Market), The Meadows and West Bridgford, students conducted Environmental Quality Indices, Land Use Mapping and Traffic Counts so that they could identify the differences between the three areas when they returned to the classroom. This is an essential part of the GCSE specification and will prepare the students well for their summer exams. Mr Brennan, Head of Geography, commented ‘the students conducted themselves in an exemplary fashion and represented The Garibaldi School with great pride. They worked really hard on the day and subsequently in the classroom since our return’.
A good day was enjoyed by all (bar the staff at Greggs who had to cope with the demands of over 80 students desires for sausage rolls, steak bakes and peperoni pizza!)
Our Student Leadership Agenda is now in full swing. We are delighted to share that 119 students so far have actively engaged in student leadership and we are looking forward to that number growing.
This is an opportunity for students to use the skills that they are learning through the key stage three ‘Leadership Academy’ enrichment offer and contribute towards an issue or an agenda that they feel passionately about. This has resulted in budding news reporters, thespians, charity ambassadors and environmental gurus driving forward issues that matter to our students.
In addition to this, through our Peer Mentoring Scheme launched during Anti Bullying Week, we have committed to training 30 students to support others through the Kidscape Peer Mentoring Programme.
https://www.kidscape.org.uk/training/peer-mentoring-programme-training/
We have received a high number of applicants for the opportunity and are looking forward to selecting students to represent the school and to support others.
On Tuesday 21st November, Mr Orme was accompanied by 6 of our Languages Ambassadors to Samuel Barlow Primary Academy. Students led group activities with Y3/4 children to teach them how to talk about pets in Spanish. It was amazing to see our Language Ambassadors skillfully adapt activities, explain things carefully and engage and enthuse the primary children. Students were a credit to Garibaldi and received some excellent feedback from Samuel Barlow teachers including “all children took part and they really enjoyed it” and “all the students were really good with the children and all the activities were very inclusive and interactive”. Some of the children didn’t want us to leave as they were enjoying learning Spanish so much! We look forward to continuing to work closely with our local primary schools on similar projects in the future.
It has been a busy term for Football, with all year groups representing the school in the Mansfield Schools Town Cup.
Year 11: Despite taking the lead against the competition winners from last year, our Year 11 Football team went down 7-4 against a strong Ashfield School side. The team stuck to their tasks and we were very proud of their efforts.
Year 10: Our Year 10 team have progressed to the quarter final stage of the competition following a deserved 3-1 win over Manor Academy. The team dealt with difficult conditions to put together a solid performance ending in victory, we wish the team well in the next round.
Year 9: Another of our teams who have progressed into the quarter final stage of their competition, coming through a fixture against Manor Academy. Joseph Whittaker await us in the next round.
Year 8: After a fantastic 7-1 win against Selston, the team unfortunately bowed out of the competition after a loss against local trust rivals Meden.
Year 7: Our first cup competition for our new Year 7's ended in a 4-1 loss to Brunts. We are proud of the teams efforts and look forward to success next year.
A special mention to our Girls Footballers. Practice nights have been well attended, showing the passion and talent our school has. We are currently organising fixtures against local schools and will keep you updated on the outcome. If you haven't attended but have been inspired by our brilliant Lionesses, please speak to Miss Humphries in the department for further details on our Tuesday after school sessions.
Some great news for the school but mainly for Emma Greasby, one of our wonderful Year 13 students, who found out she had secured an interview at Gonville and Cauis College, Cambridge, to study Archeology recently. This is something she’s been working towards for months and she could not stop smiling afterwards. Securing an interview is no small feat and we are extremely proud of her.
Congratulations Emma!
Garibaldi had a surprise delivery from Santa recently! Every student who achieved their Accelerated Reader point target for the Autumn term will have earned a chocolatey treat which was delivered to them by the chocolatey treat elves in the LRC.
This is incentive for our students to earn rewards for making use of our Accelerated Reader program. Well done to all those who reached target. Many students are already quizzing and earning points towards their targets for next term – well done!
BookBuzz has arrived!
You may recall that with an aim to promote and support reading for pleasure all our Year 7 students chose a book from a selection of 16 titles that were carefully selected by the BookBuzz Program.
Well they arrived! Over 190 books were handed out to our very excited students at the end of October.
Congratulations to Ellie-Mae Gibbs-Palmer who was the first student in Year 10 to reach a total of 50 positive points for Half-Term 1! She has been awarded a £10 Amazon voucher for her amazing efforts which is well deserved.
The tally's have been re-started and we are ready to go again for Half-Term 2; let the race begin!
It has been so lovely to see staff and students from years 7-11 volunteer their time during Thursday lunchtimes for the past few weeks. A small group of year 8 girls inspired an idea to create Christmas decorations for a local care home. It’s been pom-poms galore with huge numbers of students displaying true Garibaldi spirit, giving up their time to get involved. We are so excited to deliver the wreaths, stockings and other items to The Parkside Care Home in Forest Town at the end of this half term in time for Christmas. A small group of students will be proudly representing the school when we visit, and we really are looking forward to making even closer links with this part of our local community in future. Finally, a huge thank you to lots of our admin staff, led by Data and Exams Administrator (and crafter-extraordinaire) Kelly Hill who has showed us all a brilliantly easy way to create pom-poms and has encouraged students to have a go.
Year 7 Meet the Mentor Evening - 25th October
It was fantastic to see so many parents and carers at the Year 7 Meet the Mentor evening. Year 7 have had a great start to the new academic year and are now settling well into their studies at secondary school. Evenings like this are a great opportunity for mentors and parents and carers to discuss the wellbeing and progress of the year group and take part in a Q&A of their studies and conduct around the site. We are very grateful for the support and engagement of all of those who attended and happy to feedback to those who were unable to attend.
Parent Engagement Evening Focus: Online Safety - 7th November
I am delighted to share that we invited parents in on the 7th November to a session on keeping your children safe online. Technology is always a moving beast, so we are delighted to take the opportunity to keep parents up to date on the most recent social media platforms for young people. This was an opportunity to support parents on how to set privacy settings and parental controls as well as understanding the dangers that your children are facing online. The feedback from our parents was fantastic, and thank you to Mr Chatten who skillfully led the session.
In addition, we recently wrote to parents to offer them the opportunity to sign up for FREE online level 2 courses. These qualifications offer a range of specialisms that can support parents both professionally and with your own children. If you are yet to sign up but are keen to do so, please follow this link.
https://theaimgroup.co.uk/booking-form/001Q50000052nwD
Year 8/9/10/11/12 and 13 Meet the Mentor Evening - 15th November
Thank you all the parents who attended the meet the mentor evening for years 8-13. There was a real buzz in the hall and it was clear that parents and staff enjoyed the opportunity to talk about the progress of the students at our school. We were delighted to hear about all of the fantastic activities that your children are engaging with both inside and outside of school as well as really productive conversations around ATL, attendance and their wellbeing in school. Thank you to the parents who attended, and those that subsequently reached out to mentors after the event.
Year 11 Parents Evening - 22nd November
Year 11 parents evening took place on Wednesday 22nd November, which marked the first occasion of an important year, for parents to receive information and talk through progress to date and what is in place for the coming months. Around two thirds of the year group attended which made for a busy and productive evening as always. Though we appreciate that not all parents may have been able to make the evening we would encourage you to get in touch if you have any questions or would like further information on your child’s progress.
Parent Engagement Evening Focus: Attendance - 6th December
The parent engagement evening on the 6th of December focused on supporting parents and carers to help their child in managing their anxiety. The evening was well attended and provided the opportunity for best practice strategies to be shared and for parents to communicate with each other regarding the challenges which their child may be facing. The evening focused on sharing success stories and considered how the school and parents could work in partnership to support their children. Attendance improves when students feel a sense of belonging and connection to the school and directly experience the benefits of showing up every day. When families and students are part of the process of tracking attendance and coming up with solutions, everyone benefits. The event was well received by all. The school would like to thank parents for all of their ongoing efforts in supporting their children maintain high rates of attendance.
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Reminder
Events Next Term:-
16th Janury 2024 - Sixth Form Parents Evening - Year 12 & 13 Only
24th January 2024 - Year 9 Curriculum Information Evening
21st February 2024 - Year 9 Parents Evening
6th March 2023 - Year 10 Parents Evening
11th March 2023 - Careers Fair (for all year groups)
19th March 2023 - Parent Engagement Evening Focus: Independent Learning
The Garibaldi School
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