Well here we are, the end of another great year at The Garibaldi School. This newsletter gives some snippets of what has happened over the last term. The highlight of my year is attending the End of Year awards ceremony, which was this year held at The John Fretwell Centre. 134 students received awards from different subject areas, for amazing attitudes to learning and for sporting success. Along with special awards presented by the Governors, and the Coveted Head Teacher award. More information on this event is below.
The final day of term is Thursday 24th July and this will be a free non-uniform day. School will finish for students for the summer at 1:30pm on this day.
We will be writing to you again in the summer with our updated parent handbook. There have been some changes to this in readiness for the new year so please find time to familiarise yourself with the contents.
This is always a sad time of the year as we say goodbye to colleagues. I want to thank the following members of staff for all of their hard work and commitment to Garibaldi and wish them all the best for the future:
Miss Pringle - Teacher of History
Mrs Brown - Teacher of English
Mrs Coleman - Administration Manager
Mr Hunt - Assistant Head Teacher
Mr Lane - Director of English
Whilst I thank all members of staff for their contribution to the school, I want to give a particular mention to the final three colleagues on the list who have a combined service to Garibaldi of over 70 years. The impact you have had on so many peoples lives in the local community is immense. Mr Lane ventures into retirement having worked at Garibaldi for 33 years.
As we bid farewell to colleagues, we also welcome new staff who will be joining us September. I would like to offer a warm welcome to the following colleagues.
Mr Cassidy - Head Teacher
Mrs Guest - Assistant Head Teacher
Miss Bartlett - Teacher of Science
Mr Portillo - Teacher of Spanish
Miss Griffiths - Teacher of English / Drama
From September, the structure of the school week will be changing. Please see below for further information.
Timings of the school day (2024 – 2025)
Monday – Friday
Start time
8:30am
Movement Break
8:35am – 9:05am
Mentor Time
9:05am – 10:05am
Period 1
10:05am – 11:20am
Break 1 – 10:05am – 10:20am
Break 2 – 11:05am – 11:20am
Period 2 (including break time)
11:20am – 12:20pm
Period 3
12:20pm – 2:00pm
Lunch 1 – 12:20pm – 1:00pm
(Movement 5 minutes at 12:55pm)
Lunch 2 – 1:20pm – 2:00pm
(Movement 5 minutes at 1:55pm)
Period 4 (including lunch time)
Period 4a – 12:20pm – 1:20pm
Period 4b – 1:00pm – 2:00pm
Period 5
2:00pm – 3:00pm
Finally… as I write my final newsletter to you, I want to thank you for all the help, support, care, compassion and commitment to supporting me, the staff and your children and making Garibaldi the amazing place it is today. I have thoroughly enjoyed serving the Garibaldi community and have learnt so much which I will take with me to my new school.
Garibaldi is a truly wonderful, unique and special place and I wish all associated with it, the very best for the future.
I hope you have a restful and enjoyable summer break.
I am delighted to share with you that on the 15th July, The Garibaldi School was awarded the School of Character Kitemark.
This recognises the outstanding character education provision that our children receive at Garibaldi school.
The assessors from the Association for Character Education recognised the incredible work and progress we have all made over the past year. They commented that the evidence base we provided would be more in line with a school on its 4th or 5th year Character journey, not a school embarking on its 2nd.
They noted how impressive it was that our intent and implementation is always thoroughly considered and firmly grounded in theory, and how the feedback from both the students and the staff demonstrated how this really is a collective agenda.
As you all know, we don't do things at Garibaldi for accolades and awards, but it is really great when the impactful work that we do do is externally verified and recognised.
In addition to this, we have been asked to support the Character agenda by working with other schools on their journey and represent our school at national conferences.
It's fantastic to have already achieved so much, imagine what next year will bring!
Half term 6 marks the full launch and introduction of the school Virtue Points system (VIPOs).
This dovetails with the whole school agenda around Character Education, in which students are rewarded for practicing virtues in school. Our students have responded amazingly well to this new system, all throwing themselves into practicing and developing their character. Parents and carers are now informed about which category of virtue their child has been recognised for, whether that is performance, civic, intellectual or moral.
I am delighted to share that our students have earned over 16000 ViPos in a single half term.
The introduction of our rewards vending machine has also caused quite a buzz with students being able to choose their reward if they are selected for outstanding character that week.
On the 17th July, we welcomed White Post Farm into school, 150 of our students who have demonstrated outstanding character and earned ViPos have been selected to enjoy some time with the animals.
Thursday 18th July marked the annual Garibaldi Awards Evening for our Year 7,8,9,10 and 12 students at The John Fretwell Centre. We were so pleased to see so many students, staff, parents and other family members joining together to celebrate in their successes and achievements.
Over 134 awards and prizes were presented with nominations coming from teachers, mentors, Heads of Year, Governors 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 Heads of Year prizes was awarded to Year 7 Cosmo Davies, Year 8 Ethan Hayes, Year 9 Sam Cullen, Year 10 Toby Lord and Year 12 Isobel Dobson. Well done to all of these amazing students!
Our Governors Award 2024 was awarded to our Year 7 Head of Year winner Cosmo Davies, the first time this award has ever been presented to a year 7 student for being a wonderful example of what it means to be a Garibaldi student. Extremely hardworking and polite, always taking on an active role in school with heaps of positivity. Well done!
At the end of the evening Mr Aldred 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 Sam Cullen who was our Year 9 Head of Year award winner for being a student who lives our school ethos of pride, respect and achieve and is a beacon for our community. Exceeding all expectations his outstanding progress and attitude and willingness to go above and beyond exemplifies everything we want from our students.
This rounded off a lovely uplifting evening where student achievement and success was front and centre. Well done to all our students who were presented with awards this year.
On Wednesday 26th June 2024 our Year 11 students enjoyed their Prom at The John Fretwell Centre. A truly special night for all involved!
Preparation for this event starts months in advance with lots of attention to detail so that our students have the most amazing time and have memories that will last a lifetime. Everything came together to create a great party atmosphere and a magical evening for all.
All the students arrived looking absolutely fantastic – many unrecognisable in their stunning outfits and emerging from a varied range of transport from horseback to trucks and limousines. The weather could not have been more perfect and students, staff and parents were able to mingle, chat and have a lovely relaxing time both on arrival at the venue and during the evening and lots of photo opportunities.
The glittery photo backdrop did not empty all night as friendship groups and staff took lots of snaps during the evening and the sweetie cart did not go unnoticed either!
Awards had already been voted for by the year group and many were delighted to receive theirs on the night and, of course, the coveted Prom Monarchs 2024 - Maddison Barlow and Alfie Caffrey.
The décor for this year’s prom was based around a ‘white’ theme as a tribute to Evie Wilson. We would like to give special thanks to Kelly from Touch of Charm for decorating the room so beautifully and for donating the white sparkle dance floor in honour of Evie. Thanks also go to Andy Sumner at Your Best Shot Photography for capturing some spectacular photos during the evening for our students to take memories with them for a lifetime, our DJ Ryan at Need a DJ for the evening entertainment on the dancefloor, our security team from Premier Security 247, the staff and catering at John Fretwell Centre for providing a beautiful selection of hot and cold food and helping the event run smoothly. Finally to all our staff who attended the evening to celebrate with our students as they reach the end of their journey with us at The Garibaldi School and take their next steps.
The evening couldn’t have gone more smoothly and all the students made us very proud. It was a lovely way to say the final goodbyes and to celebrate the last five years of being together. We look forward to seeing the same big smiles on results day.
On Friday 21st June, we said our final goodbyes to Year 13 as part of their Year 13 prom. The event took place at Boughton Pumping House, which was the perfect setting to celebrate the achievements of our Year 13s after 7 years with us. The event included a pub quiz, music bingo, an awards presentation, and a disco. We look forward to welcoming them on Results Day in August before they embark on the next chapters of their life!
On Friday 28th June 2024 our Year 11 students enjoyed a trip to Alton Towers as part of their end of year celebrations for all their hard work over the last few months and to make some final memories together.
A great day out was had by all riding the rollercoasters and exploring the park and the weather stayed dry which was a bonus!
On Friday 5th July, Year 10 and 12 Geographers headed for the Holderness Coast as part of their GCSE and A-Level course. First stop was Flamborough Head where they investigated coastal processes of erosion, mass movement and weathering and how they contributed to the formation of headlands, caves, arches, stacks, stumps, wave cut notches and wave cut platforms. Next stop was Mappleton where students collected data to answer the question of ‘How does coastal management affect physical processes at Mappleton?’ Working with clinometers, ranging poles, tapes, rulers and quadrats students collected data for beach profiles, sediment size and groyne surveys which would be used back in the classroom. The final stop was Withernsea where we looked at how hard engineering such as sea walls, rip rap and groynes were used to reduce erosion and protect the town. Once we had done this there was just enough time to enjoy some fish and chips!
‘A great day was had by both staff and students in the outdoor classroom and we were lucky with the weather despite forecasts earlier in the week predicting torrential rain’ Said Mr Brennan, Head of Geography.
It has been an absolute delight to have the opportunity to get to know our new Year 7 students and their parents this half term.
Mrs Poznanski has visited feeder primary schools and we have spent a great deal of time learning about our new year 7 students through conversations with their current teachers.
On the 1st July we invited parents into school to meet with their mentor, and to have a presentation in the main hall delivered by myself and Ms Bartley (Head of Year 7). Parents were able to measure for uniform and ask any questions of our staff and students who were representing the school brilliantly.
This was then followed with 2 fantastic transition days on the 2nd and 3rd July. Students were able to spend time in mentor groups and experience a day of lessons at school.
We are extremely excited to welcome the new year 7 cohort to school on Monday 2nd September for a morning followed by a full day on the 3rd September with the rest of the school community.
School will be open on the morning of the following dates for our Year 11 and Year 13 students to collect their exam results.
Thursday 15th August 2024 - A Level Results (Year 13)
Thursday 22nd August 2024 - GCSE Results (Year 11)
We look forward to seeing you all and hopefully lots of smiles & celebrations!
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Here at The Garibaldi School, we are incredibly PROUD to announce that we managed to raise £750 for the Lashes Foundation and GALOP; an LGBTQ+ mental health charity over PRIDE month.
This money has been raised by our charitable students through a variety of activities, including:
Cake sales (including delicious donuts and cookies)
Merchandise sales (including wristbands and badges)
Lashes products sales (including water bottles and beautiful pens)
We want to thank our community and our wonderful students for your generosity and kindness towards two really important charities. This will make a real difference to some of our struggling teens across the nation.
If you have a concern about the safety or welfare of a student, please do make contact with the school.
You will be able to speak with any member of staff in school, your concerns may be referred onto the Designated Safeguarding Leads in school. Details of our Designated Safeguarding Leads are on the above poster which is available to students all over school.
Students can speak with any member of staff in school, including (but not limited to) their mentor, pastoral manager or teachers
For further information on support that is available both in and out of school, please refer to
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School will be closed for the summer from Thursday 25th July 2024 and will reopen on Tuesday 3rd September 2024. More detailed information about the arrangements will follow in due course.
The Garibaldi School
Train to teach with the Nottinghamshire Torch SCITT