Newsletters

Polite Requests

Several parents have recently brought dogs onto the school site whilst watching their child play football in the evenings. Please can I remind parents that dogs are not allowed on the school site at any time of the day (other than assistance dogs).

It has been noticed that some parents are dropping their children off at the front gates thus blocking the entrance for others. Please be mindful of other traffic entering and leaving the site and ensure speed is kept to a minimum when driving into the site and around the Sports Hall car park.

Thank you.

I am starting a new after school chess club (with the help of Mr Ball) for those students interested in/already familiar with the game.

The first session will be next Wednesday (28^th) April from 3.15pm – 4.15pm.

It will take place upstairs in the Lancaster Building in room L6.

All abilities and ages are welcome.

Students will play in socially distanced age cohorts (if large numbers, then we’ll fan out into a second room).

Mr Dart
 

Introducing your new newsletter feature: Book of the Week!

Every week you will find a new reading recommendation. It will be a mix of new and old books and all recommendations are available in your school library.

Would you like to recommend your favourite book? Pop in to see Mrs Bruton!

The Girl Who Speaks Bear by Sophie Anderson

Found abandoned in a bear cave as a baby, 12-year-old Yanka has always felt out of place in her small village. When she wakes up to find that her legs have become bear legs, she sets off into the forest to discover who she is, on a journey that takes her from icy rivers to smouldering mountains, with an ever-growing group of misfits alongside her.

Yanka's journey is a gorgeously lyrical adventure from the best-selling author of The House with Chicken Legs.

Grounded in Russian folkore, there is a jigsaw-like feel to the interconnecting stories surrounding Yanka, a girl found in a bear cave as a baby.  Readers will delight in discovering the familiar traditional and fairy tales expertly woven into the novel.  Danger and struggle combine in this story of self-discovery, providing a nuanced exploration of identity and belonging. Themes of family in its different forms, friendship, and the celebration of difference run throughout. This is a magical and memorable book where every character, human and animal, has a distinct personality. A beautifully written and original fantasy adventure story that will linger long after the last page. 

The Girl Who Speaks Bear has been shortlisted for this year’s Carnegie Medal.

Happy Reading!

Mrs Bruton

The Royal Geographical Society’s

Young Geographer of the Year Competition

This year’s competition theme has been announced as ‘Remapping our Lives’ with the Society being interested to see maps which illustrate and describe:

* Which local human and physical features they, and their family used during the pandemic

* Why some places were especially important to young people

* The places they couldn’t visit and why

* If the pandemic has led to them experiencing any new places in their local area

* How the pandemic changed their geographical understanding of their local area

* Any links which ‘stretch’ their maps to other places which were also important to them during the pandemic

KS2, KS3 and KS4 students will produce an A3 size entry whilst KS5 will produce an ESRI story map.

We will be looking to run Year bubble support sessions in the upcoming weeks, but if students wish to enter they should speak directly to their Geography teacher for the official RGS guidance.

We would love to see as many of our school community entering as possible, and the top 10 from The John of Gaunt School will be entered into the official competition.

During the last week of term, year 7 and 8 students became forensic scientists to solve the mysterious crime, “Who kidnapped Mr Skipp?”

Well done to all students for their fantastic efforts and congratulations to everyone who correctly identified to guilty teacher – MISS NELSON!!!

The winners of the prizes were picked randomly and are as follows:

Alex Thomson - 7G

Jessica Carter - 7H

Kacey Jones - 7A

Jessica Stevens - 8A

Daniel Latcham - 8B

Ella Robinson - 8D