During the course of this half term, Year 7 have had their target grades set on Go 4 Schools. If you have missed that, or did not get a chance to discuss it with staff at Subject Evening, please do look back to my previous letter on target grades.

Year 7 have also benefited from their first Careers Event, about Post 16 Choices. Every Year 7 student attended the event organised by Mrs Barley-Morey, our Careers Lead, who invited a guest speaker to come in from Stratford College to introduce Year 7 to some of the options available to them later in life. We are very proud of the Careers provision that we have in school, and we think it really helps to motivate students to know what may lie ahead of them. Year 7 behaved impeccably and it was wonderful to see all of the information they had already gathered and taken notes on. I wonder what careers they will be inspired to pursue!

Tutor Curriculum

During Tutor Time, students have been looking at gaming, growing their knowledge on the subject, to better understand some of the opportunities and the pitfalls that it presents for them. These have been lively and engaging sessions, and it has been great to see the Tutor Groups get to grips with this topic that forms a part of the modern world around them. It is fantastic to see students leading the Tutor Time sessions, and encouraging their classmates to participate.

We have also dedicated Tutor Time sessions to Children’s Mental Health Week and National Apprenticeships Week; two very different weeks, both of which represented huge opportunities for the Tutor Groups to discuss openly things that really matter to them and their futures. The theme for Children’s Mental Health week was Know Yourself, Grow Yourself. Through resources  linked to the Disney Inside Out 2 Characters the importance of self-awareness and expressing emotions was explored.  Students were able to engage in discussions, enjoy charades activities and we included signposting to the support available here at NLS and external agencies. For National National Apprenticeships Week students were introduced to what an apprenticeship is and the variety of apprenticeships available.   

It is always wonderful to see Year 7 grow and develop, and seeing them in Tutor Time really shows how much the year group as a whole has grown in confidence since September.

Information regarding the Tutor Curriculum, along with the Tutor Time Learning Journey can be found on our website via the following link Tutor Time Curriculum

Rewards and Celebration

Reward Points, as ever, remain a crucial part of students’ time in school and Year 7 are showing week in, week out, that they subscribe to our CORE values of Commitment, Opportunity, Respect and Excellence. Year 7 have accumulated a monumental number of Reward Points and every single student should feel very proud. There is plenty of healthy competition within and between the Tutor Groups, as Year 7 continue to show that they really care about their Reward Points and about doing well in school. Well done so far to all the Year 7s; it is worth them remembering that they now only have one more half term to collect points towards being invited to the Spring Rewards event during next half term.

The whole year group is prolific in accumulating Reward Points, and below are the highest rewards earners this half term from each college. They should all feel so proud of themselves!  

Transition Leader Opportunities

After half term we will be inviting year 7 student to apply to be a Transition Leader.  Our Transition leaders play a key role in supporting the transition events for year 6 students who will be joining NLS in September 2025. 

This is a wonderful opportunity for year 7 students to support younger children but also potentially have the opportunity to re-engage with their previous primary school. 

Your child may remember how valuable the support they had from our Transition Leaders was when they joined NLS and will be keen to be involved. We will start the application process after half term and information will be available to all students during tutor time.

Student Spotlight

Its always great to be able to share success stories of our students and we were all delighted to hear of Max W's success in being signed by West Bromwich Albion last week following weeks of trials.

Well done Max and we look forward to following your progress. 

 

Calendar

Upcoming next half term, we are looking forward to welcoming the Year 7s back with our second College Fortnight and another Attendance Challenge. Which College will have the most students with 100% Attendance?

There are plenty more events coming up, from the English Department’s screening of A Monster Calls, to our very own residential trip to Whitemoor Lakes. Parents and carers of the students attending that trip have had an email inviting them to the Whitemoor Lakes Information Evening which is happening early next half term on Tuesday 25 February.
March will also see the next data cycle, the perfect opportunity for students to see how they are faring against their target grades. 
On Friday 21 March students also have the opportunity to take part in our whole school Race for Life event.

It is an exciting time to be in Year 7 and we are all looking forward to welcoming them back after half term. 

I wish all of your families a very restful half term and I look forward to working with you further after the break.

Yours sincerely,

Joseph Piper
Assistant Headteacher – Year 7 Lead