Parent Bulletin 2nd February

I hope you are enjoying some early-spring sunshine over the weekend.

We have had a hugely busy January and the pupils have done us proud.  On Friday we hosted 11 visitors from schools in Devon and Cornwall and they were simply blown away by Soane pupils.  They described Ark Soane as "a very special place" with pupils who were grateful, appreciative and hard-working.

I have had the pleasure of meeting with all the Student Council members this week.  All of them described growing in confidence, in academic independence and in organisation.  I was particularly impressed by hearing from the pupils how attending a "strict" school where rules are clear and maintained for all pupils meant that they got in trouble far less frequently than in previous schools and enjoyed the warmth, praise and reward that underpins consistently high expectations.

Feb 14th INSET:  A reminder that school will be closed to pupils on Feb 14th (the Friday prior to half-term) for INSET.

Parent surveys:  Every February all pupils, staff and parents in Ark Schools are asked to complete a survey of their experiences.  This will be sent to you this week.  Please do complete it - and provide comments where possible - as these help us to improve the school.  The deadline for completion is Friday 14th February.

Device in school day: Please ensure that your child brings their device in on the allocated day.  If the device is not brought into school it will cease to function as the security updates required must be done on the school network.

Incidents in Acton Town Centre:  There have been a number of serious incidents involving school children in Acton Town Centre in the last weeks.  Please remind your child that they must go straight home at the end of the school day to ensure their safety.

Attendance:  School attendance is still well below pre-covid levels and we are doing our children a disservice if we do not get them into the habit of excellent attendance at school.

- Please send your child into school as normal if they have a mild illness.  Please email info@arksoane.org so that we can keep an eye on them during the day and send them home if necessary.

- Please avoid booking medical appointments during the school day where possible.  If essential then children should attend school both before and after the appointment.

- Please do not book holidays or travel during term time.  Any essential travel must be authorised by school before it is booked.

Have a great week ahead,

Mr Neuberger

Despite the cold weather this week, the pupils still got stuck into their sports! The year 7 girls netball team had a great time at their first tournament, and, despite not making it to the finals, remained positive throughout the stormy weather. 

There were similarly high spirits inside the sports hall this week, as 8 Augustus had a great table tennis lesson with Mr Chippendale working on shot variation, and Lilly and Milla shone in their table tennis lesson with Ms Kutyla. 

There was also some great focus exemplified in lessons this week! 8 Alexander had a stellar computing lesson with Ms Lam and 10 Pericles impressed in their science lab lesson, where the pupils shone for being professional and mature. 

A reminder that students will be required to bring their chromebooks into school on the following days:

Year 7: Thursday 6th February

Year 8: Tuesday 4th February

Year 9: Monday 3rd February

Year 10: Wednesday 5th February

All students must bring their laptops in on these days – if they do not do so, the laptop will deactivate and become unusable. Laptops must be charged before being brought in and should be carried in backpacks and not in a separate bag.

Imperial College London (ICL) have a number of upcoming opportunities for students interested in university study and careers in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, & Maths). Please note as these are external opportunities, any questions should be sent to ICL and not to Soane. Please let us know by emailing info@arksoane.org if your child is successful in securing a place on the below opportunities – they should also log these experiences on Unifrog:

Free Summer Schools

ICL is welcoming applications for two free summer schools for students interested in STEM subjects at university. Students will take part in lectures and activities alongside Imperial lecturers and current students.

Visit ICL’s Summer Schools webpage to find out more about our range of Summer School Programmes and apply.

• Year 9 Girls Engineering Summer School: 5 - 8 August
• Year 10 Insights Summer School: 30 July – 2 August (Residential)

Summer School applications will close on 5 March 2025. For more information, please see ICL’s Outreach Programme FAQs.

Year 10 STEM Potential programme
Year 10 students are invited to apply for the STEM Potential programme at ICL. They will explore different fields of science, technology, engineering, and maths to gain a better understanding of which subjects they may want to study at A-level. During on-campus events they will gain a feel for university life, working closely with ICL academics and students.

In August of Year 10, they will take part in a non-residential summer school. ICL will run six events during Year 10 and five more in Year 11. All events run during school holiday dates, so please check these carefully before applying. All events run in-person so you will need to live within one hour of Imperial’s South Kensington Campus. Students stay on the programme for two years. After Year 11, students who meet eligibility criteria will progress to Years 12 and 13. Applications will close on Monday 03 March.  

Find out more, including how to apply at the STEM Potential webpage. For any queries please contact stempotential@imperial.ac.uk.

We will be offering two vaccinations to all Year 9s on Wednesday 26th February 2025.

The 3-in-1 teenage booster (Td/IPV vaccine) is given to boost protection against 3 separate diseases: tetanus, diphtheria and polio. The 3-in-1 teenage booster is free on the NHS for all teenagers as part of the national immunisation programme.

It is routinely given at the same time as the MenACWY vaccine. In total, you need 5 doses of the Tetanus, Diphtheria and Polio vaccines through your childhood. This will build up and maintain your body's own immunity against these infections and protect you against the diseases.

If you are not sure if your child has had the original vaccine, you will find this information in your child’s medical red book, or you can contact your GP and they will hold this information in their records.

75% of teenagers are vaccinated. There is concern that this is not enough to provide "herd immunity" and we strongly encourage everybody to take the vaccines offered to keep them safe now and later in life.

There is a lot of misinformation spread about the effects vaccines can have.  This misinformation is potentially dangerous as it has stopped many from consenting to life-saving vaccines. It is also misleading as there is no evidence to back up the theories that are continually repeated.

Please see the NHS letter to parents sent home with your child and either consent or decline the vaccine for your child using this link:

https://nwl.schoolvaccination.uk/dtp/2024/ealing 

The deadline for consent is 24th February 2025.

If you need face-to-face assistance then the school office is open during term-time from 8am-4pm. So that we can deal with email enquiries promptly please see the school email addresses below:

• General Enquiries – info@arksoane.org
• Attendance - absence@arksoane.org
• Free School Meals - fsm@arksoane.org