Parent Bulletin 9th March

I hope you are enjoying the sunny weekend.

I have been so impressed by pupils' effort and conduct since their return from February half-term.  Pupils' behaviour and effort in lessons is excellent, more and more golden tickets are being sent and the number of reflections for homework and behaviour is fast reducing.  Thank you for your support.

If your child is continuing to earn reflections half-way through the year please do discuss these with them and ensure that they take responsibility for their mistakes so you can support them to meet the high standards that we are always aiming for in future.  

Property lost at school:  Please ensure that all items of equipment brought to school are labelled so that, if they do get lost, they are more likely to be returned.  Please do not send your child in to school with expensive equipment that they cannot afford to lose - particularly avoid sending your child to school in expensive coats, with expensive phones or with expensive footwear for PE.  The school cannot accept responsibility for any items which go missing at school.

Parent feedback:  Thank you to all parents who completed the parent survey before half-term.  Your responses suggested very high levels of satisfaction with the school with 81% of parents saying they were very likely to recommend the school.  Across all measures Soane performed amongst the highest schools in the Trust.  

Two main areas for improvement were identified:

1. Improving the quality of school dinners: We have worked closely with our provider, with pupils and staff to re-design the school menu in light of pupil and parent feedback.  We will launch a new menu next term which we expect to be healthy, balanced and significantly more popular with the pupils.

2. Ensuring school leaders and teachers are accessible: We will contact you if we have concerns and we will celebrate your child's success with you.  If you contact us then we will return contact within 48 hours.  We host Academic Review Days rather than Parents' Evenings in Y7-9 as tutors are able to give an excellent overview of pupil's progress and behaviour, a traditional parents' evening would result in more learning time being lost and the model doesn't work where a single teacher may be teaching as many as 120 pupils in the year group.  In Y10 and Y11 we hold a traditional parents' evening and, in year 11, we will also host an Academic Review Day to set pupils up for a successful year.  School leaders are always accessible at the gate at the start and end of the day. 

In addition to this we have decided to open up the school for coffee mornings for current parents - this will provide an opportunity to hear the latest updates from the school, to ask questions of school leaders and to see the school in operation.  We very much hope you will attend - our first two sessions will be on 25th March and on 2nd April - both at 9am.  If you would like to attend please use the booking form below.

Ramadan and Iftar:  I have been hugely impressed by the unwavering commitment shown by many of the pupils who have been fasting at school for the past week.  They are clearly demonstrating a commitment to being the best versions of themselves over the course of this month.  Most are achieving large numbers of merits and avoiding reflections despite being tired, hungry and thirsty towards the end of the day.  They are also contributing brilliantly to poetry, topic discussions and appreciations in family dining each day despite not eating - showing great dedication to their school community.  Please continue to ensure that your child, if fasting, is eating an appropriate meal before the fast and getting plenty of sleep.

Community Iftar:  As many of our pupils are fasting during Ramadan we are delighted to host our annual fast-breaking dinner on Thursday 13th March.  Families are welcome from all faiths and none - and whether fasting or not - on Thursday 13th March from 5.45-7.30pm.  We will be providing food - both vegetarian and non-vegetarian however if you would like to bring food to share then please do so - it should be halal and nut-free. If you would like to join us, please complete the form via the link below (by Monday) so we can manage numbers  Soane pupils should attend in their school uniform and may only attend with their parent/carer.

I wish you an enjoyable end to the weekend,

Mr Neuberger

The sun was out and there was so much positivity in the Yard this week. The Year 7s got stuck into their newest hobby- playing jump rope- and even some of the teachers were giving it a go! There was also so many students showing pride in their extension work and their form groups this week, and the enthusiasm was infectious! 7 Cleopatra came together to make new art work for their classroom, focusing on how they work well as a team, and Samia (8 Pericles) produced some excellent extension on a new Science unit to prepare herself. 

There was also some great work in Art this week as 8 Augustus got to work recreating famous paintings. See below some high quality recreations of 'The Scream' and 'The Son of Man'! 

We are now looking at the timetabling of music instrument lessons for next term.  If you would like your child to stop having instrumental lessons at the end of this term you must let us know by Friday 21 March by emailing info@arksoane.org.   If we have not heard from you we will continue to timetable lessons and there will be a charge for these.  If your child would like to start learning a musical instrument or change the instrument they are learning they should speak to their music teacher.

On Friday 21st March from 8:50-10:00, Mr Tse (SENCO) and the SEND team will be hosting a coffee morning where you will get the chance to hear more about how we are supporting our pupils with SEND, see some lessons and speak to the SEND team. If you would like to attend, please register here by the 14th March.

All pupils should bring their PE kit over the coming weeks, even if fasting.

Lessons have been adapted and fasting pupils are encouraged to avoid excessively strenuous athletic activity during the fast. 

This week, Ark Soane is excited to launch a fantastic new opportunity open to all students - a national spoken word poetry competition called ‘Poetry by Heart’. Students who want to improve their confidence, practice their performing and public speaking skills, boost their memory and enjoy new poems are encouraged to sign up. Students will commit to learning a new poem by heart, record themselves giving a performance of that poem, and submit it to the judging panel. Any finalists chosen by Poetry by Heart will be invited to a grand finale that takes place in July at Shakespeare’s Globe where they will compete to be named the national champion of their key stage. We will also have our very own Soane winners and showcase, so watch this space to hear more about upcoming performances! This competition will require 3 afterschool sessions taking place on Friday 14th, Friday 21st and Friday 28th March, which will finish at 4:40PM. 

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