BLOG WEEK ENDING 20TH OCTOBER
This week we hosted OFSTED for our first full two-day inspection, thank you to all staff, families and students for your support and to everyone who filled in the questionnaire … we look forward to being able to share their findings and feed-back as soon as we are permitted!
Mr Bailey’s Year 8 Drama students are studying ‘Melodrama’ and have been exploring melodramatic plots and structure in order to devise and perform a short melodramatic performance that includes stock characters (Hero, Heroine and Villain). As you can see from the below… they are naturals, performing with expression and exaggeration!
Mr Bailey has had new, and rather wonderful, Drama and Theatre Ambassador badges produced. These badges are Gold for Stone Lodge students choosing to study Drama at GCSE level and Silver for KS3 students who attend various Drama and Theatre clubs in school.
‘School of Rock’ Auditions … have you put your name down?! Last call for student performers and musicians who would like to audition for our new school performance!
Mrs Cogswell’s Year 8 Scientists have been studying rock formations and the properties of the three main types of rock. As part of their exploration Mrs Cogswell simulated the formation of igneous rock from a volcano.
We have given our School Open Event Films a re-fresh to reflect the new facilities and to include more of our wonderful students and staff! Thank you so much to all contributors. To view the film please click here
Black History Month. At Stone Lodge School we provide our students with a meaningful, rich and broad curriculum that is celebrative and inclusive – in every lesson. To read our History Curriculum please click here. Our School Canteen offers a diverse menu featuring recipes and dishes from many different cultures and countries. A sample menu from this month offered the below options;
Ms Mason’s Year 9 Food Preparation and Nutrition students whipped up a fabulous chicken dish in a practical lesson this week. Students have been learning the principals of balancing flavours, acids and liquids in recipes and in this lesson made a marinade of their own design for their chicken. They investigated why we use vinegar or lemon juice within a marinade and how these ingredients denature the protein chains. Potatoes were also cooked wedge, parmentier or chipped style. Cajan spice, herby and jerk all proved very popular indeed! I will be extremely surprised if any of their dishes made it home for you to sample! … a very popular lesson with all students.
SL6 Update from our Sixth Form SL6 correspondent Olivia Demetriou-Shaw. We have just made a new SL6 Open Day Film with Head of SL6, Mrs Tiddy to showcase our sixth form centre and offering here at Stone Lodge. One element that was captured filming was the coaching that our the our BTEC Sports Year 13s take part in with the younger years. Prior to the pictured sessions we planned a drill in a specific aspect of basketball, looking at how to develop student techniques and knowledge of the sport, making it fun, yet competitive! It was great to be able to share our knowledge with the younger year groups. For the younger students it means they benefit from additional support and motivation – it works extremely well for both sets of students.
All SL6 stduents attended our Stone Lodge Open Events providing support, tours and further information to all prospective families.
To view our SL6 Video please click here
PTFA Update. Firstly, let us take the opportunity to say we are always looking for more people to join the PTFA! We have a great team, that are keen to see the school community thrive, we want to see SLS grow into all its potential and believe a strong school community is essential to that. If you want to know more about what we do or to be invited to our next meeting, on November 21st from 6.30pm. All committee posts are up for recruiting to. (Please note Treasurer is a three-year commitment (due to the logistics of getting everything signed over with the bank). Secretary has been open for 6 months so very much looking forward to getting someone in that role, please encourage friends to join and support the PTFA!
Being a part of the PTFA team means you are the first to know about events we have coming up, to support our preloved uniform efforts, school pencil cases, lottery, and so much more!
Facebook! The PTFA works hard to foster community and support the school. One of the ways we support the school is through our online community. As the school has grown, we have been evaluating how best to foster community through the various online platforms. Our plan is for WhatsApp, and the various WhatsApp groups PTFA helps manage, to be consolidated into one central “chat” that we will use for broadcasting news, upcoming events, and important information. The primary PTFA place of conversation, community, and discussion will become Facebook. We have been working hard behind-the-scenes to create a Facebook group designed specifically for the SLS PTFA. We are excited to share it with you. You can apply to join the group via this link: https://fb.me/g/p_qFn4dmNZHqURUqY3/Hbtfg26n To ensure only parents, carers, and those with a genuine connection to the school are able to join we are asking group members to tell us a codeword when applying to join the group. To find out more and to read about our events and initiatives please see our website page here PTFA – Stone Lodge School
World Mental Health Day. ITV together with the charities MIND and Young Minds launched a new initiative to encourage every school in the country to set a different kind of homework for World Mental Health Day. Designed in collaboration with a psychologist and the teaching community to help ease stress and reduce anxiety, the task encouraged young people to have a proper chat with an adult they trust about the hardest subject on their minds. Mrs Finch, Teacher of Health & Social Care led an assembly to discuss the initiative and get the conversation started ..
Forthcoming Dates;
Last Day of Term – 20th October – NORMAL END TIME 3.30PM
Year 13 Grade Reports sent home – 20th October
First Day of Term 2 – 2nd November
Parent/Carer Financial Workshop 6pm – 6th November
Odd Socks Day Anti-Bullying Week – 13th November
Year 13 Parents’ Evening – 16th November
Start of Year 11 Mocks – 20th November
PTFA Meeting – November 21st from 6.30pm – everyone welcome
Best wishes,
Gavin Barnett
