Altwood Church of England School

Friday 9th December 2016

www.altwoodschool.co.uk

14th December: Student Christmas Lunch

A two course Christmas lunch will be available for the

usual price of a main meal, £2.30.

20th December: End of term - 12:30pm closure

On the last day of term we will be supporting Save the

Children by allowing students to wear a Christmas

jumper or a plain jumper with a Christmas decoration

attached, instead of their school jumper and blazer.

Students will be asked to donate a minimum of £1

towards this charity. Donations will be collected from

Monday 12th December onwards in tutor time. Any

student not wishing to participate with this charity

event will be expected to wear full school uniform.

Inset Day Wednesday 4th January 2017

Start of term 8.45am Thursday 5th January 2017

My thanks to those parents who committed their time to attend the most recent

Parents’ Forum. In the meeting we discussed:

the student handbook,

access and availability of key calendar dates for parents in order that they

can best support their children,

the format and planning for Personal Development Days,

safeguarding which included the detail of our new arrangements,

the planned launch of The Edge programme which will be launched to students after Christmas.

The next planned meeting dates are set as Tuesday 7th February, Tuesday 28th March, Tuesday 16th

May and Tuesday 4th July.

I would like to thank parents and carers for your support in upholding high standards of uniform. As you

will be aware in relation to footwear, Mr McCallion wrote to everyone back in October. Our uniform policy

states: “Plain black smart leather footwear only, no logos. Shoes should be appropriate height with a heel

no higher than 5cm. Gym shoes or trainers should only be worn in PE.”

Headteacher’s Update

Year 11 intentions for Year 12

As parents of Year 11 students are aware,

the deadline for returning Sixth Form

applications is this Monday, 12th

December.

Applications can be handed into Mr

Atkinson-Young or student reception. If you

require any support with this process

please speak to any of the Sixth Form

team. We will be in touch early in the New

Year to offer personalised advice and

guidance regarding applications and

intentions for students after GCSE study.

Theme for the Week

The theme for this week is: Migration.

Diary Dates

Altwood Church of England School

Friday 9th December 2016

www.altwoodschool.co.uk

Congratulations to the following students who

were recently appointed as Olympic Council

Members:

Year 8: Beth Maidment-Cargin, Sophie Phillpot-

Hall, Kacper Adamczyk, Robbie Couper, Jessica

Davison, Jude Miles, Jonah Power, Alfie

Pendlebury.

Year 9: Brooke Childs, Priya Sagoo, Alex Tearle,

Adam Shrimpton, Ethan Woodward, Karol

Kocurowski, Casper Klik.

Year 10: Ethan Bristow, Jude Thuo, Alex

Bainbridge, Elinore Bryan-Peterson, Sabrina

Jones, Sasha West, Sophie Pratt, Jagoda

Konarzewska, Taylor Wright, Connor Hind.

These students will work closely with our Youth

Ambassadors to organise events and work with

Primary Schools to encourage more participation

in sport.

Olympic Council Members Cross Country event

On Monday 28th November, we hosted 13 teams

from Primary Schools across Windsor and

Maidenhead who took part in a Cross Country

Competition here at Altwood.

Pupils from Years 4, 5 and 6 were split into teams

to complete the 1km route. The races were

competitive, fun and run with superb commitment.

The Altwood Olympic Council Leaders helped

organise and run the event. They displayed

fantastic leadership qualities which resulted in the

event being a real success.

The top three schools were:

1st Place: Furze Platt Junior School

2nd Place: Courthouse Primary School

3rd Place: St Edmund Campion Catholic Primary

School

BTEC Business Level 3 trip: Town Hall

Sixth Form Business students had a very exciting

opportunity to meet with the team who are in

charge of the redevelopment of Maidenhead. The

session was very informative covering all the

ongoing plans they have for the regeneration of

the town centre. This was then linked to the

effect it would have on the local businesses. Our

students were thoroughly engaged and have

been asked for their input about what they would

like to see developed in certain areas of the town.

Be sure to follow us on Twitter for regular updates: @AltwoodSchool

Altwood Church of England School

Friday 9th December 2016

Haringtons apprentice visit

Our Key Stage 4 students who are interested in taking up a career in hairdressing had an invaluable

opportunity to meet with training staff at Haringtons. The session gave them a real insight into the

career path and the necessary requirements to enter the profession. An ex-Altwood student

accompanied the talk as he is a current apprentice at Haringtons. It was great to hear of all the success

he has enjoyed as he develops his career.

Last Thursday three primary schools sent Yr5 and Yr6 pupils to Altwood to work on their team building

skills. Pupils came from Riverside Primary School, St Edmund Campion Catholic Primary School and All

Saints Church of England School.

Based on the concept of being marooned on a desert island, the teams were given different challenges to

see how they planned to achieve their objective. Having worked exceptionally well they were presented

with a medal to acknowledge their hard work. The pupils also reported that they’d had great fun with the

challenges set.

House News

Faith:

Congratulations to all the Faith

students who took part in

Altwood’s Got Talent auditions.

They were Ebony Durbin,

Caitlin Ryanbauer, Amelia

Sampson, Jordan Duffy and

Sean Keeley. The performances

were both original and

entertaining. Well done.

Hope:

Georgia Walker 9H1 has been rowing for Marlow rowing

club for three months and has passed her three month

commitment period so can now apply for a Junior

membership. Georgia has thoroughly enjoyed this

opportunity, rowing and training alongside girls who do not

have a visual impairment. She has rowed in a quad and a

double. Georgia has not allowed her visual impairment to

stop her joining in and has been focusing and working hard

in all her sessions.

Joy:

Many congratulations to Sophie Ripley 9J1 on gaining a

Distinction in her grade 3 guitar exam. A great achievement -

well done.

Charlie Carpenter in 8J1 completed a sleep out on Friday 2nd December and

helped raise over £500 towards a homeless charity. Well done.

www.altwoodschool.co.uk

Sponsorship Bake Sale

The Hope House Leaders organised a bake sale on Friday the 25th November and raised £37 towards

sponsoring a Peruvian Child called Marlon. We have been sponsoring Marlon for the last two years

through the Peru Children’s Trust. This is the first event students have organised to honour the ongoing

financial commitment of £23 per month to provide Marlon with his education and some welfare basics.

Huge praise should go to Beth Maidment-Cargin, Benjamin Kennedy-May, Sinead McDonald and Scarlet

Rawlings for their initiative and effort in supporting Marlon and the Peru Children’s Trust.

Primary School Team Building Day