A new term!

Please join us on Thursday 5 September for our Open Evening. This will be a brilliant opportunity to meet the team and find out a little bit more about our pastoral and academic provision in Year 8 and the wider Prep school. Individual parent consultations will be taking place later in the term, on Thursday 28 November.

The pupils will be given a Prep diary where Prep will be recorded. Pluses will also be noted in here each week.

Prep will be supporting their learning and revision so it is important that they are completed and handed in on time, so that they can receive valuable feedback to further guide their learning.

A Subject Topic & Skills Grid giving an overview of what the children will be covering this term will be sent on Friday 13th September.

As the children begin Year 8, parents will be giving thought to their child’s preparation for Senior School, and in particular considering how best to prepare them for success in their Common Entrance exams. Although, for the majority, Senior School places are offered irrespective of Common Entrance performance, preparing and sitting the exams (or the scholarship alternatives if your child is a potential scholar) gives unparalleled preparation for your child’s future studies and unavoidable GCSE exams. This can be a daunting time for pupils, and parents, and we are here to help!

On the morning of Wednesday 25 September, Mrs Grace Partridge, together with our Educational Pathways Coach Mrs Lauren Martin, will be hosting an information session for parents of our Year 7 and 8 pupils. This will provide valuable hints and tips to get you through this period, and how you can help to prepare your child for success.

Pupils will have the opportunity to prepare for scholarship applications with interview practice scheduled for our potential scholars towards the end of November. All pupils will sit mock exams at the end of this term, to help with their preparation.

Situated in what was once our Chapel, at the top of the Staff Car Park, we have carved out some space specifically for our Upper Prep children (those in Years 7 & 8). Intended as an area for our older pupils to call their own, The Attic is a space where the Year 7 children can congregate before school and at other organised times. It includes a quiet area where Prep can be undertaken. The Attic is additional to the Year 7 & 8 form rooms, which will continue to be used for more formal pastoral get-togethers.

Housing the air hockey table, alongside comfortable seating, we’re confident that The Attic will help our Upper Prep pupils develop their sense of independence and responsibility. Upper Prep pupils should now ‘blob’ in and out of school independently, using their newly acquired pupil lanyards and the designated blobbing iPad situated in The Attic. Anyone arriving without time to blob at The Attic before briefing time (8:20am) should alert Mr Shaw / Mr Lindfield to the fact, so they can be ‘blobbed’ in the Year 7 form room instead.

Of course, staff will be in the vicinity of The Attic at all times pupils are on site, however with this new privilege comes the expectation that the Upper Prep pupils treat it with respect and maturity. This includes wearing their lanyards at all times when in school, and behaving sensibly whilst in The Attic. Pupils found to be abusing this privilege, or disrespecting school property or their peers, will be dealt with accordingly.

Just like in Year 7, we operate a Leadership system in Year 8 to reward pupils for living the Pennthorpe Purpose and to help prepare them for taking on more responsibilities as they mature.  The role of our Seniors, Prefects and Head Boy and Girl is to be Ambassadors of the school.

All our Year 8 pupils have been trained as Pupil Wellbeing Ambassadors and one of the first tasks of the academic year is for the Year 8 Pastoral Team to discuss, with the pupils, how they could use this training around the school. They will also have the opportunity to work towards their Senior and Prefect badges with their progress being tracked.

As in Year 7, all aspects of a child’s performance at school is taken into account when determining which pupils are ready to progress through the positions of leadership (more information about the leadership progression can be found here). Points are awarded for pluses, Praise Postcards and Heads’ Awards (and lost for minutes and detentions).  The system in very transparent and meritocratic, and pupils will be set targets to ensure they know what the thresholds are and what they need to be doing in order to reach the different leadership levels.

I was delighted that we were able to award our Prefects at the end of the Summer Term. Congratulations to Zahira, Maddie, Holly, Tilda, Jacob, Bertie, Alvaro and Sam.

At morning briefing Form Tutors will complete a quick ‘wellbeing’ check with the children using our familiar emoji structure. In Year 8 your child will be assigned to a member of the Year 8 Pastoral Team who will hold regular ‘Coaching’ sessions where informal discussions can take place regarding any matters relating to school and general wellbeing.

The Pennthorpe PSHEE/RSE curriculum will continue to be delivered in an age-appropriate manner during all pastoral slots on your child’s timetable. Please do contact in the first instance Form Tutors should you have any specific questions regarding curriculum content and/or feedback.

PSHE/RSE topics for this term:

Autumn 1: Friendships and Managing Influences

Managing social influence, peer pressure and peer approval; Strategies to manage pressure to conform within a group and in relation to substance use; consequences of gang behaviour and support for this.

Autumn 2: Careers

Life and career aspirations; Personal strengths and skills for employment; Stereotypes; Routes into careers; Progression routes; Online presence; manage emotions in relation to future employment

Our bespoke RISE -Wellbeing scheme this term will focus on Developing a Positive Mindset and Positive Directions.

In Years 5 – 8 pupils must have their own fully stocked pencil case, including the following items:

• Pencils
• Rubber
• Pencil Sharpener
• Blue Fountain or Handwriting Pen (not biro)
• Purple pen (a purple biro is fine – children will use this to refine and perfect their work)
• 30cm ruler
• Coloured pencils
• Glue stick

Children should also have their charged laptop with them in school each day.

A reminder that mobile phones are not allowed in school. If you child needs to bring one for their journey to and from school (which must be pre-agreed if travel is on the school minibus), mobiles must be left at the Front Office for the duration of the school day.

Drop off is from 8:00am, and pupils should head to The Attic before heading to PA2 for 8:20am. Pupils arriving earlier than 8:00am should be booked in for breakfast from 7:30am. Formal lessons commence at 8:30am.

Pick up is at 5:00pm at the front of school, unless your child is staying for Prep when pick up will be 6:00pm at the front of school. Please note that pick up is at the earlier time of 4:00pm on Wednesdays, unless there is a match scheduled.

All children must ‘blob out’ before they leave the school site (either with the duty teacher or in The Attic).

If you’d like your child to join us for breakfast, or stay beyond 5:00pm for Hobbies or After School Supervision / Supper Club, please book this via the Portal, or contact extendedday@pennthorpe.com for assistance.

As well as your pocket-sized diary, parents can also view the Autumn Term calendar via the website and Parent Portal.

Please do have a look through and pop important dates in your diary.  Of course, sometimes plans need to be updated, and so any changes will be updated on our electronic calendar and communicated to you as soon as possible.

The key events for our Year 8 parents include:

• Parents are invited to our Prep Open Evening on Thursday 5 September between 7:00-8:30pm.
• Year 8 have a Resilience & Team Building Day on Monday 9 September.
• Individual & Sibling Pupil Photographs are scheduled for Tuesday 24 September.
• We will be hosting a Common Entrance & Scholarship Pathways Information Session for Year 7 & 8 Parents on Wednesday 25 September at 8:30am.
• We will be hosting a PSHEE & RSE Tea & Talk for Years 5 – 8 Parents on Friday 4 October at 8:30am.
• There will be a Pupil Wellbeing Tea & Talk for Parents on Thursday 10 October.
• Year 8 will sit their Soft Mocks the week beginning Monday 18 November.
• Our Whole School Remembrance Service will be held on Monday 11 November at 10:30am.
• Year 8 Common Entrance & Scholarship Parents’ Evening is scheduled for Thursday 28 November from 5.15-8:00pm.
• Our Carol Service in the Chapel @ Christ’s Hospital for Families of Pupils in Year 1 – 8 is on Tuesday 10 December.
• Carols Around the Tree takes places on Thursday 12 December at 4:00pm.
• Friday 13 December is the end of term with school finishing for Year 8 children at 12:00pm.

Children can wear either summer or winter uniform until half term, after which all children should switch to winter uniform.

Please make sure your child’s uniform is labelled with their name, as it does make it a lot easier to reunite lost items with their owners.

Children are expected to wear smart uniform each day:

• All children should wear their blazers coming to and from school.
• Clean black school shoes (if a child needs to wear trainers, for example where their school shoes have been misplaced, please make the form teacher aware)
• Shirts need to be long enough to tuck in.
• Earrings – one plain stud only. No hoops. The child needs to be able to take the earrings out independently for PE and Games lessons.
• No necklaces.
• Plain wristwatch, no smartwatches to be worn.
• All shoulder hair length tied up with a plain hairband or small school coloured scrunchie or headband.

Whilst the sun is shining, please apply sun cream to your child at home, before the beginning of their session as we will be outside as much as possible. We cannot provide sun cream in school so it is essential that children bring this in themselves.

All PE and Games kit should be brought in to school on a Monday morning and should be taken home for washing at the end of each week. All children require a mouthguard and shin pads for lessons, as well as competitive matches. They will not be allowed to participate in lessons or matches without these items, as this poses significant risk to the children. Children should also have a towel in school.

The Year 8 Team will be conducting a complete kit check at the beginning of term. It is important that the children understand the importance of looking after and organising their own property. Please support this at home, by ensuring your child uses their independence and organisational skills to ensure they have what they need in school each day and take care of their belongings (especially their charged laptops!).

If you have any uniform requirements, please place an order via our website here. You can also book an appointment at the Uniform Shop by contacting uniform@pennthorpe.com or drop in during the times below:

• Monday 8:30am – 9:30am
• Tuesday 3:30pm – 4:30pm
• Wednesday 3:30pm – 4:30pm
• Thursday CLOSED
• Friday 8:30am – 9:30am

For the first half of the Autumn Term the girls will be switching to hockey and boys will be switching to football. A full kit list is available here, and all branded items can be ordered through Blueblood

Girls:

• Games kit
• Shin Pads
• Gum shield

Boys:

• Games kit
• Shin pads
• Boots

Please do not park in the drop-off lanes at the front of school if you are coming to watch sports fixtures or waiting for a child to come out at pick up. These lanes are intended for dropping-off only!

Instead, please park up in the car park, or find a safe place to park on the neighbouring roads (being considerate of our neighbours, especially with regards parking near to junctions or driveways).