Hello, and welcome to this week's edition of the Wildern Weekly. My name is Mrs Thornton and I am one of the Assistant Headteachers here at Wildern School.

 

My main responsibilities are: working with our Primary schools alongside Mrs Thomas to support transition, the KS3 curriculum, Year 8 pathways, whole school literacy, whole school feedback and our MAC programme.

 

As an English teacher my passion is books. It has been ever since I fell in love with Middle Earth and Hobbits (J.R.R.Tolkien ‘The Hobbit’) at a young age (too many years ago to count!). An English classroom can take you to different worlds and even transport you through time - there really are no limits. 

Reading is one of the best gifts we can give. I wholeheartedly believe: Every Word Matters and Every Book Counts and feel incredibly lucky to work alongside Mrs Slater, our whole school literacy coordinator, in promoting literacy across the school. We are both so incredibly proud of the success our Summer Reading projects have had this year and I am sure you have seen our word of the week challenge for all year groups on our social media pages. Please support us in encouraging your child to use this vocabulary at home. More information regarding the LRC and what we are doing to promote and encourage reading can be found on the school website here. 

 

I am privileged to work alongside our MAC (most able children) coordinator Mrs King. This week, Mrs King and I have been lucky enough to join students and parents in celebrating the work students completed as part of our ‘What’s My Problem?’ and ‘Curiosity Projects’ at the Athena Awards. Well done to everyone who took part.

 

I look forward to working with you and our students throughout the year.

Black History Month 2022 - Time for change: Action not words

To get to a better tomorrow, we can’t just focus on the past; we can acknowledge and learn from it. To improve the future, we need action, not words. We need to come together around a shared common goal to achieve a better world for everyone.

 

Black History Month is being celebrated across the UK this month and at Wildern we will be supporting and promoting this around the school. Black History Month is a dedicated event to celebrate the continued achievements and contributions of Black people to the UK and around the world. It’s also a time for continued action to tackle racism, reclaim Black history, and ensure Black history is represented and celebrated all year round.

 

Every department has already embedded the experiences, contributions and achievements of Black people into their curriculums, and some will be supplementing this with competitions, extra resources, and other opportunities being offered throughout October.

 

Amongst other things, History will be running their annual Black History Month competition, the KS3 Cooking Club will be preparing a recipe by renowned chef Andi Oliver, whilst in Dance lessons, Year 8 students will be learning capoeira, a martial art brought to Brazil by African enslaved people in the 1800's. To complement these activities, tutors will be delivering a dedicated Black History Month session to all students. Make sure you follow our social media channels to keep up to date with events across the month.

 

To ensure real change, support is needed from everyone. At Wildern we encourage all students to to act. If they see or hear something that is prejudicial or that makes them feel uncomfortable they should say something and not be a passive bystander. We appreciate support from you at home in reinforcing this message. 

World Mental Health Day - October 10th 2022: 

‘Make mental health and wellbeing for all a global priority’

The World Health Organisation (WHO) recognises World Mental Health Day on 10th October every year. This year’s theme is ‘Make mental health and wellbeing for all a global priority’.

 

For 70 years, WHO and the World Federation for Mental Health has been working to make sure that mental health is treated on par with physical health. Mental health problems exist in every aspect of our lives, so they want to do as much as possible to help prevent mental ill-health. World Mental Health Day is a chance to talk about mental health issues in general but also learn about techniques that may help us look after it. 

This week all Wildern students are looking at a technique called the Mood Battery. The Mood Battery is a great way to help students express how their day is going. It will help them understand what might be making them feel stressed, upset or angry, and how to balance that with the things that make them feel relaxed and supported. This can help them to build resilience and enable them to feel more prepared when facing challenges. Perhaps this is something you could try at home with your child.

 

How to complete a Mood Battery

Draw out a battery shape, similar to the one below.

Consider all the things that have happened today that have affected how you’re feeling. For example: the bus was late, I slept well. 

Consider each item. If you feel more positive and less stressed afterwards, write it in green pen at the bottom of the battery - These are de-stressors. 

If you felt less positive, or more stressed and drained afterwards. Write it in red at the top of the battery - These are your stressors. 

Look at your completed battery. If your day is mainly red stressors, what is something green that could help?  Would sharing your battery with someone help see how your day is going?  Does the red/green balance feel that it well reflects how you’re feeling today? Have you  missed anything?

Diversity in education is a wonderful opportunity to create a better sense of community and acceptance of others. Diversity may exist with regards to race, culture, religion, language, sexual orientation and socioeconomic status. All adults in children’s lives have a role to play in making them feel safe, connected, valued, capable and respected. This will allow their resilience to grow and enable them to feel confident in taking action.

 

What do we do at Wildern to promote diversity and wellbeing?

Here are just some of our current initiatives:

• Wellbeing garden … coming soon... (if you can help us to dig and lay a path please do get in touch!)
• Mind body and soul focus group
• Diversity focus group
• Students as evaluators
• Education for Life programme threading through tutor time, lessons and assemblies
• Guest speakers
• Special awareness days
• Focussed Diversity and Wellbeing assemblies
• Our Pride benches in the Piazza, painted by students
• Our Welcome Wall on the outside of Block 5, painted by students
• Lulu the Leveret, showcasing our diverse community, designed by our Year 8 students
• Taking part in the Anna Freud wellbeing project with Year 9 students
• Working with Fluid Motion Theatre, looking at the arts and wellbeing
• A diverse range of extracurricular activities and clubs

Where to get support in school

• Tutor
• DOPA or ADOPA
• Student Services
• Wellbeing Hub on the Wildern Website
• Wellbeing #ineedsupport form (also found on the wellbeing hub)

Toilets

Toilets - Due to a spate of damage to some of our toilets over the last few days, we have had to close some of these to repair them. Any students caught wilfully damaging the toilets will be sanctioned accordingly and bills will be sent home to cover the cost of repairs. There is CCTV in each toilet area, and any student recorded tampering with cameras prior to any damage being done will be implicated as part of the vandalism.

Every student matters and all students have a responsibility to think of others and their needs. We are following up all incidents but we need student support by not being in the toilets for anything other than using the facilities and to tell us if they find damage.

Anti-social behaviour in Hedge End

You will be aware that we regularly meet with the local policing team around all sorts of local initiatives, information sharing and any matters that are of a concern. We have had discussions with them and been made aware of incidents occurring down at Greta Park in the evenings where there has been anti-social behaviour, including vandalism, threatening behaviour and occasionally arson.

 

If your child goes out in the evening with friends to hang around the local area, please talk to them about where they are going and what behaviours to avoid and how to report anti-social behaviour if necessary. You could also help by reporting any information that you are concerned about through a Community Partnership Information Sharing Form (CPI) that can be found on the Safe4Me website or here. 

Positive use of Social Media

Social media can be a brilliant way to stay in touch with friends and learn about the world around you. However, we also know that it can be a source of stress and worry for some people. This is particularly true if people make unkind comments. 

 

Would your child like some advice on do’s and don’ts for the positive use of social media ?

Would your child like support with reporting worrying content?

 

Date: Tuesday 11th October 

Time: Break 1 OR Break 2

Place: Room 313

Student Services - We are always open between 8:45am and 3:30pm

The best times to drop in are:

11:10-11:25am - Break

1:30-1:55pm - Lunch

3:00-3:15pm - After School

Site Assistants (2 Posts) We are looking for energetic, enthusiastic and physically fit Site Assistants to join our site team. The work pattern includes early mornings, days, evenings so own transport is essential. https://wildern.org/joining-us/sv/site/…

#SiteAssistants #SouthamptonJobs

Catering Assistant We are looking for someone to join our team in our busy, fast paced kitchen. Working under the direction of the Catering Manager to help prepare, cook and serve food and drink to students and staff. https://wildern.org/joining-us/sv/site/…

#CateringAssistant #SouthamptonJobs

Dance Live! 2023

Year 7 Dance Club - Multi Hall, 3.15pm - 4.15pm - Tuesdays

Year 8 Dance Club launching Monday 31st Oct - Multi Hall - 3.15pm - 4.15pm - Mondays

The Unheard Boys Dance Company launching Wednesday 2nd November - 3.15pm - 4.15pm

DanceLive! 2023 Launch meeting - The School Gym Friday 21st BREAK 2 (1.30pm)

Hedge End Town Council Awards 2022/23

Would you like to say THANK YOU to someone who helps you out? Perhaps they do your shopping or run a club you enjoy? Now's your chance to nominate them in our Serving the Community Award and Young Person's Serving the Community Award (under 25s) http://hedgeend-tc.gov.uk 

What Parents Need to Know about BeReal

 

BeReal is the latest trending social media app. The concept is that people see others in their authentic day-to-day lives, sharing candid photos without editing or applying filters. Each day at a random time, users are simultaneously notified to take a photo of what they’re doing at that exact moment. The two-minute window to submit an image means there’s no time to select a particularly glamorous or exciting activity. BeReal shares two pictures: a selfie, and an image of the immediate surroundings. Users can only view and react to their friends’ photos once they upload their own. 

 

In the guide, you'll find tips on a number of potential risks such as strangers, location sharing and visible personal data.