Hello and welcome to this week's Wildern Weekly. It has been wonderful to see students settle into the rhythm of the school week this week, engaging in their lessons and taking advantage of all the co-curricular clubs that are on offer this half term. If your child hasn't yet participated in something outside of their lessons, they can look at the variety of activities that are available using the link below. 

 

It was fantastic to see so many parents at our parent information evenings this week too. One of the aspects we covered in this was about how we work together with you as parents and your children and we are always looking for ways we can improve this partnership. Over the course of this year, we will be sending out more information than ever before on what students will be studying in their lessons so you as parents are able to talk to them about their learning and support them with this at home. Please see more about this in the Spotlight section below. When you read this I am sure you will agree it is an exciting half term ahead for all year groups!

 

Mrs Cowan

Parent Information Evening - Welcome to…

Thank you to over 500 parents who joined us for our Welcome to parent information evenings this week. These highlighted the important aspects of the year ahead for your child's year group and how we work as a partnership to support students throughout the year. If you couldn't attend these the slides are below:

 

Year 11, Year 10, Year 9, Year 8 

Meeting me - parental feedback wanted!

Following positive feedback from the previous year, we hosted face to face "Meeting Me" appointments between Tutors, Students and Parents in order to share key information, give the opportunity for tutors to hear what the students need to have a successful year ahead and to hear more about what they get up to outside of school. It was also a great opportunity to meet your child's tutor. As we are now a week into school we thought it would be good to see how you felt about the conversations and what we could do to improve them. Please take a few moments to fill in this short survey. Thank you! 

Whole School

Monday 16 September Week A

Wednesday 18 September Individual Photos

Wednesday 18 September Race for life event, 3:30pm

Monday 23 September Week B

Thursday 26 September Open evening

Friday 27 September School opens at 10am

 

Year 8

Tuesday 1 October Geography Sea Life Centre and River Thames cruise trip

 

Year 9

Tuesday 24-Saturday 28 September German Olympics trip

 

Year 10

Tuesday 17 September Parent information evening

Experience of a workplace, 6pm, School Hall

Tuesday 24 September Careers Fair

Thursday 3 October Parent Information Evening

Preparing for exams, 6pm Main hall

 

Year 11

Tuesday 24 September Careers Fair

Thursday 3 October Parent Information Evening

Preparing for exams, 6pm Main hall

Monday 7-Friday 11 October Art & Photography practice exams

Thursday 10 October Parent's Evening : 4-8pm, virtual

 

This year, following parental feedback we will be sharing with parents a summary of what students will be learning about in their subject lessons each half term. This information is something it was felt would enable you as parents to be better informed when speaking to your child about their learning and be able to support them further at home. 

Over the last two weeks, all students have been learning about Civil Disorder and Riots as part of our Education for Life curriculum. The lesson explored the causes and impacts of the riots as well as looking at how our students can become critical consumers online in the face of misinformation and disinformation. Here’s what some of our students said about this lesson:

 

“Some people might not know what the truth is and this lesson helped us understand it”

 

“It’s important to not believe everything we read online... it is important that we do some research before we make judgments”

 

“Our lesson focused on the British Values and other ways for us to voice concerns in a peaceful way because we live in a democracy”

 

“The riots were disruptive and were at odds with our British Values of Tolerance and Respect”

 

“The lesson raised awareness about disinformation, the impacts of the riots but most importantly the peaceful ways people responded through vigils, acts of kindness and fundraising”.

On Wednesday 18th September at 3:15pm, all students are invited to help run or walk 5km to change lives. We’re hoping to raise £3000 for Cancer Research UK. Please encourage your children to join in but also for friends and family to generously donate whatever you can to help support such a fantastic event and cause, especially if they are sponsoring your child to go the distance. Donations can be made in cash before or at the event, or they can be made online at our JustGiving page - here.

 

The page for students to sign up is here. They will need suitable running kit, ideally an item of clothing in their house colour, a water bottle, and some determination to have a great time on route! Changing rooms will be available. We’re really excited about the event and so grateful for the chance to help change lives.

Measles is on the rise across the UK. Minister for Public Health and Prevention, Andrew Gwynne said: "Measles cases have spiked significantly in recent years and can spread quickly among those who are unvaccinated. It can be a serious and sometimes deadly disease. Vaccines are our best form of protection, and it is vital that children receive all their vaccinations.

With the autumn term just around the corner, I am urging all parents to catch up on any missed jabs to keep children safe as they return to the classroom or nursery."

The MMR vaccine is a safe and effective combined vaccine. It protects against three serious illness, measles, mumps and rubella. Getting vaccinated is important as these conditions can also lead to serious problems, including meningitis, hearing loss and problems during pregnancy. Two doses of the MMR vaccine provide the best protection. If your child has not had this vaccination, please contact your GP surgery to book this.

Current NHS guidance if your child develops symptoms of Measles is to contact your GP to confirmed this and keep your child at home for at least 4 days from when the rash first appears. It is very unlikely to be measles if your child has had both doses of MMR vaccination.

Here is our Autumn term Co-Curricular timetable of activities including our Autumn PE menu. Clubs start in the week. Please look at what is on offer to your child and discuss this with them as their might be something that they would like to get involved with. Full details are available in the Student Wildern Weekly and from that subject area.

September 15th marks the anniversary of the publication of best-selling author/illustrator Peter H Reynolds' The Dot, a story book for all ages. Starting in 2009,  group of educators began celebrating this date as international Dot Day - a day for classes to explore the story's powerful these; bravery, creativity, and self-expression. "The Dot more than anything celebrates the power of creative teaching," Peter explains. "Despite the test-centric world we live in, creative teachers know how to find those aha moments - much the same way that my 7th grade math teacher Mr Matson 'connected the dots' between math and art, which changed my life." To honour that moment, Peter dedicated The Dot to Mr Matson.

Please be aware that rehearsals are subject to change depending on the progress of blocking and availability of students. A reminder to all cast members that our LB Sunday rehearsals are going to be on the 13th and 20th October. These rehearsals are from 9.30 until 4pm but the meeting/ registration time is 9.10am.

Mrs Thomas will be contacting cast members directly with regards to tutor time singing sessions. Some of these can range from principal songs to full company songs. 

Week Beginning September 16th - 20th

Week Beginning September 23rd - 27th

Focus Groups 

At Wildern we run 6 Focus groups that aim to have an impact on school life in one of 6 key areas: Eco, Diversity, RRC (Human Rights), Mindset Builders (Mental Health) EdTech, and Careers. These groups are staff-student partnerships and fantastic student voice opportunities. Focus Groups are starting again and looking for more students who are keen to make a difference. These Focus Groups also contribute towards prefect and Head Student applications in Year 10, so are a fantastic opportunity for those looking to grow great character and build their CV.

Prefects

Our prefects are our highly respected student leaders who have been recognised for the quality of their character and contribution to school life and they serve the school community in a variety of ways carrying out duties, helping organise our school environment, contributing to charitable events, Focus Groups etc. They are wonderfully kind and helpful and we hope your children turn to them when they need it. We also expect everyone to treat them with the highest respect as role models in the school, so we look forward to our school community creating something really positive together this year, and maybe your children joining the prefect team in the coming years!

Please see the menu for our hot food options for next week.

 

The main school meal deals are £3.20 which is in line with all Hampshire schools. In a meal deal, students can get one of the meal choices below with a bottle of plain water and a cookie or piece of fruit.

• either of the hot meal options,
• a jacket potato,
• a pasta pot,
• a chicken or beef burger,
• a salad pot (from the salad bar)

We encourage all families to use the free school meals eligibility checker, which can be found here, to determine if they qualify for this entitlement. 

 

Please remember, we can adapt the majority of meals to any dietary needs if we know in advance (your child can speak to kitchen staff by visiting the kitchen before 8:30am that day). Main A/B vegetarian options are always available - just ask Dan and his team.

* correct at time of sending, but may be subject to change

Experience of a Workplace - Parent Information Evening 

On the evening of the 17th September Mr Fenner, Mrs O’Leary and Mrs Jeffries will be presenting an Experience of a Workplace guide for parents that will take you through the rationale for this, the logistics of how it is run and what needs to be done. There will also be time for a question and answer session afterwards. This is a face to face event. The link to sign up to this event is here: Booking Form 

 

College / Apprenticeship provider open events 024/25

Please see an outline below of lock colleges and Apprenticeship providers, their open evenings dates and their application deadlines. Please refer to individual provider websites for details of how to book your attendance and check the events are still taking place on the advertised dates.

Our Film in a Week is a 5-day filmmaking programme designed for young people aged 13–17.

Led by industry experts Tony Welch and Nathan Scullard from D&T Videography, along with Guest Director Simon Cox, this workshop offers an exciting hands-on experience! With years of film industry experience, including work on the sci-fi movie Invasion Planet Earth, the team will guide your young filmmaker through every step of the process.

From Green Screen and 3D Modelmaking to Scriptwriting, Acting, Behind-the-Scenes Editing, and Film Lighting, they’ll cover it all!

Best of all, Tony and Nathan’s passion for creativity, combined with your pioneer's imagination, will make for an unforgettable experience using top-notch equipment and techniques, they’ll help your young person bring their film ideas to life!

Don’t miss out on this fantastic opportunity for your creative filmmaker! 

Find out more and make use of our special offer price of just £99.00! 

A free online safety guide on how to set up parental controls for Android apps.

 

Most smartphones allow parents and carers to choose which apps and features appear on their child’s device and which ones don’t – also preventing young people from buying and downloading anything that’s unsuitable for their age. Our #WakeUpWednesday guides to parental controls for managing apps on Androids will help you to reduce the chance of your child using a game or app that might not be appropriate for their age.

 

In the guide, you'll find tips on a number of tips such as how to block app downloads, how to stop auto-updates and how to restrict apps.

Every Student Matters, Every Moment Counts

 

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Wildern School

Wildern Lane

Hedge End

Southampton

Hampshire

SO30 4EJ

 

01489 783473

 

#WeAreWildern