This week

It has certainly been one of the busiest weeks of the year so far, largely because of the return of many events that we have not been in a position to run during the pandemic. On Tuesday we welcomed students who will start in Year 7 in September for their induction day. They seemed to have a fun packed day and most looked excited about making the move to secondary school. We look forward to meeting most of them again for our summer school, taking place from 21st to 23rd August. On Wednesday evening we were pleased to be able to welcome their parents and carers for an information event. This started with music from some of our current students, a talk from the Head Teacher and then the opportunity to meet Form Tutors and other key staff. We are grateful to the parents who gave up time for PSFA to provide refreshments and help with the second hand uniform sale.

Tuesday evening saw the return of our annual Dance and Gymnastics Production, this year titled “Once Upon a Time”. All students (and staff) involved had worked incredibly hard and this resulted in performances of a very high standard. The students more than made up for the absence of this event over the past two years.

On Wednesday, Mrs Keaney, Mr Jewell, Glon Sylaj and Niamh Christie attended the World Class Schools Quality Mark Symposium, hosted by St Marylebone School in London. Both students had entered the Talk Off competition advertised over the half term and their entries were shortlisted to the final 14 students. There were over 100 entries from schools within the World Class Schools group. The speeches that Glon and Niamh wrote were written independently and recorded in the School’s state of the art sound booth. They were tasked with writing a speech that answers the question, “How can World Class students use social media as a force for good?” The speeches can be heard on the DWS Audio website. Both have powerful messages that well worth listening to. At the symposium, Glon and Niamh completed workshops on their speech in the morning, working with professionals from LinkedIn and delivered their speech in the afternoon. They both did an excellent job and were commended by the professionals and other staff members in attendance. We are pleased to announce that they came joint runners-up overall. It was a tough competition and the standard was very high. We are very proud of them and they certainly deserve to be called world class.

Thursday saw the welcome return of Sports Day at Norman Park for Years 7, 8 and 9. Year 12 had their own “It’s a Knockout” event at School and Year 10 students attended an Employability Day, working in small groups with business ambassadors to consider future career options and the skills that are needed.

You never know what the weather will bring for Sports Day, but this year did not disappoint. The sun came out for the afternoon, but the early cloud meant it was more manageable than on some previous occasions. With Norman Park undertaking major building works, significant organisational changes were required by Mr Simpson and the PE Department on top of the huge amount of work that is always needed for these events. We are grateful to all staff involved of course, but most importantly are very proud of our students who competed, supported and behaved so well all day. There were some amazing performances on the track and on the field from across all Houses, but Darwin won the overall title in the end. Well done everyone.

Next week

Assemblies will mark students’ achievements this year. Along with subject awards there will also be awards for total positive House Points given over the year. Many students may receive Bronze or Silver Awards, but some will have reached a level of points to signify Gold or even Platinum Awards. There will also be Head Teachers’ Awards for those having shown particular merit either in lessons or other aspects of school life.

Lanyards

Students will keep their ID cards for the next academic year. If your child has damaged or lost their card please make arrangements to pay for a new one via ParentPay and they will then be issued with a new one this term for use into next year also. They must have this with them on arrival in September. All students will receive a replacement lanyard (of the next year’s colour) when they arrive at school in September, but not a new ID card.

Reminders

With the weather forecast predicting rising temperatures please encourage your child to bring with them a good sized re-usable bottle which they can re-fill through the day. Our expectation is that students use break and lunch times to re-fill their bottles from our dispensers and not lesson time. Similarly, with rare exceptions, we expect the bathrooms to be visited at break and lunch times and not in lessons.

Hot Weather Rules are decided upon on a daily basis by the Head Teacher. All students must arrive at school adhering to our usual school uniform policy and Sixth Form dress code. Form Tutors and teachers will let students know if Hot Weather Rules apply – this should not be assumed on arrival. Please be re-assured that much of our school is air conditioned, one of our Dining Halls is mechanically ventilated and we make use of shadier areas at break and lunch in accordance to the need on each day. If Hot Weather Rules apply we are currently allowing ties also to be removed. Ties should be placed in students’ bags.

Holiday Activities and Food Programme

The London Borough of Bromley would like to update you on the Holiday Activities and Food programme this Summer 2022. There are a number of exciting activities with nutritious meals, free to all children who are eligible for free school meals or children and young people that are in Bromley under the Homes for Ukraine or Family Placement Scheme. Each provision will offer eligible children the opportunity to enjoy fun activities that will enable them to develop new skills, build confidence and meet new friends outside of term time.

Please visit Bromley Council’s website at Holiday activities and food programme – London Borough of Bromley and book directly with the provider of your choosing. Please book this as soon as possible in order to get the activities you want in a location near you.

Dates for the diary

Wednesday, 13th July – Summer Concert, 7pm

Friday, 22nd July – End of term – early close. Details soon.

Thursday, 18th August – A level results day

Thursday, 25th August – GCSE results day

Wednesday, 31st August – Start of term (PD Day – staff only)

Thursday, 1st September – Years 7 and 12 start

Friday, 2nd September – All other year groups return

Wednesday, 5th October – Open Evening

Monday, 17th – Friday 28th October – Half-term break

Monday, 19th December – Monday, 2nd January – Christmas Holidays. Return to school Tuesday, 3rd January