Sir Mo Farah visited school last week as part of an Oral B health campaign. He gave an assembly to the whole of Year 8 and took part in a PE lesson with a smaller group. He was also very busy taking selfies with his many admirers!
In this newsletter
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It has been lovely to be back and in warm weather, seeing the children running around and enjoying being outdoors. Who knows what will happen before the end of term (Thursday 22 July), but we are enjoying ourselves now.
We are looking forward to next year for all sorts of reasons, one being that it is our 50th birthday year. Tallis was opened in temporary buildings in Briset Road in September 1971, and we are planning as series of events and happenings to mark it. Do keep an eye on this newsletter for how you can join in. interestingly, it’ll also 10 be years since this new building was opened, so we’ll celebrate that as well!
With my best wishes and thanks for all your support.
Carolyn Roberts, Head
Don't forget to read the latest blog post in Mrs Roberts writes, a regular column about school life.
This half term we evaluate all the Tallis Habits, reflecting on those habits of mind we have exercised this year and which might need further strengthening through deliberate practice.
Uniform: Dance & PE kit
Students are still able to come into school in their PE kit for dance and PE lessons. However, we will be asking you to ensure that your child is in full Tallis PE kit: this includes Tallis tracksuit bottoms, with the embroidered logo.
For dance, students can wear leggings, however, these must be under school uniform or Tallis PE kit bottoms.
Students not following our uniform code will risk being withdrawn from socials until they are in appropriate infirm or PE Kit. If you are having a challenge with purchasing PE kit, please write a note in your child’s planner, and our pastoral team will contact you to offer support.
Tom Williams, Assistant Headteacher: Behaviour for Learning & Community
Resilience Workshops On Wednesday 26/5, selected students in year 9 and 10 took part in ‘resilience workshops’. Hosted by PositivelyMAD, students were helped to think about how they can become persistent in their attitude to learning.
Topics discussed included:
revision strategies (such as ‘dual-coding images’ – see the mindmap below)
‘the emotional backpack’ (understanding what can and cannot be controlled in everyday experience)
study tips for Year 10’s upcoming mocks.
Overall, students were able to think hard about change and how to avoid stress by adapting to different situations in their personal and educational interactions. More information is available on their website: Resilience Workshop | Positively MAD. Thanks to all involved,
Rhys Byrom and Heather Odd
Climate Emergency Interactive On Tuesday afternoon a group of Year 12 Media and Art and Design students collaborated with Bafta Award winning Director Martin Percy, in conjunction with the University of the Arts, on an interactive film about the Climate Emergency. Issues of climate change, and factors affecting it such as racism and sexism were explored and discussed by the students as they navigated through various excerpts, interviews and questions embedded within the film. They were prompted remotely by Martin and the event was recorded by a group of Media students on several devices as well as through the Teams platform.
The session also showed examples of a broad range of creative work that had been made in response to the Climate Emergency, including shoes made with bacteria, textiles made from fish leather, and modular evolving clothes that were both virtual and physical.
There were many practical ideas for dramatically reducing our 6-tonne personal average annual carbon footprint, such as switching to green energy suppliers, eating less beef and lamb, avoiding air travel, and changing lifestyle habits. It all seemed very achievable by the end of the session and the format of the production helped to create a fresh perspective.
We are really grateful to Martin and the team at UAL for giving us the opportunity to take part in this award winning experience. This week, a group of geography students will take part and we hope to involve other members of the school community as we consider our school repose to the climate emergency.
Sam Kiff & Di Minnicucci, Art and Roopi Harrison, Film & Media
Leading journalists from CNN showcase industry opportunities for Year 12 Media
High profile names from CNN, the cable news network, recently gave a talk to year 12 media students, highlighting work opportunities and internships. Salma Abdelaziz, Emmy nominated news reporter based in the UK, documented her career path from researcher to journalist and presenter, talking about stories she has covered such as reporting from Taliban controlled Afghanistan.
Her talk was followed by ex-Thomas Tallis media student Gian Robertson, who gained an apprenticeship last summer straight from sixth form and is now a MCR operator. His story was inspiring as Rebecca Moore, Director of Technical operations, who joined Gian, talked about the tenacity he showed in applying and showcasing his media work, leading to a placement straight from school.
Inga Thordar, Executive Editor of CNN Digital Worldwide, finished the talk with her behind the scenes take on the industry and the qualities they look for when taking on new talent. The insights she shared were invaluable to our aspiring media students.
Do you really believe in the Holy Trinity and how do you describe and understand it best?
Do you think you will get into heaven through faith of works or faith send works?
Why did you become a priest ?
Do you believe the resurrection actually happened or was it symbolic - does it represent something else?
How does Christianity affect your daily life?
Do you accept gay marriage?
Which Christian practices do you find most difficult to follow?
Do you accept abortion?
Why did you choose this denomination of Christianity?
What do you think is the most important part of the bible to follow?
What do you think about austerity and the state of the UK?
This was followed by a talk from Ms Patel, a theology graduate from Cambridge University. Ms Patel discussed what the Theology course entailed and described life at the University.
In a mug, combine the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, and baking powder.
Add the milk, oil, and vanilla.
With a fork, gently stir until the batter no longer has lumps.
Add the chocolate chips or alternative ingredient
Cook the cake in the microwave for 45 seconds. Leave to cool for 5 minutes to allow for the cake to finish cooking.
Develop the recipes by adding additional items such as
Raspberries
You could also substitute the cocoa power for a vanilla cake.
It's even more delicious with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or custard
If you decide to make the cake please send pictures to @tallisfood (I do not have to include your name if you want to be anonymous) Be creative and share your recipes.
Happy Baking, I mean microwaving : )
Carlene King, Design Technology
Tallis Words for June Promoting the importance of students’ vocabulary has been a whole school focus for the past few years, as research shows that explicit teaching can have a huge impact on student confidence and progression. In order to support this further, we have been promoting four whole school Words of the Month.
For June, our four words are: Ambi – a Latin word root meaning ‘both.’ Plausible – another useful academic word, meaning reasonable or probable Malicious – something that intends to cause harm Ubiquitous – something that seems everywhere; widespread
Please encourage your child to use these four Words of the Month in their lessons and beyond!
Tallis Reads
Tallis Reads returns this Tuesday 15th June. There will be a live reading at 8.40 by Mr. Wright. You can watch here: https://tinyurl.com/TallisReads150621
The reading will also be available to watch afterwards, as long as you sign in with a Tallis email account.
Young City Poets
A huge well done to a small group of Year 7 students who have been taking part in a National Literacy Trust programme called Young City Poets. They have been working on poems inspired by real and abstract art. The poems will be published in next week’s newsletter!
RBG Book Club
Well done to the nine students who are taking part in the Royal Borough of Greenwich book club. There are twelve primary and secondary schools across the borough involved in this pilot project and we have just started our third book: When Life Gives You Mangoes by Kereen Getten.
Information Book Awards:
The Information Book Awards is run by the School Libraries Association. It aims to emphasise the importance of non-fiction by highlighting and celebrating the high standard of children’s information books. The awards are divided into 3 age categories, judged by a panel of educators. The shortlist has just been announced and the final selection will be made in November.
