Codsall Community High School Weekly Newsletter

CCHS Newsletter 27 - 21st June 2021

Weekly Message from Mr Harding, Executive Head Teacher

We are now two weeks into the last half term of the year and school feels
more like school than it has done for a long time.

As you'll see in this newsletter we have had our Duke of Edinburgh Award activities starting up again and this is something I'm delighted about. Our students have done so well over the last few years in terms of volunteering, helping their community and pushing themselves beyond what they thought that they were capable of. I'm really proud of the way in which they get stuck in and do the school proud.

There is also some information on social media within this newsletter. Hand on heart, if I could un-invent any social media I would! However, it is with us and we need to ensure that our young people are using it appropriately and sensibly. Unfortunately, all schools experience issues with social media so it's really important that we are all as well informed as possible.

I hope that everyone has a good week and that you continue to enjoy
the football!

Covid19 Symptoms

Please remember - In the interests of keeping all our students and staff safe, if your child has any symptoms associated with COVID, including the new symptoms, please keep your child away from school until they have taken a PCR test.
Many thanks for your co-operation.

Thank You - 1

We would like to say a massive and well deserved THANK YOU to staff for the magnificent way they have risen to the challenges of the last 15 months with all the extra duties they have had to perform.

The Site Team
Firstly to the whole of the Site team, (some of whom are pictured above) who have had to contend with all the preparations to allow us to welcome students back into school safely, extra cleaning tasks, driving the minibuses, responding to ever-changing regulations in order to allow our students and staff a safe return to school.
Thank you to Mr Stringer-Abbotts and his team.

Thank You - 2

The IT Department
A massive thank you also to the IT department for setting up systems to allow our teaching staff and students to keep in contact via the internet. Without their expertise and hard work, school would have ground to a halt during lockdown. They worked diligently to set up systems very quickly which allowed lessons to continue.
Thank you to Mr Buckley, Mr Daker and Mr Stackhouse.

Orchard Lane Gate

The back gate that links the school field to Orchard Lane is now in use
for morning arrival and evening departure from school.
It is locked at 08:39 as the member of staff leaves to go to tutor time, which starts at 08:40.
Our first bell rings at 08:35 to signal to students that they need
to go to their tutor room.

Football Tournament

Last Friday our Football Academy hosted an U15 football tournament on the 3G pitches at Codsall High School. The tournament was well attended by ten local teams and enjoyed by all.
The eventual winners were Burntwood Dragons who beat their other team in the final on penalties!

Entrust Music Lessons

Entrust, the music services provider for Staffordshire, are offering free instrument tuition until the end of the Summer term for Codsall High School pupils who wish to begin learning an instrument. Interested pupils will receive a free weekly lesson during schooltime, with lessons then becoming chargeable in September if they wish to continue them.

Free lessons are available for piano / keyboard, woodwind, brass and drums / percussion.

Any pupils wishing to take up this offer please contact Mr Wilson at cwl@ch-pb.com or via the school office at office@cc-hs.com
or 01902 907560.

Information - Duke of Edinburgh Award

Reminder - Dates for your Diary
Duke of Edinburgh Award

Year 10 - Bronze Award

22nd June - First aid training and map skills (school)
23rd-24th June - Qualifying expedition (Long Mynd)
25th June - Kit back, eDofE and presentation (school)

Year 10 and Year 11 - Silver Award
22nd June - First aid training / route / planning / map skills (school)
30th June - 2nd July - Practice expedition (Llangollen)
12th -14th July - Qualifying expedition (White Peaks)
15th July - Kit back, eDofE and presentation (school)

Year 12 and Year 13 - Gold Award
29th June - First aid training / wilderness camp / route cards (school)
5th-9th July - Practice expedition (Snowdonia)
19th -23rd July - Qualifying expedition (Snowdonia, Harlech to Barmouth)

Duke of Edinburgh Award - Volunteering

Over the last year students from CCHS have volunteered their time helping great causes and charities to support the DofE award at bronze, silver and gold level. In total they have volunteered a total of 1,248 hours, which equates to seven and a half weeks.
A massive WELL DONE to all the students that have taken part.

Upcoming Events

Each Wednesday and Sunday - Reminder - Staff and Student home Lateral Flow Tests to be done and results submitted through the school website

Monday-Friday 21st-25th June - Year 12 Assessment week
- Year 9 Assessment week

Monday-Friday 28th June-2nd July - Year 10 (not 10K) Assessment week

Wednesday 7th July - Year 8 Virtual Induction day

Staff Commendations

Students that have been nominated for extra praise by teaching staff and will receive extra Achievement points for their Head of Year/ Senior Leadership Team nomination which can be seen on EduLink.
The students nominated this week are as follows:

Isaac B Aimee B Owen C
Kane G Jacob H Josh M
Luke R Jasmin S Freya S
Tiffany S Ethan S Freddy W

The School Day

REMINDER - For this final half term we have moved back to the normal timings for the school day (pre Covid model) and have reintroduced school bells.

The school day is now as follows;

8:40 to 9:00 - registration / form period (warning bell rung at 8:35, second bell at 8:40)
9:00 - 10:00 - P1 (bells will be rung to note start and finish)
10:00 - 11:00 - P2 (bell at 11)
11:00 - 11:20 - Break
11:20 - 12:20 - P3 (warning bell at 11:15, second bell at 11:20)
12:20 - 1:20 - P4 (bells at 12:20 and 1:20)
1:20 - 1:55 - lunch (students will remain in their separate social areas. Warning bell at 1:50, second bell at 1:55)
1:55 - 2:55 - P5 (final bell at 2:55)

Advice on Social Media Use

The information below is from the Safeguarding Leads at Staffordshire.gov in reply to national concerns over a small number of students using socian media and other links to facilitate online bullying and arguments over these platforms. The information shows the recommended ages for access to certain social media platforms.
More advice can be found at:
http://roz.randall@staffordshire.gov.uk/viki.hulme@staffordshire.gov.uk 8

Book Recommendations

Another book suitable for teenagers to read.
Some will be linked to a particular curriculum area, others will simply be books that your child might be interested in reading or that you might both want to read and compare notes.

I Woke Up Dead at the Mall
by Kathryn Evans (Audiobook and E-Book)

When you’re sixteen, you have your whole life ahead of you. Unless you’re Sarah. Not to give anything away, but . . . she’s dead. Murdered, in fact. Sarah’s murder is shocking because she couldn’t be any more average. No enemies. No risky behaviour. She’s just the girl on the side lines. Sarah has woken up dead at the Mall of America and with the help of her death coach, she must learn to move on or she could meet a fate totally worse than death: becoming a mall walker. As she tries to finish her unfinished business alongside her fellow dead teens, Sarah falls hard for a cute boy named Nick.
And she discovers an uncanny ability to haunt the living.

Available for free on Sora. Sora link: https://soraapp.com/home - this is for all Year 9 or Year 10 pupils. If any pupils can't remember their logins (they are written in their yellow books) then they can email at efo@ch-pb.com

Suitable for: All year groups at CCHS
ISBN: 9780553512496

Students are still being encouraged to sign up for a free online tool recently produced by a charity called Read for Good. Students are sent unique web links where they register their reading and the number of minutes they have spent reading, which then contributes to a 'school total'. It's really easy to use - for pupils to be able to log a variety of different texts on this, e.g. article, comic, book. The school's page can be found here https://trackmyread.org/public/I9Cku4VoTlyyCjaPdWq4

Thank you to all of the students who have already registered their reading. Miss Ford is very pleased with your progress!

General Reminders

SCHOOL UNIFORM REMINDERS

The expectations for Year 10 and 11 school uniform can be found here.
https://www.cc-hs.com/uniform/

The expectations for Year 9 school uniform can be found here:
https://www.cc-hs.com/year-9-uniform/

Lads & Lasses are offering a click and collect uniform service.
https://www.ladsandlassesschoolwear.co.uk/

In line with COVID-19 guidance we are limiting the visitor access to our site to essential visitors and appointments only. Please email office@cc-hs.com if you are unsure if your propsed visit is essential or if you wish to make an appointment.

Community Events

Safe+Sound Event

Staffordshire Fire & Rescue held a special Safe+Sound event last week aimed at KS3 students. Safe+Sound is a programme of safety, wellbeing and life-skills messages created by their specialist partners, then compiled to produce a programme that was transmitted on the Learn Live platform. The seven topics included are:

Ditch the blade – Staffordshire Police
Distractions – Staffordshire Safer Roads Partnership
Railway Safety – Network Rail
Cycling and Bikeability - Staffordshire Safer Roads Partnership
Body Scan Yoga – Sporting Communities
Are You Listening? – Staffordshire Police
Home Escape Plans – Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service

The programme is approximately 40 minutes long, to view it please follow this link and scroll down to watch: https://learnliveuk.com/safesound/.

If you would like us to share a community event with others in a future newsletter, please contact the school with details email: office@cc-hs.com

Have your circumstances changed recently?

Parents claiming some benefits can claim free school meals for any of their children who are registered at a Staffordshire school and who would normally be at school at lunch time. School meals are a good way to ensure that your child eats well at lunchtime and you can save yourself time and money.

Even if you don't want your children to have the meals, claiming them helps their school. The more eligible parents who claim meals, the more funding the school receives.

https://www.staffordshire.gov.uk/Education/Educational-awards-benefits/FreeSchoolMeals/Apply-online.aspx