Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
Standish Community
High School [email protected]
Bulletin for students and parents / carers Friday 22nd January 2021
Message from Mrs Barker, Head of School
Welcome to another edition of our weekly school bulletin.
It can be hard in lockdown to maintain your levels of fitness – especially in the light of group
training sessions, the closure of gyms and swimming pools and the cessation of sports clubs and
activities. Despite this, our Standish Community has been increasingly focused on maintaining our
physical well-being through a variety of innovative solutions.
Some of the highlights have included Mr Balan and Mrs Pilkington leading a series of exciting
virtual fitness sessions for staff, Mr Byron running 5K a day throughout January to raise money for
charity and I have written this week to parents with details about our PE live lessons designed to
keep children active. Not only that but as a school, the staff of Standish are collectively recording
the distances we all walk, run or cycle during lockdown to see how far we can travel together as a
group. There’ll be weekly updates in this bulletin so look out below for the current total.
Have a restful weekend and stay safe.
Mrs Barker
Who to contact
Students can email their teachers regarding their academic work between 8.50am and 3.15pm.
For parental enquiries, please email [email protected]. This correspondence
will be accessed between the normal school hours of 8.30am – 3.30pm.
Useful Links to help with home-learning
Microsoft Office 365 – https://www.office.com Student Expectations - https://www.standishchs.wigan.sch.uk/live-lesson-expectations/265.html
For ICT technical support, please email: [email protected]
Please include:
A description of the problem/issue Screenshot/s of any error messages Details of the device/browser you are using.
Keeping safe online
At this time of working from home, it is very important our students keep themselves safe online.
Internet safety information - including the Standish Community High School e-safety information
booklet for parents - can be found on the key information section of the school website:
https://www.standishchs.wigan.sch.uk/internet-safety/69.html
Keeping safe at home
Our school website has a number of resources to promote well-being and to improve mental
health. There are currently resources to help pupils and parents when discussing and dealing with
loss: https://www.standishchs.wigan.sch.uk/wellbeing/88.html
Many of us are struggling with how the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic is affecting ourselves and our loved ones. Those of us already living with mental health problems are facing extra challenges too. Here you'll find some information and tips to help you cope during this time: www.mind.org.uk/information-support/coronavirus/
Useful websites to support the well-being of our young people
https://www.annafreud.org/selfcare/
https://www.walyc.org.uk/ (Young Carers Wigan & Leigh)
https://riseabove.org.uk/topic/my-mind/
https://youth.anxietycanada.com/
https://www.moodjuice.scot.nhs.uk
https://papyrus-uk.org/help-advice-2/
Useful websites to support parents
https://www.relate.org.uk/relationship-help/help-family-life-and-parenting/parenting-teenagers
Booking line for telephone or webcam counselling: 0300 003 0396
https://youngminds.org.uk/find-help/for-parents/parents-helpline/
Call for free Mon-Fri from 9.30am to 4pm – available in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern
Ireland: 0808 802 5544
https://www.charlottelowepsychologicalservices.co.uk/files/mental-health-support-directory-cyp-
cl.pdf
Directory and resources for a wide range of issues
https://www.annafreud.org/media/7223/secondary-parents-leaflet-final-proofed.pdf
http://www.selfhelpguides.ntw.nhs.uk/penninecare/
https://www.cci.health.wa.gov.au/Resources/Looking-After-Yourself
https://papyrus-uk.org/help-advice-2/
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-guidance-on-supporting-children-and-
young-peoples-mental-health-and-wellbeing
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/
876989/Easy_read_looking_after_your_feelings_and_body.pdf
https://www.nhs.uk/oneyou/every-mind-matters/
Getting online at an affordable price
There are lots of ways in which students can gain access to remote learning and live lessons
without an expensive laptop. There are some good deals on tablets at the moment, for instance:
Huawei MediaPad T3 10 Inch 16GB Tablet £99
Huawei Mediapad T5 10 Inch 16GB Tablet £120
Huawei MediaPad T5 10.1 Inch 32GB Tablet £140
Lenovo M10 10.1in 16GB HD Tablet £109
Lenovo M10 10.1in 32GB HD Tablet - £129
All these tablets have access to the Google Play Store to download the Microsoft Teams app. Tablets can be paired with a compatible Bluetooth Keyboard to improve the user experience and complete written work.
Other brands of tablet are available - these are just examples. The school is not affiliated in any way with the products or companies listed above and does not take responsibility for any compatibility/technical issues that may arise. Please check the specification and ask the retailer if you are not sure.
General notices
For those children still attending school, we would like to ask all parent / carers to please ensure
their child is equipped with a mask and a couple of spares each day, in case of loss or damage.
Disposable face masks can be purchased online via SCOPAY costing £3 for 10 and will be
delivered to your child.
Please can we ask that your child does not bring into school:
Nuts of any type – Lupin – Kiwi – Shellfish
This is due to a number of staff and students having very serious allergy issues. Also please do not allow your child to bring any nuts into school as a snack or part of a packed lunch. Thank you for your support with this.
SIMS Parents app Communications will be sent via the SIMS Parents app rather than Schoolcomms. This means you may get text messages or emails from a different source number or email address than you normally would. In the case of emails, please check your junk/spam folder on a regular basis and mark any school emails as 'not junk' or add the source email to your safe sender list. It is planned that most communications will be via email or the SIMS Parents app message function so please make sure you can access the app; however, all unexplained absence messages will be sent via a normal text message - as they currently are. If you have difficulties accessing the app or have any other questions about this, please contact us using the following email address: [email protected]
Examples of excellent work this week
Students in school
The students in school are working very hard to access the same remote education as those at
home. It’s been a very wet week but spirits have remained high. Well done to Mrs Nulty for
volunteering to be goalkeeper! Also, students took part in the Packed Lunch Challenge, making
their own lunch, no adults allowed! On Wednesday, Regan and Harriet brought in these fabulous
lunches – Regan made Bento style rice cats as well as a delicious fruit and yoghurt dessert for
breaktime! Harriet was inspired by her favourite TV characters and spent hours making brownies.
Well done Regan and Harriet!
Poetry Success
Wonderful news from a former student,
Katie Bilsborough, who got in touch to let us
know that a poem she wrote during the first
session of national lockdown during her
remote English lessons has been published
in Wigan Old Courts’ anthology, The
Language of Lockdown. Katie, who has
continued her studies in English Literature
at college, had been encouraged to enter
the poem by her teacher, Mr Blakemore,
who was delighted to see her work selected
for publication. You can read Katie’s
submission below.
Well done Katie – everyone at Standish is
very proud of you!
Mr Byron’s 5K Challenge
Mr Byron has already smashed his £500 target so he will be running his final 5K in fancy dress. If
you would like to donate to Alzheimer’s Society, please use the link below:
https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/chris-byron4
Well done Mr Byron!
The Great Standish Lockdown Challenge
Members of our fabulous staff along with their households / support bubbles are walking, skipping, running and cycling as far as they can every week. Distances will be totalled every week to see how far Standish Staff can travel during Lockdown. So far, we have ‘travelled’ 1000km – that’s the equivalent of Standish to Berlin as the crow flies!
Be a Champion Jamie Peacock – 30 Day Pupil & Staff Well-being Challenges
“Hi! I’m Jamie Peacock. I am a former Rugby League Champion player. In my rugby career, I
played over 500 games, including over 50 times for England and Great Britain. I’ve also won 11
Super League Grand Finals, 4 Challenge Cups, 4 World Club Challenges and I was selected for
the Super League Dream Team World Best 13.”
“I didn’t start out as a champion. But I believe everybody has a champion within them. Over the
next 30 days, we’ll go on a journey to discover your inner champion.”
“I was able to excel in my career because of my focus on and understanding of the importance of
well-being. If you don’t know already, well-being consists of 4 areas:
Positive mindset
Sleeping well
Physical activity Eating healthily
For more information about this free event click the link: https://schooladvice.co.uk/jamiepeacock/
Recipe from Mrs Aitchison
Lemon Tart
For the Pastry
250g plain flour
125g butter
50g caster sugar
1 egg
For the Filling
4 eggs
125g caster sugar
125ml double cream
3 lemons
A tart tin
First make the pastry
(1) Place 250g plain flour in a mixing bowl and add a pinch of salt.
(2) Weigh 125g of butter, cube and add to the flour. Rub the butter into the flour until it looks
like breadcrumbs.
(3) Add 50g of icing sugar using a sieve to remove lumps.
(4) Separate an egg, throwing the white away. Add around 4 tbsp. of cold water to the egg yolk
and whisk together.
(5) Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and add the egg mixture. Stir to form a
dough.
(6) Gently bring the dough together on the worktop.
(7) Roll out the pastry to the thickness of a £1 coin and line the tin, pressing into the sides and
edges gently.
(8) Allow to come over the tin a little (trim if it comes over a lot). Use a fork to make holes in the
case before covering with greaseproof paper and a few tins of baked beans to weigh it
down.
(9) Bake the pastry case in the oven (preheated to 180⁰C) for 15 minutes. Remove the
greaseproof paper and tins carefully and put back into the oven for a further 5 minutes.
Next make the filling
(1) Wash the lemons and grate on the small, smooth side of a grater before juicing the lemons.
(2) Mix all of the ingredients together except the zest, whisking the eggs first, with a standard,
non-electric hand whisk.
(3) Sieve the mixture into a measuring jug before stirring in the zest.
(4) Carefully pour into the pastry case.
(5) Reduce the oven temperature to 150⁰C and bake the tart for 30 minutes, when it should be
set.
(6) Allow to thoroughly cool before slicing.
Enjoy!
Mrs Charnock’s Books of the Week
KS3 Recommended Read
After a brief overview on why the planet needs saving in the
first place, the book focuses on what can and is being done to
tackle these challenges, from small everyday changes that
anyone can take to big, international missions.
KS4 Recommended Read
In this self-help guide that discusses topics from stereotyping
and unconscious bias to managing emotions and self-
confidence, Liam’s advice and guidance helps build
resilience and understanding so readers can be their best,
most fearless selves.
Happy Reading!
Mrs Charnock, LRC Manager
RSPB Great Big Garden Bird Watch
For the weekend commencing 29th – 31st of January, the RSPB are completing their annual Big
Garden Birdwatch. This is really important as it allows them to keep a record of bird numbers
across the UK and helps the RSPB identify any birds that may be struggling and need some help.
The Green Team at Standish Community High School are hoping as many families as possible will
complete this project. It can be completed at any time over the weekend and takes 1 hour. Please
use the link below for more details.
https://www.rspb.org.uk/get-involved/activities/birdwatch/everything-you-need-to-know-about-big-
garden-birdwatch/
The Futures Team
Wigan & Leigh College
The next event in our series of virtual events is our ‘Applicant Parent Evening’ which takes place on Thursday 28th January, 6 - 7pm. The event will cover topics that explore wider college life and delve deeper in to how we support students beyond the classroom, including:
- Transition to College (Preparing & Supporting Year 11 for Further Education)
- Career Planning
- Enrichment and Extracurricular Activities
There is also a chance to meet the College Principal, Anna Dawe, and participate in a live question & answer session. This event is open for all to attend, so if any of your students are yet to complete their application to the college, they are most welcome. Registration for the event is open, and can be found by visiting https://wiganleigh.onlineopendays.com/ before clicking ‘Book My Place’ and then selecting ‘Parent Evening’.
Winstanley College
The deadline for applications to study at Winstanley College has been extended until Friday 5th
March.
Please keep checking your emails for details of Interview Evenings which are taking place in
February. Winstanley College are planning events over the next couple of months to help you to
find out more about Winstanley College and College life - this will be communicated to you via
email.
If you need any help or support with applications, email the Futures Team on
Alumni
The Futures Team are proud to launch the new alumni section of the website. It’s a place to
celebrate ex-Standish students and the diverse pathways they have taken since leaving Standish
CHS. We hope that Standish played a role in forming, supporting and guiding that pathway in
some way. If you are a past student or know someone who is, please ask them to complete the
online communication form so we can share their career journey to hopefully inspire the next
generation of Standish students.
Please follow the link to our alumni page: https://www.standishchs.wigan.sch.uk/careers/228.html
https://www.standishchs.wigan.sch.uk/celebrating-student-career-pathways--their-story/267.html
Parents Zone
The Futures Team would also like to invite parents to complete our online 'Parental
Questionnaire'. We are looking for some feedback from our parents in relation to your
understanding and potential experience (through your child) of the careers programme here at
Standish. It might be helpful to complete this with your child to obtain a clear view of all the
questions but we certainly appreciate any feedback or suggestions on how to keep improving our
careers and destinations programme going forward. Click the link to take you to the parental
section of the Futures section: https://www.standishchs.wigan.sch.uk/parents2/243.html
Mr Prout
Happier January
How can we start this New Year happier? Things have certainly not been easy over the last
year, and we are still in difficult and uncertain times. The best way to try to handle our difficult
emotions and experiences is by focusing on what we can control. This month, focus on small
steps to try to boost happiness - for ourselves and others around us - to spread kindness and
hopefully inspire others to do the same.
Thought for the Day:
