Key Communications 2022/2023 | Noadswood school

Dear Year 6 families,

We are really excited to be welcoming you all to the Noadswood family and wanted to share with you a few important details:

Tutor Groups
We are meetng with your children's year 6 teachers this month and constructing tutor groups. At the end of June you will receive an email confirming your child's house and tutor group.

Uniform:
Our full list of uniform can be found here: https://www.noadswood.hants.sch.uk/admissions/year-6-moving/uniform-and-equipment

Please note there are several options for purchasing uniform:

Skool Kit- From Saturday 2nd July until Friday 8th July new Noadswood parents will get 10% off of their uniform purchases for that week.
Noadswood's Parent Staff Association (PSA) will be hosting a second-hand uniform sale on Tuesday 5thJuly 3.15-4.15 at Noadswood, please do pop on down.
We’re extremely mindful of the cost of living increases coming on top of all of the other challenges of the past two years. If you have any financial concerns regarding the of our uniform please email finance@noadswood.hants.sch.uk and we will try our very best to help.
If anything regarding our uniform is unclear please email Dan Rowling, our Assistant Headteacher who will happily answer any queries - drowling@noadswood.hants.sch.uk

Important note: We'd be grateful for parents and carers pausing on the purchase of PE kit until further notice whilst we resolve a stock and supply issue. We apoologise for any inconvenience this causes and please be assured its a top priority to resolve.

Moving Up Days

All pupils will be joining us for two 'Moving Up days.' - we cannot wait to welcome you!

When are the 'Moving Up' days?

Thursday 7th and Friday 8th July- All pupils will join us on this day with the exception of Wildground pupils who will join us on Thursday 14th and Friday 15th July owing to their residential.

What time should my child arrive?

We ask that pupils are in our school hall by 8.40 am. If you intend to drop your child to school, there is only limited access to the school site and so we ask that you park considerately for our neighbours. Members of Noadswood staff will be waiting at our main school gate with a friendly smile, ready to welcome your child and to help navigate them to our school hall.

What will my child be doing?

The 'Moving Up' days are a wonderful opportunity to get to know our school. They will be welcomed by our Headteacher and senior team, as well as their heads of year and their tutor. We will be helping your child to get know our school, they will experience lessons and inspirational talks throughout the two days.

What should my child wear?

We ask that pupils arrive in the school uniform that they wear at their current school. We ask that pupils wear trainers as some of the activities will involve PE.

What do they need to bring?

A packed lunch please, as year 6 pupils will not yet be set up on our system to purchase food. Please note if your child is in receipt of a free school meal, Noadswood will provide this. (Please note we ae a nut free school so please do not pack nut products.)
A snack
A water bottle (This can be re-filled at lunch and break)
Their pencil case

What time should I pick my child up?

Please arrange a meeting place with your child as parents will not be allowed on school site, we will walk year 6 off site to our gates at 2.50.

What happens if my child has a medical condition?

Our school nurse, Jean Cookson will be contacting families with serious medical condition prior to our 'Moving Up' days. If you have a specific concern, please do email Jean directly at jcookson@noadswood.hants.sch.uk and she will arrange a mutually convenient time to talk to you. On the day, if your child has medication, they need to bring this in a clearly labelled bag that they keep with them throughout the two days. Please also do ensure you've logged onto Arbor from the links we have sent and begin populating any medical conditions.

My child has a SEND need, how will they be supported?

Our SENDCo Liz Hyland is meeting with all schools this month so that we are aware of any specific needs. We will ensure that your child ha the appropriate support needed to help them have a fantastic first few days at school. If you have any specific requests, please do email lhyland@noadswood.hants.sch.uk and she will be happy to arrange a time to discuss any concerns. If your child attends Redwood, Chris West will be in contact to discuss what your child's day will look like.

Transition Evening - Wednesday 6th July 6-7 pm.

This will take place in our school hall, please don't worry if you don't know where this is, we'll have plenty of staff on hand to direct you. This is designed for parents and carers only. It is an opportunity for you to meet our Headteacher, Kathryn Marshall, the transition team and your child's head of year 7. On this evening we will detail all of our exciting plans to help your child have the best possible start to secondary school, as well as providing you with the opportunity to ask any questions you may have. Do bring cash as our mighty PSA will be on hand to sell drinks. Prior to attending this please do check out our welcome booklet

And our dedicated 'Moving Up' webpage which we hope will answer many of the questions you may have: https://www.noadswood.hants.sch.uk/admissions/welcome-year-6

Arbor

Please do look out for out Arbor email to get you logged onto our system, and begin populating it with consents, permissions, medical information and contact details. Thank you to everyone who has done this so far. If you haven't received an invite, please do contact us via movingup@noadswood.hants.sch.uk

Summer Camp

All families who have signed up have received an email confirming their child's place. Do check your junk and spam boxes for any movingup@noadswood.hants.sch.uk emails that may have found their way there. If you have any specific questions please do contact our dedicated movingup email and we'd be only too happy to assist. We have a super few days planned full of fun filled activities, designed to really help us get to know your child. A few families have contacted us to say that they have missed our earlier communications, the link to sign up is below (click here):

We hope that you are well and are enjoying the sunshine! If you have received this email your child is successfully signed up to Summer Camp on their selected days. Please note Summer Camp bookings are now shut. I just wanted to take the opportunity to remind you of the key details:

When is Summer camp?

25/07/2022 and 26/07/2022.

What times are Summer Camp?

We ask pupils to arrive through our main school entrance (clearly signposted) and staff will be there ready to direct them to our school hall.

Timings:	Event:
9-9.20	Arrival
9.20-10.35	Activity 1
10.35-11	Break
11-12.15	Activity 2
12.15-1.00	Lunch
1-2.15	Activity 3
2.15	Departure

What will my child be doing?

They will be rotating around 3 fantastic sessions each day, from PE, to cookery, to crafting and bucket list writing- to name just a few!

What should my child wear?

They should wear active wear as there will be PE based activities. There will be a variety of activities, some of these will be inside and others outside and so their clothing should be mindful of the weather. e.g a hat if its sunny and a coat if its chilly or raining.

What should my child bring?

A bottle of water and if they have selected to bring their own lunch, they should bring this with them. If your child has asthma or a specific medical condition that requires medication, we will ask you to ensure that they bring this with them each day in a clearly labelled bag.

How will my child be grouped?

We will try where possible to group pupils based on their new tutor groups, this will allow them the opportunity to see friends and meet new ones.

Our team of teachers and learning support assistants cannot wait to welcome your child to our Summer Camp

Day Trips and Residentials

We hope that you are all well. I am writing to you to give advance notice of a residential trip we will be running for all of your children in July 2023. The trip will be to Little Canada, Isle of Wight on the 17th-19th July 2023. This will be a joint trip for your children and our current year 7 pupils.

We are so excited to be able to offer this trip, as we endeavor to return to the enrichment opportunities that we all enjoyed pre-C19. With the cost of living situation as it is, we very much understand the challenges many families face and so we have worked hard to source the most competitive package and to ensure that we give as much notice to families as we can. We do know that residential trips are not always for everyone and so if your child does not wish to attend, nearer the time we will communicate about what children who decide to stay in school will have the opportunity to do.

Depending on the number of pupils taking part, the cost of these activities will be approximately £341, payable in 8 instalments, the first being a deposit of £30. You will receive a letter in September once your child starts detailing how and when you can pay your deposit- so there is no action required now. We simply wanted to let you know with as much notice as possible. If your child is in receipt of Pupil Premium, there is financial assistance available which we will detail in September.

MFL Language Choices

Dear Parent/Guardian,

I am writing to you as a parent of a year 6 child coming to Noadswood School in September, to explain the opportunities available in Modern Foreign Languages at Noadswood for your child.

On entry, pupils are able to learn either French or German. This is because both French and German remain in great demand by UK businesses. We are unable to offer Spanish in year 7.

The language your child studies in year 7 will continue in year 8, in order to ensure they gain the necessary language skills to enable them to deepen their skills and study a language further in the future.

There is also an opportunity for pupils to study a second language in year 8, depending on their ability and progress made in year 7.

If there is a strong reason why your child should study a particular language, for example German grandparents, a bilingual child who would benefit from learning a different language, please could you complete the linked form by Friday 1st July 2022.

Due to staffing, timetabling and set sizes, we can only try as hard as we can to accommodate requests where there is a strong reason, that we have received by the deadline. All children study a foreign language at Noadswood, however the choice of foreign language is sometimes dictated by a specialist curriculum for those who may require extra support.

I will look at individual requests and do my best to accommodate them, where I can.

Yours sincerely,

Mrs Z. Hockings

Curriculum Manager for Modern Foreign Languages