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Headteacher Foreword
As we reach the end of another vibrant and productive term, I am delighted to share some of the achievements and events that have taken place at our school and which you can read about in the first newsletter of the academic year.
We are incredibly proud of Barnaby Newman, who has been crowned the U15 World Coarse Fishing Champion. His dedication and skill in the sport are truly inspiring, and we celebrate his remarkable achievement.
Huge congratulations to the students who have received a Headteacher Commendation for their hard work and efforts. These students have shown exceptional dedication, perseverance, and commitment to their studies, setting a great example for their peers. Their achievements highlight the importance of hard work and determination, and we are incredibly proud of their success.
I would also like to extend my congratulations to our Warhammer club members for their success in the recent national competition, something that was a first for the school. Their dedication and strategic prowess have truly set them apart.
Our Maths Challenge participants have made us proud with their exceptional problem-solving skills and mathematical talent. Their hard work and determination have paid off, and they have achieved commendable results.
Lastly, I would like to draw your attention to an important resource for parents regarding County Lines. It is crucial that we stay informed and vigilant to ensure the safety and well-being of our students. Please find the link to this resource below.
As we look forward to the next term, I want to thank you all for your continued support and commitment to our school community. Together, we will continue to strive for excellence and provide our students with the best possible education and opportunities.
Wishing you all a restful and enjoyable break.
Mr Law
Headteacher
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More Useful Dates for Your Diary
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Wednesday 20 November - Year 13 Parents' Evening
Thursday 5 December - Year 9 Parents' Evening (in person)
Thursday 19 December 2024 - End of Term 2
School Closed for Staff Training - Monday 6 January 2025
Tuesday 7 January 2025 - Start of Term 3
Wednesday 15 January 2025 - Year 12 Parents' Evening
Wednesday 29 January 2025 - Year 9 Curriculum Evening (Options)
Wednesday 12 February 2025 - Year 10 Parents' Evening (in person)
Thursday 27 February 2025 - Year 11 Parents' Evening (in person)
Thursday 13 March 2025 - Year 7 Parents' Evening (in person)
Wednesday 19 March - Year 8 Parents' Evening (in person)
Please see further dates and useful information on the school website www.carres.uk
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Headteacher's Commendation
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Congratulations to the recipients of the Headteacher's Commendation
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The sponsored walk involved students from Carre's and Kesteven and Sleaford High School walking 10 miles on a marshalled route around Sleaford, taking in Rauceby and Silk Willoughby.
The Carre's chosen charities received £256.19 each, as determined by the students, with the remaining funds being put towards enhanced IT provision at Carre's and other projects at Kesteven and Sleaford High School.
Year 10 - Kidney Research UK
Year 9 - Prostate Cancer UK
Year 8 - Retina UK
Year 7 - sponsored Lincs Air Ambulance
Well done to all the students for taking part and a huge thank you to all the staff involved in organising, administering, marshalling, setting up and clearing up after the event.
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The purpose of the event was to raise awareness and interest in the diversity of careers available within the construction industry.
Lincolnshire Showground was converted into a workshop for over 16 different activities including joinery, plastering, plumbing, building, painting and decorating.
As well as trying the various activities for themselves, the students were able to quiz the industry professionals and about what day-to-day life in construction is like.
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Year 12 English Literature students enjoyed a visit to The Crucible Theatre in Sheffield to watch A Doll's house by Henrik Ibsen.
Henrik Ibsen’s powerful drama is directed by Elin Schofield (Scissors) and adapted by Olivier award winner Chris Bush (Standing at the Sky’s Edge). ‘A Doll’s House’ is an exam text, so was not only an enjoyable trip but a highly beneficial one too.
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The Sixth Form students were visited by the Rotary Club to talk about their charity Shoebox Scheme. These boxes are filled with toys, colouring books, crayons, stickers, writing pads, games, playing cards, toiletries, scarves, gloves, hats and then distributed to many good causes in Eastern Europe.
Three members of Miss Mills' form; Will, Aaron and Daniel, brought in items to help fill the shoeboxes.
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Congratulations to George Anderson, Otis Cassidy and Matthew Whitehead who all gained Gold Certificates in the recent UKMT Senior Maths Challenge. This is an impressive achievement and all three students have now qualified for the Kangaroo round in November, which is a challenging follow-up competition involving high-level problem-solving!
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Warhammer begins another successful year, but with some changes. Mr Brown kindly allows the Warhammer club to continue in his room, as well as being part of the team that oversees this popular club.
Mrs James is also part of this group, and she enjoys the lively hubbub of the game playing. Will and Aaron continue to be pivotal to the running of the club.
We have been delighted to welcome lots of Year 7s.
New players are always welcome. Room 26 Tuesday Break 2
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Fabulous Year 8 art work by Archie 8L, Aiden 8B, Max 8B
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Super Year 7 art work by Hayden 7W and Rafferty 7W
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Terrific Year 10 art work by Joe C 10B and Will C 10L
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Fishing Glory for Barnaby
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At the beginning of August, a team of five under-15s flew to Serbia to fish the World Coarse Fishing Championships on the DTD canal.
After 4 days of practice and with a confident team, the draw took place for pegs. Barnaby drew D5 and, on the Saturday, caught catfish, gobbies, skimmers, roach, asp and carrasio to weigh 2 kilos 390 grams to win the section and the overall match.
The other members of the team did extremely well to amass 8 points and to win the World Championship as a team. Barnaby also won the individual prize and is now the Under-15s World Champion!
Barnaby's older brother Josh, a former Carre's student, competed in the Under-25 category and finished 4th Individual after a section and match win on the second day of their competition.
World rankings based over a 5-year period were released recently and Barnaby is 5th and Josh is 4th in the world.
Well done to both Barnaby and Josh!
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Theo started Karate aged 6 or 7 and attends sessions 4 times a week. He obtained his brown belt just before the summer holidays, as he had always aimed and focused on obtaining his brown belt before starting secondary school.
The deep sea diving was Theo's first encounter with scuba diving in Turkey with his uncle this year. They went below the surface where he was able to swim with fish and see some form of wreck (Mum can't remember what it was now but something very rusty!).
Theo now has an appetite for taking lessons so that he can go deep sea diving again on future trips abroad.
Well done Theo!
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County Lines and Child Exploitation Parent Webinars from the Ivison Trust 26 November 7-8.30pm via Zoom
From The Ivison Trust:
Join our interactive webinar where we will share what criminal exploitation, including county lines, is and how to spot signs it may be happening to your child or a child you know.
We cover what it looks like in your local area and where to get advice and support if you are concerned.
The interactive webinar will also give you the opportunity to ask questions, share concerns and connect with others.
• Learn what county lines is
• Understand what is happening in your local area
• Understand the signs that your child might be at risk
• Learn how offenders groom and exploit children
The webinar will be hosted live over zoom. Once you have registered, we will send you the log-in details for joining.
All booking links are live now.
www.ivisontrust.org.uk/webinars
Kind Regards
Kathryn
Kathryn Smith | Community Safety Strategy Coordinator with lead for Preventative Education
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Sickness/medical absence can be notified to the school office by telephone call 01529 302181 (we have an answer machine for outside office hours), the MCAS App, or via email: enquiries@carres.uk
If your son/daughter is poorly/injured during the school day, they should come to the school office for assessment/treatment. Office staff will then make the decision to contact parents and arrange for collection. Students should not call home if they feel poorly.
A polite reminder that the front car park should not be used to drop students off in the morning or at the end of the school day. This is for safety reasons due to the number of students and staff arriving/leaving the site.
If your son/daughter needs to be collected during the day for an appointment/is injured or poorly, you are welcome to use the front car park.
Thank you for helping to keep our site safe for everyone.
Road Safety
Please reiterate to your son/daughter the need to stop at the kerb and check for vehicles before crossing any roads, not to be on a mobile phone whilst crossing and be aware of members of the public when using the pavements/market place and other areas.
Thank you
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Music Lessons
If your son/daughter has music tuition during the school day, please ask them to check the timing of their lesson, which is displayed on the timetables near the music practice rooms.
Tuition time will be missed if a tutor has to collect a student from a school lesson.
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Lost Property Amnesty
Please remember to label all PE kit and school property - as we had a large collection of unnamed and unclaimed water bottles, lunch boxes, shoes, trousers, coats and PE kit in the July lost property amnesty.
If your son/daughter has lost any items, please ask them to come to the office to look through the lost property boxes.
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Free School Meals / Pupil Premium Grant
As a school we feel that it is vital for all our students to enjoy a healthy lunch.
Your son may be eligible for free school meals alongside several other benefits if you are in receipt of one or more of the following qualifying benefits:
Children, who get paid these benefits directly, instead of through a parent or carer, can also get free school meals.
Parents and carers can apply for free school meals online at https://lcc.cloud.servelec-synergy.com/parentportal
In addition to your son benefitting from a healthy lunch, a successful application will also entitle you and your son to a range of other benefits through whole school funding. Full details of how this additional funding is spent can be found in detail on the school website Pupil Premium and Service Premium pages. The funding is given directly to schools so it can be targeted to ensure the qualifying students make academic progress in line with their peers.
At Carre's Grammar School we do, however, invite parents/carers of qualifying students to draw down some of this funding, increased for next academic year to £120, to subsidise any of the following costs:
- uniform (including PE uniform and school shoes)
- transport costs (for students coming from outside of our designated transport area or who have to make a contribution to their transport
We simply ask that parents/carers complete the claim form on the school website. On completion, please return your form, and receipts, to the Finance Office or to finance@robertcarretrust.uk. If you need any further assistance or have any questions, the finance team will be more than happy to help and can be contacted at the above email address.
This national government funding is only allocated to the school if an application is made by a parent/carer and approved. Therefore, it is vital that parents/carers of students eligible to claim for free school meals do so. Your child is NOT obliged to eat a free school meal and can, if preferred, maintain their current lunch arrangements. The funding will provide other benefits in school too such as financial support with residential trips and visits for your child.
It should be noted that our cashless catering system does not differentiate between a student who pays for their meals and a student on free school meals. This means that no student can be identified as being on free school meals, removing any stigma.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the Finance Office on 01529 411017.
Yours faithfully
Lauren Bedford
Director of Finance and Resources
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Information for Parents/Carers
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Purchasing a smartphone for a child?
Is it the right time to get my child a smartphone? This is something we are asked a lot by parents. A new film by the charity Nip in the Bud discusses the hidden dangers of social media and smartphone use amongst children. If you are considering getting your child a phone, we would urge you to watch the film here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Zhfd0jW7iY&t=605s The film provides insights from children, headteachers and doctors, shedding light on the everyday harm caused by digital platforms.
Key facts:
- 90% of 11-year-olds own a smartphone, and most under 13 have a social media profile.
- 90% of girls and 50% of boys have received explicit pictures or videos they didn’t want to see.
- 80% of teenage girls are pressured to provide sexual images of themselves.
- 1 in 5 children have been bullied online. Amongst them, 24% self-harm and 22% change their appearance due to bullying. Only 13% delete the app where they are bullied.
- Boys as young as 13 have been targeted for sextortion scams.
- MRI scans show screen time reduces brain areas responsible for visual processing, empathy, attention, memory and early reading skills.
- Psychologists, headteachers and GPs are advocating for stricter guidelines: no smartphones until age 14, no social media until age 16.
You can read more information here which provides more options to consider around technology prior to purchasing smartphones for children. Smartphones and social media fact sheet | Nip in the Bud | Free Downloadable Fact Sheet
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A Halloween message from Lincolnshire Police
I usually write to you in the run-up to the summer break, but with Halloween fast approaching, I want to reach out to you, specifically in light of a recent incident in Sleaford this past week.
Halloween sees an increase in Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB) which the team here will try to manage through increased patrols to help everyone trying to enjoy Halloween properly to feel safe while out and about. Amongst the many costumes and props sold in the shops at this time of year are a number of - on the face of it - plastic toys representing knives and machetes. While these are not real, they can look very real, and some of the items available are plastic toys and props which are close replicas of machetes and zombie knives.
Not wishing to be the party pooper, I understand that many people at this time of year will use such props and toys as part of an innocently-intentioned fancy dress costume – but I just wanted to warn you about the risks of those items being used or shown off in public.
Last weekend we had an incident where two children in their early teens purchased a foot-long plastic machete-style knife, and walked through town with it, not in fancy dress, and some time away from Halloween. At one point, they made the very ill-advised choice to chase someone. This caused some serious fear and concern and there was a 999 call to police reporting teenagers armed with a zombie knife. We have a duty to swiftly and robustly respond to potential threats of this nature, and it sparked a full-blown firearms deployment to Sleaford for armed officers to locate them.
The boys were located, and it was established the item was a plastic prop – they were given some stern words of advice, as were the parents.
I, and I am sure you, do not want our children to have to go through the experience of being stopped and detained by armed officers, so I appeal that you impress upon your children that Halloween props such as knives and machetes, plastic or not, are fine when worn as part of a costume, trick or treating or at a party. However, when carried around the street during the day, tucked into waistbands or used to play pranks on the public – even if you are in fancy dress – these items will be easily misconstrued as genuine weapons, and it is very much not advised.
As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please get in touch with the team here and have a safe Halloween season.
S MUMBY-CROFT
Sgt 409 Mumby-Croft
Lincolnshire Police, Neighbourhood Police Team, Sleaford Sector
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02 Oct 2024
Year 9 Students Attend an RAF Careers Event
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02 Oct 2024
Charlie talked about careers in cyber security, technology, international politics and the Civil Service.
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30 Sep 2024
Bake-Off
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18 Sep 2024
Information for Parents and Carers - From Lincolnshire County Council Stay Safe Partnership
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