New Term, Fresh Start

Welcome back Year 9, 

I hope that your Summer Term has got off to a good start today and you've come back feeling refreshed after the Easter break. I don't know about you, but the two weeks still flew by as they would any normal school holiday and I, like most of you I assume, found it a bit of a struggle having to get up this morning to start work. 

Thankfully, it seemed the weather was in our favour over the holiday period and everything seemed much more positive when the sun was shining. I hope that you all made the most of it and managed to get out and about to do your daily exercise. As well as celebrating the incredible efforts of 'Captain Tom Moore' the war veteran (who I thought could, or could not be, a distant relative), so many fantastic fundraisers were also going on over Easter within the Salesian community. To name but a few, Mr Thomas in DT got to work making face shields for the hospital staff and Mr Browne was busy organising a group of us staff members to get fundraising by accumulating all the distances we were covering on our daily walks, runs and bike rides. We managed to surpass our original distance of 350KM in 6 days (managing it in just 2 days alone), so we are now aiming to travel 1,250km (which is equivilent of the distance from Chertsey to Turin). At the moment we have raised £1,730 for the NHS, so we're hoping that we smash our £2,000 target. 

If you (or more likely your parents) are interested in donating, I've posted the link below...

https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/salesian-staff?utm_source=whatsapp&utm_medium=fundraising&utm_content=salesian-staff&utm_campaign=pfp-whatsapp&utm_term=d25722d31dda43aaa4c6ba58259ce505

Similarly, if you have been inspired by other fundraising events and have got involved yourselves, I'd love to hear about them! I know you all secretly want a mention on the next blog post!

By far the most exciting thing I did over the break was to get our new puppy, Lola. (See obligatory puppy photos below). She started to settle in very well into her new home, but then she got a bit poorly. She's currently being very well looked after by our vet and we can't wait to have her home and back to her usual puppy-self- I'm sure she can't wait to start causing all sorts of chaos too!

I've had some great emails from some of your parents telling me of some exciting things that you've been up to as well. I am extremely pleased to see that some of you are taking on the challenge of mastering a new skill. A huge shout out to Marco and Louis for their efforts in baking and hairdressing! Prizes will be coming your way as soon as we're back at school.

Marco: This week's 'Star Baker'.

Louis's Barbers open for business

If anyone else reckons they can top the boys' efforts with new skills, or creativity, then don't delay in getting in touch (or get your parents to do it for you if you can't quite face emailing me yourselves!)

You'll also be pleased to know that all of the staff at school are now slowly becoming professionals with technology to ensure that you are getting the best deal for your home learning. I know a few of you found the work slightly overwhelming last term and your parents told us how you were trying to stick to your normal school day structure as much as possible. I applaud those of you who kept up with the workload and were submitting work to your teachers at the end of each week. On the other hand, if you're someone who struggled to get motivated last term, the best thing about it is that it's not too late to start! It is now more crucial than ever that you are becoming independent with your learning, particularly as you're getting closer to your GCSE courses starting (and because I'm sure you don't want your parents looking over your shoulder every 5 minutes to check on you!)

Even though we're not at school, there are still lots of things in the pipeline this Summer Term, so keep your eyes peeled for the Salesian 7 Challenge (which may or may not include a TikTok attempt from staff) and other exciting opportunities on the various subject instagram pages. I've already seen some fantastic student work displayed on the DT, Drama and Art pages so if you haven't seen those, I can highly recommend it.  

For now, stay strong, stay safe and keep up the good work. 

Miss M x

Saint John Bosco, pray for us (and Lola, our little pup!)