🎵 Try a little tenderness... 🎵

Or should I say Gentleness. 

That's right, Gentleness is our theme this week and with only one more week to go, if you're anything like me, you're probably feeling a little fragile at the moment- both emotionally, or physically. It's certainly been a long ol' summer term and a very different one to what we're used to. 

Trust me though, the end is in sight and as I've said previously, there is light at the end of the lock-down tunnel. 

Should everything go to plan, we will all be back to normality (or close to it) come September. You may have forgotten what it's like to be in a classroom and you may be feeling fairly overwhelmed by the idea of seeing everyone again. At this point, we need to respect that not everyone will be feeling the same and we need to demonstrate kindness to one another regardless of your own situation. 

I for one, am worried that I've forgotten how to teach without a webcam in front of me. All things considered, I've become quite used to being on camera. I know that things will be slightly different in September too and I keep reminding myself that everyone will be in the same boat, or should I say the same bubble? We'll probably all lose a bit of sleep the night before the first day back and remember that it's normal to feel anxious when your routine changes. 

Just know that as your Head of Year, my job is to support you. So, if you're feeling at all worried over the Summer, or in the run up to the start of School, please get in touch with me. I'll be there in my office with a cup of hot chocolate (they've been highly rated by students) or a snack of some sort and we can sit and talk about what's worrying you. I can't promise to make everything OK, but I can promise that you'll leave feeling a little bit lighter for having shared your problems.

As the Summer approaches, I also want you all to ensure that you can enjoy a restful break knowing that you have finished all of your work in preparation for September. So, if this is something that you know you've been slacking on and you maybe didn't have a glowing report from all subjects, try your best to get on top of this before next Friday. As always, let me know if I can do anything to support with this too. 

Some reflections for this week on gentleness:

• Which difficult situations are you facing this week?

• Which difficult people will you have to deal with this week?

• How might you employ a gentle approach to dealing with these difficulties?

• How might you allow God to support you overcoming these difficulties?

Make sure you also watch our assembly from Mrs Jeffery and our reflection from Mr Kibble on gentleness...

Pup-Date

Lola is loving the new house and has already done a good job of wreaking havoc on the garden plants. It's been a busy week, with lots of unpacking to do and furniture to buy, but we're getting there and I've enjoyed doing your live lessons sat in my new kitchen. 

Lola's 'play-date' with Mrs Clarke's puppy, Ruby

Now on to the good stuff...

COMING SOON...14th July. SALESIAN SCHOOL END OF TERM VIDEO

Traditionally, in the last week of term we would have Sports Day, Whole School Mass and Rewards given out in our last assembly. This year, we can't celebrate as much as we'd like to as a community. Instead, some very talented members of staff have produced the next best thing. That's right- we've got another video for you. Stay tuned on the school Facebook Page/Instagram/Youtube Channel to see your teachers have their 15 minutes of fame. 

Next week, they'll also be some time put aside on Friday morning to celebrate your success, so make sure you're not busy finishing work on that day. We're not quite sure what this will look like yet, but we'll let you know as soon as there's a plan. Regardless, Miss Cella and I are collating awards for those of you who have worked really hard this term and there are some snazzy prizes up for grabs that we'll be posting to some of your front doors. 

Before I sign off, just remember this: stay kind Year 9

...and as always, stay safe

Miss M x

REWARD

Happy Friday Year 9!

This week, our theme of the week is Reward. So, maybe this is an appropriate time to celebrate some of your incredible efforts. Your teachers have been busy filling in a progress report for you and, whilst it might look a little different to the normal grade collection, I've still had the joy of seeing how many of you have clearly been working your socks off throughout lockdown. 

In light of this, many of you will be receiving a letter from either Mr Kibble, Mr Gower or myself over the next week or so, if you have achieved 4 or more 'Greens' (Excellent) on your data collection. Similarly, if you are someone who has perhaps not been working quite as hard as you could have, and you've received more 'Ambers' (Good) or 'Reds' (Poor), you may be receiving correspondence from myself, Miss Cella, or your tutor next week to tell you that you need to get back on track before we reach the summer...so, don't let yourself down Year 9! 

On the whole, we have smashed it as a year group and you have all blown me away at how resilient and adaptable you have been over this incredibly strange period of time. 

Assemblies and Messages:

Check out this week's assembly on Reward by Mr McCann and Mr Kibble's message to us all as we approach the end of term. 

⭐AMAZING WORK! ⭐

If you're still struggling for inspiration to work hard over the last couple of weeks, take a look at some of the fantastic things that some of you have been producing. 

'An Inspector Calls' Newspaper Articles from Owen Christmas and Hannah O'Riordan Owino

Millie Hopkins has been busy making some beautiful revision resources for 'An Inspector Calls'

Ana Altarac has been working incredibly hard on her English work too- there were 6 pages (only 4 shown though!) this week! Great work, Ana. 

 Mia Marcantonio's artwork is making me hungry for Kellogs too!

Updates from Casa del Moore *New and improved...

Before I sign off, here's what's been going with me this week. 

It's been fairly stressful, as I moved house on Tuesday, so I have a long weekend of unpacking ahead of me. Lola is feeling much happier now with a garden to play in!

Hasn't quite figured out the hole in her new Frisbee! 

We had a great time visiting the horses in the field next to our new house too! Lola was a bit unsure...

It's a hard life moving house...

That's all from me this week, Year 9. Stay tuned next week for the assembly I filmed. Got my fingers crossed that it will be edited and ready to view soon! 

As always, stay safe...not long left now.

Miss M x