CHORLTON HIGH SCHOOL MAGAZINE JANUARY 2016
SUCCESS AT CHS
ALSO INSIDE NEW WHOLE SCHOOL COUNCIL CHORLTON BOOK FESTIVAL PARENTS’ NEWS
HELLO... Welcome to the latest issue of In the Spotlight celebrating the achievements and success of the Autumn Term. In September, over 200 students stood for election during what was a very competitive School Council election process. We were very impressed with the motivation and commitment of all the students who put themselves forward. A talented cast of over 90 Year 7, 8 & 9 students took to the stage with a sell-out, show stopping production of West Side Story. The Library celebrated the Chorlton Book Festival by hosting the annual Chorlton Children’s Book Award, where students eagerly awaited the announcement of this year’s winner! Year 8s demonstrated their generous festive spirit by donating gifts and writing cards for elderly people, who might otherwise not receive a gift this Christmas. They generously donated and wrapped over 200 presents which were then distributed to vulnerable members of our local community. I hope you enjoy reading about all the exciting activities and success from the Autumn Term. We look forward to the successes and achievements the Spring Term will bring. CHRISTINE TAGGART COMMUNITY AND MARKETING OFFICER AND IN THE SPOTLIGHT EDITOR
INSIDE THIS ISSUE...
NEW WHOLE SCHOOL COUNCIL
1
CHORLTON BOOK FESTIVAL
6
CITY YEAR VOLUNTEERS
10
LIBRARY NEWS
7
PILOT THEATRE VISIT
8
SANTA TO A SENIOR 11 YEAR 7 ELE DAY 12
GROWING TOGETHER
9
WEST SIDE STORY 2 SUCCESS
COMMUNITY GARDEN 4 PROJECT
PIXL EDGE PROJECT 5
PARENTS’ EVENTS 13
INTRODUCING THE NEW WHOLE SCHOOL COUNCIL Over the Autumn Term we held our School Council elections. Over 200 students stood for election during what was a very competitive election process.
Twenty four students from each year group were elected onto their respective Year Councils and will meet every half term to discuss a range of topics related to their year group. These students were then given the opportunity to go one step further and stand for election onto the Whole School Council. Candidates wishing to stand for election onto the Whole School Council had to put together an election video which was shown to their year group in assembly. The whole year group then got the chance to vote for who they thought should represent them at the highest levels within school. We saw some fantastic election videos with some really creative and thoughtful ideas.
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I am looking forward to being more involved in the development of the school. YEAR 8 SCHOOL COUNCIL MEMBER
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Congratulations to the students who were successfully elected onto the Whole School Council. On Friday 23rd October 2015, the newly elected Whole School Council met for their first meeting of the academic year. During the course of the meeting Atalanta Harkavy (Year 10) was elected Chair and Matthew Mantel (Year 10) Vice Chair of the Whole School Council. As well as their School Council responsibilities they will also attend Full Governing Body meetings which will give them the opportunity to present their ideas to the School Governors and have a voice in the strategic development of the school. Isabel Butterworth (Year 8) and Milan Sangar (Year 8) were elected as the Senior Leadership Team (SLT) representatives and will attend SLT meetings to provide an update on the key items discussed at each Whole School Council meeting. We are very proud of everyone who stood for election and are delighted to have such an enthusiastic and motivated team of students on board. We look forward to seeing the positive impact that both the Year Councils and Whole School Council have on the future development of the school.
WHOLE SCHOOL COUNCIL MEMBERS 2015-16 • ANDRE PARKES (YEAR 7) • JESSIE TOMLINSON (YEAR 7) • LUCA NAVARRO (YEAR 7) • ABBIE POLE (YEAR 7) • ISABEL BUTTERWORTH (YEAR 8) • MILAN SANGAR (YEAR 8) • MIKEY CALLAGHAN (YEAR 8) • LUIS MARTINEZ (YEAR 8) • SAM EDWARDS (YEAR 9) • NIAMH ATTFIELD (YEAR 9) • MAX WALSH (YEAR 9) • UMAR NAZAR (YEAR 9) • CHAYÉ HALL (YEAR 10) • ATALANTA HARKAVY (YEAR 10) • OSAMA AL JAMAL (YEAR 10) • AHMED MOHAMED (YEAR 10) • MATTHEW MANTEL (YEAR 10)
CHORLTON HIGH SCHOOL IN THE SPOTLIGHT
WEST SIDE STO Congratulations to all the cast and crew that made this amazing production of West Side Story happen. We had a cast and orchestra of 96 students this year which was a mixture of Year 7, 8 and 9. It was a struggle to fit everyone on the stage but we managed it! Many friends, family, staff and community members bought tickets in support of our students ensuring sell-out performances each night. The cast, orchestra and crew worked hard with many rehearsals giving up a lot of their free time after school to make sure that this was a slick and professional performance. A Year 8 parent said “it was like watching a performance in the West End which is praise indeed.” It feels like we say this every year but the cast was exceptional again! I cannot fault their commitment and dedication to each other and the roles that they played. We had the Jets verses the Sharks dramatically culminating in a tense fight scene that left Riff and Bernardo dead. Tony and Maria fought hard to bring the two warring gangs together through their love for each other but it was not enough.
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It was mind blowing. YEAR 7 STUDENT
The themes of betrayal and racism are still relevant today and left the audience in tears every night. Well done cast of 2015. The Director Mrs Ransome was thrilled with this year’s show: ”I was a little wary of doing West Side Story as it has such massive songs in it and was warned by other schools that is was far too big a challenge. But we proved them wrong, with the talent and hard work of the cast and orchestra we pulled it off! I am so proud of them all; this is my first show as Director and I feel that this will be a tough show to follow as it was so good! Thank you for all the memories, you were incredible”. As ever the show must go on and we look forward to seeing you all next year!
TORY SUCCESS ‘‘ ’’ ‘‘ ’’
This is my first show at Chorlton but I will make sure I come back next year, it was amazing! YEAR 7 GRANDMA
Tonight, tonight West Side Story was amazing! Thanks to all the talented pupils and staff at our local school. COMMUNITY MEMBER
COMMUNITY GARDEN PROJECT
On Wednesday 7th October 2015, a group of Year 7 students visited Riverbank Community Garden in Chorlton to help develop their ideas for our own community garden in Chorlton Park. The Year 7 group have been meeting every week throughout the term to plan and develop our community garden. The visit, led by Kieron McGlasson from Sow the City, gave the students a good understanding of what they could grow in our garden and what they need to consider when developing an allotment. The students came away from the visit inspired and excited to get our own garden up and running! Some of the students gave their account of the visit and the community garden project: “In the morning we went to the Riverbank community garden with Kieron. We picked food and pulled out the weeds and watered the soil. I have learnt that in the
community garden they water the soil and plants with rain water and pick the food they grow. I enjoyed making the bird scarers and pulling out the weeds. The best part of the community garden project has been visiting the Riverbank garden.” Kiran Kaur “We went to an allotment called Riverbank and looked at the different flowers and vegetables. We learnt how to look after plants and how healthy they are for us. I enjoyed tasting the peas. The best of the community garden project has been making the scare crows! I want to grow some vegetables in our community garden so we can eat them and have interesting colourful food.” Mia Welbourne
“We went to the Riverbank community garden to try some vegetables and rake the soil. I have learnt about the different plants that are edible and how to grow beans. I most enjoyed taking out all the weeds. The best part of the community garden project has been getting to try different vegetables.” Ronaldo Johnson “We went to an allotment and saw all the fruit and vegetables there. We got to dig up all the weeds and planted some seeds. We learnt that it has to be completely flat and that all the weeds have to be taken out before you can plant seeds. I enjoyed raking the soil and digging up all the weeds. The best part of the community garden project was making posters and bird scarers.” Olivia Pedley-Thomson
PIXL EDGE PROJECT A group of Year 9 students are currently undertaking the PiXl Edge programme designed to help them develop and accredit essential employability and life skills including leadership, organisation, resilience, initiative and communication. DELIVERING ANTI-BULLYING WORKSHOPS AT LOCAL PRIMARY SCHOOLS On Friday 9th October, Year 9 PiXL Edge students walked over to Chorlton Park Primary. Reeco Liburd composed a song about Bullying and Talib O’Connor and Harry Denny helped Reeco write the lyrics. All three boys performed their piece to Year 3 classes to teach them about the effects bullying has on others. The response was fantastic. The Year 3 pupils thoroughly enjoyed the performances commenting on how impressed they were with the boys’ confidence.
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I liked how they wrote a story about bullying for us. They are helping people and changing the world.. CHORLTON PARK PRIMARY STUDENT
CPR TRAINING COURSE On Friday 16th October, all PiXL Edge students were joined by Paramedics who taught them how to do CPR. They ran a series of activities that included the 2 minute CPR challenge where students had to perform CPR on a dummy in time with a metronome. The students’ behaviour was outstanding and the paramedics were impressed with their enthusiasm and commitment to learning. All students are now fully equipped with the knowledge on how to help save a life! A very successful Friday! DELIVERING SPORTS SESSIONS AT LOCAL PRIMARY SCHOOLS On Thursday 15th October, Erin Singh and Khalia West walked over to Chorlton Park Primary to run a Sports Session with Year 5. Erin and Khalia created their own session that taught pupils how to use running batons correctly. Our students were professional and supportive and enjoyed their experience.
CHORLTON HIGH SCHOOL IN THE SPOTLIGHT
CHORLTON CHILDREN’S BOOK AWARD 2015
The 11th Chorlton Book Festival took place in November this year and the Chorlton Children’s Book Award is now an established feature of the Festival.
Students from Chorlton High School Reading Group spent much of the Autumn term avidly reading the seven books that were on the shortlist and discussing and arguing with each other over their favourite. The Celebration Event took place during Chorlton Book Festival at CHS Library where 40 students met with pupils from Chorlton Park Primary to celebrate each book and find out who was the winner! Teachers from CHS had been bribed with chocolate
by Ms Hockey to be filmed reading short extracts from each of the books, which went down a treat and set the scene for the nerve wracking finale when Ms Williams from Chorlton Library announced the winner! The Astounding Broccoli Boy by Frank Cottrell Boyce triumphed to a big cheer and then it was time to cut the cake to celebrate. @ChorltonHighLib tweeted Frank later, who replied “Hurray! Many thanks” and went on to retweet to all his followers!
Aaliyah Ahmed from Year 7 enjoyed being involved and commented “I liked the fact that I could enjoy a different range of books than I would normally read and got to give my opinion on all the different books.” It’s not too late to get involved. You can still read and enjoy any of the shortlisted books, which are available at CHS library.
INTERGENERATIONAL PET THERAPY Chorlton High School confounded the old adage “never work with animals or children” when they attended an Intergenerational Pet therapy session organised as part of Chorlton Book Festival. The session was held at Chorlton Central Church with partner organisations, Chorlton Good Neighbours and Together Dementia Support. Noah’s A.R.T ran the session and brought a number of animals, including two dogs, numerous rabbits and guinea pigs. Their aim is to provide animal assisted therapy and to reduce loneliness and social isolation amongst individuals. Students from CHS mingled with the older people, chatting about the animals and also took part in making toys for the dogs and holding the rabbits. “It was a very powerful event” said Ms Hockey. “I was really impressed with our students who interacted so well with everyone there. We all loved holding the animals and it provided a great talking point.”
ENCOUNTERS WITH ZOMBIES
Eleven intrepid students set out on the 5th November for an encounter with Zombies… or at least the creator of one of the most successful Zombie series of the last few years, author, screen writer and comedian, Charlie Higson. The event was held at Altrincham Grammar School for boys, and Charlie was promoting the final book in the series called appropriately “The End”. He kept everyone entertained for over an hour with anecdotes about writing the series, including admitting that his main aim for writing the books was to make sure he scared his own son! Chorlton High School might have been small in numbers at the session, but one of our Year 7 students was brave enough to ask the very first question, quizzing
Charlie about whether he had ever suffered from writer’s block. Charlie’s reply was that he didn’t have time, as he was always writing and needed to make a living from it! “Everyone really enjoyed the session” said Ms Hockey, “the hall was packed with lots of different schools, and it was great to see so many young people excited about books.” If you don’t mind being scared witless and you love Zombies, why not pop into the library and pick up one of Charlie’s books.
POETRY WORDSMITHS IN THE GREEN ROOM “If today we raise our voices, tomorrow we will be heard”. Striking words penned by a Year 8 student from the Green Room who had been taking part in this year’s annual Wordsmith Project. Wordsmith is a community-based organisation which uses poet mentors to engage and inspire young people with an enthusiasm for writing and performing poetry. This year’s project took place during Black History Month in October and centred around the theme of change. Students took part in a number of workshops organised by Yussuf Mrabty, our poet mentor for this year, and produced a brilliant team poem to perform at the showcase event at Z-Arts at the end of October. “I was so impressed with the standard of the work,” said Ms Nunn, the Green Room Coordinator. “I thought the students had been given a poem to perform, until they told me, that they had written it themselves.” Congratulations to all the students in the Green Room who took part.
POETRY QUILT Year 7 and 8 pupils created our first ever Poetry Quilt this term. To celebrate National Poetry Day 2015, pupils wrote and decorated poems on the theme of Light. The poems were then sewn together to make a quilt. This project makes a beautiful display in our Library and pupils and parents have loved reading all the poems displayed together.
CHORLTON HIGH SCHOOL IN THE SPOTLIGHT
PILOT THEATRE COMPANY VISIT On Friday 6th November, Pilot Theatre Company visited Year 10 Drama students to perform a play called ‘Outsiders’ by Emteaz Hussain. The play was a roaring success that was engaging, and thought provoking. The Drama students were privileged to take part in a Q&A session after the performance and were able to ask the actors about the play, the characters and their experiences working in this industry. The students represented Chorlton High School brilliantly and all Drama teachers were incredibly proud. One of the actors commented on their well thought out and intelligent questions. Well done Year 10!
ACADEMIC COACHING A group of Year 7 students were selected to participate in a series of ‘Academic Coaching’ sessions where they have been participating in a variety of workshops covering a number of topics including: resiliency, gratitude, motivation, communication and leadership skills. The Year 7 students were asked to choose a task from the ‘Leadership List’. These tasks would enable them to develop their leadership skills and initiative. IIham and Ella demonstrated initiative when they chose to write a review of their scheme of work on bullying from their Drama lessons: “The play we have acted out in the past week is called Sparkle Shark. Sparkle Shark is a great and fun play about a boy named Jake who gets bullied by three boys named Russell, Shane and Buzz. To escape those moments Jake writes stories to help him deal with the bullies. The reason why we like Sparkle Shark is because it’s fun acting out all the different characters and it’s nice to see someone stand up for themselves. Sparkle Shark is a great play for Year 7 because it teaches Year 7s about bullying and how they can stand up for themselves.” ELLA ESDAILLE AND IIHAM AHMED Larrissa Munyame decided to create a piece of creative writing to be published in the school magazine. Larrissa chose to write about a story which she has studied in her Drama lessons. “The play was a creepy styled play that consisted of us playing different characters. We all separated into groups and changed levels for the creepiness. By the end of the term we reached level ten which was very dramatic but fun! Each of us brought in props to add extra detail to our performances. Everyone chose a certain character to play; whether it be a rude, quiet or loud person. I enjoyed getting to dramatic level 10 because I think the more dramatic the better! The idea of acting the play was to get class feedback. We also got graded after performing.” LARRISSA MUNYAME
GROWING TOGETHER Over the course of the Autumn Term a group of Year 8 students have been visiting local retirement home, Arden Court, for some intergenerational gardening afternoons with the residents. The ‘Growing Together’ sessions were organised and led by Sarah Taylor, Horticultural Trainer at Debdale Eco Centre. The students had all visited Arden Court last year and were thrilled to be able to carry on the project this year.
DISCOVERING DEMOCRACY AWARD We are delighted to announce that we have been awarded the British Youth Council’s Discovering Democracy Award’. The award, which is funded by the Cabinet Office and supported by HM Government, is given to Secondary Schools who actively engage their students in citizenship, democracy and youth participation in society.
On 19th October, the students helped to plant onion and garlic bulbs in the residents’ garden. The students got stuck straight in and enjoyed a lovely sunny afternoon of gardening. To round off the visit each student got to plant a bulb to take away with them. The group are looking forward to seeing who has managed to grow some lovely flowers in the spring! “Thank you for inviting us. This great interactive project is amazing because it is really fun! All the projects we have done have been great!” (India AllenEdwards, Year 8)
outside and more manual work. The enthusiasm (and humour!) of the group bring warmth to the place” (Sarah Taylor, Debdale Eco Centre) The students look forward to visiting again in the spring to see if their handy work has grown, as well as helping out with some more planting! “It was lots of fun doing all the gardening! The people here are lovely and I would love to come again!” (Molly Haworth, Year 8)
On 16th November, the students were invited to attend a special harvest festival celebration event at Arden Court. The students helped to make an apple crumble which was then baked and shared with everyone there. The crumble was delicious and went down very well with everyone present. As well as the crumble the students also enjoyed a delicious lunch of homemade soup and bread to thank them for their hard work in the garden. Before they left the students helped to sow some runner beans which will be planted in the residents’ garden ready to harvest in the spring. “Thanks so much for all the students’ hard work! It really helps as often the group struggles with sustained tasks
CHORLTON HIGH SCHOOL IN THE SPOTLIGHT
VOLUNTEERS BRING CITY YEAR CHEER TO A NEW SCHOOL YEAR
Since September, Chorlton High School has been a brighter place due to the dedication of eleven inspirational City Year volunteers who have been working with students in Year 7 and 8 to support and encourage them to be Successful, Creative and Happy. These talented 18- 24 year olds have answered the call of charity, City Year UK, to ‘give a year and change the world’ by utilising their talent, energy and idealism to tackle educational inequality within their City. There are now over 160 volunteers working to make school a more rewarding place for thousands of students across London, Birmingham and Greater Manchester. Carefully selected and highly trained, the volunteers, known as corps members, have been serving as a team, Monday to Thursday, as role models, mentors and coaches, providing extra, individualised support to the children who need it most. They have been helping students both in and out of the classroom to improve attendance, behaviour and achievement. They also aim to have an impact on the whole school; strengthening and reinforcing school culture to help make it an enjoyable place to learn. Sophie Livingstone, Chief Executive of City Year UK explains that “Great teachers are key to pupils’ academic success but they can’t help all children all the time. City Year UK partners with schools to help provide extra support to those who are in danger of falling through the gaps, many of whom are
facing a lot more than academic challenges. Often described by pupils as like big brothers or sisters, our corps members are uniquely placed to engage children with education in a fun way, whether that’s in class, the playground or running extracurricular activities.” So far in Chorlton, the team have made a positive impact on school life. Mrs Ransome, a teacher who has worked with City Year frequently explains that “I have enjoyed the participation and inclusion of the City Year Team in my classes; they have been able to interact with the students successfully making a real impact on their learning and progress. It is a pleasure to have them in my classroom; they have made a real difference.” One of our Year 8 students, who is supported by our corps member Anna says: “Anna helps me with my work and makes school fun.” Anna herself has faced difficulties growing up and believes that “with the right support and a positive mind-set anything is achievable - even the unthinkable.” Anna joined City Year because she wants to make a difference to young people in hope they will make a difference to someone else,
breaking the negative cycle and recreating a bright positive future for all. She is very excited about her work so far with the staff and students at Chorlton High School and feels blessed to be a part of the team going forwards for the rest of the year.
BE A SANTA TO A SENIOR In the run up to Christmas, Year 8 teamed up with Home Instead Senior Care to spread some festive cheer to lonely older people this Christmas. Year 8 students have worked hard to support Home Instead’s ‘Be a Santa to a Senior’ project by generously donating gifts and writing Christmas cards for elderly people, who might otherwise not receive a single gift this Christmas. Over 100 students volunteered to be a Santa Rep and support the running of the project. On Tuesday 15th December, 125 students wrapped over 200 presents in just over an hour demonstrating excellent teamwork and present wrapping efficiency!
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I enjoyed doing it because I was doing a good turn. If I ever need help in the future it would be nice to know that someone would be there for me.
Alison Broadhurst, owner of Home Instead South Manchester said, “I’ve been blown away by the support the scheme has received from our community but I have to mention the Year 8 team at Chorlton High School in particular. It’s been brilliant to see the kids put so much into bringing a little festive joy to older people in their area.” “The ‘Be a Santa for a Senior’ project is an invaluable opportunity for our students to become involved in something that will benefit others, whilst enabling them to develop their Perceptive Problem Solving skills” (Mr Casey, Head of Year 8). It has been a privilege to be involved with the fantastic ‘Be a Santa to a Senior’ project this Christmas. The Year 8 students involved have had an amazing experience supporting members of their local community and have learnt that great things can be achieved when we all work together.
COMMUNITY CHRISTMAS PARTY
On Tuesday 8th December, Chorlton High School once again opened its doors to welcome visitors from local care homes for the annual Community Christmas Party. The event followed in the footsteps of previous years and was a huge success with over 50 guests from local care homes attending. Upon arrival the guests were show to the Blue Box Theatre for a buffet lunch. Members of the Year 7 School Council
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It was nice to know we are helping out and making a difference to someone else’s Christmas.
As a Co-operative Academy we believe it is important that our students are actively working to support the local community and make a positive difference in the area. This project not only helps make a difference to the local community at Christmas, but also helps students learn about the importance of social responsibility and empathy for others.
helped to serve refreshments and did a brilliant job serving and chatting to our guests. The students thoroughly enjoyed helping out and all agreed it was a really fun and rewarding afternoon.
were blown away by talent of our students. We hope everyone who came enjoyed the party as much as we did and we look forward to doing it all again next year.
To round off the party, our guests were treated to a special matinee performance of this year’s school musical, ‘West Side Story’ which was performed by a cast of over 80 Year 7, 8 and 9 students. The performance was a big hit and the guests
“Thank you so much for inviting our tenants to the show, they really enjoyed it. The students all did a brilliant job. The tenants all look forward to next year’s party.” (Southway Housing)
CHORLTON HIGH SCHOOL IN THE SPOTLIGHT
YEAR 7 ELE DAY On Friday 18th September, Year 7 students took part in a special cosmic and transition themed Extended Learning Experience (ELE) Day. Lessons were themed around their transition book ‘Cosmic’ by Frank Cottrell Boyce and students were asked to reflect on their transition experience. Throughout the day a Year 7 News Team were out and about around school finding out about students’ transition experience. Two members of the News Team gave us their verdict:
COSMIC & TRANSITION
Finally, a new year has begun again. As hundreds of students flocked through the school gates for the first time in their new uniform, the usual babble of chatter hummed in the air. What class will I be in? Will I be with my friends? Will I ever find my way round? A few weeks later, some other Year 7 students and I worked with Miss Jordan to put together a questionnaire based on our first few weeks at CHS and our transition. We tried to interview as many of our peers and teachers as possible to get a wide range of opinions. One pupil said that she was nervous at the start, but adapted to her new environment quickly. She also said, “my advice for Year 6s is that they should try to enjoy themselves. Starting at high school is a once in a lifetime opportunity and if, like me, you do feel nervous try to remember you’re not the only one”. Another student I spoke to said he is loving Chorlton High School and the independent responsibilities that come with it. He especially likes moving from class to class, and his favourite lessons have been PE, Art and lunch! His advice to a Year 6 student would be, “be on time and listen to the teachers”. His favourite part of Cosmic was when Liam tries to drive a Porsche, aged 11! ROSY WILSON (YEAR 7)
COSMIC STARS ARE ON THE ROAD TO SUCCESS
Year 7 students were interviewed on their views about transition from primary school to CHS. The majority of students were overwhelmingly positive about their transition from their primary school to Chorlton High School. Despite their worries about friendship and the school being too big, most students have adapted well to life at CHS. When asked to score from 1 (rubbish) to 5 (awesome) how positive their transition experience had been, most gave a score of 4 or 5. This shows the staff have worked well to make us feel comfortable and welcome. Although students have enjoyed many new and interesting subjects, with fun activities, the biggest hit has been creating rockets with 3D shapes in Maths - everyone loved this! From the pupil’s point of view ‘Cosmic’ has been an excellent transition book that has helped ease students into life at Chorlton High School. BEA DERRICK (YEAR 7)
PARENTS’ EVENTS 2015 PARENTS SUPPORTING MACMILLAN
BOOKS ARE NOT JUST FOR STUDENTS
On Friday 25th September 2015, Chorlton High held its first Parents’ Macmillan Coffee Morning. The event allowed parents to meet with other parents whilst raising money for a very worthy cause. There was a vast array of cakes spread along three tables, and a vibrant atmosphere with parents, staff and visitors chatting away. After the coffee morning, the staff of CHS devoured what was left of the cakes. This boosted an already bursting donations box with the total amount raised coming to £134.26! “I enjoyed meeting other parents and supporting Macmillan.” (CHS Parent) “I had a chat with a lovely lady I have never met before, this would not normally happen.” (CHS Parent)
This year has seen the start of a new Parent’s Book Club at Chorlton High School, which meets in the library, on Friday mornings every half term. It is a time for parent’s to relax, drink tea or coffee and chat about the book that they have been reading together. Parents read two books in the autumn term: Carnegie winner, Millions by Frank Cottrell Boyce, a funny, bitter sweet novel about two boys who find a bag of money and Wolf Brother by Michelle Paver. Set 6,000 year ago in the Stone Age, Wolf Brother recounts the
adventures of Torak and his wolf cub, as he tries to defeat the demon bear. “Parents’ Book Club is a great space for parents to read some of the books their children are reading” said Ms Hockey the Library Resource Manager. “It can spark lots of great conversations at home about books.” The first book of the spring term is Once by Morris Gleitzman. If you are interested in getting involved please contact Mandy Roberts m.roberts@chorltonhigh. manchester.sch.uk
PRACTICAL PARENTING COURSE A number of Chorlton High parents have completed the Practical Parenting Course. This was a five week course delivered by Mandy Roberts, the school’s Parent Support Adviser and Jo Mannion from Parrs Wood High school. The course covered topics such as why it’s tough being a teenager; tools for handling conflict and problem solving. The parents had a lot to offer the course and gave support to each other within their group. Many thanks to the parents who attended the course. “A friendly, supportive environment in which to discuss all your worries about your teenagers and to learn about being a good enough parent, thanks Mandy and Jo.” (CHS Parent) “Good opportunity to think about parenting and how to get on with your children.” (CHS Parent)
CHORLTON HIGH SCHOOL IN THE SPOTLIGHT
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