We hope you have all had a good week. It has been very busy at New Bridge, everyone is now getting used to their new timetables and routines and forming new friendships. Miss Allison is particularly pleased with the Year 12 students who already seem to be growing in maturity and are embracing college life at the Learning Centre.
Our After School Clubs are in full swing running from Monday to Thursday, including the affiliated Scouts and Karate Clubs at the school site which are back in action too. The young people who have just joined us and expressed a wish to stay on after school will start After School Club next week and are looking forward to the activities. Holiday Club letters have also gone home to families (you can view details here), please make sure you check your child’s bag and send in the replies as quickly as you can.
Our New Bridge population seems to be forever expanding and we now have over 370 young people across school and the Learning Centre. Thank you for being so understanding about the car park at the school site. We do now have a considerable number of parents who bring their children to school and, as you are no doubt aware, spaces are at a premium.
We believe that close co-operation with parents and carers is essential in supporting our young people and helping them to flourish. Our Pastoral teams endeavour to speak to families as often as possible but if you have any concerns at any time, please do not hesitate to contact them. If there is anything you wish to discuss with your child’s class teacher or head of year, you can also make an appointment with reception. Invitations have gone home for our coffee morning on 29th September and we hope you will be able to join us and spend some time with your child’s class team in an informal, relaxed setting.
We would like to take this opportunity to wish Luke Flanagan, our former pupil, the very best in the next stage of his life as he embarks on a sports degree at Worcester University. Well done, Luke!
Students at the Learning Centre have started the year as they mean to go on with some great PE lessons with Mr Smith. They are working on health related fitness and made sure to record everyone’s details so they can monitor weight levels and set targets for the students..
They then took part in a squat challenge and learned about the leg muscles..
Kade and Saqib were the winners!
In the afternoon they made the most of the sunshine and started with a cross country run working on cardio fitness..
Our young people are also settling into their new work placements at the Atrium Café as you can see..
You can find out more about our young people’s work placements and catch up on news of our Key Stage 5 pathway students here.
Pupil voice is an important part of New Bridge life and we will shortly begin the process of electing our School Council and Student Council Representatives. During our Learning Centre assembly we talked about the various roles and responsibilities and what makes a good Student Rep. We have asked students to consider whether they wish to put themselves forward and let their heads of year know next week. Student Reps are elected by their year group and represent their views at meetings. Both School and Student Councils meet on a termly basis, involving fellow Student Reps, two members of our governing body and Mrs Lamb or Miss Allison.
During assembly we also continued the theme of being brave and choosing a positive response to new or challenging situations. We watched a moving clip from Nicholas James Vujicic, an Australian motivational speaker born with Tetra-amelia syndrome, a rare disorder characterized by the absence of all four limbs..
As a child, he struggled mentally and emotionally as well as physically, but eventually came to terms with his disability and started his own non-profit organization, Life Without Limbs, at the age of 17. Vujicic presents motivational speeches worldwide on life with a disability, hope, and finding meaning in life. He tells us that even if we feel angry or sad or frustrated, being patient is beautiful and we can overcome all challenges – we should be positive and thankful, never give up and always try to smile..
Miss Allison’s ‘subtle’ reminders in last week’s blog paid off as she has been treated to some very ‘yummy’ American Pancakes cooked by Zanub and Umah – they reminded her of being on holiday in Florida! Thanks Mrs Gillett..
It has to be said that the Hortus lads also provided food, although Miss Allison was out at the time and other staff benefited from their efforts (there were some very positive reports on the quality)!
All that remains is for us to say have a lovely weekend, we see you all on Monday.
Judith and Dawn
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