Achievement | Diversity | Respect
Keep us posted - It would be great if parents/carers could let the school know of any student achievements outside of school. We would like to find out what students are doing in their own time and celebrate their achievements.
Email us: weeklymailing@cotham.bristol.sch.uk
Week commencing Monday 29 September 2025 is Week A
Standing Items are located at the bottom of the mailing
Dear Parents and Carers,
Please find our weekly mailing which I hope you will find both useful and interesting!
With very best wishes for a relaxing weekend.
Kindest regards,
Ms Jo Butler, Headteacher
Email received
"My child is in year 8. I just wanted to write to you to let you know how grateful myself and my husband are for the magnificent support my child has been given during her time at Cotham. My child has a history of school anxiety and really struggles sometimes especially when it comes to assessments.
In year 7 things were quite difficult to start with but the team there made sure that my child had a fantastic learning plan and that she felt empowered and supported in ensuring that her learning plan was being followed, she was also lucky enough to see an educational psychologist last October through the school and the work that the school and she has put in after that meant that by the end of year 7 she was completely thriving, a very different person to the one that started in September.
Unfortunately she has been unsettled at the start of this term, I think the transition to the new learning groups and getting used to new teachers has been hard for her, she was very upset last night and didn't want to come to school today but we talked it all through and she managed to get herself there.
This morning I received a call from Miss Price to say that she had been to her this morning and talked through her worries, she told me that she would be supporting her all day to get through the day and explained how she would be doing that. She put my mind at rest as there is nothing worse than sending your child into a situation where they feel anxious or scared.
I am honestly blown away by the support, understanding and kindness that she has experienced not just today but through her entire school experience to date, every day I am so grateful that we chose Cotham. I am hoping that this is just a transition issue for her and that in no time at all she will be back to loving being in school but I know that if she continues to struggle she will have the support of everyone there and that we can all work together to get her back to where she needs to be.
Anyway I just really wanted to pass on my thanks to all of the team there and especially to Miss Price who has made today much better than it might have been,
Hope you have a lovely weekend."
Parent of Year 8 student
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Email received
Dear Ms. Arnold,
"I would like to sincerely thank you for the support and assistance you have given to my son. Your patience, guidance, and encouragement have made a real difference, and I truly appreciate the time and effort you have dedicated to helping him.
We are very grateful for your kindness and commitment."
With appreciation
Year 7 Parent
Thank you
I would like to express my sincerest thanks to everyone who helped make our Open Evening yesterday such a wonderful success. The school was buzzing with energy, and it was a joy to see so many families exploring our classrooms, meeting our dedicated staff, and getting a real feel for our community.
A special thank you to all of our students who acted as guides and ambassadors—your enthusiasm and pride in our school were truly inspiring. Your parents' support is invaluable, and we are grateful for the time you took to attend. The success of events like this is a testament to our strong school community.
We are pleased to provide an important update regarding our off-site sports ground at Stoke Lodge. Following the High Court's definitive ruling in June, which affirmed the school's long-standing 125-year lease and confirmed the land is to be used for the education of our students, we have begun the process of preparing the fields for safe and secure use.
Our agreed mobilisation plan is now in place. It includes the reinstatement of the perimeter fence, which will be funded by an insurance claim following its criminal removal. In the spirit of community collaboration, we are also taking this opportunity to enhance the local space by improving landscaping and entrances to mitigate previous issues.
As we move forward, we are committed to open communication and will be establishing a stakeholder forum to engage with local residents, youth sports clubs, and other key parties. Further information will be made available on our website as our plans progress.
It has been a fantastic few weeks for our Year 7 students. The new reading programme has launched during tutor time, with tutors sharing a brilliant selection of books with their groups, including Fire Boy by J.M. Joseph, Boy in the Tower by Polly Ho-Yen, and Wonder by R.J. Palacio.
Year 7 have also impressed us in assemblies, showing great maturity both in the way they enter the hall and in how attentively they listen to the speakers. Last week’s assembly focused on Oracy — its importance in school and in everyday life — and was led by Ms Wyles.
Year 7 are excited to be part of this amazing charity and will be fundraising for the Guide Dog Puppy Appeal. They are looking forward to receiving their fundraising pack and are busy preparing for a Bake Sale that will be held in October.
More events will follow including a Year 7 Disco.
Year 7's continue to show how brilliant they are with more shout outs from their teachers this week;
Ms Anthony gives shout outs to Ebere for being so helpful during tutor time and Harith for excellent use of mathematical language.
Ms Bingham gives a shout out to 7CGR. Wonderful behaviour and effort for their 1st vocab challenge into German! Keep up the good work 7CGR.
Ms Beynon gives a shout out to 7TE. They have had a brilliant start to math's and were incredible today. Every student is trying their hardest and working together really well.
Mr Dignan: shout out to 7DSE - another brilliant lesson this week. I only see them once every two weeks for a Literacy lesson but they were really engaged and enthusiastic throughout the lesson.
Do you enjoy READING? Do you enjoy TALKING ABOUT BOOKS? Do you want to make new FRIENDS? Then please sign up to the YEAR 7 BOOK CLUB. It is a wonderful club where you get together and discuss BOOKS AND MUCH MUCH MORE! YOU all decide which book you read. It is always YOUR CHOICE. You meet up one day per week in the library during lunch.
If you are interested then please tell your teacher OR email library@cotham.bristol.sch.uk.
Weekly Mailing Year 7 Book Club Advert 2025Year 8 have had a great week. Student Receptionists have now started and are doing a great job of helping around school. Students had a very informative assembly on Thursday helping them to understand how using data on the internet can be tracked and used and how to keep themselves safe online. A shout out to the older year group students who presented the assembly, it was excellent. Year 8 students in general have excellent uniform and their entrance into assembly on Thursday was outstanding.
Year 8s have been reading through various Gothic Books and recognising the different elements within those books that make them Gothic! They have been working brilliantly in teams and as individuals.
A special shout out to 8YA who were particularly well behaved and engaged. Congrats to the library lucky dip winners who all used great language to describe WHY they liked certain Gothic books - Jibril G, Aisha F, Elwood M, Andre J, Azahila H, Roland T, Hodan A, Nahla B and San H. Click for more information below:
Weekly Mailing 2025 Gothic Book Lesson In our fourth week, attendance can sometimes dip, but 9NBR are doing an excellent job of staying in school and making the most of every lesson. Their tutor group attendance is an impressive 96%!
It is not just 9NBR shining though, across the year, many students are maintaining 100% attendance. As a reward, a selection of them get the chance to skip the lunch queue. Next week’s lucky students are: Kayla (9ECH), Evie (9ECH), Dylan (9BOP), Ali (9RBI), and Elijah (9HMI).
Mr Walker would like to give a shout out to his Maths class. He says: Despite the big changes to their maths classes at the start of the year, they have been absolutely excellent so far, with some really hard work, great conversations, and a lot of progress all around. I'm really proud of them!
Well done to our Year 10 Star of the Week, Aishah! 🌟 She has made a fantastic start to the year and is setting a great example for her peers. Overall, Year 10 have impressed us with their maturity and positive attitude - it has been a really strong start.
A quick reminder that all Year 10 students can drop into B001 if they need any information about Work Experience.
Mr Lawrence
This week, Year 11 students have shown amazing attendance at Period 6 in English and Math's, with outstanding engagement. Students are consistently arriving on time, setting a great example as role models for the rest of the school.
A reminder mock exams start on 20 October, the timetable is now available on Google Classroom. Well done Year 11! We look forward to seeing continued dedication across all subjects.
This is an incredible opportunity for your child to join our vibrant acting and musical theatre groups at Cotham School, held every Monday evening. Our focus is on creativity, fun, and collaboration in a supportive and aspirational environment. It's a fantastic way for young people to build confidence and make friends.
Free Taster Session:
Monday 29 September
5.00 pm -7.00 pm
Venue - Cotham School
CUE Theatre Company newsletter advert 25 This week Year 13 had assembly on key dates within the UCAS application process and many have already scheduled their first 1:1 conversations with their tutor.
Year 12 have had subject change week. This is a huge logistical task + we are working our way through these requests. We appreciate students' patience regarding this and contacting us directly if they have any queries.
On Thursday 2 October 2025, Cotham lessons finish @ 1.45pm. Students with lessons at RGS should still attend P5 on that day.
The charity "We Solve Problems", along with the Maths Department at the University of Bristol, are excited to offer a series of free extra-curricular Saturday activities for students who enjoy Maths. The sessions promote the art of problem-solving and structured thinking, and are designed to support students to articulate their ideas and construct mathematical arguments.
The sessions will be held weekly on Saturdays, 2.00pm to 3.30 pm, at the University of Bristol. It is starting in October, and are open to all students in years 7-11. This is not a course with a beginning or an end, but an ongoing social club for puzzle lovers.
Please note that this is not a school trip so the organisers will be responsible for students throughout.
For more information please refer to their website.
To sign up, please complete the attached form here, which is also available on Google Classrooms. Please note that places fill up very quickly due to high demand.
Did you know there are over 200 languages spoken in Europe? The European Day of Languages on Friday 26 September is all about celebrating them! 🥳 It's a day to explore the amazing cultural diversity of Europe and the UK, and to appreciate the different languages spoken right here in our own country.
At Cotham we are marking this through tutor time quizzes and a competition for Years 7-9 to enter. See attached poster for details. We look forward to seeing your creations!
Cotham cook, bake, artistic EDoL 2025 We are happy and proud to promote once again the Bristol Bordeaux Exchange. We strongly believe that this is a unique and precious linguistic and cultural immersion that will provide lifelong memories (and friendships too!)
Open to students studying French from Year 9 to Year 13 - see the letter and the association website for more details.
Bristol-Bordeaux information sheet 2026Year 9 students made Turkish Borek pastries this week while sharpening their knife skills and using their pastry prepared in the previous lesson. They practiced precise cutting techniques, created a savoury filling and explored the science of baking, learning how conduction and convection work together. From sizzling pans to golden, flaky crusts, the lesson blended cultural discovery with hands-on learning, leaving both skills and taste buds enriched.
This week, the Year 9 students have been working on a typography based project that will lead into art and activism. They have studied the typography artist Jasper Johns, who is best known for his depictions of flags, maps, letters and numbers and have made their own response with these colourful pieces.
Please see the attached Flyer from Threefold Theatre - a performance collective based in Easton.
C3 Call Out '25 We are delighted to share with you the range of peripatetic music lessons available to our students this year.
We also have two self-employed music teachers who can be contacted directly:
Guitar – jack@skusemusic.com
Piano – chriscraigjones@hotmail.com
For any other instruments, please visit Bristol Beacon’s website for full details
We are able to subsidise lessons for Pupil Premium students. For more information, please contact me directly at: geogheganr@cotham.bristol.sch.uk.
The Performing Arts team are exceptionally pleased that Erin White (a recent graduate of Trinity Laban Dance Conservatoire) joins our Dance team to lead these dance companies. The sessions are open to all students who want to learn new dance skills, further their current dance skills, develop their choreographic skills, while of course having fun!
There are two available sessions, both in E008, the dance studio:
Monday 3.00pm - 4.00pm: Year 7s (and any students from older year groups who cannot make the Wednesday session, please do come along to this session).
Wednesday: 3.00pm - 4.00pm Years 8,9 10 and 11.
Please remember a change of clothing: t shirt, leggings, jogging trousers.
We very much look forward to seeing you.
Ms Phillips
Teacher of Dance
Junior Dance Company.pdfSenior Dance Company.pdfMrs Ahmad is running a competition for Sigma House students to design a new logo for our house. Try to use the colour green, include the word Sigma and, of course, our logo which is:
Strength In Truth, Power In Compassion
Upload your designs to Google Classroom, or feel free to drop them off to me in the Science Office.
I am looking forward to seeing your amazing designs. Remember that the winning design will be made into badges and be used all around school in displays
30 September, the last Tuesday of the month, Ms. Forbes will be running a bake sale at break time. Brownies are homemade with a beautiful fall flavouring of pumpkin spice. All proceeds will be donated to charity. The cost will be £1.00 to £2.00 depending on the size of the slice so please bring in as many coins as you have to be willing to donate.
Thank you and get ready to enjoy the taste of fall!!
We are delighted to see such strong motivation among our students, which is reflected in a healthy competition for top attendance. This week, we have an exciting tie! Both Gamma and Delta houses are holding the top position with an impressive 92.06% attendance. Well done to all our students for their hard work and dedication to learning.
Please inform the school by 9.00am on the first and subsequent days of absence.
School procedure is as follows:
absence message sent if absences have not been reported.
if no response to the absence message, a follow up letter requesting reason for absence will be sent.
If you haven’t already, please download the free Studybugs app, or register on the Studybugs website, and use it to tell us whenever your child is ill and unable to attend school.
Get the app or register now by clicking here.
Thank you
Cotham School
Poster with Additional Info.pdf
Please see the below information leaflet produced by Bristol City Council, it gives advice about term time absence and the consequences of unauthorised absence from school.
Bristol -PN leaflet 2024 - FINAL.pdfWith our new absence procedure Studybugs App running for a period of time, the absence phone line will no longer be available for Years 7-11. If you experience any difficulty downloading or using the Studybugs App, please contact or come to the school for assistance.
Term 1 Monday 1 September 2025 to Friday 24 October 2025
Term 2 Monday 3 November 2025 to Friday 19 December 2025
Term 3 Monday 5 January 2026 to Friday 13 February 2026
Term 4 Monday 23 February 2026 to Thursday 2 April 2026
Term 5 Monday 20 April 2026 to Friday 22 May 2026
Term 6 Monday 1 June 2026 to Friday 17 July 2026
Monday 1 September 2025
Friday 26 September 2025
Friday 14 November 2025
Monday 30 March 2026
Monday 20 April 2026
We have a fantastic opportunity to offer piano and keyboard lessons to years 7-9 on our grand piano at Cotham School with our very experienced piano teacher Christina Craig - Jones.
She is a specialist teacher of beginners to advanced levels and offers all styles of music from Classics, jazz improvising and rock and pop.
For more details and to book a free taster lesson please contact her directly at chriscraigjones@hotmail.com
Cotham students from Year 10 and upwards, and their families are warmly invited to a talk by Photographer and author Patrick Dransfield at Badminton School on Thursday 9 October. Details attached, and link to registration form please click here.
Young photographer in Old Bejing'Uh-SIST'
Meaning:
To help or support someone (verb).
Example:
I asked my older sister to assist me with my homework.
Can you assist Nanna with her shopping bags.
We cannot play but we will assist the coach with the match tomorrow.
Synonyms:
Help, support, aid, lend a hand.
'AD-vuh-kut'
Meaning:
A person who speaks up for someone or something they believe in (noun),
To speak up or support an idea or a person (verb).
Example:
Malala is an advocate for girls education
As a school prefect I must advocate for student ideas and share them with teachers.
Synonyms:
Supporter, champion, defender, spokesperson (noun).
Support, speak up, defend, promote (verb).
Dear Parent/Carer
Please find our latest online safety newsletter attached.
Important Notice:
This newsletter is intended for adults and includes discussions on online safety, including sensitive topics such as the online exploitation of children. Some of this content may be upsetting to both adults and children.
We strongly encourage parents and carers to prepare themselves before reading and to carefully consider which information to share with their child, based on their age and cognitive ability. The language and explanations used may not always be suitable for younger children, so please use your discretion when deciding what is appropriate for your child.
Your awareness and thoughtful approach is vital in ensuring a safe and informed discussion about online safety.
Kind regards
Farhan Ahmed
Digital Strategy Lead
Email: AhmedF@cotham.bristol.sch.uk
Online_Saftey_Newsletter_Term 1_150925.pdf