23 June 2023

Standing Items are now located at the bottom of the mailing. 

House News

It is a very exciting time within the House system at the moment as we transition from saying goodbye to our wonderful Year 11 Prefects and begin interviewing and announcing our current Year 10 prefects. Students across Year 10 have been able to submit applications for this prestigious role online, their Heads of Houses have then invited students for a formal interview in order to be appointed for the role. The successful candidates were announced in their House assemblies and congratulated in front of their whole house whilst also being awarded their badge.

Gamma and Delta prefects are still to be announced as the process is happening currently however we are thrilled to announce the following Student Leader Prefects in Year 10 for Sigma and Omega:

Sigma:

Inez  - House Captain 

Kaylee 

Zack 

Sofia  

Omega:

Abdiwahaab - House Captain

Amogh 

Bayan 

Ayesha 

Prefect responsibilities are as follows: 

> Develop the House identity for your house. Including contributing regularly to the Google Classroom feed and social media presence

> You will need to model good manners and habits expected from all Cotham School learners

> Support Head of House at House Assembly, leading at least one House assembly during the year.

> Organise inter-house competitions

> Carry out a community duty every fortnight

> Help promote the school during open evenings

> Make regular contributions to the weekly mailing home to parents / carers

> Helping during whole school assemblies.

> Taking an active role in Student Voice

> Working with the Head of House and House Charity Ambassadors to raise awareness and develop House Charity events

> House Captain will lead on communication between Prefects and Head of House and collect awards and trophies on House Day

TED Talks

Seven of our Year 9 students have competed in a public speaking competition run by Bristol Educational Partnership. They have all written and practised their own TED Talk style presentation on a topic that they care about. The students competed in the first heat at Cotham School on Wednesday 21 June 2023 and the two winners will go forward to the final where students from schools across Bristol deliver their talks on the theatre stage of Bristol Grammar School. This is part of Bristol’s bid to establish a TEDYouth programme in the city. Our students have worked incredibly hard on their presentations, and have already shown impressive public speaking skills. Well done to all of them.

TED Talks

Seven of our Year 9 students have competed in a public speaking competition run by Bristol Educational Partnership. They have all written and practised their own TED Talk style presentation on a topic that they care about. The students competed in the first heat at Cotham School on Wednesday 21 June 2023 and the two winners will go forward to the final where students from schools across Bristol deliver their talks on the theatre stage of Bristol Grammar School. This is part of Bristol’s bid to establish a TEDYouth programme in the city. Our students have worked incredibly hard on their presentations, and have already shown impressive public speaking skills. Well done to all of them.

TED Talk - Congratulations 

My wife and I were very pleased to be invited to today's event and want to thank the school and the staff we met for being so welcoming and hospitable. The morning was a delight - and the students, impressive.

The performances of the competitors demands unstinted praise! It was wonderful to see young people engage with sensitive, difficult topics so maturely. Their commitment to the chosen topic shone through even the quietest delivery. They developed coherent lines of argument and each contribution had a sure sense of wanting to shape their text to sway the audience. The language, also, showed a confident capacity to express complicated thoughts clearly and effectively - both to us adults and to Year 7. The attention awarded by the young audience stands as testimony to how well each speaker performed their task.

The Year 9 competitors are a credit to the school. The Year 7 audience were too!

Please accept our thanks. There is no better way to spend a morning than watching young people relishing school, wanting to articulate their feelings and thoughts on their place in the world and rising to the considerable challenge of doing that before an audience. Please, therefore pass on our congratulations to all the staff involved - in arranging the event, and in the education of all the students.

Best wishes to the school.

Received from a Grandparent from a Year 9 student

NHS Work Experience

NHS still have spaces available at the Pathways to Medicine Conference on Saturday 1 July at Southmead Hospital for Year 11 and 12 students that are interested in medicine. Please note the deadline for completion of this form is today  If you would like to attend this event, please follow this link to complete the form. NHS will email you back directly if you have secured a space.  This will be a very interactive, informative and fun day and you will meet many doctors from across the medical profession and get tips and advice for your university applications.  

IMPORTANT

Talking to Children about Youth Violence and Knife Crime

After the tragic killing of a 16-year old Bristol boy in Bath last weekend, and the subsequent letter from the police that all schools in Bristol and Bath sent out to parents and carers on Thursday, we feel this is a good time to share some resources with our parents and carers should you wish to talk about this issue further with your child.

We will also do some work with our students over the next two weeks on this issue and how to ensure that they are keeping themselves safe at all times through the tutor programme.

A really useful website for parents and carers is this one from Avon and Somerset Police containing many resources that you can use with your children and/or for yourself. Key highlights are:

• for parents and carers: a short documentary made by young people called 'Knife Crime: A new way forward' explaining what they think is driving youth violence and exploring potential solutions

• for students: short videos produced by students at three Bristol schools:

  • Lifeb4Likes – Merchants Academy – the dangerous world of putting social media popularity before another human’s life.

  • Eye for an Eye – Taunton Academy – how bullying can make a victim want to get revenge. However, the philosophy of an eye for an eye only makes the world blind.

  • Speak Up – Broadoak Academy – the guilt suffered by a friend who wanted to tell someone about his friend carrying a knife, but didn’t.

In addition, here is a useful guide for parents and carers to help you feel more confident to talk to your child about this issue. 

Furthermore, The Ben Kinsella Trust are running free online workshops on Tuesday 20 June & Tuesday 27 June specifically for parents and carers on 'Exploitation, Gangs and Knife Crime Awareness'. You will learn more about what is regular teenager behaviour or what might be signs that a young person in your care is being groomed or exploited. You can find out more and sign up for one of these workshops here.

End of Term 6 Arrangements for Students

All students, including Post 16 students will finish school for the summer on Thursday 20 July at 12pm.  This will also be a non-uniform day. 

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