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 14 October 2024 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)
Comment received by the Headteacher
"Thank you for hosting this evening at your wonderful school. I don't think I've ever visited a school for an event where the staff and students have been so warm and welcoming. My daughter is so excited at the prospect of joining you next year!"
Feedback from a parent at the NBP16 Open Evening yesterday evening
Thank you
We are excited to share with you some exciting events and activities coming up next week as part of our Black History Month celebrations at Cotham:
BHM in the Cotham Curriculum - students should look for the logo in their lesson slides! Throughout this month their teachers will be exploring black history with them in their subject learning. There are posters in faculty areas to give them an overview of what they can expect in each year group.
Students should pop along to the main school or Post 16 libraries where we have loads of new black excellence books for them to enjoy!
Assemblies for Year 7-10 this week will be delivered by Ms Kelly and focus on our sense of identity and the big question: ‘Who Do You Think You Are’?
Staff have been busy nominating some of the INCREDIBLE Future Black History Makers among our brilliant student population. Students should look out for communication from Mr Dignan if they have been nominated to take part!
Post 16 students are busy developing a film around African diaspora and identity. Students can speak to Mr Gayford if they would like to be involved!
Mr Lloyd will be launching a research challenge for all year groups on their Google Classroom on Tuesday morning. Loads of incredible stories of inspiring black changemakers to explore and rewards for those who submit responses!
In tutor time, Year 7-10 will be talking about Black icons Lavinya Stennett and Ian Wright, while Year 11 will be exploring and sharing big ideas around identity and multicultural society.
We warmly invite you to join us on the evening of Thursday 24 October, 6.00pm to 8.30pm for our annual African Caribbean and Dual Heritage Celebration Evening. More details below for what is set to be another fantastic event of student and community celebration . To reserve a ticket for this free event, please complete this short form.
Please find an updated Term 1 Enrichment timetable attached. We have had some amazing new clubs added to our offer. The new clubs have been highlighted in green.
Our aim is to offer our students a quality of experience that will enrich their lives and encourage every student to take advantage of the wider life of the school and to participate in at least one club. A wide range of subject and interest-based extracurricular activities are available to all students in Years 7-13.
For more information on extracurricular clubs, please contact:
Ms Martina Veale - vealem@cotham.bristol.sch.uk
Download link to Extracurricular Timetable:
Please see the attached leaflet for a local parenting relationship support. This will either be relationship therapy or a local practitioner will help you access online resources.
SIPCO Bristol Parents We have a number of students who have misplaced their AirPods at school.
If handed in to Lost Property then we try to match with owner.
The School cannot be responsible for precious personal items.
The Summer Reading Postcard Competition is asking for your VOTES. Over the summer, students were asked to read books and either design a new front cover OR write a book review of the books they had read. All the entries are now IN and THEY ARE AMAZING! We now need YOU to decide who should win.
Come to the library and VOTE for your favourite. The WINNERS receive £10 Amazon vouchers. VOTERS are also entered in a raffle with a chance to win a small prize too. Click the below link for the entries.
WEEKLY MAIL ENTRIES 2024 POSTCARD Dear parents and carers,
This week we joined thousands of schools across the UK and took part in Hello Yellow in support of YoungMinds on Thursday 10 October (World Mental Health Day). To show our support we hosted a Hello Yellow bake sale! The #HelloYellow bake sale for YoungMinds was a huge success! The cookies sold out in less than 10 minutes. So far we have raised over £130 to donate to YoungMinds.
There are days when all of us struggle with how we feel. Things can get tough, and it can be difficult knowing how to cope. For so many young people, when this happens, they don’t always get the help they need, when they need it. They don’t know where to turn, who to talk to, or even if anyone else feels the same.
No young person should feel alone with their mental health. But together, we can change this.
We’d like to ask you to consider donating to help YoungMinds keep fighting for young people's mental health.
Our suggested donation is £1, which can be donated on our JustGiving page.
Please remember, students are able to speak to any members of their year team, the safeguarding team or any trusted adult in school about any worries or concerns they may have.
For more information about YoungMinds and the support they provide please visit their webpage.
“Because we stand brighter, together.”
Kind regards,
Mr Arnold and Mr Byworth
If you are reporting the absence of your child, you must notify attendance on a daily basis. Please fill out the Year 7 - 11 absence form which is on our website. Absence must be reported by 9.00am, otherwise it will result in an absence message still being sent home. If there is no response to the message, a follow up letter requesting reason for absence will be sent home.
Year 7 tutor groups are working hard to gain as many house points to be in the running of winning a cinema experience in the main hall on Thursday 17 October. Winners will be announced week commencing 14 October. Respect is one of the core values that the school is focusing on this term and our cohort have really shown this attribute in the way I have seen them communicate and care for each other especially in recent weeks. Well done Year 7!!!
Huge congratulations to our Year 7 Rugby team who won against Blaise 35-0. A special mention must go to Jacob, Hudson, Clemmy, Dominic and Theo for the way they support others on the pitch.
7NJ / 7KMA / 7ZV - Amazing effort and engagement with reading aloud in German. All students had a go, were brave and tried their best. Wonderful to hear so much German being spoken in the classroom!
Special nods to:
7KMA - Andre
7NJ - Maha & Afnaan
7ZV - Demi & Samira
The Performing Arts department would like to shout out Andre for showing real kindness and compassion to a student during our Music lesson.
As we wrap up another productive week, I wanted to take a moment to celebrate the incredible efforts and achievements of our students. The enthusiasm and hard work from everyone in our year group has been truly inspiring!
A special shout out goes to Jeremy, Abdelrahman, Raghav, Troy, Zeke, Ollie, Yousef, Rory, Mohammed and Edward for their commitment and desire during their rugby match against Bristol Free School. Their teamwork, sportsmanship, and determination on the field were truly impressive, and they represented our school with pride. Well done, boys!
The team is looking for a few more players. If your child is interested, they should speak with the PE team. It’s a great opportunity to get involved!
Respect is our Cotham value focus this term, and a special congratulations goes to Ryan (8ECH), Fiza (8TC), Zakariya (8ECH), Afnan (8TC) and Dottie (8BOP) who have earned the most achievement points this week for consistently showing respect around the school. Their positive attitude and kindness toward others are making a real difference in our community. As a reward for their efforts, they will receive a "Skip the Lunch Queue" card for next week!
A shout out to the following students who have received the most achievement points for respect:
Mohammed 9FW, Ali 9JBA and three other students in 9MH, 9SI and 9MI.
The five of you have earned a Skip the Queue card!
Over the last few weeks all Year 10 students have had an opportunity to access the work experience platform UniFrog.
If students have recently secured a placement, please follow the 'placements' section of UniFrog's homepage where they can begin to input all the relevant information.
Year 11 continues to show their commitment to working hard, as we celebrate the students' hard work and dedication with amazing shouts outs from staff.
Ms Kennedy - Shout out to Safiya and Asma for a great start of the year !
Ms Ingham - Shout out all of 11B3 for listening diligently and working so well as a class this morning. They supported each other in their learning and maintained a really studious atmosphere. Extra shout outs to Amiir and Umer for asking the questions that many people were thinking.
Mr Woodward - Shout out for 11a6: Lavell, Warren, Elijah, Renad and Bakhtawar. They did a brilliant lesson today on equations of straight lines (y = mx + c).
Lila , Flo, Bonita, Will, Pablo & Karina - For turning up after school and at lunchtime to rehearse your work, even though you haven't been told to do so! Fantastic commitment, keep it up!!
Callum - for doing the research to make your monologue convincing.
Last week we have seen the return of the Tutor Football. It started strong with 11KD vs 11JWO.
KD took the lead and continued to take control of the game, winning 3-0.
This week we saw 11LN take on 11AT.
Year 11 continue to show their commitment to working hard, as we celebrate the students hard work and dedication with amazing shouts outs from staff.
Year 11 Period 6. Year 11 students are engaged in their learning and attendance has been very good.
Please note that Period 6 will be NOT be running on the following dates:
Thursday 17 October: due to Year 11 Parents Evening
Thursday 7 November: due to staff training
Thursday 5 December: due to Year 10 Parents Evening
The Year 11 3x3 Basketball tournament got off to a great start - with some big shots and surprise results already! As we enter the final rounds next week, 11DSE and 11LN are looking like the favourites to win it all!
The Year 11 Parent Information portal is now live on the school website under the parents/carers section. The portal will have a recorded presentation from Mrs Khan, Assistant Headteacher, which will provide you with an overview of the year ahead and there will also be overview videos for each subject. The videos will provide information about how the various courses are structured and assessed as well as how to support your child at home.
Parents and carers will have the opportunity to meet their child’s subject teachers for a 5-minute appointment.
Please visit SchoolCloud to book your appointments. Bookings will close on Wednesday 16 October at 6pm.
Parents and carers will have the opportunity to meet your child’s tutor for a 15 minute appointment to discuss your child’s engagement and wellbeing, participation in the wider life of the school, and to set targets for the remainder of the year.
This is a tutor/student/parent meeting. This event is in addition to our Year 11 Parents Evening on Thursday 17 October when you will have the opportunity to meet your child’s subject teachers.
Please visit SchoolCloud to book your appointments. Bookings will close on Thursday 31 October 6.00pm.
This week, we used Core to recruit new Year 12 Respect Ambassadors. Student Respect Ambassadors work within our school to promote gender equality and healthy relationships. Students were directly emailed a link to sign up but please encourage your young person to get involved if you feel like this is something they would benefit form being a part of.
Core: Respect IntroSome students will now find Upgrade+ on their timetable. They are compulsory sessions (approx. 4-5 hours per fortnight) of directed study where students will work in G101 with an Academic Mentor to improve their study skills through workshops and guided study. Please contact Ms Dutton if you have any questions.
Thank you to all in Year 7 and Year 8 who entered this competition! We were so impressed with your entries for the artistic, cooking and baking challenge. The range of dishes and drawings were wonderful. Highlights included home cooked biryani, ratatouille, carbonara and many delicious bakes such as tiramisu, Schwarzwalder Kirsch Torte, baklava and a creme brulée. The drawings were so precise and detailed of famous landmarks. Well done to all! Winners to be announced soon.
The Year 7s continue to learn about the elements of art. They have moved through, line, shape, tone and now putting them all together with the element form. They have learned that form is when you bring line, shape and tone together you can begin to make something look three dimensional, like a sphere, or a piece of fruit on a table! Here are some wonderful examples from classes 7ZV and 7CC with Ms. Forbes.
Our Year 7 rugby team are off to a flying start this academic year. We have had over 20+ students coming to training on Thursday after school.
Fixtures So Far:
Blaise 35-0 (W)
Ashton Park 10-20 (L)
Oasis Brislington 15-0 (W)
Every single player has been outstanding and wear the badge with pride. A special mention must go to Jacob, Hudson, Clemmy, Dominic and Theo for the way they support others on the pitch.
Well done to the Year 11 team for winning their first game in the English School Football tournament. Keep up the great work!
Well done to our netball teams from all year groups who played against St Bede’s last week. We ended up with 2 wins, a draw and 2 losses. It was awesome to see so many of you taking part. A great start to the netball season with many more matches to come!
Shout out to Miss Levi and Mrs Martin for helping umpire the games.
Well done to Gamma, Omega and sigma for improving attendance from the previous week.
The two winners of last year's YouthTalks competition have been preparing for the final showcase of their speeches at the Mackinnon Theatre this week. As part of their preparation, Djanu and Mariama appeared on the BBC Bristol Breakfast Radio show, talking about their experiences in the competition and why oracy skills are so important. They both represented our school community brilliantly on the airwaves - as articulate and engaging as always!
'Narr-uh-tiv'
Meaning:
A story (noun).
Example:
The theme for Black History Month is ‘reclaiming narratives’.
The message of the narrative is to value people over wealth.
Synonyms:
Story, account, tale…
'Narr-uh-tiv'
Meaning:
A story (noun).
Example:
The theme for Black History Month is ‘reclaiming narratives’.
The message of the narrative is to value people over wealth.
Synonyms:
Story, account, tale…
Have you heard of Vault Apps? They are basically secret apps that are concealed by looking like a normal, less conspicuous app. For example, one of these apps looks and works like a working calculator when opened, but when a passcode is entered, it reveals photographs, videos, documents and contacts. One way to prevent your child from using these apps is to ensure parental controls are set up so you can review all app purchases. You can find out more here:
