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 9 December 2024 is Week B
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
Thank you so much for all your efforts last night at Year10 Parents' Evening. We had a very good turnout (despite the rain!) and parents and students left with really positive comments about the school, the teachers and the students' onward journey to their GCSEs.
On a dark and dreary December evening, we really appreciate all the hard work that went into the evening. Thanks as well to the catering, admin, IT and site teams for ensuring a slick set up for the event too.
If any concerns or comments have arisen from your conversations, do let us know.
Have a great day and enjoy your weekend, when it comes!
Jenny Sainsbury
Assistant Headteacher
Thank you to all the parents who attended parents evening. It is always a great opportunity for parents to hear feedback from their class teachers as well as plans for the year ahead.
D Farmer
Year 10 Learning Coordinator
Thank you
A massive well done to our PGCE students who were with us on their first placement from the University of Bristol. Everyone did a wonderful job and we are so proud to be supporting the future of the teaching profession through these initial teacher training placements. We wish everyone the best of luck for their second placements.
The Lord Mayors Childrens Christmas Appeal has a supply of toys and books available for children in need in Bristol.
Please contact the charity at info@lordmayorofbristolappeal.com to arrange delivery/collection.
Irona Care and Health is offering free flu vaccinations to school children in Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire from Reception to Year 11. Children who do not attend school and anyone who missed the session in school, will be invited to a community clinic to receive their vaccine.
We are excited to announce that we will be having our first Cotham Parents Network Meeting for 2024/2025 on Tuesday 10 December 2024 at 5.30pm. It will be wonderful to see you there! We will collecting your feedback and discussing plans for the upcoming year.
Last day of the the term - Friday 20 December 2024
Non-uniform day; students can wear a Christmas jumper if they would like to, and are asked to contribute a suggested donation of £1 for charity.
There will be no break service for food from 10:45-11:05.
Students will leave school at 12:00.
Students who receive a free school meal will be provided with a packed lunch which can be collected from K Block canteen after 12:00.
We are excited to share information about a fantastic opportunity for your child during the upcoming winter holidays: Your Holiday Hub. This programme, funded by Department for Education, offers a wide range of exciting activities and nutritious meals for school-aged children eligible for free school meals. It's a great way to keep your child engaged, active and well-fed during the break.
To find out more information please visit their website.
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.
The UK Government is replacing physical immigration documents with eVisas, a digital proof of immigration status.
Parents and guardians of children who are not British or Irish citizens, and whose children have either a biometric residence permit (BRP) card expiring on 31 December 2024, or a passport with an indefinite leave to remain ink stamp or vignette sticker, should take action to access their eVisa now, and do so on behalf of their children too.
An eVisa cannot be lost or stolen and can be accessed online by visa holders at any time to prove their rights in the UK. It’s free and their immigration status won’t be affected.
You can find a range of shareable eVisa communications materials, including factsheets and social media content in the eVisa partner pack.
Our lost and found area is overflowing with forgotten treasures! Please remind your child to take a look and see if anything belongs to them.
We are thrilled to share that Monkhouse is relocating to a brand-new facility in Kingswood close to the Kings Chase Shopping Centre. If you need to get in touch please send all future emails to Ms Lisa Liddell : westcam@monkhouse.com.
Kingswood.pdfOur tree is now set up in the church for this weekends Tree Fest. Our tree represents The School of Sanctuary and our EAL students wrote words on the tree that explains how they feel at Cotham. The event runs from Thursday 5 to Sunday 8 December at St Mary Redcliffe Church. A huge thank you to Mr Bridge who designed and built the tree from recycled wood, and to the students who were involved.
Please visit their website for more information.
On Thursday 12 December 2024 we are taking 140 students to watch Goldilocks and the Three bears at the Bristol Hippodrome.
We will be leaving school at 1.00pm.
Students attending the trip MUST bring a packed lunch as we will be eating our lunch at the theatre.
Students who have free school meals will have a packed lunch provided for them.
Students will be dismissed from the Bristol Hippodrome at 4.30pm and will not be returning to school.
Those students remaining on site will be watching a Christmas movie of their choice.
Congratulations to Salma 7CC who has the highest number of achievement points in Year 7.
Well done to everyone who completed the second digital literacy lesson!
This week's top performers are 7AB AGAIN!!! Smashing it guys!
The following students have made improvement in their attendance percentages, another great achievement.
Rizan 7DW, Abdul-Shakur 7NJ, Hamid 7CC, Kyree 7NJ, Djohora 7PD, Alisha 7CC, Yahya 7PD, Dominion 7AB, Omer 7CB, Asmaa 7CC
On Wednesday, tutor groups started the morning with a Kahoot quiz as tutors came together to see who would be crowned champions for Term 2 - A big congratulations to all that got involved!
The top three performing tutor groups were 8BOP in 3rd, 8NBR in 2nd, and then 8HMI who finished in 1st place!
Excitement is soaring through Year 9 as the Flying Start Challenge takes centre stage. This unique opportunity has sparked a wave of enthusiasm, with over 100 eager students submitting their expressions of interest. The challenge now lies with our STEAM Faculty Lead, who faces the formidable task of narrowing down this impressive list to just 28 lucky participants.
The Flying Start Challenge is a fantastic initiative designed to inspire young minds and encourage the next generation to embrace STEM subjects. It’s not just about science, technology, engineering, and maths—it’s about igniting curiosity, fostering innovation, and maybe even launching a few future engineers, scientists, or tech wizards along the way.
With so much excitement and talent on display, it’s clear that our Year 9 students are ready to take on this challenge and soar to new heights!
This week in Assembly, year 10s focus was on empathy and respect. This has been demonstrated excellently by 10GC who have accrued the most achievement points this week. Thank you to all parents who attended parents evening. The event was very well attended and some valuable and positive feedback given.
Mr Chinn gives a shout out to the following who came to period 6 engineering on Friday 29 November 2024 as an optional session. They are working really hard to continue their coursework in their free time!
Vismaya, Serena, Tanaka, Oscar, Iris, Callum, Shyam, Omari, Sooniya, Logan, Agnes, Finn
Year 11 student Prom Committee held their first fundraiser on Thursday. It was a huge success and we sold out of cookies in under 10 minutes. Thank you to everyone who supported us and to Saabrina, Darcie, Imogen and Trudi who ran the event.
Period 6 will continue this term.
We have noticed that attendance has slipped. Period 6 is compulsory. If your child was selected for Period last term they will continue with the same timetable up until Christmas.
If for any reason they cannot attend please let Mrs Arnold know.
Some 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. Upgrade+ places are allocated based on progress data. Please encourage your young person to attend if this is now on their timetable.
We will now only be accepting absence calls/emails/messages from parents and carers. If you foresee any issues with this new way of absence reporting, please contact Kate Skinner to discuss this further (skinnerk@cotham.bristol.sch.uk)
Year 10 GCSE Food cooked up a storm by making chicken biryani using an AI-generated recipe! Students practiced key cooking techniques, like dicing onions with claw and bridge hold, marinating chicken with spices, and perfecting rice cooking with a flavourful stock. They layered the biryani beautifully and steamed it to perfection, resulting in an aromatic, delicious dish. It was a fantastic hands-on lesson in cooking skills, teamwork, and cultural appreciation. The results were truly impressive!
Chicken Biryani.pdf
This week students have been experimenting with printmaking! Looking at portraiture and print techniques, such as mono-printing, carbon printing and lino-cutting.
Inspired by Andy Warhol's colourful prints.
weekly mail 2.pdfGet ready to spread some holiday cheer and decorate the hub's Christmas trees. All houses are welcome to participate in this festive activity.
Indulge in the deliciousness of Ms Forbes's famous Cranberry Bliss Bars! All proceeds from this bake sale will be donated to SARI (Stand Against Racism Inequality).
We are running a Christmas Shoebox Appeal for the homeless this Winter. Contributions such as hats, scarves, gloves, socks, toiletries, sanitary products and snacks are all welcome. Students can give these to their tutor before the end of term. Thank you in advance for all your generous donations.
Mr Vohra
Join us for a fun one-lap run around the AWP, MUGA, and grassy area as part of the Santa Dash! There is a 50p entry fee, and all runners will receive a Christmas hat. Medals will be awarded to the top finishers in the 7s, 8s, 9s, 10s, and 11s year groups. Additionally, the Santa Dash Shield Award will be presented to the house with the most participants. All proceeds will go to Omega House Charity in support of Cancer Research UK. We hope to see you there!
Be present today, have potential for tomorrow!
Well done to Gamma House for securing the highest attendance for the week beginning 28 November 2024.
The under 16 team got us off to winning ways with a 61-27 victory over Trinity. It was great to see both boys and girls from Year10 and Year11 stepping in to represent our school with outstanding effort and attitude.
'Pry-orr-i-tyz'
Meaning:
To decide what is the most important and to put it first (verb).
Example:
I will prioritise my revision.
It’s important to prioritise safety.
Synonyms:
Put first, sequence, order...
'Ek-sploy-tay-shuhn'
Meaning:
Treating someone or something unfairly to benefit for yourself (noun).
Example:
The exploitation of migrant workers is a concern.
You will learn about financial exploitation.
Synonyms:
Misuse, take advantage of, abuse…
Internet Matters have collated their tips to help you talk about cyberbullying with your child based on different age categories. The information is divided into four sections:
Before you start the conversation
Things to talk to them about such as how to deal with cyberbullying
What to do next
Where to get further help
https://www.internetmatters.org/issues/cyberbullying/cyberbullying-conversation-starter-guide
