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 June 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
One of our fantastic Year 12 students, Ellie, entered the Anthea Bell Prize for Young Translators 2025, a national translation competition run by the Queen's College Translation Exchange at the University of Oxford. Over 22,000 students participated, and Ellie received a Commendation from the University of Oxford for her translation, which was judged by professional literary translators and Modern Languages students at the University.
This is an excellent achievement, and I want to congratulate Ellie on her hard work and outstanding talent. We are very proud to see our students excelling on such a prestigious national platform!
Miss Brooks
Another Great News!
"Could you please pass on my thanks to the Parent Prom Committee.
My daughter said it was a great night with well thought out plans around music, great decorations she really wasn't expecting and she was full of stories and has been enjoying everyone's photos and videos from the night all day.
Really grateful for the organisation and commitment to making special memories for mine and others kids."
Thanks once again
Year 11 Parent
Thank you
Well, what a week it’s been as we celebrated Refugee Week 2025 at Cotham School!
We launched the celebrations on Friday 13 June with our fortnightly Cooking Club for asylum seeker students currently living in temporary hotel accommodation.
Whenever possible, lessons across all subjects incorporated activities focused on the refugee experience. Here are just a few highlights:
English: the students studied a range of poems on the topic.
Year 10 explored the poem "The Émigrée" as part of the Power and Conflict anthology.
Year 9 studied "We Refugees" by Benjamin Zephaniah.
Year 8 read "Refugee Boy" by Benjamin Zephaniah.
Year 7 engaged with "The Boy at the Back of the Class" by Onjali Q. Raúf.
All year groups also analysed and discussed Dean Atta’s poem "I Come From" as a lesson starter.
Mathematics:
Spotlight on famous refugee mathematicians, including Fields Medal winner Caucher Birkar.
Science:
Lessons highlighted discoveries by scientists who were themselves refugees or asylum seekers.
Modern Foreign Languages (MFL):
Students explored songs and films related to refugee experiences. In French, Ms Kennedy delivered an outstanding lesson to her classes that week, on a song by Corneille, a Rwandan singer who survived the 1994 genocide and rebuilt his life through music with the help of the Quebecois community. The song shares his story and promotes the message of “living life to the full, as if each day were the last.”
These are just a few snapshots of the many educational opportunities offered across all subjects during the week.
On Tuesday, selected Year 8 and Year 9 students were invited to watch The Beautiful Game, a film about how football and community can help people experiencing homelessness.
On Wednesday, we held a successful cake sale, and on Friday, a non-uniform day to raise funds for our Cooking Club and extracurricular activities such as educational trips for our refugee and asylum seeker students. Our crowdfunding total currently stands at (link here) we will share the final figure once all donations are processed by our Finance Team.
On Thursday afternoon, we hosted a party for our asylum seekers and refugee students to celebrate their achievements — particularly their resilience in adapting to a new language and education system. We were honoured to welcome volunteer guest speakers from City of Sanctuary, who shared their lived experiences and offered inspiration and reassurance. The event concluded with shared food of delicious dishes donated by our wonderful staff and volunteers.
On Friday, some students were nominated to attend a Zoom author event in the library with a guest author from Syria (see pictures below in the librarian section) a unique opportunity for cultural connection and inspiration.
Finally, a clothing collection was organised by Miss Ahmad. Here's what she had to say:
“Thank you to everyone who donated to our Clothes Collection during Refugee Week. We were overwhelmed by your generosity. With the help of our School of Sanctuary Ambassadors, we sorted through the items—many were kept for our own refugee students, and the rest will be delivered to local charities across Bristol who support refugee families. Some donations will go to Aid Box Community, and others will be given directly to our students and families. Thank you again for your kindness!”
Throughout the week, our students demonstrated exceptional learning and interest on this global issue, empathy, respect, and community spirit. Cotham School is proud to be a School of Sanctuary—and we are all proud to be part of it.
Cotham celebrated Refugee week in the library showcasing many amazing books with important REFUGEE stories to tell AND a Zoom Talk by Author Sita Bramachari.
This year's theme is COMMUNITY AS A SUPERPOWER. We asked students WHAT THEY COULD DO FOR THEIR COMMUNITY OR SCHOOL to make a difference to people who wanted to feel welcome. They wrote their thoughts and actions on COMMUNITY KINDNESS CARDS. See our book display, an important message from the Moomins! and the cards HERE.
moomins 80 years of welcome Community kindness cards 2025 Community kindness card photo.docx
Last week, our Student Digital Leaders led assemblies and workshops at Cotham Gardens Primary and St Peter’s C of E Primary School. They planned and delivered engaging, memorable sessions—and it was lovely to see that the Year 6 pupils not only recognised our Digital Leaders but also remembered what they’d learned about online safety during this weeks transition day.
This is an exciting opportunity for your child to get moving!
Do you fancy learning street dance? Here is your chance! E5 is starting up a Christian Street Dance classes for children in Year 5 to Year 9.
They are offering a FREE trial for the first three classes, then each class will be £3 afterwards.
Suitable for both boys and girls. Why not give it a go? Please use the QR code to sign up.
Details on the flyer.
With our new absence procedure Study Bugs 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 Study Bugs app, please contact or come to the school for assistance.
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.
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
We are excited to offer an excellent opportunity for Years 7-9 students to take piano and keyboard lessons right here at Cotham School! These lessons will be taught on our lovely grand piano by our highly experienced teacher, Christina Craig-Jones.
She is a specialist teacher, catering to all levels from beginners to advanced and offering a diverse range of styles including classical, jazz improvising, and rock and pop.
Limited spaces are available for this term and in preparation for next year. Summer holiday lessons are also an option.
To learn more or to book a free taster lesson, please contact Christina directly at chriscraigjones@hotmail.com.
Year 9 are getting used to the new routine of having their phones safely tucked away in their Yondr pouches. As expected, there have been a few little bumps along the way, but truthfully not much has changed.
Just like before - phones should be off, away and in bags. The only difference now is they’ve got a super soft pouch to keep them cosy!
PHOTO DAY FOR NEW LANYARDS: Tuesday 8 July 2025
Thank you to Year 10 students for embracing the new Yondr phone pouches and following all instructions so well. Your positive attitude really helps create a focused learning environment. We also appreciate your pride in wearing your uniform consistently and setting a great example for the whole school. Well done and keep up the fantastic work!
Year 10 have shown a consistent rise in attendance this term—well done! Regular attendance is crucial for keeping up with learning and preparing for the year ahead. Let’s keep this positive momentum going as we move towards the end of the year. Every day counts!
On Thursday 19 June we celebrated the Year 11 students time at Cotham. It was a wonderful celebration, tutors spoke fondly of their tutor groups and tutor videos were shared. There was laughter and cheers as they watched them. The students had voted for the Year 11 Oscars and we celebrated the best over the years in house points, behaviour and attendance.
It has been an absolute pleasure to be their LC for the last 4 years, watching them grow into the wonderful young people them have become. I wish them all good luck as they start their new chapter in their lives.
Mrs Arnold
On Wednesday 25 June Year 11 celebrated in style at their Prom. They all looked amazing in their outfits. There was laughter, hugs and smiles as they all arrived. I was so proud to be a part of their evening, welcoming them at the door with Ms Bunka and Mr Meakin.
A huge thank you to the parent Prom committee who put this all together. I am absolutely thrilled to share some wonderful snippets and photos from this year's Prom Night!
Mrs Arnold
This week we welcomed our prospective Year 12 students for Transition Day. They took part in taster lessons and were given a whistle stop tour of all things Post 16. It was great to have such a full building with lots of smiles and excitement. Please direct any follow up questions to post16admissions@cotham.bristol.sch.uk.
Next week Year 12 will be taking part in the first two days of our Futures Conference and will be off timetable for Tuesday 1 July and Wednesday 2 July. A full plan of the day has been sent to all of our young people. This is a cross site event and we will be joined by RGS students. We hope that the conference will give them the opportunity to start exploring potential Post 18 plans. We will be covering a huge variety of Post 18 options from traveling to degree apprenticeships.
A huge thank you to Mr Book for organising our very first Post 16 Sports Day. Lots of our young people (and staff) participated in a range of sports including dodgeball, badminton, and tug of war. Keep an eye on out social media to see some photos of the event!
This week Year 9 used a clever recipe for vegetarian samosas. Using tortilla wraps stuffed with potatoes, sweetcorn & peas, this alternative made the process super easy without the need to deep fry in our food rooms. Year 9 used their knife skills to add finely diced onion, garlic & chilli with a teaspoon of curry powder to add extra flavour, then sealed with a home made flour paste & a quick shallow fry to add extra texture & flavour to their Samosa. Less mess and cost effective! Great work Year 9.
The Year 7 students have been creating mandala lino prints by carving their designs into lino blocks, applying paint, and pressing them onto the coloured paper they prepared. The results are fantastic!
Tickets for this year's whole school show Guys and Dolls are now on sale via WisePay! Choose from 3 price options at checkout:
£5 Concession – if this suits your budget, we’d love to welcome you.
£8 Standard – helps support our extra-curricular performances.
£15 Pay It Forward – subsidises two concession tickets and helps more people enjoy live theatre.
This Monday, Cue Theatre Club will be performing their Summer Showcase!
The show will involve performances from both our acting and musical theatre groups, with songs from Hamilton, Les Mis, Rent and Six!
Date: Monday 30 June 2025
Time: 7.00pm
Venue: Dance Studio
CUE summer showcase - Cydney Forbes.pptxA reminder that every Wednesday, from now until the end of the academic year, Ms. Forbes is running a Creative Club in C005 from 2.45pm-3.45pm. Please come along and bring anyone who wants to get creative and meet like minded peers! We will be drawing painting, crocheting and collaging!
Well done to Gamma House for securing the highest attendance!!!
'De-te-ri-uh-rate'
Meaning:
To become worse in quality, condition, or character (verb)
Example:
The old mansion on the hill began to deteriorate after years of neglect.
Deforestation caused the land to deteriorate and become less fertile.
We must reduce road traffic in our community otherwise air quality will deteriorate further.
Synonyms:
decline , worsen, decay, degenerate, fall
'Sel-duhm'
Meaning:
Things that don’t happen very often (adverb).
Example:
It seldom rains in some parts of the world.
She’s seldom late for school.
Synonyms:
Rarely, infrequently, hardly…
Please find our latest online safety newsletter attached.
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 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.
Online_Safety_Newsletter_4.pdf