Achievement | Diversity | Respect
26 January 2024
Parent and Carer Weekly Mailing
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 January 2024 is Week A
Standing Items are located at the bottom of the mailing
Headteacher's Welcome
Dear Parents and Carers,
Please find our new look 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
Positive Feedback of the Week 👍
Email sent to Heads PA
"I just wanted to drop you a line to pass on how impressed I was with your teaching staff last night at the Year 9 Parents' Evening.
All the staff we spoke to had a really in depth knowledge of our child and seemed to have really got to know him this year. I know they have a lot of children across a lot of classes, so this was great to see.
We also saw some of the prep work that teachers do to support the learning of the children, and it was terrific! Mr Dutton in French was a particular example, but all the teachers we met with seemed to have really good supporting material for their students.
We are very aware that you and your staff are having to do more and more with less and less, and to keep up this level of attention to detail is exemplary. Please pass on our thanks to them.
All the very best for a successful term."
Parent of Year 9 student
Thank you
Announcements and Reminders
Photography Competition
We are running a photography competition for Years 7 - 11 on the theme of Spring.
Please take a photoshoot with the idea of Spring in mind and submit your best photo to google classroom.
Add a small write up about the meaning of your photo and your process of taking it.
Camera and Instant Printer worth £60.00
Answers need to be submitted on Google Classroom by Tuesday 20 February 2024.
Photos will be judged by prefects and Heads of Houses
Winners will be announced the following week.
World Hijab Day
Cotham School will be celebrating World Hijab day on Thursday 1 February. To celebrate the day, students will be allowed to wear any hijab colour of their choice. Those staff and students who do not wear the hijab are invited to try the hijab out for the day or part of the day. There will also be a cookie sale in the Hub at break time and all money raised will be going to Islamic Relief to provide aid for Palestine.
First Aid Training - Exciting News!
The Red Cross is returning to Cotham for the next few weeks to deliver First Aid training to all students in Years 7 and 8. Following last year's incredibly successful sessions we are excited to welcome Kathryn back to teach our young people how to treat common injuries and perform CPR.
PQA Bristol Wicked the Musical - February Half Term Workshop
Monday 12 February - Wednesday 14 February
10am - 4pm | Cotham School.
£135
Booking Form - https://forms.gle/csfBCHxxtYNxZMg49
Family Lives Newsletter - We build better lives together
Please click here to read the newsletter.
Library News - Design A Bookmark Competition
To celebrate World Book Day on March 7 2024 Cotham School are having a competition to design a bookmark . Students will vote for their favourite. Winning designs will be printed and prizes given!! Come to the library to pick up a design template.
Draw a piece of artwork inspired by your favourite book, favourite book character or just be inspired by the world of words and reading.
DRAW ANYTHING YOU WANT BUT IT HAS TO BE ORIGINAL !
No digital images please – You can use pens/paint or pencils.
Colour or black and white.
Your choice.
PLEASE HAND IN YOUR DESIGN BY FRIDAY 23 FEBRUARY 2024
The winners will have their bookmark printed and also WIN A PRIZE
Attendance
Please ensure you contact the absence team for every day your child is absent, unless you have already specified a return date. Any absences received after 9am will be actioned the following day, which may result in an absence message still being sent home. We aim to respond to your inquiry within 48hrs. Links can be found below for quick access.
Year Group News
Please select the Year Group of interest.
Key information will be displayed outside of the selection areas.
Year 7
NHS – Healthcare Careers Opportunities Session
As part of the Cotham School partnership with the NHS, 40 Year 7 students had a free in-person careers session themed around careers in healthcare.
Students had the opportunity to:
Gain insight into a range of healthcare roles from local healthcare professionals.
Learn about different pathways into healthcare roles from apprenticeships and technical qualifications to university.
Interact with healthcare equipment and props used in these roles
Ask the professionals questions
Year 7 Shout Outs
"From Ms Ingham - To 7GD, 7BOP and 7EW - First Aiders this week have been exceptional, asking great questions, getting involved and overall represented our school really well."
From Miss Burt - To 3 students, all in 7BOP
Mubashir for saying that he really appreciates us purchasing Halal Salami for pizza toppings
Adam for thanking me for assisting them with washing up
Abdirahman for always being enthusiastic and engaging in every food lesson.
Year 8
Update
The year 8 SELT team have asked students to vote about having a year 8 disco- watch this space!
Ninja Warrior spaces are still available- I have letters in my office. Pay via wise pay or cash. Transport may be available.
Year 8 girls felt they weren't able to use the AWP as more boys wanted to play on it, so we voted and now they have separate days to play football!
Massive shout out to- Hana, Alice, IIhaam, Petra, Tilly, Shadhiva, Aidan, Imani who were awesome in their Art assessment.
Year 9
Bristol Old Vic - Tour
Last Thursday 18 January, I took a schools group from Cotham School on a Backstage tour of the Bristol Old Vic.
"The group of students were excellent, they were very professional and as we moved around the theatre and visited different departments, they all asked engaging & interesting questions about all aspects of working in the theatre from acting, lighting, stage management, writing, & props making."
"It was great and a coincidence as our current prop maker working here on their visit was a past graduate from Cotham School."
"It was great to meet a good group of Students who very interested in being part of the creative process in their future careers bringing arts to the stage film .Radio and TV. " Andrew - Tour Guide
KS4 Pathways: Choosing Subject Preferences
From 9.00 am on Thursday 25 January your child can start making subject choices. Your child can now log into SIMS Options Online using this link: www.sims-student.co.uk and selecting the google icon to log in using their school email address and password. Please log in with your child and support them in making their subject choices. Full guidance on how to do this in the attached PowerPoint which also includes a short video walk through. Your child has until Friday 9 February 5.00 pm to finalise choices.
2. Logging in and Selecting Subject Preferences - KS4 Pathways - Anilla Khan.pptxYear 10
Spot Light on GCSE Art - Ms Bridgeman
Our Year 10 GCSE students are busy working on their " ALL YOU CAN EAT" coursework projects. Currently, students are exploring their own sub-genre of the theme and producing some wonderful mixed media observational drawings. This project is all about experimentation and building up key skills. We are impressed by the motivation, commitment and passion that our Year 10's have shown to the subject so far!
Spot Light on GCSE Art - Grey is studying GCSE
Art GCSE is a great way to express your creativity. You do so many different medias and subjects so even if you don’t like what you are doing one week, next week will probably be very fun. I like that it’s very open to your ideas but it still keeps you on track by giving you ideas and boundaries which helps my creativity flow. I like how it makes me try different ideas and techniques that I never would have thought have trying. It also makes me try stuff again and again which makes you improve.
Year 10 Drama Stars of the week
"Karina, Felix, Pablo, Martha SH and Agnes for being fantastic ambassadors for Drama at the Year 9 Pathways Evening."
Year 10 Bingo
Eyes down for Bingo, on Tuesday 23 January. 36 students enjoyed a fun afternoon of Bingo. Tension was high as they waited for their final numbers to give them a line or full house. BINGO Congratulations to Umer who won on a line and Full house. Iqra and Shuaib also won on a line. Rajesh and Masoud won a Full House.
Year 10 Shout Outs
Ms Anthony gives a shout out for Kash who has been working very hard in maths lately!
Ms Kennedy gives a shout out to 10X Fr1 who have been working hard in group practise speaking in pairs, playing battleships and it was great to see !
Year 10 Mathematician of the fortnight is Aaron.
Year 11
Mock Exams Monday 29 January - Friday 9 February
Please ensure your child has received and checked their revision timetable which was sent to their gmail account. This details their seat number and candidate number for the exams. They will need to know this information when entering the exam hall. Please ensure your child has full stationary including a geometry set and calculator for maths and science exams. Attached is the whole school mock exam timetable for your information. Please ensure your child is in full school uniform at all times.
Link to the Year 11 Mock Timetable: Link
Post 16
Year 13 Mocks
"We would like to congratulate our Y13 students for their exemplary behaviour during mock week. We were thoroughly impressed by their high levels of maturity and the commitment to their studies. If students missed a mock, they would have been contacted with a rescheduled time and date. Please direct any queries regarding this to Ms Skinner. "
The Student Leadership Team - Charity Movie Night
"The Student Leadership Team is excited to invite P16 students to their first charity movie night. This will take place on Thursday 1 February, a great opportunity to relax after mock week. "
Subject Announcements
Please select the faculty area you are interested in viewing.
Maths
Chess Success
Congratulations to Cotham Chess Team for an excellent result last Wednesday, winning 6-0 in their knock-out match against Clifton High! This means we are now in Round 2 of the Regional stage of the ECF National Schools Chess Championship. Really impressive play from all.
STEAM
Steam News and Updates Below 🙂
Year 9 Knife Skills Vegetable Chow Mein
Year 9 have been making Vegetable Chow Mein this week. This has been a lesson focussing on knife skills, students learnt how to perfect the Julienne technique with the carrots cut into very fine matchsticks. Students also learnt the Chiffonade technique and used Chinese leaf to practise this technique.
Work of the Week
This week year 11 have been starting their exam unit with these impressive observational drawings.
PE
Senior Bristol Sports Hall Final
On Thursday 11 January 2024, Year 9 and 10 Boys and Girls Sports hall Athletic teams competed in the Senior Sports hall Athletics event at Redland Green Secondary School. Our Year 9 Girls positioned 4th out of all schools in Bristol, Year 10 boys came 4th and Year 10 Girls positioned 1st!! This is an amazing achievement beating RGS, St Bedes, SMRT and Trinity in the finals. Well Done to all involved.
Performing Arts
Steel Pans Concert - Wednesday 7 February 2024
We are delighted to announce our Steel Pans concert on Wednesday 7 February in the Main School Hall.
Doors for the performance open 6.45pm for a 7.00pm start. It is anticipated that the performance will last approximately 60 minutes with no interval.
Tickets can be purchased via Wisepay.
We look forward to seeing you on Wednesday 7 February and thank you in advance for your support.
Bristol Education Partnership
Philosophy Society
We are hosting our second Philosophy society event on 7 February 2024.
After the success of our inaugural hosting event last year for Cotham, we are doing it again as part of the Philosophy Society in Bristol. Several students of the NBP16 are presenting on the topic of Philosophical issues raised by Artificial Intelligence. It is a fully joint effort by RGS and Cotham which is a great advert for our Sixth Form. Do look out for more news on the how the event goes!
Literacy
KS3
Word of the Week
Meagre
'Mee-guh'
Meaning:
A small amount or not enough of something (adjective).
Example:
The Prisoners existed on a meagre diet of bread and water.
Her bank account contained a meagre amount of money.
Synonyms:
Insufficient, inadequate, insubstantial
KS4
Word of the Week
Accumulate
'Uh-kyoo-myuh-layt'
Meaning:
To collect an increasing amount of something (verb).
Example:
My shelf is starting to accumulate a lot of dust.
I'm being to accumulate a lot of knowledge.
Synonyms:
Collect, gather, gain
Digital Literacy Corner
internetmatters.org
Internet Matters is a not-for-profit organization based in London, England, that provides child internet safety advice to parents, carers, and professionals. It was launched in May 2014 by the UK's largest internet service providers BT, Sky, TalkTalk, and Virgin Media. Internet Matters provides a wealth of resources and expert guidance on a wide range of online safety issues, including:
Cyberbullying
Inappropriate content
Sexting
Self-harm
Screen time
Radicalisation
Online grooming
Online pornography
Here is a online safety guide for parents and carers with children ages 11 to 13.
Our latest: Seneca Learning and GCSE Pod Usage
Seneca offers high-quality free online learning courses for students to study from a computer, tablet or phone. The courses are suitable for students aged 13 and above and cover KS3, KS4 GCSE and KS5 A Level subjects.
We are Premium subscribers to this service which unlocks further features of the platform.
Total Seneca Learning Assignments Set for Term 3
147
Total Seneca Learning
Study Time for Term 3
871 Hours
Total Seneca Learning Study Time for this Academic Year
5545 Hours
Welcome! GCSEPod is the perfect resource to help your child learn, retain and recall all the information they need to achieve their GCSE goals.
Pods Watched this Academic Year
1200
Number of Pods Watched so far in Term 3
164
Most Watched Subject This Week
English