Mr Atkinson's Friday Update 11.03.22

Good morning,

I hope you are well and enjoying the lighter mornings and evenings, it certainly makes a difference in school with students being out and enjoying the better weather and warmer temperatures. Let's hope that they last now.

Like all of us, students have not been able to avoid the conflict happening in the Ukraine and students have been asking questions about the conflict and the impact of it in school. Mr Booth (Associate Assistant Headteacher for KS3) delivered a whole school assembly on the conflict and the impact of Putin's actions. This was highly informative and staff and student feedback was that it has been very useful. We understand that these events are making people anxious and members of staff are available in school for students to talk to.

In light of this next week on Red Nose Day (Comic Relief) we will be having a non-uniform day. We will be splitting proceeds from this between Red Nose Day and the DEC (Disasters Emergency Committee). The DEC is made up of 15 of the main charities who come together at times of critical need and they have launched a campaign to support those affected by the conflict. The charities who form this committee are:(in alphabetical order):
Action Against Hunger, ActionAid, Age International, British Red Cross, CAFOD, CARE, Christian Aid, Concern Worldwide, International Rescue Committee, Islamic Relief, Oxfam, Plan International, Save the Children, Tear Fund, World Vision.

You can read about the work of both charities using the following links:
https://www.dec.org.uk
https://www.comicrelief.com/rednoseday

We ask that parents and students support this by contributing through the school's ParentPay system:

https://www.parentpay.com/

Where contributions range from £1 to £20. In addition to this, staff will have buckets on the gate for any donations or spare change.

We hope that as many families as possible can contribute to this as they have done in the past year for:

- Children in Need

- The Candlelighters Trust - a charity that provides practical, emotional and financial support to children living with cancer in Yorkshire and their families.

- Leeds General Hospital - In particular Ward 31, children's oncology and haematology

School will continue to support a range of charities and it is great that so many of our students want to help others, with a special mention to two families who went above and beyond in our most recent fundraising, thank you for this.

Finally, thank you for your ongoing and generous support through the contributions that you and the students have already given which truly reflect the caring nature of our school community.

Mr Atkinson