Friday 24 March 2023

Dear Parent/Carer,

One of the highlights of this week was our assemblies focused on sustainability led by Mr Ed Hill, our Environment Lead, on how each of us as a community can improve the environment and how to lower our carbon footprint.

Free Student Breakfast Club from 7.40am – 8.20am – Ms Lois Gillie, Enrichment Officer

It is great to see the number of students taking up the free breakfast offer increasing. This runs every morning from 7.40am – 8.20am. Breakfast will include fruit, bagels and a variety of cereals and is open to all students.

Important Free School Meal Update – Ms Linda Perkola, Head of Resources and Services

We are aware that there are now reported to be over 800,000 children who are living in poverty who do not qualify for Free School Meals, with this number likely to increase.

To enquire if your child is entitled to Free School Meals, you will need to apply to Hackney Education and can do so using this link. If your child is in receipt of Free School Meals, they will be provided with a hot meal and dessert each day. If you are concerned about your child’s lunches, please contact their Head of Year.

From Monday 17th April 2023, the value of a Meal Deal will be £2.60. If your child is entitled to Free School Meals, funds will be allocated to your child’s account from 12.00pm. Therefore, if your child would like to buy a snack at breaktime, their ParentPay account must be topped up with additional funds.

Year 11 Easter Interventions starting Monday 3rd April – Ms Moji Awojobi, Deputy Head of Upper School

The Year 11 Easter interventions will commence from the week beginning 3rd April 2023. These are targeted ses-sions and attendance is essential. If your child has been selected for an intervention, please can you support with ensuring they attend and engage with their session/s. The Easter Intervention timetable can be found using this link.

Year 8 Easter Enrichment Week – Monday 3rd April to Thursday 6th April – Ms Lois Gillie, Enrichment Officer

This year, our Easter Enrichment Week will be taking place from Monday 3rd – Thursday 6th April (Easter half term) for Year 8 students.

The provision will run from 10.00am until 2.30pm, and include a range of sporting, arts and literacy activities. A free lunch will be provided for all students. Please register your child’s interest by using this form by Friday 24th March 2023.

Year 11 Parent/Carer Information Forum

We hope you enjoyed the recent Year 11 Parent/Carer forum held last week Thursday. If you missed it, you can access the presentation shared using this link.

SNS Ted Talks – Mr Richard Maiden, Head of Politics and Year 12

As part of our Sixth Form Enrichment programme, we will be starting a series of Ted Talks, aiming to engage students into life beyond school. The talks will enrich and inspire students taking their learning beyond the class-room.

The talks will be from a range of topics: science, art, politics, and psychology, as well as personal anecdotes. Sessions will start in the Summer Term, taking place after school from 3.20pm in the Theatre, lasting for approximately 45 minutes with a question-and-answer session at the end. If you or someone you know is interested in delivering a talk, please email me: Ric.Mai@sns.hackney.sch.uk.

Work Experience Updates – Mr Shane Bell-Nevin, Assistant Headteacher

Support with Work Experience Placements

With Work Experience returning this academic year for Year 10 and Year 12 students, students can find finding placements difficult. If you are able to support with placements in any way, we would appreciate your help. Please click here and complete the short form if you are able to offer any form of work experience during the below dates.

Year 10 Work Experience Monday 26th June - Friday 7th July 2023 - We will now be meeting with all students who are yet to find placements. If your child has found a placement but has not completed the form, please click here to do so.

Year 12 Work Experience - Monday 17th July – Friday 21st July 2023 - A reminder to complete the work experience permission form with your child if you have not already done so. You can find the link to the form by clicking here.

Hackney Safer Schools Police Officer Protocol – Parent/Carer Engagement Session

In September 2022, Hackney Education organised a pupil engagement session on the Hackney addendum, so secondary school pupils could provide feedback, and raise concerns and queries about the document/protocol. The session was met with positive feedback and the police took into consideration the views from the pupils.

Hackney Education are now planning to hold similar sessions with parents. Parents of secondary school pupils in Hackney are invited to two face to face sessions, to review the addendum and provide their feedback as well. Two schools have agreed to host these sessions. Parents are invited to attend one session:

  • Tuesday, 18 April 4:00 – 5:30pm at The Urswick School
  • Wednesday, 26 April 4:00 – 5:30pm at City of London Academy, Shoreditch.

Paul Senior, Director of Education at Hackney Education, Debra Robinson, Diversity and Inclusion Systems Lead, as well as Police Inspector James Melton and Sargeant Rafi Joney will lead the sessions.

Key dates and Local Cultural Events

Please see a link to our key dates here for this term on our school calendar that include Information Evenings, Forums, and Parents’ Evenings.

You can also find our webpage which is regularly updated, promoting local cultural events for this month using this link.

Wishing you a restful weekend.

With best wishes,

Zehra Jaffer