Blog week ending 4th March

The news is rightly dominated by reports of the escalating conflict in Ukraine.  Our students are asking questions to try to better understand the political and human situation which understandably they find quite scary.  Across our school, form tutors, Heads of Year and our pastoral team are supporting students, providing a safe and open space to discuss any anxieties they may have surrounding the conflict.  Miss Scott has prepared and delivered an assembly with the primary aim of providing facts and clarity for the students and to hopefully, provide reassurance.  There is a lot of information and misinformation available online at the moment and as we are only too aware, not everything you read can be trusted to be impartial, accurate and in some cases, true.  Miss Scott outlined the key historic and political factors that have resulted in the current situation and that based on our knowledge of past events, full-scale war is very unlikely.  It is important to know that most Russians are against the war with Ukraine and many famous and important Russians together with thousands of protestors are putting pressure on Putin and speaking out against the conflict. 

Mrs Artmann’s Year 9 English students are currently studying war poetry and specifically in this lesson, the effect of war on soldiers.  Students have been studying the poem ‘Remains’ by poet Simon Armitage as they discuss the question “does literature have the power to truly convey the horrors of war?” The poem is based on the account of a British soldier who served in Iraq but it’s message and power are universal and could be applied to any conflict and particularly resonated with students as they consider the current conflict in Ukraine and the impact both physically and mentally on the soldiers involved.  To read Remains by Simon Armitage, please click here

Year 7 Students have also been studying poetry this week.  In this topic students have been learning about Blackout Poetry; which is a type of ‘found’ poetry meaning you select the words that take your interest from another text making sure they make sense to design a new poem.  The challenge is to make new meaning from what is already there.  In this lesson students used an essay definition of ‘Identity’ to create their own poem of the same name.  Pictured below, students creating their own very visual and personal poetry.

Pictured, Blackout poem by Jaq T

Students have received their new Knowledge Organisers for Cycle C.  Our Knowledge Organisers are an essential learning asset providing linking topics, providing the ‘bigger picture’ and once completed, a valuable revision tool.  A digital version of the organisers can be viewed on our website by clicking here 

Our Year 7 Artists have been practising their drawing skills by designing and drawing their own Alien!  Drawing from imagination is a key area of expression and in this lesson, students were planning and drafting their compositions! 

World Book Day. In the spirit of celebrating our love of reading, staff dressed up as literary characters to mark World Book Day.  It was a great opportunity to promote discussions around reading  .. and to have some fun!  Once we move into our new building, we’ll have so much more space to display our books, have Book Club meetings and for a quiet breakout space where students can come to read and discover new books.

Year 7 Science students spent a practical lesson investigating gravitational energy.  Pictured below, students exploring how height affects the gravitational energy in a ball.  Students recorded their findings and explained the results of the experiment.

Successful Lives Programme. Our student managers continue to deliver a wide range of support sessions to equip all students with the necessary tools and strategies to get the most out of their school career here at Stone Lodge.  This week, Miss Odumosu delivered tailored meditation sessions to provide strategies for students to cope with feelings of anger and support positive behaviour. Mrs Schofield delivered a session on self-esteem and building confidence. They focused on body image and how we perceive ourselves, whether this is positive or negative and the effect this has on our self-esteem.

Football update.  Congratulations to our Year 8 team who secured a 4-1 win this week against St George’s. 

Mr Proctor would like to thank all Year 8 parents and carers that attended our Parents’ Evening this week – we hope you all found the meetings helpful.  If you have any further questions please email our school office marking the email for Mr Proctor’s attention.

Deadline for Year 9 Options is Friday 11^th March.  For more information please click here to view the letters on the Correspondence page of our website.

Best wishes,

Gavin Barnett

Head Teacher