Latest News
Keep up to date with all the latest news happening in school at the moment.
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Clare Mount's 'Superlambanana' Design Competition 2020
Fri 26 Jun 2020In May 2020 we ran a whole-school week celebrating art. There was so much going on that week that it's hard to keep up with it all; and who could forget the amazing Getty Museum Challenge images produced by students and staff!
One of the activities we took part in was a competition to design a 'new look' for our Superlambanana sculpture in school. The students responded fantastically well as ever and Mr. Johnson compiled the results into this presentation: https://primarysite-prod-sorted.s3.amazonaws.com/claremountspecialist/UploadedDocument/5ed2c6be64574cba919aeed936a5489d/superlambanana-presentation.pdf
Lewis in Year 7 won first prize. Courtney, in Year 7 won second prize and Erin in Year 7 came third.
Second and third prize winners will receive a certificate and art goodies.
Lewis wins the same goodies and he gets to put his design on the Superlambana in school to be displayed in the school's entrance this year.
All of the other entrants will receive a certificate for taking part.
All prizes will be given out in September.
A massive congratulations to all!
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Clare Mount Eco-Week a Massive Success
Mon 15 Jun 2020From 8th - 12th June the Clare Mount Community took part in multiple activities to celebrate the amazing natural world around us! Friday 1st June was World Environment Day so our students set about completing activities including growing, designing, 'upcycling' and appreciating the beauty of nature through photography. Here is just a taste of the brilliant work completed by our students.
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Staff and Students Excel in The Getty Museum Challenge
Fri 05 Jun 2020During May, under the guidance of Mrs Boyle and Mr Johnson, our students took part in multiple art activities. One of the highlights was The Getty Museum Challenge; an activity participated in across the globe involving the recreation of classic works of art, i their many forms using ingenuity, props and sometimes everyday household objects!
Mrs Boyle and her daughter Sophie created two fantastic video montages of the student and staff entries respectively and they can be viewed by clicking here and scrolling to the relevant link!
https://www.claremountssc.co.uk/covid-19-information/
Well done everyone for taking part!
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An Important Update from Mrs Webster to all Clare Mount Families
Fri 05 Jun 20205th June 2020
To: All Parents
Dear Parents/Carers
I hope you and your family are well. As we return for the second half of the summer term I just wanted to update you with our arrangements and plans. Next week is the eleventh week of home learning and I remain grateful to you for supporting us in completing whatever activities you can with your child. Government guidance says that from 15th June it is safe for some students in secondary schools to return. We know from this announcement that some pupils will not attend for the rest of this academic year. In accordance with the guidance and results from the questionnaire, we are aiming to invite small groups of students to attend each day throughout this half term; however, we understand if you have chosen to keep your child safe at home until September.
I would like to thank those of you who have replied to the questionnaire regarding your intention to send your child into school. I have assumed that anyone who did not reply to the questionnaire does not intend to send your child back until September 2020. I know you will all appreciate planning has been done in order to bring students back safely and you will therefore understand why last minute decisions would compromise our plans. Those who are choosing not to return just yet, will continue to be contacted by Form Tutors and Heads of Year and work will continue to be made available.
Information will be on the website next week so students can look at what school looks like now as it is a little different from when they last saw it.
- Strict social distancing arrangements will be in place at all times to comply with the Covid-19 requirements. There are 2m markers on the floors to help with putting social distancing measures in place and I would be grateful if you could work with your child to understand the 2m rule and practice at home.
- Pupils attending will be required to bring their own lunch in packaging that is disposable; those who normally have a school lunch will be offered a sandwich from a cold selection.
- There will be an expectation that the students wash their hands regularly and make use of hand sanitiser while they are in school; bottles will be placed in each room.
- There can be no sharing of equipment
- Students will be expected to wear clean clothes daily and attend in school uniform.
- Water fountains will be turned off and therefore we advise students to bring a bottle to school. We will ensure they can either purchase bottled water or refill safely from tap water.
- There will be very little movement around school as it is important not to share spaces. Teachers will come to teach in the one classroom where your child is.
- There will be no team games eg football, until social distancing measures are relaxed and equipment will be minimal; due to cleaning rules.
- The yard/Muga/Field has been divided into year group areas so year groups will be using their own areas and not mixing with others.
- Transport is proving difficult as, at present for social distancing safety, only two students are allowed on a bus therefore if parents / carers can drop off at the school gate this will be preferable.
Home learning for all students is still being encouraged and fully supported with activities added regularly to our website, being emailed out or hard copies being sent to those with no internet access. Teachers of Year 10 students have now set up their classes on Google Classroom; many students are engaging regularly with the work being provided. Please ensure that your child has accessed their classes using their Clare Mount email address and inform their Form Tutor of any difficulties. Year 10 students should all have received Revision Guides and workbooks delivered to your doorstep; again to support them in continuing with their learning at home.
Year 11 and Sixth Form leavers will be contacted regularly this half term by Mrs Cooper-Shone, Mrs Neill and Mrs Magnall to ensure all are prepared for moving onto their next placement and provide reassurance and support should it be needed, if any of our students are feeling anxious. Please contact via email if you need any extra input to what has been offered and we will assist where necessary.
We are making every effort to try and keep our school safe in line with current health and safety guidance. Parents dropping off and collecting will be asked to do so at the school gate and not enter the site. We would also ask parents /carers to telephone or email school during this period as reception will not be open to visitors.
We ask that parents / carers are always contactable in the light of government’s ‘Test and Trace’ approach should a member of our school community become ill. The guidance states ‘Where a setting has a positive case, Public Health England will advise the appropriate course of action, and the relevant group of people with whom the individual has mixed closely should be sent home and self-isolate for 14 days’.
Looking ahead to September 2020
At this moment in time we are unclear as to what will happen in September; I am sure that in the context of daily Government briefings, this will come as no surprise. While we all hope for a total return to normality, at present the prospect of this for September seems very unlikely. Over the next few weeks as the Covid-19 situation evolves and hopefully improves, we expect guidance to schools to follow. If we continue to be in the position of ‘social distancing’ in September 2020, in order to ensure safety of staff and students and prevent the spread of the virus to the community, we will create a timetable with all students attending in reduced numbers on set days each week. Our concern will be to provide as much specific support as possible to as many students as possible.
As I am sure we are all aware, there is considerable uncertainty in terms of how things will evolve. As a school we will continue to think ahead and plan as best we can so that we are able to come up with solutions that are in the best interests of all our students and staff.
Over the next few days we will finalise the plans for this half term and if you have requested your child’s return to school, we will be in touch to let you know, which day (s) your child’s ‘bubble’ will be attending and the timings of that day.
If in the meantime you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact your child’s Head of Year who will be more than happy to help.
Take good care of yourselves and your family.
Very best wishes,
K. Webster
Kim Webster.
Headteacher.
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Clare Mount Supporting 'Travel to Tokyo' and 'National School Sports Week At Home!'
Mon 01 Jun 2020Welcome back and some key information about events this term!
Dear Parents / Carers,
While we are still working together to adjust to the unique situation we find our whole community in, we’d like to make you aware of some of the exciting events, projects and themes we will be covering during the next 7 weeks! Please take some time to read this information; all of which your child’s form tutor will remind you of at the appropriate times.
Firstly, as for the last half term, some of our weeks, and the work and activities we will ask the students to do between now and 20th July will have ‘themes.’ So far we have the following confirmed:
- 1st – 5th June: Launch of ‘Travel to Tokyo’ Challenge (explained below)
- 8th – 12th June: ‘Eco’ week
- 22nd – 26th June: National School Sports Week (explained below)
- 29th June – 3rd July: Numeracy Week
- 6th – 10th July: Virtual Sports Day
Details of how you can all get involved in each of these themed weeks will be shared by form tutors and through our website and social media, however, we would like to explain a couple of them now!!
Travel to Tokyo (starting on 1st June and running through the whole term)
You will no doubt be aware that this year was scheduled to be an Olympic and Paralympic year; with the main event taking place in in Tokyo, Japan. The event has always had great significance for Clare Mount and we have adopted, as our own, the motto of the 2012 Paralympic Games in London; ‘Role Models and Catalysts for Change.’ Although the games have been postponed by 12 months, over the course of this coming term we are inviting you to help us ‘travel to Tokyo’ virtually!
How are we going to do this? Well, we would like to encourage everyone in the school (staff included) to walk, jog, run, Zumba, cycle, skip or do whatever you want to do to cover the marathon distance of 42.2 km in the next 7 weeks (01/06/20 - 17/07/20). This works out at just over 6km (3.75 miles) per week. If we can get everyone to do this, collectively we should be able to travel from Clare Mount to Tokyo - a distance of 9453 km! We need you to
a) be active every day or as often as you can be!
b) tell your form tutor what you’ve done each day and
c) send in some evidence! (pictures) and we’ll do the rest!
We’ll keep you updated regularly on the school website!
There’ll be prizes for best individual, best form and best year group; just to add a bit of fun competition, but the most important thing is that you get involved and have fun being active!
National School Sports Week (At Home) 20th – 26th June
Our partners, the Youth Sport Trust have been helping families to stay active with their daily #StayHomeStayActive activities since March and now they’re challenging school communities to go one step further by taking part in the first ever National School Sport Week at Home, supercharged by Sky Sports. Taking place from 20-26 June, the week will give families, communities, schools and sports clubs the opportunity to take part in a series of virtual sporting challenges which help young people capture the enjoyment, competition and camaraderie they may be missing out on at the moment.
Registering couldn’t be simpler:
- Just go to the Youth Sport Trust website (www.youthsporttrust.org/nssw) and click on the link for parents.
- You will be asked a couple of questions as you register about who you might challenge and how many people you would like to get involved.
- After signing up you will be provided with free and easy-to-use resources to help plan your week of National School Sport Week at Home Activity, set challenges for your families, friends and neighbours, and shout about it online.
We would love as many as possible of our Clare Mount families to get involved in this brilliant initiative; and to keep us informed all the way!
Thank you, as ever, for getting involved with all our activities. Please continue to stay safe and help us to stay connected as a community.
Many thanks
Team Clare Mount
