In this week's Roundup:
Head's Welcome | Interesting Question | Staff Spotlight | Week Ahead | Senior School Autumn Clubs | What's On | Photo of the Week
Art Exhibition | Nursery & Junior | Senior | Boarding | Archie's Karate | Safeguarding Team | Alumni Football Tournament | Noticeboard
A message from
Rich Jones, Head.
As we set sail into a new academic year at St Chris, I hope that you’ve all managed some time to relax over the summer months. As I write this, things are pretty murky and grey out there and it definitely feels like the summer has waved its last goodbye, for now at least.
The start of term is always a funny one and full of rituals. The main one being the obligatory shot of resplendent children stood on their doorstep with awkward smiles and sparklingly new shoes seems to do the rounds every year, and I too have done the same with my clan. Looking at all the photos we've taken in previous years, they rather perfectly hide the tantrum that had most likely just happened, the cuddling and cajoling, the toothpaste stain on the new outfit and, of course, the worry and anxiety behind those obdurate smiles – and that was just me!
Those photos burn into our family history and they are lovely to reflect on. But the start of a new school, a new year, a new class, a new experience whilst exhilarating and powerful, can be filled with stress and worry. For the kids, for the parents and for those of us who work in schools too.
It was much more limited in the days that I was growing up and starting school. No photos whatsoever and the pep talk and encouragement (certainly in my experience) had a determined and wing-clipping element at all times.
I remember distinctly leaving for ‘big school’ in a garrotting tie, that would later be exclusively used as a Rambo bandana, a tight and itchy neoprene jumper, expressly used for goalposts, and horrifically rigid Clarks black shoes with almost medieval abilities to cause pain throughout the first week. There were no pictures, but I do remember my mother talking to me whilst my brothers impatiently waited for me: “If you lose that packed lunch, you won’t eat till teatime. Richard, don’t just shove it into the bottom of the bag for crying out loud. Stop eating it! You’ll be fine - try and just be yourself, just not too much. You know what you’re like…”
Alas, I remember coming home that day with my sandwiches, half-eaten, twisted and gnarled in the Clingfilm, congealing happily next to my PE kit and a protractor. They would spend weeks there.
I am grateful that we have moved to grounds that are more compassionate these days but it does not mean that those first few days aren’t a challenge, aren’t worrisome and indeed they do still have the capacity to generate stress for our children this week.
Show me someone who isn’t, at the very least, slightly apprehensive on the start of a journey and, as the explorer Nansen said "I will show you a liar or someone I won’t want to be with on land or on a boat".
Nerves, stress and concern are entirely natural and normal. I guess our job is to be present, empathetic and understanding of this when we can. Anxiety regularly surfaces at times of uncertainty, and it knows no real boundaries. When change comes, regardless of how alert to it we are, on a conscious level, our bodies will just know.
However, our physiological response structures don't distinguish much between hazard and opportunity, novelty and jeopardy. It’s all the same exhilaration in the eyes of our central nervous system. I guess this is because we, as humans, want to be ready for new changes and challenges. Frustratingly though, it seems that sometimes we are unable to interpret our own sense of nervousness as readiness. In many moments, we are ready and equipped; we just don’t know it or believe it…
As the start of the year begins, I imagine we are all feeling a nip of stress and worry. I can only guarantee that everyone else is in the same boat, especially our kids. Importantly, at St Chris, our values and ethos mean that we actively recognise that these things will occur and we know that they will come in different ways, at different times and for different reasons. We are watchful, proactive and supportive as we help our students navigate through it.
For most, this challenge, this potential obstacle, is part of the process of resilience and growth. My sense is, as we begin this academic year, if we don’t foster challenge then we will have a difficult time fostering change and growth.
I am proud that at St Chris we manage this duality with timing, compassion, support, and a genuine understanding of our students. Long may that continue.
Have a wonderful weekend and a re-charge before we begin in earnest on Monday morning and please do say well done to all your children for getting in, making sense of things and already having an impact.
I’m off to clear out my kids’ bags, I dread to think what lurks beneath…
Answer this week's Interesting Question
Staff Spotlight.
Kishon Mather,
Director of Finance
Kish describes himself as a "local boy", attending The Highfield School in Letchworth Garden City, and joined the team just eight short weeks ago. We reminisced about his childhood - where all good stories start - and the journey he took to becoming Director of Finance at St Chris.
Kish studied accountancy and law at the University of the West of England, Bristol. After university, he pursued accountancy and found himself working locally with a property management company as an accountant, predominantly working on service charge accountancy. It was then that Kish began studying to be become a Chartered Management Accountant.
After experience across the public sector at Welwyn Hatfield Council and the City of London Corporation, Kish took a dive into the education sector and went to work at the City Academy in Hackney. He remembers the job very fondly: "I think that was the best job I had in a lot of ways. What I'd learnt in my accountancy qualification, I put into practice". After working at the City Academy and having such positive interactions with the sector and the students themselves, Kish was sure that education was the right sector for him and that he thrived among the lively throes of a school's finance department.
Most recently Kish took on a role at The Difference, an educational training charity, and a middle ground between the public sector and education. The Difference was started by an ex-English teacher who came from a difficult background and was established to support students who were excluded from learning, both by physical exclusion from the school, and by being removed from classrooms.
Unfortunately, Kish was made redundant after just one year of employment with The Difference. As if by luck, the Director of Finance job at St Chris came up at the point of his redundancy: “It was a great opportunity, so I thought I'd grab it. As with everything, you go for an interview and hope for the best, so I was delighted that I got the job, especially when my presentation had gone over the time limit!".
Now he's here, Kish is getting stuck into numerous different projects and is relishing the culture at St Chris. "The culture is really collaborative, and people mix well. Unlike other schools, there's no division between teaching and professional services staff. I remember one of my first lunchtimes at the school I saw a cleaner eating lunch with some teachers. That was so refreshing".
Senior School Autumn Clubs
Senior School lunchtime and after school clubs and activities start from next week (Monday 9 September). Please find below a summary of all available clubs, activities and academic support sessions. After-school clubs are bookable via EVOLVE from 4.00pm today. EVOLVE is accessible through My School Portal via a Single Sign On Link (i.e. you don't need to add a password)
Art Exhibition 2024
We are delighted to share with you the video from the Art Exhibition this year which showcased a high calibre of work from our GCSE and A Level Art and 3D Design students. Press the play button below to watch it; you can also watch the video picture-in-picture as you continue to scroll through The Roundup.
End Notes & Notice Board
Whole School
A New Roundup!
Hello, everyone. We're so excited to welcome parents old and new to The Roundup. Every Friday during term-time, we release the highlights from the week in The Roundup and invite you to engage with us as a Whole School community. You might have noticed that things look a little different around here, and there's a couple of reasons for that:
- The Roundup is now hosted in our updated website so that you can find the information you need at the click of a button;
- You can find previous editions of The Roundup and news stories at www.stchris.co.uk/news, and The Roundup and website allows you to browse our new photo gallery gallery.stchris.co.uk; some parents have already received invites to private galleries for their child!
- The website now has enhanced capability, meaning we can bring you different types of content while maintaining a smooth delivery of the content you know and love;
- We can analyse data to ensure we are bringing you the stories you'll enjoy every week;
- The newsletter offers enhanced capabilities for you to engage with us and create dialogue around our news stories, including the opportunity to submit your very own news stories to The Roundup every week!
Thank you for your unwavering support of The Roundup every week; we are endlessly proud that our Whole School community enjoys recapping the week with us every week and we cannot wait for another fantastic year.
- St Chris Marketing Team
Accessing My School Portal
My School Portal is our parent portal; on the portal, parents, carers, and guardians can find details of their child's timetables, homework, school calendar, a link to Evolve for booking trips and activities and teacher and staff contact details.
Image Consent Policy
As a School, we recognise the importance of allowing parents, carers, and guardians to have freedom of choice when using images of their child in marketing. When students enrol, unless instructed otherwise, they are opted into photography for marketing. The Marketing Team uses images of students in the following way:
- To feature on the website, including here, in The Roundup;
- Across our social media channels (Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn);
- In print such as prospectuses, programmes, and informational documents;
- On our online gallery;
- In videos covering events and opportunities across the school.
We advise that parents familiarise themselves with our image policy, which is listed below. Should you choose to opt your child out of all or some photography for marketing, please inform Maddie Lingard, Marketing and Communications Manager, directly via email at maddie.lingard@stchris.co.uk with details including your child's name and whether you would like to opt out of all or some marketing activity. Those who choose to opt out are added to a monitored non-consent list which is shared across our whole school community.
Lunch Charges
The Finance Team would like to inform you that there has been a change to the way that school lunches are billed for across the School.
If parents wish for their children to have a school lunch, they must:
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Email billings@stchris.co.uk.
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Once an email has been received, the Finance Team will then send an invoice for the termly lunch charge and inform the student’s teachers and the pastoral team so our lunch lists are correct.
Previously parents had to “opt out” of lunches; this new opt-in system now operates in place of this.
Please also be advised that parents who have already been charged for their child's school lunches will continue to be charged each term unless they inform us otherwise.
Involve (Practice Pal)
Music Lesson Scheduling from September 2024
All parents of students in receipt of individual instrumental or vocal lessons should have now received an email giving details of our new music lesson scheduling software called Involve (previously called Practice Pal). You should have also received an invitation to add your child/ren to your account as a learner. Please ensure that you have set up your account ready to receive details of your child's lesson dates and times. These are sent out weekly with their time for the following week. Please also note that the software has in the past week changed its name to Involve. The links in the introductory letter are still the same and will lead you to the correct webpage and apps, but the name and icon now show as Involve. We are very sorry for any confusion on this, and are working on updating our future correspondence to reflect the new changes.
If you have not received your introductory letter, child's invite or if you have any other questions, please contact the Performing Arts Administrator, Hazel Kalabza at hazel.kalabza@stchris.co.uk.
Staff Appointments
We would like to warmly welcome a number of new staff members to our community:
- Amy Anderson, Head of English (Senior School)
- Kirsty Taylor, Teacher of Maths (Senior School)
- Shabana Butt, Year 3 (G Group) Teacher (Junior School)
- Alice Pottez, gap student from France
- Carolina Andrade, gap student from Ecuador
- Bianca Thompson, Housekeeping Team Leader
- Susana Silva, Chef Manager
- Sara Budd, Deputy Chef Manager
- Kirsty Baker, SEMH Pastoral Assistant (Senior School)
- Kishon Mather, Director of Finance
- Angela Phillips, Operations Administrator
We are sure you will join us in helping us make them feel welcome.
Anne Peacock and Becca Toepfer have both returned from their maternity leave at the end of last term. Anne resumes her role as Lead Teacher of Physics and Becca Toepfer as Head of History (Senior School).
There are also some new roles and responsibilities, which are:
- Alistair Phillips is our Designated Safeguarding Lead and can be contacted via email at alistair.phillips@stchris.co.uk;
- Kirsten Rockey is Head of SEND and she will be spending two days in the Junior School and three days in the Senior School;
- Ed Commodore-Mensah is Head of Maths (Senior School);
- Joe Sapsford is our new Boarding Lead.
Mobile Phones
In February, the Government published new guidance on the use of mobile phones in schools with the recommendation of a ban on the use of phones throughout the school day.
Following on from the new guidance we have taken time to review our current policy and feel it is time to amend our approach. Our starting point for the mobile phone review was the social, emotional and safeguarding needs of our students and to provide them with the best learning environment possible.
The 2023 National Parent Survey found that parents’ top concern for their children’s mental health and wellbeing was the amount of time and use of mobile phone devices. In school we have also seen an increase in students who struggle with the impact that social media has on their wellbeing.
While we believe that having access to a mobile phone when travelling to and from school gives students and parents additional levels of reassurance and the ability to communicate; the research shows positive results from schools who have reduced access to phones.
Research in schools also shows that learning, mental health and social behaviour improve when students are fully engaged in their interactions with teachers and fellow pupils.
As such we have decided that from January 2025 St Chris will be a mobile phone-free zone for all students.
We will be using mobile phone pouches to achieve this goal and this term we will liaise with students, staff and families to overcome any practical problems or questions that this decision brings up to help solve any issues ahead of the January launch date.
Individual Needs
This year Individual Needs and our provision for students with SEND is undergoing a full review with Nat Baker (Deputy Head) and Kirsten Rockey (Head of SEND) to ensure that we offer best practice across the school. From this term, we are no longer charging additional fees to parents whose children receive IN Support (apart from some specific charges where external providers are used) and we will be writing to parents with more details about this in the coming weeks.
Swimming Notices
At St Chris, we have three weekday morning Community Swim sessions (for staff/parents) plus one Sunday morning family session for those who study/work with us and the members of their households. These sessions will start again from Tuesday 10 September.
Sessions for staff, parents, and adults in their households (lane swimming):
| Tuesdays 7.15-8.45am | Wednesdays 7.00-8.45am | Fridays 7.15-8.45am |
Session for all community users and members of their households (mix of lane swimming (1 lane usually) and the rest open for more general use/play):
| Sundays 9.30-11.30am |
This session tends to be more family orientated and gets busier later on into the session!
Please note that all swimmers must wear a swim hat for the session and that children under 8 years old need to have an adult swimmer in the water with them at all times (one adult to one swimmer); swimmers aged 8-18 must be accompanied by an adult to supervise from either poolside or in the water. Our Sunday Community Swim session is always a very popular choice for families however, this can mean that we reach the maximum capacity of the pool and may mean you will have to wait until other swimmers leave before you will be allowed to enter.
To attend these sessions, please bring your Staff ID badge or for non-staff community members, please email sarah.armstrong@stchris.co.uk no later than the Tuesday before you wish to attend with the name of the adult (18+) to be put on the card and your relationship to the school i.e. parent of Joe Bloggs II Group & Bess Bloggs H Group, so that we can create a Community Swim for you to collect on your first swim session. You will need to bring your card to each session to sign in with the Lifeguards at the pool reception.
| Masters Swim Session |
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We are pleased to confirm we will continue to run our Masters level swimming classes on Mondays at 1.00-2.00pm; starting Monday, 9 September 2024- Monday, 9 December 2024 (excluding half term). The sessions will be led by Alice Barnes, a St Chris swim teacher and coach with extensive experience (including personal participation) in competitive swimming, triathlons and open water events. Training will be centred around enhancing fitness, stamina and technique, predominantly focusing on front crawl. To be eligible for the sessions, you must be able to swim a minimum of 200m continuously in one of the four main strokes. For further details and to sign up to the sessions please complete the following form: https://forms.office.com/e/uxNmayV9uR |
| Adult Beginner and Improver Class |
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Following the success of our Adult Beginner and Improver classes last year, we have extended the sessions to run again for the Autumn term. Sessions will take place every Tuesday, starting Tuesday 17 September-Tuesday 15 October (5 weeks) and then from Tuesday 5 November- Tuesday 10 December (6 weeks) These classes are suitable for beginners just starting out in their swimming, through to improvers looking to refine technique or learn a new stroke in a supportive and encouraging environment. For more information and to sign up to classes, please complete the following form: https://forms.office.com/e/xBHQmXcRx0 |
| AquaPlus⁺ (11-18yr old) Sessions |
| We are excited to be able to offer a new AquaPlus⁺ swim session on a Tuesday evening from 8.15-9.00am starting in September which will be open to St Chris swimmers, Swim School and external applicants. Please see the poster for further details and how to enquire. |
The Wellbeing Hub
The Wellbeing hub is an interactive resource library for parents, students and teachers and has an abundant supply of resources that are regularly updated. To register for the Wellbeing Hub, please use the button below, remembering that this is a resource for St Chris Parents only:
Register for the Wellbeing Hub
This coming week, The Wellbeing Hub will be releasing a blog covering why positive self-talk matters and how to change a negative internal dialogue by Dr Tamara Scully, Clinical Psychologist.
Junior
Nursery - Tax-free Childcare
We are pleased to let parents with Monte (Nursery) aged children know that we are now registered with the government's Tax-Free Childcare scheme. The scheme gives parents who work up to £500 every three months for each child to help with the costs of childcare, and can now be claimed for Monte fees.
As a note, where the childcare is provided by a private school (i.e. St Chris) where the child attends tax-free childcare payments can be used to pay for those costs if they:
- Relate to a child under compulsory school age (ie. Monte), or
- Do not include any element of compulsory education, or
- Are for childcare provided out of school hours.
Simon Holmes (Chief Operating Officer) will be writing to parents in the Nursery and Junior School with further information and details of the scheme.
Senior
Pastoral Structure
Our Senior School Pastoral Structure is as follows:
| Maggie Bilcliffe | Head of I Group (Year 7) | maggie.bilcliffe@stchris.co.uk |
| Sarah Williams | Head of II Group (Year 8) | sarah.williams@stchris.co.uk |
| Jenny White | Head of III Group (Year 9) | jenny.white@stchris.co.uk |
| Paul Thompson | Head IV Group (Year 10) | paul.thompson@stchris.co.uk |
| Lyn McGregor | Head of V Group (Year 11) | lyn.mcgregor@stchris.co.uk |
| James See | Head of Year Lower Sixth (Year 12) | james.see@stchris.co.uk |
| Rebecca Twiston-Davies | Head of Upper Sixth (Year 13) | rebecca.twiston@stchris.co.uk |
