I would like to take this opportunity to say a huge congratulations to you all for your hardwork, perseverance and support over these past few months during lockdown; we’ve finally made it. This week, we begin to reopen our school and we are so pleased to be welcoming our students back. 

Parents and carers, I am sure that there are some of you who are breathing a sigh of relief regarding your children returning to school. I would just like to reiterate that you have been amazing at supporting the children with their online education as well as helping them mentally to prepare for coming back to school. It has been a mamouth task to balance the academic and emotional aspects as well as all the other daily life activities. I thank you for the part you have played. 

Teachers, all the preparation and hard work has paid off. It has been wonderful to welcome back Yrs 10 and 11 yesterday and I know we are all looking forward to seeing the return of all of the rest of the year groups throughout this week. The hard work and efforts you have put in over these lockdown periods are incredible and I am proud to be working with each of you in our school. 

Students, we have wondered how long this lockdown would continue and have tried to support you as much as possible. Your lessons have been delivered live and resources have been available online. In comparison to some other schools, you are in a far more positive position when returning. The priority for us now, is to keep everyone as safe as possible and support you getting back into a routine, helping with any issues and back to learning in lessons. 

Over the next few weeks, we have a number of events and activities that we are preparing for alongside the daily running of the school. These include: 

· The continued testing of staff and students. A lot of planning and time is spent co-ordinating the testing that needs to take place at present in order to keep students and staff as safe as possible 

· Year 9 parents evening – 11th March – Appointments are still available so please book as per the communications sent to you 

· Red Nose Day 19th March – This is an import date however we need to remain covid complient. More information to follow on how we will support this day 

· Whole-school virtual careers event – week commencing 15th March 

· Planning for our options event. 

· Transition planning for our new students that will start in September 

Finally, I would like to thank everyone for their support over the lockdowns during these very testing times which we have all faced. The support and community spirit is very touching and kept us all going. Moving forward we will continue to focus on our students and families and help us all reintegrate into school life as safely and positively as possible. As always, stay safe and take care. 

Mr Pritchard 

World Book Day – Ms Protheroe 

On Thursday 4th March, we celebrated World Book Day as a school. It was a fantastic day for both students and staff whether they were in school or working from home. 

Every department really embraced World Book Day; we had a variety of books represented such as Treasure Island, Alice in Wonderland, The many stories of Dr Seuss, Harry Potter, The Wizard of Oz, Mary Poppins, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory etc. We even read extracts of these books which are available to hear on our website. 

There were lots of extraordinary teaching experiences for the children to enjoy. Activities included escape room antics, Making Mt Doom and casting fire spells, word searches and code breaking. Creative activities included using the laser cutter, modelling with clay and baking with ‘green’ eggs. It was lovely to see the children rushing around school as spies in order to find and rescue the teacher from the pirates. Feedback from the students was summed up in one word “Epic! The best bit was that EVERY member of staff dressed up”. We also appreciated the positive comments from parents…“I think the effort the staff went to today was amazing and, even if teenagers have a tendency not to show their appreciation, I’m sure the ‘lighter’ day with a bit of fun was most welcome”. 

Competition results: 

One of the activities students could get involved with was our short story competition. This short story was only to be between 100-500 words long beginning with the following line: ‘I couldn’t stop. I just could not stop myself from….’  The judging of the competition is taking place this week and the winner will be awarded with a £20 Blackwell’s voucher and a certificate. 

Please check out our website and social media for more information & pictures https://pewseyvale.org/school-life/world-book-day-2021/images-of-pvsworldbookday/ 

Maths – Mr Webb 

I would like to say a big well done to the following people… 

Mr Watkins for being the best dressed Lion at Pewsey Vale School. 

Year 11 - Nathan E for continued hard work as he prepares for his Maths GCSE 

Year 10 – Tamzin N and Chris W have shown incredible resilience, patience and maturity 

Year 9 - Cameron D for be so willing to engage in philosophical discussions 

Year 9 - Ruby R, Naomi E, Holly M, Debbie A and Zofia R for showing immense patience when listening to philosophical discussions 

Year 8 - Alfie Q and Ally A for outstanding effort and excellent work 

Year 7 - Leland T for showing a fantastic work ethic 

Marlborough College Maths Tuition – Mr Webb 

Well done to the year 11 students taking part in the weekly Maths tuition sessions with Marlborough College as they prepare for their GCSE. A big thank you to the staff and students at Marlborough College for giving up their time to help our learners” 

English – Mrs Furness 

What a wonderful time we've been having in English this week. We entered into the wonderful world of Mary Poppins for World Book Day and students had fun running punctuation races, creating their own  supercalifragilisticexpialidocious words, and getting crafty with kites. The students were such good sports and helped to make the day one to remember. We can't wait to do it all again next year! 

Good news (Art, Textiles, Technology and Food): Mrs Slater 

Our Year 11 students took part in a collaborative live webinar from National Discover Creative Careers week and Speakers for Schools. We took part in a zoom call and listened to and learnt about 5 different Craftspeople from Cockpit Arts Studios in London. They spoke about their pathways into their chosen craft, and answered questions about their careers. We shared this news on our Instagram page @pvs_arttextiles and received positive feedback from Cockpit Studios. We hope that they would be able to support our students in their future creative careers. 

Our students in KS3 and KS4 were taken on Virtual visits to the British Museum and Vancouver Arts Gallery via Google Arts and Culture. They completed art works linking to their chosen artefact. All shared on our Instagram. 

We thoroughly enjoyed WBD, with students in school completing an array of activities including stilt walking, ceramics, cup-cake making and painting laser cut characters. All work will be displayed in our glass cabinets and walls in our departments. 

Geography – Miss Lythe 

I would like to congratulate all Year 11 Geography students who have persevered online and in the classroom during these testing times. Your commitment to learning is commendable and I'm looking forward to us all being back in the classroom together for your remaining time here at PVS. Well done and keep up the positive attitude! 

Science – Mr Carter 

The Science Department were really impressed with how well our year 11's worked on World Book Day whilst they frequented 'Middle Room'. Nathan E and Archie S managed to
translate all five of the Alchemical Parchments from Dwarfish Runes into English. 

Extra-curricular activities - PE Department 

We are very much looking forward to getting ‘active’ with you all. Please see the schedule below if you would like to join in: 

PE Students of the Week 

Drama – Miss Rodier 

Congratulations to Alfie R and Summer C in Year 8 who were joint winners of the 'guess the number of sweets in the jar' World Book Day competition. The Oompa Loompas counted 106 sweets, which were divided equally between the winners. 

MFL – Miss Roberts 

A big thank you and well done to Tiffany P and Cody M-C in Year 7. I am really impressed with the effort they have made in their German exercise books so far. Keep up the great work! 

Health and Social Care – Mrs Harris 

I am delighted with the following students for their continued efforts and motivation. It really is a pleasure to teach Summer S, Caitlin H & Toby S. 

History – Miss Tomsett 

It has been fantastic to see students working hard and making excellent progress in their History studies. A special shout out to Archie S (Yr 11), Dylan F, Grace B, Hope Q, Chris W and Harvey Y (Yr 10) who have been working particularly hard in their GCSE History studies. Well done! 

National Careers Day 2021– Miss Dean 

We are delighted that some of our students have been proactive and signed up to some career’s events and activities. Please see below some details from Grace B – Yr 10 

On the 7th of February and the 7th of March, I completed a course which was all about working in the NHS. Some of the things that they talked about where roles of: paramedic, nurse, radiographer, dietitian, pharmacist, occupational therapist, art therapy, drama therapy, music therapy, speech therapy, physiotherapy, osteopath and being a midwife. 

The course was completed through a visual experience. As they explained and provided lots of information, they also had a questions page so they could answer any questions that people had. This was helpful because then you could get an insight to what was happening within the NHS. 

The main reason why I decided to do this course is because I want to be a paramedic. This will help me and give me details to include on my applications for when I want to apply for collages or university. 

Information you may find interesting 

'The Problem with Palm Oil'. 

Year 9 geographers have been investigating the impacts of the palm oil industry in lessons, and I know we have some pupils and staff who invest in sustainable food consumption and living palm oil free. IN my research I came across a virtual event. This is free however an e-ticket is required in order to attend.

Tickets can be obtained via this Facebook link: https://fb.me/e/4QhxBd1XM?ti=wa Or via Eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/free-online-talk-the-problem-with-palm-oil-tickets-138283133575?aff=efbeventtix 

The talk will take place at 7:30pm - 8:30pm on Thursday 11th March via Zoom.