I hope that this latest newsletter finds you safe and well. Last week was an incredibly busy week with us welcoming back our Year 10 students into their different bubble groups. It was lovely to see them all again and great to begin to get back to some form of normality; even if it was in a different format.

Work continues to be provided via our online learning platform and tutors will be contacting students over the coming weeks; focussing on those who are not regularly accessing their work. Please do ensure that if you need any support with your studies, contact your teachers and they will be able to help where possible.

Moving forward, over this coming week, there will be more plans outlined by the government about further reopening of different establishments. During the next few weeks, more details will follow about how schools will be preparing for September.

I think at this time, it is best for us to prepare for our school to be opening as normal for all year groups. Then we can adapt our plans, timetables, classes, etc as necessary if required. However, I have said that for the first month in September, students will not be required to wear school uniform; so please don’t panic about buying this over the Summer holidays.

This week we are beginning our transition work with the Year 6 students who will be joining us in September. This will be done online via email, videos and Zoom meetings to ensure that we make this as smooth as possible.

Regarding work, I am sure that by now, quite a lot of you are getting frustrated or bored with not being able to come in to school. I am hoping that we will see you all after the Summer holidays. In the meantime, please try to do as much of the online work as possible. I want you all to understand that we are providing work to cater for all abilities. Therefore, although some of the work is differentiated, if you feel overwhelmed by the amount that is being set; don’t worry. Try to dedicate regular periods of time to your studies and work through it at your own pace. Any work that you want marked or feedback on, please email your teacher or send it in. As a school, we are looking at our curriculum for next year and will be making necessary changes to plug gaps which may have resulted due to lockdown.

So, I hope you enjoy this newsletter and look forward to seeing you all soon. A great big thanks to the members of the PVS community who have contributed to date but we would love to hear from more of you.

If you have anything that you wish to share; whether it be ideas to keep people entertained,examples of work, good news stories, etc. please contact Mss Dean cde@pewsey-vale.wilts.sch.uk so we can share it in our communications.

• Events and Activities & Other Things to Try

Molly S continues with her creativity and this week has been baking cookies and decorating them.

These colourful creations are enough to put a smile on your face. If you have any exciting or interesting things you have been doing, new skills you have been developing, then please let us know.

• Learning Resources and New skills

Pewsey’s Got Talent:

Entries are now open for the much-anticipated virtual talent show ‘Pewsey’s Got Talent’. What could you could do as a performance? Remember practise makes progress!

• Life skills

Speakers for schools:

Speakers for Schools continue to run their online programme of guest speakers. Over the coming week the following timetable will run. Perhaps there is something that interests you linked to your super north star. https://www.speakersforschools.org/inspiration/vtalks/upcoming-vtalks/

MONDAY 22nd June

2pm – Armando Iannucci, Oscar-nominated Writer & Director

TUESDAY 23rd June

10am – Richard Waterworth, General Manager, UK & EU, TikTok

2pm – Tamara Holmgren, Engineer and Project Manager, BP

WEDNESDAY 24th June

10am – Maurits van Tol, Chief Technology Officer, Johnson Matthey

2pm – Bernadine Brocker Wieder, CEO, Vastari Group Ltd

THURSDAY 25th June

2pm – Marlon James & Ekow Eshun

FRIDAY 26th June

10am – James Worrall, Founder, Leaders in Sport

Inspirational Young People:

You may have heard the story in the news this week about footballer Marcus Rashford and how he has successfully campaigned to ensure that free school meals will continue to be available for young people, who need them, over the summer. His campaign prompted a government U-turn that will see parents claim vouchers for about 1.3 million children in England during the summer holidays. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-53073977

Why not watch this interesting and inspirational speech by Malala Yousafzai – an address to the class of 2020? https://youtu.be/Qxp_hLhxJoA 

Can you find any other powerful speeches by people who inspire you?

Take an Open University Course:

It’s free, takes anything from 2-30 hours, and you can study subjects from sociology to biotools! Visit https://www.open.edu/openlearn/free-courses/fullcatalogue

• Competitions

Star baker:

Thank you for all of your wonderful entries from the last week –  the winning entry from last week was produced by Oliver S. His tray bake looked delicious. Mrs Sparke would like to commend Oliver for his on-going efforts as he has attempted the challenge every week.

Why not have a go and join in with the weekly star baker competition. Bake something of your choice or have a go at this wonderful classic sponge cake. Why not send us your favourite recipe, you never know, it may get featured next week.

Recipe of the week:

For those of you who are keen bakers and have access to flour and eggs perhaps you would like to try the recipe of the week. Or maybe you can suggest a vegan or gluten free alternative?

TRADITIONAL FRUIT SCONES

Ingredients:

• 200g SR Flour
• 50g margarine or butter
• 50g sugar
• 200mls of milk (be careful you might not need it all)
• 1 egg to glaze–a little extra sugar
• 75g dried fruit

Method:

• Light oven 220 oC or gas mark 7
• Put the flour into a bowl, add the margarine and rub into the flour with your finge tips
• Add any flavourings
• Add enough milk very carefully and mix to a soft dough using a round bladed knife
• Turn out on to a floured work surface and knead lightly with your finger tips
• Shape into a round and roll out until 1.5cm thick cut into rounds using a cutter
• Glaze with a little beaten egg or milk and sprinkle on a little sugar
• Bake in the oven for 10 – 15 mins until lightly brown
• Serve with butter and jam and if you want to indulge a spoonful of clotted cream

• Subject-Specific Activities

Art and Culture:

Google Arts and Culture: https://artsandculture.google.com/

There are all sorts of activities on including VR gallery tours, a ‘turn your selfie into art’ link to see which famous artwork looks most like you, and a guide to turning a potato into a masterpiece.

There is also a performing arts page: https://artsandculture.google.com/project/performing-arts

Via this page you can explore panoramic views of famous theatre sites, and watch videos of famous dancers, symphony orchestras or excerpts from plays.

• Weekly challenges

Get reading:

Our first reading challenge is to make sure you are a member of your local library. Once you have registered, you can take out up to 6 books at any one time and access their online resources and eBooks. To register, all you need to take with you is proof of address.

Find your local library and keep up to date with opening times and online services.

Alternatively, have a look at the BBC website where they have collated all of the Big Read resources https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/zr6w7nb.

You may have heard the story or read the books about ‘The Street Cat Named Bob’. This week Bob passed away but he had a very interesting and fulfilling life. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/ukengland-london-53072938

Can you think of any other books about animals that have inspired you? One of Miss Dean’s favourite books as a child, ‘Born Free’, was about a different kind of cat, Elsa the lion, where Joy Adamson tells the story of how they adopted some lion cubs and their adventures.

Tim Henman Foundation and Compass for Life:

Don’t forget every Wednesday on the Tin Henman foundation homepage three new challenges will be launched around the themes of being fulfilled, having fun and staying topical. There will be plenty of things for everyone so get involved and share what you are doing. This week the challenge focuses on Making the Impossible Possible. If we think hard we can all think about times where we have managed to achieve something that we never thought we could. If we learn from this how can we apply it to new challenges we will face in the future?

Take a look on the website for the coming challenges: https://thfonline.org/home/ and don’t forget to share your work with #THFOnline2020 @PewseyValeSch (twitter).

Look out for the Wimbledon themed challenges that will be coming up in the next few weeks.

• Exercise and Well-being

Virtual Sports Day:

Don’t forget the virtual sports day we have running this year; you have until the 3rd July to send in your results. Please see last week’s newsletter or the social media pages for information about the events and how to enter.

Mental Health:

There are lots of resources around to help with mental health – we have been trying to suggest a wide range of sites in order to provide something for everyone.

Staying safe online:

No doubt over the past few months you've heard children (and maybe a few adults) talk about the latest Tik Tok challenges or their favourite celebrity's lockdown live stream.

This week’s your activity pack for parents and carers explores how children and young people can stay safe while live streaming:

KS3

https://www.thinkuknow.co.uk/globalassets/thinkuknow/documents/thinkuknow/parents/pdf/thinkuknow-11-13s-home-activity-sheet-7.pdf

KS4

https://www.thinkuknow.co.uk/globalassets/thinkuknow/documents/thinkuknow/parents/pdf/thinkuknow-14-home-activity-sheet-7.pdf

For a list of all resources to support with mental health and well being you can find a comprehensive list on this webpage:

https://www.wiltshirehealthyschools.org/new-mental-health-resources-andcovid-19-support-materials-/

All of the links to competitions and resources mentioned in this newsletter can be found on the school website on the following page:

https://pewseyvale.org/school-life/covid-19-school-closureinformation/links-to-external-resources-for-home-working/

Keep an eye on the school twitter feed @PewseyValeSch and facebook page @pewsevaleschool to also find out as things are happening.

• Calendar of Events

June:

• • Pewsey’s Got Talent
  • Year 10 Student Leadership Applications

July:

• • Year 6 Transition
  • End of term

Future events:

• • 2019/20 Year 11 Prom/Reunion
  • Presentation evening

We hope that you are enjoying our weekly communications. As I have said, please do feel free to send us stuff to share or add. During these strange times, it is important to stay in communication and the more we hear from you the more normal it feels. Stay safe, stay positive and see you soon – I hope.

Mr Pritchard and the Pewsey Vale Staff