Issue 972: 24th June 2022 – Sweyne Park School

HEADLINES

Fire Alarm

I am disappointed to have to report that on Thursday afternoon, during the exams, one of our pupils, supported by a very small cohort, deliberately set off the fire alarm. Clearly, this meant that we had to evacuate the building, and I would like to thank the vast majority of our pupils who behaved with great maturity. However, this caused significant disruption to some of our Sixth Form students, sitting their A-Level exam. This, of course, is highly inconsiderate, unsettling and unacceptable. In addition, the interruption means that, as a school, we now have to incur the costs of applying for “special consideration” for those students to give them the best possible outcomes. There is also the wasted time and cost of the emergency services to consider who may have been required elsewhere for a genuine reason. I would like to remind parents/carers that we will always take a very strong stance on such disrespectful behaviour and any pupils found to be involved will receive a fixed term exclusion.

Energy Drinks

We have become aware that a small number of pupils have been bringing energy drinks into school. These drinks are considered dangerous and not suitable for children due to the high level of caffeine they contain and subsequent impact on their health and behaviour. Such drinks have never been permitted at school, and pupils will be reminded about this during assemblies next week. After this stage, any such drinks brought onto site will be confiscated and disposed of. Thank you, in advance, for your support with this.

COVID-19 – Attendance at School

I would like to remind parents and carers of the current guidance around COVID-19 and attendance at school. There is no longer a requirement to take a test for COVID-19, however if you do decide to test your child(ren) and they return a positive result, then the guidance remains that they should avoid contact with people for 3 days. They can then return to school as soon as they feel well enough to do so, although should remain at home if they have a high temperature.

While a pupil/student is not in school due to feeling unwell (COVID-19 related or otherwise), we will not provide work for them to do at home, and rather, allow them the time and opportunity to catch up when they come back to school. If your child(ren) is keen to do some work they can access the Oak National Academy.

And Finally…

Congratulations to all of our Year 11 pupils and Year 13 students who have now completed their final examinations. I would like to take the opportunity to wish them all every happiness and success as they start the next stage of their journeys. We will look forward to welcoming as many of our Year 11 pupils back into our Sixth Form in September, and to hearing what our Year 13 students will be doing next!

Josie Presented to South Essex College

After graduating from Children’s University in 2021 with the highest award attainable (Gold Fellowship Award), Josie was invited to South Essex College to speak in front of an auditorium of people at this year’s Graduation Ceremony.

Josie did so well and has inspired so many children. This was a big challenge for Josie and her confidence, but she did brilliantly and everyone is very proud of her.

Please see below for some photos of the evening, as well as a photo of Josie’s graduation last year.

Wednesday 29th June 2022 - doughnut and cupcake sale

My name is Benjamin, and I am an Explorer Scout for Crouch Valley District. I have been part of this Scouting Association since I was 5 years old starting in Beavers 1^st Rayleigh.

During my time at Crouch Valley, I have participated in:

Camps
Hikes
Jamborees

Also, I have learnt many important skills such as:

Cooking
Pioneering
First Aid
Other survival skills

I believe that it has given me fundamental skills and experiences that will last a lifetime.

This year I have applied and successfully gained a place to the North America Expedition 2023 to Floodwood, New York.

Leading up to this phenomenal trip, I must participate in fundraising events to finance my trip. On Wednesday 29^th June 2022 I will hold a doughnut and cupcake sale with Darcey (who is going on an expedition to South Korea in 2023) to raise funds to contribute to the adventure. We will run the sales at break time on this day to hopefully raise some money to go on this once in a lifetime trip.

Please support Darcey and I in our fundraising event.

Thank you for your support.

What do you do when you're not in school?

We would love to hear about your hobbies, interests and achievements...

If you have any stories and/or photos that you would like to share, please contact us at pupilservices@sweynepark.com

Donated School Uniform

We will be launching a donated uniform order list on Scopay from

Friday 15th July 2022.

If you have any good quality used school uniform you would like to donate, we would be extremely grateful. Please bring your donations to Pupil Services.