Congratulations to Matt, our Impact Food Group Executive Chef here at Sponne, who is now through to the national finals of the Laca School Chef competition! The regional finals were tough, but Matt came out on top and we’re extremely proud!

Criteria of the competition was to showcase a Quorn product and have a dessert with 50% fruit, at a total cost of just £1.40!

Matt cooked up tandoori Quorn fillet with bhaji bon bons, cumin flatbread and mint yoghurt dressing. Followed by a coconut pancake “samosa” filled with black cherry compote accompanied with whipped coconut cream and chocolate syrup.

The national finals will take place in October and more info on the competition can be found here laca.co.uk/scoty

Y9 Sports Leaders KS1 Festival - 1st July

A fantastic day was enjoyed by all as we hosted a KS1 festival here at Sponne for our local Primary schools:
Activity Leaders took responsibility for setting up their activity, demonstrating it to each team and encouraging and recording their performances.
Team managers looked after their team, ensuring they were warmed up, had food and drink, knew what to do at each activity, sorted grazed knees and tears, and cheered them on throughout the afternoon
Results were given and medals presented...then it was clear up time (their least favourite part of the day!!)
Thank you to all of the leaders, you were AMAZING!!

Harmful Sexual Behaviour in schools

Sexual abuse, sexual violence and sexual harassment in any form are abhorrent and it is vital that reports of abuse are appropriately investigated and victims supported and protected.

At Sponne School we take our safeguarding responsibilities extremely seriously but the “Everyone’s Invited campaign” has reminded us that there is more we need to do.

On 31 March, the Secretary of State announced that he had asked Ofsted to undertake a thematic review into sexual abuse across state and independent schools and colleges. The review was published on 10th June 2021, and looked at the processes in place within schools to allow pupils to report concerns freely, knowing these will be taken seriously and dealt with swiftly and appropriately.

A dedicated NSPCC helpline is now available to support anyone who has experienced sexual abuse in educational settings or has concerns about someone or the issues raised. The dedicated NSPCC helpline number is 0800 136 663 and more information is available at: Dedicated helpline for victims of abuse in schools NSPCC.

Statutory safeguarding guidance and advice are very clear on our schools legal duties and the policies and processes already in place to safeguard children.

Part 5 of Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE 2020) provides schools with detailed guidance about child-on-child sexual violence and sexual harassment, including responding to reports of abuse and protecting victims. Part 5 also signposts to the wider specialist support that is available to us as a school.

Alongside this, recent government guidance documents supports us to understand what child-on-child sexual violence and sexual harassment looks like, how to prevent it, how to respond to reports of it, and how to support victims. The Safeguarding team refer to this document in all reported cases.

National guidance is very clear on how we as a school should work with our local multi-agency children’s partnerships as a relevant agency and how any concerns about a child should be referred. We will always look to contact our local multi-agency children’s partnership as well as the police for further advice and support when needed.

The curriculum for Relationships, Sex and Health Education (RSHE) has included this topic for both Key Stage 3 and 4 this term. At Sponne assemblies have and are continuing to take place with this in mind, and we have included the most recent assembly here for your information.

We always have and will continue to take these matters very seriously. The Everyone’s Invited campaign has rightly served to focus our minds on the need to continue to work together to protect children.

If you have any questions, or wish to discuss this further, please make contact with the school Designated Safeguarding Lead - Miss Harris.

The diggers have arrived on the school site for our new science block extension. Our head teacher Iain Massey welcomed the crew to the school today. If you missed our announcement on the build, click here for more info.

National shutdowns were no match for our budding Sponne Scientists ! 

With over 400 year 7 and 8 students taking part in this year's British Science Week activities, Sponne students showed that no amount of shutdown can stop their progress in Science.

Students were fully engaged in a two-week long project in which they constructed their own scientific apparatus, recorded and analysed data, and all complemented with research and development tasks - and all completed during our most recent lockdown.

Students were required to construct a fully functioning and accurate rain gauge, then use it to record rainfall data during the start of March. They then used this data to predict monthly rainfall and compare to previous years, looking for patterns and trends as they did so. 

Having evaluated the design of their equipment, students then took their designs further through the application of modern and innovative technology and ideas to enable the equipment to be used in remote and hostile environments. 

No doubt buoyed by the promise of prizes of Easter eggs and oodles of Sponne Sparks, a good range of designs and ideas, presented using a range of styles from newspaper reports to formal presentations, prizes were given per tutor group for Science content, artistic merit, and an overall best in class. Two deserving pupils each received a £10 Amazon voucher for best in year7 and best in year 8, and everyone who returned a worthy effort was rewarded with praise, appreciation, and of course, plenty of sparks !

Mr Fleming.

Feedback from April 2021

We build better family lives together. If you need support or advice, call our helpline on 0808 800 2222, email us at askus@familylives.org.uk or you can chat to us online via our Live Chat service. You can also visit our online forum community to share dilemmas, experiences and issues with others who understand the ups and downs of family life. For more information click on the link below:
https://mailchi.mp/familylives.org.uk/family-lives-newsletter-jan21?e=77712ada13

SNVB - Working alongside Public Health Northamptonshire and Northamptonshire County Council Communications Team, we are pulling together some thematic community design workshops. With the county experiencing a second wave of COVID-19 cases and the country as a whole now in a second lockdown, we are keen to work in partnership with residents to develop ways to tackle the spread within our communities.

We understand some of the things that may block people from following the self-isolation, social distancing and now the new lockdown guidelines and we want to work together with communities to find solutions. This might include looking at the way we communicate about the government or local guidance, how we engage with residents, how we keep people informed of changes, right through to looking at the practical support we may be able to offer.

Public Health recently undertook a survey in Northamptonshire with over 2600 people and these design workshops will look at the outcomes of that and think about possible ways to help tackle the issues it identifies, for example, some people stated that they are confused about the guidance for isolation, we could think of new ways to communicate this information. We want to explore the issues from the varying cross cutting perspectives in order to see if there is a specific way that we need to target our messages and interventions.

The sessions are primarily aimed at the public, but they are also open to practitioners if they wish to attend and share any insight from their service users.

Workshop One 16 Nov 10:00 – 11:30 - Families and Lone Parents - Eventbrite event
Workshop Two 17 Nov 13:00 – 14:30 - Rural Communities - Eventbrite event
Workshop Three 19 Nov 13:00 – 14:30 - Older People, Carers and Care Homes - Eventbrite event

Norman Barker 1942-2020

It is with great sadness that Sponne acknowledge the passing of Norman Barker.

Norman was born in Northampton, went to Northampton Grammar School (now NSB) and Loughborough University. He lived in Towcester.

He came to Sponne as Head of Boys PE in September 1975 whilst still playing hooker for Bedford RFC who were the National Cup Winners that season and following their tour to British Columbia.

He immediately made a big impact on the school in activities such as athletics, gymnastics and outdoor pursuits but particularly rugby, which went from strength to strength under his astute coaching and infectious attitude, enthusiasm and motivation. His indomitable spirit and passion for the game can be seen at the Towcestrians RFC with the club having much success during his era as a teacher at Sponne and many of his former students coaching Mini, Junior and Senior rugby to the present day and their children starting out on their own rugby adventures.

This term we were really pleased to get back to school football training, on a Tuesday afternoon. So far a total of 40 different students have been involved. Numbers at each session have been amazing, with an average of thirty players, participating in each session

During training we have worked on a number of short passing drills to improve our awareness on the pitch. We have also worked on shooting drills, using a target net we bought this season. Also as part of this we have worked on our fitness and stamina in possession of the ball.

We have also formed a Y8 student football committee, and meet regularly to plan and organise training sessions and team tactics. We are a group of six at present, but will look to add to this next term. We will be looking for students who show good organisational, communication & leadership skills, as well as a passion and commitment for school football.

The term ended with a training match. The final score was 3-3 in a high quality contest. The green team scored early with a brace from Sam W. The shirts pulled one back with a free kick by Will T, who then got the equaliser with a classy rabona finish, after cutting inside. With the score at 2-2 it was a scuffed penalty by Ewan C, sending Nathan S the wrong way, which gave the shirts, a narrow lead. With the shirts looking like they had secured victory, a green throw in, led to a poor clearance, which let John D in, who made a side foot finish into the top corner. A brilliant game to end the term on!

Training resumes on Tuesday 3rd November. We would welcome any interested Year 8 students getting involved. Please speak to Mr. Cornelius, Mr. Trusler or Mr. Hollamby for more information. Alternatively, you can email football@sponne.org.uk

And for more information about all things Sponne Football, please follow us on Twitter; @SponneFootball.

By the Year 8 Football Committee (Ewan B, Alex B, Ewan C, Will T, Devan V, Sam W)