What a great week we have had at New Bridge! On Monday we welcomed three elves, Eric, Ernie and Erol to the school site. They have been appearing in classrooms across Key Stage 3 looking for random acts of kindness and good work. Every day ‘Elf Reports’ are heard over the school tannoy from one of the elves letting us know who has been demonstrating kind behaviour. We’re pleased to say we have been inundated with good reports like these..
Hi Mrs Lamb.
Eric the Elf here!
I have spent the morning in F15 and I’d like to report some good behaviour!
Firstly, Mr Holban has been a very good boy. He has done some excellent colouring and has done it with a big smile on his face! Also, Salman, Brandon, Louis and Adam showed some great team work this morning, helping Mrs Cockcroft with a Christmas project!
Please see the photos attached which are screen shots from my Elf Cam.
Thank you
Eric x x x
Good morning chief Elf
We have had some super elf action in 7LHA this morning. He has had so much fun, he even opened the chocolates first thing this morning.
Kindness from Iona, she even brought in extra Christmas jumpers for others who didn’t have one
Lots of singing and dancing
Extra Dojos
A special visit from the big man himself
Even a special visit from Daygon
Super signing to ‘Oh Christmas Tree’ with a bit of cheekiness from Miss Shaw and Mrs Holland
We are feeling very festive!
The elves have been getting everywhere…..Erol was very impressed with AB2’s hard work in cooking..
One cheeky elf even managed to sneak along with Miss Patchett’s group when they went shopping (we hope he behaved himself!)..
..and joined them for their Music lesson..
Some lessons have taken a festive theme such as in Year 7 Art where the young people have been learning about primary, secondary and tertiary colours. They have been painting baubles by numbers using the colour wheel, very impressive! We are all really looking forward to our Super Learning Day on Monday when we will be learning about ‘Christmas around the World’ – we’ll share lots of pictures with you next week, along with some more Elf reports!
On Wednesday morning we held our annual girls football match in memory of Faye McMillan. Sophie, Ellen, Sarah, Maryam, Cherrie, Shazia and Sabiha came down from the Learning Centre to join the younger players and all the girls put in a tremendous effort. There was some terrific passing, defending and team spirit going on; Ellen scored, Sabiha was great in goal and all the girls did themselves proud, Sabiha, Ellen and Sarah were part of the winning team and were proudly presented with the Faye McMillan Memorial Cup at the end of the competition. Faye is always in our thoughts.
After the match we had our whole school Christmas lunches at both sites – always a real highlight of the year! At the school site we welcomed special invited guests from MCFC, Mr Kelly, transport drivers, passenger assistants to members of staff who have left us for retirement or otherwise. Mr Fieldhouse and his merry band of pupils did an amazing job with the logistics; over three hundred places were laid out with plates, cutlery, crackers, serviettes and drinks before classes came and dressed their tables with the decorations they had made. We thank them all most sincerely for their hard work ensuring all the young people had an amazing day. After lunch we joined Santa and strolled around the school missing the showers and walking off our Christmas lunch. Everyone looked very festive wearing a multitude of Christmas jumpers – we will bring you all the pictures next week!
The Learning Centre Christmas dinner was also an unqualified success that the students loved, as you can see – they made sure everywhere was beautifully decorated..
..before sitting down together to enjoy the meal..
Again, it was only brought about by a lot of behind the scenes planning and work – a very big thank you to everyone involved! On Friday we had our Learning Centre Christmas Market which again proved to be a resounding success. There was a real buzz around the Learning Centre as parents, carers, staff and students enjoyed looking round the various stalls and then getting refreshments from Mrs Gillett and Cherrie in the café. Stalls included Enterprise selling a wide variety of Christmas gifts, Hortus selling Christmas baskets and wall flowers, Food Industry selling pies and biscuits, a chocolate tombola (that sold out in half an hour!!), DIGIT4LL selling personalised gifts, E Base selling Arts and Craft gifts, IB selling Christmas garlands or as Chris said ‘door things’, Year 14 selling dvds and books, Mrs Wright selling some wonderful aromatic candles and Temple Spa selling aromatherapy and skin care items. Everyone had a really fantastic time and it was a great way to round off a very productive Autumn term..
Everyone is feeling tired and a number of us are suffering with colds and other ailments but we are still pulling together as one. Tension is building at the Learning Centre as our annual table tennis, pool and FIFA competitions reach their conclusions with finals to be played before an expectant audience on the last day of term.
This will be Mrs Lamb’s last blog before she retires on Tuesday and so she thought it would be nice to leave you with a few seasonal jokes..
How will Christmas dinner be different after Brexit?
No Brussels!
What does Santa suffer from if he gets stuck in a chimney?
Claustrophobia!
Why does Santa have three gardens?
So he can ‘ho ho ho’!
Who is Santa’s favourite singer?
Elf-is Presley!
What do Santa’s little helpers learn at school?
The Elf-abet!
We would like to wish you all a peaceful Christmas and we look forward to seeing all our young people return on Wednesday January 3rd 2018.
Judith and Dawn
Dawn would like to add this message as we get ready to wish Judith a wonderful retirement..
I cannot let this final joint blog go without saying a word to a very special lady, my friend and fellow head of site, Judith, who is retiring next week. I have had the pleasure of working alongside Jude for many years. We first spent time sharing a ‘Harry Potter under the stairs’ sized office at the school site and I was able to learn loads from observing Jude in action as an amazing Head of Site. She has a wealth of experience and knowledge of working with our young people and what can only be described as a never ending energy and enthusiasm for all our students, always encouraging them to achieve their very best.
Jude has always been there to support and encourage both staff and students alike, a key part, as I have learned, of being a successful Head of Site. Thank you Jude for all your support and advice throughout my time as Head of Site at the Learning Centre, it has been a real pleasure working with you and you will be greatly missed by myself and staff and students alike. Good luck on your retirement my friend, keep in touch.
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