End of Year Letter - Millthorpe School York

Our Ref: JTB/LAB19 July 2013Dear Parent or CarerEND OF YEARWe have finished another year and said goodbye to our Year 11 students. Their timewith us is over, the exams are past and I await the results in August. I know howhard they and their teachers have worked and I am looking forward to celebrating ourstudents’ examination success. I will report to parents early in the new academicyear how they have fared.Education is not just about academic progress though. Millthorpe has run 72educational visits since September for a huge range of purposes. Just to give aflavour of the variety of these, we have had Maths and English Enrichment days atYork University, Duke of Edinburgh expeditions, four residential Language visits,Geography coursework and a joint History project with The Mount School andMelancthon Gymnasium near Berlin. I am very grateful for the extra work put in bymy staff to run these visits which enhance the education we offer to our young peopleat Millthorpe.I would also like to draw your attention to the fine charity work supported by theschool especially the School Council, who have raised thousands of pounds forRed Nose day and the Children’s Heart Surgery unit at Leeds General Infirmary. Inour latest event, Monday’s Charity fun-run, Years 7 and 8 raised funds for ten localcharities after hearing representatives from each charity explain the value of theirwork. Caring for others is one of our key values and this is a clear expression of it.SCHOOL UNIFORMIt is very likely that you will need to refresh your child’s uniform before September -and of course for current Year 9 students going into Year 10, there is a navy poloshirt to buy. We have worked hard since January to make sure our uniform isconsistent and smart. We do this to support a sense of shared identity andbelonging: whilst we value our students’ differences, we want them to feel and lookequal. Parents and carers are protected from expensive shifts in fashion and sparedsome of the anxious time teenagers can spend on deciding what to wear. In a worldwhere young people face a barrage of pressures from a social media that often urgesthem to grow up too quickly, we believe school should be a space where yourchildren dress simply and modestly. Our catchphrase for uniform is “smart at schooland ready to learn”.