Half term is upon us even though it feels just days, rather than weeks, since we returned. However, at Greenshaw we would not allow the brevity of a term to stop us from doing great things. It was great on Wednesday night to see our Year 8 students enjoying their film night in the school hall with the full new speaker system in full throat.

On another positive note, I was told earlier this week how impressed a member of the public was with our students (across Years 9 to 11) when they attended the West End production of the brilliant Blood Brothers. At the end of the performance she headed over to our staff to commend the students’ conduct in the theatre, and say how impressed she was with their impeccable manners. Well done to the youngsters and thank you to the drama team for running this trip.

Back in school, I visited our GCSE Food students as they completed one of their practical activities.
I have attached a couple of images of the dishes prepared as a Friday letter cannot do justice to the magnificent aromas within the room. I think you will agree that these dishes are brilliantly presented… and this is a practice run before their final GCSE work in March. Very, very impressive!

Stars of the half term

Congratulations to our stars of the term who have demonstrated something special in their attitude to their peers, the community or their learning. Well done to each and every one of them.

Year 7	Year 8	Year 9	Year 10	Year 11	6th Form
Rehan	TBC	Deborah	Zuzanna	Amazing-Grace	Yashvi / Umar

 

 

 

 

Safeguarding update – THC vapes

Mrs Wallace (our Designated Safeguarding Lead) contacted you in September about some of the risks for young people who use vapes, and you may have heard in the news about the dangers. Local agencies have made schools aware that there has been an increase in Sutton of young people using vapes that contain THC or Spice and becoming very unwell very quickly. THC is the part of the cannabis plant that makes people feel 'high' and 'vaping' it can make the effects more unpredictable as it can take contain synthetic cannabinoids or spice which are more harmful.

One symptom for you to be aware of is the person seems almost in a zombie state straight away. The THC vapes that have been seen in Sutton tend to be quite heavy with a heated coil and quite long and slim, rather than the shorter, more stubby vapes. All of them tend to reference cannabis or THC or have images of cannabis leaves, and they have CA or California marked on them. They seem to be available in different colours, and a common make is Jeeter (see the image). Please talk to your child about the risks. Our local police have provided more detailed information about the dangers of these vapes here.

Safeguarding update – Wizz app

I would advise you to check whether your child has downloaded an app called Wizz. You might have heard that after being contacted by NCMEC (National Center for Missing and Exploited Children), both Apple and Google have removed Wizz from their app download stores. Although it is now no longer available, the app is still operating so users who previously downloaded can still use it. This app is similar to Omegle (which no longer exists) and aims to connect users to other random users for one-to-one chat and was causing considerable concern in relation to abuse/extortion.

Support while school is closed

At Greenshaw we work closely with a variety of agencies including the London Borough of Sutton, volunteer groups and the NHS. Please be aware that our website has many signposts to support agencies in the section ‘Care and Support’ as needed.

Returning… to Week 2

I wish all students a well-deserved rest over the next week, including those in Year 11 and 13 that will spend a good proportion of their time revising, but I hope balancing this with exercise and social time as well. At school, all things being equal, preparations for the future building work will continue. When we return a section of the fence along Grennell Road will be replaced with solid hoarding. There will be no interruption to learning and the next few phases of development work will happen in school holiday slots.

We welcome our students back on Week 2, so if you could please remind your child to pack the correct books for their Week 2 timetable lessons.

Wishing you all the very best.

Nick House, Headteacher