1st October 2021

Dear Parents and Carers,

The staff and students at Tomlinscote would like to send their condolences to the family

of Charlie Hopkins. Charlie left Tomlinscote as a student in 2020 but he was tragically

involved in a traffic accident on Saturday night. Two other Tomlinscote students were

also in the car and we are really pleased that they are recovering from the incident. Our

thoughts and prayers are with the families and everyone concerned.

We enjoyed a superb Open Evening last Thursday and welcomed many Year 6 students

and their parents into school. It was the first time that we have had external visitors in

the Main Hall since March 2020! The school was buzzing with a wide range of activities

in each subject. There were 500 student volunteers and they helped in each subject area

or took visitors around the school on a tour. The feedback from the parents about our

students was fantastic with particular reference to our students’ confidence and

politeness. Well done Team Tomlinscote and I hope you enjoy the photos and a video of

the event will follow shortly.

Year 11 had a busy time this week with the Geography students completing urban

fieldwork in Guildford and there was a virtual Progress Evening for Year 11 parents.

A couple of reminders:

1. Please keep up the lateral flow testing at home. We do have rising PCR positive

cases within the school community - staff and students. Testing on Sundays and

Wednesdays really does keep as many people as safe as possible. It does,

however, needs all our parents to check that the tests have been completed.

2. If you haven’t already done so, can you upload the EduLink One App onto your

phone or mobile device. This is our parental communication

portal. (see page 13 for instructions)

3. A few students have started wearing trainers instead of shoes and a few have

come to school without a jumper. On Monday, I expect to see everyone in shoes

and wearing a jumper as they come through the gates.

Have a lovely weekend.

Mr Major

Tomlinscote School

Newsletter

Key Dates

Tue 5th Oct

Year 7 Meet the Tutors evening (in Main Hall)

Mon 11th Oct

Year 10 Art Trip

Kew Gardens

Fri 15th –17th Oct

Costa Rica training weekend

“A little consideration, a

little thought for others, makes all the difference”

- A.A.Milne -

Tomlinscote School opened

its doors!

Year 10 students have been set a mission, we hope that it’s not an impossible one! “You have been asked by a local film company to produce a film prop for their new futuristic sci-fi movie to be released in 2025!

Outcome: The main outcome for this project is for you to become more independent with your learning within the workshop and to be able to use all tools independently with confidence”.

A saw point!

What were you doing before you became a teacher at Tomlinscote?

Prior to being a teacher, I worked for twenty years in industry. I started out as a programmer and multi-dimensional database specialist in Finance, before becoming a Business Systems Manager. Eventually, I transitioned to managing million pound plus IT projects. What hobbies do you have?

My main hobbies are mountain biking and hiking, preferably in either the Lake or Peak Districts. I do love the outdoors, but I also like a good film. Proper films though, like Blade Runner or Gladiator.

What has been your favourite lockdown programme?

It has got to be ‘Better Call Saul’. I can’t wait for the final season!

Who is your all time hero (dead or alive)

No apologies for being a bit of a Computer Science teacher cliché here; my hero is Alan Turing. He saved thousands of lives by shortening a terrible war, but was subsequently treated despicably. What is your biggest fear?

Losing those whom you love, or their respect.

If you could live anywhere, where would it be?

If it was allowed, and sadly it isn’t, right smack bang in the middle of the lower valley of Yosemite National Park. With a view of El Capitan outside my kitchen window. What a beautiful place. What’s your favourite joke?

“I burned my mouth on a Hawaiian pizza the other day, I must remember to cook it on Aloha temperature”. What is your all time favourite song and why?

Watching the wheels – John Lennon. A lovely tune, but also because he was cheekily calling out the media for their usual nonsense. Nothing’s really changed, has it?

What would be the first thing you’d do if you won a fortune on the lottery?

I would sort out my friends and family financially, and then quickly get on to arranging somewhat of a large party.

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given?

My great grandmother said to me once “Never trust a man who wears trousers without a belt”. I’m not altogether sure that it was particularly sound advice, but it’s always stuck with me!

Thank you Mr Frampton

Mr Frampton

Computing Teacher

“Books are a uniquely portable magic” - Stephen King

The Year 11 Geography students went on a trip to Guildford this week to study quality of life. They visited three sites: Stoke Park, G-Live and the High street.

Students collected data in 5 different ways including questionnaires. They were very lucky with the weather as they managed to avoid the rain showers on all three days! The Year 11 students were well behaved and a credit to the school. We didn’t run out of petrol either!

Geography comes to Guildford

Alexa Robertson: Kindness

Kittens are kind

Iguanas are kind

Negativity isn’t kind

Dolphins are kind

Nature is kind

Elephants are kind

Sheep are kind

So, are you kind?

Bruce Walker: Kind

Kindness is cool

Invite people over

No one should be left out

Do what is right

Never be rude

Everyone can be nice

Say nice things

So, how can you be kind?

Heather Galbraith: How to be Kind

Kindness…

Imagine a world where

No one is made to feel bad about

themselves

Everyone does what’s right

No bullies there to fight

Everyone can change

See how you can shape the worlds

See how you can be a better person.

Bilal Khan: Kindness Matters

Keep your bad thoughts to yourself,

Don’t disrespect someone’s health.

It’s really bad to hurt someone,

Don’t do it, not even once.

No! Bullying you might be the one,

Stopping the singing, hurting all the fun.

Don’t be someone else,

Don’t disrespect, be yourself.

Nothing matters if you’re mean, have

good thoughts, be keen.

Year 7 students were presented with a task this week where they were challenged

creatively and literally. They were asked to write either a poem, song or speech, linking

how we can show kindness within Tomlinscote School.

The students loved getting involved in these activities and would like the opportunity

for their voices to be heard.

The best place in the world to see rainbows is Hawaii. A study published by the American

Meteorological Society in 2021 noted that the area's mountains produce sharp gradients in

clouds and rainfall, which are key to abundant rainbow sightings. Air pollution, pollen, and a

large amount of cresting waves also help to put Hawaii at the top of the list when it comes

to rainbow quantity and quality.

This year we are continuing with our Tomlinscote

subscription to the news and resources website The

Day. The Day has news articles, features, polls, videos,

quizzes, competitions and an extensive bank of subject

resources.

The Day has a new and improved website. Click here to access the website via the Tomlinscote subscription. You can explore news, curriculum resources, special reports and articles in a wide range of languages. At the top of each article you can adjust the reading level to make sure that it is both accessible and challenging.

The Day’s theme this week is money. Read more here about the oldest money ever found and why we might need to borrow some at certain points in our lives.

Following this theme, this week’s selected

article asks: are treacle and ginger more

important than money? Inspired by the

new series of Bake Off, which started last

week, the article asks whether it is

pleasure or the need for energy that

motivates our appetites for food. Read

more here about just how important food

is to the human race.

Full links: https://theday.co.uk/money-6//?token=o2SLxcYNQrWcJxxyTvOX

https://theday.co.uk/treacle-and-ginger-more-important-than-money//?token=o2SLxcYNQrWcJxxyTvOX

Careers has got off to a flying start this half term and we are delighted to have been able to allow visitors into school once again to speak with our students about careers and the future. A huge thank you to our wonderful parent community for the overwhelming response to my plea for parents to come in and work with students and deliver assemblies or focus group workshops around their own careers. I am busy booking you in and I cannot thank you enough for supporting our programme in this way.

At Tomlinscote, our Careers Enrichment Programme is focused around a different industry sector each half term. We then plan assemblies and activities focused on that theme to ensure students get to have a rich understanding of the varied roles within an individual sector and the careers related to it. Our career sector themes for this academic year are as follows:

• Autumn 1: Careers in Technology

• Autumn 1: Careers in Medicine and Health Care

• Autumn 1: Careers in Education, Training and Social Work

• Autumn 1: Careers in Media, TV and Creative Design

• Autumn 1: Careers in Government and the Armed Forces

• Autumn 1: Careers in PR, Sales and Marketing

We are very excited to have already booked in a number of assemblies and focus groups for our first two themes and students will have lots of opportunities to hear from a wide variety of people about their careers in these sector areas. However, that is not to say that we don’t offer workshops or activities that aren’t connected to those themes and we will still schedule activities into those times as additional extras for the students. If there is anyone out there who would like to volunteer to run an assembly or talk to a small group of students about their career, then I would love to hear from you, even if not related to those themes above!

Please contact me on: hlivesey@tomlinscoteschool.com

Post-16 Progression:

Year 11 students will be busy this term, thinking about their post-16 options and their next steps for life beyond Tomlinscote. We have lots of colleges coming into Year 11 assemblies over the next few weeks to present to students about their curriculum offer and the courses available; including an assembly on Apprenticeships and Training Providers as an alternative to college. All colleges will be holding open events for Year 11 students and families over the coming months and details of these will be sent out to Year 11 students and parents/carers shortly so you can think about where you would like to visit.

A few dates to be aware of related to this are given below. I will be shortly sending out specific information to students and parents/carers about each of these:

• Thursday 4th November 7:00-8:00 p.m. – Key Stage 4 Progression Evening (this is for Year 10 students and families to find out about how the school supports Careers and Post-16 Progression for the next two years and it is also the launch of the Year 10 Work Experience Programme which will take place in June 2022).

• Thursday 11th November 7:00 p.m. – online information event exclusively for Tomlinscote Year 10 and 11 parents run by ALPS Surrey, ‘An Introduction to Apprenticeships’ (find out about how the apprenticeship system works as a post-16 pathway and the opportunity to ask questions at the end).

Miss Livesey

Design packaging to protect an egg, so that when it is dropped from the top floor of C block, it won't break.

Time: 30 minutes

The 2 winning teams were:

Team 1: Fezile, Frankie, Naomi (a mixed team from Rowling and Mandela)

Team 9: Sophie, Ella-Rose and Dakota (Attenborough)

House points overall

Joint 1st: Rowling and Attenborough

3rd place: Mandela

4th Place: Hawking

Luckily points were awarded for creativity and design as no eggs lived to tell the tale!

www.edulinkone.com EduLink One is our parental communication portal. We use this system to provide essential information and

regular updates about your child(ren) and their lives at Tomlinscote School.

EduLink One is an iOS and Android App – with support from a website for those unable to access the apps.

To find out more about EduLink One’s functions, please watch the short tutorial video available on the

Tomlinscote website (Parents & Carers / EduLink One), or via http://bit.ly/Edulinkparents.

EduLink will now be our main method of communication to provide updates whenever Trips and

Educational Visits take place, so we strongly encourage you to download the app and allow notifications in

order to be kept up to date!

If you haven’t already gained access to this tool, please email data@tomlinscoteschool.com and we can arrange for your password to be resent to you.

Finding it hard to notice school emails in your inbox?

Try adding edulink@tomlinscoteschool.com to your contact list, entering ‘Tomlinscote School’ as the contact name. This should mean emails sent from the school will show in your Inbox as coming from Tomlinscote School, rather than the individual staff member’s name. The staff member’s name will still show at the end of the email for your information, and replies will still be sent to the original sender’s account.

A large number of students are losing

belongings. Please could parents and

carers ensure that all kit and uniform is

checked and named. This will prevent

students picking up the wrong items at the

end of lessons and in particular after PE.

Kit Check!

Tel: 01276 709050

email: office@tomlinscoteschool.com website: www.tomlinscoteschool.com

Each week the winning House will be announced here.

Click on the link next week to see who has received the highest number of House

points and the positions of the individual Houses.

Click Here House Point Totals

On Tuesday of this week, a Tomlinscote parent was walking her miniature

Poodle Jasmine in the woods, when she was spooked by a massive dog that

they came across. Really frightened, Jasmine ran off at break neck speed

down St Catherine’s Road. As Jasmine was so speedy the owner was unable

to catch up with her .

Luckily for her, 2 Year 7 Tomlinscote students jumped into action and ran

after her and rescued her from a very perilous and busy road.

Jasmine’s owner was so relieved and grateful, and really impressed by the

kind and polite students who really embodied every core value that we

aspire to at Tomlinscote. Congratulations to Mia in 7Y and Isabelle in 7X !

As part of our focus upon improving our school environment, we are not going to be

selling plastic bottles of water in the school Bee Hive. As a result, students will need to

bring their own water bottle to school and fill it up using the water coolers during break

and lunch.

Please can you ensure that your child has a water bottle.

We have purchased some stainless steel water bottles, with the Tomlinscote logo,

which can be bought for a great price on ParentPay of £6.75.

Bottle it!