Friday 14th October 2016

Dear Parents and Guardians,

I am writing to update you on the latest information regarding the enrichment club programme.

Rationale behind the enrichment club programme

The rationale behind the programme is to support the holistic development of your daughter which is in keeping with a Catholic philosophy of education. We are committed to the principle that the education your daughter receives at Sacred Heart High School should support her emotional, spiritual and physical well-being as well as her academic attainment. We are using the enrichment club programme to encourage your daughter to adopt a Growth Mind-set and develop her capacity to be curious, persistent and resilient.

Links between enrichment club programme and mental health and well-being

We believe the enrichment club programme can further support another school initiative which is to enhance your daughter’s mental health and emotional well-being. The report from the Government Office for Science offered five ways to develop and sustain a healthy state of mental health and well-being – the equivalent of our “five-fruit and vegetables a-day” approach to a healthy diet. These five ways include:

  1. Connect – with people around you. Invest time in your relationships with others as these people are the cornerstones of your life. Building connections will support and enrich your life.
  2. Be active – Go for a walk. Step outside. Dance. Garden. Exercising makes you feel good. Find an activity that you enjoy and matches your mobility and ability.
  3. Take notice – Be curious. Catch sight of the beautiful. Notice the changing seasons. Remark on the world around you. Savour the moment alone, with friends. Reflecting on your experiences will help you understand and stay in touch with what matters to you
  4. Keep Learning – Try something new. Re-kindle an old interest. Sign up for that course. Learn to play an instrument or play a sport. Learning something new will help build your confidence as well as being a source of fun and enjoyment.
  5. Give – Do something nice for a friend or stranger. Be kind. Be thankful. Smile. Look outwards as well as inwards. Seeing your happiness as linked to the happiness and well-being of others can be incredibly rewarding and creates connections with the people around you. (Government Office for Science, Mental Capital and Well-Being: making the most of ourselves in the 21st century 2008:22 Foresight Projects)

We believe that the enrichment club programme is one way to help your daughter attain her five-a-day steps to a healthy and happy life-style.

Important Dates regarding the enrichment club programme

By now, you should have learnt through the Parents Information evenings that the school intends to run an enrichment club programme, starting from Tuesday 1st November 2016. All of you should have received a small blue enrichment club booklet which describes the learning opportunity available in every club. If you did not pick up a booklet, then I have some spare copies in my office which your daughter can receive from me. Your daughter had the opportunity to attend an enrichment club fair which took place on Thursday 29th September after school and to meet the staff who were running the different clubs and help her inform her choices.

The enrichment club registration process

The next phase is the enrichment club registration process which will go live on Monday 17th October at 4pm. You and your daughter will then be able to register for her club by following the registration process:

  1. Click on this link
  2. Scroll down the list of clubs and click on the club of choice
  3. Click the green register button
  4. Click the green check out button
  5. Enter details of your name, surname and email address
  6. Click green complete registration button
  7. You will be emailed your ticket for your club

Your daughter can register for two clubs on line. This is to ensure that every girl has the opportunity to join a club. If spare spaces remain available after the registration process, then your daughter may join this club. I want to stress that I cannotguarantee a place for your daughter in her chosen club and there will be disappointment at not getting her first choice. I can only manage her disappointment by reminding her that she has 46 clubs to choose from and the PE clubs are available every day without registration. We will have a second cycle of registration after February half term and she will have another opportunity to register for her first choice.

Additional Enrichment experiences

I am pleased to announce that a further six clubs have been added to the enrichment club programme which have been not been advertised in the blue booklet but are available on our website:

Name: Web Design (Mrs Scotney) KS3&4

Learning Opportunity: Understand how to make dynamic webpages. Learn HTML, CSS, JavaScript and PHP from a web designer

Name: Murderous Maths Book Club (Ms Anderson) YR7

Learning Opportunity: An opportunity to read fantastic fiction and be mesmerized by the magnificence of mathematics. You don’t need to be a maths’ genius only a love for reading required

Name:Bridge Club (Mrs Campione) ALL KS

Learning Opportunity: An opportunity to master the technique of playing bridge and develop intellectual and strategic skills

Name: Dot to Dot Club (Mrs Roy) YR 7

Learning opportunity: Dot-to-dot is a form of puzzle that a child needs to solve by connecting the dots. Upon connecting a sequence of numbers you can reveal magically the outline of the object and finds a "big picture" in a mass of data.

Name: The Manga Club (Sixth Form leaders) KS3

Learning Opportunity: An opportunity to master the artistic techniques used in Japanese Manga Comics

Name: The Justice and Peace Group (Mrs Murphy) KS4

Learning opportunity: To understand the causes of global injustices and put faith into action by educating and campaigning against these injustices to bring about social change.

Also, we have meditation sessions available in the prayer room three lunchtimes a week with Mr Adokai.

Subscription Fees

Forty-five enrichment clubs are free. There are five enrichment clubs that have a voluntary subscription fee. We are committed to all our students enjoying an enrichment experience so if there is any reason why you are unable to make these payments, please do not hesitate to contact me (). If your daughter wants to join one of these clubs, you will to register via parent pay; she will not find these clubs on the Eventbrite on-line register.

Teacher / Club / Nos & KS / Subscription Fee from 01.11.16 – 10.02.16
Ms Mc Donagh and Ms Ann Gregory / Knitting Club / 25 ALL / £5 per member to pay for wool and needles, student will take products home
Mrs Seriddilla / The Film Club / 20 ALL / £5 per member to pay for subsidising cinema trips
Ms Pervez / Cross Stitch Club / 25 KS3 / £5 per member – to pay for the threads and fabric material, students will take products home
Mrs Lorenzato / Gardening Club / 20 ALL / £2 per member – to pay for seeds, students will take products home (if they grow!)
Ms McDonagh / The Arty-Farty Club / 20 KS3 / £5 per member for art materials such as felt, paper, paint. Every week the student will take the artwork that they produce home with them.

PE Enrichment Club Programme

The PE department organises its’ own enrichment club programme which supports the whole school rationale for enrichment but runs independently. These sporting opportunities are organised around the autumn, spring and summer term. The PE Department will also use external agencies to run different clubs and this can vary every year. These are the clubs on offer for the autumn term and are a valid choice for enrichment. Your daughter does not need to sign up for these clubs; she can turn up any time and join in these activities. I have attached the Autumn term timetable with this email.

Summary

The above information brings you as parents up to date with the current developments in the enrichment club programme. In summary, all students will have an opportunity to register from Monday 17th October at 4pm, the clubs will begin on Tuesday 1st November and this cycle of the clubs will run until February half-term. I cannotguarantee a place for your daughter in her chosen club and there will be disappointment at not getting her first choice. There is a subscription fee for fiveof the clubs which you need to register on Parent Pay; the other 45 clubs are free. The PE club programme runs independently and your daughter does not have to register for these clubs.

Kind regards,

Ms E. Maton

Assistant Head teacher.