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Perins Parents

Friday 23rd November 2018

November 2018

Messages from the Head Teacher

Having watched our Year 11 students take their trial exams last week, it reminded me of the pressures that our young people are under. Teenagers in general are under immense pressure. A couple of weeks ago I mentioned the impact of social media on our children and although the pressures they face are not directly related to these, the emergence of social media networks has amplified the issues.

The purpose of the message this week is to highlight the increasing trend nationally among young people’s mental health and well-being but also to reassure you that at Perins we are way ahead of the curve in terms of the support mechanisms and structure that we have in place to work with our students.

Connecticut Clearinghouse has produced an effective summary on the pressures on young people.* They cite the following as having a major impact on our children (and although not all will apply to the majority of our students, it is always worth being aware to support):

Pressure To Fit In - All young people want to be accepted, but today they face more and more pressure to be part of the crowd. Fitting in might mean having the latest mobile phone or the “coolest” clothes, or hanging out with the right people. (In extreme cases it could even mean using tobacco, alcohol, drugs or prescription drugs).

Pressure To Be Perfect - It’s no surprise that many young people have unrealistic expectations about appearance. For some, this focus on perfection may lead to extreme measures, such as eating disorders, drug use to lose weight or steroids to strengthen or improve body image. Others just feel stressed trying to keep up with the prettiest, thinnest, or most fashionable kids at school.

Pressure To Be Successful – Young people face huge stress around academics, athletic performance and other areas. Competition for sixth forms and universities is tighter than ever, and children are pressured early on to do “everything right” to get into the best sixth form or university. Often young people feel they must excel in sports, extracurricular, volunteer and other activities to be competitive for the best institutions. Many parents push their child without even realizing it. (In some extreme cases, the stress may lead young people to use drugs or alcohol as a way to escape from their pressured lives).

Pressure To Pick On Others - There have always been bullies, but the taunting and teasing often outside of school is at a troubling level. And increasingly it involves aggressive adolescent girls. Many girls often say that putting other people down makes them feel more included in a group, even if they know it’s wrong or hurtful behaviour. New forms of teasing, such as cyber-bullying, are also putting pressure on teens to take part in this hurtful behaviour.

Pressure To Be Sexually Active - Have you noticed that many 15-year-olds today could pass for 21? In part due to sex in popular culture, teens face much more pressure today to be “sexy” and sexually active at an earlier age. Both boys and girls report feeling these pressures. *https://www.ctclearinghouse.org/customer-content/www/topics/pressures_on_today_s_teens_010709.pdf

They offer a practical guide on what parents can do, what to watch for and risk factors which we’ve reproduced here. I hope you can take a moment to read this. I’ve also provided details of the support mechanisms Perins offers.

The emergence of social media, the pressure on our young people through the factors listed above as well as the changes to curriculum and exams have all had an impact nationally to the detriment of the mental health and wellbeing of our young people. At Perins, we are proud to have an outstanding resource in our pastoral team to ensure that these barriers to students’ progress and well-being are being overcome and we are constantly researching and keeping up to date with emerging trends, technologies and systems to ensure that we safeguard our young people. Primarily, of course, the most important relationship is between you and your child. Perins is here as a support system not the solution. The solution lies very much in the openness, honesty and engagement between you and your child. This will require clear boundaries, tough love at times but your child will thank you for it… one day!

I am confident that our excellent partnership with you as parents will ensure that together we overcome any issues that our young people face but provide the reassurance to you, as our wider family, that should you ever encounter any issues or seek advice that we have the expertise to provide this. It is essential that as schools we act on the holistic nature of children’s education and not just the academic performance (though ultimately, a safe and happy child is often one that succeeds beyond all expectations).

Steve Jones

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We are now planning our biggest and most ambitious production to date! From 16th to 20th July 2019, Perins Youth Theatre will be performing West Side Story in our new venue, the prestigious Grange Opera House. We are very excited to have been given this incredible opportunity and cannot wait to cast the show.

The signup sheet and audition information, such as which songs students will be singing, are on Moodle.

Auditions will be held in November as follows:

Year 11 -Tuesday 27th Nov. lunchtime

Year 9 & 10 - Tuesday 27th Nov. after school

Year 8 - Wednesday 28th Nov. lunchtime

Year 7 - Wednesday 28th Nov. after school

Dance auditions Thursday 29th Nov. after school

Call backs Monday 3rd December after school

This photo of the Hub shows just how many

students were keen to hear the announcement of

next year’s production! Please check your child

has all the audition information as it was not

possible for everyone to fit in the Hub and some

may not have heard all the details.

Free Dress Day

Thursday 29th November is free dress day for the RSPCA. There will be a variety of stalls to help raise money. There is no theme but we stress that this is free-dress and not fancy-dress!

Clothing should be appropriate for school and not revealing. Footwear should also be suitable for normal lessons. Tutors will be collecting donations (minimum £1) from all students out of uniform.

Lastly, a reminder to take bus passes, locker keys and PIP Cards out of blazer pockets to bring on the day!

We are looking for some passionate parent musicians to perform Bernstein’s phenomenal score in Perins Youth Theatre’s production of West Side Story. We have a huge orchestra pit to fill!

If you are an accomplished orchestral player who would relish the challenge of a fiendish orchestral score (or know anyone who might be interested), please email Miss Cotton for more details. We are looking for all orchestral instruments, but have a particular need for brass and strings. We do not currently need a percussionist – we have that one covered!

Please note you must be available to perform in the evening performances of 16th – 20th July 2019, and all volunteers will need to undertake our DBS checks.

Scholastic Half Price Book Fair

Perins School are hosting a Scholastic half price Book Fair from Tuesday 27th November to Monday 3rd December in the library. It will be open to all students during break and afternoon tutor times. Students can browse the wide selection of books available – all purchases to be made in either cash or pre-ordered gift vouchers (see information below).

This is a great opportunity to purchase many newly published books for half the recommended retail price. As well as the books, there will also be novelty stationery items and posters for sale.

Book Fair gift vouchers are a simple, secure way to ensure children get the books they would like when the fair arrives - parents can purchase vouchers online at a discounted rate and save £££s!

For every book that is bought, Perins can earn free books for the school. For more information on the books likely to be available at the Book Fair and to purchase gift vouchers please look at the Scholastic Book Fair web pages.

Calling all musicians!

Current Vacancies

Teacher of English

Estates Custodian

Fundraising and Grant Coordinator

Careers Advisor

Perins Youth Theatre

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Year 11

Year 9 Battlefields Trip Meeting

There will be a Battlefields Trip Meeting on the 31st January 2019 from 6-7pm. The meeting will include important information regarding the trip and we ask that both parent and student attend. We will also be collecting passports and EHIC cards at this meeting.

Year 11 Revision Support continues and a

timetable is available here

Lost property

There are several unnamed PE kits in lost property at the moment and we are also being asked about lost kit.

Please note that lost property is cleared out once a term and unnamed uniform will be given to Friends of Perins.

New visiting speaker programme

There are still some places available at Perins’ visiting

speaker talk on Thursday 29th November 6-7pm.

Chris Lubbe, a highly acclaimed speaker, will be talking

about his incredible story of resistance against apartheid.

Click here for more information

If you wish to sign up to this exciting, free event, please

simply fill in the form HERE.

Winchester Choristers Last weekend Evie B in Year 9 featured in the national press, including the Telegraph (Evie is third from the left in the photo), for the opening of the Winchester Cathedral Ice Rink and Christmas Market.

Next week, with the Girl Choristers, Evie will be recording a specially composed and commissioned piece of music entitled 'Queen Elizabeth’s Winchester Carol', which is approved by the Queen. The piece will also be performed during a concert at the Cathedral in December.

Second Hand Perins Uniform for Sale

We have a selection of second hand uniform for

sale and have set up an online shop through

Jumblebee. All profits will go to Friends of Perins

and to help support our school. You can see what

is available here.

We will be adding new items as we receive them,

so please have a look whenever you need to buy

uniform. Items ordered through the Friends of

Perins shop can be collected and paid for at the

School Office. Please try items on before paying as

we will be unable to process refunds.

If you are looking for something specific and can’t

see it in the shop, please email. We would be

grateful for any donations of current Perins

uniform that you no longer need. They can be

donated via the School Office. Thank you for your

support.

Next week is Week 1 for the menu - available here

Calendar Dates

Thursday 29th November Free Dress Day

Friday 30th November INSET Day—school closed to students

Thursday 20th December Tracking reports sent home

Thursday 20th December Christmas Concert

Friday 21st December Last Day of Autumn Term

Monday 7th January First Day of Spring Term

You can find a full parent calendar on our website

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Perins Equestrian Club

Our first equestrian club outing of the term took place this week when six Year 7 students, accompanied by Mr Whybro and Mrs Newman, visited The Hampshire Polo School, South Wonston, for their first taste of polo.

The students had an amazing time, learnt so much, and can’t wait to do it again! Next week we will take another group of students over to the Polo School for a similar session.

The Perins Equestrian Club is made up of students from all year groups, who take part in a number of horse-riding related activities like Polo, Horseball, Flatwork and Jumping Lessons – if your child is interested in joining, please ask them to come to see Mrs Newman in Student Services for more information and a membership form.

Sports News Karate

A number of Perins students competed at the

Shinwa Open Karate competition in Gloucester at

the weekend.

Emma F in Year 7 won bronze and two silver.

Charlotte H, also in Year 7, won Silver . Max W in

Year 8 won Silver and Toby O in Year 7 won bronze.

Perins Ski Trip (Years 8 – 10)

Claviere, Italy & Montgenèvre, France

(Saturday, April 6th – Sunday, April 14th, 2019)

A place has become available on next Easter’s ski

trip to the Claviere ski resort in Italy (including two

days skiing in Montgenѐvre in France). This trip is

available to Years 8 – 10 and costs £949. If anyone

is interested in taking up this place please see Mr

Papanicolaou. Take a look at last year’s trip here

Athletics

Both Year 8 boys and girls athletics teams won the first indoor district athletics meeting of the season at Mountbatten School on Wednesday evening.

Physiotherapy Appointments

Novo Physiotherapy will be making their half termly

visit to the school on Friday 14th December. If your

son or daughter is suffering from a long standing

injury you might wish to book them an

appointment, which are 20 minutes long for a £5

contribution. Further details available here.

Optional PE kit ordering – the next

opportunity to order optional PE kit opens on 6th December via SCOPay. The orders close at the end of the Autumn term and deliveries are due at the end of January 2019.

KP Cup Rugby Event

Saturday 8th December—Save the date!

Location—Alresford RFC Pitches and Perins Pitches

Time—8am until approximately 12 noon

Teams involved—boys and girls will be selected from all year groups, who have been attending training.

Further details to follow.