Principal's Newsletter 05.12.25

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5th Dec 2025

Principal’s Message for Week B, wb 8th December 2025

House Charity Week

Next week s our annual Charity Week, when each of our houses leads a day of fundraising for their chosen charity. It is always a lively and positive part of the school year, and a brilliant opportunity for students to take initiative, show leadership and live our core values of Citizenship and Participation.

Each house has its own fundraising day:

  • Auxilium – Wednesday
  • Civitas – Thursday
  • Simul – Friday

Students will be running stalls, organising activities and taking part in events throughout their house day. All contributions, large or small, help make a real difference to the charities we support!

Thank you for encouraging your child to get involved. Charity Week is a powerful reminder of what our community can achieve when we work together.

School uniform

 

Proposed Changes to School Uniform

We are reviewing our school uniform to ensure it remains practical, affordable, and reflects our high standards. As part of this review, we are considering the following changes:

 

Changing the blazer colour to black with no trim

Reducing the cost of the blazer

Exploring ways to make the overall uniform more affordable

 

Please complete this survey here: Uniform Consultation  – Fill in form by 19th December 2025

 

Reading

 

Over the course of next week, our final Year 9 and 11 classes will visit the library to loan their second book.  They should be aiming to read it for at least twenty minutes per day. 

 

All members of MEA Central staff promote a love of reading to encourage your child to read more of what they like.  On Thursday, they will participate in a ten minute ‘Drop Everything and Read’ session during period 1.  This means that regardless of which lesson they are in, they will read their library book for ten minutes, followed by a book recommendation by their subject teacher. Please remind you child to have their book in their bag every day!

 

We have also launched our Advent Reading Challenge this week.  A student will win a brand-new book for participating in reading every day until we break up for the Christmas holidays.

 

 

Finally, we have loaned many books, however some are slow to return.  Please can you check your house for any books loaned by MEA Central and make sure your child returns it to the library or any of their teachers. 

 

 

 

Christmas Trips Day – 18th December 2025

 

We’re excited to share details about our upcoming Christmas Celebration Trips on 18th December!

At MEA Central we believe in the importance of rewarding ALL of our scholars for living our values in the

Autumn term. Therefore, every year we organise a HUGE trip day where the whole school goes out to have

some fun – something we know is hugely important in personal development.

 

We have recently written to you about this separately, but here is the key information again:

 

• While the trips are heavily subsidised by the school, we require a contribution of £12 per student. This

should be paid on Arbor.

• Students who receive free school meals will be provided with a grab bag in Year 9, Year 10, Year 11. Year

7 and 8 will have their normal lunch in school.

Thank you for your continued support - we’re looking forward to a fantastic celebration with the students!

 

 

Venue

Depart

Return

Form Time

Clothing/Lunch

Year 7

Cinema – The Light

10.30am

1pm

P1/P5

School Uniform - lunch is served at school

Year 8 

Parrswood Cinema

10.30am

1pm

P1/P5

School Uniform - lunch is served at school

Year 9

Flip Out

11.30am

2.30pm (dismissed from the coach)

P1/2

PE Kit - students to bring a packed lunch

Year 10 

Jump Heaven  

 

11:15am

2.30pm

(dismissed from the coach) 

P1/2

PE Kit - students to bring a packed lunch

Year 11

Trafford Centre

Bowling, Shopping and Food

9.45am

2.45pm

(dismissed from the coach) 

 

Own clothes - students to bring a packed lunch

 

12 Days of Christmas Attendance & Punctuality Challenge – Week 1 Update

Thank you to all students who have embraced the start of our 12 Days of Christmas Attendance and Punctuality Challenge. It has been fantastic to see our students demonstrating our values of Achievement, Citizenship and Participation by arriving on time, attending every lesson, and making real improvements.

All students have shown excellent commitment, whether through perfect attendance and punctuality or by making noticeable improvements. Their efforts are already contributing to stronger outcomes and a positive school community.

We’re only just getting started. Throughout the coming week, even more rewards will be handed out, including:

  • Daily festive prizes
  • Special ‘big prizes’ such as shopping vouchers
  • Bonus surprises for students showing ongoing improvement
  •  

Remember: every student can participate, and every improvement counts. Whether your child is aiming for 100% attendance or working on being punctual to school and lessons, we want to celebrate their progress.

Let’s keep up the momentum and finish the term with 100% participation

Careers

We welcomed a representative in from Harrow School to speak to Year 9 and Year 10 students who have been working hard in lessons and enrichment activities. These students have been selected as potential candidates for a bursary to attend Harrow boarding school for sixth form.

 

Careers – Labour Market Information

As technology and the world of work advances, so does the local job market.  We aim to keep our scholars aware of these changes, particularly in the local area. Growing sectors include:

Area of work

Job examples

Medical and Social Care

Doctors, Nurses, Medical technicians, support workers, health visitors, surgeons.

Logistics

Sales assistants, distribution services, franchise owners, delivery drivers.

Media and Creative Media

Graphic Designers, Animators, website developers

Manufacturing and Technology

Mechanical/electrical engineers, plant operators, AI development.

Business and Finance

Banking, Legal, Accountant, Solicitor, Business managers, Human Resources.

Green Industries

Architect, project managers, electrical engineers.

 

There are several other job sectors that are growing along with the sectors that have stayed stable over time, jobs that require physical skills such as plumbers, electricians, painters/decorators, mechanics continue to be popular for individuals that thrive in environments that are practical and can be done outdoors.

The labour market is discussed within the school curriculum with dedicated time allocated during CAP lessons, students are encouraged to discuss their aspirations in these sessions with all staff retaining information about our local labour market to engage with any student about their future career.

You can research further into these jobs by searching through the gov.uk website which outlines responsibilities, vacancies and salaries. The gov.uk website also contains a dedicated section for apprenticeships for when your child begins to apply for post-16 providers.

It is never too early to start researching into the local colleges and universities, looking through the colleges websites allows students to see what courses they offer along with the grades they will need from their GCSEs to gain successful entry on to their desired courses.

Local colleges include The Manchester College, Xaverian, Loreto, Stockport, Trafford, Aquinas, Parrswood, Whalley Range Sixth Form and William Hulme.

If you would like to discuss anything mentioned further, please email the careers team at careers@meacentral.org.uk

 

College Applications

 

  • Attention all Y11 parents/carers, the deadline for college applications is Friday 12th December.
  • Please ensure your child is completing applications on college websites. Paper forms are to be collected and returned to school.
  • Completed applications should be shown to form to tutors to support our tracking.
  • Any issues, please let us know.
  • Thanks in advance for your support on this.
 

Skyline

If your child has additional needs or is accessing an intervention in school, they are supported by the Skyline Team.  For more information, please read our SEN Information Report, which is in the Key Information section of our website: SEND-Information-Report-2025-26.pdf

 

Please contact the Skyline team directly if you have any questions, or would like to book a meeting with Ms. Earle, the SENCo: skylineadmin@meacentral.org.uk

 

 

Head of Year Messages 

Year 7 – Ms. S Bryan

As we move into December, Year 7 continue to impress us with their enthusiasm, kindness and growing maturity. This week, we are excited to launch our “12 Days of Christmas” attendance and punctuality challenge. Attendance and punctuality are not only essential habits for school life but are directly linked to academic progress. We are encouraging all scholars to finish the term strong by being in school every day, on time, and ready to learn.

Celebrating Our Most Resilient Scholars

This week, we would like to recognise and celebrate some exceptional pupils who have shown outstanding resilience. Their determination, effort and positive mindset have been noticed across subjects and by all members of staff. A huge congratulations to:

  • Muhammad Aalam
  • Yahiya Ali
  • Saif Baig
  • Umair Hussain
  • Omer Ismail
  • Wajiha Maqbool
  • Eloy Rincon-Rodriguez

Well done to each of you – we are incredibly proud.

Upcoming Charity Days

Next week, Year 7 will be taking part in our winter charity days, supporting causes chosen by the school community. These will take place on:

  • Auxilium – Wednesday 10th December
  • Civitas – Thursday 11th December
  • Simul – Friday 12th December

These events are a lovely way for pupils to give back during the cold winter months and beautifully reflect our core value of Citizenship. We look forward to seeing our scholars engage generously and thoughtfully.

End-of-Term Cinema Trip

A reminder that our end-of-term cinema trip will take place on Wednesday 18th December. Please ensure payment is made via Arbor to secure your child’s place. After a year group vote, pupils have chosen to watch Home Alone, which won by a clear majority. Perfect for some festive fun to end the term!

Thank you for your continued support during this busy and joyful time of year. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the Year 7 team.

Year 8 – Ms. C Gates

 

It has been a busy week for Year 8! I am very excited for House Charity next week and can’t wait to see what each Year 8 form is doing to help raise money for their house charity. These events are a fantastic way for students to show the value of participation and make a positive impact in our community.

 

We have now launched the 12 Days of Attendance, where there are prizes every day for being in school. Please support us by encouraging all scholars to be on time and in lessons every day so we can finish the term strong. High attendance is key to success, and we want every student to make the most of these last few weeks of learning.

 

Ms Gates

 

Year 9 – Mx Umpierrez

 It’s been an excellent – and busy - week for Year 9, who are still getting ready for our Charity Week Event next week and demonstrating how they live by our school values in every interaction. 

 

 On Tuesday, all Year 9 scholars started the day with a theatre assembly led by Mr McCullough about aspirations and careers. Throughout this year, we have been supporting our scholars to think of the next steps in their journey through education, but we also do understand that, for some, these steps are still unclear. Please always feel free to reach me directly on d.umpierrez@meacentral.org.uk if you have any questions about Key Stage 4 or your child’s aspirations, as we will always be happy to support. 

 

This week we have also focused on restorative conversations and how to complete these effectively, and politely, when students are given an overtime. For those of you that don’t know, during overtimes, students will complete a restorative conversation with the teacher(s) that have logged the behaviour incident for them. During this conversation, teachers and students discuss what led to the sanction being given and what the necessary steps for avoiding another sanction moving forward are. These conversations are a crucial part of our behaviour policy, as they ensure a fresh start for both staff and students for the following lesson. 

 

Some reminders about overtimes for parents/carers: 

 

  • Overtimes will be issued on the day, unless the behaviour happens during Period 5, which results in an overtime the following day. 
  • Overtimes (length and reason) are communicated via an automated email from Arbor every day after 2:05PM. 
  • Any requests to re-arrange overtimes need to be discussed with the Year Team directly and should only happen under exceptional circumstances.  
  • If re-arranging overtimes is needed because of hospital/doctor appointments, we will require proof of this, where possible.

 

We have started discussions with all school about our Winter Break rewards trip, planned on the 18th of December. A reminder to all parents and carers that Year 9 will be going to Flip Out, and that all scholars are expected to wear their PE kits on the day and to bring their own inhalers if they have Asthma.  

 

I would like to finish this week’s message with some celebrations to the following students, who have received the most CAPs in the last 5 school days: 

 

Aaryan S. (9Duffy)

Ayaan U. (9Sissay)

Isabel (9Eliot)

Nuhah (9Sissay)

And, with the most CAPs:

Isabella B (9Duffy)

 

All of you constantly demonstrate consistency and excellent scholarly habits in school. We’re really proud of you!

 

Mx Umpierrez and Mx Eastwood

Year 9 Team.

 

Year 10 – Mr C Blackburn

This week has been Praise Week at MEA Central, and it has been such an amazing way to recognise all the excellent work across our school community. The resilience and maturity shown by the Year group during their first term of KS4 has been outstanding.

Firstly, please join us in celebrating all of the Scholars of the Week in form, this recognition is down to their hard work and commitment. A massive well done to each of them!

In addition, our Year 10 students have been rewarded with a trip to The Light Cinema for demonstrating excellent scholarly habits in reading, fantastic effort and congratulations to all involved.

On 4th December, the school launched its 12 Days of Christmas initiative. To enter, students simply need to attend every day until we break up for the holidays. Each day, students will receive prizes for attending, and the prizes get better as the days go on! Please ensure your child attends every day, not only will they have the chance to win exciting prizes, but they will also be setting themselves up for the best possible chance to achieve excellent grades and secure a fantastic future.

Year 11 – Mr J Roper  

 

 
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We are really looking forward to welcoming you to the Y11 Parents’ Evening next Tuesday, 9th December, from 3:15 pm to 6:00 pm. This is an important opportunity for you to gain a valuable insight into your child’s progress and achievements so far this year. The evening will allow you to discuss your child’s academic performance, celebrate successes and identify areas for further support. We really believe that working together ensures every student reaches their full potential.

On the evening some representatives from local colleges will be present to answer any questions about post-16 options. Many of the pupils have taken a real active approach to applying and it is great to hear that many have already been invited for interview.  A reminder that the deadline for college applications is Friday, 12th December. Please ensure applications are submitted on time.

We are proud of the hard work and achievements of our pupils in Y11 and look forward to sharing these with you on the evening. Finally, we want to thank you for your ongoing support of both the school and your child’s education. Your partnership is vital in helping our students thrive.

Both Ms Renshaw and I will be available throughout the evening to help with any queries you may have.

Many thanks,

Mr Roper & Ms Renshaw                                                                

 

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