A

I wrote at the start of the year about being ‘good enough’ and the importance of being able to forgive and to keep making promises to one another. This very afternoon, I have had a student in my office who had made a mistake that he very much regretted having made. He was asking for my forgiveness, but I noticed that he kept on replaying the mistake over and over again and got himself stuck in that loop. I told him to stop, reassured him that he was forgiven and focused him on making the promise (to himself, not me) that he would do better. I read, quite regularly, of many other schools where systems are set up to try to prevent students (and, in many cases, staff and families) from making any mistakes. There are pages and pages of rules (often bound together into handbooks) and these rules are always seen as being ‘non-negotiable’. If these rules are not upheld, there will be ‘zero tolerance’ for the person involved.

I understand why these things are important to people: humans desire consistency. In the messy world of humans, however, I’m not convinced that consistency is possible. As for non-negotiables, I believe that good rules can withstand negotiation and can only evolve into better rules through being negotiated. Zero tolerance, to an English teacher like me, seems to mean the same thing as intolerance, and I can’t subscribe to that. It is only through tolerating those who fall short of our/their expectations that we can teach them how to begin again. Keven Bartle Headteacher

#78: Negotiation, Toleration and Beginning Again.

No. 279

18th January 2019

Marcus Alexander demonstrates how to dodge an angry orc!

Amazing Author Visits The popular children’s authors Marcus Alexander & Taran Matharu both visited Canons just before Christmas.

Marcus’s hugely popular trilogy occupies an exciting world of mighty dragons, rampaging battles and monstrous creations, and is compulsive reading for lovers of Tolkein/Lemony Snicket/The Edge Chronicles. A very dynamic and enthusiastic character himself, Marcus certainly had our Year 8 students raring to get pen to paper after he lit their imaginations during his captivating and influential writers workshops. At one point this included him literally hurling himself gymastically across a table in the library to demonstrate how one might escape from an attacking fantasy foe! A week later Taran visited. His ‘Summoner’

series of books are also hugely popular. During creative sessions spent with our Year 7s, Taran was able to quickly construct a story plot from any combination of random elements our students challenged him with. Both authors made themselves available

during the breaks for book signings and whatever probing questions their young admirers threw at them. It was a real pleasure having them visit us and certainly demonstrated that most writers and authors are young, very much alive and not dissimilar from you and me. Thanks guys!

Wed 23rd Jan Year 11 IAG (Information And Guidance) interviews commence.

Thur 24th Jan Year 11 PTCE (Parent Teacher Consultation Evening) 4:30 - 6:30

Wed 23rd Jan Canons’ Careers Fair - 6:00 - 8:00pm (see details above).

Mon 4th Feb Year 10 ‘Options’ IAG (Information And Guidance) interviews commence.

Thur 7th Feb Harry Potter Day - lots of events in the Hogwarts Library (Canons Campus).

Thur 12th Feb Year 7 & 8 Careers Day.

We are a

cashless school.

Students and staff pay in our canteen using a biometric scan

linked to their ParentPay account.

...but we are seeing more and more students queueing up to

add cash to their accounts using our single paying-in machine!

1. Please top up your child’s lunch money account ONLINE. Please contact us if you no longer

have your ParentPay account sign-in/password details.

2. Please do NOT send your child into school with cash. Cash can be lost, misspent or

even stolen! Online is best.

The London Bees picked up their first Championship win of 2019 last weekend with a 2-1 victory over visitors Crystal Palace. A few weeks previously the Bees beat Leicester but will now face them again on 3rd Feb. This time however it will be in a FA Cup 4th Round game. We wish our Bees the very best of luck in this and their next league game.

N E X T G A M E

VS

London Bees Lewes FC

Away | Sun 27 Jan | KO 14:00

Destiney Toussaint gives Leicester the run around a few weeks ago.

G E T S O R T E D !

HP Day | 07-02-19 |

This fun new club looks at

Symmetry, Geometry, Shapes

& Measurement

to create fabulous art.

Nature has been doing it for years!

NOW IT’S YOUR TURN

both sessions in Mobile 6

Wednesdays

Lunchtime

12:30 - 1:10

Fridays

After School

3:15 - 4:00

KS3 UPCOMING EVENTS

● February 12th : Careers Day Year 7 & 8 will have a day packed with workshops and taster sessions to help them with potential career ideas.

● February 28th : Y8 Parents Evening Appointment sheets will be handed out to students soon.

● March 7th : Year 8 OPTIONS Evening Parents to meet the various departments to ask questions about subject choices.

● March 11th - 13th : Year 8 Options IAG Individual ‘Information And Guidance’ appointmentsfor students will be held to discuss and confirm their KS4 Options subject choices.