Townley Weekly Communication 29-02-24

Dear Parents, Carers and Students, 

Metropolitan Police Vape Awareness
Our Safer Schools Officer for Bexley, PC Mark Watson, has asked us to share the attached letter with parents and carers.  Please take time to read this important letter which provides a warning about the use of dangerous vape devices in the Bexley Borough. PC Mark Watson delivered a whole school assembly to the school community on this topic this morning, so it is important that parents and carers are equally informed.

DfE Proposed Gender Guidance
As you may be aware, the Department for Education (DfE) is consulting on its draft guidance on ‘gender questioning children’. The deadline for responses is 12^th March 2024. You can submit an individual response to the consultation if you would like to.

Please note: if you do share anything personal in your response to the DfE, please do not include anything that would allow someone to identify the school or any individuals. To access the survey, please click here. For any questions about the consultation, please email the DfE at [email protected]

Men’s Drop In Group
Mind North Kent are offering a free support group held at Dartford FC on Wednesday evenings for men of the age of 17 and above. It is a session which gives men the opportunity to speak about their mental wellbeing and discuss mental health topics. Please see the attached poster for further details. 

Year 9 Vaccinations
The vaccination team will be in school on 6^th March 2024 to administer the DTP/Men booster to Year 9 students - if you have not already consented to the vaccination and you wish your daughter to receive this, please complete the consent form via the link in the letter attached. Please note the link will close at midnight on 29^th February.

If you have any questions, please call the vaccination team on 0203 903 3380 Monday, Tuesday, Thursday or Friday between 8am and 2pm.

Online safety
The UK Safer Internet Centre has updated its checklist on privacy and safety for young people on Instagram. Key areas covered in the checklist include: account privacy, managing comments and messages, blocking users, reporting content, addressing inappropriate comments and account deletion.  Please see the attached checklist.

CPR training and support for children and young people
Researchers at King’s College London are conducting a research study to better understand the experiences and support needs of children and young people who have tried to help someone having a cardiac arrest. They may have provided cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and/or used a heart-restarter machine (defibrillator). They also want to understand whether CPR training for children and young people can be improved to better prepare them for a real-life situation. 

This is especially important now that CPR training is included in the National Curriculum. Year 8 students at Townley Grammar School have been trained for a number of years using Heartstart and, from this academic year, using Revir. If you are interested in the research study, please see the attached for more information and contact details. 

Townley Grammar Alumni
We wanted to take a moment to share some heart-warming news with you. Recently, we received a message that truly filled us with joy and pride. One of our former students, Scarlett, reached out to express their gratitude towards Townley Grammar in relation to her mental health journey.

This kind of feedback reaffirms the importance of fostering a supportive and nurturing environment within our school community. Additionally, we are thrilled to announce that this remarkable individual has embarked on a journey of marathon training, all while fundraising for Townley Grammar. Her dedication and commitment have not gone unnoticed, and we are incredibly proud to inform you that she has already raised over £600!  More information about Scarlett’s journey can be viewed here. It serves as a testament to the resilience and generosity of our students, both past and present.

Once again, congratulations to our former student on this outstanding achievement. Her determination and compassion are truly commendable, and we are honoured to have her as part of the Townley family.

We wish Scarlett continued success and happiness.

Kind regards,

Miss H Mitchem

Deputy Headteacher