Latest News

Chess at Priory - 2nd in the county!

Our Priory School chess team came 2nd in the county at the finals of the Butler Cup Chess Competition held on 21st May. They represented the school really well, and gained a special commendation from the Sussex Junior Chess head coach as it is the first year we have taken part in this Sussex wide competition. The Priory chess club is open to all students. It is free, and operates as a drop-in club every Thursday from 3.15 - 4.30pm in S4 - come and try!  

Help Raise Money For CRY With Healthy Hearts In June!

In March 2018, we ran a heart screening day in conjunction with Cardiac Risk in the Young (CRY) and Wave Leisure. We are trying to raise funds to hold another day. Healthy Hearts is a month-long event supporting CRY. CRY undertake ground-breaking research into the causes of Sudden Adult Death Syndrome (SADS) and also provide local screenings to help detect those with undiagnosed heart problems aged between 14 and 35. Healthy Hearts are hosting a number of challenges in June including swimming, running, walking and cycling which you can get sponsored for. Anyone can take part in these challenges, ether at Wave Leisure or elsewhere. Find out more using the Healthy Hearts website. Please note: This is a Healthy Hearts event - Wave is supporting the event by providing an optional venue for the activities    

Giraffe Talk - Latest

Please do spread the word about the Giraffe Talk on Wed 8 May - tickets now on sale from Eventbrite and via the FOP Facebook page.

Giraffe Talk

George IV and his Giraffe - A Tale of Politics, Exoticism and Science by Dr Alexandra Loske.   Click for details

Surviving and Thriving In Your GCSEs Seminar

Surviving & Thriving In Your GCSEs Seminar for Parents and Students In Year 9, 10 and 11 Wed 3rd April 2019 from 6 – 6:45pm As you know we’re always looking for ways to support our wonderful students and all of our parents and carers.  We are excited to announce an innovative, not-to-be-missed seminar on how to help your son or daughter get the very best out of their amazing brain.   This session is open for parents, carers and students in years 9, 10 and 11.   The session is all about how to help students get the most out of their amazing brains as they prepare for their GCSEs.  We will be looking at how •  the memory systems work in the brain & how to get the most out of them •  to maintain excellent work-life balance in the midst of GCSEs •  to work with the grain of the brain to become a fantastic studier •  not be a perfectionist or a procrastinator These seminars are delivered by an outside speaker from a local company called Action Your Potential; they are running in 40 local schools and are always very popular. They are fun, interactive sessions for the whole family to engage with. Your son or daughter has an amazing brain - let’s help them maximise it! Download the flyer here.  

Useful Options Website

Year 9 Careers Information & Advice : A Parent’s Guide to choosing GCSE options

Chess Success!

Our Priory School Chess Team were again successful in Round 2 of the regional Butler Cup U14 Chess Competition on Thursday 14th February. The team of 4 showed great strength as they won 3 out of 3 matches against Uckfield College, Windlesham House and Westbourne House. They go through to the Butler Cup competition final in May! Chess club is open to all for free, and takes place in S4 with Mrs McCrae after school every Thursday. All students are welcome!

Urgent Information To Parents - Synthetic Drugs

We have received an urgent message from East Sussex County Council about a drug that has been supplied to students at another East Sussex Secondary School. It is believed to be synthetic Xanax (Alprazolam). Medical professionals believe the drug may also have contained Fentanyl. This is a man-made drug that mimics the effects of natural opioids such as heroin. It is reported that this drug may be available in tablet form and is being sold to teenagers very cheaply. The effects of taking this drug may be more damaging than natural opioids and can include dizziness, fainting, hearing loss, loss of consciousness, coma and even death. We have asked tutors to talk to all classes about this drug and hope that you will too. We believe that being open and honest about drugs, which may be available in our community, really is the best way to keep our students safe.

National Apprenticeship Week Roadshow 2019

National Apprenticeship week is 4th-8th March and in partnership with Apprenticeships in Sussex, East Sussex County Council will be holding two Apprenticeship Roadshows events, plus a number of pop-up events across the county. Download the flyer Students, parents and carers will be able to meet local employees, training providers and current apprentices at the roadshows and there will be panel discussions on the different types of apprenticeships and levels available. The event details are : Tuesday 5 March - Eastbourne Town Hall, 5-7pm Wednesday 13 March - Hastings Library, 5-7pm 5-7pm Employers and training provider stalls 5.30-6pm Traineeships and Apprenticeship talks 6.30pm-7pm Higher and Degree Apprenticeships talks   Visit www.c360.org.uk/NAW2019 to book on to the roadshows, for up to date information, and to find dates when Apprenticeships in Sussex will be popping up in Hailsham, Lewes, Newhaven, Crowborough, Heathfield and Uckfield.

Gardening Club and the Vegetable Garden

Gardening Club will begin again on Wednesday 6th of February 2019 and is open to all KS3 (Year 7,8 and 9) students. Jobs we will be doing outdoors are potting on strawberries, making newspaper plant pots ready for Spring and building a new planter - indoors we will make garden designs and bug houses. If students wish to attend, please contact Mrs Hockin in the Design and Technology department.   Spring Update Over 2018 the Food Technology department successfully developed a small vegetable garden in the staff quad. With help from Forest School and the Gardening Club we had an abundance of crops! All the staff and students who have worked in the garden have enjoyed sowing, growing and learning about how the gardening year works.   The Forest School have also built living willow screens that have now matured; these are both sculptural and give privacy to staff who wish to sit outside during their break. Both the Gardening Club and the Forest School diggers have been issued with a “Gardening Passport” which lists the new tasks they have undertaken as they dig, compost, sow seeds and thin out tender seedlings – all a learning experience that could help them in future should they choose to go down the route of professional or home gardening. The garden has been initially set up for elements of Science on the KS4 curriculum. Sustainability, organic farming, vitamins and air miles are all part of the KS3 curriculum – how better to illustrate this than with our own organic veg plot! On the KS4 curriculum, Year 10 students in Food Tech have compared chard and rocket from the garden against identical shop bought and packaged vegetables, testing them for vitamin C with some very illuminating results. Home grown really is best! There are connections for the garden with many subjects taught at Priory, from Science (Biology and symbiotic relationships), Geography (soils and substrate) to Classics – there is an Acanthus growing in the bee garden, which is the leaf design on the Corinthian columns in Greece and Rome! Here are a few before and after shots of the garden just to show how well it has developed through last year. The pictures were taken in January, April and July.         Here is fruitful July!         During the summer vacation the garden vegetables spilled over. The veggie box pictured below contains Swiss chard, runner beans, courgettes, cucumber, rhubarb and herbs, all picked in August and taken to the Lewes Community Chef, Robin Van Creveld. Robin helps local families learn how to cook nutritionally balanced and affordable family meals. What better place for our crops, than in his pots!

Major Network Rail engineering work

Major Network Rail engineering work will be taking place in the Lewes area from Thursday 7th March to Sunday 10th March 2019. Please see this link for details.

Safer Internet Day 2019

Priory is proud to support Safer Internet Day, which this year is being held on Tuesday 5th February. There are some excellent resources for parents and carers on this page including films, top tips, conversation starters and much more. Our own page on online safety is here and includes a handy Staying Safe Online poster to download.

Top Of The Bench

Last week Priory School hosted the regional heat for the Royal Society of Chemistry competition ‘Top of the Bench’ 2019. Twelve schools from across East and West Sussex came to join us with this exciting evening of Chemistry challenges to help encourage and engage our young scientists in Years 9, 10 and 11. Excellent problem solving skills and understanding were exhibited across the board by all participants. Many congratulations to the team from Hurstpierpoint College who came in first place! 

Year 11 Parents' Evening - Thursday 24th January

The booking system is now live: http://www.parents-booking.co.uk/prioryschool To log on you’ll need to type in your name, email optional, then your child’s legal first name, legal surname and date of birth (note format: DD/MM/YYYY). For more details, please see the letter sent out last week.

Parents' Forum

Wednesday 30th January 2019 6.30pm – 7.30pm, Priory School In the Lecture Theatre All parents and carers are warmly invited to come and share their views, concerns and ideas with each other and the Governors of the school. This meeting will provide an opportunity to : Ask the Headteacher and Governors any question about the school Raise and discuss issues that matter to you with Governors, and other parents and carers Please join us and be part of the discussion about how to develop the home/school partnership and continue to improve the school. Tea and coffee will be provided.  

Priory Swap Shop

Over the next two weeks, students can bring in clothes that they no longer want; these clothes should be clean and in good condition. All clothes donated to the Priory Swap Shop will be on ‘sale’ on Monday 4th February and Thursday 7th February during break and lunch time in the Lecture Theatre. Clothes should be brought to Fire House between 8:00-8:25 from Wednesday 16th January to Friday 1st February. We are raising money for Number Day in support of the NSPCC. Students will be charged £1.50 to enter the Swap Shop. Rather than throwing clothes out, let’s work together to recycle! Any clothes left over from the Priory Swap Shop will be donated to Phil the Bag.  

New Year - New Teaching Career

Have your say on the core offer for East Sussex

The future services on offer to residents of East Sussex are part of a public conversation which is now underway. East Sussex County Council is asking for people’s views on its ‘core offer’, the package of services it thinks are the minimum residents of East Sussex should be entitled to expect, even in difficult financial times. The core offer includes proposed services for schools and for pupils vulnerable to poor outcomes including those with special educational needs, as well as those services for the whole population, including libraries, highways and public health. The core offer is designed to plan how East Sussex responds to reducing funding and growing demand for services. It includes the council’s commitment to provide value for money services in the areas where it can continue to operate and to work with partners and communities to find alternative ways of meeting some of the county’s needs. If you’d like to see full details of the core offer and give your response to its proposals you can do that online. The survey will run until 26th December.