Many of you will have seen the new short drama series on Netflix featuring Stephen Graham, entitled Adolescence. If you haven’t seen it then you’ve probably heard about it.

I won’t spoil the plot for those yet to watch it, but I will use this blog to discuss the themes covered in the show and what this means for young people and for MHS. One of the main themes is the influence of social media on teenagers, in this case boys. It covers the online world of the likes of Andrew Tate and others who feed on the insecurities of boys and young men, for example by trying to get them to blame women for whatever the boys think is wrong in their lives.

It is no secret that teenagers often have their own language when speaking to their peers or that language evolves quickly, and this is evident from the show. Often, adults have no idea about the hidden meanings of these words or emojis. We know that some students will have very little or no knowledge of this terminology but feel that it is important to raise awareness with parents and carers.

It can be a very fine balance between allowing children and teenagers an increased sense of privacy and room to grow in independence, whilst also monitoring their internet usage and looking out for any concerning signs. We would always recommend that parents and carers know the passcode for their child’s phone, do not allow children to take their phones to bedrooms at night and that their phone usage is monitored regularly. Having regular conversations with children around the people they interact with over the internet is also important in helping them to make good choices.

Here at MHS we take our duty to educate and safeguard our students very seriously. It is for that reason that we cover important topics in PSHE lessons, have regular ‘It’s not Ok’ assemblies, have a strong staff team working with individual students and why we ban mobile phones in school. There are numerous scenes in episode two of the drama that reinforce exactly why students should not be allowed on phones in school!

We also work with parents and are happy to offer support and guidance if needed. Below are some contact details and resources that families may find useful. If you are concerned in any way about your child please do not hesitate to contact your child’s Head of Year or the safeguarding team for advice or support.

Y7: Caroline.chadwick@marplehall.stockport.sch.uk Y8: Joe.butler@marplehall.stockport.sch.uk Y9: Tamzyn.granite@marplehall.stockport.sch.uk Y10: Heather.kirkbright@marplehall.stockport.sch.uk Y11: Liz.allison@marplehall.stockport.sch.uk Safeguarding Team: Safeguarding@marplehall.stockport.sch.uk

Secondly, the following websites offer excellent advice for parents:

Social Media & Mental Health | Guide For Parents | YoungMinds

Keeping children safe online | NSPCC

Parents’ Booklet

Finally, for those who have watched the series and would like a guide on what some of the current social media terms and emojis mean, particularly around the issues raised, we hope you find the information below helpful.

Best wishes

Joe Barker

Milestones are a feature of life, whatever your age. Significant birthdays, first jobs, retirement etc. For young people they come thick and fast. Walking and talking, first day at school, first day at big school, Year 11 prom and the like. Year 11 itself is one big long list of milestones as the ‘business end’ of the secondary school experience approaches. Yesterday, Thursday, was one such milestone.

Our Year 11 cohort gathered earlier than usual outside Isherwood Hall. With their form tutors, they filed into the venue and collected an individual envelope containing the trial exam grades earned in the recent set of formal practice exams. We deliberately set it up to replicate what the real thing looks and feels like in August. This year the weather even felt summery too. Students opened the envelopes surrounded by their peers and staff, and then heard from Miss Hall and Miss Davies about how to make the most of the short time that is left before the exams start in earnest. The hall was full, and the attention that students paid to the speakers was total.

Perhaps most importantly, Miss Hall suggested that students may be feeling one of three things.

1. I’ve done better than expected.
2. I’ve done worse than expected.
3. I’ve done ok, and that’s fine for me.

Obviously number 1 is great and we hope that these students take a boost from the experience and really push on to reach their potential. Number 2 is more of a worry, but if the student can recognise that maybe then didn’t work hard enough, or smart enough, then there is plenty of time to put right what went wrong. Number 3 is maybe the most worrying of the lot, as it suggests that students are settling for ‘ok’ when they should be striving to be their best. Our country’s exam system pits students against each other, as they have to compete for limited numbers of each grade. For that reason, settling for average is very risky indeed – it might just be that someone somewhere else works that bit harder, pushing students around them down a grade in the process.

All the staff at MHS are fully committed to helping our entire Year 11 cohort, and those Year 9s doing exams too, and we know that together our students can achieve great things.

Best wishes,

Joe Barker

I’ve always been very clear that there is more to life than school, and definitely more to life than exam results. This has been a feature of my speeches at Open Evenings for the past 12 years – that exam results are important and that with hard work MHS students will achieve very well – but that there is more to life and to education than just these qualifications. Developing as a person, learning how to co-operate and support other people, having empathy and understanding for others, knowing what is right and wrong…all these things are part of growing up and school has a part to play in it all. That’s why we spend a lot of time encouraging students to take part in extra curricular activities, as well as focussing on good conduct and respect for others around school. It’s the whole package that we are interested in.

But, school is just one small part of growing up and we know that many of our students are doing incredible things in their free time. We have students caring for family members, students taking part in almost every sport you can possibly imagine, incredibly talented artists, musicians and performers. We have students who write stories, create social media content and have started their own businesses. We have students leading in the Scouts and cadets, and students who volunteer in the community and in for charities. We have students coping with illness and injury, going about their school lives with an admirable determination. All these young people, and many more like them, are an absolute credit to their families, the school and the local community, and these are just the ones that we know about!

If your son, daughter or ward is doing something that you are proud of, and that we don’t yet know about, then please get in touch. Email their form tutor or head of year and share the news, and we’ll do our very best to praise them in school and show our appreciation. Teenagers get a bad press based on the actions of a tiny few. Let’s redress that balance and celebrate what is good about the young people of MHS!

Have a great weekend,

Joe Barker

The spring dance show has now become a staple of the extra curricular year at MHS, under the leadership of Miss Griffies from the PE department. As I write this the second of two performances is under way, with students showing off their talents and great energy in Bradshaw Hall. It’s always a fantastic evening, well supported by families and friends, and I hope to see the event grow even more in future years.

Also this week has been World Book Day, although we prefer to call it World Book Week. Regular readers of this blog will know that I often discuss the topic of reading, and how reading fiction books is one of the very best things a student can do to succeed in school. Turn up and read, turn up and read…you know the message.

Therefore it would be odd if we didn’t get involved in World Book Day, one of the most well known celebrations of all things literature. The only issue is we don’t actually like what WBD has become in some schools. I get that dressing up in fancy dress to represent famous characters from books can be fun, and I imagine it’s great for primary school kids (less so their parents!), but I think that at secondary school we can go a little deeper and focus on the reading over the fancy dress.

So, instead, we have World Book Week at MHS. We have competitions for students and staff running across the week that inspire everyone to engage with books and with reading, a fantastic assembly from our literacy lead Katie Shakeshaft on the gift of reading, and most importantly we have reading embedded across every subject in every year group. At the start of one lesson in every subject this week, the teacher will have showcased a fiction book relevant to that subject. Historical fiction for me of course, tales of sporting endeavour in PE etc. The class will have explored the front cover of the book, looked at a summary of the plot and read together the first few pages. The idea is to give students 10 or so great reading recommendations that they can go off and read for themselves. If you have children at the school then maybe ask if they are interested in reading one of the stories shown to them? In any case, hopefully our approach is less traumatic than seeing their headteacher dressed as a low-budget Harry Potter!

Have a great weekend,

Joe Barker