Garston Manor School

News and Events

 

Please enjoy reading all about our news from last half term in the latest Garstonite Star.

 Garstonite Star - Spring Term 1

 

Thursday 12th March 2026 Senior Football at Valley School

Monday 16th March 2026 Parent/Carer Workshop with the Mental Health Support Team Strategies and support to deal with low mood

Monday 20th April to Friday 24th April 2026 Arundel Residential Trip - open to Children from Year 7 - Year 10 Booking opens from 1pm on Friday 30 January - deposit of £50 payable

Wednesday 10th June 2026 Sports Day  All students will participate - parents/carers welcome to attend - further details will be released closer to the time

Friday 26th June 2026 Year 11 Leavers Prom Further details will be released closer to the time

Wednesday 1 July - Thursday 2 July Big Summer Sleepover Further details will be released closed to the time

Tuesday 7th July 2026 New Year 7 Starter (September 2026) BBQ All new intake students invited to meet with our current Year 7 students - families and all students welcome - further details will be released closer to the time

Monday 5th October to Friday 9th October  Calshot Residential Trip Further details will be released closer to the time

World Book Day - 5 March 2026

 

 

On 5 March, we celebrated World Book Day, with many staff and students dressing up! 

 

2026 is The National Year of Reading, and we will also be participating in many other exciting activities, including The Scholastic Book Fair where students were invited to browse a range of books which they could choose to purchase—at a discount when using their £1 book token. 

 

During March we have also been participating in a Reading Challenge, where winners are awarded to the top three readers in each phase (KS3 and KS4).

 

 

 

 

 

New Garston Manor School Family Members

We have been delighted to welcome some new pets to the school - Fizzgig & Gizmo.  These two adorable guinea pigs reside inMaple Class -students worked hard to prepare for their arrival; learning how to look after them and what they would need.  They are now happily settled and becoming part of the family!

 

The Duke of Edinburgh's Award

We have initiated a new project with The Duke of Edinburgh Trust by entering twenty-two students in for the Bronze Award.  This will be a planned two year program with students developing in four areas:

 

Skill—individual develops a new skill over a three month period (home or school) 

Volunteering—individual completes a number of hours of volunteering (home or school)

Practical—individual takes part in their chosen practical activity (home or school) over an extended period of time 

Expedition—individual takes part in a two day activity involving development of independent skills in travelling, residential and cooking

Second Hand Uniform Request

If your child/ward has any outgrown or unused school uniform items, in good condition, that are no longer needed, we would be very grateful to receive them as donations.  The pre-loved items make a real difference

to many of our families joining the school community, and help all students start Garston Manor like part of

the family!  We especially welcome blazers, jumpers, shirts, polo shirt (blue or PE), and any other logoed or standard school uniform items.  These will then be offered at a second hand uniform sale at upcoming events

for students joining in September 2026.

 

Chinese Dragon Workshop

Students took part in an exciting Chinese Dragon Dance workshop to celebrate Chinese New Year. 
They explored the festival’s historical and cultural significance, learning why the dragon is such an
important symbol of strength, good fortune and community in Chinese tradition. 

 

 

Visit from Dr Tim Coulson

This term, we were privileged to be selected as the first special school to be visited by Dr Tim Coulson, Director of Regions for the Department of Education and Tim Farrell, DfE Team Leader for Hertfordshire.  They joined us for lunch, had a tour of the school, met the school council and were very impressed with the whole school.  Both gentlemen commented on how commented how impressed they were with the school, especially the learning.

 

National Year of Reading

2026 is the National Year of Reading, and we will be holding some exciting events through the year, starting with our usual annual World Book Day Events, and March Reading Month.

 

5th March - World Book Day

Students can dress up as their favourite book character for the day

 

Book Tokens

Each student will receive a £1 book token - can be used for one free World Book Day 2026 book or £1 off of a book or audiobook costing £2.99 or more in participating stores

 

Scholastic Book Fair

We will be hosting a Scholastic Book Fair in school from 23-27 March - there will be lots of interesting books on sale and students will have the chance to browse in school.  More information to follow!

 

Family Group Reading Competition

There will be a reading competition running in Family Time from 1-21 March.  The top three readers in KS3 and KS4 will win vouchers for the book fair

 

 

Mother Nature Science Workshops

On 10 February, students from Rowan, Yew, Hazel, Fir, Larch, Cheery and Juniper all enjoyed an exclusive science demonstration delivered by a London based company with over thirty years experience of working in schools across the city.  The introduced a range of exciting topics designed to spark curiosity through hands-on and theoretical activities, blending fun with meaningful learning—all aiming to inspire our young scientists!

 

Some students created models to take home, giving them the opportunity to continue exploring, experimenting and learning long after the session in school had finished.  Others attended a workshop on forces—Mr Omer explained what forces were and how the affect and have an impact on us; some completed an experiment using card and string to show friction.  Fir students participated in a workshop called Colour of Light; exploring an indoor rainbow.  They created their own light-mixing colour wheels to experiment with how colours blend when they spin.

 

Everybody enjoyed all of the workshops and thoroughly engaged with all of the activities and explanations; students stated “it was fun”, “I enjoyed it” and “we did some good experiments about forces and friction”.

 

The experience was a prelude to British Science Week (6-15 March), when students will be learning about the stars and our solar system.

 

  

 

African Drumming Workshop

 The whole school recently took part in an African drumming workshop, and it turned into one of the highlights of the term.  A visiting drum teacher introduced us to percussion instruments, explaining how drumming plays an important role in many African countries.

 

 

Chairman of Herts County Council pays Garston Manor School a visit

We were recently privileged to have the Chairman of the Hertfordshire County Council, Mr Terry Douris, pay us a visit, in person.  Students who met him loved asking him about his Chain and Badge of Office and Terry painstakingly explained what everything on this represented.