Location: Meadowhead School

Date: 25th June 2026

Time: 5.00 - 7.00pm

If you have donations of our school uniform, please drop them off at our main school reception - together we can make a difference for our school and our environment.  Thank you.

Changes to Free School Meals (FSM)

There are upcoming important changes to Free School Meals (FSM).

These changes may affect your child from 1 September 2026.

What is changing?

• The government has changed the rules for Free School Meals.
• These changes are linked to Universal Credit.
• The changes were announced on 11 May.

What happens now?

• Since 2018, once your child qualified for FSM, they kept it even if your situation changed.
• This will stop on 31 August 2026.

What this means for you

• From summer 2026, all families will need to be checked again.
• This will be done by Sheffield City Council.

This applies to:

• Children who already get FSM
• Families applying for FSM for the first time
• After this, checks will happen every year.

Who can get Free School Meals?

There are two types:

1. Targeted FSM (includes extra school funding)

You may qualify if:

• You get Universal Credit and your household income is £7,400 or less per year, or
• You get support through the Immigration and Asylum Act (1999), or
• You get income-related Employment and Support Allowance, or
• You get the guaranteed part of Pension Credit, or
• You have no recourse to public funds (NRPF)

2. Expanded FSM (meals only)

You may qualify if:

• You get Universal Credit and your income is above £7,400 per year

What should you do?

• If your child already gets FSM, you do not need to apply now
  The council will contact you if anything changes
• Please be aware:
  Some families who get FSM now may not qualify from September 2026
• If you are not getting FSM but think you may qualify, you can apply online:

👉 Apply for free school meals

Our message to you

• We want to make sure every child who is eligible gets free school meals
• Please look out for more updates from school or the council

Need help?

If you have questions, please contact the school: elliottk@meadowhead.sheffield.sch.uk

For more information, visit the Sheffield City Council website.

Thank you to all involved.

The Diamond awards recognise a select group of students who have been successful over a number of months and years. Students who have achieved 500 combined reward points received a diamond award. Students who have achieved a combined total of 1000 reward points received a Double Diamond award. These rewards are only ever achieved as a result of sustained hard work, effort, talent and good deeds – and as a school, we strive to ensure these never go unnoticed.

Thank you to everyone who helped make it such a lovely morning.

When: Thursday 16th July 2026 17:00 - 19:00

Where: Meadowhead School

Entry: Free

If you would like to book a stall please email: communications@meadowhead.sheffield.sch.uk

If you would like to donate a raffle or tombola prize, please bring it to the main school reception.

Thank you for your support and we hope to see you there! 

Make sure you tag us in a photo if you spot it on your travels!

Students also had the opportunity to watch (and take part in) a full kit demonstration of a First World War soldier, led by our fantastic tour guides, Gary and Gary, who supported us throughout the trip.

Across the visit, students asked thoughtful and insightful questions, demonstrated genuine curiosity, and showed a high level of respect at each site. Their impeccable behaviour was noted and praised by guides and other visitors alike.

It was a privilege to spend time together visiting places of such historical significance, and we have no doubt that the experience will leave a lasting impression on all who attended.

As part of our aim to further develop the experience of young people at Meadowhead, we are looking to partner with businesses who wish to sponsor some new projects and events – especially focussed on our successful Phoenix sports teams and creative events including the school production. These sponsorship opportunities include the Make a Difference Awards on Wednesday 15th July 2026 (full details here: Make a Difference Awards - Meadowhead School) and our new mascot, Flames.

If you are interested in any of these opportunities, please contact the school’s Marketing and Communications Manager, Maddie Udall – udallm@meadowhead.sheffield.sch.uk.

STEM Club met and handled the new arrivals very calmly and respectfully, while also learning about the different breeds, chick behaviour and farming.

Students competed in teams of up to 6 students in a Mathematical quiz with the winning teams in each age group taking home a trophy and the bragging rights for another year.

The students all did incredibly well, especially our Y11, Y12 and Y13 teams who all scored close to full marks but sadly this was not our year.

We hope that our teams will be willing to try again next year and have another crack at bringing home the silverware! Well done to everyone involved and thank you for giving up your Saturday to come along.

"Representing the Y12s, I thoroughly enjoyed the friendly yet competitive nature of the event. Some of the questions were very challenging though my team had no problem working through most of them. These questions varied from geometry to mechanics to numerics. In the end, we got 17/20, a brilliant score that was sadly topped by four other teams, being awarded fifth place."  Zach, 12A

"It was a nice day out with my friends. Even though I did not get to see all of the University, it was still bigger than I thought it would be. The questions were quite tricky but manageable. It was a good opportunity and I would like to go back next year."   Eva, 8J

"Omigod You Guys...We had such fun performing this year's school production Legally Blonde JR 16th-18th March. It was an absolute pleasure from start to finish to work with such talented and committed students and staff.  We had over 90 students involved in the production in some way, from set design, costumes, lights, backstage to being in the band and on stage!

These students have been so very enthusiastic and hard working - I am beyond proud of the performance we gave to our audiences!  A huge thank you to family, friends, staff and the wider community for coming to watch and giving everyone involved the applause they deserved!" 

Mrs Masson-Wilson 

Producer & Director

Congratulations to all for this brilliant achievement from a group who are outstanding, and have been all season.

They demonstrated how to filter water, produce electricity using potatoes, communicate using sign language and create a volcanic eruption.

The judges were extremely impressed with their creativity, teamwork, scientific understanding and presentation skills, proclaiming Meadowhead the overall competition winners.

The students will now have the opportunity to run their activity with KS2 students at Magna next month, and have also won £100 for the school!

The interactive workshops saw students take the roles of physicians, surgeons, wise women and nurses throughout history.

The workshop also saw the delivery of core content and commentary / tips on how to approach tricky exam topics. Our thanks to Alison and Jessica from Zeitgeist for a top day!

They wrote thoughtful, powerful and beautifully imaginative poems exploring our planet, the environment, and their hopes for a greener future.

We’re so proud of their hard work and creativity — and even more excited that their poems are now being entered into the national competition!

Led by the school’s charitable arm, Meadowhead Together, the event focussed on strengthening existing partnerships with employers and exploring new opportunities for collaboration.

The edition features articles on teenagers and social media, the evolution of pop music and its importance to teenagers, the Goth subculture, Taylor Swift’s poetic lyrics, AI in journalism and in education, votes at 16 and citizenship education, the history of CGI in films, narratology and the film Jeanne Dielman, live service games like Roblox and Fornite, adaptations of Jane Austen, and the digital evolution of slang.

Well done to the journalists published – Marissa, Reuben, Cally, Abbie, Sam, Izzy, Angie, Emily, Evie, Amelia, Alisha and Zoe. Please see Ms Giblin or any English teacher if you would like to contribute an article for issue 6.

Well done to Y7 students who were excellent during the sessions. A huge thank you to the volunteers and the chair of Yorkshire Ambulance Service, who joined us for the morning.

Photograpahy: Ai Narapol

The Y12s enjoyed hearing from current Cambridge University students about why they chose to go to university, what life is like at university, advice about applying for competitive courses and how Cambridge is different to other universities.

This was followed by a Q and A session. We are looking forward to arranging a visit to University of Cambridge in the not-too-distant future.

They were asked to work in pairs to discuss how to approach the problem and write a method for their solution. It was a great chance for students to see how others approached the question and how different methods still lead to correct answers. Students were then asked to present their method in front of the class, which they did with confidence.

Through team work and resilience from the class, each problem was solved successfully!

This year group arrived at Meadowhead in the middle of the pandemic in 2020 and we will forever be impressed by their commitment and resilience. Given the challenges the year group faced, it is particularly notable that their collective results have either matched or surpassed performance of recent cohorts on most measures.

Top grades in English and Maths rose this year and we had our highest number of students achieving the EBacc measure since before the pandemic. There was success across the school’s renowned broad curriculum: for example, in Sport Studies over 60% of students achieved at least a grade 7 (equivalent to a former grade A), in food over 75% of students achieved at least a grade 5 (former grade C+) and the same feat was achieved by 72% of students on the school’s photography course. In all three of our languages (French, German, Spanish) the number of students achieving the standard pass of at least a grade 4 (former grade C) was over 80%.

On an incredibly positive morning, students and their families joined Meadowhead staff to open their results. The quality of the results is an incredible testament to the students’ talent, hard work and commitment, and how effectively this has combined with the support and expertise of Meadowhead’s teachers.

The day included an international breakfast, micro-presentations delivered in form time, students wearing accessories with flags as well as formal national dress, and a wonderful set of stalls in the Rosling over lunch.

A huge thanks to students who organised a stall or shared a presentation on the day and to families for their support in helping students to share important moments from family history.

https://mhsch.short.gy/phoenixsummer2

We are thankful to the school’s caterers, Mellors, for their kind and generous sponsorship of the event. 

It includes an incredibly diverse range of articles with topics ranging from movie musicals, the death of printed newspapers, Pride and Prejudice adaptations, the femme fatale, uniform, action sports and the use of French in Africa.  

Well done to the journalists published – Marissa, Reuben, Cally, Cara, Beth, Sam, Izzy and Angie.

Please see Ms Giblin or any English teacher if you would like to contribute an article for issue 5 in the next academic year.

Students’ poetry and artwork on this theme was shared, with students from Meadowhead and the primary schools reading their work aloud in front of an audience of proud parents and friends. Prizes were awarded in school year group categories, with a winner and two highly commended in each. 

It was an evening of true variety and entertainment for our audience of friends and families.

We now look forward to welcoming audiences in March for our 2026 School Production 'Legally Blonde Jr' - auditions will be held early in the Autumn term in school.

The project is led by Homewards, part of the Royal Foundation, and is being delivered in Sheffield by the local housing charity Roundabout, with which the school has a long-running and fruitful partnership.

The Prince of Wales was joined for the visit by the Secretary of State for Education, Bridget Phillipson MP.

This event is all about recognizing students hard work, effort, talent and good deeds – as a school, we strive to ensure these never go unnoticed. In particular, the diamond awards recognize a select group of students who have been successful over a number of months and years.

Students who have achieved 500 combined reward points received a diamond award. Students who have achieved a combined total of 1000 reward points receive a double diamond award. Families were able to watch the recording of the celebration online. Well done everyone.

The students were a credit to Meadowhead and many commented on their positive attitude and behaviour on the trip.  Read more about the matches on our Sports news page

Students got to see functioning particle accelerators and cutting edge-engineering, and current CERN scientists held a Q+A session in the beautiful Alpine sunshine.

The sixth formers also got to explore the historic Old Town in Geneva, visit the History of Science Museum and the United Nations building, as well as take a boat trip across the beautifully clear Lake Geneva.

Everyone that studies A-level physics gets an invitation to this trip - ask your science teacher if you're thinking about doing one of the sciences at A-level!

The students were a credit to themselves and the school, and also enjoyed sampling American culture and food.

We extend a huge thank you to all providers for volunteering their time and energy to further inspire the students at Meadowhead – after conversations with almost 2000 young people, there will be some tired voices but the impact they have can be genuinely life changing. It’s not possible without them, so a massive thank you goes out to them.

Thanks also go to the staff who planned and facilitated the event, as well as all the school staff who accompanied the students, supporting and encouraging them to get stuck in, work the room and have meaningful conversations with our guests.

Finally, the biggest thank you goes to all the Meadowhead students, we are so proud of them and their attitudes. The feedback from our external guests backs up what we see every day – the students are polite, friendly, ask great questions and give a great impression of the school and themselves.

Students were able to handle authentic artefacts, take part in immersive role-play activities, and gain a deeper understanding of the brutal realities of trench conditions and medical treatment during the war. This hands-on enrichment experience truly brought their study of WWI to life, deepening both their knowledge and engagement.

This event is all about recognizing students hard work, effort, talent and good deeds – as a school, we strive to ensure these never go unnoticed. In particular, the diamond awards recognize a select group of students who have been successful over a number of months and years.

Students who have achieved 500 combined reward points received a diamond award. Students who have achieved a combined total of 1000 reward points receive a double diamond award. Families were able to watch the celebration online.

It was a large event with over one thousand performers. They played 'Earth' by Hans Zimmer, 'The Colour Of All Things Constant' by Cassie Kinoshi, and 'Symbiosis' by Kyle Osborne, as well as collaborating with artist May Payne and band on two songs: Lantern Flies and High Demand.

Zach has played the cello since he was 10. He is currently working on grade 7 and only started playing with the senior orchestra 5 months ago. It was a was a fantastic opportunity for Zach to play at such a prestigious event!

Students were able to listen to live poetry from a selection of poets whose work features on the GCSE English Literature course including Carol Ann Duffy, Simon Armitage and John Agard.

Our students were fantastic representatives for Meadowhead! Well done.