Newsletters

GHS Connect #4 Monday 28 September

From the Head

Well, last week was interesting! Just when we thought that life had thrown enough at us, a huge local electrical problem meant that i-block had to be shut for 2 whole days. As I write, the power is still not back on, and Damian from Mitie has been in all day on Sunday trying to make sure that the electricity board ensure we are ready for this coming week. I really don’t want to keep Year 7 and 8 off for longer than is necessary, but unfortunately we are having to keep Year 7 off today, as there appears to be some damage. Please be patient with us, while we establish the extent of the damage.

Hopefully, this week will be less eventful….

Thank you to everyone for getting on with teaching so brilliantly at such a strange time. I do know that it has been extraordinarily hard coming back with conditions as they are, but each day, I meet students at the gate who look pleased to be here and I say goodbye to them, after what they say has been a good day. I know, from their smiles and positive feedback, that we are getting the most important thing - teaching - right.

Please continue to remember to set work, which includes lesson slides, on google classroom for students who are self isolating. It’s important that we do this well, because if parents know that their child will receive good quality work when off school, they are more likely to follow the rules and isolate when they should.

I will be meeting union reps this week to discuss how we manage ventilation as the colder days approach. I know that some people were very cold last week, when the weather changed, and we will be looking at how we go forwards, in relation to windows.

Have a good week everybody!

Mia

Learning and Teaching

Spotted!

A round up of some of the great learning and teaching strategies we’ve noticed being used around school recently…

> Michael Baxter explaining key terms such as translation and congruence in his Maths lesson.

> Benjamin Dupres planning and preparing thoroughly for his year 7 class.

> Tom Oseku undertaking ‘Covid-secure’ marking (right).

Learning and Teaching: Do Now suggestion

A few colleagues have asked for more ideas regarding Do Now tasks to accommodate the slower starts to lessons, particularly if you have mixed year group classes. 

What about Cops and Robbers Recall? 

Using the resource (right), students would use the start of the lesson to write down everything they can recall about certain topics from previous lessons and write it in the left hand column. They can then quiz their neighbour about what they remember and add any additional details to the right hand column. 

Students will then be ready to give feedback to the class so that the teacher can assess how much has been retained by students and where the gaps in knowledge might be. 

Let us know if you give it a try over the coming weeks!

National Poetry Day Thursday 1 October

This coming Thursday is National Poetry Day. I’ve planned some events and activities to celebrate this around school and to draw everyone’s attention to the pleasures and power  of poems  and poetry.  It would be great if you could use the PPT resource I will share on the VLE next week to include a short poetry activity at the start or end of your lessons next Thursday.  The theme of this year’s celebration is ‘Vision’ which is broad enough to include almost anything!

Things to look out for:

1. Poetry Wednesday – Buchi Anyamah reads ‘Bani Adam’ , a poem about what it means to be human, which famously hangs in the United Nations in New York.

2. ‘Equality’ – a poem on the desktops written  by our very own  Hafsah Farooqi in Year 13.

3. Poems on the ground  - look out for poems in the most widely spoken languages  among our GHS student population:  Farsi, English, Arabic, Punjabi and Polish. My thanks to Oumayma Geagea, Monika Siek, Niloo Adhami, Sukey Mathadu and Rav Dhindsa  for their linguistic talents (and let’s hope it doesn’t rain!).

4. A PowerPoint on the VLE with some selected poems / activities  you could share with your classes or your tutor group next week, but please feel free to share your own favourite poem if you have one (there is a good selection of poetry anthologies in the library)

5. Some Year 7 and 8 English lessons that day will  focus on poetry reading and writing, thanks to Amanda Hill for organising this. 

If you’d like to treat yourself (or stock up early on gifts for Christmas), Waterstones is offering 20% off 40  selected poetry titles for young people with the code NPD2020.

Happy rhyming!

Sarah Williams

Inclusion & Pastoral

Thank you to everyone who delivered the PSHCE lesson last week - I know that it was a very tough topic and have spoken to a number of staff and students about how it went. For some it provided a welcome opportunity to talk and reflect but for others it was too painful. I also appreciate that this pain was exacerbated by the lack of time colleagues had to prepare for the lesson and I would like to apologise for that. Having spoken to the unions about how best to move forward, I can assure you that this will not happen again. The PSHCE programme has been mapped out for the year and materials for the next sessions are available to view in Teacher Share - I’ll put the link on the VLE! Please do have a look and let me know if there are any topics that are unfamiliar or potentially difficult.

Tutor time incoming

You may have noticed from Mia’s consultation on Open Evening that there are plans to use the slot in the afternoon of 8th October to see our tutor groups. Again, staff and students have fed back to me on the lack of actual tutor time and I know that many of you are keen to get a chance to meet with your tutor groups in person. I am developing some materials for staff to use with their groups - if there is anything in particular that you feel should be included, please do let me know. Similarly, if you think there is anything that could be covered in the Virtual Tutor sessions I am sending out, let me know, along with the names of those who are not logging on or who might be worrying you…

Counsellors, Psychologists and laptops

A few other bits and pieces - we welcomed back the first of our counsellors last week, which was great, and our Educational Psychologists were back in school too. As time goes on, we will have more and more of our external professionals in to start working with some of our most vulnerable students. I am also going to start issuing laptops this week to students, starting with Years 11 and 10 - thank you to all staff who have emailed me about students who are struggling. Please keep in touch about this, either directly to me or through the Year Teams and I will do what I can. Lastly, if you were the lucky recipient of some choccie this week, I hope that it was a welcome treat. There are still many prizes to come, and there will be a lucky dip for those who dutifully read KCSIE right at the start of term so that you also get a chance to win!

Lou Grimley

Character strengths at GHS

In the last two weeks, as a staff body we have given 1773 Achievement Points to reward students who demonstrated Courage, Community and Responsibility. 

Courage =  702
Community = 303
Responsibility = 768 

This week, consider how we encourage building our community: students notice what teachers do, say, tolerate, and how we handle challenges. How can we encourage them to care about the good of GHS and make things better? 

Here are a few ideas to promote to your students/form:

> Hold the door open for someone.
> Leave a kind note.
> Clean up after yourself.
> Give a compliment. 
> Offer someone help.
> Tell a peer their idea helped your understanding.
> Help keep the school safe by following the rules. 
> Ask students to share one thing they have done or will do for someone else this week.

As always, if you have any feedback or questions please don’t hesitate to speak to us.

Noble and Andrea