Newsletters

GHS Connect #10 Monday 16 November

From the Head

Welcome back to another week!

I wanted to start this week by reminding everybody about the wonderful letter written to staff by our new Chair of Governors, Sunny Chana. A copy was placed in everyone’s pigeon holes last week, but you can also read the full text here.  I met Governors last week for Pay Panel, and they were really impressed with the absolutely gargantuan effort by everybody, both during the latter part of last year, during Lockdown 1, and more recently since we returned to school in September. They all wanted me to express their thanks, and Sunny’s letter to staff is a good reminder of everything that we have achieved. I am also pleased to report that Governors Pay Panel have now met, which  means that any incremental movement due will be reflected in November salaries. 

One of my highlights last week was meeting the students who applied to be Deputy Head Boy and Deputy Head Girl. I never fail to be impressed with how articulate, enthusiastic, mature and confident our students are. What was particularly lovely was talking to Enya, who has joined us in Year 12 from another school. She is so delighted to be here and so complimentary of the school and her teachers. It warms the heart to know that we must be doing something right! Thank you so much to Dipesh and Tom who organised the interviews. We ended up appointing Lilia Khan and Laurence Dunbar, with the other students being given senior, prefect positions. Please congratulate Lilia and Laurence if you see them.

I still have a few shout outs that have been coming through - please keep them coming!  This week, from Reena:

“Thank you to Jo Cole for her invaluable advice and support - she’s always ready to lend me her ear. Thanks for being so patient with me. Thanks also to Trisha Soneji – for always looking out for me, helping me out and being a fantastic member of the team. Trish is always so positive and always up for a challenge.”

In other news, we had two applications for the SLT Associates roles. Interviews will follow over the next week or so.

Finally, don’t forget that next Friday, 27th November, is our annual occasional day, a chance to re-charge your batteries a little before the final last few weeks before Christmas.

Have a great 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…

> Serena Hayes building newspaper towers with her Childcare class to teach the importance of being a team player and leadership – they created some very impressive structures!

> Rachael Fowler videoing a feedback lesson for her Year 11 Literature class so that they can complete learner response tasks even in her absence.

> Gulaid Gulaid overcoming  the problem of teaching the ‘Working in a team’ unit to his BTEC class who are all self-isolating! Gulaid ran a remote lesson using breakout rooms so that all the groups could actively engage with each other and take part in their team activity.

> Virginie Oulidi for being a supportive mentor and showing Gulaid how to use breakout rooms.

> Ramona Poulier producing a detailed activity booklet for the Childcare class to help with their independent preparation for the exam unit.

Learning and Teaching: Longer Lessons with KS3 in Periods 1&2

If you’re feeling like several hours is challenging to manage with our KS3 classes this year, consider these options to help keep them occupied and on task:

> Allocate some time at the start of each lesson to recapping key concepts or quizzing previously taught content from your subject area. Focus on particular students to support their progress or create a sense of competition in the class.  
See our previous posts in Connect on 21 September and 28 September for some interesting and more structured ways to do this.

> Begin the lesson with a 10-word challenge covering key words from the current or previous unit. Vocabulary practice will never be wasted time!

> Allow students to read their private reading books for 10 minutes while you use the time to give some feedback, or encouragement to selected students (at a safe distance of course).

> Consider a brain break in the middle of the lesson; a slightly different task that allows students a bit of conversation or thinking time; something creative; some learning connected to your subject that will widen their cultural capital. 

If you have any other suggestions that are working well with KS3 periods 1&2, please let the Learning and Teaching team know so we can share them. 

Kelly McCarthy

Behaviour for Learning

Each week in Connect, Mark and Jo will be sharing behaviour for learning tips designed to help manage behaviour in the unusual circumstances of Covid-19.

Behaviour for Learning tip #1: The first five

Excellent behaviour management starts at the beginning of a lesson. This used to be from the door of the classroom but, unfortunately, this has had to change to ensure we remain Covid-secure. We need to play a calm, welcoming and warm character, who interests and engages, from the teacher-desk

The first five minutes is critical so we must plan and rehearse this well. Enthusiasm is infectious and our direction must be unstoppable. In the first five minutes, we are meeting, smiling and directing students to the “do now” activity. Students need to feel important: “Thank goodness you have arrived! Your time-keeping / negotiation / drama skills are much needed today.”

From the moment your class arrives, catch the students who are following the routines and reinforce this positive behaviour (praise in public). You could have an achievement point tally on the board and/or offer verbal praise, making it explicit exactly what the student has done well. Students who are doing the right thing are deliberately acknowledged first and those who are struggling are spoken to quietly if needed. 

Mark and Jo

Inclusion & Pastoral

Firstly, a big thank you to everyone for PSHCE last week! We hope that it went well, despite the confusion for some year groups about which lesson they were teaching and the large numbers of students who didn’t have their booklets. Keely is going to map out exactly what lesson goes where, and will put this on the shared area. As for the booklets, I will keep the reminders to students going and make sure that the year teams have LOTS of spare copies, as we clearly need them… Remember that the next PSHCE lesson will be Wednesday 25th November in P1, to avoid those classes where we have a mixture of year groups. If you want to check any other future PSHE dates, they are on the VLE here.

Tutor sessions

As I have flagged up a few times in GHS Connect, we will be using some Tuesdays, P3 and P5, to run much needed tutor sessions, like the one we had in October. Next Tuesday, 24th November, P3 will be a tutor session - you will be with your tutor group and will work through a number of activities, including a whole school assembly from Mark on Behaviour and some Character Development work from Noble and Andrea. If there is anything that you would like to cover with your tutor group, please feel free to do so, even if this is just a space to catch up with them and see how things are going. Details of roomings and logistics to follow...

Schools Counselling Partnership

Many thanks to everyone who has had students come and go from their lessons for Schools Counselling Partnership, our regular counsellors, and the new look Teens and Toddlers - I know this movement can be disruptive and I appreciate people’s flexibility - let me know how students are getting on with catching up on any work mixed, or if there are vital in-class assessments that need avoiding. Over the next few weeks we will be getting ready for the next few big initiatives, including the John Lyons resilience programme I mentioned last week, Iheart, and the next stage of our Stepping Stones Programme (aka Tevin!) which will be to recruit some Year 10 mentors to work with KS3 students.

Social worker joining

Last bit of info from me - we have been lucky enough to be chosen, at random, to have an allocated social worker work with the school as part of a national pilot to reduce the number of referrals made to social services across the country. Michelle Williams will be starting with us on Thursday so say hello if you see her. She will, of course, be working ostensibly with key teams in the school, but will be a huge asset and will bring a wealth of information about how best to look after our students in terms of safeguarding and their well being. 

Have a good week everyone, and if you get the chance, have a read of the PREVENT update, now on the VLE and our website. And, keep that trickle of KCSIE coming through!

Lou Grimley

Character strengths at GHS

This week we would really like to celebrate our community. If you spot any students showing COMMUNITY or particularly acts of kindness, in lessons or while out on duty, please share these with us so we can celebrate. 
 

 
"A single act of kindness throws out roots in all directions, and the roots spring up and make new trees." -Amelia Earhart

Noble and Andrea