GHS Connect #29 Monday 10 May
From the Head
Thank you for all of your lovely ideas for Douval - we will look at all of these and I will involve the JLT and other students as we draw up plans for the Summer, as well as consider more permanent ways of remembering Douval. I know it was a very difficult week for many - thank you for looking out for each other.
I know that everyone is working incredibly hard on marking and preparation for TAGs. This article in The Guardian outlines what I know many people here at GHS will be feeling and experiencing, but it’s important to remember that we are a school that knows how to assess our students and knows their strengths and capabilities. I know it is easier said than done, but please do try to keep all of this additional work in perspective and don’t spend ridiculous amounts of time on marking.
As restrictions begin to ease, we are starting to think about a future where we might not have to continue with all of the limitations we have in place. Please remember though, that Government guidance has not changed as yet, so we are still very limited with what we can do. That means that at the moment, we continue to have to manage bubbles and we are still not able to amend very much. This is, of course, affecting student behaviour and creating additional stress and exhaustion for staff, but please hang in there, as we hope very soon to be able to begin to do things differently.
Not being able to meet as a staff is also really taking its toll and I am looking at ways to re-instate this as soon as possible. We will have a staff meeting on 8th June - more details on this will follow and we also have Unconscious Bias training from Prof Paul Miller on 22nd June. Both of these events have been postponed from previously scheduled events.
We will shortly be advertising for some non teaching Pastoral Workers to support with behaviour and pastoral care across year groups. This is part of a wider strategy to increase pastoral provision in the school and more details will be given in the staff meeting on 8th June.
Finally, I will be restarting the staff wellbeing group and there will be a few places available for any interested staff - I’ll put an announcement up on the VLE with more details shortly.
Have a great week,
Mia
There’s not much from me this week other than to say that this week is 
Finally, we wanted to celebrate the courage of Anaam Zakria who rescued a hurt pigeon on Thursday. She noticed the pigeon on her walk from D-block to I-block and managed to safely get the pigeon in a box where it stayed till the end of the day. Then, after school, Chloe and Anaam drove it to a veterinary clinic in Northolt. .jpg)