Newsletters

GHS Connect #31 Monday 24 May

From the Head

Thank you to everyone for your support in what was a very challenging week last week. We obviously had some very serious behaviour issues - please rest assured that all are being dealt with and while I cannot give details at present, we are looking at some very high level sanctions. I am also talking to the SLT about ensuring we have greater presence in i-block at key times. We do have to remember that the restricted situation we are currently in, is not helping matters as SLT and pastoral staff are stretched thin having to man different gates and zones throughout the day (please remember we cannot be everywhere all of the time!). We will hopefully soon be out of this situation, although changes to government guidance remains elusive. It is also important to remember that our student cohort has changed significantly over the last few years and we are dealing with many additional challenges from families and outside influences, with a significant minority of our students involved in activities of a criminal and violent nature outside of school. I will be giving more information about this, and the plan going forwards, at the staff meeting on 8th June.

You will be aware, from the staff announcements last week, that we need to take part in surge testing to check for the so-called ‘Indian variant’ in the area. Please be assured that this is just part of a wider community initiative to which Southall schools have been asked to contribute, and there are no immediate concerns about GHS specifically. More information will be given out to staff this week, once we have taken delivery of the testing kits.

Only 5 days to go until half term!

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…
 
> Oumayma Geagea using grammatical terminology and modelling how to identify different features in a text before setting her Year 10 French pupils off to analyse their own texts using their highlighter pens:

> Amandeep Phull explaining solving equations clearly, using questioning to keep students engaged and  breaking down the steps so that students had a ‘perfect’ model for future, more challenging work.

> Karishma Topiwalla setting an extended ‘Do Now’ task for her year 9 students who had been driven wild by the wind!

Learning and Teaching: Cold Calling... no one’s home!

We’ve all experienced it - you cold call students and it’s tricky to get a response. If that happens, try offering the student a 50-50: give them two answers and ask them to pick which they believe is correct. Once they’ve selected one, you can ask them to justify their choice, add a little more detail or develop their thinking with further questions. 

Inclusion & Pastoral

Thank you to everyone for your help and support in what was a tough week last week, both academically and pastorally. I hope that the following week is a little calmer…

This week’s Tutoring Friday will be PSHCE - Keely is working on a whole school session and will circulate details soon. We will then be delivering RSE after half-term, and will find some slots for training for those staff who feel that they would like some guidance on how to approach this topic.

The other thing that will be mentioned in this week’s PSHCE is Show My Homework and I have also covered this again in this week’s Virtual Tutor. 560 students had signed up at the last count, so if you could keep plugging this with your tutor group and teaching classes, that would be great. And, if anyone would like details on how to log on themselves, if you’ve not already done so, there's a Show My Homework page on the Staff VLE here. 

Please remember that there are a number of staff we have on site to support at what I know is a tough, busy time - Jo and Tash from SCP, available on scp@greenford.ealing.sch.uk, Michelle our school social worker and Scott who comes in from the Behaviour and Inclusion Service 2 days a week. All are available to talk to staff about concerns you may have about particular students or anything else you might want to discuss. 

And, just remember, this time next week we will be on holiday!

Lou Grimley

Character strengths at GHS

This week, please encourage your form to reflect on our five character strengths and challenge them to give you examples of how they’ve shown Courage, Community, Responsibility, Compassion and Resilience. If you catch a student showing one of our character strengths, please send their names to us so we can celebrate them.

Celebrating compassion in action: Two weeks ago, Tayjarn noticed that his classmate wasn’t going to finish before the end of the lesson. Even though it was 14.58 on a Friday, he noticed that Tristan was struggling, put himself in his shoes and took action. He decided to stay and help Tristan complete his work. 

On Friday, I asked a year 7 class to tell me how they were going to show compassion and resilience. Here are a few of their answers:

Finally, while on duty with year 10, I overheard Joe Wilcox using character strengths to ask a student to take responsibility for the behaviour he had chosen to display. If the opportunity arises, use the language of our character strengths with students.

Many thanks, 

Andrea and Noble