Newsletters

GHS Connect #29 Monday 16 May

From the Head

Some lovely news to begin this week.  Emmet has become father to a baby boy, Ethan, born last Thursday. Mum, dad and baby doing well! I will pass on a picture when we get one (or if someone else has one, please do share!)

This week, we see the start of the exams in the hall and the countdown to the final day for Year 11 on the 10th June. 

Year 13 obviously left us on Friday (although I know that many will be popping back for various things, and continuing to receive support virtually too). I understand that I missed quite a spectacle on Friday with Richard dressed as a sixth former, as he donned a baseball cap and various other items of clothing that we don’t normally see him in! Final assemblies aside, our work with Year 13 has been a mammoth task this year - as the first group who did not do GCSE exams, I know that there has been a good deal of angst, stress and mental health needs amongst the cohort, along with a lot of pressure to catch up. I want to say a really big thank you to the whole of the Post 16 team for their support with the students, and also another big thank you to all of the Post 16 teaching staff, who I know have put the students’ best interests first throughout the last two years. Whatever happens in their final exams, we can be sure that we have done all that we can.

Regarding Year 11, they continue to do well. We have lost a small number who will be undertaking alternative provision outside of school up until the exams, due to some poor behaviour last week. Let’s stay as positive as we can with the rest and get them through to the end. The light is at the end of the tunnel!

Have a great week,

Mia

Monday
Normal day.

Tuesday
Meeting: Department time 3.15pm - 4.30pm.

Wednesday 
No meeting.
ECT training: Preparations for end of year reports for ECTs and mentors (MAT/ MCC)

Thursday
PSHCE P1.

Friday
Normal day.

Notes
Y13 interim - indicative grade only.

Learning and teaching: Dates for your diary

Wednesday 8th June (first week back after half term) is a Whole Staff Meeting. In this meeting we will be providing some updates on aspects of pastoral work in the school. 

Wednesday 23rd June is the last of our Action Research CPD sessions for this academic year. In this session we will be reflecting on how research has influenced our practice and what progress we have made by making small changes to pedagogy in our own classrooms. Please keep this in mind when you are teaching over the coming weeks.

Kelly McCarthy

Inclusion and Pastoral

I hope that everyone had a lovely weekend, ready for the big week of exams starting. My twins start their GCSEs this week so there is a lot of stress management going on in the Grimley household at the moment… 

On that note, and following on from my assembly on happiness last week to mark Mental Health Awareness Week, please remember that there are plenty of ways we can support our students, and ourselves, at this time. We have our team of counsellors, Scott and Andy, our mentors, our PSWs and amazing Year Teams, and there are plenty of charities and organisations that offer support too. And, remember Jo Morgan is there for any staff who may need some support too. 

The other thing I wanted to mention this week is students using laptops in lessons - Gurvinder and her team have been working hard to get devices to those who would benefit from having them in lessons and a number of students have also come to borrow chrome books from me as they have sustained injuries that makes it difficult to write. We know that this then raises issues about how to use them effectively in the classroom and how to manage the tracking of work - further guidance on this will be coming very soon…

Have a good week, everyone! 

Lou 

Inclusion Heroes!

My Inclusion Heroes this week are the entire Post-16 Team for what was a lovely Year 13 Leavers’ Assembly - the bits that I was able to stick my head in for were just fab and reminded me of how much we have missed these kind of occasions as a school. Thank you to all of you for everything you have done for those Year 13 students and creating such an amazing opportunity for celebration! 

Behaviour for Learning: When should I give a caution/yellow/red card? When should I call Patrol?

In the first instance, it's important to focus on life before a caution. This starts before the lesson so you ensure that students have work that they can access with sufficient scaffolding and modelling of explicit outcomes. In some cases, it might be helpful to evaluate the seating plan and make some strategic changes or it could be taking the time to read through SEND information on SIMS. Make sure you do 50/50 at the start of every lesson, greet all your students and have a task on the board or on a worksheet that students can and must get on with straight away. During the lesson, life before caution might be a look, a gentle tap on the shoulder, a private comment and giving students take-up time so that they can correct their behaviour.

If you've tried a few different ways to support a students to correct their behaviour then you might need to give them a caution for not following one or more of the school rules: ready, respectful and safe. The caution should be given to the student quietly/in private and the student should be clear why they have received the caution. Reiterate your expectations and give the student take-up time and the chance to correct their behaviour. Of course, you might be aware of an issue at home or in school that you feel warrants the student being given a bit more leeway so use your professional judgement on this.

Should a student not correct their behaviour after a caution, you can give a yellow card. Again, this should be done privately and the student should be clear why they have been given a yellow card. You can note the student's name down on the laminated card on your desk so that you can arrange a 15 minute detention for a corrective conversation with the student. This should be logged on SIMS as a yellow card.

If the poor behaviour persists, you might need to give a red card. This means that the student should be told privately so they know why they have been given a red card and then should be sent to the red card room. You will need to email or send another student to the red card room classroom to check that they have arrived. Work should be sent for the student to complete for the duration of the lesson. This should be logged on SIMS as a red card and a 30 minute detention given, on the day your department does them, so that you can have a corrective conversation with the student during this time.

Patrol 

So, when should you call patrol? Patrol should only be called in very specific circumstances and must only be called using the "button" on the VLE (do not send an email to Patrol):

 
You need to complete all the fields of information and then select from the following for the reason for calling patrol:

• Fighting
• Swearing at staff
• Dangerous behaviour putting others at risk
• Damage to school property
• Student leaving the lesson without permission

There are a very small number of gaps on the timetable when there's no red card room available so you can select this option in those instances. The member of staff on patrol will take the student but you will need to log this as a red card and issue a 30 minute department detention on the day your department does them.

If you choose medical assistance/medical emergency then the medical team, rather than patrol, are notified.

Patrol should only be called for these reasons. If a student refuses to go the red card room then please select the no red card room available but explain to the member of staff on patrol that it was a red card but the student has refused to go. The member of staff on patrol will log this as a patrol call and issue a 1 hour detention.

If a student is defiant, not following instructions or won't stop talking, for example, then the caution/yellow/red card system should be used; patrol should not be called.

We hope this reminder of our systems is useful. If you'd like to go through any of them in more detail, then please come along to our Wednesday lunchtime behaviour for learning surgery in the classroom just off of the small gym.

Mark and Jo