Newsletters

GHS connect - Monday 2 December

From the Head

I hope that everyone has had a fantastic long weekend, a bit rested and ready to begin the countdown to Christmas! I managed a nice day out in the countryside getting a bit of fresh air and stuffing myself with a pub lunch but I gather that many people took the opportunity to jet off to far more exciting places and make a mini holiday of it.  Whatever you did, I hope you had a lovely time. Taking the final Friday in November off is a great tradition in this school that I think works well and it’s something I definitely don’t want to change!

Thank you to everyone who offered to join the staff wellbeing group - there were a huge number of expressions of interest which made it a challenge to form a group, but I have tried to create something that is representative of the staff body. More information will follow once we have had our initial meeting and begun to discuss some ideas.

A few weeks ago I wrote about Priya and her Ms Teen UK competition. David Clare subsequently suggested that it would be a nice idea to regularly feature some of our students so that we could learn a bit more about their interests outside of school. If you have any interesting stories about any of our students, please do share these so that we can all hear about them.

I can’t believe we are in December already with just under three weeks to go - hang in there - not too long to go!

Have a fantastic week.

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…

> Trisha Soneji getting 6th form students to recall the knowledge they will need to answer an exam question later in the lesson. Just as important to do AfL with Post-16!

> Christine Gada emphasising tier two vocabulary in her Geography lesson: it was essential for her students to understand the word assess in the context of the subject in order to tackle an exam question correctly. 

> Jen Williams modelling vocabulary, phrases and commas with her year 7 class before they write their own sinister stories!
 

A thought about... revision with PPEs approaching

Flashcards are a familiar sight across the school, used to aid the recall and retention of knowledge and skills in different subjects.

Unfortunately, for our students least equipped to work independently, these may reside crumpled at the bottom of their bag! Remember to model HOW students are supposed to use flashcards for maximum effect and consider using a few minutes of starter or plenary time so they can practise with some support.

 


In focus: Girls' Achievement

Girls’ Achievement, now in its third year, is an intervention programme designed to increase the attainment of students working below their potential through additional monitoring, target setting and support. These students have been placed together in a girls-only form (11W4) after being identified as having a combination of, or all, of the following: negative predicted Progress 8 score, risk of missing out on a Grade 5 in core subjects, disengagement towards school and/or behavioural concerns.

In addition to helping them to pursue academic targets, I aspire to promote their overall wellbeing and want to see these students take ownership of their future:  being confident, career-driven and well-informed regarding their Post-16 options. Parents have been very supportive and are kept up-to-date with the form’s developments via face-to-face meetings and regular newsletters.

Ongoing areas of focus for the cohort include organisation, routines and goal-setting.  The girls remain S.M.A.R.T. by creating specific, manageable, personal and academic goals that they reflect upon in registration at the end of each week.  Students also have the support of sixth-formers through mentoring and tutoring sessions for core subjects.

Successful members of last year’s cohort have also been involved, delivering sessions on revision techniques they found useful and sharing “What I wish I’d known”.  In line with the careers focus, students have prepared CVs and used psychometric testing to seek out potential careers for themselves. The bravest amongst them have gone a step further in asking representatives of the likes of JP Morgan and the NHS to critique their CVs during a careers fair we attended at Olympia Conference Centre.

I wish the cohort every success!

Please do not hesitate to contact me with any comments or queries concerning 11W4. I can be contacted here: banyamah@greenford.ealing.sch.uk

Buchi Anyamah


Out and about

We have had a couple of excellent visiting speakers in the last couple of weeks.

One would have been a familar face to many staff - former student Awssan Kamal came back to talk about his work with Oxfam and the current #YemenCantWait campaign.

Helen Judson also organised for Steve Davies of the Advertising Producers Association to come in and talk to Business and Media students about the advertising industry. He sent a wonderful message after the event, saying: 

"The kids were great - interested and engaged - some of them having given serious thought to their career path already with the help of your media department. Certainly one of the top three schools I have spoken at in terms of engagement and spark. Given some of them my email. Happy to do more and build a connection long term if it helps you and your pupils."

Below: Former student Awssan Kamal (left) and Business and Media students with Steve Davies (right).


Coming up...

Tuesday meetings 3 December

Whole School CPD 3.15pm - 4.15pm

Department time 4.15pm - 5.15pm

Thursday 5 December

PSHCE session #4 is Period 1 on Thursday.

Resources are in Common > PSHE > December and worksheets will be in form pigeonholes on Wednesday.


Staff announcements

28 Nov 2019
PSHE #4
The next instalment of PSHE is now available!!  Find it in common-PSHE-December
Read more
28 Nov 2019
Year 13 Parents evening Cheers everyone
Year 13 Parents Evening Thank You
Read more
27 Nov 2019
Teaching Staff Salary Statements
Teaching Staff Salary Statements are now in your Pigeon Holes.
Read more

GHS Social

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Reminder: school is closed for an occasional day on Friday 29 November. Enjoy a long weekend in the middle of a long term and we'll see you back at the normal time on Monday!
3 days ago
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Greenford High School Follow
RT @Mcoxfam: School reunion with a purpose when @awssan visited his old school @ghsofficial with @oxfamcampaigns to speak about #YemenCantW...
3 days ago
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Greenford High School Follow
Thanks to everyone who contributed to our #ChildrenInNeed2019 fundraising - we raised £1,892! https://t.co/l7pDySVDAD
3 days ago
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