Newsletters

GHS Connect #19 Monday 30 January

Mia's notes

Welcome back to another week - just two weeks to go until half-term. Amazing to think that we are now almost halfway through the year. Thank you to those people who read my message in last week’s Connect and let me know they were planning on leaving - I really don’t want anyone to leave Greenford but it does help us to plan for the future if you know that you are taking a change of direction in your life and definitely on the move.

We have a few important events this week. On Monday, we have the Governors’ Strategic Event running from 3pm - 6pm in the library. Please do say hello to Governors if you see them around. Please note that SLT will be involved in this event, and so will not be around after school on Monday.  We also, of course, have the NEU strike on Wednesday - please do familiarise yourself with the various VLE announcements around this. Finally, we will be back at school as normal on Thursday, with in-person parents’ evening running as planned.

Sarah Williams has asked me to thank a variety of people for their contribution to 'Living Library' this year. In Sarah’s words: “I know it's one extra thing to do in one's day, to get across to i-block of a Thursday break time, but they have all so kindly given their time and their enthusiasm to brighten and enliven and inspire our Year 7 students with their reading aloud. They are real stars, and I'm very grateful to them. Just the small act of enjoying a shared book makes such a difference to our students.”   

Thank you to: Rachael Chong; Ramya Rajkumar; Andrea Hetherington; Reena Bharadva; Kiran Thandi; Maria Montero; Sehar Rana; Trisha Soneji; Shem Parry;  Finola Doyle; Adam Hamida; Parissa Moghanchi; Lou Grimley; Joe Wilcox; Tom Oseku; Dan Kloss.

If anyone else is interested in helping out with ‘Living Library’, do let Sarah know.

Have a good week,

Mia

The week ahead

Monday
Governors' Strategic Event - Library 3pm - 6pm

Tuesday
No meeting due to Year 10 Parents' Evening on Thursday.

Wednesday 
NEU national strike action planned - see VLE updates for latest.
No briefing.
No meetings.

Thursday
PSHCE P1.
Year 10 Parents' Evening 4pm - 7pm. See details on VLE.

Friday
Normal day.

Notes
Year 13 A Level mock exams - study leave for A Level lessons, BTEC lessons continue as normal.

Learning and teaching: Spotted!

A round up of some of the great learning and teaching strategies we’ve noticed being used around school recently...  

Learning and Teaching: ABC Strategies - The CPD Sequel

Thank you to all colleagues who attended the CPD sessions on Wednesday, which were designed to further develop our use of the ABC strategies but tailored specifically to the needs of similar departments.

It was wonderful to see colleagues enthusiastically sharing pedagogy and learning  from each other and all the rooms had a lovely buzz. 

A huge thank you to the Lead Practitioners and the wider L&T team- Georgina, Harpal, Jacob, Ramya, Jo and Jess who planned and delivered the sessions and to the HODs who provided information about what would most benefit their teams so the training could be more focussed.

Shortly we will be having our mid-year reviews for appraisal, so please remember to share with your appraiser the ABC strategies you have embedded this year to support our most vulnerable cohorts.

Kelly

KS4 Achievement update

Over the next 12 weeks, we will be preparing our students to sit their summer exams. These results will be life changing for many of our students. 

What can we CELEBRATE?

You can see more data figures here.

You can also see what form tutors have been using here. 

Where are the OPPORTUNITIES?

• 12 teaching weeks until the start of the summer exams.
• Mock 2 is an opportunity for students to show what they know but more importantly allows us to identify gaps in their knowledge/exam skill.
• Time to target our key cohorts as we want to close the achievement gap in lessons:

INTERVENTION

Consider what can be done in-class:

• Can the seating plan be changed to support weaker students or stretch more able?
• Is live marking a tool to help students identify and correct misconceptions in the moment?
• Would students benefit from explicitly modelling on how to revise? In ‘The Revision Revolution’, they recommend using the Leitner method explained here.

Consider what other interventions your students need:

• Studio 11 has expanded this term with 22 new faces. Chloe Altman has designed a new programme - see what they are doing here -  to help students prepare for their exams. A REMINDER that if you want a student from the Studio 11 cohort to attend your intervention, please communicate with ALT as their attendance is recorded and tracked.

Amandip, Andrea and Chloe

Inclusion Heroes

This week’s Inclusion Hero goes to Rupinder Chana for organising a beautiful registration session on Friday morning to remember and celebrate the life of Ram Vohra. Ram was one of our students who sadly passed away in November 2020. Due to Covid, lockdowns and his illness, he was only with us for a term but had a strong set of friends from primary and in his tutor group who still miss him dearly. Rupinder wanted to mark what would have been his 15th birthday week with sharing our favourite memories of Ram. Rupinder, thank you – I know it was tough for you as well as the students, but it was a brilliant celebration of Ram’s life.

Lou