Newsletters

GHS Connect #15 Monday 15th January

Mia's notes

I hope everyone had a good return to school last week. I know that the break already feels like ages ago, but the good news is that half term comes quickly this term, and we only have 4 weeks to go!

Thank you for your support in showing the tutor time slides to students last week in relation to the social media incident that happened over the holidays. It continues to be important to re-iterate the message that whilst we have a ‘no flags’ policy in school, students are allowed to talk about conflicts across the world and are also allowed to ask questions. All that we request is that these conversations are done respectfully and sensitively. I also reminded students of this in assembly last week.

We have Year 11 parents’ evening this week and also a parents’ coffee morning. Thank you in advance to everyone who is involved.

Finally from me, I wanted to let everyone know that Governors have decided to change Amandip’s job title to Senior Deputy Headteacher in order to provide one clear point of contact should I not be available.

Have a great week.

Mia

The week ahead

Monday
Normal Day

Tuesday
No Meeting due to subject evening

Wednesday
Briefing - 8.15am in the library

Thursday
Year 11 Parents' Evening. Check appointments on the school cloud here.

Friday
Normal Day

Notes
Year 12 & 13 BTEC External Exams (No Study Leave)
Year 12 Mocks (No Study Leave)
Year 13 Mocks (Study Leave)

Learning and teaching: Embedding Excellence

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

Quality Assurance

Happy New Year to everyone - I hope that you all had fab Christmas breaks, whatever you were doing. I also wanted to say a huge thank you for everyone’s work last term around Quality Assurance. A lot went on! We had 86 Learning Walks, a KS4 Book Look, 12 Student Voice sessions, all new staff successfully inducted, pastoral systems vamped up, the launch of Parent Connect, a number of Staff Well-Being Check-ins, 2 excellent CPD Action Research sessions, and a new Lesson Observation system rolled out. ALL in what felt like the longest term ever. 

I spent a bit of time over the holidays looking at all the evidence we have gathered, and was really impressed by the amazing work that is going on in all aspects of the school - and I know that this will be compounded by what we are seeing in the lesson obs that have now started up. ABC is well-embedded, planning and pacing of lessons is excellent, books and online marking systems are clearly showing students’ learning journeys, and the new systems are having a positive impact. In addition to this, the Student Voice sessions are giving an interesting and valuable perspective on how school feels for them. My latest session has been with a group of Year 11s to talk to them about their first term - they were exhausted but feel supported and ready for the next few months.

There is, of course, still work to do - I will continue to meet regularly with staff for Well-Being Check-ins to see how we can continue to improve and where the flash points are, such as issues around respect, or simply the need for safer, new storage cupboards. We will also be looking carefully at areas that have come up in terms of support and training through the various mechanisms for feedback, regrouping the Behaviour Working Party, and responding to the more sensible suggestions that have come through from the students, such as adding another till to the panini queue and running a session on effective use of GC. 

I know it’s a short, intense term, but here’s to a successful start to 2024. And, once more, thank you to everyone! 

Lou

Inclusion Updates 

Mental Health

Please have a look at the key messages from the mental health newsletter from the Anna Freud Centre

SEN

I wanted to say a huge thank you to Fay Hudson who delivered a wonderful Year 11 SEN parent/student workshop, focussing on revision strategies, the importance of attendance and a focus on asking the right questions at parents evening to support their child with the final push towards their GCSEs.

CP

We have a number of students with safety plans in place (staff will have been emailed directly if they are affected). Please can I ask you to look at these carefully to ensure these are being monitored. We consult with the students, year teams and families before putting these in place.

Thanks so much for all your continued support.

Gurvinder