Newsletters

GHS Connect #29 Monday 20th May

Mia's notes

Another good week in terms of exams - thanks so much for the team involved in this. A special mention this week to the A Block team, who are doing such an amazing job of calming the nerves and organising and motivating some of our most vulnerable students who sit their exams separately. Helping them to manage their anxiety really makes all the difference.

This week will be our last one before half term - another welcome break! This week needs to be all about keeping the consistency in place - routines around exams will be crucial but so will our classroom routines and our push on meet and greet and end and send. 

Please also continue to send students to Student Services if they are missing uniform items. If students are in trainers, please alert their year team so they can add them to the lunchtime detention list.

Have a great week,

Mia

The week ahead

Monday
Normal Day

Tuesday
Year Team Meetings/Pastoral Time - 3.15pm - 4.30pm

Wednesday
Briefing -  8.15am in the library.
Normal Day

Thursday
Year 11 Study Leave begins.

Friday
Normal Day

Notes
Yr 11 Interim 4 (Indicatives)
Year 7 Interim 3

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...  

Student Voice

This year has seen a big increase in the number of Student Voice sessions that have been run across all year groups, with different students across all sorts of topics - it has been a pleasure spending time chatting to the students about a range of subjects and getting a sense of how the year has been for them all… There’s been some interesting feedback! 22 sessions have been run in total by a variety of staff, working with students of all ages, and in particular with some of our more vulnerable groups. And, we have covered topics such as Safety, Behaviour and Rewards, Attendance, the use of Google Classroom, the length of lessons and what we are doing for our Pupil Premium Students. 

Here are some of the highlights:

1. Students really like outside speakers coming in and want more of them;
2. The Mock Results Day for Year 11 was really effective and helped Year 11 think about how best to use the remaining time;
3. We are really good at making sure those most in need of resources get them;
4. Year 11 liked having more exams…
5. Year 10 feel ready for next year!
6. Students generally feel safe when they are at school;
7. More rewards are being given out;
8. And, SMHW is used to check their Character Points;
9. Our PP cohort feel supported by staff;
10. Students want to stay on in our sixth form!

There were many, many more strengths - this is just a snapshot…

Of course, there were some things that we need to think about too, and again, here is a taste:

• We would like more outside speakers;
• We would like post-results workshops on how to improve those levels;
• We would like workshops on managing stress in our lives;
• We would like behaviour plans for particular students;
• We would like more trips!

A huge thank you to all staff who have conducted Student Voice sessions, and to those who have responded to (the appropriate!) requests that have emerged… If anyone would like to run a session, has a particular subject they would like to be addressed by those of us who do run them, or has indeed run sessions and would like to add the findings to the spreadsheet that records all of the feedback given, please just let me know.

Lou

CP/Mental Health Updates

Just a reminder that Ms Adhami based in AG20 is available to support students and staff with any mental health related concerns. 

Please remind students about the services offered by Young Minds and the Circle Café.

Inclusion Heroes

This week I wanted to say a huge thank you to Fay and all staff that attended the training on Autism.  The feedback has been hugely positive, and we look forward to following this up at a department level and staff rejoining for the second part on ADHD.

Gurvinder

Bright Spots

The Year 9 team have been superb in supporting the GCSE options programme this year.

A special thank-you to Ben, Sonia and Fraser who have ensured that students have taken the process seriously, and the Year 9 Form Tutors who have been delivering information sessions twice-weekly.

More than 99% of students have now made their choices which suggests that they’re excited about the challenges of KS4.

And, as Mia was saying in briefing about the current Year 11s and their progress since Year 9, we can see the current Year 9s turning a corner, thanks to everyone’s efforts!

Adam

If there are any concerns about Equality and Diversity (staff)  at GHS please contact A Johal (DHT)