Newsletters

GHS Connect #10 Monday 18th November

Mia's notes

A 4 day week this week which is very welcome and should help everyone who is hanging in there! I hope that whatever you are doing, you manage to have a good rest or a nice change of scene. When we return, it’s hard to imagine we will be heading towards the end of November.  

We obviously have the Year 7 tutors’ evening on Wednesday, which should provide a good opportunity to connect with our Year 7 parents and iron out any potential problems with any students who are still struggling with transition. Thank you very much to Amandeep Phull and the Year 7 team for their organisation. On Tuesday, please remember that we have a staff meeting, and we will convene in the hall for 3:15pm.

Next week, on the 28th, we will have a cross borough Somali coffee morning. Do support Fuad, Amandeep and the wider parental ambassador team with this if you are free.

Have a great week,

Mia

The week ahead

Monday
Normal Day

Tuesday
Whole Staff Meeting/Training. 3.15pm - 4.30pm. 
No Meeting for Year 7 tutors.

Wednesday
Briefing 8.15am in the library.
Year 7 Tutor Evening

Thursday
Normal Day

Friday
Occassional Day - School Closed

Learning and Teaching - Pride in our Routines

Thank you to those who took the time to complete our anonymous questionnaire on routines.
 
Looking at comments shared, we haven’t quite established End/Send as a norm. 

It’s worth taking time to establish desirable norms whilst classrooms are more novel. Interested in further reading? Here is a link to a 2 minute read.

There is still time to have your say! Please take a moment to share your view - anonymously - on our L&T routines here (3 questions).

SEN Department Updates

Child Protection

Report Remove - Childline

The children and young people of today have been socialised within the confines of the internet age. Pornography has been an important element in the online space since the beginning. Its ubiquity has coloured the boundaries of acceptable behaviour amongst those approaching adolescence. Cycling to a girlfriend or boyfriend's house, has been usurped by a constant exchange of texts and images across networks. The erosion of the boundaries of acceptability in conduct, may lead to individuals engaging in a trade of explicit images without thinking forward to the potential consequences. This is exacerbated amongst school aged individuals and has led to a swathe of cases across the smartphone era, in which concepts such as 'revenge porn' have entered the safeguarding and legal lexicon. Childline has built a new tool designed to aid subjects of this form of harassment, gain back control of their images and their internet life. If interested, please click on the link below:

https://www.childline.org.uk/info-advice/bullying-abuse-safety/online-mobile-safety/report-remove

SEN Update

A quick reminder that students must only be allowed into the Pathway Centre if authorised by HUD or myself.  This is to ensure the safeguarding of all pupils, an understanding of the student dynamics in the room and to ensure that the room is being used appropriately in accordance with our criteria.

Inculsion Heroes

I wanted to thank all the SEN and Exams Office Team who have been involved in organising the Year 11 mock exams.  Both teams have proactively organised the exam rooms, ensured accuracy in terms of a paper trail and trained themselves on the new requirements to ensure students have correct access and support in their exams.  

Gurvinder

Mental Health Updates

Kooth are an online counselling team, providing free, safe and anonymous support. They have upcoming online webinars, which, once you have joined Kooth, you can view for free. This week's webinar is for students, helping them to avoid exploitation. If you can't make the live webinar you can also request a recording of it. You can sign up for it here:

Bright Spots

The first of this week's Bright Spots comes from Andrea who has nominated the Year 8 team – Fraser, Muireann, Umair and Tia for leading an excellent rewards afternoon -film and pizza last Monday for students with no behaviour points and/or great attendance.

Sarah Williams has nominated Ivor Crichlow from the Mitie team. She says:

Last Wednesday when I was on break duty in the playground I left my marking, that I'd been carrying in the hall, so that I would have my hands free, and told Ivor I'd collect it at the end of break.  Of course, I completely forgot!  I'm sure he doesn't know my name, but he worked out where to find me and came into my German class to return the books. I was so touched!  It was a kind gesture and I really appreciated it.

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