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GHS Connect #14 Monday 6th January

Mia's notes

Welcome back, and I hope everyone has had a wonderful break!

This term will see us focusing on the core fundamentals of teaching and learning as we prepare students for their final exams. We will continue to ensure that we instil the non-negotiables in each lesson, and also develop our school priorities such as oracy.

As we head towards exams, it can feel tempting to cram in as much content as possible, but we always need to be mindful of ‘cognitive overload.’  There’s only so much that a student can hold in their heads at any one time, and it’s important to remember that they will be moving from one lesson to the next, trying to cram in information from multiple different subjects. That’s why strategies such as retrieval practice and opportunities for oracy are so important, as they help to cement ideas in students’ minds, and also help to ‘rehearse’ answers prior to written work.

A new year also provides an opportunity to think about how to do something different. How about trying out one new learning and teaching strategy from January with a class you want to focus on? If you find something that works, tell the Learning and Teaching team, who can then share it more widely.

Have a good first week back!

Mia

The week ahead

Monday
Normal Day

Tuesday
Department Time 3.15pm - 3:45pm
Year Team/Pastoral 3:45pm - 4:30pm

Wednesday
Briefing in the library - 8.15am

Thursday
Normal Day

Friday
Normal Day

Learning and Teaching - Pride in our Routines

Targeted praise is one of the most prevalent extrinsic motivators we have in the classroom. When we provide praise, anxiety around potential failure is reduced. And when it is specific, we support the potential replication of success in the future.
This week Maya Popovic shares her top tips for using character points as a form of praise in lessons:
 - The way we give character points should be conscious. Ways to use them intentionally:

• Award the first three people with their planner and equipment out. This promotes strong classroom routines.
• Award whole-class points. This builds a team ethos.
• Use points to build competition into lessons. This supports motivation.
• Award points for the most informed and in-depth answers. This supports high quality contributions.

- Always share why a point has been given.
- Ask students to explain which strand they believe they have met when issuing a point.
- Make character points visible on the board to celebrate achievements.

How can we quality assure targeted praise? Peps Mccrea shares his thoughts here.

Learning and Teaching - Routines and Research

When our students know how to act and what to expect, they can focus all their attention on learning. Our L&T routines were decided by HoDs in September as we believe they are a strong foundation for learning to happen in our classroom. Peps Mccrea summarised the importance of Pedagogical alignment in a recent post and how it is the ‘secret sauce for success.’

Alongside these routines, we have used our Action Research to build on our Access Bridge and Check toolkit. In December, we focused on Talk for Learning. Thank you for your energy and enthusiasm in the penultimate week of Term 1. 

We look forward to sharing and celebrating these on Connect. 

Finally, remember, the key to making this CPD successful is maintaining focus on the improvement we want to make to ensure it happens.

Andrea and the L&T team

SEN Department Updates

Mental Health Support

Mental Health Single Point of Access

The Mental Health Single Point of Access is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.You can call for free on 0800 328 4444. Typetalk: 18001 0800 328 4444 
If you need urgent help or are in a crisis, get help or advice from their trained mental health advisors.

The Mental Health Single Point of Access provides a single entry point for referrals to secondary mental health services and support in a mental health crisis in the boroughs of Hounslow, Hammersmith and Fulham, and Ealing.

Resources to help support regulation, connection and rest

Beacon House is passionate about developing freely available resources so that knowledge about the healing of trauma and adversity is in the hands of those who need it. 

Please feel free to use these resources - all they ask is that you credit their team for the information and design.

Child Protection - Q&As of the week

Each year NHS England publish a survey into the smoking, drinking and drug use of secondary school pupils in England in years 7 to 11. The latest edition looks at data collected during 2023 from 13,000 young people.
1.    What percentage of 11 - 15 year olds told researchers that they were ‘current smokers’? Answer = 3% (the same as in 2021)
2.    What percentage of 11 - 15 year olds said they had ever tried e-cigarettes (vaping)? Answer 25% 
3.    What percentage of 11 - 15 year olds said they are currently vaping? Answer = 9% (the same as in 2021)
4.    What percentage of 15 year olds said they usually drink alcohol at least once a week? Answer = 11%
5.    Of the pupils who had taken drugs on more than one occasion, what percentage said the drugs they had most recently used, had obtained them at school? Answer = 11% 
Source: Smoking, Drinking and Drug Use amongst Young People in England, 2023 https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/smoking-drinking-and-drug-use-among-young-people-in-england/2023
We are using the Easy Project run by Mark Cherrington in School to support many of our pupils with the above.

Inclusion Heroes

I wanted to thank the TAs for all their ongoing support with preparing and leading the exam rooms for the Year 11 students. I also wanted to thank Fay, Naz, Monika and Christie for leading the SEN parent workshop last term.

Gurvinder

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