Newsletters

GHS Connect #24 Monday 24th March

Mia's notes

It’s definitely starting to feel a bit more like Spring and we are now heading firmly towards the next holiday! Thank you again to everyone who has offered to deliver revision sessions over Easter. Historically, we have found that these have really made a difference to students’ confidence in the last few weeks.

Thank you to everyone who attended Year 9 Parents’ Evening and managed to stay positive as Abbie asked in briefing!

Finally, do take a look at the slides around Digital Learning that Harpal delivered in briefing last week. There were some great tips about how to support students using laptops and how to be more efficient when using Google Classroom. I recommend getting involved in looking at how we can use AI to support outstanding learning and teaching too - there are some amazing emerging tools out there.

Have a lovely week everyone,

Mia

The week ahead

Monday
Normal Day

Tuesday
Year Team Meeting/Pastoral Time 3.15pm - 4.30pm
RAD Prep

Wednesday
Briefing in the library 8.15am
Whole Staff CPD
Pastoral/Behaviour/L&T 3.15pm - 4.15pm

Thursday
Normal Day

Friday
Normal Day

Notes
Year 10 Interim 3 due

Learning and Teaching - Pride in our Classrooms

Retrieval supports the mastery of material and provides instant formative feedback. This week, Naomi Foot shares her top tips and practical strategies for using retrieval quizzes:

• Show students core slides from the previous lesson to trigger prior knowledge activation.
• Gamify quizzes to motivate and set the pace. Use character points as rewards.
• Use cold-calling as a tool to explicitly draw links between different topics.
• Try 'formal knowledge testing': i) set a homework to revise key definitions 2 weeks ahead of a new topic; ii) students make flashcards and revise; iii) students are required to obtain 80% in the test or they resit.
• Quizlet has an AI tool which can convert knowledge lists into flashcards. Show students how to use this.
• Set weekly retrieval homework quizzes to build habit. Educake or Seneca are digital platforms which support this.

Why not try Carousel Learning or Quizizz for some additional retrieval activities that use technology?

Top tips for mental health well-being

These tips are for staff and students.

Niloo

GHS Medicine Conference

The first-ever GHS Medicine conference was a roaring success last week.

To have over 100 aspiring medics and dentists in one room was a real joy. It was also so positive to not only see 40 students from Cardinal Wiseman, William Perkin & Dormers Wells in attendace but, also, how favourably our students compare to their Ealing peers. I'm naturally a touch biased but I think ours shone. 

Huge credit goes to Christabel for organising - the feedback was unanimously positive. Over half of the attendees (from across 4 schools) gave the event a perfect 10/10 score... With 90% awarding it an 8+/10. That's the kind of feedback we dream of. 

Richard

Inclusion Updates

Child Protection

As per my message last week, please remind students there is a QR code on the child protection posters where they can anonymously share their concerns.

Safeguarding: Medical Procedures

Please read this important information regarding reporting if a child presents unwell or is injured from Ajay.

If a child presents unwell or sustains an injury we have a duty of care to report it to the medical team. You can do this by:

• Alert medical team via radio or by calling reception.
• Send a child to medical care if well enough with a trusted adult or child.
• Always follow this through with an email, just in case a child makes a detour and decides not to come.
• Alert medical to the designated area, where the child requires assistance (if the child is unable to move).
• Please email medical if concerned about a child being unwell during school day, so that we can follow through and assess accordingly.
• If a child sustains an injury and you have witnessed or been informed about it. Please ensure you make medical aware and escort children to medical care without fail.
• In the event a child refuses to go to the medical room, you should still email medical to inform them.
• It is vital that all illness and injuries are assessed in school and then parents are informed so that the child is monitored once home and if needed they can seek further medical assistance.
• If you are aware of an injury a child has sustained outside of school, email medical as a precaution - even if the child appears to be fine.
• It is our duty of care to provide first aid to all children in school who present with illnesses and injuries and then inform parents.

The email address you should send it to is medical@greenford.ealing.sch.uk

Inclusion Heroes

Inclusion Heroes

I would like to thank Fay Hudson, Deborrah Smith and the SEN department for leading the SEN parent Workshop last week, guiding them through the Options Process and how best to select subjects for their child.

Thank you all for your continued support with our vulnerable cohort.

Gurvinder

Bright Spots 

Rhea Shah sent in this photo of her and Sarah Packman twinning to help put a smile on everyone's face. Sarah has been nominated as a Bright Spot for all the hard work she does in the i block on a daily basis.

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