Newsletters

GHS Connect #15 Monday 12th January

Mia's notes

I hope everyone has been surviving this rather cold and difficult weather. Although it barely seems possible, the days are actually starting to get longer, and before we know it, it might not be quite as hard to get up in the morning!

If you were in assemblies last week, you will know that I have asked students to join us in a whole school new year’s resolution, which is simply ‘to be a positive part of the Greenford High community.’  Please reinforce this message when you are able - we continue to try to develop community and team spirit in the students, and this is part of that.

You will have also noticed that I spent some time reminding students of how lucky they are to be in our school, how we are a ‘listening school’ and how we do try to respond to their feedback.  Again, please remind students of this, when you have an opportune moment.

Finally, I have put a letter from the Local Authority on the website which is for parents but which you may find useful to read too. It outlines details about what I was saying at the staff meeting in relation to the Ofsted grading needing to be viewed as completely different to the old ones and how the ‘bar’ has increased yet again when it comes to Ofsted. You can read it at https://www.greenford.ealing.sch.uk/news/?pid=7&nid=1&storyid=2645

I hope you all have a great week,

Mia

The week ahead

Monday
Normal Day

Tuesday
No meeting due to Subject Evening

Wednesday
Briefing in the library - 8.15am

Thursday
Year 11 Subject Evening. Check your appointments on School Cloud here.

Friday
Normal Day

Notes
Year 13 Mock Week 1 (Study Leave)

Learning and Teaching Tips and Strategies

This term, we will be sharing top tips and strategies to support students to take pride in their workbooks.

Week 1: Layout and Organisation Matters

A well-organised book reduces cognitive load and allows students to focus on learning rather than searching for information. A clear layout also makes it easier for teachers to track the learning journey and progress over time.

Top tips to support organisation:

• Use headings and subheadings to separate key ideas, examples, independent practice and reflections.
• Use bullet points and lists instead of long paragraphs to make ideas digestible and easy to scan.
• Mark worked examples clearly (e.g. draw a box around them) to differentiate from student work and make them easier to find.
• Use a consistent page layout for similar activities across lessons (e.g. Do Now formats) and consistent formatting for graphs, diagrams and tables. This reduces cognitive load.
• Use symbols or shorthand for common types of knowledge (E.g. ? = key idea, ? = misconception).

Excellent Books - Shout Out

Zahraa Al-Mahdawy’s year 8 SEN + PP student.

2. Plan your route around the room. As Rav Dhindsa shared in our recent L&T podcast - once you set up a task, stand and scan the room before you begin. That way, you wait for students to be focused on the task before you move around the room. Interested in listening to the whole recording? Follow the Podcast link

3. Make your marking visible. Make sure your live feedback/marking is visible to the students - you could use clear labels, stamps, stickers, red pen, etc…

Remember, our student voice has told us they value live feedback/marking as it helps them see – in the moment – what they are doing well or need to improve. There will be more to come from the L&T team!

Andrea and the LPs

Inclusion Messages

Safeguarding Updates 

• We will shortly be launching several safeguarding quizzes that we would like you to complete within departments.  I will be sharing more information on these quick quizzes in HODs and HOYs next week.  The aim is to train staff and allow me to understand further training needs to support you all with safeguarding concerns. 

• Please continue to complete the form-time activities with your students each week.  Play the videos and discuss the questions.  Any concerns raised in discussions, please report on CPOMS. 

SEN:  

• We will be organising a book look for over 75 EHCP students in school this half-term.  This is to help us gain an understanding of the support and training that is required and to celebrate staff and student work.  Please look out for emails around this. 

• Fay and her team have organised a SEN Coffee Morning on Thursday 15th January.  This is to invite all SEN K pupils' parents/guardians into school so we can support, advise and manage any concerns families have.  If you would like to pop in, feel free. This will be in AF22. 

Inclusion L&T 

• Just a reminder with a new year to continue to embed the amazing high quality teaching practice for our student body. 

Gurvinder

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