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GHS Connect #20 Monday 23rd February

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GHS Connect #20 Monday 23rd February

Mia's notes

Hope everyone had a really lovely break!

Hard to believe we are just over half way through the school year now. As I always say at this time of year, these are the weeks that now count. The amount we can get done between now and the exams is phenomenal,  as long as we have a plan.

Please take a few minutes, as a classroom teacher, to think about what that plan might look like, for your classes. How will you start to build up the reinforcement of content and skills?  How will you do this incrementally so it’s not too overwhelming? How will you then cement knowledge through retrieval and recall? How will you prepare for examination questions through practice? How will you then develop independent revision skills?

We can do it - let’s go!

Mia

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The week ahead

Monday
Normal Day

Tuesday
No meeting due to Parents' Evening

Wednesday
Briefing in the library – 8.15am

Thursday
Year 9 Parents' Evening. Check your appointments here.

Friday
Normal Day

Notes
Yr 11 Mock 2
Year 12 interim 3 

Learning and Teaching Tips and Strategies

This term, we will be sharing top tips and strategies for oracy. 

Week 1: Visible Vocabulary

High quality talk is dependent on high quality vocabulary. When we make key vocabulary visible and deliberately embedded into dialogue, we support students to use it accurately and confidently.

 

Top tips:

  • Introduce Tier 2 and 3 vocabulary explicitly when it is first encountered.
  • Write key vocabulary visibly on the board so that it remains accessible throughout the lesson.
  • Refer back to the vocabulary intentionally during questions and discussions.
  • Model the use of the vocabulary in full sentences before asking students to use it.
  • Pause to explain why the vocabulary matters in your subject. 

Sentence Starters:

  • “This word helps us sound like a historian/scholar…”
  • “We are going to use this word later in our discussion/debate/analysis/writing.”
  • “This word is important to use as it shows…”

Looking for some new ways to teach vocabulary? Here are some ideas from Alex Quigley.

Careers at GHS

At GHS, our careers programme is ambitious for all as we aim to inspire, inform, and equip individuals with the skills, confidence, and opportunities needed to navigate a changing world of work and secure meaningful employment. It focuses on fostering ambition, providing personalised guidance, embedding employability across the curriculum, and building strong partnerships with employers. 

The careers programme at GHS is delivered through many channels:

  • Lessons
  • Form time- Week B Thursdays (Wednesdays year 9)
  • Satchel One
  • Workshops Connexions
  • 1-2-1 45min guidance interviews
  • Trips
  • Careers Fairs
  • Year 10 work experience

Students’ activities for careers are recorded on Compass Plus, an online platform that helps us identifies gaps and measures us against the 8 Gatsby Benchmarks.

What are the Gatsby Benchmarks?

Gatsby Benchmark 1: A stable careers programme

Gatsby Benchmark 2: Learning from career and labour market information

Updated Gatsby Benchmark 3: Addressing the needs of each young person

Gatsby Benchmark 4: Linking curriculum learning to careers

Gatsby Benchmark 5: Encounters with employers and employees

Gatsby Benchmark 6: Experiences of workplaces

Gatsby Benchmark 7: Encounters with further and higher education

Gatsby Benchmark 8: Personal guidance

How can you support the careers programme?

  • Deliver the form time activities
  • Connect the content you are delivering in lessons to the world of work
  • Talk about your experiences with students – what skills you needed, what you enjoyed, what grades you needed? What work was involved?
  • Complete the door signs form if you haven’t already: https://forms.gle/vohMuAQvR1iThDDG7 
  • Think about displays in your area – do they have anything about careers?
  • Make every trip related to careers – can you find 3 people at the place you visit to talk about the careers that are available. E.g. London Zoo, what jobs could you do there? What’s involved?
  • Get involved in Careers week in the summer term (more about this later)
  • If you are a year 10 tutor, continue to encourage students to find their own placements.

What does the careers programme look like for each year group?

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What’s next?

· Careers week

· Staff talks on their career paths – students hearing about your journey can really make a difference. If you have a career path that can inspire our students, or you would just simply like to share, please let me know, as I would like to start work on how we got to where we are now!

If you would like to know more or get involved with careers, please email me: aphull@greenford.ealing.sch.uk

Amandeep

Inclusion Messages

I hope you had a lovely half term break.  Just a couple of updates from me with regards to safeguarding and SEN.

Safeguarding Updates 

We are now receiving more information about gender questioning.  I will continue to update you.  Please see some relevant BBC articles on this area.  We will continue to review the materials and update policies in accordance.

Sexual and Sexist Bullying – Anti-Bullying Alliance

Sexual and sexist bullying covers a wide range of behaviours, and while definitions may vary, schools need a shared and practical understanding to recognise concerns early and respond effectively. These behaviours often overlap with sexual harassment and harmful sexual behaviour, and are most likely to persist when dismissed as ‘banter’ or ‘part of growing up’. Unlike other forms of bullying, sexist and misogynistic bullying can function as a way of policing gender norms, particularly where girls and young women are perceived to be stepping outside expected roles.

Girls are disproportionately affected, but boys, LGBT children, and children with SEND are also at increased risk, especially where power imbalances and vulnerability are present. Sexual and sexist bullying can occur in any school community and must be addressed with clarity, consistency and a firm safeguarding focus, balancing cultural sensitivity with an absolute duty to keep children safe. You can read more about how sexual and sexist bullying is defined and responded to here:

Sexual and Sexist Bullying

SEN Update

Autistic and OK - Ambitious About Autism

In busy school settings, autistic pupils may experience increased stress when environments and expectations are not well-matched to their needs, which can affect wellbeing and mental health. The Autistic and OK toolkit from Ambitious About Autism supports a strengths-based, pupil-centred approach, helping schools better understand autistic experiences and the impact of school life on wellbeing. It encourages listening to autistic voices and supporting pupils to develop self-awareness and coping strategies, rather than expecting them to adapt unsupported.

For more information, click here.

Gurvinder

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

For the latest X feed from @ghsofficial, click here. For Threads, click here.

For the latest Instagram feed from @greenford_high_official, click here

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