Newsletters

GHS Connect #2 Monday 21st September

Mia's notes

We are now well into the throes of being back in school, but everything still seems to be going well with students well settled. Thank you for everyone's contribution to this. This week we will be hosting our annual open evening, which is always a lovely event and is a chance for us to show off all of the wonderful things about our school. 

As part of this, please ensure that all areas are clean and tidy and also that displays are complete. How we all present ourselves is also important – student helpers will need to be in full school uniform and staff in appropriate, smart dress.  On the subject of dress, I have noticed some staff displaying very casual approaches to dress, but please note that now the heatwave is over, we should be reverting to our usual 'business style attire' on a day-to-day basis in school, which is outlined in the Staff Code of Conduct. This is important in setting the tone for students in the importance of being smart when in school.

Have a great week,

Mia

The week ahead

Monday
Normal Day

Tuesday
No meeting - prep for Open Evening

Wednesday
Briefing in the library – 8.15am

Thursday
Open Evening - Students sent home early

Friday
Normal Day

Notes 
Year 13 Assessment Week

Learning and Teaching Tips and Strategies

What are students actually learning?

Week 2: Planning from the learning, not the activity

A strong lesson starts with the learning, not the activity. Once the intended learning is clear, every stage of the lesson can be deliberately designed to help students learn.

Top Tips:

• Write one sentence describing what students should know or be able to do by the end. 
• Identify the 2–3 pieces of prior knowledge students will need. 
• Identify the point most likely to cause difficulty and plan your Explanation and Guided Practice around it. 
• Decide what students will practise independently before planning the Explanation and Guided Practice.
• For each activity, identify the thinking students need to do. 
• Plan the Review around one or two key things students need to have learned.

Delve deeper: Peps Mccrea on Reverse Design. Read here.

Year 11 Achievement Focus

A huge thank you to all of the Year 11 teachers and departments for a great start to the new academic year. Members from SLT, the KS4 Achievement and year teams have been into a number of Year 11 lessons to support, and we have been impressed by the focus and purpose of the lessons. Year 11 progress isn't built on last-minute panic; it’s built on the everyday rigour you bring to your classrooms. 

Let's keep the focus sharp:

• Ambitious for all:  Remind the students that they can achieve a grade 5+, but they need to commit to the programme of study in class and at home.
• Maintain classroom routines: Consistent Do Nows which focus on recall and retrieval. Remember to add in some questions on topics covered in Year 10. 
• Independent learning tasks: Set tasks that support students' resilience and also demonstrate to you what they can do and where they may need some support. For homework, set two tasks a week, one can be based on what they are learning at the current time and the other to ‘go over’/revise a topic from Year 10. You can then set some questions in the ‘Do Now’ from that topic.
• Focus on precise feedback: Guide students feedback on how to close specific knowledge gaps, this can be in class or when you are marking their work.
• Hold the line on standards: Remind the students about their ‘role’ this year: to maintain high expectations in effort, presentation, and attendance, this will yield results.

We have some directed time, hopefully after departments have set up for the Open Evening on Thursday 24th September, if you do finish setting up early, please can you do the following:

• Celebrate: Think about which students have made a tremendous start to the new academic year. Please write a short email (you can use the same one) and send it to the parents of the children and give them a CP.
• Challenge: Think about three Year 11 students who perhaps have not made the most positive start and call the parents, because you want the pupils to be more ambitious for themselves and also be clear about the areas that need to be improved.
• Please remember to log these initiatives on SIMS.

Thank you for your relentless energy, collaboration, and commitment to driving achievement for every student.

Inclusion Messages

Inclusion

Safeguarding Updates

Thank you all so much for undertaking the safeguarding training. 

Please note that it is a statutory requirement to read all of Part 1 and complete the declaration and Google Link confirming this.

I have placed below the document and link

Keeping Children Safe in Education

Please complete the compulsory Google Form "I confirm that I have read and understood Part 1 of Keeping Children Safe in Education" 

Declaration Google Form

So far I’m pleased to say we have over 160 declarations completed… We will be directly emailing you next week if not completed.

SEN Updates

Following on from Fay’s demonstration in briefing this week, please see the guide on how to search SEN pupils and gain a deeper understanding in terms of their need and support.

To find SEN information about your students. 

1. Go onto their individual student profile on SIMS 
2. Select SEN in the links tab on the right hand side

3. Scroll down to the 'Basic SEN Details' section to see the documents 

4. Select a document from the list and click open on the right hand side of the box 

4. Select a document from the list and click open on the right hand side of the box 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gurvinder

 

Dear Staff,

Often when we are struggling, rather than ask for help, we withdraw from friends and family, isolating ourselves rather than asking for help. Maybe not wanting to burden others with our troubles or feeling that no one will listen. Please don’t suffer alone, there is no shame in asking for help:   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bright Spot

This week's Bright Spot is Angela Cameron, who has been nominated by Serena Hayes. Serena says:

Thank you to Angela Cameron, my co-form tutor, for taking the lead on our fabulous form-board display! She has been proactive in getting the students engaged with our GHS character strengths and has organised decorating our form-board so promptly.

 

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