Newsletters

GHS Connect #12 Monday 29 November

From the Head

I hope that everyone had a lovely long weekend and has managed to recharge the batteries before these final few weeks.

Hopefully we will manage to get through the rest of term with fewer sickness issues, but I appreciate that everyone may be concerned about the latest announcements about the new Omicron Covid variant, so I would ask again, as I did in briefing, that if you are able to undertake any non-urgent appointments outside of school time to please do so. This will really help us to manage the absence of those who are ill and who have pressing needs for a leave of absence in school time. 

There is, of course, a direct correlation between having fewer staff on the ground and poor behaviour - it is when we are low on staff presence, that behaviour issues tend to take off. Therefore, can I remind everyone to please continue to meet and greet and end and send, especially if there are supply teachers in your department. That little bit of presence from familiar staff will really help.

You will notice from my announcement that face coverings are now compulsory again in communal areas for students, staff and visitors. This has just been communicated from the DFE on Sunday evening, and a letter has just gone out to parents. Please support in this by reminding students, and by wearing a face covering yourself.

Thank you again to Sarah Williams for organising the Greenford Read and to the staff who were supporting her. It was such a success on so many levels, and so wonderful to hear students discussing issues of racism and diversity with such maturity and openness. Thank you to everyone who supported Year 13 Parents’ Evening which seemed to also be a great success, and to everyone who went along to the Equality Group.

We will plan our Christmas events as normal, but continue, of course, to keep an eye on any restrictions, and adapt accordingly.

Have a great week,

Mia

Monday
Normal day.

Tuesday
Meeting: Department time 3.15pm - 4.30pm.
Meeting: TLR Holder Meeting 3.30pm - 4.30pm.

Wednesday 
Teaching/Pastoral Staff CPD 2: 3.15pm - 4.15pm.

Thursday
Normal day.

Friday
Normal day.

Learning and Teaching

Spotted!

A round up of some of the great learning and teaching strategies we’ve noticed being used around school recently... 

• Kiran Thandi in her GCSE Psychology lesson using pair discussion to really engage her students before starting a new topic.

• Gulaid Gulaid in GCSE Business Studies using the visualiser to display student exam answer annotations. The visualiser is such an effective and visual way for teachers to share students’ work:

Learning and Teaching: Teacher Research CPD Groups

Just a reminder this week to be ready to share what you have been working on as part of your teacher research in our groups on Wednesday.  Colleagues fed back that one of the best aspects of the new CPD model was working with and hearing from other teachers across the school so hopefully this will be another good opportunity to have those professional conversations about learning and teaching. 

Thank you in advance to the Research Leads who have been busy hunting for new bits of research to support teachers to reflect on and develop their practice further.

Kelly McCarthy

Inclusion and Pastoral

I hope that everyone had a lovely long weekend and feels refreshed for the last part of the term.

As with last week, I want to say thank you for your support with the SMHW catch-up sessions - I have a one year group left to do and will then pick up the stragglers. We are now down to single figures in each year group, so there is no excuse for students not to be using it across the board…

The other thing I will be rolling out this week is laptop and chrome book distribution to students who need access at home. I know this has been a long time coming, but we needed to retrieve all the devices we had already loaned out, give them a clean up and an update and then get them ready to roll out. FIrst up will be pupil premium students at Key Stage 4! If, however, you teach anyone who you know is struggling at home, please let the Year Team know so we can add their names to the spreadsheet.

Lastly, we are still having issues with some students not being accepting of differences in our school community, for a variety of reasons - please continue to promote One Kind Word, and if anyone would like any further guidance on how to tackle students who are not embracing diversity in all its forms, here are a couple of websites to support with resources and conversations: Anti-Bullying Alliance and Safeguarding Network. I also met with a sixth-former this week representing GSA, Greenford High’s student group to support our LGBTQ+ community. Posters about their work, their meetings and support available will follow soon.

Have a good week, everyone!

Lou 

Inclusion Heroes!

This week’s award goes to Chetna Hirani who has phoned every single pupil premium family in Year 11 to ask about laptops - thank you! Your hard work is going to make a huge difference to those families over the next few months. 

Character strengths at GHS: #GreenfordRead

On Wednesday last week, Sarah Williams led the Greenford Read with year 9. Students have been studying ‘This Book is Anti-Racist’ in English lessons. On Wednesday, Sarah created the opportunity for a selection of students to come together to discuss their ideas and was supported by Adam Hamida.

During their 90 minute discussion, students exhibited great Character Strengths: they showed courage by sharing ideas; took responsibility by answering questions with maturity; belonged to a community where everyone was encouraged to participate; and showed compassion by listening to other people’s experiences. 

One student, Tiago La Touche, said the experience of reading ‘This Book is Anti-racist’ has given him the vocabulary that allows him to confront racism in a positive way. He now feels like he has the tools to help him the next time he encounters racism.  

If you see any examples of great character over the next two weeks, please share them with us so that we can celebrate our students’ character. 

Andrea and Noble