GHS Connect #18 Monday 31 January
From the Head
Welcome back to another week - just 2 weeks to go until half term!
First of all this week, well done to Sajjad who has been appointed to Acting Leader of KS5 Maths. We will interview for Acting HOY soon, and keep your eyes open for any other opportunities that may come up.
A few thank yous first of all from me, this week.
Once again, a big thank you to Noble and Tom for taking students to the First Lego League Competition on a Saturday. The students did brilliantly, winning the Innovation Project Award, and I will be meeting with them all shortly to celebrate their success.
Thanks to everyone involved in Parents Evening. For Year 10, we ended up with 83% booked and 88% of those attending. This is a great effort and pretty much in line with what we would have normally seen when in person.
I also want to pass on a really big thank you from Gina, for the staff who have been helping with cover last week, when we were unable to get in supply all of the time. Fortunately it hasn’t been a huge amount but it is always very much appreciated.
As I said last week, we’re now fully in the business of focusing on learning at this time of year. As part of that can I remind everyone to keep in mind some of the things we have prioritised this year, when planning and delivering lessons, as well as when meeting as a department?
- Remember our ‘bounce back’ strategy and consider the best ways to implement this in your own classes;
- Continue to plan for the needs of SEN students. A = Access to Task; B = Bridge to Learning; C = Check Understanding of Your Groups;
- Remember to maximise the use of ‘Show My Homework’ and Google Classroom and build independence outside of the classroom.
It looks as if we might be a little bit short of staff again this week, but I know that everyone will pull together and support each other, and I thank you for that once again in advance.
Have a lovely week,
Mia
A special shout out to some colleagues in the English and Maths departments who have been working hard to implement the ABC strategies and support our SEN/less able learners. 
Anneka Mehta ensuring that as soon as students were set off on a task, she checked that her ECHP student could access the work and re-explained concepts as needed (right). 
We are back to real life assemblies from Monday onwards - these will be in the Sports Hall to begin with due to exams and this week’s will be a mixture of me and Keely delivering them. The theme is of tolerance, as we enter the traditional time of year when we celebrate LGBTQ+, along with messages about who to turn to, and what to do if anyone feels unhappy or bullied in any way. To tie in with this, Keely is also organising a one-off PSHCE lesson this week on this topic and will circulate that as soon as it is ready. This will substitute any lessons that were on the usual cycle - we will return to these in the week after half-term.
Inclusion Heroes!
