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GHS Connect #9 Monday 13th November

Mia's notes

I hope everyone has had a lovely weekend. 

If you are anything like me, you may be struggling a little with the gloom of November, but as I said a few weeks ago, somehow the time does pass, and it’s now under 2 weeks until we have our occasional day on 24th November which should help!

This day off in November has become something of a tradition at GHS and in the past, colleagues have really made the most of it, whether that be by going away, resting at home, getting some shopping done or something else. Whatever you are planning, make sure you use it for rest and relaxation. To help with this, we have decided to ensure that all students are off site at 3pm on Thursday 23rd November, which means the following please:-

On Thursday 23rd November after school:-

• No clubs to run;
• No interventions, Studio 11, Study Space, other homework sessions to run;
• No 6th formers in the LRA after 3pm;
• No meetings;
• No detentions (these will be rolled over to the following week).

This should mean that staff can all get away as soon as possible after 3pm, so that everyone can enjoy the long weekend and hopefully really feel the benefit.

Thank you in advance to those who will be doing Year 7 tutors’ evening on Thursday and thank you to everyone who is doing such a great job with the mock exams.

Have a great week,

Mia

The week ahead

Monday
Normal Day

Tuesday
Department Time 3.15pm - 4.30pm
No meetings for Year 7 tutors

Wednesday
Briefing 8.15am in the library.

Thursday
Year 7 Tutor Evening

Friday
Normal Day

Notes
Year 11 Mocks 1 (EBACC)
Year 12 Assessment Week (in class)

Learning and teaching: Embedding Excellence

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

Pupil Premium Update

What's the Trouble with Pupil Premium Boys at GHS?

Of our 505 PP students, 288 of them are boys. Pupil premium boys traditionally underachieve at GHS; for the past 11 years, we have had a whole school TLR in charge of boys achievement to tackle this. Interim 1 is suggesting a similar pattern of underachievement in our Year 11 cohort. Having worked with PP boys at our school for the last 2 years, their disadvantage can manifest itself in a plethora of ways: low aspirations for academic achievement, poor organisation and presentation, bad learning habits, limited resilience, grit and writing stamina to name just a few.

So, how can we support our PP boys in the classroom to help breakdown the barriers they face?

1. Organise them. Look after their books. Give them equipment. Be militant about tagging in or sticking down resources. Be directive about using colours/highlighters to ensure key learning stands out.
2. Model and then expect high quality work in their workbooks. Ensure these boys have always completed the class model so that their books are an accessible revision resource. 
3. Have sky high expectations and follow up when they are or are not reached. Boys hate it when they disappoint their mums! Call home. Praise effusively for good work. Call home. Boys love it when they make their mum’s proud! 

Remember, there are resources and budget to help breakdown the barriers faced by our PP boys. 

Come and talk to me!

Jess

Motivational Information Retrieval!

Want to try out a classroom strategy that will increase students’ motivation & engagement; revise key content; get students out of their seats and encourage oracy?
Quiz! Quiz! Trade!

Before the lesson - 
1. Create questions and cut out flashcards
Provide each student with a flash card about the current unit of study. One side of the card has a question or vocabulary term and the other side provides the answer or definition.
2. In the lesson - 
QUIZ QUIZ
Students get up and walk round the room and find a partner.  Partner A holds up the flash card to show Partner B the question.  Partner B answers. Partner A praises if correct or coaches if incorrect.  They switch roles and Partner B asks Partner A the next question.
3. Trade
After thanking each other and switching cards, Partners A and B  find a new partner and repeat the process for an allotted amount of time. 
4. Return to seats
Teacher then tests the class on all the key questions/key vocabulary on all the cards

Year 11 Parent Workshop

Thank you so much for your support with the excellent Y11 parents’ workshops. They were informative and full of good tips and will help the parents to support their children during the mock season.

Thank you and well done.

Amandip

Inclusion Updates

SEN Updates

Please note that we are in the process of collating LUCID tests (the first stage of exams access testing) for all Year 11 students. Once this information is collated, we will begin testing the students through the external assessor.

We are currently working through the Year 12 referrals as some students have external exams in January. This information will be shared shortly.

Just a reminder that Naz Bordekhony is the new SEN Administrator. She is working closely with Monika Sierkowska. Please can I ask that she is copied into emails.

Mental Health Updates

World Kindness Day is on Monday 13th November. This day is used to highlight good deeds in the community, focusing on the positive power and the common thread of kindness for good which binds us.

Kindness is a fundamental part of the human condition which bridges the divides between race, religion, politics, gender and location.

Recognition

Taking a moment to recognise the efforts and achievements of those we work with works wonders for boosting team connection, morale and rapport, and ensures people feel valued for what they contribute.

Inclusion Heroes:  

I want to say a huge thank you to all year teams for their incredible resilience, dedication and positivity since September. Their hard work behind the scenes makes all of our lives a little easier. So thank you from us all!
  
Gurvinder