Published January 14, 2022
It has been a real pleasure touring school and visiting lessons this week; there has been lots of excellent learning taking place and the pupils have quickly settled back into school routines following the Christmas break. Most pleasing this week was overhearing a pupil say ‘we are like one big family here’ when talking to a prospective family who were having a tour of the school.
Accelerated Reader
Accelerated Reader will return to all Year 7 and 8 classrooms over the next two weeks. Pupils will be able to read and quiz online again and will be able to do this in school as well as at home. This is a brilliant resource we have as a school as it builds upon the pupils’ reading, helps to determine and track their comprehension, as well as suggest future reads, thus continually progressing their literacy skills and hopefully inspiring a love for reading!
Library
The library is currently open for one year group each day at break time (10:55–11:15am). The schedule is as follows:
- Monday – Year 7
- Tuesday – Year 8
- Wednesday – Year 9
- Thursday – Year 10
- Friday – Year 11
If you haven’t had a chance yet, I do encourage you to look at our library webpage and the library system link under the Quick Links section. It really is excellent and includes details of book of the week as well as information on new resources and book reviews.
Public Speaking
We will be hosting public speaking competitions for all year groups in school over the coming months and on Thursday this week, 8 year 10 pupils set about preparing and rehearsing their speeches.
In two weeks, they will be competing against each other, and we have enlisted the help of the Catenians to help with the project. The winners from each year group will have the opportunity to compete externally (Covid allowing!).
Covid Measures
Please continue to test twice a week in our efforts to keep the school as covid-free as possible. We were due to receive a delivery of test kits today and if they have arrived by the time of writing, please rest assured that these will have been distributed to your children. If not, this will happen on Monday.
Teacher Professional Development
So far this year we have had 4 teachers successfully complete National Professional Qualifications for Senior Leadership and Middle Leadership. This involves completing a project to benefit school practice and the pupils in our care.
The projects that have been tackled as part of this are:
- Curriculum Recovery for Year 11
- Catering for prior Higher Attaining pupils
- Effective Mentoring of pupils in Year 7
- Effective use of TAs in the classroom
These projects have provided us with evidence for good and best practice which will be embedded in our school culture going forwards.
Website Development: Safeguarding & Wellbeing Pages
Please familiarise yourself with our excellent resources to help you support your children. Recent additions include a very helpful document around online safety and sexual harassment, an aspect that has been in the media for the last year or two and one which we take most seriously. The Children’s Commissioner Report is attached.
We have been asked to share this with our parents as have all schools – it is a very useful document with lots of helpful links to other areas but please do not hesitate to get in touch with us should you have any queries. The safety, support and education of young people is everyone’s responsibility, and we are grateful for the support you provide in helping us with this!
Links:
Achievement Points Race
No change at the top – Margaret House continue their dominance!
- 1st – Margaret House with 24,726 points
- 2nd – Vincent House with 23,572 points
- 3rd – Teresa House with 22,130 points
- 4th – Francis House with 20,226 points
Thanks everyone for another great week!
Mr Rooney