Secondary School Updates (18 November 2022)

Key Dates | Pastoral Update | Secondary Learning Showcase

Weekly update from Head of Secondary

Dear Parents,

Our Parent Connect series continues next week.

Parent Connect includes workshops, presentations, blog posts, and other events aimed at engaging parents with outstanding teaching, learning, and pastoral care in the Secondary School. 

How to Talk to Your Child About Their Report:

5:30 - 6:15 pm on Monday, November 21st. Library.

A hands-on information session led by our Teaching and Learning Prefect Committee will focus on how to support your son or daughter at home when they receive their academic report. You will leave with strategies to try at home on the following topics:

• Effort and expectations for sustainable success
• Healthy communication and managing expectations
• Conversations to have about a report

In addition, for Year 11 and Year 13 parents and students, we also have our upcoming Parents' Evenings. We are excited to have our first in-person parent's evening since 2019. Subject teachers will be available from 3:30 pm to 6:30 pm for appointments, which must be made in advance. The focus of this Parents’ Evening will be to discuss the progress your child has made in each of their subjects so far this year and the next steps for improvement. Students should endeavour to attend all appointments with their parents.

Chris Newman

Head of Secondary

Key Dates

• Friday 18th - Sunday 20th November: International Award Bronze/Silver  

•  Monday 21st November: How to Talk to Your Child About their report – led Student Leaders

• Thursday 24th November: Year 11 Parents' Evening  

• Friday 25th November: University Guidance 11-13- Parent Coffee morning 

• Tuesday 1st December: Year 13 Parents' Evening  

• Monday 7th - Tuesday 8th December: Chicago Production 

• Wednesday 14th December: Winter Concert 

Pastoral Update on Year 11

The autumn term has been a whirlwind of activity for year 11 students, who have returned with renewed vigor and passion for the final academic year of studying for their iGCSE examinations. Year 11 have taken the recent PCT testing in their stride, have reflected on the process and outcomes of this assessment, and have had positive discussions about how best to move forward with their studies, making positive habits around revision practice, and securing the knowledge they have learned. We have held "futures week," where students looked forward to the person they aspire to become, considering career pathways, IB and university options, and their own personal values that will shape their futures. Futures Week coincided with an IB options evening that led students into the options process, which concluded just after half term.

I am pleased to report that all of our year 11 students have taken this process seriously and chosen the IB options they wish to pursue. Many students have also been attending the university lectures and seminars held by the universities visiting the school in recent weeks. It really fills me with joy to see the positivity the students are showing towards their futures and the choices they will make. As we move towards the end of the autumn term, we now begin the process of preparing students with the exam revision skills and exam technique they will need to master prior to their iGCSE examinations in May. Our focus is on motivation, organization, and the cognitive science behind how we learn. I look forward to sharing more on this with you at the year 11 parent's evening on Thursday, November 24. I hope to see you all there!

Mr. Pearson 

Head of Year 11

Secondary Learning Showcase

Computer Science | Sports | English | MFL 

Computer Science

My Higher Level Year 12 class is currently learning about Abstract data structures used in Computing and have so far covered Arrays, Stacks, Queues, Linked Lists and linked lists. This week they faced the challenge of Binary Trees. This sub-topic is particularly troublesome as it has its own set of vocabulary, which can be daunting to learners; however, I am delighted to say that this group quickly took up the challenge and were able to calculate the in-order, post-order, and pre-order outputs from a binary search tree by the end of a single lesson. Outstanding progress and great teamwork as each team raced to beat their neighbours (see below). Kanta even had time to express his thoughts about trees :-)

Robert Shepley 

Head of Computer Science 

Sports

As a whole school campus, we thrive on creating opportunities for students to interact with different age groups and school phases. We encourage students to work outside their comfort zones, and as global citizens, we look to create a harmonious and enriching community. Last week, students had the opportunity to participate in the school’s first Primary House Lunch. Ms. Goodwin needed some helpers to engage and encourage the Primary students. Without a thought, I knew my IGCSE PE students would be up for the challenge, so I offered them the opportunity, and they jumped at the chance to represent the Secondary school and their houses and work with the Primary students. This week was the House Lunch for the Early Years. However, due to the FOBISIA trip being this week, we had fewer students available, but thankfully there was a small, committed group of students who were still willing and able to help. Thank you to all the Year 10 sports leaders who encouraged, cheered on, and motivated the children for a fabulous and energetic first ever Primary House Lunch.

Adrienne Taylor 

Whole school Head of PE 

English 

English has been a brilliant experience for staff and students towards the end of this calendar year: Year 7s has been wandering deeper into the mystical woods of fantasy and beasts with their creative writing, Year 8s has been trudging through the deeply-moving and thought-provoking terrain of war literature, and Year 9s has been tiptoeing through the gloom of gothic writing! With our first round of assessment of learning all but concluded, we are now well into our academic year and adding skills in vocabulary comprehension, grammar, sentence structure, and language analysis.

As you can see, the room displays are vibrant with student work. Enjoy looking through the crafting of Year 8’s propaganda posters, both for and against war, as they delve into multiple perspectives and demonstrate a mature, broad approach to the world. Cast your eyes over the focused, collaborative work of the Year 11s. Another highlight was for our Year 9s, two classes of which combined in a groupwork research project revolving around Porphyria’s Lover by Robert Browning, a disturbing and intriguing poem if ever there was one! Combining psychological language, acting, journal-writing, and other text types, they produced a truly excellent and disturbing portrayal of this grisly poem!

All in all, we look forward to the coming months as we approach the end of Term 1 and move into the centre of our year! 

Nathan Royters 

Head of Year 9/Teacher of English Language & Literature

MFL

Year 9s have been exploring cultural norms in Spain and France this term and have been focusing on vocabulary related to introductions and greeting people in different situations. They have been discovering target-language cities, in Spain, the wonderful city of Madrid, what it’s like, how the locals interact, and what there is to do there. Their inquisitive nature and attitude as global citizens have shone through within lessons as they have been using the four language skills to communicate their opinions and questions about Spanish and French cities and life there.

One class has even been creating comic strips depicting two people meeting for the first time, introducing other people, and then discussing how they feel using some really complex Spanish verbs. Their creativity and attention to detail in the language have been so impressive! 

Year 9s will go on to learn how to ask for and give directions to different places within a city, a transferable skill that will carry huge value in the Spanish and French speaking worlds. They are beginning to understand the importance and value of learning about culture alongside a language, and how that deepens their understanding of the language’s history and context.

We are really proud of our Year 9 students, their determination to make progress in their languages themselves, and their open-minded approach to discussing culture.

Miss Byron 

MFL Teacher