Newsletter - Week Ending 4Th October 2013

Newsletter - Week ending 4th October 2013 w/b 7th October is a week 2

Dear Parents/Carers

The newsletter is designed to give you information on events that are coming up and to celebrate student and staff achievements. It is also written in line with the school improvement plan. The blue headings are the objectives the school is working towards this year.

A summary of the news this week:

 Y11 Careers interviews

 Y7 success assembly

 Youth makes music

 Artful Badger awards

 A10 Commonwealth Games

 Team GB Canoeing

 Y11 D of E

 Y12 Dragon’s Apprentice Challenge  Business Studies/Media/ICT coursework catch up sessions

 Crime Awareness workshop

 Inset

 Haileybury collaboration

 Homework

 Y7 feedback evening

 Food Tech

 Target grades/student data

 Attendance

 The hub

 Free school meals

 Y7 reading list

 Deputy Head interviews

 Safety – site intruders and dangerous game info

 6th form mentoring

 Insight

 Y10 Sex ed day

 New street dance sessions at HRC

 Dates/holidays

T1 To ensure that all teachers have high expectations and challenge students so that they are able to make good progress

Y11 Career interviews

Congratulations to year 11 on the excellent attendance at the careers interviews on the 1st October. The majority of students left with clear pathways as to what they would do post 16 and how they should apply for their various pathways. Please note from this year group onwards, students will are expected to remain in education till 18 and to continue with their literacy and numeracy learning if they fail to reach a C at the end of their GCSEs. Year 7 Success assemblies

The Year 7 success assemblies are now up and running. This week the following students achieved success certificates for their success in the Colins Performing Arts auditions:

• Daniel Sorrell • Maisie James • Chloe Dust • Rosie Kenny • Yasmine Abdelmoula • Mia Henry • Shannon Renahan • Sinead McDonagh

Below are the year 7s who were great last week in helping Miss Blank with her assembly on communication:

• Aida Shirazi • Millie Spires • Ellie Clark • Isabelle Goymer • Fatma Koyunlu • Rebecca Bajrami • Jade Bowen • Lilly Stone

Creative Arts Musicians, Actors, Dancers and Photographers represent Turnford School at Broxbourne Civic Centre.

Youth Makes Music

Two of Turnford School’s Bands Sticks, Picks and a Microphone and Southbound are performing this Sunday 6th October at Broxbourne Civic Centre in a presentation “Youth Makes Music”. It is a local event that showcases the talents of our local teenagers in the form of bands, orchestras, choirs and instrumentalists. Tickets are available at Broxbourne Civic £8 -£10 01992 441946. Students involved are: Brandon Fuller, Sophie Cole, Elliott Stout, Jordan Carter and Daniel Collins.

The Artful Badger Awards

Over 50 students will be representing Turnford School on Wednesday 9th October at Broxbourne Civic Hall. Outstanding work from Photography will be displayed, Clockwork KS3 Drama Company will be performing one of their sketches, Sticks, Picks and a Microphone will be performing their music and dancers will be performing Oliver and Romeo and Juliette. The event is free so if you would like to attend please let Mrs Puchalski know ASAP in order to reserve a ticket. Well done and thank you to the Mrs Walsh, Miss Radwell, Miss Dodd, Mrs Puchalski, Mr Morrow and Mrs Megaw for all their hard work and efforts in running extra rehearsals and continually challenging the best out of our students and making them believe in their talents.

A10 Active Commonwealth Games

Turnford School are hosting the A10 Active Commonwealth Games on Thursday 10th October 2013. Primary pupils from 12 local schools will be taking part in a festival to celebrate the Commonwealth Games being held in Scotland in August. Our students will be assisting with some of the events and helping some of the teams. A report on the day will be in next week’s newsletter. Jayne Jarvis A10

Elite Canoeing with Team GB

In June Turnford School welcomed Team GB Canoeing to carry out a range of fitness tests on our students with the hope of finding ‘The Next Olympic Athlete’. After these tests students were invited for a final trial day at the new White Water Olympic Slalom Canoe Course in Waltham Abbey. We are pleased to announce that after all of this testing and trials, three students from Turnford School have been asked to join the ranks of their ‘Elite Development Squad’. Jason Brewer, Matthew Curry and Hannah Owen are now receiving expert coaching and training to help them develop as canoeists. As part of this they also have a coach come and visit them at school twice a week to ensure their fitness keeps developing.

We wish them the best of luck in their upcoming training.

Duke of Edinburgh Award – Year 11 students:

The Duke of Edinburgh (DofE) programme will soon be starting for Year 11 students. Are you in year 11 and want to experience camping in the wild with our expedition, want to help out by volunteering or take part in a physical activity and learn a new skill?

The DofE is a great way to gain new experiences that you will remember for a lifetime. Achieving a DofE Award will give you skills, confidence and a view on life that everyone is looking for, from employers to colleges and universities.

If you are in year 11 and are interested in completing your Bronze Duke of Edinburgh this year then please write a brief letter of application to Mr Clark explaining WHY you want to do the award and what you hope to get out of it. Deadline for letters is Friday 18th October. Thank you to those students who have already written their application letter. You will soon be receiving a letter inviting you to the first information meeting on Monday 21st October. For more information please visit www.dofe.org or speak to Mr Megaw or Mr Clark.

Year 12 Dragon’s Apprentice Challenge 10 Year 12 students have signed up to be part of this year’s East Herts and Broxbourne Dragon’s Apprentice Challenge. A total of 9 teams and 6 schools have entered into the challenge. Each team of students is linked to a local charity and a business mentor to support them in the process of developing their business initiatives. Students will be using their entrepreneurship skills as they have the challenge of creating a business plan to raise as much money as possible for the charity they are supporting over a period of three months. The money raised will go to ‘Safer Places’, a local charity established in Waltham Cross, for victims of domestic abuse. The students will have 3 meetings with their business mentor who is Ken Goodsell from B3 Living, an independent social housing organisation based in Hoddesdon and also meet with a representative from the charity organisation. This is an excellent opportunity for the students to put their entrepreneurial skills to the test and to develop an understanding of how businesses operate. We look forward to hearing about the ideas the team has to raise as much money as possible for Safer Places. The students involved are:

Adam Kerbouci James Perfect Oliver Reddin Aaron Baker Jordan Winter Lewis Lambert Paige Tovey Nicole Lockwood Emily Harry Ellie Tanfield

Mrs Goodes, Senior Teacher Business Studies/Media/ICT coursework catch up sessions

Media – Catch-up session for coursework is every Tuesday and Thursday from 3-4pm – Media Room

Business with Miss Clarke is on Tuesday 3-4pm – Coursework Catch-up in IT3

Business with Mr Lindquist is on Friday, 3-4pm – Coursework Catch-up in IT2

ICT- Coursework catch Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday in - IT1 from 3-4pm

Knife, Gangs and Gun Crime Awareness Workshop.

On Thursday 3/10/13 all of Year 9 and 10 were involved in a workshop presentation session delivered by Glen Banks, an experienced youth and community worker. The presentation looked at a number of issues around gun, knife and gang crime. Glen's presentation included real life stories about knife crime and the consequences this can have on the victims, the perpetrators, the family and society as a whole. He spoke about peer pressure and the stereotypical views the media portrays about young people. His messages were very clear. Here are some student views about the key messages they received:

Alex Matthews Year 10: "I learnt that it is my choice and I have choices. It's your choice."

Aflie Gibbs Year 10: "The presentation has completely changed my views about how some people can act on the streets. If I suspect dangerous behaviour from a group or person I would make sure I kept away from them."

Jay Saunders Year 10: "I thought it was good. It made me think about my choices."

Mrs Goodes Senior Teacher

T2 To continue to improve the quality of teaching so that all is good or better

Inset day 15th October

Inset will take place on October 15th and will focus on achieving good and outstanding lessons.

Haileybury collaboration

The Assistant Head of Hailey bury school has been tracking our high end students in lessons since the start of term. He has been encouraged and enthused by the building learning power programme and the challenge it provides our students.

Homework If you find your child does not have the homework in their planner that is set in the homework timetable, please make sure you email or ring into to alert the teacher or subject leader.

Y7 Feedback Evening

You said…….we did Year 7 feedback evening

You said We did Some parents still without insight log ins. Ensure that each one of you who told us you were without your log ins received them. If there are any further issues please get back to us. Some parents were not on the text or email Texts and emails are now updated – please let system us know if you feel you are still missing some texts.

Parents are concerned there are no lockers for Currently there are no students with lockers in students the school – our caretaker has to move them to new form rooms. We hope lockers will be available in the very near future. Some parents would like a reading list for Year 7 reading list can be found on the school students website, in departments under library. It is also attached this week to the newsletter. Rugby tops for boys – parents were unaware ofMr Clark (Head of PE) rang parents explaining them being compulsory. the need for rugby tops instead of the hoodies. Parents have asked if there is a h/w club Students can visit either the HUB or the library every break time, lunchtime or after school from 3-4 to complete h/w. We would like to move our child away from a Please speak to the Miss Radwell, Head of Year student who is causing distractions 7. Teachers have been emailed and students have been separated. Would like to see more books from other We will review a period when students can subjects take their books home for parents to see the work. They will be available on parents’ evening. Parents are concerned that the Matilda trip is The Matilda trip is offered to everyone which is on parentpay why it is on parentpay. This does not mean the trip is compulsory, it just means it’s available.

Food Tech payments The deadline for payment for Food Tech money (£5 for KS3 and £10 for KS4) was the 30th September.

If you still haven’t made payment please could you do so as soon as possible so that the students can start with their cooking practical lessons. Thank you.

TL 3 To ensure that marking gives good guidance to students on how to improve

Our first data drop will take place in 2 weeks and results will be with you post half term. You will notice that in order to give a predicted grade a number of our students are sitting assessments this week.

Target grade stickers

Year 8 and 9 students will receive their target grade stickers and current progress stickers to place in their planners in the next two weeks. Please make sure you have asked your child about these. Over this term students will then be seen by their tutor to review their work and to set targets about what they can do to improve. This strategy was trialled last year with the then year 8 group and the progress these students made was substantial

BS1 To improve student attendance

If your child is absent from school for unavoidable reasons please leave a message on the absence line or send an email to [email protected]

Thank you, Mary Dettmar, Attendance Officer Ext 213

Please make sure your child is in school. All holidays are unauthorised absence.

BS2 To improve the progress that our most vulnerable students make

The hub is now up and running for all students. Please be aware all students are welcome to gain support for any homework activity after and before school.

Please apply if you feel you are eligible for free school meals. It will support your child and family finances and support the schools as each free school meal means an additional £900 per child into the school’s budget to place in support.

Don’t miss out, apply now!

Applying for free school meals in Hertfordshire has never been easier or faster! We recommend you apply online at www.hertsdirect.org/freeschoolmeals

The benefits of applying online include: • It’s quick and easy to do – most online applications take about ten minutes to complete. Please make sure you have your national insurance number to hand.

• It can be done whenever it suits you, with no need for face-to-face or telephone contact

• In most cases, you won’t have to provide paper proof of benefit

• You won’t have to reapply for free school meals every year

• Your child will get their free school meals without delay

• You can apply for other benefits that you may qualify for at the same time

If you do not have access to the internet at home, you can obtain access and support at any of the following locations:

• Public Libraries

• UK Online Centres

• Turnford School

Please note:

Applications must be made in the name of the person who is receiving the qualifying benefit, or there may be a delay in processing the application.

If your application is accepted, you will be notified immediately. Your child’s school will also be advised to ensure the free school meal is provided straight away.

For more information or assistance with your application Visit www.hertsdirect.org/freeschoolmeals or call the customer service centre on 0300 123 4048 (8am-8pm Monday to Friday, 9am-4pm Saturday).

Reading list

Please see attached a recommended reading list for Year 7. Many parents have asked for this guidance.

L1 To focus all of the senior and middle leadership roles on a unrelenting shared strategy to become an outstanding school

This week the school has been in the process of recruiting for a Deputy Head Teacher. A number of students were involved in interviews and the candidates wanted to congratulate the following individuals on their mature approach and enthusiasm: Jessica Goodman, Jay McGuire, Rosie Renwick, Rachel Stevens, Luke Johnson, Mitchell Lincoln, Evin Nesanir, Abbie Cole and Josh Counihan.

Safety notices

Please be aware due to a small number of intruders entering our site at 3.20pm last week, we are closing all gates into the school and asking all visitors to go through main reception from 3pm till 4pm. After 4 p.m. reception will be found in the community sports office.

Dangerous Craze

Please be aware that some of our year 7 have picked up from the internet a “seatbelt” game craze which involves yanking the strap of a child’s bag to pull them over. This resulted in one student with a significant injury this week. All students have been informed that any activity like this will result in a zero tolerance reaction from the school and an exclusion. Please follow up on our advice at home.

BS3 To encourage a positive attitude to learning and the community.

6th form mentoring

Next week a number of our 6th form students will begin our mentoring program to support year 10 and 11 through their GCSEs. After initial training they will be working with students who have been matched to them, based on similar interests and personalities. They will work to help mentor these GCSE students to success.

A1 To make sure all subjects are able to show that their students have made good progress.

Insight

I would like to take the opportunity to ensure all parents are aware of, and able to access the Insight website.

Insight enables you to monitor your child’s daily progress at Turnford via a host of information such as:

 Notices  Attendance  Achievements  Behaviour  Assessments  Student Report  Special Educational Need details (if applicable)  Timetable

You can access Insight via the website https://insight.turnford.herts.sch.uk /INSIGHT

Alternatively there is a link on the Turnford School website which can also be used; If you have any queries or problems logging into Insight, please contact me via;

[email protected]

A2 To establish effective and consistent teaching of Communication ( Literacy), and Maths across the curriculum

This term you will feel an emphasis on reading across the school. Whenever and wherever you have the opportunity to encourage your child to read, please take it.

Other news

Year 10 Sex Education Day on Monday 14th October.

On Monday 14th October Year 10 will be involved in a number of workshops designed to raise awareness of Sex Education and Relationships. The normal timetable will be collapsed and students will be part of a number of single sex classes designed to inform and educate students about the right choices they can make in their relationships. The workshops will address issues around the following areas: Am I Normal? Contraception, Relationships and Sexually Transmitted Infections. Denise Blair a member of HertsAid (a local charity that works to inform young people and raise awareness of Sex Education and Relationships) will be supporting our workshop sessions. If you would like any further information regarding the Year 10 Sex Education Day then please contact Mrs Goodes 01992 308333 ext. 200. Street Dance Sessions

Please see attached poster regarding street dance sessions at Herts Regional College.

Site safety

Please do not drive onto the school site unless you have an appointment or are on school business. If you do need to come on site please make sure you use the correct entrance.

If you are collecting or dropping off students at the start or end of school please park away from the school entrance to allow space for the students to leave safely.

Dates for this half term:

October

4th Y7 & 10 photos

10th HPV Y8 girls

14th Y10 Sex ed day, Y13 sports trip P4 onwards

15th inset day – school closed

23rd Y11 art and photography gallery trip

28th-1st November half term

4th November back to school on a week 1

School Holidays

Inset Day - Tuesday 15th Oct 2013 (return to school Wednesday 16th Sept 2013)

Holiday - Monday 28th Oct 2013 - Sunday 3rd Nov 2013 (return to school Monday 4th Nov 2013)

Holiday - Saturday 21st Dec 2013 - Sunday 5th Jan 2014 (return to school Monday 6th Jan 2014)

Holiday - Monday 17th Feb 2014 - Sunday 23rd Feb 2014 (return to school Monday 24th Feb 2014)

Holiday - Monday 7th April 2014 - Monday 21st April 2014 (return to school Tuesday 22nd April 2014)

Holiday - Monday 5th May 2014 (return to school Tuesday 6th May 2014) Holiday - Monday 26th May 2014 - Sunday 1st June 2014 (return to school Monday 2nd June 2014)

Holiday - Year End [Monday 21st July 2014]