Newsletter December 2018 Principal’s Welcome At the time of writing this column it seems that our ruling party, Parliament, and the whole political process are in a degree of turmoil not seen for a very long time. There is a saying for circumstances such as these: “May you live in interesting times”. Some have claimed that to be an ancient Chinese curse, although a quick internet search suggest that it is a more modern invention. Nevertheless, I'm sure ancient Eastern sages looking for an appropriate proverb for our political masters would have struggled to come up with anything better. The curse of “interesting times” for education has certainly not gone away either. I know that some of you will have been following the BBC programme “School” and if you haven't seen it then I recommend you catch up with some of the episodes on iPlayer. What comes across most clearly is that schools which are well-run and which have a strong culture, history and ethos are always going to be in a significantly better position than those which seem to be constantly playing catch up. Part of that culture and ethos is parental support and expectations, and I would like to take this opportunity to thank the AGS parent body for their consistent and strong commitment to our values, standards and expectations. Having said that, this is no time for complacency. The overall funding of education remains a key concern for all of our schools and I think it's important that I share with you the following statistics: An 8% real terms cut to school budgets since 2010 (Source: Institute for Fiscal Studies) A 20% real terms cut to post-16 budgets since 2010 (Source: Institute for Fiscal Studies) There are well over half a million more pupils in schools since 2010 (Source: Department for Education) Compared to last year, we have 2,800 fewer Teaching Assistants in our schools (Source: DFE statistical release “Schools workforce Nov 2017”) Compared to last year, we have 5,400 fewer teachers in our schools (Source: DFE statistical release “Schools workforce Nov 2017”) Compared to last year, we have 2,600 fewer support staff in our schools (Source: DFE statistical release “Schools workforce Nov 2017”). Please do make it a new year's resolution that whatever happens in the political world, and whoever is our education secretary in January, that you write to them and express your concerns. If even the best run schools are concerned about the future provision of what is expected, it is so much more challenging for those schools operating in difficult contexts, and for those students with SEN whose funding has been severely reduced. Finally, back to some genuine ancient Chinese wisdom 寧為太平犬，莫做亂離人 - “it is better to be a dog in a peaceful time, than to be a human in a warring period.” Whatever happens elsewhere, may you and your families have a peaceful Christmas break and a happy 2019. I (and my dog) certainly intend to. Exams Officer update Well done to Year 11 students for all the hard work put into their mock exams. Timetables for Summer 2019 will now start appearing on AGS portals, so please do keep an eye on those. Year 12 exams start on the 9th January 2019; please check AGS portals for individual timetables and clash resolutions. ID cards will be issued in Spring Term which need to be taken to every exam. Year 13 now have access to mock and summer entries; although rooms are still subject to change. Years 10 to 13 - if you have any spare time over the holiday do check out the Examinations section of the school website, where you will find links to past papers, the‘ Route to Success’ handbook, and rules and regulations set by the JCQ (Joint Council for Qualifications). Have a restful break and a very Merry Christmas!! Mrs Dancy Examinations Officer New school minibus With support from the Stratford Town Trust and donations to our School Fund, we have been able to purchase a new school mini bus to take our students to our many extra curriculum events. Alcester Grammar School School Fund We are grateful to all those parents who have already pledged a regular monthly amount to our school fund. If you have not already done so, please read the letter from the Principal and Chair of Governors on our website at : http://www.alcestergs.co.uk The level of funds raised will determine to what extent the school will be able to deliver the “essential extras” - those extras which Securing the best possible contribute so much to the quality of education at AGS but which soon won’t be able to be supported from our budget in the light future for our students of reductions to our funding. Library and Information Centre … … working together … … reaching goals together BOOK DONATION We are very grateful to have had a number of books kindly donated to the Library recently by students, staff, parents and governors. READING CLOUD MLS AGS have invested in upgrading our online library resource, which is now called ‘Reading Cloud’. Reading Cloud is accessible from any internet enabled device, meaning that parents can also access Reading Cloud at home. Parents can monitor their child’s reading progress and assist with writing and videoing book reviews to engage with their child’s learning. Parents can also scan a book’s ISBN through the mobile app and get information on whether it’s in the school library. Teachers can create targeted reading lists for specific year groups or class sets to support curricular topics. Reading Cloud’s catalogue search functions encourages children to actively search their school library online to develop their information seeking skills, whilst the blogging and reviewing area where students can write about their favourite books and authors, builds their confidence, social skills and understanding texts. NEW WINDOWS AND PCS We were very pleased to return to the library at the start of the school year to brand new windows and PCs. The new windows in the computer area of library have been tinted to help prevent glare from the sun. This has made a big improvement on the students working environment! The new PCs are much smaller and much faster which has also made a big difference to the students and the way in which they can access information. STUDENT LIBRARIANS ALCESTER SCHOOLS’ BOOK AWARDS We have recruited this year’s team of student We will be welcoming back author Helen Watts librarians and they are well underway with their to AGS in the spring of next year to host an event training and are already an asset to the Library! for a select number of our most enthusiastic readers. This will form part of the 3 stages of The Alcester Schools’ Book Awards which is held here at AGS, Alcester Academy and also St Benedict’s Catholic High School. English News WRITING CLUB The Creative Writing Club, which means on a Tuesday lunchtime (12.50-1.20pm) in En1 has continued to go from strength to strength under the guidance of A level English Language student Eryn. She writes, Since taking over the Creative Writing club, I am deeply impressed at the students’ work and how every week they are able to conjure up new ideas for either a play, a poem or a piece of prose. Over the last few weeks, Creative Writing club has experimented with many styles of writing, from children’s novels one week to poetry the next. However, every week has seen some amazing pieces of writing created and, whether in groups or on their own, all the members of the club have shared their work and appreciated each other’s creativity. Most recently, we tried poetry for Christmas, and they had to choose a Christmas storyline to base their poem on, with everyone writing a stanza each. They chose as a group to do “The First Ever Christmas”, including all sorts of mayhem such as Mrs Claus’s paranoia over Santa’s disappearance on Christmas eve, or Rudolf’s dismay at not being chosen to join the other Reindeers. Enjoy a taster of their hard work below! Everyone’s ready; the plan is set, dear Mrs Claus stands up to be met. Through the bright stained-glass-window streams bright coloured light, Oh Santa, get ready for such a great fright! And so a plan was hatched, A fake wedding was to go ahead. Oh what a shock Santa would get, as his wife married Elf 5293 with glee. Back into the warmth of this house he comes, Covered in white, smelling of plums. He spreads his arms with a look of delight, Then I scream at him: “Where have you been all this night?” I have this red nose you see, So Santa won’t pick me, All of the other reindeers, They all have gone but, oh, not me…. ROMEO AND JULIET LIVE SCHOOLS' BROADCAST The best "two hours traffic [revision] of our stage" On Wednesday 21st November Year 10 were lucky enough to have the opportunity of watching a live performance of the RSC's current production of Romeo and Juliet streamed into our theatre at AGS. This was a contemporary production highlighting the impact of oppressive authority over teenagers and raising interesting questions about a pervading masculine culture both in Elizabethan England and the 21st century. For Year 10 students embarking upon their study of this GCSE set text, watching a world-renowned live theatre production of the play is invaluable for developing their own interpretations of the text, exploring characterisation and reflecting upon themes, as well as securing their understanding.