1st February 2019 Priory News Educating Students for Success in Life PUNCTUALITY TO SCHOOL Dates for Your Diary Dear Parents, Friday 1st February As you know, attendance and punctuality to school is always a key focus - Rock School Practical Exams, Main Hall of ours as we strive to drive up standards at The Priory School. Each 8.30am-4.30pm day, a small proportion of the student body arrive late to school (after - Year 10 Health & Social Care BTEC the gates close at 8.50am). These students sign in through front reception and have a late mark assigned to their name. Late arrival to - Rotary Technology Trip (Morning) school can be very disruptive for the morning routine of the class they 4th February-15th February then enter and it is not the best preparation for a day of learning. Sixth Form Taster Sessions Repeated incidents of lateness are also not preparing our young people for the world of work as they should be. Monday 4th February As part of a renewed focus on punctuality, we are trialling the sending Year 7 Make Your Own Sandwich Day of a daily communication, via InTouch, to all the parents of students with Chilli Banana, Main Hall late in the morning. We are aware that there are often valid reasons for being late to school (medical appointments, local traffic issues etc), but Tuesday 5th February there are some students who arrive without such strong reasons. We - Year 8 Progress & Improvement feel some of the late arrivals would come as a surprise to some parents Targets Sent Home who feel that their child left home in plenty of time to arrive promptly. - Parent Information Session: Online As such, parents of all late students will receive the following Safety 6.30-7.30pm, Main Hall notification (whether or not the reason for lateness is valid): Thursday 7th February Dear Parent/Carer, -Year 12 & Year 13 Art Trip This notification is to inform you that your child was late arriving to - Years 9, 10 & 11 Intermediate UK school today. The main school gates close at 8.50am. Please support us Maths Challenge, Main Hall 9-10.30am in ensuring your child is as prompt as possible in future. Thank you. - DofE Session: Using a Compass & Map We will also be sending out letters to relevant parents on a half termly Together basis for the students about whom we have the greatest concern, to - Year 8 Parents’ Evening 4.15-7.30pm inform them of the number of late marks their child has accrued to that point. Friday 8th February We look forward to your support in this matter. - Year 12 & Year 13 Art Trip Lawrence Foster, Assistant Headteacher - 8.30am-4.30pm Rock School Practical Exams, Main Hall - Post 14 Learning Pathways Booklets Sent Out to Parents/Carers EXAM CERTIFICATES FROM PREVIOUS YEARS We have a multitude of old certificates dating back to 2012. If your child SPORTS FIXTURES has not collected their certificate(s), please can they send a letter in Please see page 6 for a list of sports with one of their siblings authorising collection. They may not need fixtures. them now, but they’ll be essential when applying for jobs in the future. Responsibility Respect Resilience Teaching and Learning HEADTEACHER COMMENDATIONS Year 7: Red Badge Representing TPS at the Y6 Transition Conference at HBS: Flissy Lawson 7NJ Tilly Alexander 7CM Joseph Henley-Waters 7SO Frank Finch 7KL Szymon Pochoday 7SR Jack D’Amore 7NJ Lois Cash 7SR District Cross Country success: Daisy Morris 7NS Becoming the Taekwondo England Open Champion: Storm Pemberton 7RC Hard Work and Effort in the Making of Their Castles in History: Angel Chambers 7RC Lola Ellis 7RC William Huddleston 7RC Jessica Howell 7CM Corey Morton 7CM Achieving at the Regional Trampolining Championships and Qualifying for the Zonal Competition in January 2019: Zoe Cooper 7SO Harry Emler 7CM Violet Betts 7RC Year 8: Bronze Badge Achieving at the Regional Trampolining Championship and Qualifying for the Zonal Competition in January 2019: Lara Tobin 8MH Year 8: Silver Badge 100% Attendance while in Year 8: Daniel Baverstock 9HF Year 9: Red Badge Winning District Badminton Tournament: Holly Long 9CA Skye Hazelwood 9CV Achieving a Bronze Level in Street Dance and Passing with Honours: Kirsty Warren 9HF Year 9: Bronze Badge Winning the District Badminton Tournament: Millie Hazzard 9CA Teaching and Learning Year 10: Red Badges World Challenge Morocco 2018: Jamie Andrade 10MA Ben Blackford 10TV Matteo Gaboardi 10TV Nadia Sayers 10TV Adam Patel 10BC George Hart 10TV Gabe McFall 10AR Toby Taylor 10BC Receiving Their DofE Bronze Certificate and Badge: Bethany Rose 10AR Rhiannon Lawrence 10AR Harvey Miller 10AR Year 10: Bronze Badges Receiving Her Duke of Edinburgh Bronze Certificate and Badge: Nell Simmonds 10MA Putting Together with His Teacher a Concert at an Old People’s Home During the Summer: Billy Walker 10TV Achieving at the Regional Trampolining Championships and Qualifying for the Zonal Competition in January 2019: Hari Henderson 10BC World Challenge 2018 – Morocco: James Henley-Waters 10AR Briony Arnold 10AR Emma Dodd 10AR Luke Scovell 10AR Teaching and Learning NEW STAFF MEMBER: SASHA DONNELLY We are pleased to welcome Sasha to The Priory School as our new Receptionist. Sasha joins us from working on reception at The Bronzing Shop in Hitchin and before that at Bannatyne Health Club in Stotfold. As a parent of a current student and an ex-student at TPS, Sasha has quickly understood how the school works for the needs of every student. Sasha will be here to deal with any enquiries you may have (with her dazzling smile!) from 8am until 4pm and is one our fully qualified First Aiders. NEW STAFF MEMBER: LEANA HEALEY Welcome to Leana who joins us in the Office at The Priory School as our General Administrator. Leana joins us from working in the kitchen at the school so she has a good knowledge of our students and staff already. (She’s also a dab hand at baking brownies!) As a mum of three, Leana is aware of the importance of school communication. Leana is also First Aid trained. EXAM INVIGILATORS REQUIRED The Priory School require exam invigilators for the upcoming examination series starting 13th May 2019 and finishing 28th June 2019. Previous experience is not necessary as full training will be given. We would appreciate flexibility of mornings or afternoons. A current appropriate DBS (formerly CRB) check is needed and will be submitted by the school. You will be required to start at 8.30am for the morning sessions and 1pm for the afternoon sessions. For further information please contact the Examination Manager Janine Cane on 01462 416974 or email Paula Gee at [email protected]. SIMS PARENT APP Thank you to those parents/carers who have already downloaded the SIMS Parent App. We would like to encourage those who haven’t done this yet to do so to enable you to update all your contact details. Activation emails were sent out to you all from SIMS earlier this month. Simply click on the link from your tablet, PC or smartphone to activate your account. You can then login using your normal Facebook, Twitter, Google or Microsoft username and password. From your smartphone or tablet, download the app from the Google Play or Apple App store - search for SIMS Parent. From a PC or Windows phone, log in online at www.sims-parent.co.uk. Teaching and Learning BRONZE DUKE OF EDINBURGH’S AWARD Congratulations to the following Year 10 students for completing their Bronze Duke of Edinburgh’s award: Briony Arnold Joshua Bates James Henly-Walters Rhiannon Lawrence Laney Law-Randall Harvey Miller James Pither Bethany Rose Luke Scovell Atul Siburans Nell Simmonds Anna Willis William Box James Cook Oliver Hawkins ANNUAL SPELLING AND TIMES TABLES BEE COMPETITIONS Huge congratulations to the winners of the annual Spelling and Times Tables Bee competitions. This year’s winners, who performed in front of a hall full of spectators, were: KS3 Spelling: Elise Budd KS3 Times Tables: Eren Ozaydin KS4/5 Spelling: Jamie Leigh Clark KS4/5 Times Tables: Aryan Sharma Well done to all that competed. ROTARY YOUTH SPEAKS – ROUND 1 On Monday 14th January we had the first round of the Rotary Youth Speaks competition, a national competition for public speaking. TPS entered three teams: - Our Intermediate team (Sam Johnson 9CA, Elliot Mainwaring 9HF and Alice Blackford 9CA) spoke about ‘the secret sin of stereotypes’. - The first of our Senior teams (Molly Root 11AA, Erin Berry 11AA and Sam Grady 11HB) spoke about ‘the influence of music on young people’. - The second Senior team (Grace Ramsey 12NW, Harry Huckle 12NW and Euan Gilfillan 12LJ) questioned ‘has right-wing extremism become the new moderate?’ They were up against teams from Hitchin Boys’ School and Fearnhill, but our Year 9 Intermediate team were the runners-up and the Sixth Form senior team won! Both teams go through to the next round. The Intermediate round will be held on Tuesday 29th January at 6pm at Barnwell Upper School, Stevenage. The date for the Seniors is to be confirmed. A huge well done to all students who took part (as well as to the other members of our Debating Club for supporting the teams) and an even bigger congratulations to the winning students. SPORTSTeaching FIXTURES and Learning & RESULTS UK MATHEMATICAL TRUST INTERMEDIATE CHALLENGE – THURSDAY 7TH FEBRUARY One hundred of our students will take part in this National Challenge, solving stimulating and increasingly challenging mathematical problems. Can we beat last year's fabulous achievements of 2 Gold, 9 Silver and 27 Bronze certificates? Alongside these results, four students were invited