Welcome back to Mount Grace School – we are looking forward to a new and exciting year ahead!

Best results ever! I am delighted to tell you that this summer we received our best ever GCSE exam results – where one in five of all grades awarded were A* to A including over 12 of the highly elusive new Grade 9 scores in English and Maths. 64% of students received five A*-C grades including English and Maths which is in line with the national average and a 17% increase on last year’s results. Well done to the Year 11s and to the staff who taught them – who all worked tirelessly to achieve this magnificent outcome.

Open Evening | Wednesday 20 September 2017 | 5.00 – 9.00pm Our Open Evening is being held on Wednesday 20 September. Parents and students in Years 5 and 6 are invited to come and look around the school, visit classrooms, talk to teachers and see great displays of work, as well as find out more about the process of applying for a place for September 2018. The Headteacher’s speech will be at 6pm and 7pm in the Hall. If you know of friends or relatives who are looking for a secondary school for 2018, please invite them. We would love to meet them and answer their questions.

We would also welcome members of the local community to come and look around – either at the Open Evening (please sign in as a local community member) or during the school day (please phone 01707 655 512 extension 202 to make an appointment).

Peter Baker Headteacher

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Summer School 2017 Thank you to Mr Bhura and his team who organised a fantastic four day Summer School at the end of July. 28 children attended and took part in an exciting range of activities including arts and crafts; drama and dance, Science, a visit from the Tottenham Hotspur Youth trainers and some Potters Bar firefighters. Children were able to explore the school in an informal way and learn new skills in a safe and fun environment.

For more photos please visit: http://www.mountgrace.herts.sch.uk/gallery4/4384.html

Parents said: ‘Summer school was amazing. My daughter didn't want it to end. Well worth the money and a fantastic opportunity for the children to take part, meet other children in a quieter environment and get the chance to look round the school and meet some of the staff.’

‘My son had an amazing time and really enjoyed all the different activities, in particular rocket making in science with Miss Cook and football with Ahmed from the Tottenham Hotspur youth team. It has been wonderful seeing him get up in the mornings and get ready with no arguments as he's been so keen to get to school. It's done him a world of good and I think it's a great way of making the jump from primary to secondary school.’

‘It has made my son feel a lot more confident about starting secondary school. Thank you’.

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Year 11 feedback We gave our year 11 students a questionnaire on their results’ day. This has given us not only some great feedback, but some suggestions for further improvement. Our students said that the revision tools listed below had the most impact on their learning:

1. Dedicated exam board past paper practice 2. Study leave revision lessons in school 3. 1-2-1 time with teacher in class and in ‘The HUB’ 4. Holiday revision classes 5. GCSEPod

They have suggested starting ‘The HUB’ earlier in the year, perhaps before Christmas. They suggested more online tasks set for completion at home and more set tasks to complete in ‘The HUB’ under direct supervision.

Topic learning resources as given by year 11 students: BBC Bitesize, MathsWatch, Maths Genie, GCSEPod, SAMLearning, Tassomai, Past Papers, You Tube, Internet Research.

Google Classroom We are going fully Google Classroom this year! Each class will have a google classroom where staff will post resources and class information. Pupils will be able to access their classrooms at home if they do not have a phone in school. Our Year 11 students gave us very good feedback about its impact on their learning and our Sixth Form students love it.

GCSEPod – let’s get back to the number 1 spot! You may remember that last year we gained the top spot nationally for our use of GCSEPod. Our students viewed five times more pods than the national average. 16 out of our top 20 performing students viewed more than 40 pods per subject which had an impact on their grades. English Literature was the top performing department with over 8,000 views of their content alone. This is more than many schools manage in a whole year! Miss Horn said that this did have an impact on results within the subject. We will soon be back in the swing building up our pod count so that we can try and reach the top spot again.

SAM Learning SAM Learning is back on the digital learning agenda for this year. There is a wealth of new material for the GCSE subjects aimed at the new grade 5 as well as new content for subjects such as Citizenship. Such is the input that the company has made that we felt it beneficial to purchase this for our students across the school.

Seesaw blogs We will be running three international blogs this year – the Wallace-Grace blog with Iowa in America, The Olav-Grace blog with a school in Sweden and the Onda-Grace blog with our friend Ricardo and his team in Brazil. We will let you know what happens when we have news.

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We are delighted to say that over the summer holidays we sent £757 to Ricardo and Onda Solidaria. This money is being used to finance the building of the kitchen and dining hall area at his education facility. This building is being dedicated to Chibuzo Omisa, a student of ours, who very sadly passed away last year. As Chibuzo loved to read, Ricardo has created a reading area within the buildings that overlooks the nearby hills so that volunteers working on site might relax and read as well as work with him. We will be holding more charity events this year and non-uniform days to help fully fund this fantastic project. As and when we receive new photos from Ricardo we will post them on the blog and put this into HEADlines.

New School Instagram account You can now follow us @mountgraceschool You can also follow the ADT department @adt_mgs

Open Evening – School closures and request for Helpers As we mentioned earlier in the newsletter, our Open Evening is on Wednesday 20 September between 5pm and 9pm. In order to get the school ready for visitors, we will end the school day at 12.40pm on Wednesday 20 September and we will have a late start of 11am on Thursday 21 September.

Letters are being sent out to Year 8, 9 and Sixth Form students asking them to sign up to be tour guides for the evening. Year 7, 10 and 11 students may be asked by Heads of Faculties to help within faculties with various demonstrations. Both roles are very important and our students always impress visitors to the school, so if you are willing to help please return the permission slips as soon as possible. Thank you.

Easy Fundraising helps you and helps the school Please do your online shopping and help to raise donations for Mount Grace School at the same time. Visit www.easyfundraising.org.uk and sign up now! Every penny helps. Thanks for your support.

Congratulations to Ben Bloomfield who has just graduated from the University of Hertfordshire with a 2:1 Physics degree. We wish him well in his future career.

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This week’s words are: parsimonious and vicarious. You can either take a slip from the library or you can enter online by going to the ‘Words of the Week’ page of the website: http://www.mountgrace.org.uk/words-of-the-week/4373.html

School Cleaners are needed Working hours are 4.00 – 6.00pm or 4.30 – 6.30pm term-time only. If you are interested, please contact Tracy Biggs on 07938 234898.

Diary dates for this term For details of upcoming events please see the School Calendar by using the following link: http://www.mountgrace.herts.sch.uk/calendar/3384.html Friday 8 September School Photographs for Years 7, 10 and 12 Tuesday 12 September Year 12 Welcome to Sixth Form Evening 6.00 -7.00pm Wednesday 20 September Open Evening 5.00 – 9.00pm (Headteacher’s Speech at 6pm and 7pm) Sunday 24 September Stamp Fair (PTFA Help needed to serve refreshments) Wednesday 4 October Year 7 Mariners’ Trip Saturday 14 October Family Quiz Evening

Here’s our pick of things going on around the capital over the weekend. But please check details before you journey out.

Totally Thames 2017 | Until 30 September Celebrate the Thames and its culture with a vibrant programme of river-inspired art, live performances, archaeology walks, boat races and more along London's famous river http://totallythames.org/whats-on

Hackney One Carnival | Sunday 10 September 12noon to 8pm Missed Notting Hill Carnival? Why not join Hackney’s this Sunday? https://www.hackney.gov.uk/carnival

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ZIP World London | Until 1 October Take a ride on one of the world’s fastest urban zip wires. https://www.zipworld.co.uk/adventure/detail/zip-world-london#tickets

And finally… Fact of the week Butterflies taste with their feet. A butterfly’s sense of taste is coordinated by chemoreceptors on their tarsi (lowest part of leg) and works only on contact. It is used to determine whether an egg- laying insect’s offspring will be able to feed on a leaf before eggs are laid on it. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butterfly

Have a great weekend. Best wishes The HEADlines Team You can also view this newsletter on the website http://www.mountgrace.herts.sch.uk/headlines/4084.html

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Mount Grace School Open Evening 2017 | Wednesday 20 September, 5pm to 9pm Preparations are well underway for next Wednesday’s Open Evening. We are looking forward to meeting lots of prospective new students – as well as any local residents or members of the community that would be interested in looking around the school. Visiting children will be given a ‘Passport’ to get ‘stamped’ as they tour the school with prizes for full Passports and the chance to enter a prize draw. Please visit the website for further details. http://www.mountgrace.org.uk/open-evening-2017/4349.html

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Sixth Form Welcome Evening The new Sixth Form and their Parents enjoyed a ‘Welcome to Sixth Form’ evening in the Hall on Tuesday. Ms Indra and Ms Gardner shared key information and explained the new procedures which have been put in place for Year 12s.

There was an opportunity for parents to ask questions and gain new information on all sorts of topics including attendance, uniform, attitudes to learning and more. Feedback has been overwhelmingly positive as parents were grateful for the information which was provided in a clear and concise manner.

One of the parents said, ‘There was a very positive atmosphere at the meeting and we found it most helpful.’

Cycle safety update We wrote to parents last year about our concerns about the lack of cycle helmets being worn to school. We also highlighted the way in which many of our pupils are riding home without any due diligence to traffic, pedestrians or the Highway Code. This situation has not improved this year.

Therefore we met as a school to discuss the ways forward in terms of cycling and we will be sending a letter to the parents of every child who cycles to and from school. The letter will also be added to the website.

This letter will be followed up by an assembly for anyone who uses a bike to get to school or to ride home. At the heart of all of this is the safety and welfare of our pupils as they use their bikes and we need your support with this.

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PTFA raise over £20,000 We would like to say a big ‘Thank-you’ to all parents, friends and staff who have helped at PTFA events throughout the year. As a result of their efforts, over £20,000 has been donated to the school this year, which has been spent on a wide selection of equipment. Purchases included a Memorial Bench for Chibuzo Omisa; hand mixers, a tumble dryer and dishwasher for D&T; a new school Minibus; a flat vision screen for the Hall; two televisions for the PE Department; text books for Maths and MFL; atlases for Geography; board games for after school clubs and much more.

Cakes are needed, and help also needed to serve refreshments for the Stamp Fair on Sunday 24 September, and for the Primary Football Tournament on Saturday 30 September. If you can help with either, even for an hour, please let Mrs McMahon know as soon as possible.

Show My Homework Apologies to everyone who has had trouble logging into Show My Homework over the last few days. It was a technical problem that was unfortunately out of our hands. Many of you have emailed in concerned that you cannot see homework issued – we hope most of these have been rectified but please email [email protected] if you are still experiencing difficulties. The school will make allowances for late homework where resources were attached to SMHW or homework details were not written in planners.

Google Classroom We ran a very successful trial last year in the use of Google Classroom in the Sixth Form. This allows teachers to have a class page dedicated to each class that they teach. On the class page they post resources, class messages and can set assignments that can then be handed in electronically, therefore saving paper and printing. We are looking to move over to Google Classroom for all of our homework setting this term. Students will be shown how to access their account and parents will be receiving an e-mail summary of all homework that has been set by teaching staff. Mr McAleese will be producing videos for parents to show the merits of Google Classroom.

Seesaw in PE – filming and feedback This year we have a very exciting addition to our PE lessons. Our students now have the ability to record footage of their technical skills in a range of different sports and send this footage to their Seesaw class page. They will then go into the gym where they will view the footage they have just shot and make written suggestions for the person, group or team that was filmed in action. This is all through the use of our Seesaw Learning app.

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New School Instagram account You can now follow us @mountgraceschool You can also follow the ADT department @adt_mgs

PE extra-curricular timetable available The new extra-curricular club timetable for the Autumn term is now available. Choices include Table Tennis, netball, basketball, football, dance and squash. For more information, check with Mr Roberts in the PE Department.

Open Evening – School closures and request for Helpers In order to get the school ready for visitors, the school day will end at 12.40pm on Wednesday 20 September and there will be a late start of 11am on Thursday 21 September for all students.

Letters have been sent out to Year 8, 9 and Sixth Form students asking them to sign up to be tour guides for the evening. Year 7, 10 and 11 students may be asked by Heads of Faculties to help within faculties with various demonstrations. Both roles are very important and our students always impress visitors to the school, so if you are willing to help please return the permission slips as soon as possible. Thank you.

Easy Fundraising helps you and helps the school Please do your online shopping and help to raise donations for Mount Grace School at the same time. Visit www.easyfundraising.org.uk and sign up now! Every penny helps. Thanks for your support.

Congratulations to Samad A in Year 9 for including the words parsimonious and vicarious in a sentence: Since I have many food allergies, I tend to be a vicarious eater who enjoys food through the stories of others. Even though I can see a lot of food I can eat I want to be parsimonious about my spending.

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This week’s words are: resilience and perseverance. You can either take a slip from the library or you can enter online by going to the ‘Words of the Week’ page of the website: http://www.mountgrace.org.uk/words-of-the-week/4373.html

School Cleaners are needed Working hours are 4.00 – 6.00pm or 4.30 – 6.30pm term-time only. If you are interested, please contact Tracy Biggs on 07938 234898.

Diary dates for this term For details of upcoming events please see the School Calendar by using the following link: http://www.mountgrace.herts.sch.uk/calendar/3384.html Friday 15 September Year 7 CAT testing Wednesday 20 September Open Evening 5.00 – 9.00pm (Headteacher’s Speech at 6pm and 7pm) Sunday 24 September Stamp Fair (PTFA Help needed to serve refreshments) Saturday 30 September Primary Schools’ Football Tournament 9.00am - 12.30pm Wednesday 4 October Year 7 Mariners’ Trip Wednesday 4 October PTFA AGM – details to follow Saturday 14 October Family Quiz Evening 7.00 for 7.30pm

Here’s our pick of things going on around the capital over the weekend. But please check details before you journey out.

Open House London | 16-17 September | various locations across London Now in its Silver Anniversary year – free entry to London’s best buildings https://openhouselondon.org.uk/

London Podcast Festival | 13-17 September | Kings Place, Kings Cross Tips to get you started at podcasting, to panel chats with the teams behind some of the best ‘casts https://openhouselondon.org.uk/

Sunrise Yoga at the Sky Garden | Everyday | Sky Garden, EC3M 8AF Start your weekend by restoring your body and mind with Yoga, 26 floors up in the Sky Garden. https://skygarden.london/event/sunrise-yoga-breakfast

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And finally… Fact of the week (thank you Mr McCarthy) The longest word in the English language has 189,819 letters.

Methionylthreonylthreonylglutaminylarginyl … isoleucine is the chemical name of the largest known protein titin. Lexicographers have argued however that chemical compounds should not count.

The largest non-technical word is antidisestablishmentarianism, with a mere 28 letters.

http://gizmodo.com/5962401/the-longest-word-in-english-takes-35-hours-to-pronounce

Have a great weekend. Best wishes The HEADlines Team You can also view this newsletter on the website http://www.mountgrace.herts.sch.uk/headlines/4084.html

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Open Evening Extravaganza We had an excellent Open Evening last night. The school looked amazing and it was great to see so many happy faces visiting the faculties and joining in all the exciting activities and challenges.

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The activities included science experiments using a Van de Graff generator which made your hair stand on end; Orchestra practice; digital games and learning using Quizlet and GCSEPod; PE using Seesaw to take live footage of sport action and analyse the videos; making chutney in the Food Department; a ‘whodunit’ in Drama; eating ‘globe’ cake in Geography and so much more. One of the highlights was listening to Mr Baker explaining how students achieved their best GCSE results ever this summer through hard work, digital learning and dedicated staff.

Visitors collected Passport stamps in each faculty and presented their completed Passports at the end to win prizes including furry emojis! Thank you to everybody who joined in. Their names were entered into a Lucky Draw … and the winners are:

First Prize: Apple Air Pods – Danielle Harvey Second Prize: £20 Amazon voucher – Alfie Hanrahan Third Prize: £10 Amazon voucher – Cherry Noble

Winners will be notified by email.

Online Applications for a place at Mount Grace School in September 2018 need to be completed online on the County website by 31 October 2017 at the very latest. Go to www.hertfordshire.gov.uk/admissions and this link will take you to the correct place.

Visitor Feedback Mr Baker introduced parents to one of our quizzing tools called Socrative and he ran two live quizzes with parents. The feedback responses (77) from question 3 are shown here:

What impressed you most this evening during your visit? Possible answers % Head’s Speech 22 The feel of the school 19 The guides 19 Ability to talk to staff and students 19 Faculty visits 14 The Grounds 7

Our student speakers Amy B, Joe T, Scout I and David W added much to Mr Baker’s speech with a student perspective of life here at Mount Grace.

Written feedback included: ‘Loved the inclusive feeling of the school’, ‘Very impressed with the positive atmosphere’, ‘Our tour guide was spot on, explained every detail’, ‘The Head’s speech was very helpful and Mr Bhura was a fantastic tour guide – very impressed’, ‘The Science labs were brilliant’, ‘Our tour guide Will was FANTASTIC, gave us a lot of detail and was a great representative for the school’, ‘We love EVERYTHING!’

If you didn’t manage to get to the Open Evening last night, or would like to have another look around the school, why not make an appointment to attend one of our Open Mornings next week? Open Mornings on Tuesday 26 and Thursday 28 September at 9am. To make an appointment please contact Mrs McAleese on Tel: 01707 655512 extension 230.

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Maths Forum On Monday afternoon, Mount Grace hosted a Maths Forum for Heads of Maths from ten local secondary schools. The session, led by Zoe Coomber, our Maths SLE (Specialist Leader of Education), was focused on sharing good practice and reviewing the first set of results from the new Maths GCSE (9-1). The group were able to share reflections on preparing students for the new exams, tiers of entry, best resources and much more. It was a very productive session which will have benefits for all the students we teach.

Digital Parents Evening We would like to invite you to attend a digital learning evening here at school. This is partly in response to parental requests and partly because we have increased our use of Digital Learning to enhance the experience of our students. With many learning opportunities available we would like to show you how these work. To that end please follow the link below if you would like to sign up for the evening with us.

Details and dates will follow once we have looked at the results from the questionnaire: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/XN9LMLX

Show My Homework You will soon be receiving a letter with fuller details about SMHW. We plan to cease using this product during this term once our subscription runs out. We have thought long and hard about this decision and consulted with staff and students alike. We also talked to the company to get some statistics to help us reach the decision. Last year only 8% of parents used their own SMHW account to access their child’s set work. We spend many thousands of pounds a year to post homework online and we are going to switch to Google Classroom, which offers many other features and is free to schools across the globe.

We believe that by switching to Google Classroom we can reach 100% of parents with either a daily or weekly homework report whilst at the same time giving you details about class notices, announcements and range of activities.

We need to stress that staff can and are still setting homework on SMWH – particularly in years 7 and 8. They will make it clear to students whether to use Google or SMHW. We are in the process of setting up every student with their Google Classroom account and inviting them into the class so that they and you have full access to all the information being given by staff.

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Google Classroom As mentioned above we are introducing the rest of the school to Google Classroom following an excellent year last year with the Sixth Form and a trial in Year 11. In our student questionnaire in August, the Year 11 students told us how invaluable it was during the run up to their exams. 90% of them rated it as very useful or extremely useful. Staff were able to still connect with students via their shared class pages once the students had left for study leave. Please look at the following video if you would like to know more. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0DCOe9v9CuM

Seesaw Seesaw has arrived in PE in a big way! We now have the two flat screens up and running and sections of lessons are now being filmed and sent via Seesaw to the TV. This allows our students to analyse the footage taken and gives them an opportunity to comment and set targets for each other. This is how the professional world of sport has evolved over the last few years and we are delighted that we now have this capability.

Quizlet Live Quizlet has been used really well this term across the school. It gives us the ability to start a lesson, for example, with a team quiz to identify gaps in knowledge or to set a very challenging exercise that students must work together to achieve. Students and staff are loving this. We are going to give staff the opportunity this year to become international ambassadors for Quizlet and to become leading experts in each of our digital apps – starting with Quizlet.

60 Seconds on… As we are now using technology across all key stages we feel that it would be very beneficial for you to have some video tutorials to help you understand all of our digital learning. We will be creating a series of videos and posting them on the website and linking them into HEADlines. We will try to keep them under a minute so that they are short, informative and to the point!

The extra-curricular club timetable for the Autumn term is now available. Choices include Table Tennis, netball, basketball, football, dance and squash – as well as GCSE handball. For more information, check with Mr Roberts in the PE Department or visit: http://www.mountgrace.herts.sch.uk/sport2/4288.html

SEND Parent Drop In The first SEND ‘Parent Drop In’ takes place on Monday 25 September from 3.15 – 4.15pm. Please drop in for a ‘brew’, a biscuit and a chat, or ring the SEND area to make an appointment. PTFA The new ‘Mount Grace Lotto Fund’ will be launching soon. More details to follow.

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Diary dates for this term For details of upcoming events please see the School Calendar by using the following link: http://www.mountgrace.herts.sch.uk/calendar/3384.html Sunday 24 September Stamp Fair (PTFA help still needed to serve refreshments between 9-3) Friday 29 September Sixth Form visit to ‘Learn to Live’ at the Wyllyotts Centre Saturday 30 September Primary Schools’ Football Tournament 9.00am - 12.30pm Wednesday 4 October Year 7 Mariners’ Trip Saturday 14 October Family Quiz Evening 7.00 for 7.30pm Saturday 18 November Christmas Market 11.00 – 3.00pm

Here’s our pick of things going on around the capital over the weekend. But please check details before you journey out.

London Design Festival | 16-24 September | Various locations across London http://www.londondesignfestival.com/

Japan Matsuri 2017 | Sunday 24 September | Trafalgar Square http://www.japanmatsuri.com/

Carnaby Fashion Festival | Thursday 21 – Sunday 24 September | Carnaby Street https://www.carnaby.co.uk/news-and-events/carnaby-fashion-festival-the-schedule/

And finally… Fact of the week (thank you Mr McCarthy) The third Invictus Games open this weekend in Canada. English poet William Ernest Henley (1849– 1903) wrote ’Invictus’ as a short Victorian poem. It was written in 1875 and published in 1888, originally with no title in his first volume of poems, Book of Verses, in the section Life and Death. https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/51642/invictus http://www.invictusgames2017.com/

Have a great weekend. Best wishes The HEADlines Team

You can also view this newsletter on the website http://www.mountgrace.herts.sch.uk/headlines/4084.html Volume 3 Issue 3 | Thursday 21 September 2017 Page | 5

Year 7 Mariners’ Trip

Students from Year 7 spent Wednesday 4 October ‘team-building’ at the Mariners’ Centre in Cuffley. They took part in a wide range of activities including raft building, kayaking, canoeing and problem-solving to help them practise working in teams, gain confidence, and learn new skills. Thank you to Mr Bhura for organising a fantastic trip.

‘Learn 2 Live’ Year 12 students visited the Wyllyotts Centre last Friday for a ‘Learn 2 Live’ event organised by the Hertfordshire Road Safety Partnership. This includes representatives from the Police, Fire and Rescue, Trading Standards and the Council. Topics included awareness of sources of road danger (such as travelling too fast); non-compliance (such as not wearing seatbelts or buying insurance); risky manoeuvres and unsafe driving practice; distraction and drink driving. The initiative encourages students to drive, ride and travel safely.

‘It was an eye opening experience and gave me confidence that people will drive safely after attending Learn 2 Live’ Natalie A

‘Learn 2 Live was a very worthwhile, but hard hitting experience that has had an impact on everyone that watched it. I'm confident that people who attended will be encouraged to always drive carefully.’ Sophie R

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Leadership Academy event

Last week, Mount Grace School hosted a festival for Year 5 & 6 Primary school students from Cuffley and Ladbrooke Schools. Students took part in a series of problem solving activities aimed at developing their interpersonal skills. These activities were created and led by our outstanding Year 12 BTEC sport students who combined numeracy, literacy and language based challenges alongside the practical activities.

The students were James H, Jake H, Charlotte C, Joe F, Jack A, Harry K, Oliver S, Meliz V & Harry B. Staff and students from both Primary Schools commented on the excellent work of these students who were a credit to the school and the local community.

MP visit

Oliver Dowden MP came in to school last Friday to speak to Year 11 GCSE Citizenship students. He explained how he became an MP after studying law and politics and how part of his role includes predicting and planning for questions which may get raised by Jeremy Corbyn at Prime Minister’s Question Time each week.

Charlie T said: ‘He was inspirational and gave us a good insight into the role of an MP’. Bailey L said: ‘He was a good and interesting speaker and I now understand more about politics’. Bilal H said: ‘I spoke to him afterwards as I’m interested in studying law. He was very helpful and informative and said studying law or politics will “open more doors” in the future.’

Defibrillator in school Thank you to the PTFA who have bought a Defibrillator for the school – JUST IN CASE! We hope we will never need to use it – but are very grateful that in an emergency situation we may now be able to save a life!

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Textile designer visit for Sixth Form art students Sixth Form students were treated to a visit this morning from textile designer Angelica Chrysanthou. She brought in samples of her work and mood boards which she talked through and explained the process of turning an idea into a textile. Hannah S said, ‘The talk was very inspiring and beneficial as we heard her personal account of her experiences in the creative industry and how she got there.’ Thank you to Mr Kourris for arranging the visit.

Herts Young Homeless ‘Home Truths’ Seminar for Sixth Form Herts Young Homeless came to speak to Sixth Form on Wednesday to help prepare them for independent living. Topics covered included budgeting, leaving home, renting and tenants’ rights, student accommodation at University and more. She also shared information about young people who have been made homeless and been victims of crime – and where students can access help and support.

Primary Schools Football Tournament This annual event was held last Saturday morning, with 12 schools (15 teams) taking part. Congratulations to Cranborne School who won the Trophy beating Brookmans Park 1-0 in the final Little Heath won the Shield, also winning 1-0 against St Giles. Thank you to Mr Pett for organising the event, with assistance from 6th Form students. Thank you to the PTFA who provided refreshments including a barbeque.

Table Tennis club GCSE Table Tennis club meets every Friday lunchtime – and is aimed at improving practical grades for GCSE PE. Numbers are growing every week so get there early to be sure of a table.

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Google Classroom Within the next week or so you will start to receive an invitation from Google. This will be your invitation to receive class and homework information from each subject that your son or daughter takes. Here is the example that I sent last week again. You can choose to have a daily or weekly view. A letter with full details will go out to all parents next week. https://support.google.com/edu/classroom/answer/6386354?hl=en&authuser=0 We will be switching to Google Classroom fully after half-term and will be stopping using Show My Homework. GCSEPod We passed the 1,000 pod mark last week and have now moved onto 1409 pods as of this week. Top students are Chidozie O and Thomas H so far this year and Miss Horn is the top teacher. Miss Stradling is the all-time assessment setter as she sets pods and questions to all students in year 11. Overall Leevin N in year 11 has watched 765 pods since year 10 and is on course to pass the magical 1,000 mark this year. Muba K is our top student in year 10 with 199 pods watched. Well done everyone! As a nod to our phenomenal success last year, the company has contacted the school and asked if they can use us as a national case study and take a look at what strategies allowed us to become the number 1 school in the country for a large portion of last year. As and when this is published we will pass on the details via HEADlines. Remember that there is the parents section on the website that you can access without needing a login: https://www.gcsepod.com/parents/ Google Expeditions During the Prospective Parents’ Evening we showcased much of our digital learning including the virtual reality goggles. This year the aim is to incorporate as much of that into lessons as possible. Last week Mr Delaney explored the solar system using the ipods and the goggles with one of his classes. He said that there were audible gasps in the room as students explored space via the 360 degree photos via the Google goggles. Independent Learning – Digital Support Please remember that we have support packages across all key stages for our students. KS3: SAM learning KS4: GCSEPod, SAM Learning KS5: Khan Academy Individual faculties have support as well such as Hegarty Maths.

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External speakers and visits We are very pleased with the number of outside Speakers who have accepted invitations from Staff (especially Citizenship) and students to come to school to share their experiences. They have shared invaluable insights from their lives and jobs on a local, national and international level. We are very excited to be welcoming the deputy speaker of the House of Commons soon as well as a former pupil who is going to be visiting her alma mater in a very novel way – that is all we will say for the moment!

The PTFA launched the new Lotto Fund at their Annual General Meeting on Wednesday. For only £15 per year, you could win £50 (First prize) or £20 (Second prize) each half term, with special bonuses at Christmas and in the summer, when the prizes will be DOUBLED! Sign up as soon as possible by completing the form on the school website – link below. You can pay on Wisepay. http://www.mountgrace.herts.sch.uk/lotto-fund/4555.html

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Student Success Congratulations to Dylan S, who passed his First Dan (Black Belt) in Shotokan Karate on Sunday 1 October. Dylan has been practising Karate since the age of 6 and it was delighted to see all his hard work paying off. Dylan trains with Tiska Potters Bar & St Albans Karate Club.

Congratulations to the following students for including the words imagining and reasoning in a sentence:

Year 7 | Drew M and Nina P Year 10 | Hayley T and Rosie E

This week’s words are: imitation and collaboration. You can either take a slip from the library or you can enter online by going to the ‘Words of the Week’ page of the website: http://www.mountgrace.org.uk/words-of-the-week/4373.html

Diary dates for this term For details of upcoming events please see the School Calendar by using the following link: http://www.mountgrace.herts.sch.uk/calendar/3384.html Monday 9 – Friday 13 October Year 13 Flatford Mill trip Saturday 14 October Family Quiz Evening 7.00 for 7.30pm Wednesday 15 November Year 10 Drama trip to Othello Saturday 18 November Christmas Market 11.00 – 3.00pm

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And finally… Fact of the week (thank you Mr McCarthy) The average 4-year-old will ask nearly 300 questions a day

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/9959026/Mothers-asked-nearly-300-questions-a-day- study-finds.html

Have a great weekend. Best wishes The HEADlines Team

You can also view this newsletter on the website http://www.mountgrace.herts.sch.uk/headlines/4084.html

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Flatford Mill trip

Year 13 Geography students have been away all week in Flatford Mill in Suffolk on their compulsory field trip. They managed to raise almost £400 towards the cost of their trip by organising a car boot sale, as well as selling coffee and sweets to staff and students. They are studying both human and physical geography, collecting a range of data which they will use to conduct investigations, including visiting Walton on the Naze and Harwich. The work they do as a result of this trip accounts for 20% of their coursework. Thank you to Miss Burlton for organising the trip.

Visit from David Smith JP

Year 11 GCSE Citizenship students had a visit last Friday from Justice of the Peace David Smith JP, a magistrate in Northamptonshire. Students learned about the skills and qualities needed to be a magistrate. Afterwards students had a chance to take on the role of justices of the peace and decided sentencing on a series of case studies based on anonymised real cases.

‘The magistrate was extremely inspirational and gave facts I didn't know which will help in my GCSE. For example, I learnt that a magistrate does not have any formal legal training but that they need to be a respectable member of the community.’ Cameron R, Year 11

‘I found it very useful that the magistrate came in as it helped me remember some of the key facts about sentencing powers in the lower courts. I really enjoyed doing the sentencing activity.’ Maisie V, Year 11

Volume 3 Issue 6 | Thursday 12 October 2017 Page | 1

Year 12 Civil Engineering As well as serving as a JP, David Smith is a Building Engineer and he led a session about Civil Engineering with eight Year 12 and 13 Students. He said: ‘It was a great opportunity to speak to such enthusiastic and ambitious students who are all taking the right mix of subjects at A level to set themselves up for a career in engineering or a similar field. Considering only around 20% of civil engineers are female it’s great to see a mix of both girls and boys interested. Once you qualify as a Chartered Engineer the world really is your oyster.’ Year 8 Politics After the success of a recent visit from Oliver Dowden MP, Year 8 students were challenged to set up their own political parties to run the country. Students had to present a clear list of policies showing how they would transform Britain into a fairer society for the benefit of everyone. Students made speeches, presentations and prepared hustings materials. The classes then participated in a first-past-the-post election, votes were counted and winners announced. RAF Careers Two of our students presented to Year 9 this week in a presentation by the RAF cadet team. Liam R and Mihai B spoke about their experiences in the cadets and the experiences and opportunities they have had up to date with their ventures. This was well received by Year 9. Thank-you to Liam and Mihai and their leader.

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Extreme Reading Congratulations to Mr McCarthy for winning the Staff ‘Extreme Reading’ Competition! Runners up were Mr Kourris and Mrs Marshall.

CRS festival of Harvest This week Year 7-9 CRS students have been exploring the festival of Harvest as part of their studies. We would be grateful if each child can bring to school an item of food to offer thanks. Students can bring in one of the following items: Any tinned goods, packets of rice, pasta and couscous, cereals, dried or fresh fruit and vegetables. If students prefer, they may create an informative poster/leaflet about Harvest for display. All goods will be donated to the Potters Bar food bank.

Netball Congratulations to the Year 10 Netball team who, this half term, has played against Sir Frederic Osborn, Bishops’ Hatfield, Queenswood and Chancellor’s schools and has won every single match. They are an amazingly strong team who work very well together. Keep up the good work!

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Charity – The Chibuzo Omisa Centre Those new to the school may not be aware that we have an international charity that we are partners with in Brazil – Onda Solidaria. We are currently fundraising to complete a building for one of our students, Chibuzo Omisa, who passed away last year. We have received some new photographs this week to show how the building project is coming along. Please look at the 4 photos that Ricardo, the charity founder, sent to us. https://blog.seesaw.me/ondagrace/#!/

Fright Night One of our exciting charity projects this year is an idea we presented at the final assemblies in July. We are holding a ‘Fright Night’ here in school on Friday 3 November 3. We are looking to open up the tunnels under the school, give students time to meet/find/experience the resident Mount Grace ghosts (not joking!), explore the different buildings in the dead of night and watch Ghostbusters in the main hall. We have a student organising committee working on the details at the moment.

We are going to limit this event to 100 students. If it is successful then we will be running another one in the New Year. Students can put their name into the draw to buy tickets by joining the Fright Night Google Classroom. The sign-up code is: g49y9v We will be collecting names of students who have not yet signed up to Google Classroom next week so that everybody wishing to apply for tickets can do so.

Google Classroom As we move closer to using Google Classroom for setting homework after half term, parents/carers of students in Years 7 to 11 should have received an email invitation to join Google Classroom. If you have not received an email this could be because:

• Your child has not signed up to their year group classroom yet. Please ask them to do so using the following codes: Year 7: logex6 Year 8: 5xpxjyt Year 9: ehsytg Year 10: 7hj94g Year 11: pb7rgg

• The email was sent to the primary email address that we have on our database – you may have updated your email address.

• We do not have an email address for you on our system. If you have not received an email, please email [email protected] We will be switching to Google Classroom fully after half-term and will be stopping using Show My Homework.

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GCSEPod We have accessed 1504 pods so far this academic year. English is leading the way with 709, followed by Geography with 574. Biology is third with 57 pods. Digital Learning Evening We are delighted that 21 families have taken up the invitation to come and attend the first Digital Learning Evening. So far there has been a large interest in Google Classroom, Seesaw, Quizlet and SAM learning. Once we have received all of the second questionnaires in then we will send out the date, location and programme for the evening.

Congratulations to Luke C in Year 7, who has received a shield for 'Best Junior Sea Cadet'. Luke joined the St Albans Sea Cadet Unit back in January 2017. He thoroughly enjoys it and often does extra activities with them. He won his shield in recognition of his commitment to the unit.

Don’t forget to sign up for the Mount Grace Lotto Fund: For only £15 per year, you could win £50 (First prize) or £20 (Second prize) each half term, with special bonuses at Christmas and in the summer, when the prizes will be DOUBLED! Sign up as soon as possible by completing the form on the school website – link below. You can pay on Wisepay. http://www.mountgrace.herts.sch.uk/lotto-fund/4555.html

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Gaming Club Mount Grace Gaming Club will be starting up again after half term, in L11 on Wednesday lunch times. All KS3 students are welcome to come along. There are a wide variety of games on offer so why not bring a friend and come and explore a whole world of possibilities.

Free Parenting Course Herts County Council Family Services is running a course called ‘Understanding Teens, The Gross Stuff and Ground Rules’ for parents and carers of children aged 11+. The Course is being held for 6 weeks at Dame Alice Owen’s School on Monday evenings starting on 30 October, from 7pm – 9pm. If you are interested, please phone: 01992 446051.

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Are you interested in fostering? In Hertfordshire there are just over 800 children and young people in care, and many live with foster carers. Each month, Herts County Council receive an average of 40 requests for new foster placements, with more requests to place older children (aged 10+), sibling groups and those with more complex needs. ‘Empty nesters’ potentially make great foster carers because they’ve already got the skills and experience needed to look after children and teenagers both short term and longer term. Janet has been fostering Hertfordshire children for 20 years. She said: ‘It’s a very rewarding and lovely job to do. It’s very fulfilling to teach children life skills and see them progressing and developing into young people. Now my children don’t live with me anymore, they think it’s lovely that their mum supports and guides other children.’ If you are interested in fostering with Hertfordshire County Council, they will guide you through the process. For more information phone: 0800 917 0925 or visit: http://ow.ly/B2oj30fBlWY

ADT Student of the Week

Art KS3: Stephanie S, Year 8 - For her outstanding Salvador Dali study page. KS4: Abi J, Year 10 - For her beautiful Abby Diamond response. Food Technology KS3: Kiera W, Year 8 - Excellent cooking skills. KS4: Kaya A, Year 10 - Consistently challenging himself. Resistant Materials KS4: Thomas D, Year 10 - Most improved technical drawing. Graphic Design KS4: Amber T, Year 10 - For her outstanding initial ideas page.

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Congratulations to the following students for including the words imitation and collaboration in a sentence: Year 10 | Matthew H and Morgan T

This week’s words are: empathy and distraction. You can either take a slip from the library or you can enter online by going to the ‘Words of the Week’ page of the website: http://www.mountgrace.org.uk/words-of-the-week/4373.html

Diary dates for this term For details of upcoming events please see the School Calendar by using the following link: http://www.mountgrace.herts.sch.uk/calendar/3384.html Saturday 14 October Family Quiz Evening 7.00 for 7.30pm Week commencing 16 October: Year 12 Health and Social Care Work Experience Week commencing 23 October: Half Term Tuesday 2 November Year 11 Learning Review Evening Tuesday 7 November – 28 November ‘Family Toolkit’ workshops each Tuesday at Oakmere School. For more information contact Hertsmere Schools’ Partnership on Tel: 01707 655512 Ext 268 Tuesday 7 November Year 12 & 13 Learning Review Evening Wednesday 8 November Year 12 & 13 Photography students to Herts University Thursday 9 November Gala Presentation Evening Wednesday 15 November Year 10 Drama trip to Othello Friday 17 November Non-uniform day for Christmas Market Saturday 18 November Christmas Market 11.00 – 3.00pm

Here’s our pick of things going on around the capital over the weekend. But please check details before you journey out. The Chocolate Show | Olympia National Hall | 13-15 October http://www.thechocolateshow.co.uk/ Africa on the Square | Trafalgar Square | Saturday 14 October https://www.london.gov.uk/events/2017-10-14/africa-square-2017 Diwali Festival | Trafalgar Square | Sunday 15 October https://www.london.gov.uk/events/2017-10-15/diwali-festival-2017 Dance Umbrella Festival | Various locations | 11-28 October http://www.danceumbrella.co.uk/

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And finally… Fact of the week (thank you Mrs Parsons) Japan has blue traffic lights in some areas because historically the Japanese used the same word for green and blue.

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2013/02/25/language/the-japanese-traffic-light-blues-stop-on- red-go-on-what/#.Wdsr7FtSxQI

Have a great weekend. Best wishes The HEADlines Team

You can also view this newsletter on the website http://www.mountgrace.herts.sch.uk/headlines/4084.html

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The HUB and Period 7 lessons start after half term To support Year 11 students during this important time in their school career, The HUB opens its doors again after half term. Led by Miss Jenkins, Head of Year 11, it will run from 3.10pm to 4.30pm every day in the LRA.

We interviewed last year’s Year 11 students on GCSE Results’ day and asked for their input in designing The HUB experience for our new cohort. The result is a comprehensive programme of support, guidance, resourcing and 1-2-1 help as we approach the mocks and beyond. We hope that our students will respond to this support and make the most of it. There is a comprehensive reward system to accompany The HUB this year, just to add extra motivation!

Period 7 lessons for Year 11s will also start after half term. Click here for a link to the timetable together with more information about The HUB. http://www.mountgrace.org.uk/the-hub-and-period-7/4575.html

Regular Year 11 specific updates and information – from timetables to revision help and Year 11 key dates – please encourage your child to join the Year 11 Google Classroom. Code: 8zbr7m

Volume 3 Issue 7 | Thursday 19 October 2017 Page | 1

Public Speaking Workshop ‘Find your Voice’ at St Albans Cathedral

On Friday 13 October seven of our Year 12 students attended a Public Speaking workshop at St Albans Cathedral Education Centre, organised by Herts University. They had to prepare a 90-second speech on a set topic and were given tuition and help with how to improve both the speech writing and delivery. Topics included: ‘Nice guys finish last for a reason’; ‘Trump will be the best president the US have ever had’; ‘Facebook is killing conversation’ and ‘Dogs are better than cats’. All the students found the workshop helpful and learned a lot from it.

"It was a really enjoyable and interesting experience, boosting both my confidence at public speaking and my knowledge." Sophie R

Year 12 trip to ‘Create your Future’ Six of our Year 12 students attended the UCAS ‘Create your Future’ event yesterday at Excel: Annabel T said ‘It was a really good insight into university courses in Art, Design, Music and the Performing Arts with interactive workshops and Q & A sessions. Well worth the trip!’

Oaklands College trip A small group of Year 11 students visited Oaklands College on Wednesday to experience Taster sessions of college courses on offer. They attended two taster sessions each and chose from a range of subjects including art, animal care, fashion, hospitality and catering.

Staff Success Congratulations to Mr Roberts who has qualified to compete for Great Britain in the upcoming European Duathlon Age-Group Championships in Ibiza in June 2018. He needed to finish in the top four, and he came third in the national qualifying race last weekend. He ran 10k followed by a 40k bike ride and then finished with a 5k run. His bike leg was clocked at one hour which meant he averaged 25mph for the whole ride! He is also hoping to qualify with Team GB for the World Championships next year.

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We have had a fantastic response to the Fright Night Charity Event. 230 students have put their names forward for the limited tickets. We will be collecting names of students who have not yet signed up to Google Classroom code: g49y9v until Friday this week – so that everybody wishing to put their name in for tickets can do so. The event will start at 7.00pm and end at midnight. There is information on the Fright Night Classroom about some of the activities which will take place.

On Monday 30 October, our first day back, you can access Wisepay and purchase a ticket. The first 100 people to buy will have the experience on Friday 3 November. The people buying tickets after number 100 will go in Round Two which will be for Fright Night 2. The date for Fright Night 2 is not yet set. This must be done by Wednesday 1 November so that we can finalise the lists and provide information about the evening. Activities should include:

• Film Night in the Hall • Sensory experiences in Science • Explore under the Hall including the hidden ladder into the Head’s Office • Walk the gauntlet in H block, S block and the Canteen • Walk around the grounds • Time in the Music block (officially haunted)

All money will go towards the Chibuzo Omisa Centre in Brazil. There will be food and drinks provided as well as the activities above. Tickets will cost £10.

The BIG draw, Wednesday 1 November Throughout the day on Wednesday 1 November there will be a whole school drawing event to promote drawing as a tool for learning across the curriculum. This will take place in regular lessons with a related drawing activity for each subject – we are looking forward to seeing the results in the next issue of HEADlines.

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Google Classroom As we move across to the Classroom after half term, we have been busy this week signing students up to the homework sign-up page. So far we have invited over half of parents via their contact e- mail addresses. 90 percent of students have now signed up and we will finish the invitations this week. We will meet with students who do not have mobile phones after half-term so that we can log them on in school. Here is a reminder of the style of update that you will receive from Google. https://support.google.com/edu/classroom/answer/6386354?hl=en&authuser=0

Digital Learning assemblies Mr McAleese spoke to the school this week about the digital learning possibilities available to each of the year groups. He presented Google Classroom and its advantages, SAM Learning and its assessment and revision possibilities, and Quizlet as a consolidation tool. He retold the fantastic GCSEPod journey that the school has been on over the last two years as well as Khan Academy possibilities for KS4 and 5. He also presented the opportunities presented by Future Learn: https://www.futurelearn.com/ One of the Sixth form then spoke to him about a possible engineering course he had found on Future Learn as a result of the assembly. Mr McAleese also showed the great use of Seesaw throughout the school including the Iowa and Brazil blogs.

Literacy and Numeracy Catch-Up Club After a successful launch last year, we are pleased to announce that we are starting the second of our Targeted Intervention clubs focussing on English and Maths. Three staff gained SAM Learning trainer status last year – Mr Jenkins, Miss Cook and Mr McAleese. We will run another 13-week course targeting students in Year 8 who have been identified as needing additional support. After February half-term we will then extend this support to Year 7 as well.

Parent Digital Learning Evening We are very excited about our first parents’ evening dedicated to Digital Learning. 16 families responded to the second and final questionnaire. The date, time and location of the meeting will be sent out after half-term to participating families. The top 5 voted activities to experience are: Google Classroom, Seesaw, SAM Learning, GCSEPod and Quizlet. This will be a very interactive evening indeed!

MFL Year 9 exams Year 9 is celebrating early success in the Foundation Certificate of Secondary Education (FCSE) exams. Our students recently took their first reading and writing exams in French and German. Early reports are of a high pass rate including many distinction level passes.

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PTFA news Thanks for supporting the Quiz Night last Saturday which raised £650 for PTFA funds. Last chance to sign up for the Mount Grace Lotto Fund – the date has been extended to Monday 30 October. Sign up as soon as possible by completing the form on the school website – link below. You can pay £15 on Wisepay. http://www.mountgrace.herts.sch.uk/lotto-fund/4555.html Please put Saturday 18 November in your diaries for the Christmas Market. Friday 17 November will be a non-uniform day for this event – more details to follow nearer the time.

It is still not too late to support the PTFA by agreeing to have a signboard advertising the Christmas Market (email sent out on Monday with details). Please email Mrs McKeever [email protected] with you name, address and contact number if you can help. Thank you.

Table Tennis Club reminder GCSE Table Tennis club meets every Friday lunchtime. Get there early to be sure of a table.

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Parent Governor needed Would you be interested in serving as a Parent Governor? If so, please contact Mrs Dawn Brown, Clerk to the Governors and she will be delighted to give you more information about what is involved. Please ring her on Telephone 01707 655512 Ext. 217.

ADT Student of the Week

Art KS3: Oliver C (Y9) has used the grid method correctly and has produced some beautiful pieces of homework reflecting this. KS4: Matthew S (Y11) has produced a beautiful piece of work using his new-found textile skills.

Food Technology KS3: Tia-Ellia S-S (Y7) has taken responsibility to assist others in food practical lessons. KS4: Jessica W (Y10) for excellent contributions to Food Tech lessons, always leading discussions in class.

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Congratulations to the following students for including the words empathy and distraction in a sentence: Year 7 | Jo A and Emilie P Year 9 | Elizabeth R and Tina K Year 10 | Alex T

Literacy Drive A key focus for our school this year is the improvement of students' literacy skills. Over the next few months, the Literacy Leadership Group will be experimenting with new activities in lessons to develop literacy skills for later life. These will include developing vocabulary, preparing students for the demands of the new GCSEs and enhancing their communication skills. Look out for some new things appearing in HEADlines too for you to try at home with your child.

Diary dates for this term For details of upcoming events please see the School Calendar by using the following link: http://www.mountgrace.herts.sch.uk/calendar/3384.html Week commencing 23 October: Half Term Tuesday 2 November Year 11 Learning Review Evening Tuesday 7 November – 28 November ‘Family Toolkit’ workshops each Tuesday at Oakmere School. For more information contact Hertsmere Schools’ Partnership on Tel: 01707 655512 Ext 268 Tuesday 7 November Year 12 & 13 Learning Review Evening Wednesday 8 November Year 12 & 13 Photography students to Herts University Thursday 9 November Gala Presentation Evening Monday 13 November Year 10 Tring Museum trip Wednesday 15 November Year 10 Drama trip to Othello Thursday 16 November Sixth Form Open Evening 5.45pm till 8.00pm Friday 17 November Non-uniform day for Christmas Market Saturday 18 November Christmas Market 11.00 – 3.00pm

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Here’s our pick of things going on around the capital over the half term. But please check details before you journey out. Poster Girls, A century of art and design | London Transport Museum, Covent Garden https://www.ltmuseum.co.uk/whats-on/exhibitions The London Transport Museum also has half term family friendly activities https://www.ltmuseum.co.uk/learning/family-learning#october Apple Day 2017 | Borough Market | Sunday 22 October http://boroughmarket.org.uk/events/apple-day-2017 Wildlife Photographer of the Year | Natural History Museum | from 20 October http://www.nhm.ac.uk/visit/exhibitions/wildlife-photographer-of-the-year-53.html

Beazley Designs of the Year | Design Museum W8 6AG | from 18 October https://designmuseum.org/exhibitions/beazley-designs-of-the-year

And finally… Fact of the week (thank you Mrs Parsons) Abu Dhabi has a beauty contest for camels https://www.thenational.ae/uae/winners-of-camel-beauty-contest-at-al-dhafra-festival-crowned- 1.175238#5

Have a great half term. Best wishes The HEADlines Team

You can also view this newsletter on the website http://www.mountgrace.herts.sch.uk/headlines/4084.html

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Leadership Academy primary PE events On Wednesday Year 12 PE students took a leadership role in the primary schools Netball tournament. 10 schools took part in the tournament, which was a friendly preparation for the ‘Le Gros’ tournament later this year. Thanks especially to Charlotte C, Sophie R, Mia B, Lucy P, Emily B, Emma K and Holly B who gave up their free time after school to umpire the matches. They are a true asset to the school. They will also support the primary Football tournament being held at Mount Grace on Saturday.

Open Mornings Parents and prospective Year 7 students toured the school on Tuesday and Thursday mornings this week. Mr Baker spoke to parents first, followed by a tour of all the departments to observe classes in action. Due to demand we now have two additional Open Mornings next week – Tuesday 3 October and Thursday 5 October – please contact Mrs McAleese on 01707 655 512 extension 230 to book your place. Thank you.

Open Evening follow up The school has received excellent feedback from parents who attended the Open Evening last week and another encouraging article appeared in the Welwyn Hatfield Times. If you would like to read it, the link is: http://www.whtimes.co.uk/news/education/potters-bar-school-showcases-progress- at-excellent-open-evening-1-5210010

Feedback from parents including the following ‘I just had to write to say how impressed I was with your recent open evening. Everything about it exceeded my expectations, from the welcoming senior member of staff waiting to greet us, the enthusiastic pupil who showed us around, the approachable Teachers, and the Headteacher's honest and informative speech.

As a local resident I am sad to confess that I was always led to believe that Mount Grace was a school for children 'coasting' along, and it was wonderful to hear the Year 13 students speaking about how they have been helped and encouraged to progress in their studies - whether they were struggling or already doing quite well.

It was so nice to see the school looking proud of its achievements and I really hope this pride will continue to motivate the new arrivals in September.’

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Citizenship Events Oliver Dowden MP will visit Mount Grace School tomorrow, Friday 29 September, to speak to Year 11 GCSE Citizenship students about his role as an MP in both Parliament and his Hertsmere constituency. He will share some of his experiences as a Conservative MP since he was elected in May 2015. His priorities include improving local transport; better education; defending the countryside and better infrastructure.

The Citizenship Department will also receive a visit from The Baroness McIntosh of Hudnall, Deputy Speaker of the House of Lords, in October 2017. She has been invited as part of the ‘Peers in Schools’ initiative and will speak about the work and role of the House of Lords, to support the GCSE Citizenship curriculum.

Girls Football Girls of all ages in Years 7-11 who enjoy playing football have been given a fantastic opportunity this term, with specialist football training after school every Wednesday from now until Christmas. Daniel Vella, a Trainer from Arsenal Ladies Football Club, volunteered to work with the girls and teach footballing skills. Their first session yesterday was a great success.

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Mobile Phone fully charged Please ensure that students arrive with a fully charged phone for the start of the school day. With the opportunities created by digital learning it is a shame when students are not able to take part because they come to school with a phone that is nearly out of charge.

Digital Parents Evening Thank you to those who have already signed up to attend a digital learning evening here at school. Please take the opportunity to do so as soon as possible. This is being organised partly in response to parental requests and partly because we have increased our use of Digital Learning to enhance the experience of our students. With many learning opportunities available we would like to show you how these work. To that end please follow the link below if you would like to sign up for the evening with us.

Details and dates will follow once we have looked at the results from the questionnaire: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/XN9LMLX

Google Classroom Our work to add all staff, students and parents to our Google Classroom network is continuing. Within the next week parents will be receiving invitations from Google to have access to information posted by teachers in their child’s classroom. This will allow them to keep up to date with homework and other lesson information. Here is an example of what parents will receive: https://support.google.com/edu/classroom/answer/6386354?hl=en&authuser=0 SAM Learning A reminder that SAM Learning has some excellent new GCSE Level 5 materials for core subjects. We would also recommend that Years 7-9 use this as a key learning and assessment tool. Khan Academy Sixth Form students should look through the Khan Academy resources to see the extremely informative video tutorials available from this excellent free provider. GCSEPod We are close to achieving our first 1,000 pods viewed this academic year so far. Well done everyone!

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The PTFA Annual General Meeting will be held next Wednesday 4 October at 7.30pm in the Conference Room. Come along and find out how we support the school by raising much needed funds. Items the PTFA have provided include: Cameras, text books, iPods, iPads, TV white boards, light boxes, cookers, sound system as well as the school minibuses. New ideas and suggestions always welcome. We look forward to meeting you over a drink and some nibbles.

Thank you to all who helped at the Stamp Fair last weekend – the PTFA raised £171.

We had a huge number of entries to the ‘Words of the Week’ competition last week. Congratulations to the following students for including the words reflectiveness and reciprocity in a sentence:

Year 7 | Celina K. and Louis G. Year 8 | Megan W. and Joe T. Year 10 | Tom H. and Max R.

This week’s words are: imagining and reasoning. You can either take a slip from the library or you can enter online by going to the ‘Words of the Week’ page of the website: http://www.mountgrace.org.uk/words-of-the-week/4373.html

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Diary dates for this term For details of upcoming events please see the School Calendar by using the following link: http://www.mountgrace.herts.sch.uk/calendar/3384.html Friday 29 September Sixth Form visit to ‘Learn to Live’ event at the Wyllyotts Centre Saturday 30 September Primary Schools’ Football Tournament 9.00am - 12.30pm Wednesday 4 October Year 7 Mariners’ Trip Wednesday 4 October PTFA Annual General Meeting Monday 9 – Friday 13 October Year 13 Flatford Mill trip Saturday 14 October Family Quiz Evening 7.00 for 7.30pm Saturday 18 November Christmas Market 11.00 – 3.00pm

We require a Teacher of Computing to cover maternity leave, starting in January 2018. It's a part time role, 3 days per week. For full details please follow the link or telephone the school and speak to Mrs Gamble, HR Manager. http://www.mountgrace.org.uk/vacancies/2601.html

Here’s our pick of things going on around the capital over the weekend. But please check details before you journey out.

Hampstead Heath Conker Championships | Parliament Hill Fields | Sunday 1 October https://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/events/pages/event-detail.aspx?eventid=3327

NFL on Regent Street | Saturday 30 September http://www.nfluk.com/news/specialfeatures/article-1/NFL-on-Regent-Street-returns-on- September-30/27537f3b-ae75-40cb-b192-d7c368cdbd67

New Scientist Live | Excel Centre | 28 September to 1 October https://live.newscientist.com/

BOOK AHEAD Museums at Night | Various locations | 26, 27 and 28 October http://museumsatnight.org.uk/events-page/#.WcjAhbKGNQJ

Power UP: The ultimate gaming experience | Science Museum | 20 to 31 October http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/visitmuseum/Plan_your_visit/events/other/power-up

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And finally… Fact of the week (thank you Mrs Parsons) Taking a photo of something reduces your ability to remember it. http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20150901-are-you-taking-too-many-pictures

Have a great weekend. Best wishes The HEADlines Team

You can also view this newsletter on the website http://www.mountgrace.herts.sch.uk/headlines/4084.html

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The BIG DRAW | Wednesday 1 November

Students and staff took part in a whole school drawing event on Wednesday. The BIG DRAW saw all students and staff using drawing in their learning in every subject during the day. Activities included a challenge to re-design the school Logo and Motto; designing a FootGolf course in PE, creating an Art Attack style swimming pool in Gym; drawing the Conditional Tense in German, illustrating text in English and much more. The day promoted the importance of drawing as a valuable tool for learning and resulted in a range of fantastic outcomes by staff and students in all subject areas. Baroness McIntosh of Hudnall visit | Friday 20 October

The Baroness McIntosh of Hudnall, Deputy Speaker of the House of Lords, met with Year 10 and 11 Citizenship students to talk about the work and role of the House of Lords, followed by a question and answer session on various aspects of the parliamentary process and life at the Houses of Parliament. The visit was arranged through the Lord Speaker’s ‘Peers in Schools’ outreach programme, which was established across the UK in 2007 and has so far involved around 90,000 young people. Members of the House of Lords visit schools, academies and colleges to give talks in support of the citizenship curriculum.

CZ Students found it really helpful and challenging. Bilal H said, ‘It was a great experience and she told us that if we work really hard we can do well in our careers’.

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Just a reminder that Fright Night is happening tomorrow evening. There are still tickets available and this will be up until break-time tomorrow. Details are on the Fright Night Google Classroom. Please arrive at the DINING HALL for a 7 pm start. Pick-up time is midnight or earlier if needed (please speak to staff upon arrival). Please wear sturdy shoes and bring a small torch or install a torch on your phone.

Primary PE lessons

Twelve Year 12 Level 3 BTEC Sport students are visiting St Giles Primary School each Monday morning from now until Christmas to deliver PE lessons to Year 1 & 2 students. Our students have done a fantastic job of planning and delivering fun and exciting multi-sport activities for all of the primary students. Class teachers at St Giles have commented on the excellent conduct and professionalism of the MGS students and have praised them highly on their leadership skills when working with the young students at St Giles school.

Congratulations to Luke C in Year 11, who has just been awarded a Jack Petchey achievement award for successfully planning and leading a Duke of Edinburgh team through their practice and assessed Bronze expedition.

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Congratulations to Daisy M in Year 8 who is performing very well in her training in Athletics with The Hawcs Athletics Club. She won a 200 metre race at Copthall Stadium at Barnet during the summer, and has achieved personal best times of 100m: 14.18 secs. and 200m: 29.83 secs. Daisy now attends the Club several times each week, and is expected to achieve great things in 2018.

The HUB The HUB opened its doors again this week, to support Year 11 students as they prepare for GCSEs. Led by Miss Jenkins, Head of Year 11, it runs from 3.10pm to 4.30pm every day in the LRA. It had a great start – with several students attending every day, steering them closer to good results.

During half term, a group of Year 11 students attended workshops, over three days, in English and Maths at the University of Hertfordshire. As a reward they attended the Thorpe Park Fright Night last Friday. Students found the workshops really beneficial, especially so close to their mock exams.

3000 GCSEPods! Well done to all our GCSE students who have already accessed over 3,000 GCSEPods this term, including over 500 in three days during half term. This certificate confirms that we are still a top-rated A grade school! Keep up the good work! Roll on the silver standard certificate.

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Google Classroom We have now moved over to Google Classroom for the setting and monitoring of homework. The vast majority of parents have received their invitation from Google to accept the daily or weekly bulletin. However, many have not yet accepted the invitation. Please ensure that you do this to keep up to date with all of the learning that is going on within the classroom – there is so much more than just homework on there! Any problems then please email [email protected] Digital Evening for Parents The likely date for the digital evening is Thursday 16 November. The start time will be 7pm. Mr McAleese will be contacting all of the families that applied to come to the evening early next week with full details about the evening with the programme of events.

Please keep Saturday 18 November free for the Christmas Market, which runs from 11 – 3pm. Friday 17 November is a non-uniform day for this event. A letter with more information has been emailed home. All contributions will be most welcome, especially: Mince Pies Boxes/Tins of Biscuits Boxes or cartons of chocolates Bottled Toiletries Bottle Bags – empty or full! Gift Vouchers Bottles of drink* Unwanted gifts Gift Packs of Toiletries

*Any alcoholic drinks should be brought to Reception by a responsible adult

Please also let us know if you can provide cakes. We have freezer space if you wish to bake in advance!

Advertising Boards for the Christmas Market Thank you to everyone who has offered to have an Estate Agent board outside their house to advertise the Christmas Market. To raise the maximum funds available, we really need another 12 families to sign up … if you are happy to help, please complete the online form here – http://www.mountgrace.herts.sch.uk/estate-agents-boards/4580.html

Alternatively you can view the letter that was sent home before half term here – http://www.mountgrace.org.uk/school-letters-201718/4290.html

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Sister Act | Thursday 22 February 2018 Tickets will go on sale on Monday lunchtime for ‘Sister Act’. Tickets cost £3.50. We are extremely grateful to AEG and TOP Discount for sponsoring the Show, and for paying for all the costumes from The Costume Store in Potters Bar.

Old Folks’ Party | Wednesday 6 December 2pm – 4pm The Sixth Form are once again organising an ‘Old Folks’ Party’ for senior citizens in Potters Bar. This year, we would especially like to invite grandparents of students to come and join us on this very special occasion. Please RSVP to Mrs Brown on Tel: 01707 655512 x217.

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This week’s words are: irony and paradox. You can either take a slip from the library or you can enter online by going to the ‘Words of the Week’ page of the website: http://www.mountgrace.org.uk/words- of-the-week/4373.html

Diary dates for this term For details of upcoming events please see the School Calendar by using the following link: http://www.mountgrace.herts.sch.uk/calendar/3384.html Tuesday 7 November – 28 November ‘Family Toolkit’ workshops each Tuesday at Oakmere School. For more information contact Hertsmere Schools’ Partnership on Tel: 01707 655512 Ext 268 Tuesday 7 November Year 12 & 13 Learning Review Evening Wednesday 8 November Year 12 & 13 Photography students to Herts University Thursday 9 November Gala Presentation Evening Monday 13 November Year 10 Tring Museum trip Tuesday 14 November Wired for Sound Concert at 7.00pm Wednesday 15 November Year 10 Drama trip to Othello Thursday 16 November Sixth Form Open Evening 5.45pm to 8.00pm Friday 17 November Non-uniform day for Christmas Market Saturday 18 November Christmas Market 11.00 – 3.00pm Tuesday 21 November Year 7 Learning Review Evening Thursday 23 November Sixth Form Taster Day Friday 24 November Occasional Day Wednesday 29 November Year 9 Learning Review Evening

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Here’s our pick of things going on around the capital this weekend. But please check details before you journey out. Fireworks: Saturday 4 November at Little Heath School. Gates open at 5.30pm, bonfire at 6.30pm and fireworks at 7.00pm. Tickets £7, children £4 www.brookmansparkrotary.org.uk

Or for other Firework Displays around London this weekend https://londonist.com/london/things-to-do/where-to-watch-fireworks-on-bonfire-night-in-london Christmas Family Activities | Museum of Brands, Ladbroke Grove | 1 Nov – 31 December http://www.museumofbrands.com/whats-on/exhibitions/its-got-my-name-on-it!-christmas-family- activities-saturday-1-nov-sunday-31-dec.html Boat Making Workshop | Migration Museum Project, SE1 | Saturday 4 November | FREE http://www.migrationmuseum.org/event/boat-making-workshop-2/2017-11-04/

And finally… Fact of the week (thank you Mrs Parsons) You are about one centimetre taller in the morning than in the evening http://www.mindblowing-facts.org/2013/01/you-are-about-1-centimeter-taller-in-the-morning-than-in- the-evening/

Have a great weekend. Best wishes The HEADlines Team

You can also view this newsletter on the website http://www.mountgrace.herts.sch.uk/headlines/4084.html

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Gala Presentation evening

A fabulous evening of celebration, entertainment and prize giving took place last Thursday evening. The evening began with canapés and drinks for everyone, with prize giving interspersed with entertainment from the Orchestra and Jazz Bands; Year 10 and 11 Dancers and Year 11 Drama students. Awards were presented to over 70 current and ex-students for making great progress or achieving success in their subjects. There were Heads of Learning Awards given, followed by five special awards. Other presentations included an award to Mr Baker’s former Personal Assistant, Shirley Lee, for Outstanding Achievement to the School, and to Mike Kent who received the Ken Barrett Long-standing Award. Congratulations to the following students for receiving the following awards – presented by Mr Daniel, Chair of Governors (top row of photos). The Colonel Ross Award for contribution to school life Fintan S The Chris Jones Award for Science and Technology Louis D The Gillian Hargreaves Resilience Award Jess P The Ray Cattermole Award for PE Joe T Exceptional Achievement Emily B Thank you to all those involved in planning and preparing for this excellent evening.

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Remembrance Sunday Parade There was a record turnout at the Remembrance Sunday Parade at the War Memorial in Potters Bar last Sunday. It was lovely to see that several of our students, who belong to uniformed organisations, including Guides, Scouts, the Air Training Corps and the Potters Bar Town Band, took part in the parade. Those spotted included Didem, Mihai, Daniel, and Liam.

As part of the Remembrance activities that have taken place in school this week, Year 9 were asked to decorate a poppy as a way of remembering the people who gave their lives as sacrifice. The English department were overwhelmed with the response; Year 9 showed their true artistic colours with a wide range of ideas for decorating their poppies. Very well done Year 9.

‘Wired for Sound’ concert Thank you to Mrs Wilson for arranging another fantastic musical evening on Tuesday! The programme included a wide variety of music performed by over 80 students in various ensembles; choirs and bands. Abdul and Dylan deserved a special mention for their outstanding performances in ‘My Youth’ by ‘A Bunch of Boys’. Other items included the choir singing ‘Africa’; the Jazz Band performing ‘Zing, went the strings of my heart’; and a duet by Rosie and Lillie of ‘Perfect’ by Ed Sheeran.

Year 10 Trip to Tring Natural History Museum The ADT department took Year 10 Art students to the Tring Natural History Museum on Monday to support their GCSE coursework on ‘real life objects’. The museum contains stuffed mammals, fish, insects and birds, and students used sketchbooks, cameras and notebooks to record what they needed for their projects. Sophie B said: ‘Although it was upsetting to see the stuffed animals, it was really useful to take a proper look and study them thoroughly and make notes and sketches of what we saw’.

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Citizenship workshops On Wednesday 22 November, Paul Hannaford will be running workshops in the Hall for all year groups throughout the school, which will be tailored to the students’ age group. He will be mainly discussing drugs but will also cover other topics including alcohol, gang life, gun and knife crime, prison life, self- harm and bullying.

Please be assured that these workshops have been organised by Loran Kingston, our Community Safety Intervention Officer, and are being fully funded by Hertsmere Borough Council. Paul will be accompanied by many professionals including police from Hertfordshire Constabulary and workers from the NHS trust.

The following is the Workshop timetable:

Year 10 09.00 – 09.50 Years 7 & 8 09.50 – 10.40 Year 9 11.00 – 11.50 Year 11 11.50 – 12.40 Years 12 & 13 13.20 – 14.30

If you are interested and would like to find out more information about Paul’s work please visit his web page www.paulhannaford.com. If you have any queries or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact Miss Careddu or Miss Burnham.

Road Safety Week | 20 to 26 November 2017

Road crashes remain one of the biggest causes of death and serious injury among children and young people, and dangerous roads have a major impact on their ability to walk, cycle and live healthy active lifestyles. It is crucial to develop everyone’s awareness of the risks and also how the situation can be improved by individuals and communities now and in the future. This year the main theme for the week is ‘Speed Down, Save Lives’.

Speed has been identified as a key risk factor in road traffic injuries, influencing both the risk of a road crash as well as the severity of the injuries that result from crashes. An increase in the average speed of 1m/h typically results in a 3% higher risk of a crash involving injury, with a 4–5% increase for crashes that result in fatalities (World Health Organisation). Visit: http://roadsafetyweek.org.uk/ for more information.

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Non Uniform day | Friday 17 November Donations to the Hall before 9am please Friday 17 November is a non-uniform day for the PTFA Christmas Market. Students should bring a contribution straight to the Hall on Friday morning before Period 1, or make £1 donation. Students will receive a ‘stamp’ in their planners to show they have donated. All contributions will be most welcome, especially cakes; mince pies; bottled toiletries; bottles of drink*; boxes and tins of biscuits; unwanted gifts; boxes or cartons of chocolates; gift vouchers and gift packs of toiletries. *Any alcoholic drinks should be brought to Reception by a responsible adult

Christmas Market | Saturday 18 November 11am to 3pm Please support the Christmas Market on Saturday. We are helping raise invaluable funds for the school. Programmes only cost £1 for adults and allow you entry to the MArket and the Prize Draw which will take place at 2.30pm. Why not buy a Programme even if you can’t make it to the Market? There are copies for sale in Reception. Father Christmas and Archer the dog will be making an appearance.

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Assemblies This week the school assembly was about Remembrance. Miss Indra delivered the assemblies with some powerful videos and photos. You can see the presentation here: https://blog.seesaw.me/sltassembly/ The year 11 students had more subject presentations from staff for the Sixth Form. This week it was the turn of ADT and Humanities to present their subjects and passion for their subjects and why our cohort should stay on here at MGS to continue their studies before looking elsewhere.

Active Learning This week in Geography students have been taking more of an active approach to learning. Year 7 have been learning the 16 point compass by moving around in a circle, whilst using their hands and voices to remember the points. Year 8 have been learning all about development through creating graphs and map work. The Year 9s have been creating new homes to survive the problems of climate change. Over the next few weeks we are going to continue the approach to active learning and spread this across all year groups. To keep track on everything we do, follow us on twitter, you can even take a look at the Year 7s in action. https://twitter.com/MGSGeographyDep

GCSEPod We have received the first draft of the national case study that has tracked the journey of MGS from starter school to top spot in the country within a year. This is a very pleasing set of reports from the company and details every step that we put in place to ensure a successful uptake of the software. Once we receive the final study we will place this on our website and put a link in for you. Putting MGS firmly on the national map in terms of our digital footstep! Sixth Form Evening We will be showcasing our Sixth Form this evening with our Open Evening. We will be presenting our ‘Progression Pathways’ approach to the Sixth Form which we believe is unique for our senior students. Speeches start at 5.45 in the Hall followed by the Subject Fair in various locations. Our Sixth Form Prefect Team is taking a big lead in this event tonight which is great to see. Digital Learning Evening 20 families will be having the first ever Digital Parents Evening this evening. They responded to the Monkey Survey in HEADlines and so we have built a bespoke evening based on what they would like to see in action. This includes Google Classroom, Seesaw, GCSEPod, SAM Learning and Google Cardboard.

Mid-Herts Cross Country Competition Students from all year groups took part in the Mid-Herts Cross Country competition held at Queenswood School on Wednesday. A special mention goes to the Year 8 boys who came third overall, and to Grayce B, who came 14th in the Senior competition, which covered Years 10 through to 13. Girls’ Netball Well done to the Year 7 & 8 Netball Team who won their netball game against Sir Frederic Osborn School on Tuesday. Special congratulations to Savannah K and April M who were awarded ‘player of the match’.

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Improving and Developing Vocabulary The literacy focus this week has been increasing and developing vocabulary. As part of their GCSE course, Year 11 need to write a creative writing piece which showcases their fantastic use of the English Language. We have been working on using more exciting and ambitious words, looking at how we can edit our own work and using synonyms effectively. Year 7 began their spelling project in their Library lessons. Every week, they will be given a new set of words to learn, before they are tested in the library. We hope this will help them to develop their vocabulary for their GCSEs. The words will gradually become harder and more complex, so get practising Year 7! If you would like to develop your child’s vocabulary, reading is the most effective strategy there is. You can read together or let your child read to you as you make dinner or bath younger siblings. Ask them questions about the images created and if there is a word they do not understand, try to work out the meaning together. The human brain is like a sponge when it comes to words – the more words it is exposed to, the more it will pocket and store for use later.

Congratulations to Daisy, Daniella and Elizabeth for including the words insular and taciturn in a sentence. This week’s words are: evocative and voracious. You can either take a slip from the library or you can enter online by going to the ‘Words of the Week’ page of the website: http://www.mountgrace.org.uk/words-of-the-week/4373.html

Diary dates for this term For details of upcoming events please see the School Calendar by using the following link: http://www.mountgrace.herts.sch.uk/calendar/3384.html Friday 17 November Non-uniform day for Christmas Market Saturday 18 November Christmas Market 11.00 – 3.00pm Tuesday 21 November Year 7 Learning Review Evening Wednesday 22 November Sixth Form Maths Trip Thursday 23 November Sixth Form Taster Day Friday 24 November Occasional Day w/c Monday 20 November Year 11 Art Exams w/c Monday 27 November Year 11 Mock Exams Tuesday 28 November Chamber Concert Wednesday 29 November Year 9 Learning Review Evening Sunday 3 December Stamp Fair (Help serving refreshments is needed please) Tuesday 5 – Friday 8 December Year 8 Cologne trip Wednesday 6 December Old Folks’ Party Wednesday 13 December Christmas Carol Concert Wednesday 20 December Last day of term

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Here’s our pick of things going on around the capital over the weekend. But please check details before you journey out.

Ferrari: Under the Skin | The Design Museum | 15 November to 15 April 2018 www.designmuseum.org/exhibitions/ferrari-under-the-skin And it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas already …

Winter Wonderland opens for 2017 in Hyde Park | Friday 17 November http://hydeparkwinterwonderland.com/ Hamleys Christmas Toy Parade and Entertainment | Sunday 19 November from 11am www.hamleys.com/hamleys-parade.html Top eight Christmas lights to see in London | Various locations www.visitlondon.com/things-to-do/whats-on/christmas/best-christmas-lights-in- london#ixxoAMgsuTrH9Ebs.97

And finally… Fact of the week (thank you Mrs Parsons)

Lego figures set to outnumber Humans by 2019 www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2473163/Invasion-tiny-plastic-people-Lego-figures-set- outnumber-HUMANS-2019.html

The answer to Mr McCarthy’s ‘which tank fills first’ problem from last week was Number 3.

Have a great weekend. Best wishes The HEADlines Team

You can also view this newsletter on the website http://www.mountgrace.herts.sch.uk/headlines/4084.html

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PTFA Christmas Market raised over £2,700 for the school

Thank you to everyone who supported the Christmas Market last Saturday, especially to BPM who sponsored the event. Although it was a rainy day, there were plenty of visitors and it was a great success. The stalls looked fantastic and Father Christmas was kept busy. As a result of everyone’s hard work, the PTFA has raised over £2,700 for the school. A huge thank you to everyone who helped set-up, run stalls and clear away.

Citizenship workshops by Paul Hannaford on drugs awareness and other related topics

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We were fortunate enough to welcome Paul Hannaford to our school on Wednesday. He has travelled all over the UK visiting 100s of Primary and Secondary Schools, youth centres and professional football clubs, speaking with around 50,000 students each year. He spoke to students from all year groups about drugs awareness, the dangers of alcohol, bullying and other topics. Through telling his life story he was able to make students aware of the dangers of drug taking, crime and gangs. Police and other professionals were present to support the event. The feedback we received from students was great. Thank you to Ms Careddu for arranging the visit.

Year 12 Maths Trip Ten A-Level Maths students attended a ‘Maths in Action Study Day’ on Wednesday at the Emmanuel Centre in London. Writer and broadcaster Simon Singh spoke at the event, as well as several other mathematicians, code-breakers, data scientists and engineers. Students were encouraged by the Speakers to work hard at Maths to help them aspire to success in the future.

Sixth Form Taster Day Year 11s have had a taste of things to come today. Dressed in smart casual outfits instead of their school uniform, they experienced ‘Taster’ sessions throughout today for Sixth Form studies. Sessions included Physics, Photography, Product Design, Psychology and Sport. They also were given an introduction into 6th form life. We hope that they have been inspired to sign up for next year’s Sixth Form. Year 11 has experienced a series of assembly presentations by Heads of Faculties promoting Sixth Form study, their teaching teams and the relevance of subjects to employment and to the Progression Pathways. These assemblies have been very well received by our students.

Thank you to the Vocational Education department for a great staff ‘Break-time Bonanza’

Thank you to the Vocational Educational Department for providing a feast for staff on Friday – which everyone appreciated! Each month, departments take it in turn to prepare a break-time bonanza - the Administration Department is already concocting festive culinary delights for December.

Sixth Form Open Evening We were very pleased to have 70 families attend the Open Evening last week which ties in with the work that our faculties have been undertaking in order to attract students to continue their studies here next year. We are excited to have our current year 12 students working alongside the year 11 taster day students today as they will be sharing their experiences of day to day life in terms of learning, teaching and assessment in the Sixth Form.

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Parent Digital Learning Evening Last week we held our very first Parents Digital Learning Evening. The starter activity was a 3D experience via Google Expeditions where we went inside the human lungs and heart, went underwater in the Galapagos Islands and then went to the International Space Station. We then ran a team Quizlet Live quiz on countries followed by a Kahoot individual quiz on World War 2. Parents then saw Seesaw in action, as well as Google Classroom. Those who had not had a surfeit of experiences then stayed behind to see SAM Learning and GCSEPod in action.

In true teacher style we asked parents for their feedback on the event and asked for it in the form of WWW (What Went Well) / EBI (Even Better If): ‘I wanted to express how much I enjoyed the Digital Learning Evening. I would be interested in attending any further evenings.’ | ‘I thoroughly enjoyed last night’s digital evening – the passion for digital resources really shone through – small groups of parents so easy to share resources. Using them helped deepen my understanding of how they work.’ | ‘Download the apps in advance would have been particularly useful – and perhaps some easier quiz questions!’ | ‘This would be a great evening for parents within the first two weeks in September as I was really struggling with the lingo – Hegarty Maths, Seesaw, Quizlet etc.’

Based on the feedback we are looking to hold Key Stage 3, 4 and 5 Digital Learning Evenings during the rest of the year. Many thanks to Mrs Papadopoulou who jointly led the evening with Mr McAleese. Mrs Papadopoulou is visiting the Samuel Ryder Academy in St Albans today to look at their use of ipads/tablets within lessons. Sixth Form Digital Marking Evidence On the theme of digital learning we are about to start a trial with a group of year 12 and 13 students. Our aim is to digitise all of their assessed work and their response to marking (action points) via Seesaw. Students will therefore take photos of their marked assignments and their input after marking to improve the work. Students can then store all of the assessment data for all subjects on a dedicated Seesaw page. For work scrutiny it will be easy for them to show parents, teachers and any external visitors what the quality of marking is like and also the quality of their response. Year 7 parent Google Classroom feedback Thanks to Mrs Marshall who worked hard to check the e-mail sign-up for year 7 parents at the recent learning review evening. Staff also checked with parents that they have been receiving the daily or weekly e-mail updates on homework. The feedback received was very encouraging in terms of parents loving the detail of the e-mails and the ability to know whether homework has been completed or not and the ability to look at their son or daughter’s Google Classroom if they want to see full details of the classroom activities.

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Staff training opportunities We are rightly proud of our digital learning here at MGS. We will be running drop-in training every week on a Friday from 8.15 to 8.30 where there will be a sample of top tips about all of our digital systems and software. This will be alongside other teaching, learning and assessment training which will happen every three weeks from 8.30 until 9 am on a Friday. We are excited to be launching a bespoke CPD package from January which our Lead Teacher Team is working on. New Childline App available to download – search for ‘For Me’ in the App or Play Store

We have decided to introduce a new section to HEADlines … ‘Living Latin’ or ‘Classics Corner’ as we call it in the HEADlines office. Did you know that… The verb To Exhale comes from the Latin verb EXHALARE? Ex is the Latin preposition meaning ‘out of’ or ‘from’. Halare is the Latin verb to breathe, hence breathing out is exhaling. Interesting to note that the English word for bad breath is halitosis – the prefix ‘hal’ coming from the original Latin verb. This is an example of Etymology which is the tracing of words and how they change and are adapted over time. So if your phone number is ex-directory you are out of the phone book and in the case of Henry VIII, he was excommunicated from the Catholic Church on December 17 1538 by Pope Paul III.

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Literacy Focus: Know your stuff The majority of subjects at GCSE level have been subjected to reforms, with a new grading system and new specifications. These reforms come as part of a government drive to improve schools’, pupils’ and employers’ confidence in the qualifications. In order to meet the new reforms in Design and Technology, Resistant Material students have been learning key words to improve their ability to answer the questions on the GCSE exam. Mr McCarthy has been setting 10 words a week which students are tested on for both spelling and definition. They are building towards 150 words, all of which come from the new specification. Good luck ADT students!

If you would like to help your child ‘Know Their Stuff’, speak to them about key words from the different subjects. If there are things they are unsure on, now is a brilliant time to learn together.

Director of Science (Part Time Job Share opportunity) This is a fantastic opportunity for someone that is either already working part time, or is looking to return to work and seeking a senior role. We are looking for someone to work alongside our current Director of Science for 2/3 days per week (allowing her to take on additional responsibility). We can be flexible on the start date, it’s more important that we find the right person.

Level 4 Apprentice ICT Network Assistant We are looking to recruit a Level 4 Apprentice ICT Network Assistant. This is a fantastic opportunity for anyone interested in a career in ICT – they will receive on-the-job training, a salary and will study for a qualification equivalent to a foundation degree, all fully paid! For the right person there is also the opportunity to move onto Levels 5 + 6 (degree level). Anyone interested, please contact Mrs Gamble on 01707 655512. Closing date is 6 December 2017.

For more details and information on either of these positions please visit the website http://www.mountgrace.org.uk/vacancies/2601.html

Gym & Dance Auditions

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Congratulations to Loucia H who we didn’t realise had been chosen as one of the four best cadets to stand guard of honour on the memorial at last week’s Remembrance Day Parade.

Diary dates for this term For details of upcoming events please see the School Calendar by using the following link: http://www.mountgrace.herts.sch.uk/calendar/3384.html w/c Monday 27 November Year 11 Mock Exams Tuesday 28 November Chamber Concert Wednesday 29 November Year 9 Learning Review Evening Sunday 3 December Stamp Fair (Help serving refreshments is needed please) w/c Monday 4 December Year 11 Mock Exams continue Tuesday 5 – Friday 8 December Year 8 Cologne trip Wednesday 6 December Old Folks’ Party Wednesday 13 December Christmas Carol Concert Thursday 14 December Year 7 & 8 Disco 5.00 – 7.00pm in the Hall Wednesday 20 December Last day of term

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Art, Design & Technology Students of the Week

Art and Design KS3: Millie J, Year 8, for fantastic presentation and skill produced in all her work. KS4: Mia B, Year 10, for consistently producing high standard work.

Design Technology KS3: Mia S, Year 9, for producing a fantastic outcome in Graphics. KS4: Rithan A, Year 10, for excellent contribution to discussion in Food Technology.

The ADT department would like to send a big thank you to the PTFA for their new cookers.

Don’t forget that tomorrow (Friday 24 November) is an Occasional Day so school is closed. Students are expected into school at the usual time on Monday.

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And finally… Fact of the week (thank you Mrs Parsons)

In 1950, all English footballers' salaries were capped at £12 per week.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/competitions/premier-league/8265851/How-footballers- wages-have-changed-over-the-years-in-numbers.html

Have a great weekend. Best wishes The HEADlines Team

You can also view this newsletter on the website http://www.mountgrace.herts.sch.uk/headlines/4084.html

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Chamber Concert

Thank you to all those who came to the Chamber Concert on Tuesday. It was a fantastic evening with a huge range of solos from bass guitar, to piano and vocal duets. Highlights included the fabulous Pitrakou brothers’ duets; Phoebe S on violin; Aimee P on clarinet; Lily G and Salima M singing ‘My Favourite Things’, Katherine C singing Handel and Mabel T playing the violin. Two of the school’s many ensembles featured the Chamber Choir and String Ensemble performing ‘Phantom of the Opera.'

Year 12 shadowing Two of our Year 12 students, Natalie A and Sophie R, attended a shadowing day at Hertfordshire University on Tuesday. They both found it a very worthwhile experience, giving them a flavour of university lectures and life and allowing them to speak with undergraduate students. Natalie said, ‘The day was an overall great insight of a realistic day at Uni. We got to learn and experience so much about student life. I'd recommend it to any student as you get an actual taste of university life for yourself.’

Attendance update We want to feature attendance more regularly to our readers to show the improvements that have been made since our inspection. We are very pleased to tell you that MGS attendance is now above the national average. This was commented on positively during a recent DfE visit and by Paul Wilson, a Herts for Learning advisor.

The overall attendance rate is currently 95.6%. At the same stage last year the figure was 94.1%. To climb 1.5% represents an extremely significant result. We are working closely with the County Attendance Team, parents and extended families and other outside agencies to continually improve our figures.

We are highlighting the positives of good attendance in assemblies through our Heads of Year. The form groups are regularly told their figures and the impact that this has on their academic progress. Thank you for your work with us in raising attendance levels. We hope that the upward trend continues – even with the winter months now upon us.

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Lunch with Mr Baker

Mr Baker very much enjoys spending time with the students and getting to know them better and also asking them about their experiences here in school. To that end he invites five different students each week to have lunch with him – which he pays for we hasten to add! After getting over the initial shock that they are not in trouble, the students soon chat away with him like old friends and lots of fun is had. The HEADlines team is looking for a more catchy title than lunch with Mr Baker. We put our lexical hats on and the best we could come up with was ‘Grub with the Gaffer’! If anyone has a better suggestion then please send it in to us here at HEADlines. Photo of Hameed Z and Daisy H with Mr Baker.

Stepping Stones

Mount Grace School is launching a pebble hunt in local parks in and around Potters Bar. The aim of the hunt is to get children out and about this winter, and to reduce the time that they spend on electronic devices. The pebbles have been decorated by Year 7 students and have been hidden in various local locations. The majority can be found in Oakmere Park, Parkfield, some in Furzefield playing field and South Mimms Park.

Once found, the pebbles should be photographed and uploaded onto the Mount Grace Facebook page, along with a description of where the pebble was found. The pebble should then be hidden again in a different location, ready for the next person to find.

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Sixth Form Seesaw Feedback Pilot We are launching a pilot study with the Sixth Form this week to digitise all of their feedback across their subjects. This involves taking pictures of marked work showing the WWW (What Went Well) / EBI (Even Better If) and Action Points. We would like students to evidence their completion of Action Points so that we can look at the effectiveness of what has been given. We want to check that Meaningful Action Points are being set, in line with our assessment and marking policy. This allows our students to bring their device to a meeting with staff or visitors to show their work and the feedback provided.

Year 11 exams Year 11 mock exams are in full swing at the moment, replicating the real exams in terms of the time before entering the hall, lining up, exam timings, exam content and skills needed. Miss Jenkins had a final assembly last week to talk about the impact of the mock exams and to ask for a two week focus throughout the mock period. Following the success of our Mock Results Day last year, we will be holding it again this year on Friday 5 January 2018.

Herts for Learning visit On Wednesday, we welcomed Educational Consultant Liz Shapland from Herts for Learning into school, to moderate lessons delivered by our Heads of Faculties, as part of our continued drive to improve the accuracy of lesson evaluations and feedback to colleagues. It allowed middle and senior leaders to pair up with Liz and talk about the relative strengths and areas for development for each lesson. This is a really useful exercise for us as it strengthens the message that we deliver to visitors about the strength of teaching, learning and assessment here at MGS.

It was particularly useful to ask students to show us their Google Classroom page in each lesson. This allowed us to monitor the quantity and quality of homework being set. This backs up parental feedback that we have received at the Learning Review Evenings.

Learning Review Evening feedback We are happy to have received some positive feedback from parents following the recent Years 11, 9 and 7 Learning Review Evenings. Satisfaction across these year groups is high. Thank you to the parents who also wrote comments for us. The Head of Learning takes all of the parental concerns raised and passes them to the appropriate member of staff able to best deal with the issues raised. Here is an overview of some headlines:

Question Year 11 % Year 9 % Year 7 %

My child is happy 93 95 97

My child is safe 98 97 97

My child makes good progress 90 96 97

My child is well looked after 93 96 100

My child is taught well 91 84 95

My child has meaningful homework set 90 84 88

I would recommend this school to another parent 92 92 98

We will continue to do our very best and any and all feedback is extremely useful to us so please do take the time to give us your views.

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Cyber Discovery

Did you know that the top ten global cyber security companies are either American, Chinese or Russian? Are you aware of the recent allegations of global election fixing by foreign governments? How safe is Britain from a sustained cyber-attack? These are questions that the government wants to pose to budding cyber security students. They have launched a search for the next generation of students who could end up specialising in digital defence systems, deciphering hacking methods and helping to secure data and intellectual property. Mount Grace has been approached to offer students in Years 10-13 the opportunity of engaging in some cyber tech work via a national competition. This is a very exciting opportunity for our students and gives them the chance to learn very real skills if they can manoeuvre through the four stages of the national game. Anyone interested in taking part should speak to Mr McAleese or visit the website www.joincyberdiscovery.com/ … we couldn’t get past the first page – but that just proves how good our Mount Grace security settings are (we hope!)

A day in the life of the word ‘Ad’… Ad is a preposition meaning ‘to’. You may recognise it from certain mottos such as the RAF: Per Ardua Ad Astra meaning ‘Through Struggle To the Stars’. Ad can also act as a prefix to a noun or verb. To advocate in a legal sense means to plead the cause of another in court. The Latin verb ‘Vocare’ means to talk (from which we get the word vocal) and therefore if we put our preposition Ad in front of it we get Advocare – which means to talk to someone. Advocate, the noun, can also be used as a synonym for barrister. In this case the advocate would be talking to the judge when pleading the cause in court. Incidentally the French noun for a lawyer is ‘Un Avocat/Une Avocate’. The French being the French, ‘Un Avocat’ also means an avocado! In a degree of separation from Advocate… to ‘Admit’ something as evidence in a legal case comes from the Latin verb ‘Mittere’ (meaning to send) with our preposition ‘Ad’ as a prefix. Thus you are literally sending to the court the evidence that you would like to be seen. A little word with a lot of meaning…

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Art, Design & Technology Students of the Week

Art KS3 Stephanie S, Year 8. Fantastic extended homework final piece relating to the project Mythical Creatures. KS4 Charlotte C, Year 10. For continually producing high level work and for working on a larger scale outside of her sketchbook.

Food Technology KS3 Shakira G, Year 7. For consistently challenging herself in lesson. KS4 Nikita H, Year 11. For completing word count before deadline.

Graphics KS3 Kyle M, Year 9. Outstanding final Happy Meal box inspired by the movie Cars. KS4 Paige M, Year 11. Excellent progression on her final product, a board game based on Pretty Little Liars TV series.

Resistant Materials KS3 Amy W and Ella G, Year 9. For outstanding work throughout Resistant Material unit. KS4 Joe P and Ali B, Year 10. For acing their tests every week.

Student Success We are delighted that Eddie F in Year 13 has been given an unconditional offer to read History at Nottingham University next year. The university was so impressed with Eddie’s UCAS application that having submitted it on the Friday, he heard within two days! Eddie’s application was a very well-rounded one and featured many of the extra-curricular things that he is involved in. Many congratulations to him and good luck from us all.

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Director of Science (Part Time Job Share opportunity) This is a fantastic opportunity for someone that is either already working part time, or is looking to return to work and seeking a senior role. We are looking for someone to work alongside our current Director of Science for 2/3 days per week (allowing her to take on additional responsibility). We can be flexible on the start date, it’s more important that we find the right person. Closing date is 8 December.

Level 4 Apprentice ICT Network Assistant We are looking to recruit a Level 4 Apprentice ICT Network Assistant. This is a fantastic opportunity for anyone interested in a career in ICT – they will receive on- the-job training, a salary and will study for a qualification equivalent to a foundation degree, all fully paid! For the right person there is also the opportunity to move onto Levels 5 + 6 (degree level). Anyone interested, please contact Mrs Gamble on 01707 655512. Closing date is 6 December.

For more details and information on either of these positions please visit the website http://www.mountgrace.org.uk/vacancies/2601.html

Oyster Cards and Saver Cards Please note that if you wish to apply for a free Oyster Card (11-15s), a Hertfordshire Saver Card (11-18s), or a Capital Connect card (16-18s), you need to apply online rather than through school. The website addresses are as follows … Oyster https://tfl.gov.uk/fares-and-payments/ or ring Tel: 03432 221234 Herts Saver Card https://savercards.hertfordshire.gov.uk/ or ring Tel: 0300 123 4050 Capital Connect Card https://www.thameslinkrailway.com/tickets/discounts-and-railcards/student-connect

Gym & Dance Auditions Don’t forget to attend the Gym & Dance Auditions on Tuesday 5 December at 3.10pm. The Gym & Dance show will be held 27-28 March 2018.

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Diary dates for this term For details of upcoming events please see the School Calendar by using the following link: http://www.mountgrace.herts.sch.uk/calendar/3384.html Sunday 3 December Stamp Fair (Help serving refreshments is needed please) w/c Monday 4 December Year 11 Mock Exams continue Tuesday 5 – Friday 8 December Year 8 Cologne trip Wednesday 6 December Old Folks’ Party Wednesday 13 December Christmas Carol Concert Thursday 14 December Year 7 & 8 Disco 5.00 – 7.00pm in the Hall Wednesday 20 December Last day of term Thursday 4 January 2018 First day of Spring term Friday 5 January Year 11 Mock Results Day

Here’s our pick of things going on around the capital over the weekend. But please check details before you journey out. The Great Christmas Pudding Race | Covent Garden | Saturday 2 December http://www.xmaspuddingrace.org.uk/London_Race.html Museum of the Moon | Royal Arsenal, Woolwich | 1 - 2 December 2017 http://www.festival.org/specialevents/15/museum-of-the-moon/ London Santa Run | Victoria Park, E9 | Sunday 3 December http://www.londonsantarun.co.uk

And finally… Fact of the week (thank you Mrs Parsons) An elephant can smell water up to 3 miles away https://www.express.co.uk/pictures/pics/6180/Amazing-facts-you-didn-t-know-about-animals-in- pictures/Elephants-can-smell-water-up-to-3-miles-away-They-are-also-one-of-the-three-mammals-that- undergo-menopause-the-other-two-being-humpback-whales-and-human-females-Elephants-can-smell- water-up-to-3-miles-away-135083

Have a great weekend. Best wishes The HEADlines Team

You can also view this newsletter on the website http://www.mountgrace.herts.sch.uk/headlines/4084.html

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Old Folks Party

Sixth Formers organised a Christmas party for 40 older folk from the Potters Bar Community on Wednesday afternoon. There was music and drama to entertain them; raffle prizes were won and plenty of delicious food to go around. The orchestra opened the show with a Snow Medley, and ended with a rousing rendition of Slade’s ‘Merry Christmas Everyone’. There were solos on the violin and piano; the choir; the Year 10 dance group and the Jazz Band amongst others.

One of our visitors, Daisy from Mayfair Lodge, said, ‘I really enjoyed it. It was extremely good – really professional’. Thank you to Mrs Karageorghis for all your help.

National Parliament Week

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To celebrate National Parliament Week last week, KS3 and KS4 students undertook a programme of activities during their CRS lessons, exploring how and why the House of Commons and the House of Lords matter for everyone.

This included dressing up and re-enacting iconic scenes from the House of Commons and the opening of Parliament. Students also participated in debates on lowering the voting age and providing an additional tax to support our NHS.

American History re-enactment

Year 8 Humanities students have been studying the transatlantic slave trade, the causes of the American civil war and the eventual abolition of the slave trade. During lessons, students had to take sides and re- enact the struggles of the north and the south on this issue that divided the nation. Students were then set an independent learning project to create a memorial to honour the victims of slavery. As you can see from the pictures some fantastic, innovative and thoughtful models have been created which are now on display in L11.

Stepping Stones

The first decorated stone has been found and recorded on Facebook – with hopefully many more to come. Year 7 students have been out and about hiding decorated stones in Oakmere Park, Parkfield, Furzefield playing field and South Mimms Park. Can you find any of them?

When you find a pebble, please take a photograph of it in its location, and then reply to the Mount Grace Facebook post, attaching the photo, and giving a description of where you found it. Please then hide the pebble again in a different location, ready for the next person to find. Hoping to see lots of posts and pebbles!

MFL Trip to Cologne Year 8 are having a fantastic time in Cologne. Parents and carers are following their adventures on the blog. Full report and photos in next week’s edition of HEADlines.

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GCSEPod

We were thrilled this week to find that we have passed the 5,000 pod mark. We are still in the highest rating category for schools – the A grade category. Very soon we will pass the 10,000 pod mark as a school which is outstanding. Well done everyone. The faculty standings so far are: First: English – 1495 | Second: Geography – 1394 | Third: Maths – 393 SAM Learning We are increasingly using SAM Learning more for KS3 homework setting across subjects. Here are the results of a recent study completed by the company: https://www.samlearning.com/proven-impact/ Students do not have to wait for us to set tasks, they can access resources whenever they like. A reminder that the login details are as follows:

Centre ID: EN6MG

User ID: 110201JB*

Password: 110201JB*

* User ID and Password is the same and is the date of birth followed by the initials – so the example above would be for Joe Bloggs born on 11 February 2001.

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Visit from Samantha Murphy, Graphic Designer

On Tuesday 28 November, the ADT Department and their sixth-form cohort had a visit from graphic designer Samantha Murphy, who previously worked at The Sunday Times and now works for an independent company called ‘Why’. Samantha has worked on many different projects, with many big companies including the BBC and Barclays Bank.

In response to her visit, product design and photography student, Niamh Gallagher, Year 12 said, ‘Having spoken to someone in such a competitive field of work has greatly assisted in my decisions when considering my own pathways in life. She taught us that there are many different ways to “put your foot in the metaphorical door” of Art and Design. I am feeling incredibly inspired by her visit. I think that having opportunities like this regularly benefits students in all aspects of their work and education.'

The ADT department would like to thank Samantha Murphy for her visit and for demonstrating to Sixth Form students that there are many different pathways for them to take to get to where they want to be.

It’s all about the money… Last week saw us dallying with the preposition ‘Ad’ meaning ‘To’. We finished off with the word ‘admit’ coming from the verb admittere – to send something to somebody. If we change the prefix ‘’Ad’ to ‘Re’ then this gives the idea of ‘back’ as in to return, replay or restart. On financial invoices we might see the phrase ‘Remittance’ which uses our friend from last week – the verb mittere. The invoice is giving you details of where to send the money back to. On financial records also we see the word ‘Pecuniary’ appearing. At board level, companies have to ask employees if they have any ‘Pecuniary Interests’ within the company which might lead to a conflict of interest. All of this stems from the Latin for money which is ‘Pecunia’ – a feminine noun. Ever wondered why the chemical symbol for silver is AG? It stems from the Latin for silver which is ‘Argenteus’. A banker in ancient Rome was known as an ‘Argentarius’ because he dealt in loans using silver coins. Finally – you can use the English adjective argentine to describe anything that is silvery in colour. A quick internet search will also tell you how and why Argentina got its name.

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Art, Design & Technology Students of the Week

KS3 | Azara C in Year 8 for her outstanding Mythical Creatures homework. KS4 | Shannon G in Year 10 for her beautiful observational tonal piece. KS5 |Tom K in Year 13 for his great use of Photoshop!

Diary dates for this term For details of upcoming events please see the School Calendar by using the following link: http://www.mountgrace.herts.sch.uk/calendar/3384.html Wednesday 13 December Christmas Carol Concert 7.00pm in the Hall (See poster on next page) Thursday 14 December Year 7 & 8 Disco 5.00 – 7.00pm in the Hall Tuesday 19 December Christmas Jumper Day – see details below Wednesday 20 December Last day of term. School finishes at 12.40pm Thursday 4 January 2018 First day of Spring term. School starts at normal time. Friday 5 January Year 11 Mock Results Day Christmas jumper day On Tuesday 19 December we will be holding a ‘Christmas jumper day’. This event is to continue to raise money for the ‘Onda Solidaria’ charity which is building the Omisa centre in Rio. This year we have raised an impressive £650 and we would really like to get this to £1000 by the New Year. We are asking that students, friends and families dig around for their unwanted coppers, silver and gold coins to help this wonderful cause, we will even accept any foreign currency that maybe laying around from a previous holiday. House points will be awarded to students for donating. There will also be a competition for the best Jumper. We encourage pupils to decorate themselves with tinsel, crazy Christmas hats and headbands. We look forward to seeing everyone’s jumpers and please remember to bring donations in on the day and Sixth formers will be around to collect during morning registration. Please note: jumpers, tinsel and Christmas hats should be worn with normal school uniform.

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Here’s our pick of things going on around the capital over the weekend. But please check details before you journey out. Floating Film Festival | St. Katherine Docks | 4 to 10 December http://www.skdocks.co.uk/whats-on Art for Love Christmas Festival | Devonshire Square | 1 to 19 December http://www.devonshiresq.co.uk/events/events/devonshire-squares-art-for-love-christmas-festival- 2017.aspx Winnie-the-Pooh: Exploring a Classic | V&A Museum | opening 9 December https://www.vam.ac.uk/exhibitions/winnie-the-pooh-exploring-a-classic

And finally… Fact of the week (thank you Mrs Parsons)

Since 1981, every Chinese citizen over 11 has been required to plant three trees per year. https://www.economist.com/news/international/21613334-vast-tree-planting-arid-regions-failing-halt- deserts-march-great-green-wall

Have a great weekend. Best wishes The HEADlines Team

You can also view this newsletter on the website http://www.mountgrace.herts.sch.uk/headlines/4084.html

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Fright Night | Friday 3 November

Fright Night was an explosion of adventure, adrenalin and excitement! 85 students plus staff spent the evening at school exploring the dark passages and tunnels under the school; experiencing sensory overload in the Science block; walking H block alone, running the gauntlet in Maths, eating pizza and watching scary films to raise money for our Brazilian charity Onda Solidaria. An astounding £850 was raised for the Chibuzo Omisa Centre and reading room. Thank you to all who supported the evening and to Mr McAleese for organising the experience. Here is a small selection of the night for you to enjoy: https://blog.seesaw.me/frightnight/#!/

Comments from students on the night … ‘One of the most terrifying experiences of my life (in a good way!)’ Ryan P ‘It was AMAZING… the tunnels were great.’ Joseph P ‘It was great fun and we spent time with people we didn’t know and made new friends. The tunnels were the highlight.’ Mollie A ‘Maths was the best because the clowns really, really scared us!’ Amy W

Year 12 Photography Trip to University of Herts | Wednesday 8 November Year 12 Photography students attended a Dark Room photography workshop designed to help them as they work on their coursework projects. It was a very successful day. Pupils were given a tour of the Photography studios by the Course Leader Mat Macpake, given an induction on dark room processes, and then they spent time creating their own photograms. Pupils thoroughly enjoyed the day and have a range of outcomes for their portfolios. A big thank you to the University of Hertfordshire for such an inspiring day. Quote of the day: Sophia N: 'I want to do this forever!'

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Gala Presentation Evening The hall is being transformed right now in readiness for tonight’s Gala Presentation Evening! The evening will be compèred by Mr Bhura and Mrs Marshall and begins with the Orchestra’s rendition of ‘Dance of the Knights’ by Prokofiev. Canapés and drinks will be served on arrival and during the interval. Prizes will be awarded to students and ex-students in each key stage, who have progressed and achieved, followed by special School Awards. More information about winners next week!

Lunch with the Headteacher Yesterday six Year 7 students were chosen randomly by the Head of Learning to have lunch with Mr Baker and Mrs Patel (Deputy Headteacher). Around a specially prepared table in the canteen they were asked to share their thoughts about the school and also chat about their hobbies and interests. The lunches will continue for the next six weeks with different year groups chosen each time.

Cagin A said: ‘I love the open space in our school – there’s plenty of space but it still feels so friendly like a family’. Charlie P said: ‘The teachers are really positive and always keep pushing us to get top grades’. ‘In Your Corner’ Campaign 2017

Mount Grace School has joined the ‘In Your Corner’ campaign 2017. It is a mental health campaign expressly for secondary schools. Throughout November, during form time, students will be exploring mental health through discussion and high-impact films, each focusing on different steps that young people can take to be there for a friend struggling with their mental health. If you are interested or would like more information, there are useful contacts on the school website. Visit http://www.mountgrace.org.uk/counselling/4573.html

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Learning Review Evenings Thank you to all the parents who attended the Year 12/13 Learning Review Evening on Tuesday. We hope that parents will also support the Year 7 evening on Tuesday 21 November and Year 9 evening on Wednesday 29 November. Digital Learning Evening | Thursday 16 November Thank you to all of the parents that signed up for the evening. There will be an e-mail sent with more details about the event. THE HUB Year 11s are engaging well with the extra sessions available to them after school at THE HUB and some students are attending several days each week. Do encourage your child to come and join us – particularly in the run up to the Mock Exams which are only a couple of weeks away.

Please keep Saturday 18 November free for the Christmas Market, which runs from 11 – 3pm. Friday 17 November is a non-uniform day for this event. All contributions will be most welcome, especially:

Mince Pies Boxes/Tins of Biscuits Boxes or cartons of chocolates Bottled Toiletries Bottle Bags – empty or full! Gift Vouchers Bottles of drink* Unwanted gifts Gift Packs of Toiletries

*Any alcoholic drinks should be brought to Reception by a responsible adult

Please also let us know if you can provide cakes and help serve refreshments on the day.

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Congratulations to the following Leah O. for including the words irony and paradox in a sentence. This week’s words are: insular and taciturn. You can either take a slip from the library or you can enter online by going to the ‘Words of the Week’ page of the website: http://www.mountgrace.org.uk/words-of-the-week/4373.html

ADT Students of the Week

Art: Louis P, Year 9, for outstanding effort, improved behaviour and skill RM: Annabella V, Year 9, for outstanding volume of work produced consistently in lessons Graphics: Isabel P, Year 9, for outstanding final Pixar Happy Meal box design

Diary dates for this term For details of upcoming events please see the School Calendar by using the following link: http://www.mountgrace.herts.sch.uk/calendar/3384.html Monday 13 November Year 10 Tring Museum trip Tuesday 14 November Wired for Sound Concert at 7.00pm Wednesday 15 November Year 10 Drama trip to Othello Thursday 16 November Sixth Form Open Evening 5.45pm to 8.00pm Friday 17 November Non-uniform day for Christmas Market Saturday 18 November Christmas Market 11.00 – 3.00pm Tuesday 21 November Year 7 Learning Review Evening Thursday 23 November Sixth Form Taster Day Friday 24 November Occasional Day Wednesday 29 November Year 9 Learning Review Evening

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Diary dates for this term continued … Sunday 3 December Stamp Fair (Help serving refreshments is needed please) Tuesday 5 – Friday 8 December Year 8 Cologne trip Wednesday 6 December Old Folks’ Party Wednesday 13 December Christmas Carol Concert Wednesday 20 December Last day of term

And finally… Fact of the week (thank you Mr McCarthy)

Answer in next week’s issue.

Have a great weekend. Best wishes The HEADlines Team

You can also view this newsletter on the website http://www.mountgrace.herts.sch.uk/headlines/4084.html

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Message from Peter Baker, Headteacher Well, this has been an ‘interesting’ year, with a very difficult start, followed by a rapid recovery and fantastic results in the summer. I for one, hope that next year will be less interesting!

This term has been packed with many activities, with our students involved in many trips, extra- curricular activities and concerts. We were delighted that so many of you could join us last Wednesday at the Christmas Carol Concert in the school hall. Thank you once again to Adrienne Wilson and the Music Department for a fabulous performance. I would also like to say a big thank you to all the students and parents who have supported so many of these activities and to staff who have helped organise them. A particular thank you to the PTFA who work tirelessly to raise funds for the school.

We bid fond farewells to Liz Crossland and Nazira Bibi – and we wish Fathima Anwari well as she is now on maternity Leave.

We look forward to seeing all our students back here on Thursday 4 January 2018 at 8.40am and we will be holding our Year 11 ‘Mock Results Day’ on Friday 5 January.

Finally, I leave you with some exciting news about an early visit from Santa. As many of you may know, we submitted a successful PSBP2 (Priority School Building Programme) bid two years ago and were advised the project would start in October 2017. Last week we had a visit from a team from the ESFA (the school’s funding agency) bearing plans to demolish the girls’ gym and replace it with a brand new, three court sports hall, changing rooms and an ICT / Business room (subject to permissions). Needless to say, we are all very excited about this and look forward to the building work which is due to start next year. (See sketch below).

It remains for me to wish you all a very happy Christmas and a peaceful New Year. Best wishes Peter Baker

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Year 8 MFL trip to Cologne

23 students and four staff had a brilliant time in Cologne last week. They explored Cologne thoroughly, including climbing the 533 steps up the tower in Cologne Cathedral to get a stunning view of the River Rhine and a panoramic view of the city. They went to a Chocolate Museum and enjoyed the free samples. After lunch they went ice skating where they discovered that Olly A and Emma H rivalled Torvill and Dean. They visited the Phantasialand theme park, which included riding on Taron, the world’s fastest accelerating rollercoaster. They practised speaking German, especially in the shops and the Christmas market stalls. They went bowling in the evening, and Marley B impressed everyone and was crowned Kegeln Konig (Bowling King). Thank you to Mrs Baker for organising the trip.

Christmas Concert | Wednesday 13 December

The Music Department delighted us all yet again with fantastic performances at the Christmas Carol Concert held on Wednesday. The programme included a selection of traditional carols and readings; the Wind Band performing ‘Sleigh Ride’; the Chamber Choir singing ‘Winter Wonderland’; several duets and soloists, the string ensemble, the orchestra; as well as the Jazz Band accompanying Mr McAleese and Robyn B singing ‘Baby it’s cold outside’. The evening ended with mulled wine and mince pies. Thank you to all who organised and particularly to Mrs Wilson and the peripatetic Music Teachers.

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Year 7 and 8 Disco | Thursday 14 December

Year 7 and 8 had a fantastic evening last Thursday, raising £279 for the Voc. Ed department. Millie J won a £300 prize of a year’s subscription to Stagecoach school. We had over 80 students at the Disco, which also included games like musical chairs, a dance-off, a cat walk with Mr Jenkins and much more! Thank you to all the Sixth Formers who helped on the night.

Christmas jumper day | Tuesday 19 December

On Tuesday we held a Christmas jumper day, to continue to raise money for the ‘Onda Solidaria’ charity which is building the ‘Omisa Centre’ in Rio. So far this year we have raised an impressive £650 and we would really like to get this to £1000 by the New Year. Please keep the donations coming in. Students – and staff – came decorated with tinsel, crazy Christmas hats and headbands. A total of £248 was raised. Thank you very much to all who donated. Stepping Stones update It’s been a tricky week for finding painted pebbles – but we are hoping that now all the snow has melted away – students will be back out in the parks looking for the hidden decorated stones. Please email your photo and description of where you found it to the MGS Facebook page, and then hide it again for the next person. Please contact Ms Burnham with any questions you may have. Old Folks Party addendum As part of last week’s Old Folks’ Christmas Party, a raffle was held. Thank you to Sainsbury’s for donating a £20 voucher for the Raffle – it was much appreciated.

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Thank you to those who helped the PTFA raise over £300 serving refreshments for the Rock Choir hall booking and £195 for the December Stamp Fair.

Mount Grace has case study published by GCSEPod A ‘Nice to Have Extra’ Becomes a Core Teaching and Learning Resource

OVERVIEW When James McAleese joined Mount Grace School as Assistant Headteacher in 2015, his challenge was to embed digital learning across the school. Having regularly used GCSEPod at his previous school he knew that the resource could play a huge part in the digital transformation of the school. THE RESULTS ‘GCSEPod has become a cross curriculum resource to which every student has access, and is actively encouraged to be used both independently and to complete assigned tasks. Those who use it the most, benefit the greatest and I believe it is no coincidence that the highest using departments saw the biggest progress in last summer’s exams.’ James McAleese Read the full article here https://www.gcsepod.com/case-studies/ Year 7 explore Judaism Year 7 have been exploring Judaism as part of their religious studies in CRS. Students explored Kosher food laws in the Torah and had to apply their learning by creating their very own Kosher restaurant. We then had a secret ballot to find a winner. Well done to the winners: Danny, Salima, Lily-May, Max and Charlie in 7D.

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Visit from CND to Humanities Department

Last Tuesday the Humanities Department welcomed representatives of CND Peace Education (Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament) into school to speak about their work and goals. They led 12 KS3 and KS4 workshops throughout the day. At first the students looked at examples of pressure groups, and how they operate, and then - in small groups created their own on an issue where they wanted to see change (considering factors such as who to target, and what to spend their budget on), which they then presented to the class. The CND Peace Education facilitator gave feedback on each at the end, and announced a winner. The students also learned the story of the Hiroshima victim Sadako Sasaki, a young girl who became a world-famous symbol of peace after attempting to fold 1000 origami cranes, despite suffering from terminal leukaemia as a result of the bomb’s radiation. Students were then taught intermediate origami and created their own peace cranes. On Monday and Tuesday, the Humanities Faculty hosted celebration assemblies for Year 7 and 8 students to reward all the hard work the students have been putting in to classwork, homework and independent learning projects. Certificates and awards were handed out to students who have excelled in one or more of the enterprise life skills (Public speaking, Written communication, Creativity & Innovation, Planning & Organisation, Decision Making, Problem Solving, Resilience & Empathy, Teamwork & leadership) throughout the year so far. These students saw especially made movie trailers of their learning journeys this year.

Casual Cover Supervisors We are looking to increase our bank of casual Cover Supervisors. These staff will be called upon to cover teacher absences so may suit anyone thinking about a career in teaching, or university students looking to gain work experience on non-study days. Visit: http://www.mountgrace.org.uk/vacancies/2601.html to read the full job description. For more information, please contact Mrs Gamble, HR Manager. Closing date is 10 January 2018 Director of Science Director of Science (Part Time Job Share): This is a fantastic opportunity for someone that is either already working part time, or is looking to return to work and seeking a senior role. We are looking for someone to work alongside our current Director of Science for 2/3 days per week (allowing her to take on additional responsibility). We can be flexible on the start date, it’s more important that we find the right person. Visit: http://www.mountgrace.org.uk/vacancies/2601.html to read the full job description For more information, please contact Mrs Gamble, HR Manager. Closing date is 8 January 2018.

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Apprentice – ICT Network Assistant A great opportunity for someone looking to start a career in ICT. An 18 month fixed term contract, allowing the candidate to complete the Level 4 Network Engineer Apprenticeship. For more information, please contact Mrs Gamble, HR Manager. Closing date is 8 January 2018.

Geography Student of the Half Term Geography teachers have been monitoring students’ work this half term and have been looking to reward students who have gone above and beyond with their learning. We have been particularly impressed with a number of students this half term, and found it very difficult to select just one student per year group to be our geographer of the half term. However, this term’s winners are: KS3: Cian. R (Year 7) Jamie. D (Year 8) Hayden. D (Year 9) KS4: Ethan. N (Year 10) Adam. B (Year 11) KS5: Megan. P (Year 12) Lara. R (Year 13) All of these students have worked incredibly hard and have been given a postcard and an Amazon voucher. Well done to these students and we look forward to all working hard again next term.

Diary dates for this term For details of upcoming events please see the School Calendar by using the following link: http://www.mountgrace.herts.sch.uk/calendar/3384.html Wednesday 20 December Last day of term. School finishes at 12.40pm Thursday 4 January 2018 First day of Spring term. School starts at normal time. Friday 5 January Year 11 Mock GCSE Results Day w/c Monday 8 January Year 13 Mock Exams Wednesday 10 January Dubai Parents’ meeting 17.30 – 19.00 Tuesday 16 January Year 10 Learning Review Evening

And finally… Fact of the week If you are heading down under for Christmas on the beach, Australia has 10,685 of them – so you could spend it on a different one every day for over 29 years! http://www.australia.gov.au/about-australia/australian-story/beach

Have a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Looking forward to seeing you back on Thursday 4 January at 8.40am Best wishes The HEADlines Team

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