DIssue 2:enmark March 2020 Road365
DENMARK ROAD HIGH SCHOOL TOPS THE TABLE FOR PUPIL PROGRESS Pupil Progress scores: “A sensational achievement” – Claire Giblin, Headteacher Denmark Road High School has achieved the highest pupil progress score in the county. The school, recently named the Sunday Times State Southwest State Secondary School of the Year in their Schools Guide, Parent Power, has achieved the highest ranking of ‘above average’ in measures that calculate progress, attainment, good English and Maths passes and numbers of students staying in education post 16. Headteacher Claire Giblin was delighted with the Key Stage 4 progress figures published today: “It is fantastic that the unbelievable work of our students, staff and school community have been recognised with these latest league tables. We are rightly proud of
our outstanding headline figures; 65 of our students achieved more than ten 9-7 GCSEs last summer with some 75% of all entries being graded above 7. However, our school priority remains ‘positive progress and well-being for all’. It is great to see this recognised today with a Progress 8 score of +0.90. This shows our students achieve nearly one whole grade higher at Denmark Road than students of similar ability nationally. A sensational achievement”. The results, published on the Compare School Performance service on the gov.uk website, show Denmark Road High School achieved the 89th highest Progress score in the country across 6274 schools and the 42nd highest in terms of Attainment. “We will never accept any of our students holding back in anything they do” Claire Giblin asserted “We are creating strong-minded independent young people at Denmark Road. They make amongst the best progress academically in the country here while also developing as individuals and leaders who stand out in a crowd, know who they are and know who they will be.” Claire Giblin noted “This has already been a remarkable year. Starting with record breaking results this summer across A Level and GCSE. We moved into our new Sixth Form Centre this September and were announced in January as the Sunday Times Southwest State School of the Year. Now we have been recognised as the top performing secondary school in Gloucestershire.”
Please contact Tom Mannion, Assistant Headteacher ([email protected]/01452 543335) for further information.
Page 1 of 24 - Denmark Road High School Newsletter – We Discover, Realise, Honour and Shape - Issue 2 – April 2020
Singin’ in the Rain
Wow – what talent we have at DRHS!
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Alumni @ Denmark Road High School Monica Louie Sims OBE (27 October 1925 – 20 November 2018)
commission the popular Sesame Street show alluding to its apparent aim “to change children’s behaviour”. Her support for drama against the rising tide of rolling news programming was never more apparent than her refusal to break into the broadcast of a Radio 4 play to announce the end of the Falklands War. After her retirement from the BBC she was commissioned to write a report on the shortage of women in management. Her findings included the In the summer of 1943 Monica Sims graduated from need for flexible working hours for women with Denmark Road High School. As the tide of World children, the introduction of part-time working and War II was finally beginning to turn, she took her parental leave for fathers. The latter was the only place at St Hugh’s College in Oxford University to one of her eighteen suggestions not accepted at read English. that time. 21st century Denmark Road students are At Denmark Road High School we are inspiring living up to Monica’s legacy; students ready to go students to challenge the patriarchy and bring into the world to respect people, understand about change. The future leaders who will be people and be the voice of the people. graduating this upcoming summer are driven and are fearless. They are following in the footsteps of Monica Sims some 77 years earlier. Monica joined the male-dominated BBC in 1953 working as a radio producer before taking her first major role as editor of Woman’s Hour in 1964. Benefitting from her male bosses opting not listen to the show, she used this unexpected freedom and personal drive to promote “health, mental or social problems, religious doubts, financial difficulties, sexual orientation and childcare, all suggested by listeners’ letters” challenging the broadcasting taboos of the day. Monica rose to become the most senior woman in Monica passed away in November 2018 at the age the corporation in the 1980s. As head of children’s of 93. She was a proud Gloucester-born Denmark television she fought hard for the right of children Road alum. She spoke fondly of her time at to have “the best possible service”. She introduced Denmark Road. Specifically she recalled a talk she ground-breaking shows including Newsround, The witnessed from an elderly suffragette who Wombles and Grange Hill. She finished her career addressed the senior girls. This talk took place in at the BBC as controller of her beloved Radio 4. our wonderful school hall some 80 years ago. It was the first time Monica was to realise the potential of Denmark Road High School has reshaped its women to make a positive difference in the world curriculum to blend oracy with academia. Monica beyond their traditional gender based roles. I am was noted for her ability to quickly get the making immensely humbled to let you know that Monica of a person and to win an argument. She did not left £20,000 to the school’s Help Us Grow suffer fools. She stood up for her beliefs even if fundraising campaign and a further £20,000 they were unpopular or ahead of her time. She donation to the school’s PTA association. infamously turned down the opportunity to
Page 4 of 24 - Denmark Road High School Newsletter – We Discover, Realise, Honour and Shape - Issue 2 – April 2020 With this legacy gift, the Help Us Grow campaign We need £30,000 to develop staging, lighting, has now raised £63,000. This money has already sound. This would also be used by our existing enabled us to improve the Denmark experience for Drama GCSE students and our future A Level our students. £3000 of donations have contributed Theatre Studies cohort beginning in September to the purchase of the Satchel One (Show My 2021. Homework) app. £11,000 has been used to support I am proud her legacy will make a fantastic impact our young people with the provision of a qualified on our current and future students. I am proud that counsellor. £8000 has been spent to improve she has forged pathways for our students to follow. curriculum provision, funding the choice of two I am proud that she is Denmark Road. languages from Year 7 and providing new textbooks in Sociology. Further donations from the PTA to the campaign have funded the creation of the Sixth Please take a moment to Help Us Grow Form Café and furniture for the outstanding new independent and group study rooms. Most #denmarkroad365 recently, we have used donations to support our We live DRHS 365, will you? £1 per day. A LRC with funding for World Book Day events and commitment of £365 per year (or £366 this year!). the purchase of books for the Carnegie Challenge. Set up an annual donation or £30.50 monthly direct Reaching our fundraising target of £125,000 will debit. Just complete this form allow us to continue to offer the Denmark Road Difference that has made us the Sunday Times Buy DT, Languages or Science a laptop Southwest State Secondary School of the Year and more. We are proud to be DenmarkRoad365 and The cost is £600, why not make a one off donation. your donations will support this. Our IT facilities It is easy to donate – Just Click Here urgently require updating. The laptops your daughters and sons use in Science, Languages and The DRHS £10 Challenge DT are now ten years old and are no longer fit for purpose. Replacing these 90 laptops will cost If parents of all our students pledged to donate just £54,000. Would you be willing to fund one of those £10 per month we would raise £106,000 a year for laptops for our students to use? the school. It is easy to donate – Just Click Here
1883 Club Our foundation year. Donate a one off sum for £1883 or set up a direct debit of £157 per month. Members of the 1883 Club will be treated to Afternoon Tea with the Headteacher & Chair of Members (Governors) up on the roof of the Main Building. Take an adventure through the attic, explore the historic documents of the school and experience the hidden terrace with beautiful views over the site, the city and the hills beyond. Just complete this form
Our achievements in the Arts are a defining feature Call for Alumni of Denmark Road life. The recent musical Do you know a former student? Please encourage production of Singing in the Rain was a fantastic them to email [email protected] or visit our showcase of student talent. However, once again Alumni Association page on our website and fill in we spent thousands hiring equipment. If we did our alumni form. have our own it would mean improved performance quality at all events: our talented musicians, dancers, singers and actors deserve this.
Page 5 of 24 - Denmark Road High School Newsletter – We Discover, Realise, Honour and Shape - Issue 2 – April 2020 Connecting Classrooms Celebration Event: Nepal, DRHS and Gloucestershire Primary Partnerships
On Friday 6th March Denmark Road hosted a celebration event for the ‘Connecting Classrooms: Nepal and UK’ celebration event. This celebrated the International project entitled “Being the Best Me I can Be” which has been happening amongst several Gloucestershire Primary schools, DRHS and schools in Nepal. The celebration started with acts performed by multiple Gloucestershire schools followed by a presentation from the teachers in Nepal who shared videos the children in Nepal had made for us. We particularly enjoyed the welcome by Himal from Kingsholm Primary School and also the poems read by students from Dinglewell Junior School. A group of our DRHS students were even interviewed by a local Gloucestershire radio producer, who came to the event! Some of our DRHS Nepalese speaking students had the chance to talk to the Nepalese teachers who told them about their schools back in Nepal. At DRHS we have also been running a lunchtime club which happened once a fortnight which explored the culture of Nepal. This club was run by Year 9 student Archisha Pant who educated the others about what Nepal is like with the help of fellow student Shakshi Magar. A few examples of sessions we had include food tasters, dance practice, introductions to the language and friendship bracelet making. We sent back some of the projects students had made, including house art winners and decorated tote bags. We hope to have an opportunity like this again and would like to keep in contact with the other Nepalese students! By Archie Pant and Ellie Mitchell, Year 9
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Year 8 INVEST Day
Year 8 had an exciting INVEST day and got to explore a range of creative workshops. In Art students explored watercolour painting techniques and constructed a 3D sculpture from a book. In Textiles students made dresses inspired by the swingin' 60's. In Drama students created their own short role plays and in Music students learnt famous rock and roll songs! This resulted in a fantastic showcase at the end of the day with performances, an art exhibition and a catwalk!
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Page 8 of 24 - Denmark Road High School Newsletter – We Discover, Realise, Honour and Shape - Issue 2 – April 2020 Business and Economics Trip to Brussels
In February, around thirty students got on a train heading to the channel tunnel, ready for an amazing trip around Brussels. Our first day was spent mainly travelling, with lots of free time to spend in Starbucks. After a long day on the trains, we were all excited to finally reach the hotel. We all settled in, before heading down for our first meal, which was followed by us all going to bed. After a good night’s sleep, we were all up nice and early for breakfast. We then took a series of train and trams around Brussels, with a stop to buy our lunch, and ended up in at concepts chocolate factory. Here we were met by an enthusiastic man, who shared his love for chocolate with us. Many chocolate samples later, a couple of us had the opportunity to make some pralines. Next we visited the well known Atomium, where we got to explore the structure, and even reach the top. Through the afternoon we continued to venture around the area by visiting the Planetarium and a design museum. The last item on our itinerary was free time at the Grand Place, filled with all sorts of shops and restaurants. Once again, our day concluded with an evening meal at the hotel. Many of us spent some time in the communism area, before we headed to bed. Our next day started with a lovely breakfast at the hotel and as before, many trains and trams around Brussels. We visited the European Commission, where students had the chance to ask questions and find out about how things there work. The Parlamentarium was our next stop where it was interesting to notice that all UK related exhibits had been removed. We then returned to the Grand Place and were allowed more free time to explore, before meeting, ready for our final evening meal. This took place at the Hard Rock Café. We were served with a variety of burgers and pasta dishes, which were followed by a brownie with ice cream. After enjoying our meal, we returned to the hotel and got our things packed up, ready to leave the next day. Our final day started with a trip to the National Bank of Belgium. We learnt about how to tell apart fake and real money, and then played a little game, to see whether we were good at choosing which investments to make. After a few fun packed days, we began our journey home. Several trains and a channel later, we were back in Gloucester with memories from an unforgettable trip. Annie Morris
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U13 Lady Taverners’ Girls’ Indoor Cricket Competition 2020 Round 2 vs Ribston The U13 team took on Ribston in the District Final of the Girls’ Indoor Cricket competition, bidding to win a place in the County Finals at Cheltenham Leisure Centre later in the month. The girls batted first in game 1, and got off to a rocky start, losing six wickets in the first four overs. With some more circumspect batting in the second half of the innings, boosted by an innings of 21 from Flo Hampton, the girls KS4 STEM trip to Safran eventually made it to 67 all out in the final over. On Monday 2nd March, 14 of our Year 10 and 11 They needed to bowl and field well, but the first students travelled to Safran as part of their “Women couple of overs didn’t yield any wickets as on the move” initiative based around International Ribston made a steady start. In the next couple Women’s Day on Sunday 8th March. The aim was to of overs from Abbie Kinder and Amy Rowan their show girls what STEM careers could look like, and tight bowling was rewarded with three wickets, give them insight into what Safran do at their site in leaving Ribston 40-3 at the half way stage, and Staverton – namely, to make the landing gear for just ahead at this stage. However, three major airline companies such as Boeing and Airbus. outstanding overs at the death from Abbie, Flo The day began with a talk from one of the leading and Bea Whitelock saw Ribston finish on 57-6, female engineers on the site – Kay Green, who told leaving Denmark Road victors by 10 runs. the girls about the variety of roles and projects she Game 2 again saw us bat first and the girls got has worked on. This was followed by a tour of the off to a much better start, with better running site, to see some of the processes involved in and more solid shots being played. At the manufacturing the landing gear (as well as just how halfway stage, Denmark Road were on 43-1 with big and impressive some of them are!) Abbie scoring 10, Bea retiring on 15 and Flo Next, they took part in two challenges – a tower retiring on 16. Some excellent running from building challenge, and a speed assembly challenge – Amy, Sim Dubb, and Annabel Reed took the final and a quiz. Congratulations to the winning team of score to 85-2 - a big improvement on the first Maddie Davis, Betsy Mangan, Megan Allen and Milly game. Robertson. In reply, Ribston also improved on their batting Finally, they finished with a talk about work display and reached the halfway point on 40-1. experience, apprenticeship and career options with Two excellent overs with the ball followed, the company. Mr Schofield including two wickets in Amelia Moore’s over, along with some excellent wicket keeping from Izzy Henderson, and Ribston eventually finished on 68-5. This was a much sterner test than the first round, but the girls showed excellent character to come out on top after getting off to a slow start. They move on to the County Finals (date to be confirmed). The squad in full: Amy Rowan, Gabby Russell, Bea Whitelock, Sim Dubb, Millie Wrathmell, Flo Hampton, Abbie Kinder, Annabel Reed, Izzy Henders on, Amelia Moore. Mr Schofield
Page 10 of 24 - Denmark Road High School Newsletter – We Discover, Realise, Honour and Shape - Issue 2 – April 2020 A Level Art Textiles
Year 7 Art Textiles GCSE Art Textiles
Page 11 of 24 - Denmark Road High School Newsletter – We Discover, Realise, Honour and Shape - Issue 2 – April 2020 GCSE Art Textiles
Page 12 of 24 - Denmark Road High School Newsletter – We Discover, Realise, Honour and Shape - Issue 2 – April 2020 Admission for 2021 – Open Events Dear prospective parents and students We were very much looking forward to meeting you on 24 March, visiting us is definitely the best way to understand what Denmark Road is and stands for. Unfortunately due to the current pandemic we are not able to accommodate visitors to site at this time, consequently the Open Morning on 24 March has been cancelled. Save the date We would like to invite you to our next event scheduled for Thursday 25 June. There will undoubtedly be increased demand to visit us on this date due to the cancellation, consequently we will make this an Open Day. Full details will be available on our website in due course. We look forward to meeting you all in June. Miss Giblin
Students and Staff at Denmark Road had a wonderful time celebrating the magic of books (and dressing up) for World Book Day.
Well done to everyone for taking part and Mrs Cordall for organising all the World Book Day/Week events.
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Page 14 of 24 - Denmark Road High School Newsletter – We Discover, Realise, Honour and Shape - Issue 2 – April 2020 A Level Art Textiles
Page 15 of 24 - Denmark Road High School Newsletter – We Discover, Realise, Honour and Shape - Issue 2 – April 2020 Students from Denmark Road have Well done Phoebe! been trying to crack "The Curious Case Well done to Phoebe in Year 13 has recently won of the Clockwork Cleaner" as part of the an art competition in the YPO Art, Craft & Design celebrations for World Book Day. catalogue. An ex student Abbie Giles came runner-up. Phoebe won a huge amount of art products.
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Well done Amalia – what an achievement! GB girls team make history with first Tennis Europe Winter Cup win 19/02/2020
Great Britain’s Girls 12 & Under team are celebrating after winning the Tennis Europe Winter Cup, becoming the first British girls’ team to do so. The Tennis Europe Winter Cups by HEAD are the biggest indoor junior team competition in tennis, with almost 200 national teams competing across three age categories – 12&U, 14&U and 16&U. The 12&U category saw 30 nations from across Europe compete this year, with ties decided using two singles and a doubles match. The British team, captained by the LTA’s National Age Group Coach Hollie Bambridge and assisted by Millfield coach Nick Jones, included Sophie Bekker (Middlesex, Coach – Ben Haran), Hannah Klugman (Surrey, Coaches – Ben Haran & Alison Taylor) and Amalia Widdowson (Gloucestershire, Coach – Ollie Widdowson). The British team started their road to success by progressing from the qualifying event in France earlier this month. They would have home advantage for the finals however, with the event having been staged at Sunderland Tennis Centre since 2015. Joining the British trio in the North East to battle for the title this year were teams from Russia, Poland, Latvia, Italy, Czech Republic, Belgium and Belarus.
Year 7 & 8 Pyjama party A huge turn-out of 155 students attending the pyjama and pizza party whilst watching the new Lion King film!
Page 17 of 24 - Denmark Road High School Newsletter – We Discover, Realise, Honour and Shape - Issue 2 – April 2020 Ski Trip to Austria – February 2020
Page 18 of 24 - Denmark Road High School Newsletter – We Discover, Realise, Honour and Shape - Issue 2 – April 2020 LRC News Well, it’s an unusual end to the Spring term, so let’s recap over library life since January! The LRC hosted a delightful group of young students from Kingsholm School for a book tasting session. The girls enjoyed the afternoon – although there were a few hold outs on admitting to enjoying reading and I was interested to hear some of their suggestions on how the session could be revised!
The Denner/Blue Coat Book Award Group continues to meet and was self-directing whilst they awaited the longlist. I hope they will continue to read and make notes whilst we are not in school. Rachel Roberts, the new STRS Librarian, and I are thinking hard about how we can take DBCBA forward this year, perhaps an online book club, with Year 9 voting by email. We will keep our groups informed.
The Carnegie Writers meet every month too. They deserve a special mention, as they are mainly Year 11 students who started working together a few years ago when Ms Murran and I took them to the Winner of Winners Carnegie debate at Cheltenham Literature Festival. They were also involved with the first Denner/Blue Coat Award with STRS. They are a great group of students - I will miss seeing them over the next few weeks, and I’m sure Ms James will too, as she has kindly hosted and organised them this year. I hope that they continue with their creative work – perhaps their books, plays and poetry will one day sit on our LRC shelves?
Page 19 of 24 - Denmark Road High School Newsletter – We Discover, Realise, Honour and Shape - Issue 2 – April 2020 The Year 12 Library Prefect Team has continued to work very hard to keep the LRC in order, shelving library materials, tidying and labelling shelves and doing it all so cheerfully in a busy space. Thank you, Team, I could not do this job half so well without your input! We celebrated Book Week 2020 with a Murder Mystery theme! Throughout the week (and since – they have proved popular!) Cluedo was available for the school’s finest minds to work out how Colonel Mustard could possibly be the culprit with the lead piping in the Library! Lots of little grey cells were exercised! There was also a crime fiction display up to showcase everything from Robin Stevens’ Murder Most Unladylike series to David Baldacci’s Christmas Train, plus a couple of nonfiction books on forensics.
We held our usual staff book character treasure hunt, again using the paired book characters which proved a popular challenge last year. Mr Bazac managed to locate his paired book character, Mrs Shaw (Bert the Chimney Sweep and Mary Poppins). The best team entry came from Isobelle Marriott and Olalla Richards in 7BE and the best individual entry was Chloe Shephard in 9H. Picture clues for book titles were stuck around the LRC during the week for students to work out. Winners of the It’s A Mystery competition were Isobelle Marriott (7BE) and Betsie Dixon-Gough (7BA). In addition, thanks to the generosity of the PTA in funding the Curious Case of the Clockwork Cleaner, we held a Murder mystery event. Two teams spent a lunchtime viewing the taped outlines on the LRC floor and the clues and red herrings, working through what it all meant! They had a super time and have met subsequently to work out whodunit and why! We’ll have to resume that on our return. Whodunit? Like the Mousetrap, I could not possibly reveal that! The Book Character Costume Parade on World Book Day proved as popular as ever! Students from all key stages participated, including the lovely Mary Stone from Year 12 as Mr Bump (the rest of her Mr Men team were otherwise engaged). The English Department also gamely dressed in costume and, as Miss Marple never likes to draw attention to herself, I was glad to hand the judging over to them and to Ms Giblin, because, as ever, it was so difficult to award the winning status to just a few students. I truly appreciate all who made that effort to create costumes! The results are as follows: KS3: Olivia Hattersley-Newman (The Mad Hatter); Emma Burrell and Emily George (Little Miss Twins); Safurah Pandor (The White Rabbit) KS4: Cedeal Al Mawery (Big Lincoln) Sixth Form: Mary Stone (Mr Bump) Anyone who has not yet picked up their prize, I will distribute them on our return to school. DEAR (Drop Everything And Read) took place at the end of the week – more than 30 students booked a space for an hour’s quiet reading in the LRC. What a welcome break it was from the usual hustle and bustle of a school week! Thank you to all who participated in this week of book based activities and watch out for details of the Library Week at the end of the summer term.
Page 20 of 24 - Denmark Road High School Newsletter – We Discover, Realise, Honour and Shape - Issue 2 – April 2020 British Science Week was marked in the LRC with a Science Book display (both fiction and nonfiction). The Science Club also met in the LRC and (perhaps wisely) chose not to construct their volcanoes on the English Department tables! Unfortunately, due to the current situation, some of the events I hoped to run will now be postponed. The much-anticipated annual Scholastic Book Fair, the LRC’s main fundraiser of the year, which enables the LRC to buy a range of new fiction, has been re-booked for the end of the summer term. In the meantime, I have opened up the Scholastic Book Clubs online. If you would like to do so, please order from the website and choose the option to have the books delivered to your home, for which, I’m afraid, there will be a delivery charge. Here is the link: http://schools.scholastic.co.uk/denmark-road All purchases benefit the LRC – 25% of the value of orders is “banked” as credit for the LRC to use for new books.
Our DRHS Reading Wall 2020 will be the DRHS Crime Fiction Favourites – unfortunately, we have not been able to complete the voting for that yet. Again, I will postpone the final vote until our return. The Battle of the Books House Quiz will also need to be reorganised. Normally Year 7 and 8 House Teams read 10 books over a 3 month period ready for a quiz at the end of the summer term. Unfortunately, I have not had enough time before the closure to process all the books they will need. If students happen to have these at home, that is wonderful, but I am not expecting families to go to the expense of buying them. I will be emailing students to let them know what is on the list and extend the time over which they can read them, and to suggest ways they can get together online to discuss them and share opinions.
The PTA has also kindly funded this year’s Carnegie Book Award Shadowing Group. The books were pre- ordered before the shortlist of 8 books was announced. I will be in touch with them to organise virtual group discussions. It is a really interesting shortlist again this year, with new authors as well as some which have won the Carnegie previously. Take a look here for more details: https://carnegiegreenaway.org.uk/tag/2020/ The CILIP Carnegie Medal longlist is as follows: The Black Flamingo by Dean Atta, illustrated by Anshika Khullar (Hachette Children’s Group)
Page 21 of 24 - Denmark Road High School Newsletter – We Discover, Realise, Honour and Shape - Issue 2 – April 2020 Nowhere on Earth by Nick Lake (Hachette Children’s Group) Lark by Anthony McGowan (Barrington Stoke) Patron Saints of Nothing by Randy Ribay (Little Tiger) Lampie written and illustrated by Annet Schaap and translated by Laura Watkinson (Pushkin Children’s Books) Voyages in the Underworld of Orpheus Black by Marcus Sedgwick and Julian Sedgwick, illustrated by Alexis Deacon (Walker Books) On the Come Up by Angie Thomas (Walker Books) Girl. Boy. Sea. by Chris Vick (Head of Zeus) At present, CILIP/Carnegie are looking at whether we can access the books digitally, as some schools will not have received their books, or they have closed before they can distribute them. I will keep the group informed. Ms Giblin’s exhortation to all year groups to invest in reading for our Reading Marathon is very welcome, underlining how important good reading skills are to all aspects of life – as well as being an enjoyable activity for many people. I have now created Reading Marathon suggestions for all year groups from 7 to 13 and these were shared with students earlier in the week. All the books on the Reading Marathon lists are available from the LRC, and the LRC holds multiple copies of many of them. I am most encouraged to discover that students are already completing the review sheets, which will be anonymised and available for us all to read! Perhaps families will also share with us what they are reading during the next few weeks? I’d like to thank all the staff who have supported LRC activities over the last term and especially to those who have organised the technical aspects of the Reading Marathon (Mrs Shaw) and staffed the LRC desk over this week (Mr Fitch and the Library Prefects), especially as I understand it was absolutely manic in there! I hope your sons and daughters have cleared the shelves and enjoy what they have brought home. I am really not worrying about overdues, etc, for the books borrowed at this time. We will sort all that out on our return. Please check out your local public library’s website for details of how to borrow audiobooks and read e-books and e-magazines, as most local library systems will be closing by Monday March 23. Finally, just a reminder that all online journals and other such resources are available from your home at all times. Students can look at the LRC’s Google Site (Online Resources page) for access to journal articles and much more. I am always happy to answer emailed questions about how to use them. Carol Cordall, Librarian Follow the LRC on Twitter: @DRHS_LRC
Page 22 of 24 - Denmark Road High School Newsletter – We Discover, Realise, Honour and Shape - Issue 2 – April 2020 School Closure Information Stay in touch … In the event of bad weather or Keep looking at our website for latest updates. other reasons information on school closure can be found on our www.denmarkroad.org website or Facebook: www.denmarkroad.org or: www.glosclosedschools.com GCSE & A Level Examination Certificates The information will also be GCSE and A Level certificates will be available to collect available on the local radio station. once the school re-opens, from reception between 8.30- Please also check the bus company 3.30 Monday to Friday. Certificates will only be given to websites for their up-to-date family members/friends if an email is received giving information: permission. Current students can pick up their certificates from the Sixth Form Office. Bennetts: www.bennettscoaches.co.uk Student Medical/Non-Medical Appointments – Forms Willetts: Parents/carers should fill out a medical form for all www.willettsofyorkley.co.uk hospital, orthodontist and emergency doctor Aston Coaches: appointments. Regular doctors/dentist appointments www.astoncoachesltd.com should not be made during school hours. Non-medical forms should be filled in for holiday requests, music exams Denwell: and any other non-medical reason. Both forms are www.denwell.co.uk available here. A week or more’s notice should be given if Marchants: possible. Forms can be filled in and emailed to www.marchants-coaches.com [email protected] or absence@ denmarkroad.org Hard copies are also available from reception and the Well- Lost Property Followbeing Centre. me @DenmarkRoad365
A large amount of items is lost each We are always looking at ways to improve week within school. Please encourage communications, so here I am joining the realm of Twitter! your daughter/son to look after their I will be posting regularly to give parents a snapshot into own property (and seek to locate it DenmarkRoad365 and the life of a Headteacher at one of rather than just buy a new one!) Whilst the most amazing schools in the country. Also follow me staff will make every effort to return on Instagram by searching for drhshead named items to students it is the responsibility of all students to care for On-line School Shop their possessions and seek to locate lost We now have the facility of an on-line school shop on our items. Students’ property is brought into school at their own risk. website here (under parental information). Parents/carers can pay for items on the shop with a debit or credit card PE Kit and students will receive the items in lessons or tutor time. Please also make sure all PE kit is labelled, including the bag. Trainers should be predominately white with no Velcro and no black trainers please.
Page 23 of 24 - Denmark Road High School Newsletter – We Discover, Realise, Honour and Shape - Issue 2 – April 2020 Making communication easier, faster and more effective School Gateway - this means that we can share information such as personalised lesson and exam timetables, achievements and assessment results with parents more quickly via email, text, online and smartphone app. You can also use the app or website to receive key news and updates from the school, view and let us know of any updates to your own details and send information to us our attendance officer. What you need to do now Download the app: If you have a smartphone, please download School Gateway from your app store (Android and iPhone). The app shows the same information as the website PLUS you can send app messages to the school for FREE (for example updates to attendance) – this will also save the school money when we send text messages. OR Visit the website: www.schoolgateway.com and click on ‘New User’. You will receive a text message with a PIN number. Use this PIN to login to School Gateway. Can’t activate your account? If you are having trouble activating your School Gateway account, it may be because school doesn’t have your current email and mobile phone number on record. Please call us on 01452 543335 or email [email protected] and we will update the details on our system. We hope that you will find School Gateway a valuable way to keep up to date. www.schoolgateway.com
Collection of Students for Appointments
The school operates strict safeguarding procedures and takes responsibility for its duty of care for students PLEASE NOTE: All payments for trips, seriously. Therefore, we would be extremely grateful if clubs and activities must be made via parents/carers would abide by the procedures set out Parent Pay. The school no longer for all students in the main school. accepts cheques or cash, except for Any student, who needs to leave the school site charity donations and PTA. during the day must be collected by a parent/carer or We have been expanding the use of named individual for that student, from the MAIN ParentPay for permission slips, school RECEPTION. Students will need to sign out at the Well- fund donations and payment options for being Centre and they will then meet their upcoming events. ParentPay is far more parent/carer in reception. secure for both school and parents as a Please be aware that we cannot make any exceptions means of making payments, especially to this procedure for any student in Years 7-11. as it gives an immediate receipt and Please make sure that we hold up-to-date details for confirmation of payments. It also allows your daughter/son. Please remember that only the us to fairly offer trips with limited contacts detailed on your daughter’s/son’s data sheet capacity on a “first come, first served” can collect them from school. basis. Over 90% of families are already You can also email office@ denmarkroad.org with new using ParentPay on a regular basis. telephone numbers or email addresses or log in to your For those who need to sign up, feel free School Gateway account to make changes. to email [email protected] for Parents/carers are also requested not to park on the login details, advice and assistance. school grounds, or on yellow lines outside the school, when collecting daughters/sons for appointments.
Page 24 of 24 - Denmark Road High School Newsletter – We Discover, Realise, Honour and Shape - Issue 2 – April 2020