BOX Term 1 2017 NEWSLETTER GERMAN BUSINESS STUDIES RESIDENTIAL PAGE 9 PAGE 12 Transforming lives through inspirational education. www.henrybox.oxon.sch.uk Dear Families amazingly achieved A* grades in all their GCSEs (and the new level 9 grade in English, English literature Welcome to the first Box Newsletter of this academic and maths). year. The newsletter will give you a flavour of what has been happening this term. We warmly welcome Year 7 parents/carers to the Henry Box community. Year 7 students have First of all “thank you” to parents/carers for your settled in well and are becoming accustomed to support with ensuring that students are wearing the changes involved in moving from primary to correct uniform and footwear. The wearing of a secondary school. It is always amazing to see just uniform is very much part of a preparation for life how helpful the older students are in making people after school and your continued support in this area feel welcomed and providing support for them to is much appreciated. Please refer to the website for get around the site. I am anticipating most of the more information regarding uniform requirements, Year 7s will be using the half term to recharge their particularly if you are making more purchases over batteries after encountering so many new things half term. during the last few weeks! We have enjoyed yet another excellent set of GCSE If you would like to get in touch with the school, results with 71% of students achieving English and please contact your child’s form tutor in the first maths at Grade 4 or above (equivalent to grade C+ instance. If your enquiry is subject related, your from previous years) and 52% achieving the newly child’s subject teacher will be able to help. termed ‘strong pass’ (Grade 5) or higher. We hope you have an enjoyable half-term break. 19 students were awarded 8 or more A*/ A grades, including Dan Weston and Heather Woods who W J Hemmingsley Headteacher ENRICHMENT In the last week of term in July before everyone left for the summer holidays, Key Stage 3 students participated in three days of Enrichment. There was a real buzz about the school, with a wide variety of events occurring. Each year group had a dedicated day together and the other two days were taken up by all sorts of weird and wonderful experiences. Mrs Pendrey School Services 1 Term 1 2017 www.henrybox.oxon.sch.uk ENRICHMENT 2 Term 1 2017 www.henrybox.oxon.sch.uk THE SCHOLARS PROGRAMME Students on The Scholars Programme get the best results of any participating school in the country – EVER! The Scholars Programme is co-ordinated by an award winning charity called ‘The Brilliant Club’ whose mission is: ‘To increase fair access to highly selective universities by placing PhD students in state schools to deliver university-style teaching to high performing pupils’ Twelve Year 9 students were selected to take part in the programme which started in June with a launch Grade Grade Student Grade trip to Warwick University. This was then followed with five university style tutorials in school, led by Katerina Mieke Bedlington 1st Daisy Hudspith 1st Morozova, a tutor with the Open University. Katerina’s Shannon Blay 1st William Malin 1st course was titled ‘Reinventing Art: Introduction to Modern Art History’. This covered three themes Adam Brown 1st Tom Miller 2:1 central to modern art: aesthetics, politics and identity. The tutorials were pitched at an A level standard and Alexander Crow 1st Megan Rendell 1st our students were expected to read and write about Fionn Fallon 2:1 Suzi Rogers 1st extremely challenging topics. Harvey Gosling 2:1 Lucas Rubba 1st In the final 2,000 word assignment students were asked to compare and contrast how and why two different The final part of the programme was a Graduation twentieth/twenty-first century artists proposed to Ceremony at Nottingham University in September. You reinvent the form, content and purpose of art and to can see them receiving their awards in the photograph. devise an independent argument to explain what the difference between the two artworks may tell us about Initially many of the students were dubious about the wider changes in art and society. studying modern art. Katerina, however, was an inspiring, warm and very hard working tutor who was able to open You can see below the superb results they have achieved. the minds of our students to ideas they had not come We have been informed by The Brilliant Club that ‘this is across before and show them what a fascinating topic the best set of results EVER’. modern art is. The assignments were graded as follows: The students were amazing; working very long hours Grade Marks What this means to ensure they completed their assignments to a high standard. Throughout the programme they were Performing to an excellent 1st 70+ mature, thoughtful and a real pleasure to work with. I standard at A level would like to thank each of them for being such a delight Performing to a good standard to work with, and their friends, families and teachers for 2:1 60-69 at AS level all the support they were given. Performing to an excellent 2:2 50-59 standard at GCSE To fund the project we received generous donations from The Grocers’ Charity, Oriel College and Witney Performing to a good standard 3rd 40-49 Educational Foundation. We would also like to give a at GCSE huge ‘thank you’ to those organisations for making this Working programme possible. Performing below a good towards a 0-39 standard at GCSE pass Mrs Claire Wells Head of Social Sciences Faculty 3 Term 1 2017 www.henrybox.oxon.sch.uk LIBRARY Book Club Accelerated Reader for Years 7/8/9 The new school year has started and the Henry Box For the first time this year we have introduced Book Club is once again up and running. The club library lessons and access to Accelerated Reader meets every Monday lunchtime from 1.25 until 2pm to all of Key Stage 3. This will mean that the to discuss what we have been reading, give each students have a huge amount of support to not other book recommendations and take part in book only develop their reading skills but also to have related activities. The students who take part in Book time within their school day to practice. Our aim Club read the long lists from the Oxfordshire Book is to promote reading right across the school and Awards throughout the autumn and winter terms; believe inspiring a love of reading will be the key to we then read through the Carnegie Book Awards any child’s success. long list throughout the spring and summer terms. This means that those who participate are invited Please encourage your children to read regularly to attend the Oxfordshire Book Awards ceremony in at home; they should all have a reading book by November, held at Oxford High School and attended now and they should all know their reading levels. by 400 students from around Oxfordshire, plus the Please also remind them to bring the book they winning authors. Furthermore, they are invited to are reading into school, as part of their essential celebrate Carnegie Day in June – alongside students equipment. from Chipping Norton School, Burford School and Carterton Community College. Year 7 students, also for the first time, have a timetabled fortnightly tutor time in the library, The Book Club is free to attend and is a great way to which again is to give them more opportunities to meet other students, eating lunch in the library whilst read within the school day. They will again need to we chat about books. If your child would like to see make sure they have their reading book for that what happens in Book Club, please encourage them session. to pop in on Monday lunchtime. Students in Year 7 will be given a leaflet about Author Event for Year 7 Accelerated Reader and how we use it here at The Henry Box School but if you would like extra We will be having an author event for the new Year 7 information the website is students in the last week of term. Every year two or http://www.renlearn.co.uk/accelerated-reader/. three author events are organised for Year 7 to try and encourage and engage them in their reading. There Mrs Jones will be letters being sent home soon with more details. School Librarian GOVERNING BODY I would like to congratulate the school and students I am delighted to be able to congratulate two new for another year of strong results and the Governing parent governors on their appointments for a four Body will be scrutinising the data over the coming year term of office - Mrs Elizabeth Frost and Mr months. James Robertshaw. Both clearly have much to offer and we welcome them to the Governing Body. The Governing Body have reviewed the committee structure and now have a School Improvement More details on the Governing Body can be found Committee and Finance and Resources Committee. via the school website. All schools are facing challenging times so with If any parents/carers are interested in the work of two main governor committees, we will be able to governors and would like to find out more about focus on improving outcomes for all our students becoming a governor, please contact me. and getting best value with our limited financial John Phipps Chair of the Governing Body resources.