News The Windsor Boys' School Issue No 15 19th December 2014 Xmas Jumper Day On Friday 12th December the Senior Prefect team decided to support Save The Children's national Christmas Jumper Day. Staff and 6th form members donned their favourite festive jumper, with many donating £1 along the way. All proceeds of the day headed towards Save The Children and, our main charity for the year, Berkshire Autistic Society. The carol service practise taking place in the morning also helped heighten the sense of Christmas spirit around the school. Year 11s also sold doughnuts during break and lunch time on the day to help fund the upcoming school trip to Ecuador. With two successful charity events so far this school year, the Senior Prefect team and I would like to say a massive thank you to everyone that contributed and helped raise money for a great cause. Merry Christmas, see you next year! Joseph Vacher A Night at the Musicals ConcertDeputy— HeadWednesday Boy 12th November 2014 Website: www.twbs.co.uk Follow us on twitter: @twbs The Windsor Boys' School 19th December 2014 Message from the Headteacher This has been a very busy term, full of many highlights. Thanks to the Friends and Parents of TWBS we are about to fully open the library, and there are plans to im- prove it even further. The Uno Animo dinner was a huge success and made a record breaking amount of mon- ey. I am still deeply grateful to all the staff, students and parents who put so much time and effort into organ- ising it. The first XV rugby team have had a really good season. Please read about it in the newsletter. They have beaten teams that looked bigger and better than them through teamwork and sheer determination. They have responded to their expert coaches intelligently and maturely. They have kept fighting to the last minute even when facing certain defeat. They have been outstanding. Similarly the first XI football team have had a good run in the cup and have taken on some very impressive teams and won. They are putting the school on the map in the football world. In rowing the season has got off to a good start with record numbers of year 9 students taking part, with many entering their first race this side of Christmas, which is a first. The coaching team in rowing is getting back to full strength and parental support is as high as ever. And of course Mr Wilkinson keeps an expert eye on eve- rything, raising the bar again and again. The school play this year was very special. Uno Animo in Bellum uniquely told the story of the young men from the school who gave their lives in the Great War. It was innovative and original, and very much a clear expla- nation of the origins of the school motto, Uno Animo. Music has been a huge on going success this term with some terrific performances at a huge range of events in Windsor and across the region. The tireless efforts of the music department leave us all breathless with admi- ration. In the classroom we have rolled out Firefly, which is a virtual learning environment, where lessons, additional learning resources and homeworks are stored. It is, as you know, a modern way of working, with most sixth form colleges and universities having very sophisticated VLEs. Our students and staff are just starting out on a journey with this approach to learning and it will develop over the next few months, but already there are pockets of excellence. Year 9 have completed their first term and should feel proud of their success and achievements. They have all settled in well in the end, coming from many different schools and backgrounds, and now they can truly say they are a Windsor boy! I really hope they build on this good start and continue to develop their studies and grow even further into the school. We say goodbye to some outstanding teachers this term. Mr Fussey has gained a well-earned promotion to be head of music at a school in Essex. Ms McDonald is moving to Desborough College as Head of ICT. Mr Dyson has gained promotion to become vocational coordinator at Waingel’s College. We wish them luck in their new roles. The common feature of all of these highlights and achievements has been the togetherness, the uno animo, of everyone involved in the school: the staff and the students, the parents and the governors, the Friends and industry partners. I hope you all have a good Christmas break and I look forward to working with you all again in a very exciting new year. Gavin Henderson Headteacher Website: www.twbs.co.uk Follow us on twitter: @twbs The Windsor Boys' School 19th December 2014 Year 9 Progress Information 2015 is a key year for your son as he will begin to think about and then choose his options subjects for GCSE. Beyond that, he will embark upon his GCSE studies in earnest across all of his subjects as he moves into year 10 in September. Our Options Evening is approaching and will provide you and your son with the information needed to help choose GCSE subjects. I will write to you early in the New Year with more detail and to formally invite you to the evening but I wanted to highlight again the information that is available to you online about your son’s pro- gress. As many of you are no doubt aware, you are able to access information about your son’s progress at school through accessing Firefly. If you have not registered with firefly, you can do so by following this user guide. http://firefly.twbs.co.uk/ useful-information/parent-portal-/logging-on Please don’t hesitate to contact IT Support at the school should you require any further information about log- ging on to firefly. The email address is [email protected]. Collecting and collating such a vast amount of information is a huge job within the school so I am very keen that it is as clear as possible so that it can be useful for you in assessing how your son is doing across the range of subjects he studies. In an attempt to provide greater clarity, there follows some Frequently Asked Questions section to help you to fully understand the information. I hope that it is useful. If you would like a little more guidance in deciphering the progress reviews then please get in touch with me. My email address is [email protected]. I very much look forward to seeing you in the New Year at the Options Evening. Mr A Titheridge Deputy Head The Windsor Boys' School 19th December 2014 Year 9 Progress Review Information – Frequently Asked Questions What is ATL and what does it refer to? ATL stands for Attitude to Learning. It refers to a pupil’s overall approach to classwork and homework. It covers how hard a pupil is working and whether they are well organised and have the right equipment. What is the key for the Attitude to Learning score? 1 = Excellent 2 = Good 3 = Inconsistent 4 = Unsatisfactory What does Current Grade actually refer to? The current grade reflects the quality of work produced so far judged against national standards (either Na- tional Curriculum Level or GCSE or BTEC). This is not quite the same thing as the grade a pupil would achieve if he took the exam tomorrow - too little content has been covered to make that judgement at this point in time. Why are the Current Grades in some subjects different to other subjects? Before 2009, pupils across the country sat public exams (known as SATS) at the end of year 9 which were marked by examiners using National Curriculum levels. This was abolished so there are now no formal public exams at the end of Key Stage 3. This has provided schools with more flexibility as they have the opportunity to begin GCSE courses in some subjects earlier, ie during year 9. At The Windsor Boys’ School we begin GCSE courses in some subjects during year 9 so report progress in these subjects using GCSE grades. Which subjects use GCSE grades? English, Maths, Sciences (Biology, Chemistry and Physics), History. Which subjects use National Curriculum Levels? Art, Dance, Design Technology, Drama, Food, French, Geography, German, Music, PE, Spanish and Theology and Ethics. Why does ICT appear to be different again? In ICT in year 9, pupils follow a BTEC qualification. Most pupils continue with this qualification in years 10 and 11. As it is a BTEC it uses a different grading system. A Pass is shown by a P, a Merit by an M and a Distinction by a D. A Pass is equivalent to a C grade at GCSE, a Merit to a B and a Distinction to an A. What do the sub-levels mean? These are an attempt to be as specific as possible about the level that a pupil is working at. A pupil working at a C1 is producing work that is very securely of C grade standard and probably close to a B grade standard. A C3 indicates that a pupil is just about currently working at a C grade. With the National Curriculum levels, a pupil working at level 5a is working at the top of level 5. A 5c indicates that a pupil is just about working at a level 5. As a parent, what should I be paying most attention to at this stage of year 9? At this relatively early stage of your son’s time at The Windsor Boys’ School the most important information is the Attitude to Learning scores.