Issue 41 Working together to promote & celebrate achievement 17 July 2015 Name & Tutor Group: Headlines by Rachel McGowan Staff News During this half-term, Mrs Mary Ward, a member of our reception team, retired from the school having served our school community for 21 years. Whilst not everyone in our community will have met Mrs Ward face-to-face, by the nature of her job many of you will have spoken to her over the phone. Throughout her service to the school, Mrs Ward has been a consummate professional in all her dealings with youngsters, families, visitors and staff and is much missed as she commences a very well earned retirement. On behalf of our whole school community can I thank her for her outstanding contribution to the school and wish her a long and happy retirement. A number of staff will be leaving us at the end of this academic year, most notably Mrs Sue Rosner, who has been a teacher here at Plashet since 1980 and Assistant Headteacher since 1997. Mrs Rosner has served the school with great distinction throughout this period holding a wide range of different responsibilities. As well as being a fantastic contributor to the leadership of our whole school she has worked closely with a number of different Cohorts as their senior line manager. As a teacher of Drama she has consistently demanded the highest possible standards from students in her own classes, and the quality of teaching she has demonstrated has been an inspiration to less experienced members of staff who will miss her wise counsel. Given her role, I’ve worked more closely with Mrs Rosner than I do with many other colleagues employed at the school. I cannot state highly enough my respect for her contribution to our school and our community. For more than 35 years she has made an unrivalled difference to the lives of our young women; on behalf of everyone whose life she has influenced so positively can I thank her for her magnificent contribution and wish her a long and enjoyable retirement. Finishing Off & Forward Planning To help families with their planning I would like to detail the arrangements for the end of this academic year next Wednesday and the beginning of the new school year in September. Wednesday 22nd July is the last day of this school year. During the morning students will have normal lesson 1 followed by break and then form time and assemblies. School will end at 12.35pm. Lunch will not be provided on this day and therefore any student entitled to a free school meal will be able to collect this at break. Our final day of the year is a designated non-uniform day where each student pays £1 to our school charity for the opportunity to wear clothes of their choice. Each year this allows us to raise in- excess of £3,000 for ‘A Thousand Schools for A Thousand Girls’ who support girl’s education around the world. Our new school year begins for students on Wednesday September 2nd. To help our new Year 7 settle in, all other students will not be required at school until 10.15 am. To help families plan holidays for the next year, and thus avoid taking their daughters out of school during term time, can I remind you of the school holiday dates for 2015/16. Headlines by Rachel McGowan cont’d Holiday dates (all are inclusive) for 2015/16 Autumn Half-term: Saturday 24th October – Sunday 1st November Christmas Holiday: Saturday 19th December 2015 – Sunday 3rd January Spring Half-term: Saturday 13th February – Sunday 21st February Easter Holiday: Friday 25th March – Monday 11th April Whitsun Half-term: Saturday 28th May – Sunday 5th June Summer Holiday 2016: Friday 22nd July – Sunday 4th September School will also be closed on the following dates, either for staff training, national bank holidays or holidays as designated in conjunction with the local authority and governing body: · Tuesday 1st September 2015 - Staff Training Day 1 · Wednesday 23rd September – Eid-Ul-Adha · Thursday 19th November 2015 – Staff Training Day 2 · Friday 20th November 2015 – Staff Training Day 3 · Monday 11th April 2016 – Staff Training Day 4 · Monday 2nd May 2016 – Bank Holiday · Thursday 7th July 2016 – Eid-Ul-Fitr · Friday 22nd July – Staff Training Day 5 Finally, families will be aware that in 2013 the Government changed the Education Regulations from their original wording as set out in 2006. This meant that the previous situation where Headteachers were allowed to grant leave of absence for the purpose of a family holiday during term time of up to ten school days leave per year changed. All references to family holidays and extended leave as well as the previous statutory threshold of ten school days were removed from the regulations. The amendments made clear that Headteachers may not grant any leave of absence during term time unless there are exceptional circumstances. Summer in Newham 2015 Newham council have provided each student with a copy of their “Summer in Newham” 87 page guide. This magazine is full of free activities for children and young people to enjoy. Please do make sure your daughter has bought her copy home for you to see as I am sure it will prove useful in keeping your daughter occupied during her 41 days of school holiday! Plashet Uniform At this time as many families will be purchasing uniform for the new academic year I would like to remind parents that our school uniform consists of the following items. Dark Navy blue school jumper or school cardigan (these have our logo already embroidered) White revere collar blouse Dark Navy blue Shalwar Kameez Dark Navy blue Jilbab (ankle length) Dark Navy blue full length school trousers Dark Navy blue school skirt (knee length or longer) Dark Navy blue headscarf - to be purchased from school Black school shoes, no trainers, no plimsoles, high heels, no open toes, no backless shoes, no fabric slippers. Plashet PE kit is as follows: Light Blue PE polo shirt with Plashet logo 2 Headlines by Rachel McGowan cont’d Black Plashet PE trousers Black Plashet PE jacket with logo Sports socks Trainers A coat or jacket is needed to wear to and from school. The coat or jacket should not be denim or leather or be made from denim-like or leather-like material, nor have large logos on it. Students are allowed to wear small studs or sleepers, a wristwatch and one bangle or chain of religious significance. There is no school insurance to cover the loss of valuable items brought to school. Students should not be wearing bandanas in their hair. All hair clips or bands should be unobtrusive and of a dark colour, ideally navy blue. We advise that all uniform should have name tags to aid it being returned to students if they mislay any items during the school day. We appreciate parents’ support in ensuring the students come to school in the correct uniform. Smartly dressed young women demonstrate respect for both themselves and their school. Plashet School uniform can be purchased from the following school outfitters: Ian Howard School Wear Fashion Stop 409 Barking Road 138 High Street North East Ham East Ham London London E6 2JT E6 Tel: 020 8552 3200 Tel: 020 8472 1729 And Finally I'd like to send my very best wishes to everyone observing the holy month of Ramadan. During this time family and friends have been coming together, in contemplation and in fasting and we at Plashet have been reminded of our shared values of community, family, charity and working for a fairer society. As families and communities come together over the coming long weekend for Eid-Ul-Fitr I hope we can all reflect on the universal values that Ramadan represents and the contribution British Muslims make to our country. On behalf of all at Plashet School I wish you Eid Mubarak. 3 BBC MicroBit On Wednesday 24th June 2015 a group of Year 7 STEM girls were invited to be a part of a filming and testing session at the Google UK offices in Central London. The BBC Producer (Josie Verghese) was very impressed with the BBC School Report that the STEM Club girls had made in March this year and stated that; “the girls were brilliant, charismatic and engaged.” When we arrived at the venue we were given a tour of the building then a quick introduction into the programme for the afternoon. We learnt that the ‘BBC Make it Digital’ team were completing a testing and filming session of the new ‘BBC MicroBit’ (a mini stripped-down computer similar to a Raspberry Pi) aimed at 11-12 year olds. Plashet STEM Club girls were very privileged to be involved in the filming which will ultimately form part of a launch video that will be shown to schools across the country. The names of the girls who attended the filming event were: Noshin Sadia 7N Gull Noor Jan 7G Fatema Bushra 7N Shobana Satchithananthan 7N The girls had the opportunity to use the MicroBit -with instruction- and Noshin and Fatema cleverly used the new device to create their own programme. The BBC Make It Digital Producer, Olivia Lockyer was so impressed that the girls were awarded a special prize. This was a fantastic opportunity for the girls they really had a great time. Ms English, Science Dept. I was one of the girls selected to go on the Microsoft trip for a recording session on the Microbit (a small computer like device that will be given to all the Year 7’s next year).