Last week in our online staff meeting I used the caption below to take stock of where we currently are. As we progress with the fifth week of online learning I thought families may also appreciate the sentiment behind this. Everyone is doing really well, thank you.
As promised we continue to reflect and refine our online provision to ensure that we support families in all ways possible to engage with home learning. Students from Year 13 all the way down to Year 7 continue to engage well with these lessons, showing determination and resilience which is admirable. Please find below information specific to our younger students:
Year 7 and Year 8 Live Teaching:
Many thanks for all the feedback about this today, it’s great to hear that this has started well. However following this feedback I have asked teachers to double check that they have made it clear in their classroom streams which lessons are live and which are narrated. I realise that some students have got a little bit confused today and it’s important they we fully support them as they adjust to a different way of working. I appreciate parents support and patience in this regard.
Wonderful to see the variety of Event Reviews being submitted from Y7 and 8 students for AHS Bronze Arts Award @home
There is still time for any pupil in Y7 or 8 to get involved. All details are on the Google Classroom, click HERE for the link or email Mrs Newton for more information. This week reviews will be of Podcasts…
AHS Careers – Year 10 to 13
Next week sees the celebration of National Apprenticeship Week 2021 from the 8th to 14th February. With this in mind we have emailed you a schedule of events for the week, should there be anything you and your child wish to attend, please register using the links. The Schedule will also be added to your child’s Google Classroom along with any presentations. The week will prove really useful for anyone wishing to find out a little more about Apprenticeships or for anyone hoping to take on an Apprenticeship after leaving School or Sixth Form.
Head of Year Awards
The following have been nominated for the Head of Year Award this week. Amazon gift cards can either be posted home, or saved until students return into school.
| Name | Form | Reason | |
| Year 7 | Faith Lister | 7Mr | Well done for you relentless cheer, politeness and kindness to those around you, a multitude of positive comments from teachers and outstanding Just Dance partner work- very impressive! Miss Kincell |
| Olivia Lister | 7Mr | Well done for you relentless cheer, politeness and kindness to those around you, a multitude of positive comments from teachers and outstanding Just Dance partner work- very impressive! Miss Kincell | |
| Year 8 | Gracie Briggs | 8Pi | For always being polite, happy to help anyone and keen to complete her work with 100% effort – Well done! Mr Arthur |
| Clementine Ensor | 8ABt | For producing consistently excellent work during lockdown – particularly an excellent recruitment poster for bus drivers in WWI. Well done! Mr Arthur | |
| Year 9 | Jack Taylor | 9Kx | For a superb attitude toward his studies and for being an excellent role model to his peers. Jack has been a pleasure to have in school, with a really positive outlook and enthusiasm. Well done Jack! Mr Avery |
| Phoebe Stanage | 9BMo | For engaging so well in her online lessons. Phoebe has worked hard all year and not stopped since lockdown 3.0. Well done Phoebe! Mr Avery | |
| Year 10 | Dillion Stapley | 10JLi | For outstanding dedication and completion of Duolingo German. Well done. Miss Turvey |
| Faith Burrows | 10IMa | For excellent work and effort in Travel and Tourism. Well done – Miss Turvey | |
| Ananya Valluri | 10Wa | For superb knowledge and dedication in Geography. Well done! Miss Turvey. | |
| Neve Mitchell | 10RMe | For upholding the school values and challenging injustice. Well done! Miss Turvey | |
| Year 11 | Isla Lister | 11SMf | Isla has made excellent progress as demonstrated by her terrific mock results. Well done Isla – Mrs Avey |
| Jayde Langha | 11Dn | Jayde has achieved terrfic mock exams which are testement to her hard work. Well done Jayde – Mrs Avey | |
| Year 12 | Jemma Blanchard | 12Lv | For working consistently well across her subjects, praise from Child Care and Psychology teachers. Well done! Miss Cox |
| Marta Garofalo | 12BKi | For being really proactive in looking for opportunities, working hard and investing in her wellbeing. Keep going! Miss Cox | |
| Year 13 | Faith Battersby | 13Bm | For consistently excellent effort across all subject, but particularly in Business and Music – Mr Charlton |
| Bobby Lamb | 13Yg/Gl | For being brilliant in school, working hard and being a pleasure to have around the Sixth Form! Well done – Mr Charlton |
Student Wellbeing – Thought-Provoking Tuesday
Head of Year updates – Mr Arthur and Year 8…
As we move into the fifth week of online learning, it is great to see that many students have found their groove and established a positive, purposeful routine. I do understand however, that of course these times are difficult. As I drive into school each a morning, I listen to the radio and hear the stories from up and down the country of students and families struggling with this period of school closure. Of course, in an ideal world we do want students to be engaging with their learning and ensuring that this period has as little negative impact on their education as possible. However, if there is any more we can be doing as a school and a Year 8 pastoral team to support you and your child in these challenging times, then please do get in touch and we will do what we can to support.
With regards to wellbeing, last week we embarked on a new pastoral system which we very much hope provided some much needed face-to-face contact that will be greatly appreciated by students. You child in Year 8 should have received an invitation from their form tutor to a Google Meet on either Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday this week. Those that attended these small group sessions very much enjoyed seeing their form tutor and interacting with members of their form who they won’t have seen for nearly two months now. Furthermore, on Fridays the entire form are invited to a Google Meet Quiz, and notice went out via form tutors about this also. We do really feel this time with friends and form tutors will reignite a sense of school and tutor group community, and we strongly encourage students to attend these sessions which will be at the same each week.
As a reminder to students, we have also begun to adapt our systems with regards to monitoring the learning of Year 8 students. Here are some of the key points regarding this…
- This week, and increasingly over the coming weeks, we will be introducing Live Lessons to Year 8 on Google Meet. Last week, we began a programme of this with students joining Google Meets during form time twice a week, however we are now introducing this into the broader curriculum. Initially this will only be in certain subjects, and only at the beginning of lessons to answer any questions students might have. If there are any questions regarding his, please do get in touch. Some key documents have been added to the Year 8 Google Classroom which can be found by clicking HERE and logging into your child’s Google Classroom account. This includes a parent’s guide on Google Meets, and a copy of the Google Meets Protocols.
- We are encouraging students to work as closely to their normal timetable as possible from home. This is because their teachers are available on Google Classroom to message and support your child with their work during this period of time. As a result, each lesson will have a register posted with it that will appear around the time of the start of the lesson. This register works essentially the same as the morning register on the Year Group Google Classroom. Please encourage your child to register at the start of each lesson. I, as Head of Year, will be monitoring the registers and contacting if a pattern emerges of a student consistently not registering at the start of their lessons.
- When students complete their work, they must ensure that they click the ‘Turn in’ button on Google Classroom when they have finished. This will allow the teacher to look at their work and provide recognition that they have seen it. If a students is completing work on paper, a guide has been uploaded onto the year group Google Classroom explaining how to upload a picture of their paper work before they turn it in. If your child is having to work on paper due to not having access to a device that allows them to complete the work directly on Google Classroom, please do get in touch and we will see what we can do about getting a Chromebook to you. Teachers will be in touch either by phone or email if work is not being completed or submitted.
I hope this makes sense – as always, if there are any questions please contact us via the email addresses at the bottom of this bulletin.
Finally, this week sees two more recipients of the Head of Year Award to recognise student’s achievements at this time. Congratulations to the following students in Year 8 for last week…
- Gracie Briggs (8Pi) – For always being polite, happy to help anyone and keen to complete her work with 100% effort – Well done! Mr Arthur
- Clementine Ensor (8ABt) – For producing consistently excellent work during lockdown – particularly an excellent recruitment poster for bus drivers in WWI. Well done! Mr Arthur
Keep an eye out each week in the bulletin and the Form Time Act of Collective Worship to see who wins the Head of Year Award each week. On their return to school, students will receive their £5 Amazon Gift Card!
I will finish, as I have done in the past few weeks, with a positive quote during these challenging times…
“Life is like riding a bicycle – to keep your balance you just have to keep moving!”
If you have any issues regarding your child in Year 8 that you wish for me to be aware of, particularly if there are any issues surrounding access to our online learning provision, please do get in contact with me at aarthur@archbishopholgates.org, or Mr Deamer (Pastoral Support Worker for Year 8) at rdeamer@archbishopholgates.org.
Our weekly Science update from Miss Gray
Ben Wells 7Hf Sci – Absolutely superb engagement with the static electricity lesson. I was particularly impressed by the video to document your hard work – excellent effort Ben. Mrs Freeman
Charlotte Walker and Joe Merrison y11 – very proactive in their learning. Really impressed to see such excellent engagement with the work set. Keep up the great work! Mrs Freeman.
Amber Atkinson, Orla Durmaz, Niamh Foster-McGlynn, Fran Knight, Emma Leopald, Isla Lister who worked particularly well with their food webs practice questions this week. Really well done for all of your hard work. Mrs Freeman.
10D3 Science are doing fantastic work. In particular this week; Dylan Fountain, Daisy Brierley and Leah Grimes have engaged with each task exceptionally well and showed superb IT skills to present their work to a high standard. Well done. Mrs Freeman.
Well done to Gabby Moore for being the first to spot the deliberate mistake in the presentation on HIV replication in this week’s Biology lesson. Mr Williams
Excellent work in Science this week from Lewis Godliman in Year 11. He has been working really well along with Aleyna Ceylan, Emy-May O’Donovan and McKenzie Humphrey. Well done all of 11B3. Mr Williams
Worthy of praise this week in Year 11S1 are Jess Machen, Phaedra Wright and Ben Hields for some excellent contributions. Well done all. Mr Williams
Brilliant efforts this week from Kyle Noddings, Sidar Cetin, Ruby Wedge, Henry williams – Mr Lever
Superb work from year 9 science with Miss Gray this week looking at the issues regarding nuclear accidents, thanks for all you hard work year 9! – Miss Gray
English Home Learning Certificates – Congratulations to…
Brooke Brandon
Fatmanur Han
Grace Wilson
Gwen Orton
Jace Stacpoole-Ryding
Jack Taylor
James White
Oliver Wootten
Sophia Nicolle
Summer Dixon
William Leonard
Zoe Williams
Collective Worship
This week our form tutor collective worship focuses on the question of Does our behaviour really matter? This is considered in the context of working against injustice in society and our local communities, especially racial injustice. It includes an interview with Daniel Eduardo sharing his experience of growing up mixed race. Our daily quotes are on the theme of Justice.
Tuesday – “A good person considers justice for the poor, but wicked people cannot understand such things” – The Bible, book of Proverbs 29:7