Newsletters

News from Mr Grady

Hello everyone.

Well, following swiftly on the heels of World Book Day, (huge thanks to the English Department!) it is Science week.  And whereas, with World Book Day I was on safe ground, you might be thinking that I’m on slightly less solid foundations if I want to talk about Science.  In some ways you would be right, as my GCSE Science exams do feel quite some way off now.  But on the other hand, given that I’ve spent several of these newsletters talking about the love of learning and discovery and the joy of curiosity, then Science, its separate disciplines of Biology, Chemistry and Physics (and scientific thinking and exploration) really is the subject for you!

As I stood watching Dr Brown do some unthinkable things to a Jelly Baby yesterday lunchtime, it was a joy to see the sheer pleasure taken, not just in the process of the scientific experimentation on Dr Brown’s face, but also the pleasure on the faces of the students (and on those of our technicians, Misters Roantree and Broderick!) as they made links to all the different things they’d learnt in Science to predict what was likely to happen, and after it had happened, explain why it had.

I didn’t know what would happen, or what the impact would be, but I was very aware that my response in the aftermath was “that smells just like Crème Brûlée.”  I didn’t say it out loud, as I fear it would have been a complete betrayal of my working-class roots.

However:  Just as we try and get our students to think not just about learning facts, but about making links between things, about applying what you’ve learned in different situations, I remembered that Brûlée means burning in French, that when you watch Chefs make it, they are crystallising the sugar sprinkled over a custard mixture, and that the reason the sugar burns is the glucose, and that’s what gives you the dark brown crisp topping.  It reminded me that the more sugar you had in mixtures, the more careful you had to be about burning – again, without yesterday’s demonstration I would not have made the link that glucose being so high in energy levels would of course burn quickly, emitting huge amounts of heat and light. So, although I might not think of myself as a scientist, I had certainly been able to apply come scientific thinking!  Something to bear in mind next time I’m making meringues.

Now, whereas my intellectual curiosity could cope with that level of Science – the EES (Engineering Education Scheme) projects students were taking to the Big Bang this week, were on a whole other level!  Our students were presenting on a project (set them by GE) to come up with a method or to make a machine that would allow them to better measure the fillet radius on their steam turbine blades.  I cannot even begin, in this short space, to try and explain this – but, the pleasure the students had taken in planning, researching and experimenting was absolutely clear in their presentations, and clearly impressed the judges.  It makes me immensely proud of our Science department and the students themselves that they were not daunted by this task, but embraced it with an energy and an intellectual curiosity that was a pleasure to see. 

Across Science week, there are a whole range of activities, demonstrations at lunch, (where we try, unsuccessfully, to keep a lid on Miss Gospel’s love of fire and explosions) quizzes, a science lecture for Year 7 on Friday, as well as our own students visiting local primary and Secondary schools to talk about Science at school, so having got dressed up to celebrate our love of and the importance of reading last week, we find ourselves getting blown up this week in the name of that most important of educational outlooks: Curiosity and the joy of exploration.

Mr Grady

Coronavirus and School absence

Dear Parents, Students and Staff.

I would like to draw your attention to the Department For Education guidance with regard to attending school or educational settings should you feel unwell. Particularly the third bullet point. people who feel unwell should stay at home and should not attend work or any education or childcare setting.

I know this may be difficult for families, but it is vital that we all play our part in protecting the health of our community.

I shall be writing to all Parents, staff and students today with more detailed information.

Mr Grady

Preventing spread of infection

There is currently no vaccine to prevent COVID-19. The best way to prevent infection is to avoid being exposed to the virus.

There are general principles anyone can follow to help prevent the spread of respiratory viruses, including:

washing your hands often - with soap and water, or use alcohol sanitiser if handwashing facilities are not available. This is particularly important after taking public transport

covering your cough or sneeze with a tissue, then throwing the tissue in a bin. See Catch it, Bin it, Kill it

people who feel unwell should stay at home and should not attend work or any education or childcare setting

pupils, students, staff and visitors should wash their hands:

before leaving home

on arrival at school

after using the toilet

after breaks and sporting activities

before food preparation

before eating any food, including snacks

before leaving school

use an alcohol-based hand sanitiser that contains at least 60% alcohol if soap and water are not available

avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands

avoid close contact with people who are unwell

clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces

if you are worried about your symptoms or those of a child or colleague, please call NHS 111. Do not go directly to your GP or other healthcare environment

See further information on the Public Health England Blog and the NHS UK website.

New afternoon Registration System for all Sixth form students

From 16th March a new registration system for sixth form will be in operation for the Sixth Form.

This new system is designed to be more robust, ensure the safety and well being of our students and encourage a more productive use of study time period 5

All Year 12 and Year 13 students who have study periods in the afternoon will now be required to register with a teacher at 2:00 p.m:

Year 13 - Common room

Year 12 - quiet study room

If you have any queries please contact Olga Dermott-Bond, Head of Sixth Form.  Students have been informed and can talk to their form tutors or the Sixth Form team. Approved study leave or approved Work Experience is not effected by this new measure.

KS3 Book Recommendation

A teenage girl runs away from her abusive father and stumbles upon a living arrangement with an elderly lady whose dementia means she mistakes her for an old friend.

Allison has run away from home and with nowhere to live finds herself hiding out in the shed of what she thinks is an abandoned house. But the house isn't empty. An elderly woman named Marla, with dementia, lives there - and she mistakes Allison for an old friend from her past called Toffee and invites her in.

Allison is used to hiding who she really is, and trying to be what other people want her to be. And so, Toffee is who she becomes. After all, it means she has a place to stay. There are worse places she could be.

But as their bond grows, and Allison discovers how much Marla needs a real friend, she begins to ask herself - where is home? What is a family? And most importantly, who am I, really?