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Reading Girls' School newsletter - 19 NOVEMBER 2021

Principal's Message: Social Responsibility...

Today’s non-school uniform day has given us an opportunity to give to charities who are supported by Children in Need. We are very committed to contributing to charities and this is especially the case with the Pledges that all our girls are involved in throughout the year. There is a strong commitment at Reading Girls' School to support our local, national and global communities. We take social responsibility seriously, and we work hard to nurture an idea of service and care for others. Thank you to all the families who have contributed to raising money today.

STEM, this week, continues to provide a wealth of opportunity for our students. The girls developed their knowledge and the skills they needed for managing their own personal money and building employability skills.

In order to ensure that we continue to keep our girls safe, may we ask that parents/carers remain in their vehicles when they are dropping off or picking up their children. This will ensure a constant flow of traffic in addition to ensuring the safety of all students on site.

From Monday 22nd November, at the beginning and end of the school day, we ask that pedestrian parents/carers do not to enter the school grounds but remain at the school gates on Northumberland Avenue.

I would also like to remind parents/carers and students that spray deodorant (and other) aerosol cans are not allowed in school as they can cause asthma attacks in some students. All aerosol cans will be confiscated and disposed of. Thank you for your cooperation.

Please find below the link to the Parent Survey for the autumn term - deadline for completion is Tuesday 30th November at 4pm.

I wish you all a restful weekend.

Marika Farrugia, Principal

Word of the Week

Every week in school we share a Word of the Week. Pupils are given the definition and etymology of the word, synonyms for the word and examples of sentences using the word. The aim is to expand the girls’ vocabulary and they are rewarded with a Word of the Week token if they use the word in their writing or speaking. Please do discuss this word at home...This week word of the week is.....

This week we participated in Anti-Bullying Week.

On Monday, we celebrated individuality and uniqueness by holding our Odd Sock Day.

This morning, our Anti-Bullying and Friendship Ambassadors spoke to all students, reintroducing themselves and informing the students about their role and the help they provide.

If you have any concerns about bullying or friendship, you can email the team at ABFA@readinggirlsschool.net.

The Great British Shake Off returns to RGS!

In this week's STEM challenge, the girls were taught to make engineering connections and how the super tower Taipei 101 compensates for being in a typhoon and active earthquake zone by drawing inspirations for its design from other successful inspirations in design and nature like sailboat outriggers and the bending nature of bamboo.

There were many design ideas in action around the hall and teams of up to four girls were tasked with “buying” simple construction materials of paper craft straws and Sellotape® which had to be planned and purchased at a cost to their construction project.

So not only did the girls have to make a design that kept a 100g mass 50cm off the table top by designing a free-standing tower, it had to take an ever-growing earthquake on our own giant roller-table and the winner would be decided from the most cost-effective model.

This was a great day to be a STEM Ambassador too – since they managed the quarter mastering of the supplies, kept track of the team names and the budget recording and judging by using the wobble table on the floor surrounded by the competing teams.

The winning team (Group D) made a tower that stood longer than any other and were the clear winners with re-enforced legs and a pyramid design.

Next week, Year 8 shall face the same challenge and we will decide an overall school winner. As always, we are tremendously grateful for the volunteers who give us their valuable time each week.

The girls also had a guest speaker, Sam Draper, a facilitator from Barclays Life Skills (on behalf of the Talent Foundry) this week.

Sam Draper – our guest visitor delivering Barclays’ Life Skills: Money Skills workshop with us this week

The girls will have more of the Barclays Life Skills courses in their Personal Development days this year but this was the first and fitted well within STEM since it is about applying their maths skills to the Money Skills in a workshop titled: Recognising my money personality - This lesson is designed to help the girls to understand money habits, money personalities, the difference between needs and wants, and how to plan for future purchases.

Our students had fun celebrating Children in Need Day.

A World Premiere Adaptation of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol.

A fire is crackling, a hot chocolate brewing, and there is a ghost (or two) ready to tell you a story…

Ebenezer Scrooge is the miserable boss of Huntley and Palmers, Reading’s world-famous biscuit company. With a little help from Christmas Past, Present and Future, will he be able to feel the festive joy this year? Step back in time with your favourite characters, and enjoy the whimsy and wonder of this yuletide production, drawn from the cobbled streets of Reading.

Written by Beth Flintoff, celebrated local writer, and directed by Reading Rep’s Artistic Director, Paul Stacey, A Christmas Carol is not to be missed. https://www.readingrep.com/a-christmas-carol-2/#performances

Free theatre tickets for young people

UNFORTUNATELY, THIS EVENT HAS BEEN CANCELLED.

There will be a Scholastic Book Fair in school from 8th December. More details to follow!

At Home Testing

As the number of Covid-19 cases continues to increase in the local community, we continue to be vigilant. We continue to request that your child takes a Laterel Flow test twice a week - every Wednesday and Sunday and report the results using the link below.

In addition, if they test positive, they are to take an immediate PCR test and they should NOT return to school while they are waiting for the test results. Returning simply increases the risk of community transmission. You will be aware that we offer our hybrid classrooms to girls at home who have to self-isolate, but only following a positive PCR result, so that they can access their lessons and join their classmates in group work.

Here is a reminder of where you can report your test result to school.

Increasing Student Participation

“Talking Tokens”

Talking Tokens are issued by the classroom teacher and/or teaching assistant to pupils who participate to questions and/or ask questions during lessons. Pupils are encouraged to write their name and year group on the back of the 'Talking Token' and place them into the relevant 'Talking Token' collection box for their year group. At the end of each term, all 'Talking Tokens' are placed together and a pupil is selected at random. The more 'Talking Tokens' a pupil collects for contributing answers to questions in class, the more chances they have to win a prize.

At the end of this week the following number of 'Talking Tokens' collected across the whole school are 247. Well done to all those who received a token for their contribution in their lessons. We are currently on a grand total of 4748.

“Has your lesson been REAL (Relevant, Engaging, Active Learning)?”

Using REAL tokens students have the opportunity to give instant feedback to staff about their experiences within the lesson.

Students are provided with a token and at the end of the lesson, are asked if their lesson has been R.E.A.L. (Relevant, Engaging, Active Learning). Students then place their token into the 'Yes' or 'No' box, which is in every teaching classroom. Staff then uses this information to make any modification to their delivery of their lesson. These tokens are then collected in at the end of every week and counted.

Results for this week:

  • YES – 1187
  • No – 41 tokens

Reading Mencap is running a focus group for parent and carers of children aged 0 - 18 with learning disabilities, who have experience of accessing or trying to access support for their child's mental health. What has worked and what barriers have there been?

Reading Mencap will be working with Deb Hunter, Mental Health lead at Brighter Futures for Children to identify what changes are needed to ensure that children with learning disabilities are able to access the mental health support that they need.

There will be a face to face meeting and an online meeting available. If you would like to take part, please contact Kate Stonehouse, Reading Mencap 0118 9662518 between 9.30 and 1.30 Monday to Friday, or email familysupport-kate@readingmencap.org.uk

Many of you will be aware that the RGS car park is busy this year and this is of course due to the continued growth of the school. Maximum speed limit is 5mph. Please ensure that you are not driving any faster than this as you enter, during and when you exit the car park. Parents who do not comply with this speed limit will be asked not to drive through the car park.

How can we all help with the congestion at the beginning and end of the school day?

  • Where possible girls to walk/ cycle to school
  • Parents to team up and run car shares so that less cars are coming to RGS, in addition to helping the environment!
  • Any cars who do have to come to RGS will be required to TURN LEFT out of the school carpark from MONDAY 13th SEPTEMBER

A reminder that it is also not permitted to stop on the very busy Northumberland Avenue.

Stevensons - your local and online school uniform supplier

We are delighted to be launching a second-hand uniform shop at RGS. Please send in any good quality uniform you no longer need. Mrs Emmett will be awaiting your deliveries! For further information please email selliott@readinggirlsschool.net