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Reading Girls' School newsletter - 26 NOVEMBER 2021

Principal's Message

It seems like only yesterday that I stepped into Reading Girls’ School, and yet, so much has happened over the past few weeks. Every day I am impressed by the learning that takes place and the way our girls conduct themselves around the school, the kindness that they show each other, and the commitment they have towards their learning.

And then on Tuesday morning, the phone call arrived, leading to the long-awaited visit from Ofsted. Of course, such visits in most schools lead to a flurry of activity as documents are collected and displays are improved etc. However, at Reading Girls’ School, the call did not lead to such activity. The commitment and hard work of all the staff meant that we were able to continue to focus on learning and our day-to-day activities. The school was more than ready to provide our visitors with all the evidence they needed to support their inspection. They visited several lessons, spoke to a number of teachers and leaders, and of course to your children. We are incredibly proud of how the girls conducted themselves – they were articulate and welcoming, and their contribution will influence the inspection report.

May I also thank parents who completed the parent views. Your support for the school was very evident, and your comments will not only inform the inspection outcome, but also shape how we move forward as a school. We will probably not receive the outcome of the inspection until after Christmas. As soon as it arrives we will be sharing it with all of you.

On Thursday, while the inspection was going on, we had our first Personal Development Day. This is part of our Personal, Social and Health Education (PSHE) offer. PSHE has been shown to improve a child’s learning capacity by reinforcing positive behaviour and encouraging attitudes towards health and mental well-being. We had several visitors speaking to students about how to look after their mental health, smoking awareness, life skills and careers. Our Student Leadership Team led a workshop on friendships, which they carefully planned and executed. The girls who participated in the workshop were so engaged with the activity and it provided them with an opportunity to reflect on healthy relationships.

As I said to all the staff this week, I feel extremely proud to have joined this school, and to take it forward with the support of you, your children and all the staff.

Just a reminder of 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.....

Year 8 beats Year 7 in GBSO competition!

This week saw the exciting conclusion of the Great British Shake Off 2021 competition this year after Year 8 managed to build some successful towers which could make a free standing tower withstand an earthquake 50cm off the table top with nothing more than paper straws and Sellotape®.

The girls were better able to show that they could make engineering connections from their research material – The Taipei101 Supertower, including the use of outriggers and inspiration from birdcages and bamboo to make their structures both strong and flexible.

All girls have worked hard over the last fortnight in both STEM days to understand developments in design and technology, its impact on individuals, society and the environment, and the responsibilities of designers, engineers and technologists through this valuable competition.

Well done to all of the winning teams this week with their winning designs. Can you see any common features which made their designs so successful this week?

This week also saw the return of Barclays LifeSkills for Year 8 this week which was on a different theme: Barclays Life Skills on Self Confidence. Helping our girls to identify the feelings experienced when facing and overcoming a challenge, such as adapting to big changes or new ways of learning and working. These skills can be an important step to recognising the benefits of successfully tackling challenges in the workplace.

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DONATE YOUR OLD CLOTHES IN SUPPORT OF CANCER RESEARCH UK

Personal Development Day

The day started for year 7s with Thames Water. They had a Smashed workshop about the dangers of alcohol abuse, followed by a workshop about friendships and social skills. In the afternoon, they joined virtually with the Holocaust Education Trust, when we were honoured to have two holocaust survivors talk through their history and the effects the holocaust had on their lives.

Year 8s had workshops with Thames Water about mental health, and a Smashed interactive virtual presentation. Their friendship workshops were run by the school’s own Anti Bullying Ambassadors. They also had lessons about ‘What’s Right’ and an assembly with Thames Valley Police about their work.

Who wants to ask a question of a police officer in the armed division?

The Year 9s developed their debating skills with the University of Reading, and considered overcoming their fears to achieve a personal challenge. Sport in Mind got them active to show them how doing physical activity can help your mindset. They also learnt about CPR and took part in a smoking awareness session run by West Berks Council. The Year 9s also had a presentation from Middle East Education, from a Jew and a Muslim who work together to inform young people about the issues in that area.

Year 10s took part in a ‘Spotlight on Careers’, which was run by the Education Business Partnership and funded by Study Higher. This included workshops by Thames Water, Shoosmiths and Zebra, who showed the variety of jobs and roles in their organisations and the skills and qualifications needed. They also considered their own qualities in an All About Me session to help them with CV and interview preparation, and they had a talk about higher education.

Though some year 11s were involved in exam preparation and study catch up, about half the year took part in activities with the Royal Air Force including Leadership Skills. The National Citizenship Service got them thinking about Social Action, and they joined the year 9s to hear from Middle East Education. In the afternoon, Study Higher ran a workshop for them about interview skills.

We are very grateful to all our presenters for their time and energy as it is great to have them working with our students and informing them of the world and opportunities around them, and it is fabulous to have them visit in person.

Reminder to parents/carers: Students should not bring paracetamol into school and keep it on their person, they should give it to a member of staff. Also, students should not ask for paracetamol if we do not have written consent from their parents/carers.

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

Holiday Activity Fund for 2021

Brighter Futures for Children is delighted to be co-ordinating the Holiday Activity Fund for 2021, funded by the Department of Education, on behalf of Reading Borough Council.

The HAF programme provides activities and lunch for children eligible for pupil premium free school meal children across Reading. The activity clubs offer a range of energetic physical activities, exciting new experiences and delicious meals too! We are happy to announce that we will be funding several HAF holiday camps this Christmas!

All of our camps will be taking place on the 20, 21, 22, & 23 of December. Click this link for holiday camps and pantomime tickets. Holiday Activity Fun (HAF) - Brighter Futures For Children

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 617. Well done to all those who received a token for their contribution in their lessons. We are currently on a grand total of 5365.

“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 – 3030
  • No – 1000 tokens

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