Bushey Meads News
Issue 117
8 September 2017
Superb A Level Results and Best GSCE Results Ever!
After seeing our students and staff work so hard over the last two years, as always fully supported by their parents and carers, it was absolutely amazing to see the sheer joy on so many faces on August 17th and 24th for the A level and GCSE results days. Our school community continues to be on a very exciting journey and everyone working together has achieved so much – Trustees, Governors, staff, students and their families. At a time when most schools’ results indicated a dip in performance at GCSE level (particularly with the introduction of the new much more rigorous English and Maths specifications) it was really excellent to celebrate our best ever combined English result of 87%, best ever Maths result of 86% and best ever 5+ A* – C measure including English and Maths of 76%. In addition to this nearly 1 in 5 students achieved 5 or more A* and A grades – quite superb!
Dates for the diary Thurs 14th Sept, 4:30 Yr 7 Settling In Evening Thurs 21st Sept Early finish due to Open Evening at 12:30pm st Thurs 21 Sept, 6:00pm Open Evening nd Fri 22 Sept Staff Inset Day th Tues 26 Sept, 7:00pm Yr 12 Parents Info Eve Fri 29th Sept Enrichment Day
Our school has a Mind to be Kind
Results at A level were also very pleasing and indicated that we continue to add real value to students’ education here at BMS. With some of our vocational courses, students were achieving almost 2 grades higher than their aspirational target grades! Students across all subjects were celebrating as they gained some hugely prestigious places at some of the country’s top universities. A huge congratulation goes to all the students and the hardworking, dedicated staff across the school for the great success we have all enjoyed this year. For more information about the results and some of our top performers do click on the link below:
http://www.busheymeads.org.uk/performance/
The graph below shows indicates some key trends over time.
STUDENTS OF THE WEEK KEY STAGE 3 Y STAGE 3
Aagarsan (7 Beech) This week's student of the week has been nominated by our wonderful Learning Resource Centre Manager, Mr Back. Aagarsan has been nominated for his outstanding contribution and presentation to the whole class on a book he has recently read called 'Warhouse.' Aagarsan confidently presented a clear synopsis of the book in front of the whole class and was awarded accordingly by Mr Back. Very well done on making such an amazing start at Bushey Meads School and thank you for your contribution in class!
This week’s KS4 student of the week is Rafi – 11 Elm for achieving amazing results in his early entry Maths GCSE and AS Level. Rafi sat his GCSE Maths exam in the summer of 2015/15 and achieved an A* and sat two modules of AS Level Maths all when he was in Year 9! This summer he sat the final AS Maths Module and achieved an A! If this wasn’t enough he also sat the GCSE Further Maths exam and achieved an A*. When asked the reasons behind this incredible success, Rafi told me hard work and dedication are the key to his achievements. We are so proud of Rafi and wish him all the best for what is set to be an incredible year for him!
KEY STAGE 4
Rafi (11 Elm)
Vinija (12 Beech)
KEY STAGE 5
Vinija has enrolled at Bushey Meads Sixth Form following her fantastic GSCE results. With truly astonishing progress shown, 10 subjects at the highest possible grade, we are looking forward to seeing Vinija and the rest of Y12 make a good start to their post 16 studies. I am sure that Vinija will successful in her chosen subjects of Biology, Psychology, Maths and Chemistry.
Bella (13 Sycamore)
Bella can be very proud of her accomplishments in her AS study. Bella achieved AAAB at the end of Y12. In discussion with Bella she is hoping to continue with all four of her subjects into Y13 and then onto University following the completion of her A levels. I am sure with the same fantastic effort shown in Year 12, Bella can look forward to celebrating again on results day 2018.
YEAR 7 INDUCTION DAY Mrs Wright – Assistant Headteacher The year 7’s had a terrific day on Monday, making the most of having exclusive access to the school. They arrived at the gates looking happy and smart and were introduced to their form tutors in the restaurant.
Mr Turner then led an assembly on our Theme of the Week; New Beginnings.
Year 7 then spent the rest of the day in their tutor groups where they shared their ‘Me Capsules’ and wrote poems about their move from primary to secondary school. They had their photo’s taken and received their planners and timetables
This week has a been a busy one for all of our new year 7’s. They’ve risen to the challenge and shown that they can adapt well to change. We are proud of them and look forward to a great year ahead.
A GREAT WEEK FOR YEAR 7S! Mr Turner – Executive Principal With New Beginnings as our Theme of the Week this week it has been so great to see our new Year 7 students settling in so well to Bushey Meads School. With Monday being their first day, and no other year groups on site, it was excellent to see them building up their confidence as they moved around the school, enjoying the different activities arranged for them throughout the day. Many of the students had made a superb effort with their fantastic Me Capsules - specially decorated shoe boxes with items inside that depict something about them to show their new friends within their Tutor group. At the end of the day Assistant Headteacher Mrs Wright hosted a final assembly attended by a good number of parents; they all enjoyed listening to some specially written poems about the first day, some explanations about the students' Me Capsules and they really loved seeing images on the big screen of their children really enjoying their all-important first day at secondary school - one of many more to come! Later this week the students have all been working hard in lessons across the school, listening to their teachers, handing in their book reviews and 'Best of Me' work and making those really good first impressions - aiming for a high Attitude to Learning grade in all of their subjects on their first report to be issued later this term. This was one of their lessons - a reading lesson in our 'state of the art' Learning Resource Centre or LRC, a busy hub of the school managed by one of our many outstanding teachers, Mr Back the LRC Manager. All Year 7 and 8 students have a weekly reading lesson and the LRC is also where our popular home learning club takes place after school.
Sixth Form Student Leadership We have an exciting opportunity for you to be part of the NEW student leadership structure at Bushey Meads School. This year we are hoping to appoint a greater number of students leaders in the sixth form to include : • Head Boy and Head Girl (Year 13 only) • 2 x Deputy Head Boys and 2 x Deputy Head Girls • Head Prefects • Prefects If you would be interested in becoming part of this exciting team, please read the job specifications and submit your application by the published deadline. We strongly encourage students to apply for positions, even if you applied last year and narrowly missed being appointed. Please make it CLEAR at the top of your application which position you are applying for and submit TWO printed copies to Mr O’Kelly’s office by Monday 11th September. Please do NOT email you applications. Good luck!
Key Stage 3 and 4 Student Leadership
There will be opportunities for all students to apply for leadership roles within the school. These will be advertised next week. Students should look out for emails from Mrs Wright which will outline how to apply. Leadership roles include: House Captains, Buddies, Student Learning Consultants, Environment representatives, Subject Leaders and many more. Watch this space!
PRAISE INDEED! Mr Turner – Executive Principal It is always lovely to get positive feedback from students and parents about the things that we do at Bushey Meads to support all our students to achieve at the highest level. The staff here do constantly go the extra mile for students and positive it is always nice to be reminded of what a positive impact we are having on children’s lives – it is at the core of what we do. Here are a few recent examples – thank you! About Year 7 Transition I also wanted to say that what a great transition process is now in place for Year 7’s in Bushey Meads. My daughter is the only child from her previous school and the picnic, interview and three day fun days (which she loved and actually wished it had been 5 days!) made it such a smooth transition. She made good friends, which made it a much less scary first day. I know from other parents that the other local schools do nothing like that! So please pass on my thanks to all the staff that put in time to make it so much easier and fun for the year 7’s.
Mother of Year 7 Student
Dear staff at BMS, I wanted to write to you to congratulate you on another successful year 7 transition, it has been outstanding. No other schools have come close. I would particularly like to thank the PE staff for their dedication and hard work, coming in over the summer in their own time to carry out some amazing activities for the children. They loved every minute. Some schools didn't even have a designated transition day for Year 7s on the first day back, let alone a super assembly for parents to consolidate the day! After my son's first day of timetabled lessons, he came home positively glowing, despite his reservations and was glad that he was in some classes with his new 'friends' that he had made during the transition journey. I'm so proud to be a parent and governor at BMS. Thank you so much! Kind regards, Parent of Year 7 and Year 9 Student
Support for Key Stage 4 Dear Mrs Ash, I just wanted to write and say thank you for supporting my son through his exams and getting him the extra time he needed. I am absolutely thrilled with his results and couldn't be more proud. I have written to Miss Leviton too as she was so supportive and never gave up trying with him. She is an amazing teacher. I'd also like to mention Mr O'Kelly and Mr Varsani - who are amazing teachers and a credit to the school. I hope you had a good summer and a well deserved rest. Kind regards and thanks again. Mother of Last Year’s Year 11 Student About the Superb Exam Results Dear Miss Court, I would like to congratulate on the results you achieved with the English Department over the course of the year. Having now finished my brief teacher training, I thought I would check how Bushey Meads performed and I am so pleased that your department's hard work has been rewarded with such excellent GCSE and ALevel results in what has otherwise been a turbulent year. In the brief time I spent at the school, it was evident that the department was a credit to the school - I cannot remember seeing such enthused teachers, particularly given it was in the height of the exam season. Thank you so much for allowing me to spend time with your staff and see them in action; teachers like Ms Bowe, Miss Farook, Mrs Knowles, Mr Dawson, and, of course, you, were so generous with their time. I am sure I have forgot some key names but I fear I may well name the whole department! Congratulations once again and thank you for allowing me to see your work in action. I wish you and the department all the best for the new academic year. I am sure it will be a successful one! Kind regards, Trainee Teacher at BMS Last Term
NEW BEGINNINGS Mr Turner – Executive Principal Our Theme of the Week this Week has been New Beginnings. In assemblies students have been thinking about the year ahead to ensure that they build on the success of the past and make any changes that need to be made to achieve their potential in all the subjects they study. For some students this entails more of the same, for others it is about doing things differently to secure even greater success. It was also good to be able to play some short films of last year's Sixth Formers and a number of Year 11 students receiving their A level and GCSE results; this reminded our current Sixth Formers and GCSE students how important these days are - they literally shape your future. The films also captured some top tips from the students as to how to make the most of their learning and revision to maximise success at these crucial times. This week we have also learned about our new 3 Rs or core values of Respect, Responsibility and Relationships and how we need to be developing these values in everything we do at BMS. Our new school mantra is 'Our School has a Mind to Be Kind' and, again, this is something that we launched this week and will be revisiting and strengthening throughout the year as we work hard to build on the friendly, welcoming, inclusive culture that we have at our school. As parents and carers do discuss the Theme of the Week with your children. Ask them what it was, what they have learned and what they are going to do differently in their lives as a result of what they have heard and thought through in the assemblies and related Tutor time activities.
Word of the Week (WOW) at Bushey Meads Language is empowering “Nationally, there is often a significant gap in the range and quality of vocabulary students are able to use accurately between grades D and A* (both at GCSE and A Level.)” As as part of a wider focus on increasing our students’ word and literacy power, we have a word of the week (WOW). This is delivered during a registration activity every week and reinforced across subject lessons. In the student newsletter each week we will share with you what our key word has been. Please can we encourage you to discuss this with your children at home. Perhaps you could challenge them to use the word in discussions, or spell it. Often students may encounter complex or unfamiliar language as part of their homework. A quick tip for exploring unfamiliar words is to type in to Google the word and then ‘def’. It will give you a wide selection of on-line dictionaries and instant definitions. When you have selected a dictionary website, look out for this symbol: Clicking on it will also enable students to hear the unfamiliar word pronounced correctly. Many thanks for your support. Danielle Bowe Lead Practitioner for English and Whole school Literacy
A new year begins and all the House points are set to zero again. Which House will win the coveted House Cup this year? 2014-2015 saw BEECH House win with ASH House winning in both 2015-2016 and 2016-2107. The points tally for last year was as follows:
House Points 2016-2017 16000
ASH MAPLE BEECH ELM SYCAMORE OAK WILLOW
14000 12000 10000 8000 6000 4000
13445 13362 13322 13144 12266 12150 11729
2000 0 ASH
BEECH
ELM
MAPLE
OAK
SYCAMORE WILLOW
Every individual reward point a student receives contributes to the overall House total. In addition, there are bonus points throughout the year through the various House competitions. The first competitions are approaching fast – the Annual House Poetry Competition launches on the Thursday 28th September (on National Poetry day) and the inaugural House Countdown Competition takes place on Tuesday 10th October at 3:30 pm. The Heads of House will be giving more details of these events very soon.
MATHS CHALLENGE OF THE WEEK Mr Akram - Lead Practitioner for Maths
KICKSTART MEETINGS Mrs Ash, Deputy Headteacher On Monday 4th September Year 11 students started their academic year with a “Kickstart” meeting. The purpose was to review Year 10 to then be able to set three purposeful ‘SMART’ targets which will help them to improve their progress. Targets set included: • Read 30 minutes of quality material each day to help improve English Language • Memorise 5 quotations from set texts each week • Complete 3 past exam papers by half term • Achieve at least 96% attendance Parents and carers were encouraged to attend the meeting with their child to help reinforce the collaboration between student, parent and the school. One parent commented: “The meeting was very useful and clarified expectations and goals from the outset” The Year 11 students will now be working hard to ensure they achieve these set targets to help prepare them for their Pre-Public Examinations later this term. Top tips for success from last year’s Year 11 students: • Start revision early • Organise your time effectively • Revise all your subjects, not just the ones you like • Learn the content thoroughly before you complete a past paper
YEAR 7 INSTRUMENTAL LESSONS Miss S Brown – Head of Music A message for Year 7 parents: Instrumental lessons will be starting the week beginning 11th September. All lessons will take place in the music department. Students should leave their normal curriculum lesson 5 minutes before their scheduled music lesson and make their way to the music department. Lessons are held in one of the two available practice rooms in the foyer of the department. Students should knock on the door and introduce themselves to the teacher. If there are any difficulties, they should go into one of the classrooms and talk to either Miss Brown or Miss Craven. If you have paid for instrumental lessons for your child, you will be receiving an email from Miss Brown with a timetable attached. This email will also be sent to your child's school email address. If you, nor your child, have received an email by Friday 15th September then please get in touch with Miss Brown at browns@busheymeads.org.uk.
ANTI-BULLYING
Mrs Ash – Deputy Headteacher Bushey Meads School is a friendly and inclusive learning community where everyone has the right to study and work in a safe and secure environment, without harassment, intimidation or fear. We believe that to realise their potential and achieve their aspirations, people need to feel happy, confident and included in their environment.
What is bullying?
Behaviour by an individual or group, usually repeated over time, that intentionally hurts another individual or group either physically or emotionally.
Bullying can include: name-calling; taunting; mocking; making offensive comments; physical behaviour (e.g. kicking, hitting, pushing, etc.); taking belongings; inappropriate text messaging and emailing; sending offensive or degrading images by phone or via the internet/social media; producing offensive graffiti; gossiping; excluding people from groups; spreading hurtful and untruthful rumours; racist remarks. What to do if you feel you or a friend are being bullied Tell somebody about it. You can: • Report it via the STUDENT WATCH area on the school website • Report it via the CONFIDE button on school computers • Email or speak to an Anti-Bullying Coordinator (ABC) • Speak to a student ANTI-BULLYING AMBASSADOR • Email or speak to your form tutor, a teacher or a pastoral manager • Ring the school health helpline
A mind to be kind Bushey Meads School constantly and explicitly promotes relationships that focus students on learning behaviours and progress. Everyday our students celebrate their differences by living without harm, acting with kindness and showing respect for one another. As a school community and as individuals we have ‘A mind to be kind’ following the three principles: • Live without HARMING others • Do Acts of KINDNESS • Show RESPECT for others
Pastoral Notices
Mobile Phones – Please note that the use of mobile phones for KS3 and KS4 students is strictly
prohibited during the course of the school day. All phones need to be switched off and should not be seen at all by staff. Any violation of this rule is subject to confiscation for up to two weeks depending on the circumstances.
CHANNELS OF COMMUNICATION
Mrs Ash – Deputy Headteacher In a large school it is important to know who to contact if you would like to raise a concern or provide us with information. If you have a concern you would like to share with the school regarding your son or daughter your first point of contact needs to be the subject teacher or the form tutor. They can be contacted via the school email: reception@busheymeads.org.uk, marking it for their attention, or by telephone: 020 8950 3000.
EXECUTIVE PRINCIPAL Mr Turner
DEPUTY HEADTEACHER Mrs Ash (Yr’s 11, 12 & 13)
SENIOR ASSISTANT HEADTEACHER Mr Fisher
ASSISTANT HEADTEACHERS Mrs Wright (Yrs 7 & 8) Mr Searle (Yrs 9 & 10)
PASTORAL TEAM Miss Dhanecha (Yrs 7, 8 & 9) Mr Malik (Yrs 10 & 11) Mr O’Kelly (Yrs 12 & 13)
HEAD OF FACULTY
HEAD OF DEPARTMENT
FORM TUTOR SUBJECT TEACHER
Traveling to School Mrs Ash – Deputy Headteacher Thank you to the vast majority of parents and carers who park sensibly to drop off their children in the mornings and to collect them in the afternoons. Can we please remind all parents and carers when dropping off/collecting students to ensure that you:
• •
Park sensibly and safely with due consideration to our neighbours Observe the yellow zigzags outside Bushey Meads and Meadow Wood schools (no pulling into the entrances of the schools)
To avoid congestion in front of the school we recommend that if you park further away from the school site and then the students can walk the rest of the way. We have suggested drop off points for the “Park and Stride” initiative as detailed below.
SHARING BEST PRACTICE STARTING AS WE MEAN TO GO ON! Mr Turner – Executive Principal
Our INSET Day on September 1st was packed full of nuggets of best practice, shared by top teachers across our learning community. It made for a really positive start to the year and reminded us how great all our staff are – and all so focussed on raising achievement and improving teaching and learning across the school. Pictured here is one of our outstanding Heads of Faculty, Mr Varsani, explaining how to create a superb culture and environment for learning in the classroom.
Sharing best practice is one of our key levers in our journey of school improvement, as is sharing resources and collaborating with outstanding colleagues. Pictured here in Monday morning’s Staff Briefing is our stunning Lead Practitioner for English and Whole School Literacy Ms Bowe, coaching colleagues on how best to deliver our excellent weekly Word of the Week (WOTW) resource prepared by her and distributed to all staff for use in Form Tutor sessions each and every week of the school year.
PE and Health Faculty News 2017-18 Mr Cartledge - Head of PE and Health The start of a new term sees the start of a new programme of sport and physical activity practices, clubs and competitive fixtures. Last year many of our students took the opportunity to build on their performance in lessons by attending the many extra-curricular clubs that are available at lunchtime and after school. This year we will be holding clubs in football, basketball, rugby, hockey, table tennis, badminton, gymnastics, trampolining, cricket, rounders, tennis, cheerleading, boxercise, yoga, fitness, SEN sport and athletics as well as our very popular lunchtime recreational sports clubs for each year group. Many of the clubs are run by the PE and Health Faculty staff with additional clubs being provided by the Hertfordshire Sports Partnership. Clubs take place at lunchtime and after club and this is supplemented by an extensive range of friendly, District and County competitive sports fixtures. All are free of charge and open to all students. For full details of the clubs, fixtures and practices students and parents need to check on the Bushey Meads School website in the PE and Health Faculty icon where you will find a full list of the extra-curricular activities. This is updated on a weekly basis to show the fixtures and practices for each week. In addition students can check the notice boards in the boys and girls changing rooms. The PE and Health Faculty also have their own Twitter account which includes regular updates on fixtures, match reports and details of forthcoming events.
PE and Health Faculty News 2017-18 Mr Cartledge - Head of PE and Health Students selected for teams will receive teamsheets with start and finish times. Some clubs may change week by week depending on fixtures and meetings but parents should check the twitter account and the website for updates. The timetable for the week beginning Monday 11th September is shown below :
For any parental enquiries about any aspects of PE contact the Head of PE and Health Faculty Ashley Cartledge cartledgea@busheymeads.org.uk For any specific issues related to Girls PE and girls fixtures contact Sarah Cooper coopers@busheymeads.org.uk.
@BMSPEandHealth All students who attend sports clubs will receive Sports Credits and these are converted into Reward points.