Bushey Meads News Issue 23 13th March 2015

It was a real privilege to show an excellent Teacher of

English around our wonderful school and Trust last week, to see all the good practice that exists

in classrooms across our unique Multi Academy Trust setting.

I was particularly proud of the two SLCs in Ms Troon’s

Year 7 English classroom who welcomed our visitor so warmly and explained in detail about the learning taking place in the superb lesson.

Mr Turner – Executive Principal

16 March Health Awareness Week Y10 MFL Speaking Exams 17 March Y7/8 Hertsmere Youth Conference British Karting Championships Highly Able Evening 17.30 – 20.00

18 March Y10 MFL Speaking Exams British Karting Championships Governors Meeting 18.30 - 20.30 19 March Y10 MFL Speaking Exams Y8 Parent Consultation Evening 20 March Health Week Fun Run Y10 Fire Skills Course Session 6 2 April – Term ends 12.15

Dates for the diary

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3 Lucy – 7 Maple

The Student of the Week for KS3 this week is Lucy in Year 7. Since starting at Bushey Meads School in September, Lucy has settled into school life extremely well. She has, in this short space of time overcome some significant hurdles and seamlessly integrated into school life. Lucy works consistently hard in lessons, her manner is always pleasant and we are very proud of her achievements so far. Well done Lucy. You are a credit to the school. Keep up the fantastic work!

Luke - 11 Sycamore

Luke is this week's KS4 student of the week. Luke has been busy designing a Year 11 Prom Passport which will be used to encourage students to attend extra revision sessions and earn a substantial discount on the cost of their ticket. Luke is looking forward to the prom and is hoping to return in September to our 6th form to study IT, Computer Science and Biology. Luke stated "I am now realising how close to the exams we are and little time there is left". Luke's advice to his fellow students is to get revision done first and then relax afterwards.

Michelle – 12 Oak Michelle is this week’s KS5 student of the week. Michelle is currently studying English, Maths, Spanish and Media Studies.

This week's theme was Trust, with the assembly led by Assistant Headteacher, Mr Fisher. The assembly and tutor activities focused on the positive side of trust to support a happy, safe and successful life. Two key messages to help promote trust were:

To be trusted 100% we need to guard the gift of someone's trust preciously by being honest, truthful and

trustworthy always.

To trust wisely we need to trust people through their actions and deeds over time.

By Mrs Sheldon – Learning Support Teacher (Maths) This week, we invaded the technology department kitchen in order to practice our measuring skills. The end result was a batch of delicious pancakes! The students worked in small teams measuring liquid in millilitres and weighing in grams. This was an excellent way to see Maths working in a practical situation and a good time was had by all.

By Ms Morawska, Deputy Headteacher

You may have noticed your child presenting to you, on arrival home this week, a student leadership badge proudly displaying the title 'Faculty Minister'. This post of responsibility within the school was applied for, by letter, to a faculty of student choice. Each letter was read by our Heads of Faculty and the decision made to appoint. Our recruitment drive for Faculty Ministers was launched at the end of the Autumn Term, along with a comprehensive job description. The role is again a new role for students at Bushey Meads and will be shaped in support of the student - faculty relationship, where our students will be expected to attend the beginning of a faculty meeting to present the findings from surveys, reviews of our whole-school initiatives, evaluations and to work with our faculty staff to support the improvement of the faculty.

I was delighted to be forwarded below the letter of application to the Humanities Faculty. This is indicative of the care and thought given to our posts of responsibility by our students, as they endeavour to aspire to achieve. We are rightly proud of them, their dedication to our school and their desire to work with us.

Should you discuss the Faculty Minister post, which was advertised to all students, and find your child is interested, ensure you advise them to speak to the Head of Faculty of their chosen subject about this post and hopefully they, too, will be proud bearers of the Faculty Minister Badges.

Dear Mr Newbold, I would like to apply to become the role of Faculty Minister in Humanities. I believe that I am good for this role as I am confident, sensible, organised and hard working. I enjoy doing extra projects in my own time especially if it will help other people in their

learning. I am very dedicated so I won’t neglect my responsibilities halfway through this role. I have a passion for humanity subjects and believe that they are very important subjects and also very enjoyable. I try my best in all of my subjects especially in humanities. I enjoy History a lot and I love to learn new things about the past. As a student I know what works best in the lessons and how well resources are used. I am able to monitor and review rewards and sanctions and

report whether they are working or not.

I find Geography very interesting and I have learnt a lot of new skills from this subject. In Year 8 my friends and I ran a Geography Club with the help from Ms Fricker. I would like to encourage more clubs for humanities as there are none at the

moment. More extra-curricular activities would make more students interested in humanities and could help them learn more especially if they are struggling in the lessons. I also taught six Year 7 geography lessons, it was hard work but I enjoyed it. I believe this experience will help me to improve other humanity lessons as I know what works best for different pathways. It also

has helped me become more confident and I believe that I could run more lessons in the future if asked.

I think Religious Studies is a very useful subject, I enjoy the lessons a lot and I always try my best in them. I have many ideas of how to improve the lessons for example students could be taught about all the different religions as at the moment the lessons are mainly focused on Christianity. I can support this subject reviewing faculty provision and the curriculum to ensure

engagement from all students to help them achieve higher. I think I have many skills which make me good for the role of Faculty Minister. I am very responsible at all times as I take learning seriously so I can get good grades in my future exams. I also like to help other students in their learning as I think it’s

important for them to achieve the best they can. I have the confidence to speak to adults and to talk to groups of people. I am very good at organising events and I am willing to give up my free time to help the faculty. I can support the faculty in many ways. I can find out what works best in lessons through student surveys and monitoring behaviour in lessons. I can also help the learning within the faculty by organising and supporting competitions and extra-

curricular activities. When asked I can help teachers in humanity lessons and meetings. I can also represent the faculty at Open Evenings, Transition Days and Consultation Evenings. I hope you consider me for Faculty Minister for Humanities.

Yours sincerely,

Katrina Phillimore - 09Elm

Introducing the St James

Instrumental Development Programme

By Ms Brown, Music Teacher

• What is the Instrumental Development Scheme? The Instrumental Development Scheme is a special project for budding classical or jazz musicians. At Bushey Meads, we believe that everyone has the potential to be a fantastic musician! All you need is commitment, enthusiasm and dedication. This programme gives all of our students the opportunity to learn an instrument for free and take part in an orchestra or jazz band.

• What sorts of activities will I take part in? You will attend a weekly instrumental lesson with Miss Brown who will teach you how to play your instrument. You will also attend a weekly orchestra or jazz band so that you experience how fun it is to play music with others.

• Which instrument can I choose? You can choose from the following instruments; flute, clarinet, saxophone, oboe, bassoon, trumpet, French horn, trombone, tuba, violin, viola, cello or double bass. We will provide you with the instrument for free!

• How do I take part in the instrumental development scheme?

It’s easy to take part! Send an e-mail to Miss Brown: (browns@busheymeads.org.uk) with a short paragraph explaining why you’d like to join the programme. For example, you might just love music! Or you might have played an instrument like recorder at primary school and want to move on to an instrument like clarinet. You may have taken some lessons in the past but didn’t like the instrument and now you want to try something new.

Monday lunch

Barber Shop

Monday After School

Tuesday lunch

Strings Group

Tuesday After School

Senior Choir (Yr9 and above)

Wednesday lunch

Instrumental Development Programme

Wednesday After School

Thursday lunch

Orchestra

Thursday After School

Junior Choir (Yr 7/8)

By Kevin – 12Willow

Four privileged students had the opportunity to visit the Houses of Parliament for a second time, the first being to participate in the Watford Inter-School debating competition; the second to experience their prize. The visit came as a reward for winning the competition, in particular to see the Speaker and to visit his home which is located in the grounds of the Houses of Parliament. The four year 12 students were: Sam, Kevin, Aliyah and Dylan. Months earlier they had each played their part in getting to the final of the debating competition and winning against Bushey

Academy who were also given the opportunity to meet the Speaker.

The day started by taking a short tour of the Houses of Parliament and learning about the rich and varied history that accompanies 800 years of democracy after the signing of the Magna Carta in 1215. For example whenever the Queen delivers her speech in parliament an MP has to simultaneously be taken “hostage” to Buckingham Palace to ensure the Queen is then returned safely. Richard Harrington, MP for Watford and organiser of the debating competition, gave his insight into the procedures of parliament as well as his views on having an elected Lords. Following a swift tour of Westminster Hall and the Gallery, he led the group into the Speaker’s house, a lavishly decorated location with portraits of all the previous speakers hung on the walls. The current speaker, John Bercow, asked the students about their ambitions for the future. He also gave his valuable insight into what he feels is needed to get into politics or any other career. There was talk of persistence and enjoying your work, messages which the students no doubt found inspiring. He was a complete contrast to the loud and authoritative figure usually seen shouting at MPs in the Commons to behave themselves. Lastly there was an opportunity to actually witness a debate occurring in the House of Commons to see democracy in this country truly at work. The debate in question was extremely topical, on the housing crises and in particular how to solve the problem of rising house prices. It was an enjoyable and enriching day for all with the students valuing the opportunity to meet one of the most important and senior figures in British democracy.

Every month we send you and your students newsletters full of useful information and advice about all things higher education related. But did you know we also produce newsletters for your students' parents and guardians? We’d really appreciate your help with raising awareness of our parent newsletter and have created the following message for you to simply copy and paste into the next communication you send out to parents and guardians of students aged 15-18.

Message to send out to your students’ parents and guardians UCAS is the organisation that processes all full-time applications to UK universities and colleges. It is there to support you – as well as your son or daughter – through every step of the application process. UCAS sends all applicants a monthly newsletter, full of useful information, reminders, advice and competitions. But did you know you can get information from UCAS too? You can sign up to monthly parent newsletters quickly and simply online. They’re completely FREE and contain timely information and advice about your son or daughter’s journey to higher education and what you can do to support them. For further information about the UCAS process, take a look at the advice for parents and guardians on ucas.com.

Apply for advisers and Adviser Track for applicants – UCAS and CUKAS Apply and Track

We are aware that the outage occurs shortly after the opening of the Extra process. However, students will not be disadvantaged, as universities and colleges will be unable to access their systems. We are notifying applicants on ucas.com and via social media. Kind regards UCAS