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Newsletter 1 - September 2024
Maths
The Maths team would like to wish all pupils a happy return
to school and to Maths lessons. A special welcome to the
school goes out to our new Year 7 pupils. Details of how
we plan to set Year 7 can be found later in this section. We
would also like to congratulate last year’s Year 11 on their
excellent results and hope that this year’s Year 11 pupils are
ready to work hard to try and emulate those results.
We look forward to starting the final exam run-in with our
new Year 11 cohort in September. Details of intervention and
revision sessions are to follow. Remember that you have
a full mock Maths exam alongside exams in other subjects
later in Term 1. Your summer MathsWatch homework was
designed to help you prepare for these exams so hopefully
you have now completed this. If you have any questions
regarding these exams then please do contact your child’s
class teacher or Mr Clark, the Key Stage 4 Coordinator for
Mathematics for this year.
Getting Ready for Maths Lessons
Please ensure that you are ready for your Maths lessons
at the start of this academic year by bringing the correct
equipment. You must have a pen, pencil, ruler, rubber,
scientific calculator, protractor and a pair of compasses with
you for every lesson.
Regarding calculators, I personally prefer any Casio model
similar to the pictures shown here but the company Sharp
also produces a good model.
Year 7 pupils will take an assessment in Term 1. We will use
the results from this assessment, any information received
from their primary school and their performance in class
to place them in a maths set by the end of the first term. If
you have any questions regarding this process please do
contact your child’s class teacher or Mr Eyre, the Key Stage 3
Coordinator for Mathematics.
Pupils start their GCSE course in this subject at the start
of Year 9. If any pupils or their parents/carers would like to
order GCSE revision resources, a letter will be handed to
your child in class in the first few weeks, giving information on
how to purchase resources using ParentPay. If you do not
receive this letter or want to order for a child in another year
group, then please ask for a copy of the letter from your class
teacher or Mr Eyre.
Mathematics is a tough GCSE and you should expect to
struggle in some lessons. Please be prepared to work hard
in lessons, to make mistakes (we all do!) and then learn
from them. That struggling feeling is you going out of your
comfort zone and learning new things. Keep persevering
and eventually you will master the concepts that you initially
struggled with.
I wish you every success with Mathematics this year. Please
do get in touch with your child’s class teacher in the first
instance if you have any questions regarding Maths lessons.
Mr R Jacobs
Senior Assistant Principal & Subject Leader for Mathematics
Science
Young Investigators - Monday Lunchtimes - Year 7
Ask your Science teacher about Young Investigators, where
Mrs Fox will show you exciting practical activities you won't
have the time to do in your lessons. See write up and photos
below.
Archaeology club - Thursday after school - Year 7 - 9
Ask Miss Vince about Archaeology Club, where you will learn
about being an archaeologist, with plenty of practical activities
Electronics club - Tuesday after school - Invite only
Ask Mr Curtis about joining electronics club, where you
will learn about soldering, building circuits and other basic
electronics skills.
Warhammer club - Tuesday and Thursday lunchtime
Ask Mr Filsell about Warhammer club, where you will
fundraise for, build, paint and play with Warhammer
miniatures.
STEM Technicians club (from Term 2)
Ask Miss Roycroft about the STEM technicians club. Explore
different technician roles in STEM and see how different
careers link with Science, with hand-ons activities.
Science drop-in - Wednesday after school
Ask your Science teacher about Science drop-in, where Miss
Vince will be on hand to help you with any Science work you
need.
We have a busy term in Science coming up. As well as welcoming all our new
Year 7s we have a range of extra curricular clubs on offer.
Science Club Young Investigators 2024-2025
Do you like Science experiments using practical equipment or working
in a science lab? Then this could be the lunch club for you. Young
investigators is a fun and practical science club. This year it is open to
all KS3 students in Years 7, 8 and 9. It runs every Monday lunchtime
in Lab 1 with Mrs Fox and Mrs Curtis. We will do a range of practical
activities throughout the year covering a variety of Biology, Chemistry
and Physics topics. The emphasis is always on practicals and there
is no written work required. Students have thoroughly enjoyed this
club over the years and it is a great way to use more equipment and
improve your practical skills in science. Here are a selection of photos
from last year’s club showing some of the activities. If you would like
any more information, please see Mrs Fox in the Science department.