July is here and it is time to reflect on the end of another academic year at Gartree High School. It has certainly been a busy year, and since last month’s confirmation that our plans had been unconditionally approved, work on GCSE continues apace. See “This month at Gartree” and “Other News” for details.

Awards Evening

At the end of June we celebrated the Gartree careers of our Year 9 students at the annual Awards Evening.

We have worked hard to shape these young people into the fine human beings they have become, and it was marvelous to be able to celebrate their accomplishments.

Visiting speaker Adam Walker regaled us with tales of his adventures on the high sea as he tackled the Oceans 7—seven of the toughest open water swimming challenges in the world. We now know that whenever we face a difficult challenge, we can look on the bright side: It’s not as bad as a Portuguese Man O’War.

Year 9 student Kush Mistry spoke to parents and students about his Gartree experiences:

“The last four years have been magnificent!” he told us.

Fellow Year 9 student Bavneet Bahra added “Gartree has been fundamental in moulding us from being naïve ten year olds into mature young adults...we are thankful to all the teachers and staff that have supported us throughout.”

We genuinely send all our departing students away with our best wishes—we want them to continue to excel. But we are saying goodbye with some sadness, and looking forward to next year, when we can take Gartree students all the way to GCSE success.

Good luck to you all.

Gartree 11-16 Summer Special!

“Relationships between adults

and pupils are excellent

throughout the school. Staff are

quick to tackle any

discrimination, and the school

promotes equal opportunities

very effectively.”

“The behaviour of pupils is

outstanding. The school has

worked very effectively since

the previous inspection to

ensure that pupils are fully

engaged in their lessons.

“OFSTED 2015

Gartree High School

“ A s p i r i n g t o p e r s o n a l e x c e l l e n c e i n a s u p p o r ti v e c o m m u n i t y ”

This month at Gartree

Students in Years 7 and 8 receive their reports this month.

End of key stage results will be published for students in Years 6 and 9.

Students in Year 8 enjoyed a barbecue and bouncy castle experience—despite the weather.

Year 9 students enjoyed our last year 9 prom—now the focus is on a Year 11 finish!

Students competing at Sports Day have a chance to set NEW records in Years 10 and 11!

We wish you all a great summer!

July 2016

Summer Special 1

This month at Gartree 1

Recent highlights 2

ADT Exhibition 3

Focus: Art, Design, Technology (ADT) 4

Staff Profile: Mr Churchward 4

Other News 4

What’s in this issue:

Heading for the finish: the closing stages of the Year 9 girls’ relay at GHS Sports Day Pic: S Adams

Students! Please see your vle account for our latest video message, especially for you!

Gartree HS 11-16 Highlights

Pictures: S Adams, B Scranage, P Goddard, P Bull, M Hughes. All rights reserved.

Page 2

Above: a group of students receiving their awards at Awards Evening, from (left to right): Adam Walker, swimmer; Mr Bannister, Deputy Head; Mrs Parmar, Chair of Governors; Ms Stock, Pastoral Leader for Years 8 and 9; Ms Singleton.

Right: the foyer of the school, set up for the ADT exhibition.

Below: Kush Mistry prepares to live vlog the ADT exhi-bition. Watch his short video here.

New Parents Information Evening Parents with children joining the school in September gathered in the hall for a presentation on various aspects of Gartree life. Members of staff spoke to a packed hall about topics such as pastoral care, the curriculum, assessment and communication, and it was great to greet new and existing members of the Gartree family.

Below: Year 8 trip to Caterpillar for a STEM workshop on engineering this term.

Above: The final stages of the boys’ inter-house relay at Gartree High Shool.

Above: Well done Gartree for winning the South Leicestershire Debating Competition. Below: A group of staff on the summit of Snowdon on the recent Three Peaks challenge

Above: The victorious Year 6 Quadkids team that won the County Quadkids athletics final.

ADT Exhibition: Highlights Page 3

This month we are focussing on the work of the ADT department, so here are some photographs from the recent ADT Exhibition. Clock-wise, from top left: pottery, fabrics, food, art, a design folder , work in progress, Mr Bull welcomes you, detail.

Page 4

The department under the spotlight this month is ADT, led by Mr Parker. This is strong department with lots of experience and which delivers high quality teaching. Mr Parker talked me through the changes that GCSE will bring in the department, including changes that are being

implemented at Key Stage 3 to improve students’ preparation. “We have seen some schools modifying existing courses to suit the new specifications, but the GCSE has changed so much we really don’t think that will work– we are in a great position to start from first principles. We were lucky to attend the AQA Marketing course in February, and that gave us a real insight into the new specification and meant we had a head start in our planning.” GCSEs offered in the department include Fine Art, Design and Technology, and Food preparation and Nutrition. The AQA specifications are being preferred, as they give students more opportunities to be creative. Mr Parker had five years of GCSE experience in his previous post, and he is confident about the experience of the rest of his team—including Miss Newton, who will be joining in September and who has skills in Art, Food and Textiles, strengthening the department. Department trips– to the National Gallery, the Clothes Show, to businesses—enhance the experience. “We are looking forward to giving pupils access to GCSE learning that encourages creativity and risk-taking, using modelling and prototyping to test students’ design minds, ” Mr Parker explained. “We will continue to use the Year 9 experience to build the skills that students will need, in areas like casting, 3D-printing and Photoshop. We have all the equipment we need, and the students knowledge of our kit and our working practices will be invaluable.” The department has a strong presence on social media—check out their work on #GartreeADT on Pinterest and Twitter and YouTube, for example.

Staff Profile: Mr Churchward

Focus On: The ADT Department

“I am a passionate Physical

Education teacher at KS3-5, with a

strong specialism in Sports

Science. I have been heavily

involved in 14-19 changes and I

have over a decade of experience

of teaching examination Physical

Education at GCSE, BTEC and A-

Level. I co-ordinate the co-

curricular sports at my school and I

am the teacher in charge of rugby

and cricket,” he told me.

In his spare time Mr Churchward

finds plenty of time for sport too.

“I have played competitive sports

throughout my entire life and have

represented my county in cricket,

rugby and athletics. I continue to

I grabbed a quick word with Mr Churchward

as he visited the school this month. He was

deep in conversation with Ms Mackie about

the PE department at Gartree, and I could see

he was impressed. He was also excited about

taking on the role of Head of PE in the new

academic year, taking over from the almost

irreplaceable Mr Henton, who is retiring. It

cannot be easy taking over from such a

teaching legend as Mr Henton, but he is

relishing the opportunity!

Mr Churchward joins us from a Derbyshire

secondary school, where he has been leading

the PE department. He is a Lead practitioner

of Physical Education and Sports Science, and

one of his many roles was the co-ordination

of the Quality Assurance visits for all Derby

City LA alternative provision. I asked him

about his teaching background.

“Excellent systems for

improving the quality

of teaching and

achievement are well

established.”

“Leaders are vigilant in

the way they check the

quality of teaching,

taking highly effective

action to raise

teaching quality. “

OFSTED 2015

“ A s p i r i n g t o p e r s o n a l e x c e l l e n c e i n a s u p p o r ti v e c o m m u n i t y ”

Other Gartree News New staff: Next year we will be joined by: Mr Amjid Aslam – Head of Computing Ms Rachel Baker—PE Mr Jon Churchward –Head of PE Ms Rhiannon Doren—Humanities Ms Claire Richardson—MFL Miss Alex Newton—ADT Ms Hayley Perridge—English We would like to wish everyone in the Gartree family a fantastic summer—we will see you again in the autumn!

Maths: The Maths department has decided to offer the option of two extra courses aimed at our higher ability pupils. These are GCSE Statistics, and Additional Mathematics (a level 3 qualification that bridges the gap between GCSE and A level and will also be worth UCAS points). Science: New text books have arrived, and the department has also taken delivery of their new planning books, which will help them with GCSE delivery.

Music: Miss Phipps has been to the Barbican in London to find out about the latest developments in the new Pearson GCSE specification for 2017. “The course was informative and useful, with a strong focus on music pedagogy and the delivery of the new specification, as well as being a great opportunity to network with other music practitioners,” said Miss Phipps. MFL: Mrs Isherwood attended an AQA course on assessment of GCSE Spanish.

coach cricket and rugby and play

golf and cycle sportives,” he added.

Welcome to Gartree, Mr Churchward!