@BlackfenSchool
http://www.facebook.com/BlackfenSchoolForGirls
30th September 2016
www.blackfenschoolforgirls.co.uk
Discover 2016 Dear Parents/Carers, The summer seems to be going on and on this year. I hope that you have made the most of the “sunny” opportunities over the last 2 weeks before we move into Autumn. It has been a very productive and busy first four weeks of the new term. Following our successful open evening last week we welcomed families of year 6 students to the school this week for the first of our open mornings. These continue next week and there is a further open morning later in October. I would like to congratulate all the students for their work for open evening. Well done to all year 8 and year 12 students who showed our visitors around the school. On Thursday evening we rolled out the red carpet for our annual Oscars event where we share in the celebration of success of many of our young people. Well done to all those who were nominated and to all those who won an award. A huge thank you to all those involved in making this such a successful and enjoyable event. Our Year 7 Core Awareness evening took place on Wednesday and it was good to welcome parents/carers of year 7 students. During the evening all parents sampled three separate lessons – English, Mathematics and Science. We made sure that they all worked hard …and had some fun….and we sent them home with some homework to do! Blacken School for Girls Blackfen Road Sidcup DA15 9NU Tel: 02083031887
NEXT ISSUE: 21/10/2016
Family Newsletter
www.blackfenschoolforgirls.co.uk
Within the next 2 weeks we welcome members of our local community to our annual Harvest Tea celebration. We look forward to receiving food goods from students during the next week. Please send in as many items as you can to support this event. Parent Governor The Governing Body play a key role in determining the strategic direction of the school. We have a vacancy for a parent Governor to join the Governing Body. There is a separate letter attached to this Newsletter providing more details of how to put your name forward for this role. As last year, to ensure that all staff are updated on policies, procedures, current thinking and future planning we will be holding half termly staff meetings. The date for this is Tuesday 1st November. On this date, students should be in school by 8.40 for lesson 1 to begin at 8.45. Best wishes,
Matthew Brown, Headteacher
Governors Message The new Academic Year is now in full swing and as always the Autumn Term will be a busy one for the Governing Body. The Governing Body has already held its new School year Business Meeting, where the Chair and Vice Chairs were elected for the coming year. The two Vice Chairs are Carol Townsend and Janet Phelps who will be ably assisting me during the year. At this meeting plans for the new School year were finalised which included the linking of governors to different departments. The results of these visits will be reported to future Governing Body meetings. There are some important activities taking place during the next week which governors will be attending. These include Open Days and guests visiting from a German School Oberschule Rechenberg-Bienenmühle. These and subsequent meetings, events and visits will be reported upon in future newsletters. We all look forward to a successful year for the School. Stuart Fitz-Gerald, Chair of Governors
Blacken School for Girls Blackfen Road Sidcup DA15 9NU Tel: 02083031887
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Family Newsletter
www.blackfenschoolforgirls.co.uk
New Website Launch The New School Website has been launched. Please check it out, www.blackfenschoolforgirls.co.uk. We also have a new school app which will also be available to download from ITunes or android app stores. For details on how to do this please go to our website. Ms J Heather, Social Media and Marketing Officer
Year 11 ‘Flightpath’ Visas are ready for collection! As we explained at the Year 11 ‘Departure Lounge’ evening, the school is pleased to invite Year 11 parents and carers to the Visa 1 assemblies on 18th – 21st October, running from 10.30am – 10.55am, as follows: Tuesday 18th October: Green and Blue Community Wednesday 19th October: Red Community Thursday 20th October: Yellow Community Friday 21st October: Purple Community A Visa enables a traveller to enter a specific country, for a specific length of time, to take specific action, such as tour or study or work. The specific purpose of Visa 1 is to enable students and families to make the Year 11 Pre-Public Examinations (PPEs) in December an effective practice event for the actual GCSE examinations which begin after the Easter holidays. The Year 11 PPE results are used to measure students’ current progress and to estimate their final GCSE grades, so it’s important that students get every help to meet the challenge of sitting formal examinations and to achieve the results they deserve. Their PPE results will be discussed at the Year 11 Parents Evening on 12th January 2017 and will help students and their families apply for Sixth Form courses in January and February. Experience has shown us that families who use the Year 11 PPEs to practise home routines that make revision effective are building the foundations of success in the actual GCSE examinations in May and June. The Year 11 PPE timetable is published at the October half term, and students revise for their examinations during November and December. They need adult encouragement; a calm learning environment; effective time management that fits family schedules and practical support, such as being tested on memorised information or being timed to complete written tests. These are the exact elements that will make students successful in their Summer GCSE examinations. Visa 1 will introduce students and parents to the Examinations team and to the routines of formal examinations, as well as to Sixth Form students and staff who will explain practical advice about making revision effective. Blacken School for Girls Blackfen Road Sidcup DA15 9NU Tel: 02083031887
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Family Newsletter
www.blackfenschoolforgirls.co.uk
Year 11 parents and carers are warmly invited to attend the same assembly as their daughter or to choose a different day that is more convenient. We are unable to accommodate babies or young children on this occasion and latecomers will not be admitted. Parents and carers do not need to book seats in advance but must arrive in the main School Reception by 10.15am, so that the assembly can start on time. See you soon! Ms F Minnis Assistant Headteacher
Literacy Learning at Blackfen School for Girls Literacy Leaders are currently preparing the scripts they will use for their performances which will form a part of the Blackfen School for Girls Harvest Festival Tea. The students have chosen to focus on poetry about food and have been working on how to link this to a message of food poverty. The literacy leaders are also awaiting feedback from all of the school’s community groups regarding the contents for the next edition of Blackfen Buzz. In community time students have been focusing on literacy based games to help support vocabulary development and oracy skills. Several literacy leaders helped to represent the school at our recent open evening by reflecting on their first impressions of the school whilst other literacy leaders helped prospective parents and carers view our literacy display which documented all of the key projects from the 2015-2016 academic year including World Book Day and the Carnegie competition. Both of these events will run again in school during this academic year and more information will follow nearer the time. Rebecca Hunt, Literacy Co-ordinator
[email protected]
Pabulum Catering News Our partner catering company Pabulum have created an app that can be downloaded to your smartphone or tablet (see attached flyer). This app will ensure you are kept up to date with the school's menus, events, and recipes where they source their food and many other interesting facts, you can also connect to the school website through this app. We pride ourselves at the school in offering a well-balanced nutritious menu following the Department for Education guidelines but are seeing a lot of students bringing in crisps, chocolate, sweets and other items that are not considered nutritious. Where it is your prerogative to send your daughter in with these items it may be that you are giving them money that they are spending before they get into school. To ensure that they are eating a nutritious meal we would advise you to add money to their WisePay account where you will have the ability to view what your daughter has been eating and with the knowledge that they can only use this money to purchase food at the school. You can access the WisePay Blacken School for Girls Blackfen Road Sidcup DA15 9NU Tel: 02083031887
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Family Newsletter
www.blackfenschoolforgirls.co.uk
application via the school website, if you need assistance in connecting please call the school on 020 8303 1887 ext. 3005 or email
[email protected]. Mr G Morgan, Business Manager
Advice from year 11 to KS3 students in Mathematics This is the advice we would give our year 7 students in their mathematics lessons-:
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If you got stuck do not stress. Go and ask the teacher or another student for help
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Always bring your mathematics equipment to all lessons
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Always write your examples clearly in your mathematics note book (A4)
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Do your homework when you get it, if you get stuck you have time to go and ask for help
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Use your brain, then look in your note book, ask another student for help and then ask for help from a teacher
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Always give yourself enough time to revise for assessments, don’t leave it until the night before
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When you revise for mathematics you have to practice questions, don’t just read your notes or re write them. Useful websites to use are mymaths; maths is fun, BBC bitesize.
Written by Louise Symes and Sheniz Akin, Year 11 students
Blacken School for Girls Blackfen Road Sidcup DA15 9NU Tel: 02083031887
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Family Newsletter
www.blackfenschoolforgirls.co.uk
Dates for your Diary Please see below for those calendared school events known so far
Monday 3rd October
Open Morning Tours at 9am & 11.30am only
Tuesday 4th October
Open Morning Tours at 9am & 11.30am only
Thursday 6th & Friday 7th October
A Level Geography Trip
Thursday 13th October
Harvest Tea
Monday 17th October
Open Morning Tours at 9am & 11.30am only
Wednesday 19th October
Sixth form Open Evening
24th – 27th October
Half Term
Tuesday 1st November
Extended staff briefing – school starts at 8.45am
Thursday 3rd November
Black History Month
Thursday 10th November
Year 13 Parents Evening
Friday 11th November
Challenge Day 1
14th – 17th November
Year 10 Trip to Rome
23rd November
Thursday 24th November
Showcase Performance (matinee and evening performances) School choir performing at The Woodville Halls Year 10 Parents Evening
Tuesday 6th December
Christmas Carol Performance
Wednesday 7th December
Sports Awards Evening
Wednesday 21st December
Last day of term school finishes at 12.50pm
22nd December to Monday 2nd January 2017
Christmas Holidays
Tuesday 3rd January 2017
Spring Term begins 8.30am
Thursday 12th January
Year 11 Parents Evening
Tuesday 17th January
Extended staff briefing – school starts at 8.45am
Blacken School for Girls Blackfen Road Sidcup DA15 9NU Tel: 02083031887
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Family Newsletter
www.blackfenschoolforgirls.co.uk
Wednesday 1st February
Challenge Day 2
Thursday 2nd February
Year 12 Parents Evening
6th – 10th February
Year 13 Trip to Berlin
Wednesday 8th February
Year 9 Options Evening
13th – 17th February
Half Term
20th – 24th February
Music Trip to Barcelona
Thursday 23rd February
Year 9 Parents Evening for Blue, Green and Red 1-4 communities
Tuesday 28th February
Extended staff briefing – school starts at 8.45am
Wednesday 1st March
Sixth Form University Evening
Thursday 2nd March
Year 9 Parents Evening for Yellow, Purple and Red 5-9 communities
Tuesday 7th March
Careers Evening
Wednesday 8th March
Dance Festival Performance
Monday 13th March
Challenge Day 3
Tuesday 14th March
AS Geography Trip to London
Wednesday 15th March
Year 11 PFS Afternoon
Tuesday 28th March
Easter Recital
Wednesday 29th & Thursday 30th March
Year 10 Geography Field Trip
Friday 31st March
Last Day of Term – early finish 12.50pm
3rd - 17th April
Easter Holidays
Tuesday 18th April
Summer Term begins 8.30am
Tuesday 25th April
Extended staff briefing – school starts at 8.45am
Thursday 27th April
Year 7 Parents Evening
Thursday 4th May
Year 8 Parents Evening
Wednesday 24th May
Sixth Form Oscars
29th May – 2nd June
Half Term
Blacken School for Girls Blackfen Road Sidcup DA15 9NU Tel: 02083031887
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Family Newsletter
www.blackfenschoolforgirls.co.uk
Tuesday 6th June
Extended staff briefing – school starts at 8.45am
Wednesday 21st June
Musical Performance (Matinee and evening performances)
Thursday 22nd and Friday 23rd June
Musical Performance (evening performance)
Tuesday 25th April
Extended staff briefing – school starts at 8.15am
Wednesday 28th June
Literacy Show & Tell Event
3rd, 5th 6th, 7th & 10th July
Celebration Presentations
Monday 3rd – Friday 14th July
Year 10 - Work Experience
Tuesday 4th July
Year 6 Induction Day & Parents Evening
Tuesday 11th July
Sports Day
Wednesday 12th & Thursday 13th July
Discover Days
Friday 14th July
Last day of term school finishes at 12.50pm
Blacken School for Girls Blackfen Road Sidcup DA15 9NU Tel: 02083031887
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