Other key dates are shown on our calendar on the website. Some events are provisional and are marked on the
calendar
.
If you are aware of any other useful dates or local events which it would be really useful to include, please email me so that we can include these.
3.
Curriculum changes
Over the past few years we have spoken with many parents, staff and students with regards to our curriculum offer. The national picture has also been changing gradually and earlier this year, we decided to review and where necessary reformulate our curriculum offer.
We are therefore proud to announce that from September we will offer an enhanced curriculum (facilitated by the new school timings outlined above) that will allow both for a framework where students at GCSE will be able to achieve full English Baccalaureate in line with government expectations, and for statutory delivery of core subjects, thus enabling increased success and improved life chances for our young people.
In Years 7 and 8, we will be introducing an ‘enrichment suite’ of lessons to provide students with an improved framework for future learning, including skills for life in general (previously not part of the national curriculum) and social and personal development opportunities. These include lessons in:
- Information/Media Literacy - Our students are growing up in a world in which they are continually bombarded by information, more so than in at any other time in history. It is very easy for them simply to accept information as true “because it’s on the internet”, and it is therefore essential that students are aware of the ways in which information can be presented or misrepresented for a purpose. Media Literacy helps students to access, analyse, evaluate and create messages in a variety of forms, including print, video and the Internet. It also assists students in developing the essential skills of inquiry and self-expression necessary for citizens of a democracy. Based on resources from world-leading institutions, lessons will focus on topics such as what news is, how to verify the content of news articles, and how misinformation can spread on social media. We aim to help students begin to question the authenticity of the information that they consume, and to consider the potential motivations and biases of its authors. These skills will become particularly useful in many GCSE options involving the interpretation of texts and use of source material.
- Critical thinking - Critical thinking is an essential part of learning. It teaches students to make ‘good decisions’ and have ‘good thinking skills’ so that they develop more than just the ability to understand something, but to evaluate and to expand their thinking. In these sessions we plan to use key topics in Geography and History to develop critical thinking skills. Students will be required to problem solve, to analyse and make judgements but to also be creative and generate alternative meanings for some of our most important events, people and processes - both past and present. The government, employers, universities and colleges have all argued that it is important for “all sectors of education to prepare individuals who are able to think for themselves”. We therefore want our pupils to be fully equipped, to be ready to question the world and have a critical awareness.
- Values - Developing our students both emotionally and academically is something which Perins prides itself on. This area of the curriculum will focus on developing students’ core values: respecting each other, having the emotional resilience to bounce back from obstacles and taking care of their physical and mental well-being. The curriculum will include lessons around these Perins core values, as well as the statutory curriculum delivery of British Values, anti-Bullying work and sessions around promoting positive mental and health.
- Life skills (through STEM) - STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. STEM is important because it pervades every part of our lives; Science is everywhere in the world around us, Technology is continuously expanding into every aspect of our lives, Engineering is the basic designs of roads and bridges, but also tackles the challenges of changing global weather and environmentally-friendly changes to our home. Mathematics is in every occupation, every activity we do in our lives. STEM education has been shown to help bridge the ethnic and gender gaps sometimes found in math and science fields. Initiatives have been established to increase the roles of women and minorities in STEM-related fields. STEM education breaks the traditional gender roles and each and every decision we make will use an aspect of STEM. By exposing students to STEM and giving them opportunities to explore STEM-related concepts, we hope they will develop a passion for it and hopefully encourage more students of Perins School to pursue jobs in a STEM field. During Year 7 all students will be given the opportunity to participate in our STEM club, where a number of fun activities that use problem solving, laboratory skills, critical thinking, team work and analysis will introduce them to the world of STEM. In Year 8 we will then begin the CREST award. CREST is a scheme that is meant to inspire young people to think and behave like scientists and engineers. It is a nationally recognised award (much like Duke of Edinburgh), where students lead or take part in a project using the skills learnt in Year 7.
- Enterprise - A project based programme of study which aims to inspire students and bridge the gap between school life and work skills. The students will be given opportunities to take part in enterprise activities, which will help them to develop creative thinking, teamwork, communication and problem solving skills by giving them experience of the real world of work. The subject seeks to empower students to learn and connect classroom, community, and career-related skills.
- Speakers programme – Visiting speakers have become an important part of the educational experience for students. This programme has already started at Perins. The visiting speakers expose students to real-world life experiences from the position of someone who has been there as well as providing additional insight into research and current affairs. Students will have further opportunities to see the insight and perspective of the visitor’s particular field. Visiting speakers can enhance the experience of students who will receive information and experiences which they can’t get anywhere else. Another added benefit is the link that students get to make between what they learn in their textbooks and what they learn from the visiting speaker. Research shows that it is helpful for students to build these important connections between what they are learning and the real world. We have a wealth of information, interests and insight from parents, business leaders, famous people and some of our own staff that will greatly enhance the learning experiences of our students and as such will provide them with a framework for their future education at Perins and beyond. We would very much welcome any of our parents or wider families to contact me by email with regards to possible inclusion in this programme.
- Silent Reading - Research has shown consistently that students who read more tend to make faster progress and therefore achieve better grades in exams, not only in English but across the curriculum. Reading for pleasure is hard to achieve in English lessons alone – although our English staff use a range of strategies to inspire engagement with the texts, there is little freedom for students to pick texts which suit their own interests. In these silent reading sessions we would like to be able to offer students the opportunity to read for pleasure, picking books from the library which are appropriate for their reading ability but freely choosing the literature which most appeals to them. This will not only afford them the opportunity to develop those critical skills which are applicable across their academic education – skills such as analysis, evaluation, empathy, creativity and imagination – but will also benefit students in terms of their mental and emotional wellbeing by inviting them to step out of their own experience of the world and into somebody else’s, as literature enables us to do.
In Year 9 we have increased our curriculum offer and, following discussions with students, staff and parents, we now have sourced relevant staff and skills to offer some new subjects for the first time at Perins from September, so that the full curriculum offer will be:
Art and Design
Business Studies
Child Development
Computing
Citizenship
Dance
Drama
Design Technology
Economics
French
Food Technology
Geography
German
History
Creative IMedia
Latin
Media
Music
PE (GCSE)
Psychology
Photography
Religious Studies
Spanish
Sports Studies (Cambridge National)
In Years 10 & 11 we will take advantage of the additional lesson each day by introducing an additional lesson for each of the subjects taken by students. This additional lesson will be timetabled as ‘revision’ and will focus on past topics within each subject in order to prepare students for the GCSE examinations. The changes to the GCSE specification and assessment have seen an increased content and a greater demand for ‘deep learning’ and memorising key aspects of the course. We believe that by providing teacher-led revision during the school day, this will make it easier for our students to work on individual aspects during their revision at home. This will also provide revision opportunities in school for students who have previously been unable to attend after school revision sessions.
4.
Uniform
As the year draws to a close and we look to September please can we take the opportunity to remind you about our Perins Uniform Policy. We have been very proud of our students’ efforts at smartening their uniform this year and we will be consistently monitoring this throughout the year to come.
Jewellery
I would like to take this opportunity to remind parents about our piercing and jewellery policy. We have observed that there are still a number of students who are wearing more than the permitted one stud per ear lobe. In recent weeks we have had a safety concerns about students wearing more jewellery than allowed with the related risk of injury. Whilst sanctions and precautions are being put in place at school, I would ask for parental support with this to ensure that our students are safe during the school day.
As a compromise this year we have allowed students with new piercings to wear clear retainers or cover them with a plaster whilst at school. I would like to make it clear that as from September 2019 we will not allow students to wear the retainers or plasters as there will have been enough time for the piercings to heal and as such they can be removed when in school. I would ask that you do no let your child have extra piercings during school terms or, at a minimum, ensure that no more than one stud per earlobe is worn during school time.
Skirts
The new skirts are required uniform for all year groups as from September 2019. For those who still need to purchase a Perins skirt, the ordering details are on our website or please contact the school office. If you wish your daughter to try a skirt on before you buy please contact the school office and they can arrange for this.
Footwear
I would like to thank those parents who have been supportive of our efforts to ensure students are wearing the correct footwear at school. We are aware that there are many companies passing trainers off as school shoes and so misleading families. Please can I remind parents that VAN shoes, or trainer style shoes with symbols or strips down the side are not suitable school shoes. Our policy states that the shoes should be black leather, with laces of the same colour if applicable. They should be smart and practical for all school activities. Trainers, boots, stilettos, canvas types, flip-flops, sandals or open-toes styles are not permitted. Shoes must fit feet securely and not be worn down at the back. ‘Flip flop’ action is unacceptable. If in doubt please contact your child’s Head of House for advice.
Socks should be black. It has come to our attention that some students are coming into school wearing white socks so they do not have to change out of them for PE. Please can I ask you support in reinforcing the expectation that students should bring in a separate pair of socks for PE for hygiene reasons as well as in order to conform to our uniform policy.
5.
Mobiles and headphones
Some time has passed since we introduced our ‘phone zones’ around the school. These have been successful overall but the general consensus among staff is that problems still arise related to mobile phones (including social media). Our behaviour analysis shows that a significant proportion of sanctions are issued as a result of inappropriate mobile phone use, instances of anti-social behaviour often stem from mobile phones use and the urge to respond to a mobile phone is too great for a significant number of students. I have observed myself how the engagement and concentration of students drops significantly if they receive a text/phone call on a ‘silent’ phone during a lesson. As such, we have decided after careful consideration that the best way to optimise the learning of our students is to issue a school-wide ban on mobile phones from September. We are not suggesting that mobile phones should not be brought into school as we recognise that many families rely on these for safe travelling to and from school. We will however be operating an ‘out of sight, out of mind’ approach where phones must be switched off and kept in bags and, if they are seen out or being used around the school, they will automatically be confiscated and sanctions will be issued.
Similarly, we have observed an increasing number of headphones around the school (including airpods). This often means that students are unaware of their surrounding and as such poses a risk to health and safety. From September, therefore, no headphones should be present at Perins.
Both headphones and mobile phone bans will be in place from the time the student arrives on the school site until they leave each day.
6.
Behaviour policy
We are currently reviewing our school behaviour policy and procedures, including rewards and sanctions. We will issue further guidance in the near future but some of our non-negotiables will focus initiatives already started this academic year, wearing correct uniform gaining Pride in Perins points, having the correct equipment for lessons and ensuring that we all adhere to our expected values and high standards of behaviour. We welcome any feedback with regards to our new systems when these are shared later this term.
As part of this, we plan to put an ‘anti-bullying coordinator’ in place from September.
Following on from our investment in the Pastoral elements of the school, and in common with other schools, we have become aware of a rise in social issues including:
- Student relationships/friendships
- Student resilience
- Students' ability to relate to and cope with issues relating to their peers
- Social media/online issues
The anti-bullying coordinator will enable us to take a more pro-active approach to supporting students with these issues. In addition, we are sourcing training for some of our senior students to become ‘anti-bullying ambassadors’ to support younger students in the school.
7.
Building changes to support our pastoral services (Eliot building)
Over the summer we are making some minor changes to our Eliot building. The room currently labelled E7 (next to Student Services upstairs in Eliot) will have work carried out to allow for:
- A purpose-built reflection room (to accompany changes within our behaviour systems)
- Additional meeting rooms
- One to one counselling rooms (for those students needing extra support) for internal and external agency use
- Open space Learning Support area (to enable our pastoral care to come together in one area with the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) team moving to beside Student Services)
- A purpose built Emotionally Vulnerable Unit (EVU). In common with many other schools, we are seeing a small but increased number of high-level cases that unfortunately are not being supported outside of school owing to decreased social care provision. As students progress through their teenage years, they often have to deal with significant challenges, both long term and short term, which can cause other problems in relation to attendance and behaviour. We are therefore putting this resource in place as another element of our pastoral care to provide a framework for their more complex needs.
Steve Jones
