Latest News

July 2014

Dear Parent/Carer

I am writing to send you some important information with regard to the academic year starting on 1^st September 2014. I apologise in advance for a fairly lengthy letter; please do read through to the end and also keep this letter for future reference.

Student planners

We are going to give students a termly planner from the start of September because My Day has been somewhat temperamental this year. Students will be expected to have these on their desks in all lessons and to write all homework into them. Staff will check that homework is written in as students leave their classroom.

Please do look at your daughter’s planner to see what work she should be completing each week. Planners will be free of charge but will be charged at £1 for a replacement if a planner is damaged or lost. Please note that students should not be doodling or putting graffiti onto planners or they will be asked to replace them.

Homework

This is the homework that you should expect your child to receive:

Year 7 and 8

Homework will be set weekly in the following subjects:

• English
• Maths
• Science
• History
• Geography
• Languages
• Computer Science

This homework will last up to one hour in each subject.

Students will also be expected to read their academy reading book and quiz on it on a weekly basis.

Other subjects will set homework as appropriate.

Years 9-11

All subjects in which students are being examined will set homework every week.  Homework will last at least one hour per subject and this will increase as students move up the school. (approx. 6-10 hours weekly therefore)

Years 12-13

Students should expect to do as much private study as they do lessons in any subject.  Therefore, most students will expect to receive five hours of additional work and study in each subject they take. (approx. 15 hours per week)

Homework Detention

We will be commencing a formal House Homework Detention for students who do not do their homework. Where homework is a ‘learning’ homework – ie students are given something to revise, learn, memorise etc, this will be judged by whether they pass the in-class test to check what they have learned. When the homework is to read a REN reading book, this will be judged by their having done the quiz and the mark they get in it.

House detentions will be on Wednesdays after school and will be run by the House Assistant Principals and House staff. You will be notified if your daughter is on one of these detentions. The first detention will be after three incomplete homeworks and every one after that will trigger a new detention. Persistent failure to do homework will lead to other action being taken.

House Assistant Principals and Heads of House

	Assistant Principal	Head of House
Imperial	Ms Findlay	Ms Strong
King’s	Ms Panyandee	Mrs Matthews
Manchester	Ms Ajetunmobi	Ms Robson
Oriel	Ms Carding	Ms Foster

 

Equipment

The vast majority of our students are well prepared and equipped for lessons, thank you for your support with this.  Can we take this opportunity to refresh you on what a student needs to have with them on all occasions:

1)      Blue or black pen (s)

2)      Pencil(s)

3)      Eraser

4)      Sharpener

5)      Ruler

6)      Scientific calculator

7)      Pencil case

Students may also carry coloured pencils, a protractor, glue with them but should not carry scissors.

All students should have a bag which will carry books and files backwards and forwards without causing any damage to these items.

Late to the academy

A reminder that when your daughter is late to the academy, she will be at the end of the queue for going in to the dining room at lunchtime and will not be able to access the seated dining room area at breaktime.   This means that she will not be able to go in for a hot meal until 12:45 or 1:45 respectively. (KS3/4 lunch)

Please also note that service in the dining room will finish at 12:50 and 1:50 as students purchasing food after this time do not have time to eat it before the afternoon session commences.

"What time does my daughter need to be on the academy site?"

The gate will shut at 8.35 am from 1^st September. Students who arrive after this time will be counted as late. All students are expected to be on site by 8:30 so if they are not through the gate by 8:35, they will not be at their first lesson on time and will disrupt their own learning and that of their peers.

This is a revised time and it may well be that your daughter needs to catch an earlier bus if she currently arrives after 8:30 am.

Uniform and make-up reminders

Thank you to the overwhelming majority of parents and carers who support academy uniform rules consistently and entirely.  We really do appreciate your support with this.

Can I please remind parents and carers of some rules relating to uniform:

• Only one small stud per ear is allowed and no other piercings
• Hair colour should be natural only
• No false nails or nail varnish is permitted
• No false eyelashes are permitted
• No hoodies or other jumpers/cardigans are permitted

The basic uniform is:

• Black Kilt (should be knee length)/trousers
• Black blazer with Academy logo
• White open neck Academy blouse
• Blue Academy jumper
• Black shoes (no trainers or plimsolls/canvass shoes or boots)
• Plain white, black or blue socks (no cartoons/patterns)
• Plain tights - black
• Plain black outdoor coat (no logos, denim, ‘hoody’s) or Academy coat and logo
• Headscarves worn for religious reasons should be plain black or white

PE kit should also be in line with academy rules which are that only the t-shirts and tracksuit bottoms sold at Whitehall Clothiers are our agreed academy PE kit.  Please remember that students will not be allowed into lessons if they are not correctly dressed with regard to the above bullet points.

New reports

The reports we send home each half-term will look somewhat different from September. We are going to feedback to you on how well your daughter is doing with literacy, numeracy and oracy in all her lessons and also we are going to report to you on four key characteristics of a good learner, namely whether your daughter is learning to be:

1)      Studious

2)      Team player

3)      Articulate

4)      Resilient

There is a brief description of what each of these words/concepts means on the report.  We believe that these are key qualities of strong learners and we hope that you find this helpful.

Assessment reform

Over the coming years, new GCSEs are going to be introduced.  The first students to do these will be those starting Year 9 this year for Maths and English and those starting Year 8 for all other subjects.

We expect GCSEs to get a bit more difficult than they currently are, many will have controlled assessments or coursework abolished and they will have a new grading system based on a 1-9 score, rather than A*-G.

As this is all very new, nationally we are not fully clear on what these will be like or what kind of score a student will need to get to gain each of the new grades; however, the Harris Federation collectively is working very hard to learn all we can and to implement change in good time so that your children are well prepared for these new exams.

You will see that some of the targets we set and the grades we send home will change during the year as we learn more about the new assessment system.  The old national curriculum levels have been abolished nationally from September 2014 so everything is changing!

We will do our very best to keep you informed about changes and give you the chance to ask any questions you may have or to hear more from us on these matters.  They are incredibly important issues and we understand that you may well be anxious about how these will impact upon your daughter’s exam success in the coming years.

It is possible that the October report we send home will not have familiar levels if your daughter is below Year 10 in September – we plan to move to percentages at this stage.  We will give you more detail about this in the autumn term.

Term starts on…..

• Wednesday 3^rd September for years 7 and 12
• Thursday 4^th September for years 8, 9, 10, 11 and 13 (Year 11s now have a six period day on Mondays and Thursdays finishing at 4:05pm as set out in our previous letter to parents)

I do hope that this information has been useful to you.  It has been a really busy and exciting term for us – please do take the time to look at our website at www.harrisdulwichgirls.org.uk to see some of the things that our students have been doing over recent months!

I wish you a very happy, safe and healthy summer holiday with your family and look forward to working with you in the coming year.

Yours Sincerely

Jane Fletcher

Principal