Parents and Carers will know that one of our current school priorities is reading. We believe strongly that the more children can read widely and fluently the more opportunities open up. Our two-week Festival of Reading at the start of this term was our biggest and most successful yet and you can read about the rich and varied experiences on pages 22-24. We continue to think deeply about the curriculum we offer our students. Just a reminder that you can always stay fully informed of what your children are studying in class by using the curriculum tab on the website https://www.cherwell.oxon.sch.uk/416/curriculum-overview. The KS3 booklets provide a very detailed insight into how the learning for students is shaped. We have been focussed since Christmas on helping our younger students in particular to fully understand how they know and remember more in their subjects. This idea (we like the acronym KARM) is explained here so do please take a look. https://www.cherwell.oxon.sch.uk/1905/learning-1
It has been wonderful over the past few weeks for our students to begin to use our new 3G football pitch. It really is a stunning addition and, as you will see from the comments on pages 54-55, it is already making a significant difference to the experiences of children in school. We are looking forward to the whole community benefitting from this new resource as we move into the Summer months. I wanted to pay a particular tribute to those students in Year 11 and Year 13 who will be spending some of the Easter holidays deep in preparation for their final GCSE and A Level exams. We know that they are working exceptionally hard and have coped incredibly well with the challenges throughout their courses over the past two years. Matt Barnard, our Lead counsellor offers some brilliant wide- ranging advice on pages 4-9, much of which I think is particularly relevant for all of us supporting children in their final revision over the next couple of months (I have a son in Year 13 and a daughter in Year 11 so I do understand the challenges at first hand!). As we are supporting the children through the emotional ups and downs of revision please do note the superb revision advice materials that can be found here https://www.cherwell.oxon.sch.uk/426/revision-information as well as Mr Hilton’s video which offers a clear summary of how examinations have been adapted for this current group. Do have a wonderful break
Chris Price Headteacher April 2022
MESSAGE FROM THE JUNIOR LEADERSHIP TEAM (JLT) JLT is the Junior Leadership team and we meet fortnightly with Mr Price, Headteacher. JLT is comprised of students from Year 7 through to 13. Because of the wide range of different ages it enables us to tackle a large selection of topics and issues that arise. We run for a whole calendar year to increase our maximum impact, and this year we have been having a focus on:
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Site improvements for both North Site and South Site. For example, the catering company changed just after Christmas and whilst they are still adjusting, they have been quick to act on our suggestions and improvements.
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An important topic that we have also been focusing on is how to change our curriculum, to include a wider selection of literature and a larger range of voices in history.
We want to make sure that everyone has their voices heard and that we act upon the changes that the school community wants, so if you have any suggestion, find someone in your year that is in JLT and let them know.
© The Cherwell School , Opportunity, Responsibility, Excellence SPRING NEWSLETTER 2022 Page 3
