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Understandably GPs may suggest the school counselling service, but we are no substitute for the multidisciplinary approach of CAMHS. So we would recommend that any young person who is at risk of harm or who has harmed, is experiencing eating difficulties or is in need of a diagnosis, that they contact their GP for a referral to CAMHS.

In addition, we may suggest other wellbeing services in school such as At The Bus Service, the School Nurse or the support that is offered by the Special Educational Needs Department in school. Or external services like the Safe Project, Aquarius, Autism Oxford or See Saw.

Updates

Please do keep an eye on Ms. Magenty’s Wellbeing Newsletters to hear about how we are working collaboratively to respond to the mental health needs of the students as we come out of the pandemic, and through our partnerships with local GP services, charity led and statutory services.

STAFF NEWS

In an incredibly busy term, we'd like to pay tribute to all our staff and particularly those who are training with us, our Early Career teachers and those in our teams who are supporting them. This year so far we have supported 23 people to take their first steps into teaching.

If you would like to find out more about training to teach with Cherwell and the SCITT (school centred initial teacher training) programme, open link here https://oxfordshireteachertraining.co.uk/ programmes/

Cover Teachers

These amazing staff are the teachers that cover lessons when the class's regular teachers are away. They consistently work to ensure that students experience as much continuity as possible in their learning and we want to pay particular tribute to the work they have done as a team this term.

Mental Health First Aiders

Fourteen more staff have trained this term to become Youth Mental Health First Aiders, bringing our current staff total to nearly 100. These are people who are all committed to supporting the young people in our school by listening, signposting and encouraging take up of further support using the ALGEE framework.

By Mrs Parish AHT - Staff Wellbeing

GEOGRAPHY DEPT UPDATE

By Mr Littlewood

This term in the Geography Department we have been focussing on embedding two different things into our lessons: Guided Reading and Virtual Fieldwork. These two different strategies are having a really enriching effect on our curriculum, and enabling many more students to really get the most out of their lessons and become better 'geographers' at the same time.

Guided Reading is a process by which an article is read in a very specific way in class, with the teacher acting as the reader. They share the key vocabulary with the class in advance, and then give a clear explanation of what the article is about. The students then follow along as the teacher reads, and in some cases highlight or underline relevant information for the task that will follow. There is also a visual aid for students for each part of the article to help them to access the content. Students then use the knowledge in some extended writing or comprehension questions to demonstrate their understanding of the topic. Using this technique, students in Year 7 have learnt about how physical and human features of Africa influence each other, while Year 8 have learnt about the impact of migrant workers on the population structure of Qatar in the build up to the World Cup. Year 9 students have explored the different types of volcanic eruptions and what impacts they have on contrasting places in Hawaii and Guatemala.

Virtual Fieldwork allows the students (and the staff!) to practice real world geographical research and techniques in places that we would never normally be able to visit. The students have been introduced to environmental quality surveys, participant observation and land use surveys, and have got the chance to immerse themselves in different environments via the internet and virtual reality, while taking geographical measurements and then analysing the results and evaluating the techniques. As well as enhancing geographical understanding, these experiences also prepare the students for their fieldwork projects that they will do at Key Stage 4 and 5. Year 7 students have visited two contrasting areas of Nairobi in Kenya, to compare inequality, while Year 9 students have got the chance to walk through lava tubes and the erupting volcano of Kilauea in Hawaii.

If any parents or carers have any geographical experiences which they would be keen to share with the students, from photos to videos, to written or verbal experiences, please do not hesitate to get in touch as we would love to hear from you. Email is best - rlittlewood@cherwellschool.org

Happy Easter to all

Mr Littlewood, Head of Geography

HISTORY DEPT UPDATE

By Mr Hibbert

EXPLORING THE SILK ROADS IN YEAR 7

Year 7 students have been exploring an exciting new unit of work focussing on the Silk Roads this term. The unit was inspired by Peter Frankopan's superb book The Silk Roads (also available in an excellent young person's edition). The unit seeks to broaden their picture of the past as well as taking a more global approach to ancient and medieval history. The students have learnt about the spread of Islam, Alexander the Great and Genghis Khan and the Mongols! The unit finishes with an exploration of how Baghdad became a centre of learning and knowledge. Feedback from both students and teachers has been extremely positive and we are keen to continue to develop the unit in the future.

Mr Hibbert Head of Humanities

SOCIAL WELLBEING DROP DOWN DAYS

By Miss Dorn

In January 2022 we launched a new and exciting approach to our Social Wellbeing Drop Down days, involving the wider staff body. We wanted to ensure that students across Year 9, 10 and 11 who had missed some wellbeing days as a result of covid were receiving high quality education on some of the most pressing issues and so have been running Drop Down days for these three year groups covering the following topics

These resources have been put together by the Social Wellbeing Subject Leader and RS/PSHCE and Social Sciences Faculty Leader, drawing on their extensive experience in this area and also recent research and up-to-date guidance on effective PSHE teaching. We know that students are more likely to stay safe when they are informed and have a safe space in which to explore these issues and the complexities around them. We are also encouraging our students to think deeply about these issues whilst also developing a broader vocabulary to help them articulate themselves effectively too. Like all lessons, students are provided with models and scaffolding to help them access and engage with this work.

We are really excited to have now developed an extended Social Wellbeing teaching team, including members of staff from across all departments in the school, including members of SLT. These staff are co-delivering these sessions alongside teachers from the RS/PSHCE and Social Sciences faculty. Members of this team have attended training and received materials to ensure that we are providing students with the highest quality learning opportunities. This is building up a brilliant culture where at a whole school level, we are recognising the importance of this subject for young people both now and in their futures. Parents and carers have also had access to these materials and we hope this may support them in any dialogues they may have at home. Students have been provided with comprehensive handouts and specific signposted sources of support so they know where they can get further information. Student behaviour and engagement in these sessions has been exemplary and demonstrates a maturity to sensitive but highly important topic areas. Many students have shown gratitude for these lessons and are able to recognise and cite some of the key take away messages.

1) Peer on Peer Abuse and Sexual Harassment 2) Pornography Literacy 3) Safer Sex 4) Managing Risk - Drugs and Alcohol 5) Healthy Relationships

“I really liked the scenarios in the peer-onpeer abuse lesson because they made me think about how someone would feel if this was happening to them and what they or their friends could do about it. Also, it can happen to anyone so we need to look out for each other” (Year 9) “The pornography literacy lesson made me realise how people do actually change their behaviour in real life based on what they watch. I think it was good when we saw that clip of someone talking about their experience of it as people need to know this.” (Year 10)

“I found the safer sex lesson so helpful because it gave useful videos and links to places where we can get information, like Brook. For example, I didn't know anything about the CCard before and now I do.” (Year 11)

NEWS FROM OUR CAREERS DEPT

By Mr Davis & Mrs Dale

National Careers Week - 7 to 11 March 2022

We invited all students to pause and think about Careers they are aiming for during that week. Each year group received an assembly themed around Oxfordshire Labour Market information (LMI). We also wanted to get Careers in the Curriculum too, so we invited teachers to join us and play small video clips at the start of their lesson which explained what jobs are linked to their subjects.

We invite you to watch the Oxford LMI video clip as we believe you will be amazed about how brilliant Oxfordshire and the amazing companies we have here in our county. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5FcJAfeXWc or type into you tube ‘Your Fabulous Future in Oxfordshire’

Year 7 and 8 STEM Event

The Year 7 and 8 students had a brilliant time with the STEM roadshow 2022. This event has become an annual event which Cherwell has now hosted for the previous three years. This year the STEM event showcased 'magnetism' with engaging and inspiring demonstrations from the RAF and Royal Navy speakers.

The hall was filled with excited students who were highly engaged throughout the interactive presentation.

Thank you to the Year 7 and 8 students who were fantastic throughout the event!

Careers page on school website

Our Careers Page on The Cherwell School has changed https://www.cherwell.oxon.sch.uk/1739/ careers The diagram (you might need to click the link to get it enlarged) shows our Futures Programme which has a range of Career events, activities and some of these involve employers ‘employer engagement’. Again we invite you to look at this new programme.

Visit from Oxford Direct Services

Oxford Direct Services will be coming into school on Thursday 7th April. They plan to talk to Year 11, 12 and 13 students who are interested in an apprenticeship with them. They are offering 12 apprenticeships. It is hoped that some of our students will be lucky to get an apprenticeship with this fantastic local employer.