Newsletter 54

INA Secondary Newsletter

Bedfordshire University Trip P. 7

15 January 2016

Dear Parents and Carers

I

t was great to see some of you last night at the Growth Mindset Workshop.

At the session we talked about what the difference between a fixed mindset and a growth mindset is, and how at INA we believe that by supporting students to have a growth mindset we can help them to become stronger learners and to develop their brain power. The parents who attended said that they had learnt a lot about how they can assist in this process at home, in the language they use and feedback they give their child and in supporting him or her to practice, work hard and not be afraid of making mistakes.

You might like to visit the website mindsetkits.org which has some really useful activities, hints and tips for parents. If you are interested in joining a parents’ group to develop this work further, please contact me!

This week our staff have provided some fantastic super-curricular opportunities for the students, involving visiting speakers and trips out, which you can read about in the pages of the newsletter. By super-curriculum we mean activities that allow the learners to pursue their passion and to get the in-depth understanding of a discipline that universities are looking for in applicants. I am extremely grateful, as I know you are, to all the staff who support us in pursuing our mission of preparing the students for life at university and beyond.

And talking of preparing for the next steps in education, if you are a parent of a Year 10 student, please ensure that you attend our Key Stage 5 information and consultation evening next Thursday, 21st January, to be involved in the process of designing our INA sixth form!

With best wishes,

RP

achel Macfarlane, rincipal

2  INA Newsletter

Introductions from New Staff This week three new colleagues who have recently joined INA introduce themselves, Ms Ali, Ms Kristiansen and Ms Patel: Mahjabeen Jalil (Learning Assistant) I am delighted to be joining the team at Isaac Newton Academy as a Learning Assistant. I have previously worked at INA as an Exam Invigilator and was eager to return to this outstanding school!

I grew up in the bustling City of London and soon my family wanted to settle in a calm and less hectic neighbourhood; hence we moved to Essex/Redbridge.

This year I have successfully graduated by achieving a BSc (Hons) in Biomedical Science. Studying Biomedical Science has enabled me to respect Science complexity. Science as a subject is stimulating and challenging and has given me the desire to understand it further.

From experience, there is nothing more rewarding than the excitement on students’ faces when they truly understand a new concept I believe that teaching makes a lasting contribution to a young person. This is one of the many reasons which motivated me to work with young people as it is the age group that I want to inspire and encourage.

I feel privileged to be accepted to work at such a remarkable educational institution and to be a part of INA’s continuing development.

I look forward to working with the students as well as staff and hope to have many exciting endeavours ahead!

Jannika Kristiansen (Learning Assistant) It is my absolute pleasure to become a permanent member of the INA community. From day one, I have been blown-away by the warm-welcome, hard-work and principles seen throughout the school.

A little bit about me…

Although originally from Norway, I grew up in the north east of England and spent most of my summer holidays in Denmark. Here I was able to learn more about my family’s heritage and the Danish culture.

This constant mix of diversity has always inspired me to want to work and live in many different places. After graduating from university, I worked in a number of roles but eventually was able to work and travel when I gained a TEFL (Teaching English as Foreign Language) qualification and spent a year teaching English to students in Tangshan, China.

During my time in China, I fully immersed myself in the Chinese lifestyle and culture and feel that it has had a huge impact on the way I see everything today. Since returning, I have moved to London and found a role and environment which I am very comfortable with and enjoy on a daily basis. With no two days the same, my role as an SEN Learning Assistant has been and will continue to be a truly rewarding experience.

Anu Patel (Receptionist) I feel very privileged to be accepted as part of the team at Isaac Newton Academy and thank the staff for such a warm welcome. I look forward to the challenge of starting a new career, working as School Administrator/ Receptionist.

I have spent most of my childhood growing up in Chadwell Heath. My time at school was a fun and memorable experience. I feel that everybody should receive the gift of education and be given an inspirational and life-enhancing experience that encourages them to explore themselves as individuals.

I am keen to explore this new career opportunity, where I can be part of a team that provides a supportive atmosphere to their staff and students, building strong working relationships.

During my academic years, life had thrown me a few obstacles, which made it very hard for me to continue with my studies and complete my degree in law. Therefore, I built my career in Retail Management, working for WH Smith for many years allowing me to bring many transferable skills and experience to this role.

I am a great believer in 'improving life chances', which is why I adopted the attitude to never give up and to make the most of the opportunities that are available.

I have a great interest in creative work and spend some of my time, creating different arts and crafts and applying henna for friends and family. I have also used this talent in the past for fundraising and have taken part in private exhibitions.

“Children and young people are our future. Investing our time in tomorrow, inspiring the next generation (in or out of school), supporting their emotional and physical wellbeing, helping them overcome challenges, looking after their rights, and enabling them to develop into successful and fulfilled adults.”

I am proud to be part of such an excellent institution which invests their time and efforts in its students and staff. I can assure you that I will try my very best to live up to INA’s great reputation and support its community.

INA Newsletter 3

Debtors At Isaac Newton we aim to enrich the lives and experiences of our students, and to inspire them, by providing a wide range of learning opportunities both inside and outside of the classroom. Such enrichment activities might include extra-curricular clubs, sports events and fixtures, cultural visits, music and theatre performances, adventure activities, educational conferences, and subject-related educational visits and competitions. A number of these are free of charge, some are fully chargeable and some require voluntary contributions from families. Some activities may not go ahead if insufficient contributions are received.

We also believe that we have a role to play in educating students in healthy eating to support learning and ensuring a balanced diet. We therefore operate a family dining service whereby school meals are compulsory and parents are charged for meals automatically unless their child is not in school or we have been notified that they are fasting.

As you are aware, all schools are facing significant budget cuts. In order to successfully continue the fantastic enrichment opportunities and family dining service, it is really important that families pay for their child’s school meals, chargeable activities and contributions to enrichment activities on time in order to avoid debts building up and unnecessary staff time taken in chasing those debts.

We have, unfortunately, experienced a small number of parents/carers who continuously fail to make payments despite being chased on a number of occasions. We are, therefore, about to take our first family to the small claims court in order to recover the monies owed. This is not something that the Academy wants to do but we are unable to continue to allow such debts to accumulate. It is also unfair to families who pay in a timely manner for school meals and activities who are effectively subsidising those who don’t.

We would ask, therefore, that parents/carers ensure that their child’s wisepay account is regularly topped up to pay for their school meal charged at £2.10 daily (unless entitled to free school meals) and any breakfast or breaktime snacks. We would also ask that parents/carers pay for other activities in a timely manner in order to avoid the activity not going ahead at all and unnecessary staff time chasing payments which could otherwise be used on teaching and learning activities.

Thank you for your continued support.

This year the Year 9 students will begin to study the first modules of their AQA Science GCSE course.

In order to assess their learning of all the key stage 3 material they have learned since year 7 the year 9 students will be sitting two 1 hour exam papers on Wednesday the 20th of January.

The results of these exam papers will form the basis of their Spring 1 report level.

This means year 9 students will miss their usual lessons for periods 1 and 2 and will resume their normal timetable from period 3. Since they will have to store their bags in their lockers during the exam they will need to ensure that any bags or coats they bring will fit in their lockers. These should be placed in their lockers before registration.

The only equipment they will need for the exam will be two black pens, a sharp pencil, a 30cm ruler and a calculator.

Thanks you for you continued support of our students learning.

Mr A Clift-­‐Matthews Head of Science

4 INA Newsletter

Ronnie Scott's

W

e are very excited to announce that this Sunday students from INA’s House Band will be performing at world-renowned jazz venue Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club in central London – a stage which has hosted musicians such as Nina Simone and Miles Davis. They will be supporting the Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Orchestra and will also participate in a masterclass led by the band leader and will watch the Jazz Orchestra rehearse. The band is playing two tunes – Splanky (an old Jazz swing tune) and Ain’t Nobody (made popular by Chaka Khan and Felix Jaehn).

The students have put in a huge amount of work this and last term in preparation for the gig.

We’ll let you know how they get on - good luck everyone!

Oxford University Our trip to Oxford University was very eventful. This was the Oxbridge Maths girls’ conference, aimed at girls aged between 14-16.

A selection of year 9 and 10 girls was chosen based on their mathematics attainment. We attended many lectures about topics such as; prime numbers, statistics and significant figures.

All lectures were taken by professors teaching at Oxford or Cambridge University. There were two interactive sessions, one was on the formations of graphs and the other was on problem solving questions. From this conference I have learnt there are many different areas of maths and complexity of mathematical problems and thinking. I have taken a lot from this experience and now have more of an insight into Maths as a profession or as an option at higher education level.

Amber Khandwalla (9T) INA Newsletter 5

SPORTS SHIRT DAY!!!!!! IS ND ON FRIDAY 22 JANUARY IT IS A DAY WHERE AS PART OF A NON-­‐UNIFORM DAY YOU ARE ENCOURAGED TO WEAR YOUR FAVOURITE TEAMS SHIRT, OR THEIR COLOURS.

PLEASE ENSURE YOU FOLLOW THE BELOW EXPECTATIONS: • YOU MUST BRING IN £1 ON TUESDAY 19TH JANUARY TO YOUR FORM TUTOR • NO JEWELLERY • NO HIGH HEELS • NO MAKE UP • NO REVEALING CLOTHING 6 INA Newsletter

Update: Year 8

Y

ear 8 had an interesting and enjoyable day at the University of Bedfordshire’s Luton Campus, getting a feel for what university life is like.

Students were engaged throughout the days and asked really good question, making most of this fantastic opportunity.

The Lead Outreach Worker at the University emailed after the visit to say:

“Your students have been a great pleasure to host and my colleagues and I were impressed with their behaviour and ideas.”

Students heard about many aspects of university study including: university applications, the range of courses and subjects on offer; the variety in university students; and, what a weekly study timetable might look like.

STEM team challenge

Throughout the day, the importance of developing BRIDGES dispositions, particularly independence, organisation and curiosity, for successful study at university-level was very clear as students balance their academic studies, extracurricular and super-curricular activities, along with work, travel and volunteering.

Session on what a 'typical' university student looks like

Exploring the library as part of our tour

Activities during the day include a quiz about higher education, a session about what a ‘typical’ university student looks like, a STEM team challenge, a tour of the campus and lots of questions and answers.

All the teachers attending enjoyed the day and were proud of our Year 8 cohort as ambassadors for INA and look forward to offering further higher education experiences. As part of supporting this event and future opportunities, please make a £5 contribution towards the trip if you haven’t already, either on WisePay or hand in to Reception. This goes towards the travel and other costs associated with organising fantastic trips and experiences like this one.

We hope this trip has encouraged our students to look ahead and start thinking about their future pathways.

Eva McEvoy INA Newsletter 7

PE AT ISAAC NEWTON ACAD Redbridge BOCCIA Championships: INA Year 8 team returned to this tournament as reigning champions who, alongside practising themselves, had trained a Year 7 team to compete for the title they wanted to defend.

With the tournament being twice the size as it was last year, INA knew they would have to be extremely focused to come away victorious. The Year 8 team started very strongly, only losing one game in the group stages; however the Year 7 team, after losing their first game, went on a winning streak and defeated the team that the Year 8 had lost to and came very close to beating the Year 8 team! Unfortunately isn’t wasn’t to be, and the Year 8 team lost in the semi-finals. However both teams showed great character and all the other teams were Year 10 or above, so had years of experience over us. Stand out performers were Keshan Beckett- Edwards and Matthew Afsar.

News & Results

Mohammad lost out. This meant that result came down to points won! INA took the victory by 3 points! Well done boys!

It was a very tight game with INA being 6-2 down in the first quarter. The students had to show incredible perseverance to lift their heads up and be determined to battle for every point. Wanstead were a very strong team but were no match when INA Year 7’s started working hard for each other. INA finished the game victorious: 12-8. The stand out performance was from Jack Lavin who gave 100% whilst both attacking and defending.

Well done and thank you to all who participated. Thank you also to year 10 officials and organisers who did a fantastic job to help the tournament run smoothly.

Year 7 Basketball vs Wanstead

KS3 Redbridge Badminton Championships INA hosted the KS3 and KS4 Redbridge Badminton Championships last week. The school entered 2 teams in the KS4 Championships and 3 in the KS3. The 2 KS4 teams put up a spirited fight, showing great determination. Although the A team finished 2nd in their group, neither team made it through to the knockout phase semi-finals. In the KS3 tournament, the school faired very well. The B and C teams showed great perseverance and came up against very tough opposition in Ilford County. Despite a great effort, they did not make it through to the semi-finals. However the A team, made up of Akhil Pillai, Esher Bahara, Ekonkar Deerhe and Mohammad Kothia, won all of their group games and advanced to the semi-finals. In a tough semi-final against Chadwell, they managed to come through victorious, setting up a final against the winners of the KS4 tournament, Ilford County. The final was a very close affair; it saw Akhil and Esher win their games (neither lost a match in the whole tournament), however despite close games Ekonkar and

8 INA Newsletter

Girls Can! This is a brand new initiative for Isaac Newton Academy, aiming to raise participation levels of females in sport.

This will run every Tuesday at the start of lunch and we will have special guest teachers from around the school each week to help raise awareness, acting as positive role models. There will be a different sport each week.

Come and try something different with your friends

Friends of INA (FIONA) A massive thank you to all of the members of FOINA for their donation towards the PE department’s Athletics lessons at the Cricklefields stadium; this will make a huge difference to our Athletics lessons and the experience the students will have throughout the unit.

Sports Shirt Day Friday 22nd January is Isaac Newton Academy sports shirt day. As part of the non-uniform day, students are encouraged to wear their sports team’s jersey or just colours of their team. All students must contribute £1 to be able to wear their own clothes/team colours This contribution will be collected on Tuesday 19th January.

DEMY Upcoming fixtures 18th January • Year 9 Netball vs Forest Academy (Away) 19th January • Year 8 Redbridge winners to play first round of London Youth Games against Barking and Dagenham winners All Saints School (Away) 21st January • Year 9 Basketball vs King Solomon (Home) • Year 10 Basketball vs King Solomon (Away) 22nd January • Sport Shirt day

PE department extra-curricular and enrichment clubs

After school

Lunch time

DAY

CLUB

TEACHER

VENUE

Mon

Handball

DB

Sports Hall

Netball

EH

MUGA

Table Tennis

GW

Activity Studio

Tues

Judo Club

External

Sports Hall

Wed

Yr 9 S+C

BH

Sports Hall

Rugby Club

OT

Wed

Yr 10 Football

AT

Knox Field/ MUGA MUGA

Table Tennis

BW

Activity Studio

Thur

Thur

Fri

Yr 8 Basketball JL

Sports Hall

Seated MB Volleyball Football/ TB Cricket Yr 7 Badminton club External

Activity Studio

Girls’ Sports club Bike Club

AN

MUGA

EC, DH, BB

MUGA

Football/ Cricket Yr8

AG

Knox Field

MUGA Sports Hall

Day

1st Lunch (Year 10)

Mon

Badminton Boys and Girls

Tues

Fri

Basketball club Boys and Girls

2nd Lunch (year 7,8 &9) Badminton (Year 7, 8 & 9) Boys and Girls Girls Can! (Year 7,8 & 9 Girls) Basketball (Year 8 & 9) Boys & Girls Handball (Year 7, 8 & 9) Boys and Girls Basketball (Year 7) Girls and Boys

Improve your skills! Try something new!

Keep fit! Make new friends! Unleash your energy! Increase your chances of getting into a team!

INA Newsletter 9

Well done to the following students who are this week’s Mathematicians of the Moment. Please collect a merit from Mr Dukes

This week’s Mathematicians of the Moment Cimraan Gaal (7N)

Cherice Chana (9T)

Neha Duggal (7C)

Tasneem Akhtar (9A)

Ranjit Singh (7N)

Tahmid Uddin (9T)

Here are the scores to begin the spring term.

7I

100

8I

7S

30

8S

90

9S

7A

110

8A

280

9A

7C

30

8C

30

9C

7N

280

8N

100

9N

860

7E

80

8E

10

9E

190

7W

150

8W

9W

540

8T

9T

990

7T 10 INA Newsletter

9I 770

The Mathematics department would like to encourage all students to enter next week’s Mathematician of the Moment competition. Have a look at the problem below.

Answers to be written on a Maths postcard to be placed in the Maths post box no later than 4.10pm on Wednesday 14th January. Good luck and may the best form win!!!

YEAR 7 - PROBLEM OF THE WEEK Monday 18th January to Thursday 28th January

There are a total of 96 children in Years 4, 5 and 6 37 of these children cannot swim.

11 children in Year 4 cannot swim.

21 children in Year 5 can swim.

There are 30 children in Year 6 18 of these 30 children can swim.

Work out the number of children in Year 4 who can swim.

Answers on a postcard to be handed to Mr Dukes (G42) by Thursday 4.10pm latest!

YEAR 8 - PROBLEM OF THE WEEK Monday 18th January to Thursday 28th January

Eleven plus two Rearrange the letters in the expression above to make another expression with the same value.

Answers on a postcard to be handed to Mr Dukes (G42) by Thursday 4.10pm latest!

YEAR 9 - PROBLEM OF THE WEEK Monday 18th January to Thursday 28th January

Make this sum correct by adding one straight line

5

+

5

+

5 = 550

Hint: The answer is not 5 + 5 + 5 ≠ 550 Answers on a postcard to be handed to Mr Dukes (G42) by Thursday 4.10pm latest!

INA Newsletter 11

Praise & Recognition

Merits - a change has been made!

Year 7 S T W I A N C E

53 44 42 40 34 33 0 0

Year 8 I E N W S C A T

70 83 83 70 38 35 30 0

Year 9 T W I C N E S A

53 21 7 0 0 0 0 0

Year 10 N W A C I E S T

76 52 0 0 0 0 0 0

Ahmed Al-Khafaji Award (Peer Commendation Award) Ahmed was well known for being kind, for helping others and for being extremely polite. He was also someone known for his hard work and absorption; the idea, therefore, is that the winner should be someone that encapsulated one of these qualities in that week.

Year 7: Anisha Ahmed - 7N Year 8: Arslan Dar - 8N Year 9: Fariha Choudhury 9T Year 10: Jay Gohil – 10S Good Deed Feed Ms Rudd: Sajid Sultan in 7C was kind enough to clear up a plate full of food that another student left behind them in the dining hall this week.

9 Duffy have made huge progress in their attitude to learning in English this week, working really well together in order to make progress and earn points!

Ms Stylianou: Amrit and Gyane in Year 9 did a great job when they offered to help to pack away the Shabbat items in RE. Ms Walsh: Mustafa in Year 10 was very helpful setting up art resources during lunch.

Ms Clarke: Gyane worked diligently in Science. He did not speak to his peers and was focussed on his own learning. Wonderful to see. I praised him for his attitude to learning.

12  INA Newsletter

Jennifer Byrne Year 9 Pastoral Leader, i/c Praise and Recognition

Dr. Sarah Hutton Visit We were delighted to welcome Dr. Sarah Hutton (Outreach Co-ordinator and Ogden Science Officer, Department of Physics & Astronomy, University College London) to INA on Tuesday 12th January. In her speech to all of Year 10, Dr. Hutton spoke about how she decided she wanted to study astronomy at the age of 11 during her visit to Kennedy Space Centre in USA. During her PhD in Astrophysics at Durham University she found a real passion for sharing and communicating science with local primary and secondary schools. She was not only excited, knowledgeable and enthusiastic about her subject, she was fun and interesting to talk to.

Here is some feedback from our students: “I really enjoyed listening to the physics talk. It was very interesting learning about black holes and stars.

It gave us an insight to astronomy and solved some of the unanswered questions. I remember that nothing comes out of black holes as you have to be travelling faster than the speed of light which breaks the law of gravity.”

“It was fun and helped us to learn about higher education in physics and astronomy.”

“The physics talk was very interesting and taught me new things about astronomy and insight into job opportunities. “ “It was very interesting .It was also informative and provided a good insight into higher education in physics.”

“The talk was great as speaker talked about career options with physics. She had enthusiasm in her voice.”

“I thought it was really interesting because I gained not only more knowledge, but also personal experience of astronomers life and career options that they have.”

“I really enjoyed the physics talk. I found it very factual and interesting as well as inspiring.”

“I liked it. I think it definitely encouraged girls to take up physics as a subject at university.”

Save the date!

Thursday 21st January 6pm-7pm INA 6th form meeting. All Y10 students, parents and carers are warmly welcomed to find out more about our planning for the 6th form.

More details to follow in next weeks newsletter.

INA Newsletter 13

BRIDGES Mentoring Wednesday 20th January The first BRIDGES mentoring session takes place on Wednesday 20th January from 1:45-4:00pm for KS3 students and 1:45-4:15pm for KS4 students. All students will be given a fifteen minute 1:1 coaching session with their BRIDGES mentor.

This is an important opportunity for KS3 students to reflect on how they have developed or strengthened their BRIDGES dispositions, to discuss the dispositions they consider to be their strengths and the ones they need to work on further.

Year 10 students will be engaging in a mock interview focusing on their preparedness for GCSEs and work experience and how they are further strengthening their BRIDGES dispositions to achieve success in both.

Arrangements All students will complete lessons p1 – 4 (Y10 students will complete lesson 4 as per KS3 timings). Students will leave school at 1.10pm.

Students who are eligible for Free School Meals who request lunch in advance (via form tutors) can collect a lunch bag from the student reception as they leave.

Students are expected to go directly home and return between 1.45-4.15pm for a fifteen minute 1:1 coaching session with their BRIDGES mentor. Appointment times will be issued to students at the start of next week. Students must attend their session on time. KS3 students must wear full school uniform. KS4 students may wear either school uniform or professional work wear.

We are unable to supervise other students as all staff are BRIDGES mentors and will be engaged in mentoring session throughout the afternoon.

Parents are not required at the sessions but will be given feedback on how their son or daughter’s BRIDGES skills are progressing later in the year.

Please note that enrichment will be cancelled on this day.

Jo Spencer Vice Principal

Year 9 Progress meetings

Y9 Progress meeting are calendared for Wednesday 27th January 2016 from 2:30-6:30 All students will complete lessons p1 – 4a (Y10 students will complete lesson 4a as per KS3 timings) P4a will finish for all students at 1:05 Students will return to tutor groups from 1:05-1:15 Students who are eligible for Free School Meals who request lunch in advance (via form tutors) can collect a lunch bag from the KS3 desk area as they leave Tutors will escort students to the KS3 gate at 1:15 where students are expected to go directly home and return between 2:30-6:30 with parents Students are expected to attend with an adult family member in full school uniform The progress meeting will take place in the KS3 Hall The last appointment is 6:25 for a 6:30 finish If you have any questions please contact Mr Crowther-Green 02089116666

Years 7, 8 and 10 Students will receive independent learning from their timetabled lessons for p5 and 6 14 INA Newsletter

KS5 Consulta-on Evening for all Year 10 students and their parents and carers January 2016 Thursday 21st

6pm-­‐7pm

We would like to discuss our plans for the 6th form and take ideas and feedback from students, parents and carers.

Please note Y10 students do not need to wear uniform to this event.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Should you have any quesHons about the event please contact Ms Alibhai-­‐Watson

ATTENDANCE

Regular attendance is a crucial factor in students’ educational development and ability to achieve their full potential.

7N

98.9

8W

98.6

9W

100

10N

100

7W

98.8

8A

98.4

9T

97.5

10E

98.3

7E

96.6

8N

97.9

9S

97.3

10I

97.6

7T

95.5

8S

97.5

9E

96.3

10S

96.9

7C

94.6

8T

96.7

9N

96.1

10C

95.5

93.5

9C

95.5

10T

95.5

90.3

9A

91.6

10A

93.8

83.3

9I

91.5

10W

93.5

At Isaac Newton 7S 94.6 8I Academy every student is set the 7A 91.7 8C target of 100% 87.8 8E attendance. We know 7I that attendance has a direct link to progress, and would urge you to really consider if a day off school is necessary.

Year 9 Well done to 10N and 9W for meeting their 100% target!.

Year 10 96.4% 95.8% Year 7 94.8%

Well done to Year 10 for winning the year group competition last week

Ms. Abbott-Jones Lead Pastoral Leader INA Newsletter 15

INA BRIDGES

16 INA Newsletter

Reflectiveness

INA Newsletter 17

BRIDGES How we build learning power and develop character at Isaac Newton Academy “We build too many walls and not enough bridges.” Isaac Newton The secondary BRIDGES programme commences on Monday 14th September. BRIDGES are habits of mind or learning characteristics that develop a student's character and learning power and enable them to grow into well rounded individuals and resilient learners.

On a two weekly cycle throughout the year, Year 7 and 8 students are introduced to one or two new habits of mind or learning characteristics that will permeate throughout the curriculum.

This will take place through a range of interactive activities. In addition, the students will experience BRIDGES learning objectives in each and every lesson throughout Isaac Newton Academy. Year 9 BRIDGES lessons will focus on strengthening certain BRIDGES learning characteristics through exploration of PHSE topics and themes.

Each fortnight you will find top tips in the newsletter of ways of supporting your child to develop the BRIDGES habits of mind and learning characteristics within the home.

18 INA Newsletter

Key Dates for the Spring Term 2015: Secondary Spring Term Monday 4th January - Thursday 24th March Half Term 15th - 19th February INSET days: Monday 4th January and Friday 12th February Sunday 17th January House Band performing at Ronnie Scott’s Wednesday 20th January Year 9 Science Exam Wednesday 20th January BRIDGES mentoring. No pm lessons for any year group Thursday 21st January KS5 Consultation Evening for all Year 10 students and their parents Friday 22nd January Sport Shirts Day Friday 22nd January Creative Writing Evening Wednesday 27th January Year 9 Progress Meetings (2.30 -6.30pm). Years 7, 8 & 10 studying at home in the afternoon Friday 29th January Year 8 Maths Challenge Saturday 30th January Medicine Saturday Stretch: Cambridge University Monday 1st February P6: Year 7 Spelling Bee Wednesday 3rd February P5: (IASC) and P6 (NEWT) Year 8 Spelling Bee Friday 4th March P6: Year 9 Spelling Bee Monday 8th February Future Engineers Workshop Tuesday 9th February Year 8 Progress Meetings (2.30 -6.30pm). Years 7, 9 & 10 studying at home in the afternoon Friday 12th February INSET Day. School closed to students Friday 26th February Science Live Trip for Year 9s Saturday 27th February Modern Languages and Linguistics Saturday Stretch: Cambridge University Thursday 3rd March Year 10 Progress Meetings (2.30 -6.30pm). Years 7, 8 & 9 studying at home in the afternoon Friday 11th March Guest speaker from Institute of Civil Engineers Monday 14th March Year 7 Progress Meetings (2.30 -6.30pm). Years 8, 9 & 10 studying at home in the afternoon Wednesday 16th March Maths Challenge Finals at Bow School Wednesday 16th March PE Spring Spectacular Friday 18th March Year 9 Maths Challenge Friday 18th March Year 9 Battle of the Bands Saturday 19th March Biology Saturday Stretch: Southampton University Monday 21st March Year 8 Big Band Competition Wednesday 23rd March Spring Concert Thursday 24th March Awards Assemblies. End of Term. Half day.

Summer Term Monday 11th April - Wednesday 20th July Half Term 30th May - 3rd June INSET days: Thursday 23rd and Friday 24th June, Friday 8th July

INA Newsletter 19