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NEWSLETTER

WINTER 2020

A message from Mr Lawson, Head of Discovery College: What a treat Year 7 had with our second Inspire Day! Many professionals came into school, demonstrating what they do for employment and further education. From 3D printing to constructing bridges and the possibilities of enjoying university life, students learnt about the skills and qualities required to carry out various roles, as well as some hands on experience. The day really encourages students to aspire to great things and to achieve their goals, there is no substitute for determination and hard work. Year 8 students had consultation in January regarding their academic progress which was followed up by Options Evening. The process has gone well with students making clear and informed choices regarding their personalized learning pathway in Year 9. Discovery College will begin the process next term of passing welfare information on to the subject Colleges to make sure transition from Discovery is as smooth as possible. Best wishes Mr A Lawson Head of Discovery College

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Chinese Immersion Day

To celebrate Chinese New Year and give our students a better understanding of Chinese culture and language, a Chinese Immersion Day was organized by MFL for our Year 8 students. On the day, the students learnt how Chinese people celebrate their biggest festival and the 8 different cuisines styles throughout China. They also learnt how the Chinese writing system works and even tried using brushes to do Chinese calligraphy! The chopstick competition was another interesting activity on the day.

In period 5, the students watched a performance given by the professionals from London in the Sinden Theatre. There were various performances in the show including the traditional Chinese musical instruments performance, Chinese folk dance as well as some exciting Martial Arts show.

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Riding club success

More great results for our Riding Team today. Jack - first time riding for Homewood who came second in 50cm and qualified for South East Regional Grassroots Championship George who came third in 70cm and double clear in 80cm Sophie who came fifth in 80cm and just one unlucky pole down in 70cm As always brilliant team spirit and sportsmanship. Next up for the team is dressage and then some arena eventing.

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Science Show

The Royal Institution came to visit Homewood for their annual live science show on the 23rd January. The show was based around the concept and ideas about electricity and how we have got to the lives we lead today. All of Year 8 and some lucky Year 7 groups got to see the show during the day and were amazed by the explosive and exciting demonstrations that they got to see and be part of - some people even had explosions happen in their hands!

Students learnt a lot from the show and were able to take these ideas back to their lessons where their current topic is electricity so it allowed them to see what they were learning in practice - who knew mince pie cases and a barbie doll could teach us so much about electrons!

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Take up the Challenge!

A small group of students have completed a 5 week programme designed to improve their self-confidence and self-esteem. Various fun activities included Ten Pin Bowling, Young Drive which included off road karting and quad biking, an Art workshop where they designed their own t shirts and an Escape Room in Canterbury. At the end of the five weeks all students attended a ceremony where they were presented with a certificate by Mr Single, Principal of Homewood School and Sixth Form Centre. They were also entertained by a magician.

Verity was one of the participants and this is what she had to say about the programmer:

‘I have found coming to Secondary School challenging and this has definitely boosted my confidence because I have enjoyed activities that I would never usually have taken part in, some were difficult and took me out of my comfort zone. I have made many new friends and I’m really proud of myself for completing this programmer.’

Mr Lawson, Head of Discovery College is very proud of all the students that attended the programme.

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Year 7 Homewood Inspire Day

The annual Year 7 Inspire Day took place on the 10th January whilst all the rest of the school were taking part in their Parents Consultation day sessions. This day has been designed to give our Year 7’s an idea of opportunities available to them in the world of work and further education. We welcomed professionals from the Health and Social department at Canterbury Christ Church University, from EDF, HSBC, Walker Construction, 3D printing and a 2nd year student from Canterbury Christ Church University.

Our students found the day enjoyable and inspirational, here is a taste of how our students felt about their special day:

‘I’d love to do the day again.’ Amelia

‘I learnt all the different pathways available after sixth form for example University, College and apprenticeships which I had no idea about.’ Niamh

‘It was good to hear that the large companies are conscious of the issues of climate change and are addressing the issues.’ Oliver

‘Great to have the school to ourselves and to be able to have a bespoke programme created for us.’ Zach

‘Banking is a serious subject which I wouldn’t usually be interested in but I have a savings account and I am interested to know how banks make money – I’d just assumed the Bank of England gave it to them! Lucy clearly explained how the system works and she was friendly and helped us work out the percentages which we had learnt in our maths lessons but it all made more sense. She helped us create our own business plans for fictitious businesses and we had to work out finances for it.’ Sophie.

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Year 8 Choices Evening

Year 8 are making their choices for Year 9 now and enjoyed the ‘Year 8 Choices Evening’ where all subjects set out information about their subject. The evening included a speech by Mr Single, Principal of Homewood School. Students and parents were able to have conversations with the teachers to ensure they fully understood the content of each subject.

All Year 8 Choices forms should be returned to the Discovery office by Wednesday the 12th of February.

‘I thought the Choices Evening was very informative and has helped me figure out what choices would be most suitable for me. Having spoken to the teachers I feel confident I have made the right choices – Enterprise, Music and Digital Arts. I feel excited and looking forward to my studies in Year 9.’ Jacob

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‘The Choices Evening was enjoyable because all the teachers explained all the options extremely clearly and it was well supported. I like the whole idea of the Year 9 pathways because it gives me the opportunity to try areas of study before I commit to taking the subjects at GCSE. I am considering Digital Arts, Performing Arts and either Creative Arts or Enterprise.’ Sienna

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‘I found the Option Evening very useful because before I was undecided about whether to take Digital Arts or Creative Arts but having spoken to the teachers I now feel confident that this will efinitely looking forward to Year 9, I think this is going to be very different from our Year 7 and Year assist with my future ambitions. My final choices are Digital Arts, Digital World and Music and I am definitely looking forward to year 9, I think this is going to be very different from Year 7 and Year 8 studies’ Ethan

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‘The Choices Evening was very helpful because prior to this event I was undecided about which subjects to take. Having spoken to the teachers I feel happy taking Performing Arts, Sport and Digital Arts and understand that when I chose my GCSE subjects in Year 9 I will be able to pick up another Art subject so this year will give me the opportunity to focus on subjects I enjoy and that will probably be in my final GCSE choices.’ Rachel

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Parent Communication There are two electronic methods for parents/carers to keep informed about their child, Google Classroom Guardian Summaries and the SiMS Parent App.

Google Classroom Email Summaries Allows you to be able to view homework set for your child and in some cases keep you up to date on what they are currently studying As a parent/guardian, you must receive and accept an email invitation before you can receive email summaries.

1. An administrator emails you an invitation for a particular student, it will be from an @homewood.kent.sch.uk address. 2. They will send it to the primary email address on our system. 3. in your email programme, open your email invitation. 4. Click Accept. 5. if you’re not the guardian, click i’m Not The Guardian.

6. (Optional) To access the email summary settings page, you will need to create a google account. By default, you will receive weekly updates but this can be changed to daily updates if you create a google account.

7. When you accept an invitation, you, your student, and the person who invited you (the teacher or administrator) receives an email confirmation.

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SiMS Parent App Shares with you information such as attendance, school reports and student achievement for your child. You can also access, review and request changes to information held on your child.

This is a two stage process - you are required to register first and then install the SiMS Parent App on your smart phone or device (or just use the website, if you prefer).

1. You would have received an activation email from noreply@sims.co.uk to the primary email address we have on our system (check junk mail). Simply click on the link from your tablet, PC or smartphone to activate your account. 2. You can then login using your normal Facebook, Twitter, Google or Microsoft username and password (do not login with your SiMS iD). 3. From your smartphone or tablet, download the app from the Google Play or Apple App store - search for SiMS Parent. 4. From a PC or Windows phone, login online at www.sims-parent.co.uk

if you have not received an enrolment email to google classroom or the SiMS App please contact the school at: ParentSupport@homewood.kent.sch.uk.

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Checking for Homework using Google Calendar

All homework is set via google classroom. Once set, homework is automatically recorded on a student’s google calendar so the homework and due date can be viewed. In google classroom select the icon with three lines at the top left of the screen or in google chrome click the 9 dots in the top right-hand corner of your browser.

A menu will drop down and the second option should be to view the student calendar. The calendar will display all homework and perhaps some classwork set and the due date. The work will be clearly identified as homework or classwork in the description.

This is a far easier way to know what homework has been set rather than going through all the notifications in the Gmail inbox or looking in each classroom.

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Homework Guidance Year 7 The bullet points below describe the nature, deadline information and available help/support for homework in core subjects as well as Modern Foreign Languages. English

● Homework set once a week on Monday ● Students will have at least seven days to complete ● Deadline is the first English lesson each week ● Homework to be submitted on paper (no requirement to type and print) ● Help/support: homework club in L2 Thursday lunch

Maths

● Homework set every day using diagnostic questions ● Students should spend 15 minutes on this each night ● Help/support: homework catch up sessions Tuesday and Thursday after school in C42

Science

● One week to complete homework from day set ● Consists of 3 10-15 minutes tasks ● Each individual task is designed to be done the day they have a Science lesson ● Help/support: support session in L14 every lunchtime or speak to individual teacher

Modern Foreign Languages

● One piece of written or learning homework a week ● Staff wherever possible set this over a weekend ● Homework will consolidate what has been done in class ● Help/support: speak to the individual teacher at break and lunch before the deadline

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Homework tips When of the biggest challenges of your first term of Year 7 is Homework. Here are some tips for managing homework from a selection of Year 8 students.

1. I have a homework area at home, with all my equipment I need ready, it is away from the TV so I do not get distracted. - Abi

2. I go to the library at lunch to do my homework, that way I have to do less at home. - Ben

3. I struggled with homework to begin with, so I stayed behind after school to do it at homework club. I could get all the help and advice I needed with it. - Mia

4. It does come as a bit of a shock in Year 7. I found it really useful to look at when homework was due in and then decide what bit I needed to do first. If you leave it to the last minute you just end up with too much to do. - Jake

5. Try and get into a routine. I go home and do my homework straight away, but some of my friends do it later, it is what works for you really. - Rachael

6. The best bit of advice I can give is to use your google calendar, all your homework is in there. - Connor

7. Listen to when the teacher explains the homework, it makes it really hard for your people at home to help you with it if you do not understand it yourself. - George

8. In the end I just found it best to write it all down in a small notebook, it worked for me. - Maisie

9. Get a plastic folder to store any homework sheets in, otherwise you will lose them. - Tom

10. If you need help see you teacher before the deadline. - Susan

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Chromebook Corner

Mr Nisbet has provided a few tips below for those students who want to explore the use of their chromebooks further and develop their digital literacy.

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