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Dear Parents, Guardians and Neighbours
A busy term draws to a close this week but there is still so much going on. Last Friday the Longdean dance club, comprised of students in Years 7 - 11 took place in the Dacorum dance competition. Dancing to the song 'this is me', they finished a creditable third. Also last Friday 73 GCSE History students visited the Imperial War Museum, to study the war and medicine exhibition. Over the weekend I also had the pleasure of accompanying the silver Duke of Edinburgh group on their practice expedition. Despite the damp and cold it was a great event. Well done to all and thanks to the staff who run these events.
Trips and additional experiences such as these are integral to what Longdean offers all students but they must not come at the expense of qualifications. It was a pleasure to share Year 11 students’ preliminary examination results with them and to see how much they had improved since January. The students are well placed and there is still 6 - 8 weeks until exams start in earnest. It is vital that students in Years 9 - 13, who have exams this summer utilise the Easter break to carry out some detailed and quality revision every day. I would advise using the timings of the school day to structure timings and to use student timetables to give an indication of which subjects to study. Year 11 students with access to Tassomai should aim to complete 16% of this excellent revision tool over the Easter period.
When we return in the summer we will as always revisit our high standards over uniform. I have written to parents separately this week outlining our requirements and I would ask all parents to support their children by ensuring they arrive in correct uniform everyday with correct jewellery and no additional piercings. I would ask all parents to go through the letter with their children like we have in school this week.
Also in the letter was a section on social media and mobile devices. I would again encourage parents to talk to their children about the school expectations around these devices and to also talk about safe and appropriate social media use.
I am sure that if we work together on these areas the next term will be as successful as this one has been.
Have a wonderful Easter.
Mr G Cunningham
Headteacher
Edition 14 29 March 2018 Headlines
Longdean Link
Important dates
Term Ends – Thursday 29 March—School Finishes at
1.30pm
Monday 16 April—Inset Day
Tuesday 17 April—Summer Term Begins
Thursday 19 April—Year 9 Parents’ Evening
Tuesday 24 April—Year 7 Parents’ Evening
Saturday 28 April—Saturday Study Session
Numeracy
Last issue’s answer:
8
A bug fell down a hole 2 metres
deep. Every day it would climb ½
metre, but at night it would slide
down ¼ of a metre.
At this rate, how long (days) would it
take the bug to climb out of the
hole?
Numeracy
GradientA measure of the slope of a line.
To find the gradient of a line, divide the “vertical
distance” between two points on the line by the
“horizontal distance” between those points”
A line sloping upwards from left to right has a positive
gradient
A line sloping downwards from left to right has a negative
gradient
The Romans used small peddles on
a counting machine called “an
abacus” to help them with
calculations.
The world “calculate” comes from
the Latin word “calculus”, which
means “small pebble”.
Since the start of a new initiative to recognise and reward students who go above and beyond in different areas within our school environment, here is a list of those who received a Longdean Super Star Certificate in March.
Congratulations to you all….
Longdean Superstars
Jessica Lloyd - Year 7
Kamaliyah Fullam - Year 7
Precious Mandevere - Year 7
Aidan Martin - Year 7
Ben Humphreys - Year 7
Callum Brown - Year7
Dan Payne - Year 7
Dax Druce - Year 7
Emanuel Alabi - Year 7
Ember Hagan - Year 7
Erin Neill - Year 7
Harrison Riley - Year 7
Harry Walker - Year 7
Ilyas Salman - Year 7
Jack Dodd - Year 7
Jacob McKerrell - Year 7
Jawad Ahmed - Year 7
Luca Wyart - Year 7
Rhys Sutton Hicks - Year 7
Tom Fung - Year 7
Will Isaacs - Year7
William Wilson - Year 7
Pheobe Cave - Year 9
Alexandria Hobday - Year 9
Brooke Darke - Year 9
Ella Chamberlain - Year 9
Evie Hood - Year 9
Madison Ingram - Year 9
Maisy Burr - Year 9
Mya Trivedi - Year 9
Spriha Shrestha - Year 9
Lewis Clark - Year 10
Luis Hoxha - Year 10
Milli Carroll - Year 10
Billie-Mae Cartwright - Year 11
Jamie Tobin - Year 11
Maddie Venn - Year 11
Manuela Yeboah - Year 11
Rimsha Mehboob - Year 11
Sophie Murray Year 11
Andrew Agyeman - Year 11
On Friday 16 March 2018, Longdean dance students attended the annual dance convention 'Move it' at the London ExCel Centre.
Students had the opportunity to watch professional performances and all students took part in a commercial jazz workshop led by the prestigious MADD college for performing arts. They
demonstrated both professionalism and an extremely high level of skill. Evie Hood, year 9, was even selected out of the 100 students taking part to perform on stage.
Well done to all students involved for their efforts and exemplary behaviour throughout the day.
Miss H Plumb
Dance Teacher
On Friday 23 March 2018 The Longdean Dance Group entered the Dacorum Dance competition with their piece titled ‘The Ring Master’ based on this years theme or ‘circus’.
They received 3rd place in the secondary schools category.
Well done to all students involved.
‘Move It’ Dance Trip
Dacorum Dance Competition
After arriving at Katowice Airport it was an hour and 45 minute coach journey to our hotel in Krakow. In the
afternoon we visited Schindler’s Factory. We were given a tour around the museum by a guide who informed us of
his own story, the things Oscar Schindler did for the Jewish people during World War 2 and what his
accomplishments meant for Poland as a country.
On day two we went to Auschwitz I – Auschwitz II Birkenau concentration and death camps. The guide, who walked
us around the whole of the camps, explained everything that happened. We saw the horror of the conditions
people endured. The mounds of shoes, combs, plates and dishes collected from Jewish people and the piles of hair
shaved off the people sent there. Birkenau was where about one million people were exterminated and we saw
the industrial sale of the horror it was absolutely terrible and showed the reality of it all.
After this very emotional visit we enjoyed a great typical Polish meal which consisted of soup, pork and dumplings
and a plum pastry pudding.
On day three we visited the Wieliczka Salt Mines it is known as one of the world’s oldest operating salt mines. As
you walk around you can lick the walls to taste the salt that it is made of! Fun fact, if you put a torch against the
floor of the mines, you can see the purity of the salt up close. Everything there including many monuments and
statues is all made of 100% salt.
After lunch we had a tour around the Jewish Quarter with a rich history of the city and the religious backgrounds of
the Jewish culture. We visited a Synagogue and a variety of memorials such as a Jewish grave yard, the Jewish
Ghetto walls and the Ghetto Heroes Square with its 33 chairs in memory of the Polish Jews who died in the Ghetto
or in a death camp.
We finished the trip off with a Jewish meal in the Quarter with live
Jewish music which was very entertaining and everyone on the trip got
involved.
Finally we flew back exhausted but having had a great life experience
that none of us would have missed.
Rebecca Tyson and Chloe Avis Year 13
Poland Trip
The Science of Psychopathy and Criminal Profiling with Dr Liam Satchell UWL
On Wednesday 21 March 2018 students and staff were invited to an engaging seminar on the science behind psychopathy and
criminal profiling. The seminar was run by Dr Liam Satchell, a criminal psychologist from the University of West London.
His talk covered a range of different topics, including what Forensic psychology is and how it applies to every day life, he
shared interesting pieces of research into the mindset of criminals and how professionals work to catch and punish those who
break the law. Dr Liam even had a go a profiling Longdean Students! Students were taught about the important links between
statistics and research, linking their current learning in topics like psychology and sociology to the real world.
Students said the talk was very fascinating and it completely changed their misconceptions of modern criminal psychology!
Criminal Profiling Talk
Change of Details?
Literacy Link and World Book Day In the run up to Literacy Week we asked students to bring in donations of books for a
World Book Day ‘Book Drive’. We collected a fantastic amount of pre-loved reads so firstly
thank you to everyone that donated a book (or many!).
Mrs Rogers got creative in the library with an Alice in Wonderland inspired arch!
The English Department got into the true spirit of the event and dressed up as characters
from Alice in Wonderland! A really great effort made by the staff.
Down in the English corridor the team set up a Mad Hatter's tea party 'selfie area', they hosted Croquet in the corridor, and set up a Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee photo opportunity!
In English lessons the students looked at the Jabberwocky and had to produce their own
nonsense poem in the same style as Lewis Carroll or produce annotated posters of their
own creatures giving them nonsensical names and features. £10 Amazon vouchers were
awarded to Kai Taylor-Hibberd (year 7) Mahnoor Fazal (year 8), Tegan Swindells (year 9)
and Tammi Cole (year 8) for their excellent work. This will be on display around the
English department!
We laid the donations out in the library and at lunch time on World Book Day, the students
were able to come, browse and choose a book to keep. It was fantastic to see so many of
our students getting involved, rummaging through the books on show and choosing one or
two for themselves to take away. In fact, by the end of the week all of the donated books
had found their way to new homes! We hope that the books are enjoyed.
Each house compiled a piece of fiction in the run up to literacy week, they were given a
genre and forms added chapters along the way to complete the books. This proved for
some interesting reading! Well done to all involved!
Book Drive
Literacy Week House Books
Five parents have been fined by Hertfordshire County Council for their child's non-attendance at school this academic year. Please support your child by ensuring that they are in school every day, as far as possible.
Nothing is more critical to attainment than consistent attendance.
Well done to all of the students who achieved 100% so far this academic year.
Sept July
Y7
Y8
Y9
Y10
Y11
Research suggests that for every
17 MISSED SCHOOL DAYS,
a student’s achievement will drop by
ONE GRADE when they sit their GCSEs
Growth Mindset
Attendance
Independent Learning and Homework at Longdean Please remember to discuss your child’s Independent Learning and Homework set on Show My Homework using the app or the website https://longdean.showmyhomework.co.uk/school/homeworks/calendar where you can find the entire school’s homework and filter by subject, teacher, or class without logging in. For specific details about your child’s homework, please log in to this website or the app. We recommend half an hour a night, Monday through Thursday, on sites such as Sam Learning, GCSE Pod, BBC Bitesize, Linguascope and MyMaths. Links to these sites can be found on the Exam Support and Homework sections of the LLP.
Mr R Muskett - Assistant Headteacher http://www.gcsepod.com/parents for a parent's guide. www.samlearning.com Centre ID: HP3LS Username and password are in the format: DDMMYYII, for example Mr Muskett's would be 050582RM. www.mymaths.co.uk - students have an individual username and password from their
Maths Teacher. MFL—Ask your Teacher for the username and password for Linguascope. Further e-learning links can be found at: https://moodle.longdean.herts.sch.uk/mod/tab/view.php?id=8888
Information
Reporting Absences from School - Contact Numbers
If, for any reason, your child is absent from school, please contact one of the following numbers as soon as possible. Any messages will be picked up at the beginning of the school day.
Da Vinci: 01442 205706
Franklin: 01442 205707
Gates: 01442 205760
Pascal: 01442 205703
Sixth Form: 01442 205720
Link Dates The Longdean Link is published every two weeks, via the Schoolcomms e-mail system to all those for whom we have an e-mail address, and on the LLP. Next issue: 27 April 2018
Recent Communication
Attendance
Franklin
94.8% Pascal
Gates
92.8% Da Vinci
0% 100
Whole School: 93.3%
93.5%
Letters that have been sent home recently:
All Years—Sport relief non uniform reminder
All Years—Uniform Letter
Year 9—Parents Evening Information
Year 11— Key Dates
Sixth Form—Key Dates
94.5%