Queens’ School Newsletter

Two weeks have now passed since it was announced that schools would close for the foreseeable future. All of our lives have been transformed in a very short period of time. Whilst this new norm is proving to be really challenging, it is extremely important that we all follow and respect government guidance. Queens’ will therefore continue to remain open only for key workers and vulnerable children by pre-agreement. Those in receipt of Free School Meals will continue to receive food vouchers. Teachers have been working tirelessly over the past weeks to produce online lessons and resources and we are most grateful for the very positive feedback. Learning can be accessed through ClassCharts and Google Classroom. I am mindful that, as parents, your ability to support your child will be influenced by your own work

demands and family circumstances. It is important that students are supported in establishing a routine and that they are given the opportunity to explain their learning to a family member. We are aware that many of our GCSE and A Level students continue to feel anxious about the allocation of this year’s examination grades. Schools have yet to receive an update, although the DfE are expected to announce further clarification before Easter. We have been assured that no young person will face a barrier when it comes to moving onto the next stage of their educational journey. It is important for students to remember that the skills, knowledge and habits that they have long nurtured will be immensely useful in their future studies or career endeavours. The abrupt end to the academic year did not allow for natural goodbyes, tradition or formal events. We look forward to planning a celebratory occasion as soon as the situation allows. We intend to continue with the purchase of leaver’s hoodies and year books as we have in previous years. We sadly say goodbye to Becs McCabe who is returning to her native Cornwall and wish her every success in the future. I would like to wish you a safe Easter break. Jonathan Morrell Headteacher

Dare to be Great April 2020

International trade! Year 12 Business studies & Economics

students in Prague. Read more here

Dare to Dance show! More information about this fantastic

fleet of foot event here.

Maths Whizzes and Quizzes! You can read here how once again our Mathematicians have risen to the challenge in a competition.

Queens’ Teams Shoot for Victory! Despite cancelled fixture read about the

sporting successes of our teams here!

Round the Houses From the triumphs of the House Music competition to sports, poetry and STAR points, find out what’s been going on in Auden, Drake, Newton and Sutherland

Seizing Opportunities Read here how to find these opportunities!

Design on your mind! Read here how the design team

have out done themselves!

All About English! Visits and a visiting Author, it’s been a busy term in English! Read all about it here

Magic in the LRC! Read here what the library has got up to!

A German Farse! The Onatti Theartre group put on a

show for Year 9 & 10 German students.

Read about it here!

Dramatic! Information about the

Drama department here.

Music to our ears! Read here how House Music rocked the

Hall!

Seeking inspiration! Read here how the Art team

can help you!

Celebrating Student Achievement: STARS

In these trying times we applaud students who continue to be dedicated in their approach to school. This half-term, we

congratulate the following students, who have gained the most STAR achievement points for

Scholarship, Tenacity, Altruism and Respect:

Other highest STAR point achievers:

Attendance

News from the Queens’ Parents Association

Evie L 7AW Andrew M 8AH Yumi T 9AW

Louise V 10AP Bairavee S 11NE

Lucy A 7DP Eric L 7NI Harry O’H 7SV Natasha S 8DA Oscar F 8NI Rudra S 8SG Beth H 9DA Vithushan J 9NE Amelia D 9SV

Toni S 10DF Lucy S 10NI Lucas B 10SV Oliver K 11AH Maisie D 11DP Lilith M-B 11SG

We are delighted to report that 338 Queens’ students, ranging across years 7-11 have 100% attendance for the Spring term up to 6th March 2020, before attendance was affected by the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic. Furthermore, 179 students have been 98% and 100% attendance for the same period of time. This really is fantastic and long may it continue! Just a reminder, for the future, if for any reason your child is unable to attend school on a particular day, please email the Attendance Officer: attendance@queens.herts.sch.uk

Thank you to everyone who bought refreshments from us at Year 7 Parents Evening and House Music and to those Year 8’s who came along to the disco. Thanks too for dropping off your bags of clothing for the clothes collection. These funds along with money raised from non-uniform day, match funding and the final funds raised at the Queens’ 50th Anniversary Celebra-tion have been put to fantastic use, buying 3 more table tennis tables for Mr Taylor’s increasingly popular lunchtime table tennis club and giving the Music Department money towards an electric piano. Whilst on the theme of thanks – a big thank you to the generosity of the parent who purchased basketballs to be used with the newly installed outdoor basketball hoops – we hear they were being well used and making a big difference at lunchtime.

With the uncertainty of when school life will resume, our planned Quiz Night in May has been postponed and will be re-scheduled for later in the year. Usually at this time of year we start asking for donations of good quality second hand school uniform to sell in July as part of the New Year 7 Transition Day so with this in mind, please keep any to one side to donate when we are in a position to start collecting.

We saw an amazing £497.00 being paid to us from Easyfundraising for the past 3 months so thank you to all of you who have signed up. In times like this, when online shopping is even more essential, please consider doing yours via Easyfundraising. It is such an easy way to raise money for Queens’ School. Just sign up to Easyfundraising and make Queens’ School Parents’ Association – Bushey your cause. You pay exactly the same but the retailers make a donation to your cause.

Queens’ website About Us> QPA>Easyfundraising for details.

With financial uncertainty facing us all, we hope to maintain some momentum on the next School Development Fund project which is initially a canopy on south side for the students to use at lunchtimes. This has now been costed and designed and we will email out details in due course but if you would like to contribute in the meantime, please see the

Queens’ website About Us> The Development Fund for details.

We hope you are all keeping safe and well and hopefully life will be back to normal before too long as home schooling my children for just a week has given me renewed respect and gratitude for the teaching staff at Queens’.

Dare to be Great February 2018

School Closure Period Reflective Diary

We are living through very unusual times. The events of these days, weeks and months will be studied and talked about for centuries to come. We will witness, in real time, the very best of human endeavour. Even though things seem very different to normal, we shouldn’t forget who we were before this, and who we want to be when it’s all over. Why not spend some time each day creating a reflective diary of events over the next few weeks? Try to include some of the ideas outlined below.

Scholarship - what did you learn, practice, study or explore today?

Tenacity - what challenged you today? How did you overcome it?

Altruism - what did you do for somebody else today? (Hopefully social distancing is a given).

Respect - How did you show respect for yourself, others and the wider community?

You could also look for the links between what is happening and each of your subjects at school. For example, but not limited to: English - look at the language being used by people and media. Are there any new word trends? Look up words you come across and mention them in your diary. Did you read anything good today? Write a brief review of it. PRE - what ethical or religious questions are being posed by the current crisis? Do you agree with the decisions being made by peo-ple and politicians? Maths - investigate the numbers around the pandemic and its spread. Geography - Find out about the places that are suddenly filling the news. What are they like geographically? Science - what are the big scientific news stories of the day? How is the virus spreading? How close is a cure or vaccine? History - how does this compare with previous global events? Can you create a timeline of the events, from the first mention of CV to the present day using media reports? Does history hint at how our society might change as a result of what is happening now?

___________________________________________________________

Wellbeing and mindfulness

You could also make a record of how you feel each day. What made you feel happy? What do you miss about normal life? How is the weather, and how does it make you feel? What are you looking forward to doing when life returns to normal? Do you ever feel worried, and if so how do you get over it? How are things going, generally? If you could see your friends today, what would you get up to? If the coronavirus could understand English, what would you say to it? Write down your thoughts.

Aim to write 100 - 150 words per day. Handwritten or typed.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/186KsqUilW0ApjIwOGObzZwj2qnKS-7FDEUvd9pHWHoM/edit?usp=sharing

Miss Westgarth’s Wellbeing Words……. Please see the signposting sheets with links to a wide variety of additional resources that you might find helpful over the Easter holiday and thereafter. These signpost sheets have been compiled by the South West Herts Partnership (SWHP), a family support service to which we belong. You can find out more about SWHP here: https://www.swhp.org.uk/ 1. Educational resources 1. 2. 3. (you may feel you have been provided with enough of these already but just in case!) 2. Online safety support 3. Financial advice and support resources 4. Mental Health and Emotional Wellbeing resources 5. Resources to support parents under pressure 6. Sources of safeguarding support 7. Sources of advice on how to talk to children about Coronavirus Kind regards and with best wishes to all our families