Welcome to Newlands Girls’ School

New Parents’

Information Evening

Thursday 3rd May 2018

Welcome to Newlands Girls’ School

• Mrs L V Ceska – Headteacher, Teacher of MFL

• Mrs S Nuttycombe – Senior Link to Year 7, Assistant Headteacher, Teacher of Drama

• Miss K Gratton – Head of Year 7, Teacher of Science

Transition• Primary School visits

‒ Commencing Monday 21st May‒ Meet the students joining in Year 7‒ Gather information from the class teachers

• Induction Day – Tuesday 4th September‒ Meet their new Form Tutor‒ Meet their new friends‒ Tour‒ Orienteering activity

Form Tutor Groups• A complete mix of ability, background, ethnicity, primary

schools and interest.• Form Tutors will help your daughter to settle in and check

she is prepared for each day.• Your daughter will also be assigned to a teaching group.

• 7A – Austen (Jane Austen – English novelist) • 7B – Bronte (Emily Bronte – English novelist)• 7C – Curie (Marie Curie – Scientist)• 7D – Darling ( Grace Darling – Heroine)• 7E – Earhart (Amelia Earhart – American aviation pioneer)• 7F – Frank (Anne Frank – Jewish writer)

Key Points• School Day

• Use of Planner

– whiteboard marker

• Uniform

– School Uniform

– PE Uniform

*School Days Direct and Goyals

• Padlocks

HomeworkWEEK 1 7A 7B 7C

Monday

Science (G & I)Art (H & J)MathsGerman

Science (G & I)Art (H & J)MathsSpanish

Science (G & I)Art (H & J)FrenchMaths

Tuesday

D & T D & TICTGeography

D & TGeography

Wednesday

EnglishFrenchScienceMusic

EnglishFrenchScience

EnglishFrenchScience

Homework• What will homework look like?

– Questions and answers

– Project work

– Revision

– Research

– Contribution to a blog

– Reading

– Activities on designated websites

Communicating with School– Form Tutor

– Head of Year, Miss Gratton

– Senior Link to Year 7, Mrs Nuttycombe

For Parents:• Through School Website• Via Planner• Keep Kids Safe• Letters• Email – office@newlandsgirls.co.uk• attendance@newlandsgirls.co.uk

For Pupils:• Emails directly to the girls• Notes in registers for the girls

Attendance• 90% attendance = ½ day missed every

week!!

• 1 school year at 90% attendance = 4 whole weeks of lessons MISSED!!!

• Over years 7 to 11, 90% attendance =

half of a whole year of school missed!

Extra-curricular Activities• Strongly recommended (at least 1).

• Meet new friends.

• Get to know staff a bit better.

• Have fun!

‘Rise and Read’ • Foster a love of reading.

• Develop and improve literacy skills.

• Support oracy skills.

• Read as a class, both teacher led and pupil led.

• Discuss books as a class.

• Girls will be required to attend a morning reading session as a Form once per week.

• The session will start at 8.15am.

Dates for your diary• Deadline for completed admission forms:

Friday 18th May

• Primary School visits:

Monday 21st May – Friday 15th June

• New Parents’ Coffee Morning:

Tuesday 4th September

English at Newlands

Ms K. Paupiah, Head of KS3 English

Mission• The English Department aims to provide

professional, challenging and engaging lessons in a supportive environment.

• We strive to help the girls become independent and resilient learners, capable of excelling at all challenges, but also respecting each other’s diverse views.

What we do that may be different to elsewhere

• The girls are taught in sets, with the addition of smaller classes for those who would benefit from additional teacher attention.

• The sets are created using primary school data and initial baseline assessments in September.

• We adjust the setting to make sure each student is working at the right pace. This process takes place twice in an academic year.

• The girls use yellow books for English which are regularly marked for SPaG and content.

The Curriculum

To ensure a broad understanding of the subject the girls study:

• Literature across the ages, including a study of myths and legends; Shakespeare’s works through to pre and post 20th Century literature.

• Narrative and descriptive writing.• Writing to argue and persuade using rhetoric.• Analytical writing.

Departmental Extra-curricular Activities

Within the department, there are additional activities your daughter can take part in.

These include:

• Classics Reading Challenge• Creative Writing Club• Poetry Club• Film Club

How can you help your daughter in her first year?

• Help her to become an independent learner by developing her knowledge and using the feedback from her teachers.

• Support her in proof reading and editing her work.

• Test her on the personalised spelling lists which she will generate in the process of learning.

• Encourage her to join clubs that develop her interests within the subject.

• Ensure she reads a wide range of fiction and non-fiction texts.

Mathematics at Newlands

Ms L Third, Head of KS3 Maths

How do we support your daughter?

• Excellent Teaching and Learning using a variety of teaching methods and tools.

• Frequent homework designed at 20 minutes per piece, set twice a week. We also provide a homework exercise book.

• A 6 week assignment designed as revision of previous work. This develops independent learning and is an excellent assessment tool. We ask parents to purchase this textbook from Newlands at a cost of £5.

• We have a ‘More Able’ programme called ‘Mathletes’, which is aimed at extending students.

• Approximately 40 girls from Years 7-9 participate in ‘Mathletes’.

• Our two support classes have approximately 10 students to encourage and build confidence in those who most need it.

• Our ‘Maths Captains’ will provide additional help to students who are struggling to achieve their target.

How do we support your daughter?

Online Resources• We use the ‘MyMaths’ and the ‘Kerboodle’

websites as an integral part of assessing, supporting and helping to make good progress.

• The ‘Kerboodle’ website is an online text book where staff set students homework and assessments.

Setting in Maths?• Assess students at the start of Year 7.

• For the first term, students are in mixed ability classes doing activities such as investigations and problem solving.

• Another assessment after approximately four weeks. (CATS tests).

• Results from Year 6 Data and the two Newlands’ assessments enable us to ‘set’ students from sets 1-4. These ‘sets’ are reviewed at intervals throughout the year.

Science at Newlands

Miss L Viles, Head of KS3 Science

Routes Through Science• Two Year Key Stage 3: mixed ability in Year 7 and set in Year 8.

• Online support using “Kerboodle”.

• Science Club after school.

• AQA GCSE Science in Year 9.

• Separate Scientists selected at the end of Year 9: three GCSEs in Biology, Chemistry and Physics.

• All other girls sit Combined Science: double award worth two GCSEs.

• Girls can study Science at A-Level (AQA) with either Separate Sciences or Combined Science.

Music at Newlands

Mr I Shilling, Head of Music

Instrumental/Vocal tuition• Vocal lessons provided in-house by

Mrs Clarkson.

• Instrumental lessons are offered through Berkshire Maestros on a wide range of instruments(instrument hire available for £30 a year).

• Group or individual tuition available.

• Berkshire Maestros Welcome Taster Session –Early September (KKS message will be sent)

Extra-curricular activities14 timetabled extra-curricular activities

Vocal and instrumental ensembles available

Accessible for all

Wide range of styles

Autumn 2018 Proposed TimetableMONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY

LUNCHTIME12.25 – 1.00 p.m.

Pantastics

Music Theory

Senior Woodwind Ensemble

String Group

Senior Choir

Junior Wind Band

Madrigal Choir

Junior Choir

Pandemonium

Samba Band

AFTER SCHOOL

3.05 – 4.05 p.m.

Performing Arts Choir

Orchestra

Jazz BandSwing Band Madrigal Choir

Key Information

Christmas ConcertThursday 6th December 2018 @ 7.00 pm

The Big PlayWednesday 12th September 2018 periods 4 & 5

Tour to Lake GardaSunday 14th July – Saturday 20th July 2019

IanShilling@newlandsgirls.co.uk

Modern Foreign Languagesat Newlands

Mr J O’Connell, Assistant Headteacher/

Head of MFL

Learning languages at Newlands• The girls will have two lessons each of French, German and

Spanish each fortnight.

• In Year 7, each term your daughter will receive a new booklet for the topics and grammar we will study.

• She will have the chance to broaden her learning experiences with quizzes and activities such as vocab, Advent calendar competitions and food-tasting lessons.

• Your daughter will have the chance to go to St. Omer in France for a day in the summer of Year 7.

• Your daughter will have the chance to take part in the German exchange in Year 10 and work experience at A-Level.

Parents’ Association

Mrs Maria Ashby-Giles Chair of Newlands Parents’ Association

Who we are and what we do

• The Parents’ Association works in partnership with Newlands to support the school community and we are a registered charity (number 1117220). Through running events such as the Halloween Disco, selling refreshments at Open Evening and agreements with local businesses the NPA raises many thousands of pounds for Newlands each year and these funds are used in direct support of the girls’ learning and extra-curricular opportunities.

Some spends in 2016-18 • Camera equipment for Media Studies• Money towards trampoline renovation in PE• The tuning of the steel pans in Music• £5000 towards the purchase of a new minibus• A new dishwasher and fridge for the Sixth Form common

room• The loan of 400 books to the library, with a reading

programme• £2,850 for new picnic benches on the school site.

That’s a total of around £15,000!

Upcoming Events

You will receive regular letters from the NPA with news of our upcoming events and general activity but please also follow us through our page on the school website: http://www.newlandsgirlsschool.co.uk/Newlands-parents-association

Upcoming events include:• A quiz evening in May;• A new parents’ coffee morning and a ‘Meet the Form’

evening in September;• The annual Year 7 Halloween Disco in October;• Christmas events TBC.

Please come and join us!Offers of help are always gratefully received and our work is both valuable and satisfying. Your involvement need only be occasional if you choose, but any time or resources you are able to offer us can make a significant difference to the important work we do for our girls:

• Committee Meetings are informal and held regularly. Come along to meet the group and bring your ideas!

• If you are able to help us at an event, selling raffle tickets or serving refreshments, we welcome you!

• We also welcome the donation of unwanted gifts (including gifts from businesses) which can be used in our raffles, along with out-grown uniform items which can be sold in our GANUS sale.

• In addition, the girls of Newlands benefit greatly from monetary donations made to the NPA. Although we receive Government funding, the money raised by the NPA can provide the school community with so many exciting ‘extras’. If you are a UK tax payer and complete one of our Gift Aid forms then we can claim a further 25% from the Government on top of any donations made. Gift Aid and standing order forms are enclosed in your information pack.

Please come and chat to us, or get in touch through the School Office.

If you have any questions, please feel free to ask.

We look forward to your daughterstarting in September!