Newsletters

NEWSLETTER 16

Dear all

I hope you have been a able to have a productive week. Once again we have been really pleased with our students' attendance and engagement this week. In addition we have really appreciated all the feedback through the questionnaire. In our Senior Team Meeting on Tuesdays we have started to look at this and where necessary make amendments. Your wonderful comments have been a real boost to staff.

As you will be aware from the recent letters sent out, unfortunately our Year 8 bubble will be closed next week due to news of a positive COVID-19 case. We are really sorry about this but look forward to seeing our key worker and vulnerable students back in school from Monday 8th February. Can I remind parent that we ask students not to arrive earlier than 8:30am please.

It was a real pleasure to host Dr Dominique Thompson last night and listen to her speak about the mental well-being of young people. The feedback from parents has been particularly positive and we will look forward to inviting her back again in future months.  

As always I hope you are able to have a relaxing weekend.

Keep well and safe everyone

Paul Skipp

Headteacher  

Latest News

29 Jan 2021
Year 7 Remote Learning and Reward points
The Year 7 team are pleased to see how well Year 7 students are doing with their remote learning.
Read more
28 Jan 2021
Protecting our students. IMPORTANT MESSAGE.
No phones in lesson time
Read more

Forthcoming events

KS4 Options deadline
All Day
29
January
Year 13 Virtual Parents Evening
3:30pm – 6:30pm
03
February

The next roll-out of Free School Meals payments/vouchers will be with parents at the beginning of next week.

This is to cover the period 1 Feb to 19 Feb (therefore includes a payment for half term).

For children who are coming into school and having meals here there will be a payment/voucher for half term only and this will be with them on Friday 12 February.

The local wildlife continues to take advantage of a quieter site at the moment. Mr. Little made sure the birds and squirrels had some provisions during the weekend snowfall. We have a diverse range of birds that visit the site. Over the last few weeks the trees have been full of activity. Our regular Woodpeckers, Jays, Blue tits, Great tits, Long tailed tits, Robins and Wagtails have been joined by winter visitors Redwing and Fieldfare. 

The RSPB are running their "Great garden birdwatch" this weekend. It is a great activity that you can do from inside your home! (useful at the present time!) You can find out how to take part via the RSPB website www.rspb.org.uk Please feel free to email Mr. Little with your observations, especially pictures of the wildlife in your garden! 

https://www.rspb.org.uk/get-involved/activities/birdwatch/

The Show Must Go On!

 Some of the joys of studying the Expressive Arts subjects is getting to experience the arts in many live contexts whether that be visiting an art gallery, the theatre or a concert venue. Sadly, some of the most loved theatres and concert halls have not opened since they closed on 23rd March 2020. The Expressive Arts Faculty usually offer numerous trips, workshops, residentials, concerts and shows each year, and sadly like so many other things these have been unable to go ahead. So, the Expressive Arts Faculty thought we would share some virtual experiences with you so that you can continue to enjoy the arts from the comfort of your own home.

Art

Grayson Perry

Grayson Perry did his "Art Club" tv series last lockdown, where the public sent him work each week based on a theme that he set. He selected work each week and put them into an exhibition in Manchester Art Gallery. They were about to open the exhibition to the public when lockdown 2 hit. So they have put Curator’s Tour: Grayson Art Club on YouTube for you to enjoy at home.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wSsrYsnTWkk&t=493s

The National Gallery

Enjoy panoramic views in 360° of The National Gallery in London.

https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/visiting/virtual-tours/google-virtual-tour

Drama

Stream productions from the comfort of your own home. Here are a few places that are currently streaming productions that have been pre-recorded from Shakespeare plays through to sing along musicals. Some of the sites are streaming a free production each week, others offer a subscription or a small rental charge.

The National Theatre - https://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk

The Globe Online - https://www.shakespearesglobe.com/watch/

Live Theatre - https://www.live.org.uk/

Music

The Southbank Centre

The Southbank Centre are streaming concerts from orchestral music through to solo artists. Some of the concerts are free however some do require you to purchase a ticket.

https://www.southbankcentre.co.uk

Musicals the Greatest Show

BBC Radio 2 and BBC One are raising the curtain with a very special show - direct from the West End - featuring a glittering cast of UK and international stars performing songs from the musicals.

This promises to be a magical evening that delivers an experience we’ve all been missing for far too long – a night at the theatre! Hosted on radio and television by Sheridan Smith... it puts the songs, the shows, and the stars back on stage at the world-famous London Palladium.

Watch the performance on BBC One on 7th February.

Photography

Wildlife Photograph of the Year at The Natural History Museum

View the Wildlife Photographer of the Year images from the current and previous years’ competitions. These images were awarded for their artistic composition, technical innovation and truthful interpretation of the natural world.

https://www.nhm.ac.uk

We hope you enjoy some of our suggestions. We can’t wait for the day when we can resume our usual busy and enjoyable schedule with our students!

With best wishes,

Mrs Maguire

Director of Learning: The Expressive Arts Faculty 

JOG Students Aim High

January marks the month whereby the main application window for university applications closes.  Students apply to university through UCAS (the University and Colleges Admission Service).  

This year 83% of our Year 13 students have applied to go to university.  Applications are in for a wide range of courses at a variety of establishments across the country.  

We wish all of our students every success with their applications.  

Year 7 Spotlight!

This week the Year 7 spotlight falls on 7A, and when we asked for superstar students and wonderful work we were overwhelmed with the responses from staff who work with the group!

Daisy and Diana have been hard at work creating some excellent artwork whilst special mentions for History must go to Erica, Jamie, Xavier and Aimee super participation and contribution in lessons.

Meanwhile, Joe has been impressing Mr Mirza with his excellent planning of a rainforest expedition for 12 nights in Sri Lanka.

Jamie has been producing some English work of which they can be proud,

‘Roald Dahl present Miss Trunchbull as a villain: “She would plough through children like a tank”. The word “tank” could suggest that she is a strong and powerful woman meaning that she should not be the headmistress of a school. The writer may have done this to show how mean she is and show that she is powerful and strong. The reader may think that Miss Trunchbull is a mean character and an unlikeable character compared to the children where the reader will feel bad for the children as they are getting chucked out of windows and chucked over the school fences.’

Whilst Kasey and Will have particularly impressed Ms Callaghan with their excellent participation, engagement and enthusiasm.

Finally, Mr Perraton was so pleased with 7A in their PSHE lessons that he couldn’t choose any one superstar!

A huge well done to all of 7A for their continued engagement in lessons and their commitment to our John of Gaunt values of respect, responsibility and resilience.

Mrs Addison, Miss Wood, Mrs Stewart and Mrs Bodman.

'How to...'

Please find attached the link to our first 'How to...' loom. Over the next few weeks, we are going to be creating a number of these short tutorials to support students with specific aspects of remote learning, such as downloading files, accessing the OneDrive and submitting work via assignments on Teams. This week's video is 'How to..upload a file to the OneDrive'. 

How to upload a file to the One Drive

These tutorials will be shared with students during tutor time sessions, as well as through Class Charts as an announcement so that they can re-watch the video when they need to. 

If you have any ideas for further 'How to...' videos that you think would be useful to add to the series then please email and let me know!

Thank you,

Miss Martin

Face Covering Exemption Cards for dedicated school bus travel

Should any student be exempt from wearing a face mask on a school bus due to a medical condition, we can issue them with an exemption card.

Please contact snichols@jogschool.org if you wish your child to have one.

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