Year 7 Information and Guidance Evening Tuesday 13 th October 2015

What are we going to talk about this evening? Introductions Target Setting, Monitoring and Reporting Attendance Homework Expectations Homework – How to Help Your Child Literacy Being SMART SMART Rewards

Introductions Key staff Headteacher – Mrs A Burrowes Deputy Headteacher – Mrs A O’Callaghan Care, Guidance and Support Assistant Headtecher – Mrs K Ferguson Director of CGS – Mr Hockenhull Lead Learning Mentor – Mr C Bingley Student Progress Coordinator – Mr S Dootson

Form Tutors 7 Alpha – Mr Birchby 7 Beta – Miss Carroll 7 gamma – Miss Wilson 7 Delta – Miss Sweeney 7 Kappa – Mr Fairclough 7 Theta – Miss Patel 7 Sigma – Mrs Crosby 7 Omega – Mr Gavin

Curriculum Information

How students in Year 7 are organised Form Groups: All students are in one of 8 mixed-ability form groups: Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, Kappa, Theta, Sigma and Omega During the first 15 minutes at the start of every day students either attend an assembly or a Registration period with their Form group. Once a week students have a Tutorial Period – during this time they work on lessons about Citizenship and Personal, Social and Health Education. The year group is split into two populations – ABGD and KTSO.

Teaching Groups: Students in Year 7 are taught in ability sets for English, Maths and Science. There are 6 sets in each half-year population for Maths and 5 for English and Science. The top set in English also study Latin. They are taught in their mixed-ability forms for: RE Spanish Geography History Art Music Home Technology and Design Technology are taught in mixed-ability groups. Students study each subject for half the year. PE is taught in 5 groups per half-year population. Computing is taught in 6 groups per half-year population.

Target Setting When students join Thornleigh Salesian College in Year 7, we receive details of how they performed in their National Curriculum KS2 tests in English and Maths (SATs). All Year 7 students are currently completing Cognitive Ability Tests (CATs). These provide us with further information about the potential your child has. All students will be set challenging targets and we would encourage you to support them in establishing an aspirational attitude towards their learning. Government policy to remove national curriculum levels means that we will no longer set National Curriculum levels as targets.

Analysing Student Performance Data about how well students are performing is collected centrally and reported to parents 3 times a year. Each time this data is collected a student’s performance is assessed by: The class teacher Subject Leader

Our aim with developing our own system for assessing students is to know exactly how each student is performing and, if necessary, to put in place strategies to address problems before it’s too late. By effective analysis of each student’s performance the aim is to KEEP UP rather than CATCH UP. As we continue to develop our new assessment system we will inform and consult Year 7 parents to ensure that the information you receive on your child is meaningful and constructive.

Year 7 Reports Three reports a year are sent home. Year 7 Report Dates for this year are: Progress Report 1:Week Beginning 23 rd Nov Progress Report 2:Week Beginning 22 nd Feb Full Report: Week Beginning 4 th July Consultation Day for Year 7 is Tuesday 2 nd December Parents’ Evening is Thursday 14 th April

Subjects A description of each subject (including its contents, the skills developed and the forms of assessment) is contained within the Year 7 Curriculum Guide.

Attendance

95%85%80% Lessons missed in 1 year? Over 5 years?266 lessons missed 798 lessons missed One whole school year missed!! What do the % mean?

Current Yr 7 Attendance %: Week 1 Week 2 Week 3Week 4Week

Expectations For all students to be here For all students to be on time For all students to be focussed on their learning For all students to be able to concentrate For all students to be polite at all times For all students to make a positive contribution

Thornleigh Salesian College uses…

Show My Homework (SMHW) is a simple, online homework calendar that allows teachers to set homework in advance. So what is it?

Teachers post homework to the school calendar, and to the student’s calendar. How does it work?

This homework appears on the student’s to do list. Once completed, the student can remove it.

Logging in

See the quantity and quality of work set Track your child’s progression Monitor from a distance Give the power back to parents

We hope that this will help students to keep on top of their work load and stay organised, in a completely transparent way. For the students

Mobile – friendly iOS & Android 24/7 access to homework On the move

Just get in touch with Mrs O’Callaghan or Never be left in the dark again. Thank you for your support, Any questions? nset School logo

Literacy at Thornleigh

How are we responding in Year 7?  All students in year 7 have been given Individual Literacy Targets.  Reading for pleasure.  Word of the Week  Book of the Month  Literacy Leader Programme  National Poetry Day  World Book Day  Rewarding active reading.

Rewards for Reading… There is a Reading Record in the training diary that will allow students, parents and staff to keep a track of what is being read. This reading record should be kept up to date by the student. SMART rewards: Students will receive a SMART reward sticker for reading. Students should not be rewarded for how much they read, but for:  Their resilience to try a difficult book.  For their motivation to read without distraction.  For team work if they read to a buddy.  For self-belief if they read an extract of their book to the form.

How can you support? Encourage your child to read at home. Check that your child has their reading book as part of their equipment each day before they come to school. Check that your child is actively taking part in ‘Word of the Week’ and/or ‘Book of the Month’. Encourage your child to become a Literacy Leader! Check ILT’s are recorded in planners and question your child as to how they are progressing. Check reading records in planners. CHECK THE WEBSITE…

The website…

Literacy at Thornleigh The education system has seen major changes over the last few years. Through all this change, the development of literacy skills remains central to our students’ progress. We have a rigorous whole school policy which has been implemented systematically across the curriculum where all our teachers, no matter what their subject specialism, view themselves as teachers of literacy. We are focussing on a drive to improve, in line with national expectations, reading, punctuation, spelling and grammar. This will help your child comprehend in examinations and communicate written expression with greater clarity. How have we responded? Individual Literacy Targets This will allow students, parents and staff to be aware of areas in their writing that require development. These are recorded in planners and on exercise books across the curriculum to keep students focused on their ILT’s. Reading for pleasure. Part of the government agenda is to make reading much more high profile in schools. One of the ways many schools are approaching this is through targeted form time reading. The aim is to make reading a significant core routine in school. Please help us by ensuring your child brings a book with them every day. “Children and teenagers who read frequently are more creative, imaginative and tend to have greater levels of academic excellence than those who don’t”.  Word of the Week  Book of the Month  Literacy Leader Programme  National Poetry Day  World Book Day  Rewarding active reading.

Opportunities Achievements Behaviour Politeness Respect Support Form Routine Consultation Day.  Weds 2 nd December.