School Uniform

Parents will know that we have introduced a school sweatshirt this year, after student consultation. It is grey, with our name on the front and the soundwaves representing the sound of the school name on the back. Students may wear jumper, cardigan or sweatshirt. They may NOT wear any other jumper, cardigan or sweatshirt in school. 

Please will you make sure that your son or daughter has at least one of the above, to keep warm in the winter.  We do not allow any coats to be worn in the building. It is one of the important ways in which we demonstrate our common commitment to our community.     

School Uniform Sale!
All Tallis jumpers and cardigans are now on sale at £5 each in Whitehall Clothier’s in Lewisham.  The new sweatshirts are also available, at £11.95 to £16.95 depending on size.

(Whitehall Clothiers Ltd, 244a Lewisham High Street, SE13 6JU, Tel: 020 8852 8967)

Home Learning, Insight and Parent Forum feedback

Thank you for the thirty plus parents who attended the parent form on the evening of Thursday 13 October.  The presentations on home learning and our new parental engagement software were well received and fueled lots of useful questions and comments. As I said on the evening, whilst we trialed the software internally before the summer, we knew that the only way to truly learn what works and what doesn’t, would be by introducing it for the whole school. We are providing parents with a huge amount of real time information, making it important for us to help parents learn how to respond to it appropriately, as well as supporting staff and students to use it.

Whilst most parents said they really liked the new system and were pleased with the amount of information now available, the main questions raised at parent forum are below with some solutions or comments in blue next to them.

The app doesn’t work. We didn’t even know there was one because we haven’t yet bought into this module! We will ask for a trial to see how effective it is and keep you informed. In the meantime, please use it via the internet as normal.

The homework shows as “overdue” when it isn’t. This is a problem that isn’t easy to solve. We wanted to turn the ‘signing in’ function off as it is not the normal way of operating for us at the moment. Unfortunately, this then shows the assignments as zero on the front page. We took a vote from parents and decided that it was best to leave it there but to let you know as parents not to worry about the “overdue” comment at the moment. Once we have the main parts of the system working consistently, we may revisit this.

Assessment page confusion over language. There is a guidance document for parents on the community page of the website and we will place a link on the front page of insight.

Rewards and Behaviour points/comments are really useful. Are rewards given consistently and what do they get? Our new rewards system is available to view on the website. We are encouraging staff, particularly in the older year groups, to use this function.

Examples of mistakes/missing class register marks. We are providing parents with a huge amount of information ‘warts and all’. Teachers are human and are busy teaching in lessons, meaning they sometimes make mistakes. However, having transparent information will allow us to follow up and hopefully reduce the likelihood of this happening.

Some concern about lack of homework being set in some year groups. It may be that staff are still using the planner and not the software. We will run a report and follow this up with teachers and students where appropriate. Please do contact a teacher, tutor, curriculum leader or Head of Year if you feel this is an ongoing issue.

Speed is an issue. We are working on this with the software company at the moment and will keep you informed.

In general, some of the functions that are causing confusion will be removed. My main plea is for you to bear with us whilst we develop the use of this really powerful software and to keep providing us with constructive feedback. To try and support this process, I will make sure there is a regular update on the system in the newsletter, of which this is the first!

Ashley Tomlin Principal Deputy Head

I am PC Harvinder Jutte and I am the new Schools Police Officer. I work  in the school to give staff and students support and advice as well as to improve community engagement. 

You may be aware of the recent press and social media reports about so-called “Killer Clowns”. We are aware that this is causing some anxiety amongst students and would like you to know that we are  doing all we can in school to reassure pupils - the number of reported incidents has been very small and that no one has been hurt by these clowns, despite their ominous name. We will be increasing the presence of Senior Leadership at the gate before and after school over the next week to offer more reassurance.

There is a chance that with the approach of Halloween that students may think it is fun to dress up as clowns. We strongly advise them not to do this and students should also be discouraged from joining social media sites to do with the clowns or from giving them any publicity.

PC Harvinder Jutte 192RG

Parents and Carers are invited to a presentation by the Amy Winehouse Foundation on 12th December 2016 6:00pm - 7:15pm.

This forum will help parents understand substance misuse and the support which is available. 

Thanks again to everyone who got involved in the National Poetry Day celebrations last Thursday. Please enjoy two videos, filmed and edited by Year 8 and 9 students, to promote the day. One is a collection of some of the nation's best-loved poems, read by a selection of staff and students. The other reveals the favourite poems of Jon Curtis Brignell and Carolyn Roberts, with their reasons for choosing them. 

Click these links to watch the National Poetry Day and Favourite Poems films.

Lizzie Church, Literacy Co-ordinator

This drawing by Madeline Plaskitt in 7PY is inspired by artist Charley Harper. The class have produced some diverse and exciting responses to this home learning assignment. Brianna Dixon's music box was inspired by Andy Warhol's pop art, Shannon Mulcahy loved Van Gogh's sunflowers so much that she created her own version. Takara Tomlinson-Warren was also inspired by the same painting but personalised hers by drawing her Mum's favourite flower.

Diane Minnicucci, Art