This month in the maths department we have had had have 63 hours’ of work completed on Mathswatch. With 360 logins, and over 1700 questions attempted. 

Last month our top user was S. Ahmed-Danfulani 9A1 who spend nearly 4 hours attempted questions, revising and watching videos. Join second was L. Connolly 7B1 and J. Oguntimehin 10T1 who both spent 158 minutes working. Final special mention this month goes to L. Larkin in 9B1who has shown he is self-motivated to achieve watching the largest number of instructional videos that compliment the questions on mathswatch. Any student stuck on a homework question or questions they have assigned to themselves can watch the videos attached to any question to help them answer it.

As part of the TGBS Physical Education curriculum, every student takes part in a block of teaching around Health-Related Fitness. As part of this, we look at components of fitness, methods of training and ways to link this to other physical activities in our lives. The aim of this is to encourage all our students to live a healthy and active lifestyle.

Along HRF in lessons, we also have a fitness club after school on a Friday which is run by Mr. Woodall. Students from all year groups have attended in order to try and develop or maintain a healthy style as they begin to understand why it is so important.

“Being physically active can improve your mental health, help manage weight, reduce the risk of disease, strengthen bones and muscles, and improve your ability to do everyday activities” - CDC

The physical and mental benefits to fitness and physical activity are endless and we are looking forward to more people participating in fitness club!

The SEND Department are proud to have hosted their first ever Parents’ Coffee Morning on Thursday 23^rd November. Thank you so much to those parents who found time in their busy schedule to come and meet with me and Matt O’Neill from the CAT Team. It provided a wonderful opportunity to catch up with you all and I do hope you found it beneficial. These links between home and school are so crucial to help us in supporting your child; I know that I speak for myself and the boys when I say we really appreciated your attendance at the event. Look out for details of more Coffee Mornings with us in the New Year! 

It has been lovely to meet and get to know all of the boys on the SEND register and their families over the course of this term. I look forward to booking more SEND reviews with all of you in the New Year. In the meantime, please do not hesitate to reach out and contact me if there is anything you feel your child needs additional support with in school.

Finally, Christmas can be a tricky time for neurodivergent children or children with SEND. This could be the case if your child has Autism, ADHD, a Sensory Processing Disorder, or if your child experiences anxiety or anxious feelings. Planning in advance can help you all adapt and enjoy the festive period. For some advice and more guidance on this topic, please follow the link below: https://parents.actionforchildren.org.uk/additional-needs-disabilities/support-home-school/send-christmas/

From all of us in the SEND Department, we wish you a very peaceful Christmas and a Happy New Year.