Dear Parents and Carers,

I do hope all your children had a lovely break and are well rested for the term ahead.  For our Yr11s and 13s (and some Yr12s) the break should have been a respite from the current exam period, although I know most will have been working hard in preparation for the next few weeks ahead.  It was really pleasing to see so many of our students attend the revision sessions at JoG, and I thank our staff for giving up their holiday to support them.

I wish all our students sitting exams well.  As I state to them regularly, I never say, "Good luck" as I believe you make your own luck, supported by the phrase, 'You get out what you put in'.  For all those students working hard at home, attending our revision sessions during Period 6 and in the holidays, for the parents/carers supporting their children in the way they can and for those students who will attend all their lessons and revision sessions over the next few weeks, I am certain you will achieve excellent results.

I would also like to mention and thank two other staff members who have given up their time over the holidays.  Miss Lewis and Mrs Bodman have just led their second netball tour to Barcelona this holiday.  This has been a fantastic experience for our girls to immerse themselves in such a culturally rich city and participate in a competition involving many different teams.  It was so good to see the wonderful posts on the jogphysed Instagram account.

On another sporting note, congratulations to Amelie Eaton on achieving 9^th place in the World BMX championships at the end of last term.  What an effort!  We are very proud.

The term ahead is going to be packed with events for our students.  Some of them will be leading activities for our Yr5 taster days and Yr7 transition day, some of our Yr 8 & 9 students will be graduating from the University 'Brilliant Club' and students will be sitting their end of year exams.  With DofE expeditions, activities week and sports day to look forward to, the next 7 weeks will fly by.  Please follow our Facebook page for regular updates of all that is going on!

ESU Shakespeare Competition

Massive congratulations to Hannah Watts and Daisy Taylor (Y8) for getting through to the regional final at South Wilts Grammar School in Salisbury on 13^th May.

Out of eight entrants, there was only one place at the Globe this June, and it was a very closely contested competition. There were a number of impressive performances by entrants from Canford, Colyton, South Wilts Grammar, Queen Elizabeth and Stonar schools. Whilst Hannah and Daisy offered a flawlessly polished performance of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, sadly they did not get through. I certainly would have pegged them in the top three; they certainly impressed the audience! The girls were a real credit to themselves and to John of Gaunt School. It has been a delight working with them this year in rehearsals and I look forward to repeating the experience with them next year.

Well done Hannah and Daisy!

GCSE Drama Students had the fantastic opportunity to participate in a theatre workshop led by Trowbridge Town Hall.

Working in collaboration with industry professionals, the students were developing their own ideas and sharing their own stories about Trowbridge. The town hall is currently developing a project working alongside the National Theatre: weekly workshops are being run for both students and adults. If interested please email Miss J Regan for more information.

Stunning JOG Success at Ten Tors 2024

After a pre-event briefing (mainly about not getting heat-exhaustion) and the final preliminary bits of paperwork being printed off, 25 JOG or ex-JOG students jumped on the minibus down to Dartmoor on Friday 10^th May. After arrival at the much-changed Okehampton Army Camp (now with helicopters, several thousand tents, hundreds of portaloos, alongside burger-vans, a climbing wall, merchandise stalls and several hundred Army personnel and vehicles), the group had one last discussion about their routes, a massive game of piggy in the middle with a football and then ate a hot meal and headed off to bed.

The staff were up cooking at 0300, and at 0500 "Chariots of Fire" was blasted out of the P.A system as a final wake-up call. We served the students a nice full English breakfast and issued them with hydration sachets and strict instructions regarding suncream and sunhats! At 0600, we then walked up to the "Start" line to witness a parachute display and an inspirational speech from Ray Mears. The cannon sounded and off they went!

Team staff had to stay at the camp, as we avidly refreshed the internet page and checked at the Info hangar to see how they were progressing. We even bumped into ex-JOG students, Mohammed Naji and Oliver Guppy - both Ten Tors medallists themselves! Mr Rhodes was not officially staff so he was wonderfully able to venture out onto the Moor and cheer on our students - from a distance! Back at the camp, several students / teams from other schools were dropping out due to the heat.

The JOG students all got through the heat of Saturday and got camped before Sunday arrived and was even warmer. The staff even struggled to eat our cream-tea without being in the shade. As Sunday afternoon crept upon us, it was clear that all 4 groups were going to get round - an incredible achievement, and not a single student dropped out. As usual, the finish line was a mix of happy tears, smiles and relief. 

RECORDS & STATS:

Achievements below are even more impressive due to the additional challenge provided by the heat, although I'm sure the navigators were VERY happy with the visibility.

2024 - First 100% student completion when more than 1 JOG team entered.

55-mile team - ROUTE Z - Imogen Wood, Elliot Ward, Connor McClean, Reuben Wood, Lewis Usher, Amelia Patterson.

Amelia was the first double gold from JOG. This was also the fastest ever 55-time for a JOG 55-mile team (out of 3 entries). Elliot, Lewis, Reuben, Connor became the joint 2nd people to get all 3 medals (Lucy Jackson became 1^st in 2017) and these 4 also still hold the JOG record for fastest 45-mile team (out of 10 entries since 2008).

45-team - ROUTE Q - Will Jackson, Rob Thomson, Dom Carter, Theo Moore, Antonio Finol and Gabriella Fyall were 3rd fastest ever JOG team (out of 10 entries since 2008)

35-mile team - ROUTE N - Tom Usher, Ed Carter, Evan May, Jensen Walsh-Hill, Jack Lilley and Nitya Sanaveerappa - Full team completed!!

35-mile team - ROUTE O - Lauren Baldwin, Isla Biggs, Xavier Heath, Wes Marsh, Olivia Fyall and Alfie Bailly - Full team completed!!

I'm massively proud of all these students, and actually in awe of what they achieved. Even I would not have wanted to do this terrain in this heat with that weight of a backpack.

As always, a huge thanks to everyone for their support over the course of the Ten Tors season - this couldn't happen without you all. Thanks to: (in no particular order) Mrs Brooks, "Smokey" Bill Smith, Iain Richards, Jazzy Smith, Ben Rhodes, Jacqui Surgey & Tina Lawes, Imogen Wood, Elliot Ward, Fac. Admin ladies, Matt Doughty, Yousaf Mirza, Cora & Jack Fievez, Aaron Bilsdon, the long-suffering Mrs Gray and anyone else I've probably missed...

For further photographs please click here.

Well done everyone.

Year 10 Home Study and changes for Term 6

From January, Key Stage 4 (Years 10 and 11) students have been completing homework set by their subject teachers. We moved away from the homework planners after the student and parent surveys overwhelmingly found them less useful than subject-specific homework.

Research shows that effective use of homework can lead to an extra 5 months' progress compared to a student who does not do home-study. Effective home-study is crucial for retaining knowledge and rehearsing key skills. It is essential for securing excellent grades in end-of-topic tests, and further down the track in GCSE and post-16 results. Being good at home-studying is like any other skill – it requires resilience, practice and support.

Parental Support

There are a few ways you can support your child:

• Regularly check ClassCharts - we will continue to use ClassCharts to set and log homework completion.
• Create a regular routine and encourage good homework habits
• Encourage them to set goals, plan, and manage their time, effort and emotions.
• Assist with gaining resources

Student Support

The following support is available for students to complete their home studies.

The Library

• Before school – from 8.15am
• Break and Lunchtime - Year 10 on Tuesday and Thursday
• After-school – until 3.45pm Monday-Thursday, until 3.30pm Fridays

Pitman

• After-school – Monday to Thursday 3-4pm.

Compulsory Study Support Sessions

From the start of Term 6, we will be introducing compulsory study support sessions for students who fail to complete homework.

• Students who fail to submit completed homework on 2 occasions in one week (Monday to Friday) will be automatically logged into one of these sessions.
• They will sit a compulsory study support session after school on a Tuesday for 30 minutes.
• Students that fail to attend the compulsory study support session will sit a second session in after-school on a Thursday for 60 minutes.
• Further failure to attend is a behaviour issue and will lead to attendance in PBSC.

Year 10 Homework Rota

All homework will be set and collected on the same day of the week, meaning students have a week to complete it. For example, if they are set science homework on a Monday, it will be due on the following Monday. On average, students should spend around 40 minutes per week on each piece of homework. Where a subject is more project-based (for example, art), they may set homework over a longer period than one week and will communicate how long should be spent on the work to the students. Homework will be set on Class Charts.

Cyberbullying

What is cyberbullying?

Cyberbullying is bullying online and can take many forms, such as sending malicious messages, leaving nasty comments, excluding somebody from a group chat, blackmailing or setting up a fake profile. Cyberbullying can take place across many different platforms, such as WhatsApp, Snapchat and on games such as Roblox and Minecraft.

What should I do if my child is being bullied online?

If your child is being bullied, then try to stay calm and let them know that it is not their fault. It is always useful to keep evidence of any online bullying and inform their school so that they are aware. Show your child how to block and/or report any users/content and review their privacy settings to limit what others can see. You may also wish to set up any parental controls that are available.

Further information There is a vast amount of information available online about cyberbullying. The following links provide further information on types of online bullying, how to support somebody who is being bullied and who you can contact if you need any further advice or support.

https://www.childnet.com/help-and-advice/online-bullying/  https://www.nationalbullyinghelpline.co.uk/cyberbullying.html  https://www.youngminds.org.uk/young-person/coping-withlife/bullying/

Group Chats

Group Chats are available on various messaging apps, social media apps and in some games. When your child is part of these groups, they may not know all the other members, and it may even include people that they have previously blocked. Your child may come across inappropriate content and bullying can take place within these groups. Talk to your child about how they speak to others online and encourage them to talk to people online with kindness, like they would if they were face-to-face. The NSPCC provide further information about group chats here: https://www.nspcc.org.uk/keeping-children-safe/online-safety/socialmedia/chat-apps/

As a school, we are committed to working with parents to keep children safe online. If you have any questions relating to staying safe online, please contact Helen Kerr, Deputy Head and Designated Safeguarding Lead or John Roberts, Director of Learning for Computing and Business and strategic lead for the use of ICT in school.

Springing into our new central youth space Our new Mill Street youth centre provides a safe space for young people to enjoy a wide range of activities, spend time with friends and benefit from professional youth support. From playing pool, to cooking, boardgames, craft and mentoring  - we are so excited to welcome young people to this amazing space.   Our new patron Flo summed it up perfectly:  “Everyone needs a space outside of school and home where they can be themselves and find connection, and Mill Street is now that space for young people in Trowbridge.”