LGS Headlines

Langley Grammar School Reddington Drive Langley Berkshire SL3 7QS 01753 598300 school@lgs.slough.sch.uk

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www.lgs.slough.sch.uk

31 January 2014

From the Headteacher

Dear Parents

Staff and students returned after a well-deserved Christmas and New Year break to begin the Spring Term. For many of our students January marks the point at which they begin their examination preparation in earnest.

In the student pages of this issue......

Greased Lightning

The LGS Sports Centre - who’s who?

Parents Corner

Literacy Focus

Sixth Form Taster Day

Sixth Form ‘Ace your exams’

Year 7 House Sport

Basketball success

GCSE and A-Level Artwork

Mr M Aplin - News Manager

It is sometimes easy to forget just how good an education we provide at Langley Grammar School. In recent months we have been very pleased to see the achievements of our students and the support and dedication of our staff recognised.

In December each year Ofsted produce a database which measures the ‘value added’ by the school between starting in Year 7 and completing Year 11. The achievements of last year’s Year 11 placed the school in the top 15% of schools nationally for students’ progress - which is all the remarkable given the high attainment with which the majority of students enter the school.

The recently published Department for Education league tables place Langley Grammar School in 15th position nationally for overall student achievement. This is the total number of points achieved by last year’s Year 11 students across all the GCSEs they took over Years 9, 10 and 11.

The Times Top 100 State Schools list included Langley Grammar School on the basis of last year’s combined GCSE and A-Level results.

We use a system called ALPS to measure the progress made by our students in the Sixth Form. The achievements of our Sixth Form over the last three years place us in the top 10% of the 1000 or so schools in the ALPS database.

I am sure you will share our pride in the dedication, hard work and achievements of our students and staff.

Mr J Constable - Headteacher

Year 9 and Year 11—time to choose!

Year 9 students are now engaged in the process of choosing their optional GCSE subjects for Years 10 and 11. Full details were provided to students and to parents through an assembly and parents’ briefing earlier this month. Copies of the relevant information can be found on the school website. We have a well-established process which supports Year 9 students through the consideration of their options, and provides time for them to discuss their choices with a staff mentor.

Year 11 students experienced our Sixth Form Taster Day earlier this week. Through a series of plenary presentations, exercises and a question and answer session with current Sixth Form students, they were able to find out more about the subjects they are interested in and what life as a Sixth Form student would be like. The day was preceded by a parents’ briefing at which we presented similar information about what we can offer in our Sixth Form.

Thank you to all those parents who came to the options briefings—we hope you found them useful and informative as you support your sons and daughters in making what can sometimes be quite difficult choices.

Mr J Constable - Headteacher

LGS Headlines

31 January 2014

Assembly themes

Our assemblies so far this term have followed a slightly different pattern because of the use of the hall for examinations. However, we have used the assemblies to challenge students across year groups in a number of ways - for example to build on their successes from last term, and to think about trying new activities.

One particular theme we have explored is that of ‘marginal gains’. Reflecting on the success of British cycling in the Tour de France and the 2012 Olympics, Mr Pascall challenged students to think about the cumulative effect of looking at the details of what they do and trying to make just a 1% improvement in each area. The combined effect of small changes can add up to something much more significant.

Students need to be able to persevere in all they do - to have the tenacity to keep going when things get difficult, and to consider how they react to challenges and setbacks. Mr Constable spoke about the need to have a dream or ambition but to be able to achieve it requiring hard work, dedication, and a positive attitude to challenges and setbacks.

J K Rowling, the author of the Harry Potter series of books, told a group of graduating students from Harvard University:

“t is impossible to live without failing at something - unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all.”

The American inventor Thomas Alva Edison had a very positive outlook towards the challenges he experienced in perfecting a working light bulb:

Mr P Adams—Assistant Headteacher

Senior Prizegiving

At the very end of the Autumn term we held our annual Senior Prizegiving presentation evening. Students from the Year 13 group who left the school in July 2013 came back to receive their A-Level certificates and to meet friends after their first term away at university, at work, or on a gap year. In addition to the presentation of certificates, for outstanding academic achievement we took the opportunity to resurrect an old tradition and to introduce two new ones.

The first - and new - tradition recognised the contribution made by two people who achieved excellent academic results while carrying a significant level of responsibility as Head Boy and Head Girl. . We couldn’t have asked for two better ambassadors for the school and it was a privilege to formally thank our Head Girl and Head Boy of 2012-

13, Bryony Sewell and Karim Alame.

Our second new tradition was to establish a Headteacher’s Commendation as a special recognition to someone for who their success was achieved against significant challenges. The recipient of this Award joined the School in the Sixth Form; she overcame considerable personal difficulties but continued to quietly persevere with her studies, and remains determined to achieve her ultimate ambition to Medicine at university. There are many routes to achieve what you dream of and from what we have seen know that this student will never give up - it therefore gave us great pleasure to present Sunna Ali with the Headteacher's commendation.

Over 20 years ago we had a student called Hilary Jemmett. Seriously disabled, Hilary benefitted greatly from her time in the Sixth Form here but sadly died shortly after leaving the school in 1993. Her parents donated a plate in her memory with the intention that it be awarded to a student who had made the greatest contribution to that Sixth Form community from which Hilary gained so much. Sadly the award fell into abeyance some years ago, but it has been rediscovered.

The person receiving this award contributed very significantly to the school throughout the Sixth Form and indeed through their whole time at Langley Grammar School, involved in a range of school activities including music as well as showing a very positive and committed approach to their academic study. She was able to exert influence through her excellent relationships with others, yet was never afraid to stand by their principles. We were delighted to present the Hilary Jemmett Award 2013

to Bryony Sewell.

Mr J Constable—Headteacher

Greased Lighting!

Outside school hours, the Langley Grammar School Sports Centre is open to the public and is run for community use throughout the year. A primary focus of the Sports Centre is to deliver a high level of customer service to all its customers. To ensure this is maintained the Sports Centre has employed 5 students from Year 12 and 13 as Sports Centre Assistants. This is a brilliant opportunity for the students as they are introduced to working life, helping to develop their personality and life skills required for a successful future.

Craig Bartlett - Sports Centre Manager

Craig is a former LGS student; having left the school in 2008 and went to Brunel University, graduating with a Sports Science degree. He was an assistant at the Sports Centre whilst in Sixth Form at LGS and has since progressed to become the Sports Centre Man-ager.

Priya Khosla - Sports Centre Assistant

Priya is currently in Year 13 and is aspiring to be a Physiotherapist. She is the school’s Games Captain, Secretary for the Berks and Bucks FA Youth Council and a Young Ambassador for the Slough School Sport Network. Priya has a very bubbly and friendly personality which helps her develop a strong relation-ship with all our customers.

Sainsbury's Active Kids is a voucher scheme run by Sainsbury's. Schools can redeem vouchers for sports equipment. LGS has a collection box in Reception so please start collecting! For every £10 spent, 1 voucher is issued. However in 'Sainsbury Local' stores, the earn rate is higher - 1 voucher per £5 spent. Try to use checkouts rather than self service to collect as many as possible. Thank you.

LGS Sports Centre

Kayenat Irfan—Sports Centre Assistant

Kayenat is originally from Hong Kong and has recently joined LGS Sixth Form. She can speak a total of 7 different languages! Kayenat loves to travel and has some very interesting stories. Unsurprisingly, she is cur-rently studying Geography as one of her 4 AS Levels. Kayenat always has a big smile on her face whilst at work and has quickly become an in-tegral member of the Sports Centre team.

Hana Stewart

Sports Centre Assistant

Hana is in Year 12 at LGS currently studying for her AS Levels. Hana is a keen hockey player and plays for Slough Hockey Club at the weekend. She is also currently rehearsing for the school production of ‘Dirty Dancing’ which is to be per-formed towards the end of this term. Hana interacts really well with the custom-ers and enjoys conversing with everyone that comes through the Sports Centre doors.

Darsh Gadher

Sports Centre Assistant

Darsh is currently in Year 13 and is hoping for a future in banking. He likes the out-doors and has climbed a handful of moun-tains, including Mount Kilimanjaro. Darsh is an extremely reliable member of the Sports Centre team and enjoys the oppor-tunity of working and interacting with the Sports Centre clientele.

Roop Bhamra

Sports Centre Assistant

Roop is currently in Year 12 and has been working at the Sports Centre since September. She is cur-rently studying Geogra-phy, Chemistry, Biology and Maths for her AS Lev-els. Roop has a keen in-terest in photography. Roop has been a fantastic addition to the Sports Centre team and has fit-ted in well.

LGS Sports Centre

LGS Sports Centre

Parents’ Corner

Here are some suggestions for parents to support their children at home with their learning.

1. Pretend to be the student. Ask your son or daughter to be the 'teacher' and teach you what they learnt in their lesson today. By ex-plaining the lesson to another person it helps consolidate their understanding, and helps them to think about how to communicate ef-fectively, which is an important skill in assess-ments.

2. Can you make up your own question? When your son or daughter has finished a set of questions you could ask them to make up their own question, then ask them what is the same about their question, and what is differ-ent? Can they explain why? This will help them in making connections, and realising that similar techniques can be used in answer-ing different types of question.

3. When doing work at home, encourage your son or daughter to have a 'question wall', in reality a piece of paper or some post its, where they can note down any questions that come up from the work they are doing. En-courage them to then try to answer these questions by looking in the textbooks, re-search online, or asking friends. If they are still unsure they should then bring their questions to the teacher.

4. Have a go at the homework, then ask your son or daughter to mark your work for you! This will get the student to think about what errors and misconceptions might occur in this topic, as well as thinking about the success criteria when marking.

5. Instead of asking “what did you do?” ask “how did you do it?” Encourage your son or daugh-ter to think about the learning that took place during the day.

In recent years, literacy has been under increasing scrutiny in schools across the UK. Employers and universities regularly

comment on their frustration at seeing excellent candidates limited by poor literacy; increasingly, good spoken and written

communication seems to be what separates top candidates from those who cannot effectively express their best ideas.

At Langley Grammar School a new whole-school literacy drive began last year and the difference around school is already

evident. Under the definition of ‘Reading, Writing and Communication’, literacy has been brought to the attention of all

students through assemblies, school-wide learning objectives and regular literacy grades for assessments in all subjects.

The Literacy Leaders Award started this term, with students undertaking a series of challenges to enhance the literacy of all

students, whilst developing their own leadership and teamwork skills. Competitions centred on communication have been

running all year, with creative writing, the new Langley Laureate and an upcoming Spelling Bee all adding to the busy

schedule. The new Student Magazine has allowed students to experiment with methods of communication and consider

different forms and mediums, including modern communication technologies, such as Twitter. We will be featuring literacy

tips in Headlines and around school and are looking forward to Literacy Week in the Summer term.

Staff and students have worked hard to raise the profile of this important element of education and of everyday life. Their

continued efforts are proving the value of strong reading, writing and communication skills, not least because of the impact

on GCSE examinations and controlled assessments . We look forward to seeing the results of those few extra exam marks ,

the improved accuracy in UCAS statements and more confident, effective communication from all of our students.

Focus on Literacy

The literacy tips develop students’

understanding and they can be very

animated they can be when discuss-

ing their ideas around literacy.

Vedant Nemane (8H) is seen here

discussing his ideas having im-

proved his understanding of literacy

topics .

1

APOSTROPHES

1) Apostrophes can be used in two ways: to show omission or to show ownership.

Omission apostrophes point to where something is missing: did not becomes didn’t (apostrophe points to the missing ‘o’ of not), I am becomes I’m (apostrophe points to the missing ‘a’ or ‘am’).

2) Ownership apostrophes point back at the owner: the dog’s bowl has an apostro-

phe pointing to one dog, so one dog is the owner. The dogs’ bowl points back at all the dogs, so several dogs must be the owners. Simran’s bag has an apostrophe pointing to Simran so she is the owner. Simrans’ bag is unlikely to happen (unless several Simrans are sharing one bag!)

Don’t get confused when people write James’; they’re just missing an extra ‘s’ to save time!

2 AFFECT

& EFFECT

Affect is a verb (a doing word!) while effect is a noun (a naming word!).

Her work affects her final grade.

Her excellent final grade is the effect of her hard work.

TOP TIP: to remember this, if it could be THE effect or AN effect, it is always spelt with an E

Two common issues.........

Supporting Literacy

Oh dear......!

Sixth Form ‘Ace your Exams’

Exams and the pressure that comes with it is a

feeling that is all too familiar for Sixth Formers at

Langley Grammar School, and all secondary

schools for that matter. As a result, there has

been major emphasis on revision and repeated

learning so that when exam time approaches,

the students are well prepared and stress-free

and able to do their best.

On 6th January 2014, Year 12 attended a ‘Study

Skills’ session in the lecture theatre aimed at

showing various revision tools that could be

used by students to achieve the best grades. This

seminar was taken by Elevate Education, and

they specialise in interviewing and observing the

highest achieving students in Australia and Eng-

land. They then use this information to help stu-

dents across the world achieve better results.

Examples of revision techniques introduced by

Charlie (Seminar Instructor) included printing

out the specification for each subject in order to

build up an image of what needs to be learnt for

each upcoming exam. Furthermore, the highest

achieving students also balanced leisure and

study time, as too much revision can lead to

tiredness. Finally, another useful technique is to

complete various past papers before the exam

to gain a feel for exam-type questions and how

to answer them.

This session was found to be very useful to Year

12 students, based on general feedback. They

understand the huge leap from GCSE to A-level,

and how important it is to put into practice and

use these skills in order to achieve the best

grades at A level.

Written By Harry Khera & Adi Sahay 6B

Year 11 -

Getting a taste for the Sixth Form

On the Wednesday 29 January Year 11s took part in the Sixth Form Taster Day, outlining the possible subject

choices for our A Levels and how we could determine which ones to study.

The day began with the Year 11 students being mixed up and registered in Sixth Form Tutor groups which also

comprised of current Year 12s which was a new experience as we had always been restricted to our form groups.

This enabled us to get a feel of what the Sixth Form social life would be like and although the idea of being sepa-

rated from our close friends is always daunting, I believe many of us really enjoyed this tiny, yet vital experience.

Throughout the Taster Day, we re-grouped and were reunited with our original form groups, going from seminar to

seminar, which each summarised the key topics that would be covered in each subject within the specification. The

day was packed full of information but having talks on most subjects was really beneficial and gave us an insight of

what the various subjects would be like. We also attended plenary sessions which aided our decisions, alongside

having a Q and A session with current Year 12s which was a valuable part of the day too.

During the Taster Day we had a lot of information thrown at us and it was a lot to process, but nonetheless, it was

very helpful and we are grateful for the school’s time and the support that was put into making this day happen.

Here students can be seen work-

ing in groups on activities they ex-

perienced in the individual subject

sessions.

Members of Year 12 were assist-

ing teachers throughout the day in

the various seminars.

Year 11 -

Getting a taste for the Sixth Form

Year 7 House Sports Written by Jasmine Panesar 7S

Things looking good for Year 7 in the house football and netball

matches in the last few weeks! Each house has won at least

once and despite a few injuries and a lack of subs, things are go-

ing well. Netball seems to be going fine, and with teachers as

referees, there’s no cheating. Fouls were given to other teams

many times due to footwork and travelling with the ball, but we

are learning fast! Football is also happening and with the boys

coming back as sweaty as anything and their cheeks scarlet,

trailing mud behind them you can tell that it has been played in

a committed way with everyone trying their best! So now

there’s only one question left……….

Who will win? Check out next month’s edition to find out!

Year 7 House Sports

Hoops of Success

The Year 11 Basketball squad is one of the most successful teams in school, having recently qualified for the County League Semi-Final. Due to the depth of talent in the year group there are two teams, one of these sides recently played at home against St Josephs school, with LGS winning 70—43. The atmosphere in the Sports Hall was lively, with teams competing to a good standard. As the match progressed Langley started to pull away and a clear gulf in class was apparent as the game wore on. The whole team were very supportive of each other and worked together cohesively. Here are some images from the match showing the team in action!

Hoops of Success

GCSE Artwork

During my GCSE Art course I have been able to enhance many skills in order to better my work in my sketch books. I have

found this course very challenging yet interesting as it provides you with an insight of our own talent, allows you to explore

materials and discover new ways of presenting art that may have been unknown.

During the two years course, we have been given three topics to complete before our examination in May. This process started

at the beginning of year 10, in which our topics were: ‘Sense of place’, ‘Self ‘and ‘By the sea’. Each project required the student

to complete a sketch book containing initial ideas of the topic up until the final development and final piece. The sketchbooks

contain the gradual build up of studies, artists, exploration, development and techniques; the book is a way of demonstrating

your understanding of the topic to the teacher and also later on to the examiner.

The topics that you are given are chosen so that you are able to explore in enough detail and come up with further

development and show progress of your work throughout the course. For each title, the students are given around six weeks

to complete their sketchbooks. After that the final piece is done under exams conditions in order for the student to experience

the pressure of the time limit to complete their work. I personally think that going through that process helped me a lot as it

gave me an understanding of what I can accomplish during that time and how the good the quality of my work is under

pressure.

Overall I think that taking GCSE art was a good decision as it gave me an opportunity to explore my hobby and become better

at what I enjoy doing.

Title Tarania Amirthalingham 11H Title Tarania Amirthalingham 11H

Written by Nikita Singh 11R

GCSE Artwork

Misha Gadher 10R

Harshav Mahendran 10R

Anita Dhillon 11R Sagana Thavabalasingham 11K

A-level Artwork

In A Level Art, you do two coursework units and one exam unit. These are spread out across the two years in which

you work your way through the course. Its 60% coursework, and 40% exam material. For each unit, you're given a

topic to work on, or a selection of topics to choose from. The first few lessons are teacher led, and then around 6

weeks in, you're given the freedom to explore the theme more independently, working with the materials and

techniques which are best suited to communicating your ideas.

I take Art for A-Level and we are currently working towards our final piece (literally what it sounds like: a piece

submitted at the end of the unit reflecting all your hard work) of our first unit. Then at the start of February, we will

begin our exam unit. The final piece we are doing right now is done in lessons. In A-Level there are four or five

lessons per week depending on the timetable. That’s plenty of time to get your work done, along with the extra

homework hours and independent study sessions.

If you're not already sold on the idea of having an option which is creative and fun, there are also many trips to gal-

leries which is always a positive experience. They'll help with artist research and observational drawings and it's a

day to see some great work in a gallery.

It's a challenging, yet enjoyable option to take which goes nicely alongside my other subjects which at times can be

stressful.

Written by Chandni Sembhi 6O

A-level Artwork