Chris Jupp, Acting Headteacher

9th February 2018

12th February - Week of Celebration Assemblies19th February - Half-term

14th May - GCSE and A-Level exams start

ACTING HEADTEACHER’S MESSAGEDear Parents and Carers,

You may have noticed that currently we have workmen on site upgrading the fabric of our rooves. We were lucky enough to secure over £500,000 in additional funding for this work from the Department of Education, as well as the funding received for our new classrooms. This work will come to an end shortly with very minimal incon-venience to our staff and students thanks to the hard work of our Estates Team.

Encouraging our students to read regularly is a high priority here in school. Research shows that students who read regularly make far more academic progress than those who do not. I would like to ask you to assist us with this by ensuring that son or daughter carries a reading book with them in school at all times (this is an

Barr’s Hill News

Preferred payment service - ParentPay We would like to encourage parents to use our online payment service. Using a secure website called ParentPay you are able to pay online using your credit or debit card. ParentPay is our preferred method of making payments to school for trips, books, resources. Saving your son or daughter carrying money on them.

To get started, visit www.parentpay.com. Enter your Activation username and password in the Account Login section of the homepage. If you do not have an activation username, you can get one from Finance in school. Provide all the necessary information and choose your new username and password for your account – registering your email address will enable us to send you receipts and reminders.

Once activation is complete you can go to straight to Items for payment, select which item(s) you want to add to your basket and proceed to complete your payment.

For more information, please visit the school website.

essential part of their 5). Please can you also complete the reading log in your son or daughter’s planner and encourage them to read widely. We are including some recommended books in this edition of the newsletter, but we know that if students prefer to read newspapers or magazines at home, this is still valuable to their progress.

Finally, can I remind our year 10 students that they will be sitting their trial GCSE exams next week and we expect that a significant quantity of revision will be taking place this weekend.

I wish you fantastic weekend.

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Animal Farm by George Orwell

Lord of the Flies by William Golding

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

The Harry Potter Series by JK Rowling

The Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne

Students learn about careers in constructionBarr's Hill School has close links with the construction company Willmott Dixon, who offer work experience opportunities and potential apprenticeships to school leavers.

Willmott Dixon is the UK's leading independent construction and property services company. Founded in 1852, Willmott Dixon is family run and dedicated to leaving a positive legacy in communities and environment.

Students recently visited the Firestation on Radford Road, which is currently under construction. 35 students attended the site tour plus a question and answer session with the company.

Our students gained a great insight from this visit and left with a different view on working in construction. Willmott Dixon are more than happy to take on student's for work experience during the summer holidays. If you are interested in any work experience please speak to Careers Advisor, Mrs Forbes.

Students awarded bronze at The Duke of Edinburgh AwardsStudent's from Barr's Hill School were invited to the Coventry Cathedral to receive their Bronze Duke of Edinburgh awards.

The DofE has a positive impact on young people’s lives, in terms of their personal development and employability, and on wider society, from charities gaining active and engaged volunteers to businesses hiring work-ready recruits.

On the night, the awards were given by British adventurer and explorer, Mark Wood - originally from Coventry.

“The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award has helped countless young people on their sometimes difficult path to adulthood” - HRH The Duke of Edinburgh KG KT.

A big congratulations to the following students for such a great achievement:

Farid AlhajiLucy ArthurMimi AvworoCharlotte Evans Katie Gaskell Lucy GomesMiya JarvisNeamh KailaBashar KdematiJeane MutshipayLuishamae SamuelsJack SandersChloe-May SmallridgeKayleigh Virgo SalterJulia WasilikEllie-Jane Wyatt Holly Wykes

Barr’s Hill School, Radford Road, Coventry, CV1 4BUTel: 024 76234600 Fax: 024 76234609

Email: schooladmin@barrshill.coventry.sch.uk www.barrshill.coventry.sch.uk

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