Whole School Newsletter - 19-01-2024

Friday 19^th January 2024

Dear Parents and Carers,

Hard work and commitment

Our focus for this week has been on hard work and commitment. Commitment is one of our three core values. There is no doubt that the students that work the hardest, achieve the most. I am delighted to share with parents and carers that some of our Year 11 students sat their Maths GCSE in November and they achieved excellent results. 82% of these students achieved the very highest grades of A*A, with 15% achieving B grades and 3% achieving a C grade. This is a fantastic accomplishment and reflects the hard work and commitment of this group of students.

With just twelve school weeks before the GCSE examinations start, it is vital that all our students start their revision now, if they have not already done so. All the evidence clearly shows that the students that begin their independent revision earlier, achieve better results. The better their GCSE results, the more choices your child will have about what they want to do next year, be that Sixth Form, College or employment. The key message with revision is that regular short periods of revision are far more effective than last minute cramming. This will also support your child to feel more relaxed and in control of their work. The following information is taken from the “Edumentors” website

“Starting your revision early is crucial to achieving success in your GCSE exams. The earlier you start, the more time you have to absorb the material and solidify your understanding. Additionally, starting early allows you to spread out your revision over time, rather than trying to cram everything in at the last minute. This can help reduce stress and improve your overall performance on exam day.”

If any students need additional support with any of their subjects, please encourage them to speak to their class teacher who is best placed to support and guide them.

Year 10 sporting excellence

I am also extremely proud to share with you the success of one of our Year 10 students, Luca Florea. Luca has finished the Under 17 season ranked 1^st in Wales and 4^th in the UK for fencing and has been selected to represent GB in the European Championships next month in Italy.  This is a huge honour and Luca is one of just four athletes chosen to represent their country.

As a result of Luca’s significant achievements in his sport he has now been officially recognised as an elite athlete and has been invited to take part in two mentoring programmes during which he will be mentored by Olympic fencers.  I am sure all our families will join me in wishing Luca all the very best in the European Championships and we look forward to finding out how he gets on.

Staff success

It is not only the students at Newport High School that are achieving great things. Many of you will know Mr Hicks who is our Teaching and Learning Lead for our Create Area of Learning. Mr Hicks teaches Art and Photography and is a practising artist. Mr Hicks has a solo art exhibition in Cardiff to celebrate his work. I know a number of staff will be making time to visit his exhibition and we all wish him the very best with this event.

 Free School Meals

Have you claimed all the support you can get with school costs? At Newport High School we want to ensure that every child receives the help they need. The Welsh Government offers support with Free School Meals and School Essentials such as uniform, kit and stationery. Make sure you have checked your child’s eligibility for Free School Meals. Even if you receive Universal Primary Free Schools Meals, more help could be available! If eligible, you can get up to £200 per child for School Essentials, plus extra funding for our school. Check eligibility:www.gov.wales/get-help-school-costs

Please see below the schedule of clubs run by our Area of Learning, Thrive.

Parental Forums

Working closely with our families is an essential element of ensuring our students make progress. To support this, we are continuing to run both our on-line Parental Forum and our Parental drop-in sessions. These are calendared across the year. The next dates for these are;

• On-line Parental Forum (takes place on Teams) – Thursday 25^th January at 5pm
• Parental drop in (takes place in school) – Friday 26^th January at 9am

These are not parent/student meetings to discuss specific queries but are an opportunity to meet with myself to raise broader issues about the school. If you are interested in attending either of these sessions please email info@newporthigh.co.uk stating which session you are would like to attend.

School dates

This Spring Term is very short with February half-term starting on Monday 12^th February. Students then return to school on Monday 19^th February and we break up for the Easter holidays on Friday 22^nd March 2024.

The remaining INSETS for the rest of this academic year are as follows;

1. Friday 8^th March 2024
2. Friday 28^th June 2024
3. Monday 1^st July 2024

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all our families for your continued support.

With kind regards

Mrs Lee