On Tuesday 7th July we would have hosted our Pride of Goffs celebration evening. As the school is currently closed due to Covid-19, we are unable to celebrate with you in person, but still wanted to recognise the work of our students.

We are extremely proud of our young people. Pride of Goffs reflects our students’ many achievements and their determination to be the best that they can be in every aspect of school life. This is an opportunity to reflect on the extraordinary achievements of this academic year and to celebrate all that makes this school such a successful community.

Many congratulations to all the winners. All prize winners will receive certificates and vouchers as a reward for their excellent work.

Peter Petrou

Vice Principal

These are awards presented by Heads of Department to students who have shown excellent effort and progress in their subject.

Music

Alfie Dewson, Year 12

Drama

Chloe Flunder, Year 10

Photography

Emily Sparrow, Year 11

Food

Harry Brunton, Year 9

Product Design

Alexander Wood, Year 9

Textiles

Taylor Middleton, Year 11

Media

Cindy Long, Year 11

Business

Ronnie Ortega-Bohlin, Year 10

Economics

Nicholas Mannan, Year 13

Accounting

Aaron Gallagher, Year 13

RS

Abby Hockney, Year 11

Sociology

Madison Phillips, Year 12

History

Chloe Norman, Year 13

Geography

Benjamin Hodgkiss, Year 12

Sport

Ivy Wright, Year 12

Art

Jordan Ying, Year 13

ICT

Isaac Bode, Year 10

Computer Science

Hayden Peck, Year 13

Psychology

Louvain O'Donoghue, Year 12

Biology

Michael Janeway, Year 8

Chemistry

Alanna Simmons, Year 11

Physics

Marc Harvey-Hill, Year 13

English

Kit Hughes, Year 8

Maths

Tilly Barnard, Year 10

Italian

Caitlin O'Brien, Year 10

French

Daisy Barber, Year 10

Spanish

Nathan Hyde, Year 8

These are awards presented by our Directors of Learning and go to students whom we feel have made a significant contribution to their year group, and in many cases the wider community.

Year 7

Alex Bonfante

Ella Thompson

Zishan Haque

Year 8

Louise Barter

Jack Kiamil

Year 9

Tihami Macaulay

Dani Aslett

Year 10

Ronnie Ortega-Bohlin

Katerina Osmani

Year 11

Morgan Maghie

Emily Sparrow

Year 12

Lissy Batt

Luke Keane

Year 13

Megan Leader

George Lapinski

Principal Awards:

These are awards presented by Mark Ellis, Principal, for outstanding contribution to the school and in many cases the wider community.

Year 7

Callia Jordan

Year 8

Mia Harvey-Hill

Year 9

Ben Pinnell

Noah Dell

Year 10

Sam Nouroozpour

Leah Meek

Year 11

Andreas Georgiou

Abby Hockney

Year 12

Ellis Holden

Year 13

Sam Linskey

A big well done to the following students who received commendations from Mr Ellis for their excellent work, positive attitude and consistent effort during the school closure.

The students received R5s for their efforts:

Congratulations to:

Alex Bonfante

Logan Timothy

Akosua Osei Afriyie

Paige Saunders

Guluzar Guven

Joe Ioannou

Kieran Davies

Max Uroda

Janice Owusu-Appiah

Zishan Haque

Leila Abid

Callia Jordan

Maisy Kaye

George Jones

Hayden Wotton

Corey Stubbing

Kelly McBride

Director of Learning - Year 7

The class of 2013 came to an abrupt end on Friday 20th March. No Graduation, no Prom, no A Level exams and not knowing how they would get their results.

Due to the amazing work of ‘The Top Team’, we managed to have a mini graduation for the students. Marc and Nicole led the Top Team with passion and pride, which resulted in a great day. There was laughter and tears as the students said their final farewell to Goffs Academy after 7 years.

I will miss each and every one of them after being their Director of Learning for 5 years. They are truly an amazing group of students and I wish them all every success in their future lives.

Karen Lawrence

Director of Learning Year 13

During the period of lockdown, we designed a range of tasks to support our students’ personal development. In addition to the curriculum work set by our class teachers, we felt it crucial that children were able to experience and enjoy challenges that help with their broader personal development. We hope that these activities provided some variety during the school closure period, and that they were valuable in helping students to develop vital skills, and may have even proved useful to parents too!

These tasks ranged from changing a light bulb, to learning new self-defence techniques, from basic first aid, to making budget plans, to boiling an egg or even baking rainbow cupcakes for Pride. There were also Super Challenges, such as CV writing, and researching different financial situations. The feedback was fantastic and each student who participated learnt a new life skill which they all enjoyed doing, showing great resilience and a strong self-esteem throughout. Each student who participated should be proud of their accomplishments. A huge well done to you all!

Mark Holding

Assistant Principal

As part of their remote learning, students have been exploring various elements of the world of work. We pride ourselves on ensuring that students are well prepared for future employment, and have a range of opportunities to find out more about different careers. Although some of the planned sessions did not take place this year, students impressed us with the high quality of work they produced. I have included some extracts from this work below.

We currently engage with over 30 different employers, through work experience placements for our Year 10 students and our planned Year 9 Careers Fair. We welcome further support from employers within a range of industries. If you would like to support any of the above events, or feel you may be able to offer support in a different way, then do please contact our Careers Lead, Mark Holding, Assistant Principal, mho@goffs.herts.sch.uk.

Sophie Enstone

Assistant Principal – Curriculum Enrichment

During the past few challenging months, the Art Department has set a variety of extra optional Art challenges for the Goffs Community to take part in. Our first two challenges, you will remember, were the ‘Movie on a Toilet Roll’ and ‘Happy Hands’.

Challenge number three was the ‘GREAT ARTIST’ remake. The challenge was to recreate a famous painting using available props. Many people rose to the challenge - students, family, and staff members.

Here are just a few examples:

In this challenge the Goffs' community were asked to create an illustration based on their favourite book. We had many responses, here are a few examples:

Thank you to all of you who have taken part in these challenges. The Art Department wishes you a happy and safe summer holiday. Keep being CREATIVE and we look forward to seeing you in September when we return to school.

Best wishes from,

Colleen Brew and Tiffany Brown

Students in Year 7, 8 and 9 are being taught with pre-recorded lessons, which takes some getting used to…our teachers are beginning to sound like professional presenters! The feedback has been really good, with students in all years asserting that this is a positive and welcome change because it’s more interactive. In some ways, it’s hugely beneficial because students can stop, pause and work at their pace. Nothing beats the old days though, and we look forward to seeing you all face to face soon!

Students from all years have been encouraged to continue their independent learning. We recommend students keep sending completed work to their teachers because we love to see it, and we share it around the department with pride! Obviously, we cannot mention everyone, but there will be lots of rewards when we return to school…lots! So keep sending in the work!

As Year 9 have just finished work on ‘To Kill a Mocking Bird’ and embark on the summer 'Blood Brothers' project, some excellent work has been coming in. A special mention for Katie Brown 9E/EN, who at the start of it, made regular contact with her teachers, sharing her work on a daily basis.

All the 'Blood Brothers' links for Year 9 and Year 10 are on the school website. The film of the show is available too, so get your popcorn ready!

Miss Booth also received great work for the free write Friday from:

Melissa Senturk 8W/Dickens, Mia Harvey-Hill 8E/Dickens, Lakshna Nundah 8E/Dickens

Brooke Davies 8E/Dickens and Sophia Dodsworth 8E/Dickens.

Changing the way we teach and assess for remote learning at KS4

Year 10 students have been invited back into school on two occasions to work with their teachers, finishing set texts, such as, Macbeth and practising skills for language paper 1. An impressive 86% of students turned up to enjoy some long-awaited lessons with their English teachers. All tasks completed have been closely linked to GCSE style questions, making their learning valuable for the 2021 GCSE examinations.

Assessments have changed, with teachers assessing memory with quizzes and assessment for learning, not of learning. The difference being that we look for ideas to feed-forward to students, helping to prepare them for what they will be learning in Year 11. Feed-forward is an innovative way to work with students and suits face to face and remote working. Teachers have found that students are working a little differently, but work is still of a high quality. A BIG shout out to Kayla Ibrahim 10E/EN, who has completed excellent work on Literature during lockdown (see below).

The recent announcements from Ofqual about 2021 examinations are under consultation until late July, so we are doing everything we can to make sure work continues and is relevant for our students. We are committed to making sure you hear the news when we do.

The school website has a host of information, and here you will find all the learning that has been taking place. Currently, Year 11s who are interested in taking English Literature as an A level are being introduced to their future texts, such as ‘The Great Gatsby’ and Christina Rossetti poetry.

Students are completing introductory tasks on autobiographical, social and historical context. Students can access Schmoop, Sparknotes, Cornell notes, Seneca to name but a few online platforms. The short story, ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’ was popular with last year’s A level class, so this is on the school website for students to read and answer the 5 BIG questions.

The final piece of work will be the summer tasks, which are introduced on a pre-recorded PowerPoint, so students can start this work now as there is rather a lot to do…

At an unusual time such as this, we have to make more use of online learning. Whilst the internet contains a remarkable wealth of useful information and helpful websites, we have to remember that there are risks as well. Consequently, the need to be mindful of children’s online safety is more important now than ever.

When teachers set work using Class Charts, Doddle, Seneca or other online platforms, they will only refer students to websites that they have checked, or direct to established and reputable online learning Platforms. There is a wealth of information on Youtube and some clips are educational, but we recommend parents supervise online activities when possible.

Lockdown is undoubtedly a difficult and stressful time and as well as completing online learning, we always recommend escaping from it all with a reading book. If you can’t manage a lengthy book at this time, try a quick read…

It was nice to see the majority of students back in school for some face to face teaching, albeit, it was a little different. If students didn’t attend school, they have been sent their summer tasks and reading. If this wasn’t received, please contact Mrs Collins, the Head of English, before summer closure.

KS5 have embarked on the final reading books for A level literature: ‘The Grapes of Wrath’ by John Steinbeck and ‘A Doll’s House’ by Henrik Ibsen. Students are expected to read their texts over the long summer holidays, and come back to school in September ready to learn and compare. It might be a little bit different learning from home, but we are here to support you every step of the way!

We have put a comprehensive guided reading booklet on Doddle to support your reading of ‘The Grapes of Wrath.’ Students should print the guide or take pictures before it comes off Doddle in late July. It really encourages you to read, analyse and explore all the different contexts. Learning about the author is a good starting point.

The recent announcements from Ofqual about 2021 examinations are under consultation until late July, so we are doing everything we can to make sure work is purposeful and relevant. We will keep you informed.

Enjoy your summer, whether it’s a staycation, a quick trip to the seaside or visiting friends and family, keep safe and well and we’re looking forward to welcoming everyone back in the autumn term!

Lisa Collins

Associate Head of English

Year 7:

Diary of a Young Girl: Anne Frank

Year 8:

An Inspector Calls
Copy of the play
Annotated version

Year 9:

Of Mice & Men

To Kill a Mocking Bird

Year 10 & Year 11:

Macbeth

A Christmas Carol

Blood Brothers

Power & Conflict Poetry

Year 12 & Year 13:

Great Gatsby

A Streetcar Named Desire

Hamlet

Lockdown is undoubtedly a difficult and stressful time, and as well as thanking parents for all the support they have been giving our students whilst working from home, we have collated a list of great summer reads currently being read by our English teachers.

Hello to you all, and all of us here in the MFL department hope that you are keeping well.

We have come to the end of a very different and challenging academic year, which has proved to be quite extraordinary for all of us as parents/teachers, but most importantly for the students. Here in the MFL department we have continued to be very proud of the amount of determination and resilience our students have had in continuing with their learning whilst at home.

On a weekly basis, as part of their remote learning, the students are asked to complete tasks on particular websites. We are very proud of all the work the students have been doing. A special acknowledgement goes to the following students for showing their consistent dedication to their learning, for having achieved the highest amount of points in the whole school.

This is Language:

· 1st place - Caitlin O'Brien Yr 10

· 2nd place - Riley Skillet Yr 10

· 3rd place - Jessica Marlow Yr 10

Languagenut:

· 1st place - Louise Barter Yr 8

· 2nd place – Grace Gaffney Yr 8

· 3rd place - Erin O’Brien Yr 7

As part of their cultural enrichment and development, our students have been involved in various activities throughout the year. From taking part in European Day of Languages competitions; producing outstanding pieces of work for end of term projects such as videos, models, presentations; researching Easter celebrations; attending lunchtime language clubs; to currently taking part in a Language Emersion Challenge.

One of our main events this year was when our Year 7 and Year 8 students studying French, had the opportunity to see a live theatre production in French. The students found this an extremely enriching and an enjoyable event:

"Miss, it really helped to see the people acting the words” (Year 8 student)

“Miss, that was soooo much fun” (Year 7 student)

Over the past few months, remote learning has become the new way of studying. Many of our students have embraced the challenges that this has carried, and have brought extended learning to a new platform for them.

Our Year 10 students have amazed us with their commitment and determination as they prepare for their GCSE exams next year. They have continued to develop the skill of effective independent learning as they start to take control of their own abilities and strengths. An example of this is revision methods that they are using with the resources that have been provided to them through remote learning. Below is an example of how Ashlyn Harrington has been preparing revision cards for Italian.

Well done everyone for all your amazing efforts, and the dedication you have given to learning and developing your knowledge of Modern Foreign Languages!

Antonina Theodorou

2/IC MFL

Imagine the scene. You are in the middle of a 'once in a lifetime' around the world trip, and disaster strikes. As you pass through the tropics your boat hits a pile of floating debris and a large log tears a hole in your hull. Your yacht sinks. Luckily for you you are a strong swimmer and you manage to reach a distant island. Less fortunately for you – it is uninhabited. Can you survive long enough to be rescued?

We have a series of challenges waiting for you next year, some of which you can complete at home and four of which will need to be completed in the team HQs (otherwise known as the labs). We will have fortnightly campfires (socials) on 'Teams' so you can share how the projects have worked for you and get ideas from other groups. Those of you who complete the full set of challenges will be able to get a CREST award and may be able to present their work in assemblies.

What are the challenges? Can you make a water-powered fan, invisible ink (for the message in a bottle), paper recycling, a rope (to tie together an escape raft), a coconut carbon filter (to purify your water), a sundial, organic toothpaste? There are also challenges linked to biodiversity and adaptations. Of course if you have any other ideas about projects linked to this theme, then go for it!

So, anyone in Year 7 or Year 8 who would like to join the club or continue their project that was interrupted back in March please contact Mrs Nicholson (Eni@goffs.herts.sch.uk) or Miss Crichton (FCr@goffs.herts.sch.uk ) so we can get you started. We look forward to hearing from you!

Liz Nicholson

Teacher of Science

RSB Biology & Photography Competition

The RSB run an annual photography competition, which invites amateurs to submit photos on a theme. This year the theme is ‘our changing world’ which means photographs could illustrate changes in nature such as metamorphism, changes in habitats or the impact of humans on nature. The prize for the young photographer of the year (under 18) is £500. Please also send a copy of the photo that you submit to Mrs Nicholson ENi@goffs.herts.sch.uk

On Monday 10th July, Sports Week kicked off. The PE department have been amazed by the number of entries across all year groups. Plenty of House points have been awarded over the week and the leading House will be announced to students at the start of next term.

Students have engaged brilliantly across all subjects; please see the following images for examples of some of the outstanding entries. It has been wonderful to see the students' efforts. A particular mention goes to Jack Lawrence and Joley Moynihan who represent the Falcon house. Jack cycled 137.51km and Joley achieved 72 in the speed bounce challenge!

Another special mention goes to Callia Jordan and Rosie Clowes for their amazing results across several PE challenges.

Miss Myers was very impressed by Hayden Wotton’s slow motion video and his editing skills. Miss Huseyin was blown away by ‘Storm,’ a poem written by Sharon Hood - as I am sure you will all agree, it is sensational.

‘Storm’ By Sharon Hood

Sweaty palms- the calm before the storm

Hands positioned against the ground

The clouds darken as you rise on one leg

Before you hear the shot sound.

And then you’re running: rapidly

The wind biting against your skin

Your turbulent arms driving forwards

As you feel the storm brewing within.

Time seems to stop in the eye of the storm

An eerie silence drowns out the chatter

Pause. It’s like the world is stood still

And you and the track are all that matter.

Then you’re out. You’re still running,

Warm rain trickles down your forehead

You’re thundering, striking, storming past

And storm within you is no longer dead.

Well done to everyone who has taken part in virtual Sports Week. You have all been utterly brilliant!

Lynsey Hague

2nd i/c PE