Newsletter
February 2019
A message from the principal
Welcome to our latest newsletter that gives a snapshot of our current work, students activities and successes. 2019 has got off to a very strong start, we were particularly pleased to hear from the Department for Education that our Year 11 confirmed results for 2017/18 show above average progress across a range of eight subjects for our students.
We are equally pleased that the same tables confirm our sixth form progress, both with A level and vocational courses to be one of the best of any Hillingdon School.
You can see the full tables here clicking the links below.
I would like particularly to draw your attention to the section of this newsletter related to governance of the school. We currently have vacancies for parent governors and I would be delighted to hear of your interest in supporting the school by applying for one of these positions.
Please feel free to browse our Twitter accounts for up to date information and updates on the variety of activities taking place at Uxbridge High School.
Please note that our Twitter accounts are public and you can browse them at any time without having to sign up for an account.
16-18 performance
Key Stage 4 performance
Parent governor vacancies
The governing body currently have vacancies for parent governors. The school and governors would welcome your interest and application for supporting the school by serving on the governing body. If you are interested in applying to be a parent governor, full details are available on the school website, using the link below. Here you will find a letter from the principal, an information sheet and job description, along with a nomination form.
The deadline for nomination forms is 4pm on Friday 1st March.
If you would like any further information about the role of parent governor, or the nomination process, please contact the clerk to governors - clerktogovernors@uhs.org.uk.
If you would like a copy of the letter and nomination form to be posted to you, please contact the school office - office@uhs.org.uk.
Alps
Teach First
Sixth form - Mr Churchill, Head of Sixth Form
We have received a record amount of applications to join our sixth form this September. Year 11 students are now going through the interview process to discuss their post-16 choices and GCSE targets. Applications for our sixth form can be made online using the link below.
Mock examinations
Year 11 parents' evening
Following a successful trial at the recent Year 11 parents' evening, we will now be using an online booking system for parents to book their own teacher appointments for all future parents' evenings and similar events. An extremely positive total of 93% used the system and booked appointments online.
Before an event, parents will be emailed a letter with how to guide on how to use the system. Once registered, the same details can be used to log onto the system for all future events.
We will also be introducing a new electronic way for parents to provide feedback from all of our events. After an event, parents will be emailed ta link to a SurveyMonkey questionnaire, which will take no longer than five minutes to complete. We really value parental feedback, as it helps us to understand your views and to develop our partnership further.
SENECA
All students and teachers now have free access to Seneca, a revision and homework platform making studying more fun.
Seneca is an interactive way to learn official course content. Their web app covers 150+ exam board specific courses condensing what students need to know for their exams. The software is able to identify gaps in learning. For instance, when you get a question wrong, the platform will repeat the topic in different formats and their smart algorithm has proven to make students remember topics 2x faster.
Seneca is totally free for students, teacher and parents. You can sign up via senecalearning.com
Safety at Uxbridge High School
As a school, we welcome the support of our local police through our dedicated safer schools officers and we are working with them to emphasise the importance of personal safety. In support of this, there will be a ‘security arch’ on the school site, for one day this term.
We will also be welcoming back to school our police security dog to further raise awareness regarding security. The school is currently holding assemblies to re-cap on the importance of safety and safeguarding to students and to whom they should report concerns of any type. During these assemblies, students will also be reminded of our behaviour expectations both in school and in the wider community, particularly on buses and in Uxbridge town centre.
Keeping Uxbridge High School a safe environment for all who work, and or study here is our top priority and any situation where a person's safety at Uxbridge High School is compromised will be addressed with severity.
ACS Hillingdon
We are delighted to be developing a strong relationship with staff and students at ACS Hillingdon International School. Our students have joined together for a number of activities recently.
Mr Patten organised a maths exchange with ACS Hillingdon last term. 15 Year 10 students from UHS went to ACS and worked with ACS students in an afternoon of maths based challenges. They competed in teams and completed a variety of challenges testing their strategic thinking, problem solving and numeracy skills. The students had a great day and really enjoyed themselves. We are hoping to continue these exchanges in the future.
PE:
Our sixth formers suffered a big defeat in their first basketball game of the year and will look to bounce back with more games moving forward throughout this term. Our Year 10 boys however put in a magnificent performance, just coming up short 28-24 to a team who have been playing and training solidly since the start of the year. We will look forward to a rematch against our new rivals!
Mr Emery, Acting Curriculum Leader - PE
It has been another successful start to the year in terms of engagement and progress shown across sport and PE at Uxbridge High.
Our students have been to watch the ATP tennis finals and in February will head to Body Worlds for a new educational experience.
The girls continue to attend the school football training sessions supported by Brentford as well as dedicate time to the netball court heading all around the borough with a busy fixture list.
Dance has been a huge hit this year for our girls who will be competing at the Hillingdon Dance Festival and have recently qualified to take part in The Big Dance off. They all dedicate a huge amount of time to training and preparing themselves for what we are sure will be a huge success. Good luck to all of those involved!
The boys have reached the Middlesex Cup football quarter finals this year already in Years 8 and 10, narrowly missing out on progression through to the semis, a huge well done to all involved. Our Year 8 boys have also reached the West London Schools cup semi final which will be played at Hazelwood, the training ground of London Irish. What a fantastic experience this will be for our young players and we wish them all the best.
We must also say a massive well done to Abdi Hamud, a tremendous athlete in Year 9 and Chloe Raeburn in Year 10. Abdi came 4th overall in the Middlesex Cross Country in Harrow. Chloe has again been selected as part of a cheerleading squad who will represent England in Florida later this year - an astonishing achievement!
As always, a huge well done to all of those students who continue to attend extra-curricular clubs and represent the school across a number of sports. Keep up the good work!!!
Ian Mitchell, Catering Manager
Panini Bar is open from 8:30am until 2:15pm
Breakfast is served from 8am-8:30am
Morning break is 10:55am - 11:15am
Lunch is from 1:00pm -1:50pm
All main meals are £2.25 which is served with a dessert.
The Satellite Bar is open for after school sales from 3:00pm until 3:15pm. Look out for offers on sandwiches.
Mrs Sibblis-Boyce, Librarian
The scholastic Book Fair which ran in the library last week, was well supported by our students ad made a whooping total of £ 410.50, the library gets a reward of £164.20 to purchase books for the library.
As part of World Book Week, the author Cliff McNish will be coming in on 28th February 2019. He will be talking to students in the activity studio, during which he will entertain students about writing, reading and his novels. This will then be followed by a workshop in the library with a selection of students.
Author and ex student Gareth Stevens will also be visiting the library on the 11th March. Gareth is an ex student who is coming to talk to some of our students. Gareth went on to study electrical and electronic engineering, obtaining a master's degree and is now an author having just published his first fiction book.
Poet Visit - Adisa Andwele
Safer Internet Day 2019
Jack Petchey Nominations
There is now a nomination form for parents to nominate any students for the Jack Petchey awards. Recipients do not have to be the best at sport, work or anything else but they must have contributed to the school or community in a significant way. Equally, achievement award winners can be recognised for personal developments and positive personality traits. Award winners can only win the award at their school once.
Achievement award winners will receive:
- A framed certificate.
- A pin badge.
- A boxed medallion (at a public awards ceremony)
- For a school/community project on the Student Council generated list - £200. )Winner to be part of the Student Council decision).
To nominate a student please visit the link below:
Miss Kaur, Curriculum Leader - Science
In September the science department kicked off its annual activities with the crime scene investigation event. Aimed at primary school students in Year 6, the event aims to showcase the work students can look forward to at Uxbridge High School. Feedback from both students and parents was extremely positive. We congratulate Shoikot in Y9 for completing a series of Royal Institution masterclasses which took place on Saturday mornings last term. The masterclasses were a mixture of hands-on workshops and talks designed to highlight a wide range of engineering and computer science fields.
The KS3 science club run by Ms Purewal has successfully been launched. These club provide the chance to explore and investigate science and enrich learning. Successful completion and assessment of these activities will allow students to achieve a bronze crest award.
On Monday 1st October, five Year 9 students were accompanied by Ms Wootton to the Target Mars event at Brunel University, with the aim to develop an understanding of how to survive on Mars and life on board the International Space Station, all whilst competing against other schools through a range of science activities. After solving several complex puzzles and conducting some intense space -themed experiments, our group was assessed and scored against other teams from different schools. Our team won the competition.
Our sixth form students attended a whole day workshop ‘The Trouble with Science is Ethics’ at Brunel University. The focus of the day was to reflect on some important issues and questions within the scientific world. The workshop had various interactive activities which emphasised students’ participation in addition to being informative.
Forty Year 8 students visited the Science Museum on the 30th November and gained a deeper understanding of the solar system, the development of telephones and clocks and the effects of climate change and global warming. This fun-filled and science-rich day gave students an insight on how science fits into real-life.
Well done to all the students who participated in the above activities!
In science, we look forward to seeing everyone participate in more activities organised for next term and explore new avenues as we continue on our journey to inspire our young scientists!!
Dates for your diary
Friday 15th February - Year 13 PPE results morning
18th February - 22nd February - Half term
Thursday 28th February - Year 9 parents' options information evening 5:00pm-7:30pm
Thursday 7th March - Year 8 parents' evening 5:00pm-7:30pm
Monday 11th March - Year 9 exams week
Monday 25th March - Year 11 PPE results morning
Thursday 4th April - Year 9 parents' evening 5:00pm-7:30pm
Friday 5th April - Last day of spring term