Uxbridge High School
NEWSLETTER - AUTUMN 2018
Welcome from the Principal
It is a pleasure to introduce our autumn term newsletter. We are delighted that our new Year 7 students have settled in so quickly and well, as well as the many students who have joined our sixth form. The school is brimming with positivity and a wealth of opportunity. Please enjoy reading through a selection of the many events and activities that have taken place so far this term.
Open Evening
We have been PROUD to welcome large crowds of perspective families to our open evening this October. The feedback has been extremely positive as parents and students were treated to a variety of activities, including identifying the 'cure' in history and mock trials in English, to all kinds of exciting experiments in science. Many of our students gave up their evenings to either work in departments, act as tour guides or speak on behalf of their peers. Each and every one of them represented the school in an exemplary manner.
Open Mornings
Prospective students and parents enjoyed seeing Uxbridge High School in action at six very busy open mornings this term. Feedback from the open mornings was extremely positive and demand was very high, resulting in four additional open mornings being held.
Whitehall Year 6 Transition Day
It was a pleasure to host all of Whitehall Junior School's Year 6 students for a visit in October. Students enjoyed participating in science experiments as well as art, music and drama lessons.
KS4 Results 2018
During the summer, students were delighted to share their fantastic GCSE results on BBC breakfast television during results day. A number of students were interviewed by the BBC's Naga Munchetty about their experience of the 2018 examinations and the support they have received from UHS.
BBC presenters, Naga, Jayne and Tim also received the results of the maths exams they sat at Uxbridge High School, live on air!
Sixth Form News
The new academic year has seen record numbers joining our sixth form.
The first half term has been packed full of events including an inspirational induction speech from stand up comedian Moj Taylor, a visit from NCS and students working with Dr Martijn van der Spoel. Gloria Cheng from Brunel University also gave a talk to year 13 in preparation of their UCAS applications.
We have five students who have already submitted their applications to study medicine, dentistry and engineering at top universities. Ms Gingles is available every morning in the sixth form area to help with personal statements.
Post 16 Results 2018
Students and staff at Uxbridge High School are delighted with this year’s sixth form results, 100% of students achieved examination success. 95% of exams entered received a grade A*- E or equivalent and 38% of the examinations were passed at the highest A*- B grades.
English, maths, further maths, fine art and Spanish were among our top performing subjects, with a majority achieving the highest A*- B grades. Students performed very strongly in other facilitating subjects, including sciences and history, opening opportunities for students to take places at top Russell Group universities.
This year’s high flying academic students include:
Jefri Reci A* A* A*
Tanzil Choudhury A A A
Charles Goodliffe A A B
Lakshan Lathan A A B C
Max Lucuta A A B
Emon Ali A* A C
Amayas Bourbia A B B
Kaitlin Jefferys B B B
Destinations
All Year 13 leavers for 2018 have gone on to either universities, gap years or apprenticeships. A selection of Year 13 leaver destinations are below:
Harrison Martin - Manchester University (Russell Group) - Mathematics
Miraj Bilakhia - Southampton University (Russell Group) - Economics
Sumaya Dhashne - Queen Mary University of London (Russell Group) - English
Jefri Reci - Bath University - Mathematics and Physics
Niketa Panchal - Northumbria University - Social Sciences
Ruby Nandhra - Brunel University - Business and Management
Krishan Taneja - Tennis Scholarship - Lake Superior State University in Michigan US
James Gadsden - Kitchen design apprenticeship
Lord Watson Visit
We were delighted to welcome Lord Watson of Invergowrie to Uxbridge High School in October. Lord Watson, the Shadow Secretary for Education, joined the School Council for discussions on education, knife crime and his work in Parliament.
Year 12 and 13 students also had the pleasure of meeting Lord Watson and asking him how he got into politics and his views on numerous big political topics such as Brexit, the UK's education system, the economy and the House of Lords.
Parental Engagement Evenings
We held a successful Year 10 engagement evening designed to inform parents about how they can support their son/daughter through key stage 4 courses. The event included key strategies to guide young people towards reaching their learning potential, as well a wealth of course content from subject leaders. The feedback from parents was very positive, so there will be similar events to look forward to in the future. If you were unable to attend the link to the material presented during the evening is below.
We also held a Year 11 engagement evening on 18th October. Parents and students had the opportunity to attend a focused evening exploring ways to support students during the upcoming challenges that Year 11 presents. After presentations from English, maths and science, targeted presentations were delivered in three other curriculum areas for every student. This provided parents with an early opportunity to meet the curriculum leaders and assist with supporting the work going on in the classroom. For those that were unable to attend then please see the link below for all of the presentations that took place.
The SEN parental engagement evening took place in September. Parents of SEN students were invited to school to find out more about the SEN support available for students, to meet all the relevant staff members and to have the opportunity to talk to staff regarding any concerns they might have. The main focus of the evening was to gather parent views on the best support and sharing their aspirations for their child. It was a very positive and engaging evening.
Team English
The English team had another successful year of GCSE and A level results and we are very proud of our students.
We met and exceeded national average at GCSE with 72% of students achieving a grade 4 or above and 22% of students achieving a grade 7 or above. Our average A level grade was a B.
We have had a fantastic and positive start to the academic year with students across the key stages and are excited to offer an abundance of enrichment to engage and support our students' progress.
Our KS3 cohort have the English praise assembly to look forward to this half term and a visit from Adisa the poet in the new year. The Accelerated Reading programme is up and running with Year 7 and 8 and they are enjoying completing quizzes and making progress in their reading. The library prefects are also running a lunch time book club open to all students.
Some our of Year 10 students are visiting the Barbican Theatre to see a performance of Taming of the Shrew. The Jack Petchey Speakout Competition is underway and we look forward to competing with other schools.
In preparation for the mock examinations, Quantum Theatre will be putting on a performance of A Christmas Carol for Year 11 students. They will also have a had a number of walking talking mocks to support their revision and subject knowledge.
A level English Literature is a significant step up from GCSE and the English team are very impressed with the commitment our students have shown to their work. They have also started mentoring our current Year 11 students with success. Additionally we are planning to take the cohort to see Othello in the coming weeks.
Black History Month
Students celebrated Black History Month by remembering the important contributions and achievements of those from African and Caribbean descent. This month connects students to past and present generations that have made waves in all aspects of modern day life.
This year at UHS we held a Coming to England week assembly, a Windrush narrative told by students about Miss Brown's family's journey from Jamaica to England - the good, the bad and the ugly truths, tied in with spoken word, pictures and achievements.
This was paired with a week of soul food in the canteen, from different parts of the African continent to the islands of the Caribbean; brown stew chicken, jollof rice, sweet potato and lentil curry and pineapple desserts.
European Day of Languages
This year to celebrate European Day of Languages on September 26th, students at Uxbridge High School not only participated in a variety of quizzes in form time (well done 9xYO, you were the winners!) and had the chance to try out some exotic meals in the school canteen, but they were able to witness the stories of The Three Musketeers and Don Quixote in French and Spanish when a performance theatre company came to UHS!
Our talented students not only learned some new words, but they were also able to take part in the action in a variety of roles such as brave musketeers, scary giants, beautiful ladies, the King of France and even a villainous bearded man!
Shugri in Year 7 said: “I think everyone enjoyed the play about the three musketeers since it was very humorous, enjoyable and last but not least fun to watch since we were able to participate in the play. […] The play was very educational since we learned some new French words as well as learning about the history.”
UHS has ‘The Edge’
Uxbridge High School is now offering your son/daughter the opportunity to embark on an innovative scheme called ‘The Edge’ this year.
The scheme is intended, over time, to develop and accredit the life skills and attributes that employers are telling us they need – leadership, organisation, initiative, resilience and communication. This will give students a qualification, which runs alongside their academic successes and recognises what they can do as well as what they know.
In order to gain the qualification at apprentice, graduate or masters level, students need to complete a range of activities from an approved list. The activities can be many and varied and can be undertaken in normal lessons, in extra-curricular clubs or outside of school.
Progress on the scheme will be managed by students themselves using a specially designed on-line application, with tutors and Heads of House providing an oversight and awarding credits towards achieving the qualification.
The Benefits of ‘The Edge’
Most students have not thought about what they would like to do once they have completed their studies.
‘The Edge’ is about trying to give students the skills they need so that their education doesn’t limit what you can do when they are older, but actually opens up doors and gets students to think about all sorts of different jobs and careers that they might not have considered before. More specifically, ‘The Edge’ will enable students to create a portfolio of experiences that will help support their applications when applying for:
* Sixth form
* Apprenticeships schemes
* University applications
* Full time employment
Every student at UHS now has their login details to ‘The Edge’ framework. We encourage parents to login to ‘The Edge’ with their child and help them to select activities that will help them to develop their unique skills.
Maths Extra-Curricular Clubs
Maths Aid will run for KS3 every Tuesday from 15:05-16:00pm and for KS4 on Wednesday at the same time. Any students who feel they need some extra support will have the opportunity to work closely with maths teachers to boost their skills and confidence.
Maths Mastery will run for KS3 every Tuesday from 15:05-16:00pm and for KS4 on Wednesday at the same time. This club is aimed at our stronger Maths students who want to push themselves and discover the wonders of Maths outside the curriculum. Students will engage in interesting problems and have the opportunity to take part in competitions like the UKMT and 'Count on Us'.
Maths Homework Club will be running after school every Tuesday and Wednesday from 15:05pm-16:00pm in one of the computer classrooms so all students can have access to Hegarty Maths.
Anti-Bullying Ambassadors
We have 15 fantastic students working to develop our school campaigns against bullying, increasing awareness through displays and assemblies and reflection activities for any student or parent who feels they or their child is being bullied.
Rewards
On their return to school this September, students greeted each other proudly wearing their badges from previous years on their blazers. It has been a pleasure to have Year 7 introduced to an institution in which all value positive character building.
In addition to proud badges and commendations, subjects are now awarding students who excel exclusively in their own departments. For many students, this means being recognised for their individual talents and skills. There have been 24 students awarded this half term and we look forward to many more in the weeks to follow. This includes students from our sixth form who are representing the upper school as role models in each subject and have thrived in the transition from Year 11 to Year 12.
In the coming months, we will be taking students into the centre of London for a day of studying the origins of our incredible city. Building cultural capital and supporting students in rivaling those with a more privileged view of the world is integral to the rewards system at UHS. We will also be taking 90 students away to PGL in July for a weekend of outdoor education; 30 more than last year.
Keep an eye out throughout the year for all the ways we will celebrate and reward our incredible students.
Geography Trip to Swanage
All Year 11 GCSE geography students spent a weekend in Swanage, Dorset in September, in order to conduct coastal fieldwork as part of their courses. Even though the weather was not quite the same as in the pictures, they still diligently collected as much data as they could and evaluated methods of data collection in great detail in the evening at the newly and very nicely refurbished youth hostel.
History Trip to Warwick Castle
Students had the chance to explore Warwick Castle, a Norman castle built in 1068 after the Norman Invasion of 1066. The students witnessed some of the darkest, bloodiest and most frightening times in the castle's history as they visited the dungeons. We explored the great hall and the state rooms of the castle looking at how the castle was transformed from a formidable fortress to an amazing stately home. Our students watched in awe as the spectacular birds of prey display showcased some beautiful and powerful creatures — including vultures and eagles flying from the castle ramparts. Finally students let off steam by running around the Horrible Histories maze, collecting stamps and visiting different time periods. A brilliant time was had by all.
PE
It has been a bright start to the new academic year as we welcomed a strong Year 7 cohort to UHS. They are bringing huge amounts of enthusiasm to PE, and are jumping straight in to the extensive extra-curricular programme that we offer.
We have kicked off this term with some football fixtures, picking up a few wins already. Year 10s started their campaign with a win against Queensmead and a narrow loss to Douay Martyrs. Year 9s are already through to the second round of the Middlesex Cup, and Year 7s will start with a bang as they head to their first UHS fixture against a tough Queensmead!
In the coming weeks we will be experiencing more rugby fixtures than ever, as we host tournaments, and head off around the borough in an attempt to pick up some victories. We will also see our netball players head to local tournaments and play fixtures at home. The sixth form will also be playing a number of fixtures this year, taking the short trip to Vyners School for a borough tournament. We have seen a huge uptake for netball, so a huge well done to all of the girls who continue to attend.
Our new dance club is proving to be a massive hit. In just three weeks, the girls have put together four impressive routines that they will be hoping to show off later in the year at the UHS dance show - watch this space!
Well done to all those students who have been attending clubs and have represented the school already across a range of sports. Keep up the good work!! A final massive well done to all of the students who helped out in team PE for what was a hugely successful open evening - you are all legends!!!
Dates for your Diary
29th November: Year 7 welcome evening & parents' evening
11th December: Winter open mic night
19th December: Last day of term
Celebrating our Superhero Teachers!
Microsoft Office 2016
All Uxbridge High School students can download the latest version of Microsoft Office free to use on their personal computers and mobile devices. Students can download and install the latest version of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneNote and Skype for Business on up to five different PCs or Mac computers and five mobile devices such as a phone or tablet.
Students and will need to use their school email address and password to sign in.
Take a look at our new handy video guide on our website.