Friday, 10th November 2023

From the Headteacher

Dear Parents and Carers,

We have started off this half term in the usual busy fashion with lots of things happening. Of particular note are the Year 11 mock exams which started this week and will continue over the coming weeks. Thank you to the parents and carers who attended the pre-exam Year 11 parent sessions last week - I hope it was useful.

As ever, we are supporting our students' academic learning with wider activities, and were pleased to host an oracy session with Year 12 last week delivered by a company called 'Talk the Talk'. We are also excited to have partnered with Southall Community Alliance and enjoyed taking 30 Year 8 students for a local history session yesterday. We are taking our boys' achievement group to 'WhatCareerLive' at Olympia today!

Our drive on attendance and punctuality is having a tremendous effect - very few students are now arriving late to school. Please continue to help your child to get up in plenty of time, now that the mornings are getting darker. Please also remember that hooded tops are not allowed in school. If your child is cold, they should be wearing a school jumper in addition to their blazer.

As ever, thank you for your support.

Mrs Pye 

Upcoming Events

Year 11 Mock Exams
All Day
From 06 Nov until 10 Nov
06
November
Year 10 Boys Achievement Trip to National Hall, Olympia London
7:45am – 3:00pm
10
November
Year 11 MFL Mock Speaking Exams
All Day
From 13 Nov until 17 Nov
13
November
A Level Media Trip to BFI Southbank
8:00am – 3:00pm
16
November
Parent Workshops with Ealing Safer Parenting team
10:00am – 12:00pm
16
November
Somali Parents Coffee Morning
9:15am – 10:30am
17
November

Student Visit to the Houses of Parliament

To say thank you for our participation in the Barclays Life Skills Programme, one student and one member of staff were invited to the 10th Anniversary of the launch of the programme - Sariah Mudhar and Mr Mahay were lucky enough to go along, have a look around the House of Commons, and meet Karen Brady (from The Apprentice) as well as many other people from business and charities. Thank you for representing GHS at this!

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Mural of Bukayo Saka

Over half-term, we were lucky enough to get a mural painted in the Small Gym of one of our most famous alumni, Bukayo Saka - it has been much admired by students and staff! All we need now is for Bukayo to come and see it himself...

If you are ever in the Sports Centre in the evenings or weekends, do pop in.

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Week A or Week B?

A & B weeks alternate throughout the year, including holidays.

We have calculated that alternating the weeks throughout the year works out better to ensure an even spread of lessons, except for the final half term (in June) when we return on Week B. If you're unsure, check the website here.

Do you qualify for free school meals?

Many of our families qualify for free school meals but some are missing out as they have forgotten to apply through the council. If your child had free school meals at primary school, or if your circumstances have changed, you must apply for free school meals via Ealing Council at https://fsm.bslforum.com/ealing/Dseat.jsp.  It will not happen automatically. If you need any help completing the form, please contact Ms Humphries at Greenford High School at Humphries@greenford.ealing.sch.uk

Attendance Update

Remember that we are aiming for 100% attendance for everyone - as a parent/carer you can support this by doing the following:

1) Making sure your child goes to bed at a sensible time;

2) They can then get a good night's sleep;

3) If they have a slight sniffle or cold, and no temperature, send them in!

4) Get them to wrap up warm as it gets colder;

5) Remind them of the importance of being in every day and going to all of their lessons.

We will be contacting home if attendance goes below a certain % to make sure all is ok.

Well done to GHS Mathematicians!

Huge congratulations to Elias Alrubaye, Amr Al-Saedi, Bavneet Sehra and Salah Altaleb in Year 12 who performed so well in the Senior Maths Challenge. They have now been invited to do the illustrious Kangaroo Senior Maths Challenge. It is only possible to undertake this challenge through invitation, and it tests even the best mathematicians! Good luck Elias, Amr, Bavneet and Salah!

Celebrating Vhaishali!

We are so proud of Vhaishali who has become the only GHS student  on the Kew Gardens Youth Explainer programme. Not only that, but she received an award for 'best player!' She has told me she was so proud to represent Greenford, but we are, of course, even more proud of her! Well done Vhaishali!

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Who Should I Contact if I Need Help?

If you have a problem you need to discuss about your child, please contact your child's Head of Year.

  • Year 7 - Ms Hughes (shughes@greenford.ealing.sch.uk)

  • Year 8 - Mr Mahay (hmahay@greenford.ealing.sch.uk)

  • Year 9 - Mr Dyason (bdyason@greenford.ealing.sch.uk)

  • Year 10 - Mr Kundi (akundi@greenford.ealing.sch.uk)

  • Year 11 - Ms John (ajohn@greenford.ealing.sch.uk)

Safeguarding and Child Protection

Our designated Safeguarding Lead is Ms Nayyar (front right). She can be contacted on gnayyar@greenford.ealing.sch.uk. 

Other members of the team include Mrs Grimley (far left), Ms Adhami (second left), Ms Thomas (front centre) and Ms Sierkowska (back right)

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Term Dates 2023-2024

INSET Day (school closed to students): Fri 6th October 2023

Half term: Mon 23rd October - Fri 27th October 2023

Occasional Day (school closed): Fri 24th November 2023

End of Autumn term:  Thurs 21st December 2023

Start of Spring term: Mon 8th Jan 2024

Half term: Mon 12th Feb - Fri 16th Feb 2024

End of Spring term: Thursday 28th March 2024

Start of Summer term: Mon 15th April 2024

Half term: Mon 27th May - Fri 31st May 2024

Final Day of School Year: Tues 23rd July.

For more details, see the school website at https://www.greenford.ealing.sch.uk/termdates, where you will also find the term dates for 2024-2025.