Newsletters

Hello,

For those of you who don't know me, one of my main roles here is to oversee our Post 16 learners. 

Last Thursday we held our annual Sixth Form Information Evening, welcoming our own Year 11 families and students and families from other schools to visit our school and see the subjects and facilities we have on offer. It was a really busy evening, and we had lots of positive feedback.  Thanks to those who came to visit us, we hope you found it useful in preparing for the next stage of education. 

The evening started with a presentation and four of our Senior Students talked, without notes, for 15 minutes collectively.  They were fantastic and it was so amazing to see how far these students have come on their journey through our school from Year 7 to Year 13.  What excellent role models our Year 13 students make for our younger students. 

We also see this role modelling in action when our Post 16 learners read with Year 7 and 8 students during the afternoon tutor time.  It's wonderful to see our younger students building relationships with our older students.  We are a community school and this activity truly represents community and our school values of kindness, positivity and belonging. 

It is a privilege to watch these cross-year group interactions.  It's so important that students become comfortable working with others outside their year group. After all, in the world of work, none of us just work with people that are born in the same academic year as us!  A school is about so much more than preparing students for exams, preparation for life post John of Gaunt and those employability skills, including positive relationships in the workplace, are key.

Have a good weekend.

Maths Success

On Wednesday 15^th November, Rory Poulter in Year 13 sat the Senior Maths "Kangaroo".  This is the second round of the National UK Maths Competition.  Rory qualified for this, having achieved an impressive score in the first round.

Ten Tors 2024 Training Begins!

37 students participated in an 18-mile hike on Sunday, traversing a variety of footpaths, tracks and roads as they walked from John of Gaunt to the Westbury White Horse and back. 

The terrain was not as wet as we expected, but there was plenty of mud which slowed us down somewhat and made crossing stiles and bridges a sometimes treacherous experience. Despite a few issues (curious cows and horses, ruined feet, lost mobile phone), the group generally made good time and were polite, well-behaved and a credit to the school as they passed other local hikers and dog-walkers. The autumn colours were gorgeous, and the views from the White Horse were also excellent and memorable. A quick dollop of rain towards the end was also a good reminder of the changeable nature of the English weather.

All in all, it was a lovely way to get the new recruits up and running, as well as great to see the veterans of previous Ten Tors Challenges helping them along and navigating for us (Thanks Tom & Elliot!). I hope I'm correct in saying a great time was had by all despite the aches and blisters that it cost.

As always, huge thanks to the staff and volunteers that made this hike possible - Iain Richards, our new wheeled supervisor, Mrs Brooks and our new volunteer and Ten Tors expert, Imogen Wood.

For further photographs, please see here. 

The John of Gaunt’s Early Help Offer for Children and their Families

 At The John of Gaunt School, we recognise the challenges that families face in bringing up children. There may be times when you need extra help and support. If this is the case, our doors are always open for you to come and talk to us.

School Telephone Number: 01225 762637

Meet The Teams

Pastoral Teams

All staff can be emailed by using the staff initial and surname followed by @jogschool.org

For example, Miss Lewis is zlewis@jogschool.org

Additional Key Personnel:

Early Help is a pathway to supporting you and your child as they grow up when you or they may need further support or guidance. Providing early help to our pupils and families at The John of Gaunt School means we can improve outcomes for children, families, and communities, providing support as soon as a problem emerges.

There are many ways in which we can help as outlined in this offer of early help. In order to support you in the right way, we work with you to identify: what are you worried about, what is working well and what needs to happen. The information you share with us, we will use to form a ‘family plan’. This will help us to easily identify what other agencies and professionals we may use to be able to support you and your child appropriately.

Early Help can support children and their families who may be struggling with:

- Routines and family rules

- Children who care for a family member

- Children who may not want to go to school for different reasons

- Children in the family who have special educational needs (SEND)

- Children or parents / carers misusing drugs or alcohol - Children at risk of becoming involved in anti-social or criminal behaviour

- Children who go missing from home

- Children at risk of being tricked, forced, or made to work in the criminal world

- Children who may need support because they may live in a home and see adult mental health problems.

- Children who have parents who argue a lot (and sometimes might hurt each other) whether the parents live together or apart.

- Children at risk of being groomed to join groups which support illegal views

- A privately fostered child (a child from another family living within your family home)

Early help relies upon local groups and people in the community. Sometimes we work together to help children, young people, and their families.

Early Help is a pathway to supporting your child and you during challenging times.

The diagram below shows the range of needs at different levels. We use this graduated approach to make sure we provide the best support for different families’ individual situations.

All staff at The John of Gaunt School understand and follow the statutory guidance for safeguarding in schools called 'Keeping Children safe in Education' (KCSIE 2023) and follow the early help procedures as stated in this document.

If you feel your family may benefit from working with us, please contact one of your child’s year team to see what we may be able to offer.

Music Mark School

We are delighted to announce that The John of Gaunt School has been awarded the Music Mark for the second year in a row. We have been recognised for our commitment to providing a high-quality music education for all of our students and for the value we place on music in and out of the classroom. We are looking forward to continuing our link with the UK’s Association for Music and further enhancing the musical opportunities we provide here.

We are now in Christmas mode in the music department as our ensembles prepare for our annual Christmas Carol Concert. The concert is at Holy Trinity Church on Tuesday 19^th December. Further details will be coming out soon!

Until the Road Ends by Phil Earle

When Peggy saves a stray dog from near-death, a beautiful friendship begins. Peggy and Beau are the only thing that can ever come between them is war. Peggy is evacuated to the safety of the coast, but Beau is left behind in the city, where he becomes the most extraordinary and unlikely of war heroes.

Night after night, as bombs rain down and communities are destroyed, Beau searches the streets, saving countless families. But then disaster strikes, changing Peggy’s life forever. With her parents killed, both she and Beau are left alone, hundreds of miles apart. But Beau has a plan to reunite them at long last…

The long awaited third book about animals set in London during the Blitz, Phil Earle delivers another fantastic adventure. Inspired by real events and featuring real people from the era, this heart-warming story will grip you from the very first page. I would go as far as saying Phil Earle is picking up the baton from Michael Morpurgo when it comes to stories or war and animals. Beau is accompanied on his journey by the sarcastic family cat Mabel and Bomber the pigeon from next door, who is convinced the ‘generals will come knocking soon’ for his expertise as a carrier pigeon. Together they travel across the country to get to Peggy and her brother Wilf, but will they all make it?

Lovely story, perfect Christmas present!

Happy Reading!

Mrs Bruton

This week is national Anti-Bullying week. As a school, we are committed to ensuring children feel safe and, should they experience bullying behaviour, they have a trusted adult they can speak to in school. We have recently been awarded the Anti-bullying alliance Silver award and hope to gain the Gold award soon.

If you or your child have any worries, they can speak with their tutor, a member of the year team or any member of staff wearing a purple lanyard who is part of the expert team working to safeguard our students.

All students have had an assembly this week about how to stay safe, stand up and speak out.

Please see the poster below for tips on how to keep your child safe online and combat online bullying which may happen out of school hours.

Horrible History JOG Style

On Thursday and Friday of last week, Year 9 pupils participated in the annual John of Gaunt School “Living History Day”. 

The students learnt about the recruitment process into the British Army in 1914 and handled artefacts including a Lee-Enfield rifle, hand grenades (not live!), a bayonet, a helmet and pistol and then started on some battle training. A few students were even fully kitted out as a British Tommy!

After being sworn in and forming a JOG “Pals Battalion”, the new recruits to the British Expeditionary Force learnt how to fire a rifle and use a bayonet for hand-to-hand fighting. They then proceeded to “go over the top” and cross “No-man’s land” whilst being fired at by the enemy (using a gel gun!)

The event was organised in conjunction with Oxenwood Outdoor Education centre, who provided the professional re-enactor and all the weaponry. We would like to pass our thanks on to Ed for the excellent sessions.

The days provided an enrichment opportunity for Year 9 students who have been studying the events of the First World War and how these shaped our island’s history. An event like this really brings history alive, as the students don’t just learn about events but experience them.

It’s the next best thing to having a time machine!

Looking forward to next year,

Ms Davison

Financial support for your family and school 

Parents can claim ‘Pupil Premium’ support for children (referred to as Free School Meals FSM) if you are in receipt of any of the following benefits: 

• Income Support 
• Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance 
• Income-related Employment and Support Allowance 
• Support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 
• The guaranteed element of Pension Credit 
• Child Tax Credit (provided you’re also not entitled to Working Tax Credit and have an annual gross income of no more than £16,190) 
• Working Tax Credit run-on - paid for 4 weeks after you stop qualifying for Working Tax Credit 
• Universal Credit - if applying on or after 1 April 2018 your household income must be less than £7,400 a year (after tax & not including any benefits you get) 

This entitles your child to free school meals, beyond EYFS and KS1, where this provision is universal, as well as a wide range of additional support for your child (academic, cost of the school day support and wellbeing).  

Information for parents about access and benefits of claiming FSM can be found at: Free school meals - Wiltshire Council 

If your child is eligible for free school meals, they’ll also qualify for the Holiday Activity and Food Programme. Food vouchers may also be available through the Household Support Fund. 

Please email aclark@jogschool.org for support if you have any questions about your entitlement or application.

Dear Parents and Carers,

Welcome to another edition of our online safety newsletter looking at the use of technology and how we can work together to keep our children safe. Thanks in part to National online Safety who provided the latest information.

What Parents & Carers need to know about X

In October 2022, the enormously popular social media network Twitter was purchased by tech tycoon Elon Musk. That sparked a host of changes to the platform — not all which have been received positively by its fans. Each month, changes to the platform have brought risks to its 530 million users.

What are the risks?

A block on blocking.      

X has announced plans to remove its blocking feature. Previously, this stopped users from viewing your profile or sending direct messages. As well as hiding their posts from your feed. This is a major safety aspect, as users are currently protected from users who may want to promote denial and hatred.

Age Inappropriate Content.

X is full of posts that can inflame extreme political views, to accounts presenting pornographic material. Currently, accounts marked as 18+ are restricted from non-members, but it is still easy to stumble across this content and X’s new “For you” page will show content from accounts that user doesn’t follow, meaning 18+ content may appear on a child’s feed.

Limited reporting features.

X now offers a premium membership with functionality like controlling who can view and reply to your posts. It is speculated that one day X will become an exclusively paid for service where users' accounts will be revoked if not willing to pay for a subscription.

Verification for Sale.

The Blue tick used to identify that an account is verified to be genuinely representing a person identified. This is now hidden behind a pay wall which has seen an increase in celebrity impersonators and copycat fake influencers seeking to exploit others. 

Advice for Parents

Completion of Staverton water supply improvement project     ? 

Following previous correspondence, regarding Wessex Water’s £500,000 water supply improvement scheme on the B3105 (New Terrace) in Staverton, we have been informed that this work has now been completed four weeks ahead of schedule.

The road will be open to through traffic again from the morning of Thursday 16 November 2023.