The word cloud above is a visual way of representing our vision

Pastoral Care is the foundation of our success at Jo Richardson Community School. The pastoral care system supports and promotes the shared values and aims of the school within the context of Every Child Matters. It is an integral part of the life of the school, underpinning the academic work of the school. A Head of Year and an assistant Headteacher all report to a Deputy Headteacher in overall charge of student pastoral care.

Our clear aim is to provide a support network that will enable each student to work and achieve to his or her potential. Raising achievement is a key priority.

The School takes very seriously its responsibilities towards the children in its care and to this end a well-defined system of pastoral care has been developed. The work of tutors is seen as central to the success of the pastoral system. If you have any queries please contact your son/daughters form tutor in the first instance.

The Head of Year strives to:

1) Lead their team in pursuit of excellence.
2) Empower students with the basic skills, experiences, knowledge and attitudes that are required for work and leisure in a rapidly developing society so that students become active, confident and responsible members of the community.
3) Lead their team in maintaining high standards of attendance and behaviour and in maintaining an orderly atmosphere that supports the ethos of the school.
4) Provide an atmosphere in which all students are confident that they are safe, valued and respected.
5) Enable students to achieve their true academic potential by supporting the academic curriculum and the work of departments and curriculum Leaders.
6) Encourage students to respect others and the school environment.
7) Encourage students to be responsible members of the school community.
8) Strengthen the links between parent/carer and the school, recognising that education is a shared task involving students, home and the school.

The Year 11 Team

Head of Year - Mr Morgan  imorgan@jrcs.bardaglea.org.uk

Pastoral Support Assistant: Miss Taylor

SLT Attached: Mr McInerney

Form Tutors

11A - Ms Johnson          11B - Miss Hale         11C - Mr Harris          11D - Mr Hargreaves          

11E - Mr Cole                   11F - Mr Thomas       11G - Ms Evans         11H - Mr Chritsie 

Alban Gashi 11E and Arnold Okungu 11F represented our school at this year’s Jack Petchey Speakout Challenge 2012. Both students did an amazing job last night, and performed flawless speeches in front an audience of 250 strangers and guests which included Rocky Gill and Jay Emmanuel Thomas. Alban’s speech on “Lies, is it right or wrong” was well delivered and he gathered great recognition for his efforts from his peers. However this night was Arnold’s night and following a two and a half minute speech titled “Dream Killers” he stole the show. Arnold delivered a fantastic speech which gathered an amazing response from the audience. The judges voted an unanimous decision and Arnold Okungu was deemed this year’s Regional Final winner for Barking and Dagenham. Arnold will now hopefully gain a place in the Grand Final in July at Queen Elizabeth Hall on July 11th. Here he will compete hopefully against the best 15 regional winners from the 36 boroughs of London to win £2000 for himself and £3000 for the school. Well done to all those who took part!

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=VVGYXoRTF9o

 JRCS Reports - SPRD Preparation

You will shortly or may have already recieved your end of term report. We think it’s important that you understand what we mean by ‘excellent’, ‘good’, ‘satisfactory’, ‘cause for concern’ and ‘poor’ JRCS Reporting System. This will take more than one form time, and the activity will require your tutor to assist you.

KS4 tutors - Celebrating_Success.pptx

Following on from the assembly, you need to prepare for SPRD by doing the tasks below over the course of the next few tutor sessions.

Attainment and Targets - In student planners, you should record your attainment, predicted grades and make sure the targets they have put in are accurate. 

You need to do the following before SPRD:

1. Read the introductions at the top of the Effort Matrix.

2. With your tutor, read the column “Independence” on the effort matrix, Effort_Matrix_2012-13.doc  then use a coloured pencil or highlighter to highlight the one box which best describes you. Then you should read the “Resilience” column and do the same. And so on.

3. At the end you need to make a judgement as to where most of you grades fall  Behaviour_and_Homework_Matrix_2012-13.doc : ‘excellent’, ‘good’, ‘satisfactory’, ‘cause for concern’ or ‘poor’; you can then highlight this in the box at the top of each matrix. If there is an equal split between grades you should use the most important criteria to guide their judgement, as you do when you’re using the criteria. At the end circle one target from each matrix which you know you can focus on to improve further.

4. Please then make sure the sheet is stapled or glued into your planner for future reference.

JRCS reporting and ranking system

This is a summary of the  reporting and ranking system which we have introduced across all year groups in preparation for SPRD. The reporting and ranking system is designed to reward students who excel or improve in a meaningful way, and at regular intervals. It also allows us to support students who are not meeting our basic standards.

Key features
• Students are ranked according to effort, behaviour and homework. Academic performance does not contribute to student scores. These scores are turned into an overall average.
• Students engage with the matrixes so they understand what we mean by excellent behaviour and effort.
• You are not in competition with each other,  you are ranked against fixed thresholds. However, you may enjoy the competitive element!
• Data is collected at the end of each half term. Six weeks is long enough for you to show sustained improvement. 

Rankings and Rewards

Average score Rank Outcome
1 Platinum £50, meet Head, LOC, reward trip
1.25 Gold Meet Head, LOC, reward trip
1.5 Silver LOC, reward trip
2 Bronze Postcard Home
2.5 Green
3 Yellow Tutor Report
3.25 Orange HOY / AHT report
3.5 Red AHT / DHT report

Attendance

Attendance is key to success and students need to be in school accessing the curriculum in order to achieve. Students that fall below 90% attendance for an academic term are required to meet with Mr Morgan and Miss O'Keefe to review the poor attendance and if no valid reason is given then students will be monitored and appropriate sanctions put in place, these include parents being prosecuted and the possibility of recieving a fixed penalty notice. If for any reason your child is absent from school please call the absence line on 020 8724 2531. On their return to school students will need to bring in an absence note.

For you to gain the greatest benefit from your education, good attendance is necessary. Going to school regularly is important to your future. For example, students who miss school frequently can fall behind with their work and do less well in exams.

Your parents can help the school by:

•Making sure you understand the importance of good attendance and punctuality.
•Taking an interest in your education received here at JRCS - asking regularly about school work and encourage you to get involved in school activities.
•Discussing any problems you might have at school informing the form tutor and head of year about anything serious.
•Not having time off for minor ailments - particularly those who which would not prevent you from going to work.

Arranging appointments and outings after school hours, at weekends or during school holidays will help to prevent disruption to your education at JRCS. Under normal circumstances, you should not expect the school to agree to your child going on holiday during term time.

http://www.lbbd.gov.uk/Education/SchoolAttendance/Pages/AttendanceTeam.aspx

School Clubs and OSHL activities

We have a thriving and exciting OSHL learning programme. Last year a large percentage of students took part in at least one activity. This OSHL programme makes a huge contribution to the positive ethos of the school. The Head of Year and pastoral team are actively involved contributing to the range of activities on offer. There are a wide range of sporting and non-sport related activities.

If you are interested in attending any of these clubs or out of school hours learning activities please check with the person who is running it for times and places! You can also find this information on the school OSHL board. The latest timetable will be available shortly.

Online Registration to Claim Free School Meals (FSM)

You can now apply for Free School Meals using an on-line application form provided by Barking and Dagenham Council. The form is simple to complete and you don't need to provide paper proof of benefit. The system will automatically check your child's entitlement to FSM and whether they are eligible for the Secondary School Clothing Allowance. Once approved, the County Council will check that you continue to qualify for FSM on a regular basis, using the Secure Electronic Checking System. To apply and qualify on-line, please use the following link:

http://www.lbbd.gov.uk/AdviceBenefitsAndEmergencies/PupilStudent/Pages/FreeSchoolMeals.aspx

Pupils who receive free school meals have money placed on their Cashless Catering cards at the start of every school day. This can be spent at break or lunchtime in the school canteen. The student cannot be identified as receiving free school meals when they use their card; the process is completely private.

When you register your children for Free School Meals, the school receives a sum of money from the government for each child, called the Pupil Premium. This money is used to provide a range of educational benefits for students, which can include assistance with paying for extra-curricular activities and visits, and school resources.

Figures show parents in the borough who are eligible to claim for free school meals for their children are not claiming their entitlement. Taking up free school meals has benefits for everyone:

• Children can benefit from a healthy free nutritious meal.
• Schools can benefit directly by receiving money from the government. The government pays schools £430 for every child who registers for free school meals. Your school could benefit from hundreds of thousands of pounds.
• Families entitled to free school meals could save more than £400 per child per year by claiming free school meals.
• It's anonymous for young people - thanks to the Street Base and Splash cards claiming free school meals is anonymous - cards are swiped in the same way as a paid for meal so nobody knows that it's a free school meal.
• It's anonymous for parents - because so much of the application process can be done online, a persons' entitlement is mostly processed electronically.

Duke of Edinburgh Award

http://www.jrcs.bardaglea.org.uk/duke-of-edinburgh

What can I expect to do if I take on the Duke of Edinburgh Award?

The Duke of Edinburgh award is a voluntary, non competitive programme of practical, cultural and adventurous activities, designed to support the personal and social development of young people aged 14-25. It offers an individual challenge and encourages young people to undertake exciting, constructive, challenging and enjoyable activities in their free time. AwardActivities at the school sessions include: compass work, looking after and maintaining personal equipment, safety and the environment, keeping a log book, route planning and basic 1st aid training. Leading youth Charity the DofE gives all young people the chance to develop skills for work and life, fulfil their potential and have a brighter future.

Then there are the walks and expeditions taking place in Wales, Essex and Epping forest to name a few. Some are for one day and some include camping over the week-end.

The popularity of the DofE continues to grow. Participation in DofE programmes and the number of Awards achieved has grown every year since 1956. Today over 280,000 young people take part in DofE programmes in groups which are run in 10,533 DofE centres throughout the UK.

There are four main areas that students can get involved with:

• Volunteering - by helping out in the community or the environment;
• Physical - using activities such as dance, sport or fitness routines to get fitter;
• Skills - find out what talents your child has and expand their existing capabilities;
• Expedition - go on an adventurous journey and get involved in the planning too; Residential (Gold only) - go on residential activities away from home with other Duke of Edinburgh participants.

For more advice and information see Mr Hargreaves and visit the following link:  www.dofe.org

 School forms.

If you would like to inform us about an issue / difficulty that you have in school complete a  "My Statment" form and return to you form tutor or Head of Year. My statement form.doc 

The websites below provide information for teens on staying healthy in the following areas: your body, sex, emotions, friends, sports, school, danger, family. Have a look to find out information or to gain advice and guidance.

http://www.acnetreatment.net/fitness-acne-alcohol-and-more-teen-health-issues/ 

www.teengrowth.com - TeenGrowth is a unique and interactive Website specifically tailored toward the health and interests and general well-being of the teenage population. TeenGrowth offers a secure environment to search for, request and recieve valuable health care information on topics such as alcohol, drugs, emotions, healthy, family, friends, school, sex and sports.

www.childline.org.uk - Here you'll find info on a whole range of issues. Sometimes you can sort out a problem on your own. But if you have a worry you can't cope with, don't bottle it up. It can really help if you talk to someone in your family, a carer, one of your friends or maybee a teacher. You can also contact childline at any time.

www.bbc.co.uk/schools/games - This Website provides an interactive platform providing educational games and revision techniques. Select your subject and away you go!

http://nobelprize.org/educational_games/ - You don't have to be a genius to understand the work of the Nobel Laureates. These games and simulations, based on Nobel Prize-award achievements, will teach and inspire you while your having fun!