Principal's message: "DRUM ROLL PLEASE"
Watch the Covid Champion Awards ceremony live
You will remember that we made our presentation last November as one of the eight finalists for this year’s Learning Award’s Covid Champion. The awards ceremony will take place on 18th February 2021 at 7:00pm, hosted by TV and radio star, Claudia Winkleman.
One of the benefits of lockdown is that the event will be streamed live from their recording studio in London so that everybody can watch it. To join the celebration, all you need to do is register at the link below.
Jon Gargan, Principal
STEM
The year 8 students were hosted by the Thames Valley Police as part of their STEM lesson on Tuesday this week.
The students were given first hand information on how the police use a variety of subjects in their field. This was a real-life experience for our students to hear and help make that link with a field they may wish to enter in the coming years. Relating to work they do in their classes and by extension, STEM lessons. Be this from frequency of police sirens to identification techniques like fingerprints.
The year 8 students participated in a virtual hands on forensic style activitiy in which they were given a realistic case study involving breaking and entering a premises. Students needed to use the evidence presented to them and application of their STEM skills to determine who the suspect was.
This was a fascinating experience for the students. They were able to share their ideas with one another and see how the application of STEM could help narrow down the suspect pool. Using approximation and percentages to help find facts such as height from a footprint, which provided additional information about the criminal via the evidence left at the scene.
Also in STEM this week, the year 8s joined Rutherford Appleton Laboratory for an activity about Luminaries.
Staff from the laboratory described their career journey and talked about the people who had inspired them. The students heard about some extremely interesting people from all around the world, some historical and some more recent, and from a variety of backgrounds, and working in different field. They were also able to ask questions about the life and work in a laboratory.
Rutherford Appleton Laboratory have challenged the students to tell them about their own Luminaries by creating something about the people that inspire them. This can either be a poster or a mini craft person made of a toilet roll centre. Their ‘Loo-minaries’ (!) can be submitted to kthomson@readinggirlsschool.net or visitral@stfc.ac.uk before 21st February and they will select winners to receive prizes.
World Book Day - 4th March 2021
World Book Day changes lives through a love of books and shared reading. Our mission is to promote reading for pleasure, offering every child and young person the opportunity to have a book of their own. Reading for pleasure is the single biggest indicator of a child’s future success – more than their family circumstances, their parents’ educational background or their income. We want to see more children, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds, with a life-long habit of reading for pleasure and the improved life chances this brings them. Designated by UNESCO as a worldwide celebration of books and reading, World Book Day is marked in over 100 countries around the globe.
World Book Day will continue to work with schools and nurseries to distribute the £1 book tokens. This year, due to lockdown, a new digital version of the £1 book token will be available. More news to follow…
International Book Giving Day 14th February 2021
Did you know that as well as being Valentine’s Day, February 14th is also International Book Giving Day?
If you would like a free book, delivered to your door, just send me a message explaining why you should be given one. It is as easy as that! To be considered, your message must reach me by 3.20pm on Monday 8th February. The books are brand new, suitable for secondary school age readers and are fiction and non-fiction. A random selection will be made and delivered to you before we break up for half term. Email: ssmith2@readinggirlsschool.net
Wellbeing Day - Friday 12th February
Have you ever wondered what the staff do on their wellbeing days?.....
DIDCOT RAILWAY CENTRE
The next group of girls had their first session with Didcot Rail Centre looking at the Brunel Island cargo project where they had to evaluate based on environment, cost, capacity and safety, which mode of transport should be used for moving 500 containers from a fictional port to a city and looking at the engineering challenges that will be presented to them. They will be put into teams in due course, and hopefully they will be visiting Didcot one day in the future!
UK Food Science Webinar - "Flipping Great: Perfect Pancake Science"
FREE online webinar for Key stage 3 students and their families from 5-6pm on Tuesday 16th February 2021
Shrove Tuesday is often referred to as “pancake day” within the UK. Whilst everyone is considering what toppings to have on their pancakes, why don’t you join us to uncover all the brilliant science that helps create the pancakes and accompaniments we all love and enjoy. We are also delighted to have a guest speaker from ASR Group (American Sugar Refinery). Remember…science doesn’t just have to happen in the laboratory!
To register for this event, please fill out the form using the link below: https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=xDv6T_zswEiQgPXkP_kOX_tUylRJILZHvmo2mrdYON9UOEpKUTFXTkQ4V1VTVEQ3MUVPRjZZT01KOS4u
National Apprenticeships Week is 8-12 February
There are many virtual events and resources which may be of interest whether you are thinking of an apprenticeship after GCSEs or after your A Levels, or even beyond that!
- National Apprenticeships Week website
- Amazing Apprenticeships website
- Activate Learning Apprenticeships (Reading College, Bracknell & Wokingham College)
- Basingstoke College of Technology apprenticeships
- All About School Leavers Apprenticeship Week
- And don't forget the official government apprenticeships website
- including the job search section
One Reading Children and Young People’s Partnership
One Reading Children and Young People’s Partnership is a multi-agency partnership committed to delivering better outcomes for children, young people and families, and developing a local consensus on how to work together in Reading. Partners span across the statutory and voluntary sectors, police, health and education. Read our day in the life profiles of people who work across the partnership here.
Monthly newsletter - One Reading Children and Young People’s Partnership produces a monthly newsletter. It’s a round-up of news, updates, training opportunities and events for everyone working with children, young people and families in Reading. Subscribe here.
Professional development resources - Coronavirus and the ensuing lockdown has presented many challenges in the day-to-day practice of professionals working with children and families. Because of this, we have created a site to share free information, guidance and training opportunities to help practitioners to continue to meet the needs of families during the pandemic. Areas covered include basic needs, communication and inclusion, parental conflict, restorative practice and trauma-informed working. Click on Resources in the navigation menu to find out more.
Contact us:
- Email onereading@brighterfuturesforchildren.org.
- Contact Jack Caine, the One Reading Children and Young People’s Partnership Coordinator (Practice), by emailing jack.caine@brighterfuturesforchildren.org.
- Contact Sarah Timmins DeGregory, RVA’s Development Officer for School Involvement, by emailing sarah.timmins.degregory@rva.org.uk.
- If you have something you would like included in the newsletter or on the resources pages then please email onereading@rva.org.uk.
