- The Priory School

Friday 13th February 2015 Next week is week 2 Priory News
The Priory School has been awarded a na onal prize... On Friday 6th February the school received a le er from the Minister of State for Schools to no fy us
that we had been awarded a £5000 prize for how well our pupil premium students did in their GCSE
exams. We are extremely proud of this na onal recogni on and it is a credit to the hard work that my
colleagues and you do in suppor ng our students, your children. The progress made by our Year 11
students between Key Stage 2 and Key Stage 4 is the best in North Her ordshire, second best in
Her ordshire and we are one of the top 90 schools in England showing the greatest sustained
improvement in GCSE examina on results last year. Please see a copy of the original le er on page 2 of
the newsle er.
Mr G Edwards HEADTEACHER’S COMMENDATION Quiz ‐ Well done to last week’s winner, Luke Bonner 8TV. Please
remember to collect your prize from Mrs Nearney.
Riddle: What always goes to bed with shoes on? Answer: A horse Dates for your Diary
2015
Friday 13th February
‐ HALF TERM ‐
——————————————–———————————————— Can you solve the ques on below? Drop your answer into recep on
by 20th February 2015 for your chance to win a prize.
Monday 23rd February
Return to school
Ques on: What tastes be er than it smells? Tuesday 24th February
Yr10 Blood Brothers Theatre Trip
Numeracy Corner
Thursday 26th February Learning Day
Height chart Run a height chart at home (you can make or
buy one). Discuss growth, working out the
amount grown and the differences between
siblings and parents. Ask rela ves and friends to
be measured.
Monday 2nd March
Yr9 Op ons to be handed in
Tuesday 3rd March
Miss L Jesson Yr7 Shakespeare Cinema Trip
Learning day Our next learning day is taking place on 26th February. All students
will be off metable and taking part in a programme which is
designed to enrich their learning
Year 7 will be visi ng places of worship in the local area
Year 8 will have a Healthy Living day in school
Year 9 will have a Holocaust day in school
Thursday 5th March
World Book Day
Monday 9th March
School produc on ma nee
Year 10 will be visi ng the Globe Theatre
Year 11 will be taking part in a revision programme
Year 12 will be having their
normal metabled lessons
Year 13 will be having their
normal metabled lessons
Mrs F Nearney Tuesday 10th March School produc on
Did you know?
You can now order The Priory
School uniform online at North
Herts School Wear using the
following link:
h p://northhertsschoolwear.co.uk/store/
Wednesday 11th March
School Produc on
Thursday 12th March
School Produc on
CORE LIBRARY
Just to remind students that the
LRC has a collec on of set texts,
text books and study guides for the
Core subjects of Maths, Science
and English. They are available
between 8.45am and 4.30pm daily,
for reference and overnight loan.
Key Revision and Exam Informa on Mrs Plum and Mrs Stovin P&E and Sociology 
Revision sessions:
Use our online revision sites to help you at home.

P&E – stretch and challenge
course Monday 12:45 in A14

KS3 Mathle cs

KS4 MathsWatch
Sociology – Thursday lunch
me at 12:45 in A14

KS5 MEI


MATHS English Literature: BBC Bitesize
Mrs K Southall
All students studying Maths have access to these. If you
have lost your login and password please speak to your
teacher.
Miss L Jesson Timelines
Plan your Revision
Cue Cards
Past Papers
Revision Methods
Annota ons
Mnemonics
A endance
Form
7AA
7HB
7GG
7LC
7MC
7NP
8AM
8LA
8MF
8NJ
8SO
8TV
9CF
9DM
9LP
A endance to 6 February 2015
99.77%
93.96%
96.36%
96.08%
95.89%
95.65%
96.08%
94.48%
94.61%
96.07%
93.66%
93.82%
96.80%
95.26%
94.90%
Merits to date
964
651
941
532
362
647
703
416
447
300
464
226
395
382
449
Form
9MH
9RS
9SB
10BS
10CH
10EG
10RC
10RO
10TC
11DJ
11DP
11NW
11RL
11SF
11VM
A endance to 6 February 2015
96.06%
95.99%
95.62%
96.22%
96.60%
95.97%
94.33%
93.32%
95.88%
97.27%
94.58%
95.60%
95.34%
97.48%
95.49%
Merits to date
187
132
241
159
250
131
144
255
107
146
160
46
114
51
43
The school’s a endance target is 96%.
Mr D Nearney REVISION “Test Next Week….Your Homework Is To Revise”
“ But How??”
Students, how many mes have you been told to go away and revise for a test but not really known
where to start? Well, let us consider some of the essen als. What will you need to do in the test? It is
likely you will have to recall some facts, use skills learned in lessons and write down some answers to
ques ons: Seems straight forward. So it makes sense then that these are the things you should prac se
when you revise. “Ok, I will pop on BBC Bitesize, read a bit of my revision guide and maybe look through
my book”. “Then get Mum, Dad, li le brother, dog (delete as appropriate) to test me. All good. I’m ready
to go.” Really? Didn’t we have skills and wri ng in the list of things needed to succeed in the exam? These
are some mes forgo en in your revision.
You must pick up a pen and write things down in your revision. A er all – this is kind of crucial in the
exam. So, prac se the skills of using those equa ons for Maths or Science, prac se persuasive wri ng for
English and using sources in History. Get some exam papers, find some essay tles you could answer,
write mind maps, write post‐it notes……write, write, write. Seems obvious eh? It might be harder work
but if you prac se the wri ng at home, you might just find the test that bit easier. Good luck to all
students entering the exam season.
Mr L Foster SPORTING EXCELLENCE JADE GORDON GARDNER YEAR 8 Jade is a year 8 student at The Priory School and a very talented footballer. Jade plays
in goal for To enham ladies under 13 squad. Well done Jade!!
EMILY COX YEAR 9 Emily came 3rd in the East Regional Schools Trampolining U14 girls intermediate
compe on in December 2014. This qualified her to enter the Zonal Compe on
which took place in January this year in which she achieved 9th place out of 32
compe tors. Massive well done Emily!
ELLIE NELLIS YEAR 10 Ellie is a year 10 student at The Priory School. Ellie is a very talented swimmer, she
regularly swims and competes for Hitchin swimming club where she has made some
fantas c acheivements. Well done Ellie!
Mrs E Bethell Year 7 Homework Shelves Uniform Consulta on To help you get the best possible marks
for your homework, the Library has
provided Year 7 students with a special
set of shelves featuring books you will
need in all subjects for this term’s
homework. Why not make use of them
during lunch me or a er school in the
Library Homework Club?
The last day of the uniform
review consulta on is on Friday
13th February – see the website
for more informa on.
Mrs S Plum Mrs K Southall Careers—Raising Aspira ons Na onal Careers Week – 2nd to 6th March 2015
We will be marking Na onal Careers Week (2nd to 6th March) with a
school‐wide project involving both staff and students.
The focus of the week will be the Inspire Me Project, an exhibi on in
the Gym and around the school which has at its heart the aim of
encouraging students of all ages and abili es to think about their
future careers path. Informa on on display will show which careers
paths school subjects can lead to; what specific areas of work involve
in terms of training, progress and salaries; appren ceships; leaflets on featured jobs, and a series of
posters showing interviews with inspiring individuals completed exclusively for our school, including
Dame Kelly Holmes (Olympic Gold Medalist); Martha Lane Fox (founder of lastminute.com); Shami
Chakrabar (Lawyer and Director of Liberty); David Shepherd (Managing Director, Topman); Professor
Mary Beard (Professor of Classics, Cambridge University and television presenter); Dr Jane Goodall
(Anthropolgist and UN Peace Ambassador); Nick Grimshaw (Radio 1 DJ); Ma hew Renirie (Managing
Director, Morgan Stanley) and Camila Batmanghelidjh (Founder & Director, Kids Company). In addi on,
we will be showing careers‐related TED Talks and there will be laptops for students to browse websites
such as Careersbox, which shows real people doing real jobs. Teachers and support staff have also got
involved: posters showing informa on about their own careers paths will be displayed on classroom and
office doors, and they will be wearing badges adver sing Na onal Careers Week.
Drop In – Tuesday 3rd March
On the Tuesday of Na onal Careers Week, we will be opera ng two drop‐in sessions for students from
ALL SCHOOL YEARS, from 7 through to 11.
“Welcome to the Sixth Form” with Lynne Luckman
Lynne Luckman will welcome students who want to drop in to the Sixth Form Block at break, lunch me
or a er school to have a look around and have a chat about life in Sixth Form at The Priory School. Even
if it’s a long way off for you, please do come along! Lynne’s office is through the main entrance to the
Sixth Form Block, turn right and just before the double door into the Common Room, on the right. It will
be clearly signposted on the day.
“Careers Ideas” with Zella Neighbour Zella Neighbour, our independent careers adviser from Youth Connexions, will also be holding a drop in
for students. Zella is open to answering any ques ons that students might have, from how to apply for
an appren ceship, what college offers, to thinking about different types of jobs and how to get there.
Zella is a mine of informa on, so please do come along to the Mee ng Room by the Café (on the SLT
Corridor) at break or lunch me for a chat.
We look forward to seeing you there!
Careers—Raising Aspira ons (con nued) Year 10 Careers Evening for Parents and Students ‐ Tuesday 3rd March at 7pm and 8pm in the Main School Hall
As part of Na onal Careers Week, we have invited Year 10 parents and students to a new annual
mee ng. Primarily, this will be an introduc on to our work experience programme for parents, but
there will also be short talks on life in the Sixth Form at TPS, appren ceships and university, and the
opportunity to view our new department website and the Inspire Me Project in the Gym. Due to
expected high numbers, there will be two slots available, at 7pm and 8pm, and bookings can be made
now using the online system or by email to [email protected].
Work Experience Week – 13th to 17th July 2015
Following on from the Parentmail sent out to all Year 10 and 12 parents in October, last week Kate Allan
met with Year 10 and 12 students to explain the work experience programme further and how they now
need to get involved. The key point for parents at the moment is to please talk with your child at
home about the possibility of finding a private placement, so that they spend their week working in an
area of their own choice. The school can help with this process, but students need to come and talk to
us before the end of term. Further informa on about Work Experience Week and the process leading up
to it will be presented at the Careers Evening for Year 10 Parents and Students, with updates sent to you
by Parentmail therea er. Please contact [email protected] for further help and
informa on.
If you are a parent who can offer a work experience placement to one of our Year 10 or 12 students in
July, please do get in touch with Kate Allan to discuss: [email protected]. Thank you!
Mrs K Allan Youth Speaks Over the last week, both our Intermediate team and our Senior team took part in their second semi‐
finals in the Youth Speaks public speaking compe on. Unfortunately, the Senior team of Nicole de la
Cruz, Hannah Price and Georgie Prebble were unable to secure a place in the District Final despite a
fantas c effort which was engaging, interes ng and very well‐rehearsed.
The Intermediate team of Megan Reed, Daisy Doyle and Stan Taunt did progress to District Finals and
were also fantas c in their commitment and performance. However, due to an unfortunate and
unforeseen clash of dates with our produc on of West Side Story, we were unable to con nue to the
next round and have withdrawn from the compe on at Intermediate level.
All the students involved have been absolutely amazing and are a credit to the school and themselves.
We are constantly impressed by their commitment and talent and are immensely proud of them all.
Mrs Spanyol and Miss Anderson Horse Show at Bury Farm—NESA Congratula ons to Maisie Swain and Alice‐Rose Willson who represented The Priory School on 24th January as new members of NESA—Na onal Schools Equestrian Associa on. Excellent results: Well done to both girls who will be receiving Headteacher’s Commenda ons. Mrs D Scoot