USH Newsletters

• Message from the Headteacher

  Hello,

  The last two weeks of school have included a terrific student leadership campaign and I am delighted to announce my new Student Senior Team as: Head Boy - Gibril J, Head Girl - Olivia N, Deputy Heads - Pip W, Josh N, Tamsin M and Ema R.  Sincerest congratulations to all. I have a wonderful team here, one which I know will help us lead the school to even bigger and better things.

  Every student had a vote as part of their democratic right within British values, as did the staff.  Their careful consideration decided the outcome.

  Finally, I am wishing everyone a restful half term and thanks to the staff who are running Year 11 revision classes.

  All the best,

  Mr Woods
  

• Athletics Champion

  Well done to Olivia who competed at the Hampshire County Athletics Championships this weekend where she dominated the discus.  All of her throws were further than the rest of the field.  She is Hampshire Champion, 2nd year in a row. With this distance she now has English Schools National standard, which should secure a place for her to represent Hampshire in Birmingham in July.

  Discus
  1 Olivia Austin Southampton 30.82

  
  

  

• Thank You

  Mrs Mount, our Librarian would like to thank those students, parents and staff who have kindly donated books to the Library over the past year – a selection of which are shown in the picture.
  We are always grateful for donations of children’s or young adult fiction books in good condition, so please think of us if you are clearing your shelves of books that your child no longer reads.
  

  

• Gold for Verity

  In the last newsletter we recognised the achievement of the participants at the Swimming Gala.  There is one further gold medallist, Verity Telford.  Our apologies for omitting her from the original piece but congratulations on such a superb achievement. 
  

• JEP Summer Festival

  All schools in the Jefferys Education Partnership will be collaborating, once again, to stage the
  2018 JEP SUMMER FESTIVAL on Thursday 21st June at Central Hall.
  The event will be featuring the JEP Staff and Parent choir which you are invited to join. No previous experience is necessary and we welcome mums, dads, grandparents, teaching staff, office staff, ex-students....everyone!

  See the attached poster for details of the rehearsal dates and venues.  Join in the fun, raise your spirits and help to bring our JEP community together.

  
  

  

• Careers News

  Following on from ‘Meet the Professional’ on Careers Day when students take part in speed networking with a range of professionals.  We invited a range of Professionals to take part in ‘Ask the Expert’.  This is an opportunity for students to hear about professions in more depth followed by a Q&A session. 
  To date the sessions have included: Cloud Technology, Construction, Law, Events Management, Journalism, Chemical Engineering, Adventure Sports & Outdoor Activities and this morning we heard about Army Careers.
  
  Computing and medicine will take place after half-term and other sessions are currently being scheduled.
  If you would like to talk to students about your profession, please contact me., Carey.Anderson@ushschool.org
  

  

• E-Safety

  We will begin to feature articles that we feel may be of interest to parents with regards to e-safety.  Please use the link below to access those featured in this Newsletter.

  Government Moving to Internet Safety Law

  Banardos - More than half of all 12 year olds have live streamed content
  

• Work Experience - A Reminder ...

  As you are aware at USH we strongly believe that work experience provides an invaluable insight into life after school and informs future choices.  It is reported that the UKs top businesses prefer to recruit people with work experience on their
  CV. 
  In the past a number of students have excelled during their placements and as a result were offered part-time work/apprenticeships.
  We would like our students to have the opportunity of placements within sectors they are interested in.  Several students have contacted employers without success.  Areas of interest include accountancy, law, architecture, engineering, IT, administration, police and design.  If you work within these sectors, or indeed any other sector and are able to help by offering a placement or providing contact details it would be much appreciated.  Year 10 work experience is scheduled for 16th-20th July.  Please contact me at Carey.anderson@ushschool.org
  

• GDPR

  You should have received by post a letter and documents from us regarding how the rules around data protection are changing. The 'General Data Protection Regulation' (GDPR) will change how we can use your personal data and keep it safe. It will also strengthen your rights regarding your own data.

  The point of this is to make sure sensitive, or private information about you and your children stays safe. Whilst it is similar to the current Data Protection Act in many ways, there are a few differences, so we need to make a few changes at the school in order to ensure we remain compliant.

  Much of our work has been around updating school documentation and we are introducing the following new documents:
  • An updated Data Protection Policy
  • An updated Pupil Privacy Notice
  • An updated Acceptable IT Policy
  • An updated Photo Consent form

  A copy of both our new Data Protection Policy and Pupil Privacy Notice can be viewed and/or downloaded from our school website: http://uppershirleyhigh.org/school_policies

  As part of our work to comply with the GDPR, we also need to regain your consent for using photographs, or videos of your child on our website, in internal displays and for other purposes as specified on the form.  Enclosed in the documentation posted to you was a copy of our updated Consent Form and we would appreciate it if you would complete and return the form the General Office as soon as possible.  Also included was a copy of the Acceptable IT Policy for you to read, sign and return.

  After Friday 25th May 2018 any previous permissions are no longer relevant and we are only able to act upon the new GDPR compliant documentation. Your speedy co-operation in completing this new documentation would be greatly appreciated. 

  If you have any questions about how the GDPR affects you, or how our school is preparing, you can contact me by email: Julie.Prince@ushschool.org

  
  

• Year 11 Prom 2018

  Payment for the prom is required by Thursday 31st May to secure your son or daughter place.  Payments can be made online.
  

  

• Year 7 Camping Trip

  Places are still available for the Camping Trip of you haven’t already registered your interest.

  A letter has been emailed home to those who have paid a deposit regarding the Camping Trip on the 19th/20th July.  We have asked for a second payment of £30 to secure a place by the 8th June at which point we should be able to confirm the final cost.  We estimate this to be between £60 and £70.

  For the trip, all students will require a roll mate (no inflatables or camp beds) and a sleeping bag.  These can be purchased at very reasonable rates.  We will not be allowing mobile phones on the trip: signal strength is low in the forest, there are no opportunities to charge devices and students simply won’t need them.  Staff will take ample photos and provide emergency contact numbers for our stay.

  If you have any queries, please get in touch.

  Thanks, Mr Perry  Martin.Perry@ushschool.org

• Paris Trip

  An instalment of £125 was due by last Friday, 18th May – we are missing about a quarter of these payments at present.  If parents are not receiving emails or letters via students, please get in touch with me at school.  Payments need to be made to the travel company and the school cannot subsidise late payments.
  The final instalment of £100 is due by the 15th June.
  Please ensure you have completed the medical, dietary and passport form – these were emailed out or a copy can be collected from school.

  Any queries please get in touch.  Martin.Perry@ushschool.org

  
  

• Staff Leavers

  Today we said farewell to Miss Nicklin.  I  would like to take this opportunity to thank her for her contribution to USH and we wish her every success in her new role.

  Miss Nicklin says

  ''I have enjoyed my time here, but I now feel that I have taken the department as far as I can.  Through my passion and commitment the results have risen to 60% A*-C, which is the best the school has ever achieved and I am expecting my current year 11 to exceed the previous year results.
  Through my achievements I have been asked by another school to lead STEM, making it an opportunity I could not refuse and so today I am leaving USH.
  I wish all the staff and students the very best in future and I feel that when one door closes, another door will open.'