USH Newsletters

• A Few Words from Mr Woods

  Dear Parents

  
  In the interest of getting to know our staff better, I will be asking members of my senior team to provide the introduction to the Newsletters during this half term.  I hope you enjoy hearing from different leaders within USH to learn how they contribute to key aspects of school improvement.

  
  As ever, thanks for supporting us in helping your child succeed.
  

  Stuart Woods, Headteacher

  
  

• Introduction

  Hello,

  Last night's Duke of Edinburgh Awards evening was a joy!  It was wonderful to see such engaging young people talking with passion and confidence about the lessons they had learned during the programme.  Well done to all!

  The evening culminated in the announcement that USH is the first school in Southampton to hold its own licence to deliver the award.  This means that we have the flexibility as a school to build upon the wonderful work both staff and students have done to date.  USH will be represented at St James’ Palace later this term and will receive the certificate from the Duke of Edinburgh himself; what a honour!

  Our Year 11s are continuing to perform well in the exams and their behaviour and conduct has been exemplary.  During the farewell assembly we recounted wonderful stories of their times here at USH.  We wish them the very best for their remaining exams, and urge them to continue to dig deep for the final couple of weeks.  You’re nearly there!

  Kindest regards,

  Phill Taylor, Deputy Head

  
  

• Monday 30th June 2014

  Some learning has been disrupted this year for various unavoidable reasons so we have decided to make June 30th a normal school day and the Community Learning Day will be postponed until next year.

  We feel it valuable that all year groups benefit from their normal timetable.

  
  

• Year 11 Farewell Assembly

  It was my honour and pleasure to lead the Year 11 Farewell Assembly on Tuesday afternoon this week. It was a great opportunity to reflect on the last five years and I had great fun putting together a video montage of photographs showing many of our students maturing from fresh faced and eager Year 7s back in 2009 to the incredibly talented young people sat in front of me, about to embark on the next stage of their lives.  The assembly finished with lots of shirt signing, hugs and photographs.

  It has been a real privilege to be the Head of Year 11 this year and I wish all the students the very best as they complete their last exams over the next few weeks. For the first time we will be inviting Year 11 to the summer awards ceremony to celebrate subject successes.

  
  Sian Roberts, Head of Year 11

  
  

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• JET Music Prom

  This year sees the inaugural Jefferys Education Trust Music Prom.  This concert will bring together students from across all of the local schools and give everyone an opportunity to perform together.  The performance will be held at Southampton Central Hall on Wednesday 16th July at 7pm.

  Tickets will be available from all of the schools in JET from 1st July and will be £4 for adults and £2.50 for children/concessions. 

  This Music Prom will be a wonderful opportunity to hear a wide range of music and to celebrate the musical endeavours of our students. I look forward to seeing you there.

  Phil Griffiths, Head of Music

  
  

• Outstanding Artwork in Year 10

  Grace White and Matthew Salway from Year 10 have been chosen to represent Upper Shirley High at a forthcoming exhibition of Southampton Schools artwork at Solent Showcase gallery and Southampton City gallery in October. They have been selected by Mrs Cadle and Miss De Ruiter because of their outstanding printed artwork.

  Grace said, “Art is a big part of my life because my family are very arty.  My grandfather has a printing press and this has influenced my school work.  I have really enjoyed being inspired by natural forms and structures, with this printed piece being a culmination of learning new printed techniques and drawing thistles, seedpods and feathers.  I really enjoy experimenting with textures and patterns, layering different colours to create an interesting composition.”

  Matthew: “This piece of artwork has been inspired by natural forms and structures.  I have been looking at the print artist, Marissa Swinghammer, and this influenced my work.  I have enjoyed experimenting with lots of printing techniques and I have layered images and textures to make this piece.  During my GCSE course at school I have been motivated by looking at artists who are working now.  Combining this with learning lots of new skills has made me more independent as an artist.”

  
  

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• Cross Country Success

  The final league tables for the Cross Country leagues were recently sent out to schools. We achieved considerable success, with the Year 7 girls, Year 7 boys, Years 8 and 9 girls and Years 8 and 9 boys all finishing top of their leagues and gaining gold medals.  The Years 10 and 11 girls and Years 10 and 11 boys finished out of the medal places but showed considerable improvement over the season.

  
  The PE department would like to thank and congratulate the following students that represented the school: Ella Dodd, Isabella Fraser-Corbridge, Abigail Goldstraw, Lily Lavin, Leon Longhurst, Toby Hale, Ben Bowles, Luke Halford, Sam May, Sammy Lloyd, Tom Brokenshire, Isabelle Bennett, Alice Orr, Georgia O’Dell, Matilda Bull, Charlie Carter-Banks, Harry Jones, Sebastian Szymula, Lewis Hill, Alex Davis, Liam Biggs, Tom Parker-Trott, Justin Basham, Gemma Carr, Lily Thorne, Ella Musgrove, Jamie Halford, Barnaby Dobbs, Reece Reed, Jude O’Farrell, Chloe Musgrove, Grace Robinson, Anna Hotston, Morgan Day, Abraham Orekan, Will Brook, Dominic Dobbs, Sam Hyde and Alex Browne.

  Peter Hadfield, Head of PE
  

• National Track and Field Athletics Cup

  The Hampshire round of the Track and Field Cup was held at Winchester in mid May. This cup is for Year 8 and Year 10 boys.  All the elite school performers from the county were competing. The Year 10 team finished a creditable 5th out of twelve teams.  However the Year 8 team finished 1st out of the twelve teams and are now representing Hampshire at the SW England regional competition. This is to be held at Millfield Schoool in Somerset in June.  Many congratulations to Bastin Punneliparambil, Sebastian Szymula, Liam Biggs, Daniils Stakanovs, Lewis Hill, Alex Davis, Tom Parker-Trott, Harry Jones, Marko Gashi, Toby Hale, Leon Longhurst, Charlie Carter-Banks, Leo Gale and Aidan Cunningham.

  Peter Hadfield, Head of PE
  

• Well Done Nick!

  From September 2014 fifteen year old Nick Willsher, (Year 10), will be moving from the Royal College of Music Junior Department to the Royal Academy of Music Junior Jazz department.  He was lucky to be accepted there as it is one of the best places for jazz in the country and only takes a handful of saxophonists each year between the ages of 14-18.  Nick will be working in a small jazz ensemble for half a day each week with Simon Colam (who is also the pianist for the X-Factor and Britain’s Got Talent).

  Nick commented, "I have been playing the saxophone for about seven years now, and I have played with several bands."
  

  

• E-learning in Languages

  The MFL department invites our students and parents to use Linguascope to improve their language skills.  Linguascope is an educational website that contains interactive resources and games for French, Spanish and Italian.  It can be used by students at home or in school to reinforce vocabulary.  The Elementary section is aimed at KS2, the Beginner section at KS3 and the Intermediate section at KS4.

  Please ask your son/daughter for the password.

  
  The MFL department

  
  

• If you drive your children to school....

  Please can we politely remind all parents not to park on the zig-zag lines outside the school gates, or on the bend of the road, even if just dropping your children off.  This is in the interests of safety for all our students.

  Anyone seen stopping in this area will be asked to move on by our staff, or by the local Police Community Support Officer, who will be in attendance most days.

  Thank you for your co-operation.

• Communicating with USH regarding Attendance

  USH has decided to install an automatic communication system that will allow you to contact us directly by text message in order to keep the school updated with any information regarding attendance, for example:
  • Absences
  • Lateness
  • General enquires about your child’s attendance.

  Our school’s dedicated mobile number is 07860 005 066. Please confirm your child’s name at the start of your text. 

  We will be able to text back using the system; the aim is to free up time in the attendance office.  During busy hours the staff receive many phone calls asking questions that are not of an urgent nature, so by using Text Messages In you will be helping the school.  Thank you.

  Alison Small, Attendance Officer

  
  

• DofE News

  Year 10 DofE participants held a presentation evening on Thursday 5th June to show parents what they got up to on their final DofE expedition through the New Forest.  All the groups had to complete a project while hiking as part of their assessed expedition.  Each group gave a brief introduction and some of the groups showed some very funny film footage of their time in the forest.  It was a fun evening.  It is now down to the students to log the different sections on to the eDofE site, remembering to scan in any evidence.  I will be available every Thursday for Year 10s who need help with uploading their evidence or any other queries.

  Year 9 training weekend 12th -15th June:
  Students will be allocated into groups.  Each group will camp out and spend the following day on a supervised trek through the New Forest and will be picked up by parents before the next group arrives, with the final group being picked up on Sunday 15th.  Student will be given a letter with the details of their group’s itinerary and required kit list.

  We have had a good response from Year 11 regarding finishing their Bronze DofE but some students are still not uploading their information onto the site.  Please check the eDofE website if you wish to know what else needs to be done to complete your Bronze award.  If you have any questions or unsure what you need to do to complete please come and see me: I am available throughout the week to help in any way I can.

  Jenny Murphy, DofE Coordinator

  
  

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• Boulogne 2014

  We have had enough interest to run our Year 10 visit to Boulogne on July 11th this year. 

  We are in the process of sorting the collective passport and the itinerary.  We will write to you next week confirming the final cost, timings and contact details.

  All students will need a European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) to cover any potential medical treatment.

  If you have any queries, please get in touch.

  Martin Perry, Languages department Martin.Perry@ushschool.org

  
  

• Paris 2014

  We have had over 100 students interested in the Paris visit planned for 16th-19th October 2014.  We are in negotiations with the holiday company in an effort to find both the quantity of space and quality of hotel required.  It is possible that we may have to consider alternative dates in the Spring of 2015 for the visit.  As soon as we have accommodation sorted, we will write to you confirming dates and costs.  Deposits are fully refundable until you are informed otherwise should you not find the current or any potential new arrangements to your liking.

  Thank you for your patience, I’m sure you can appreciate the scale of organising such a visit.  Please do not hesitate to contact me should you have any queries

  Martin Perry, Languages department  Martin.Perry@ushschool.org

  
  

• Science Club

  This week in Science Club we have been 'eggsperimenting' with egg shells!  We added hydrochloric acid to crushed egg shells to create a reaction that gave off carbon dioxide.  This was then collected and bubbled through limewater which turned the clear solution milky.  We further eggsperimented with different concentrations and varying amounts of acid and quantities of egg shells to investigate how much carbon dioxide could be produced.
  

  

• Donation of Clothes for PTA Fashion Show

  Are you having a wardrobe clear out?  The PTA would be very grateful for donations of clothes for the 'Worn Again Fashion Show'.  This will be held at the Ladies Night on Thursday 10th July.

  If you have any good quality clothes, shoes or accessories which you would be prepared to donate to raise funds for the school mini-bus appeal please bring them to the school office.  Any unsold clothes will be given to charity.

   

  The PTA

• When your Child is Unwell

  It is very important to ring the school if your child is going to be absent.  Please
  report any absence directly to the Attendance Officer, Alison Small, on 023 8052 2721, Alison.small@ushschool.org.

• Dates for Your Diaries

  Dates to note for this academic year:
  Thursday 5th June - 6.30-8pm DofE Presentation Evening
  Tuesday 10th June - 7-8.30pm, Parent Action Group
  Thursday 19th June - 4-7.30pm, Year 7 parents' evening
  Monday 30th June – normal learning day: all staff and students in school
  Wednesday 2nd-Friday 4th July – 7pm School production: Starlight Express at The Point, Eastleigh
  Wednesday 2nd, Thursday 3rd July – Year 6 induction days
  Tuesday 8th July – Year 10 Sports Day
  Tuesday 8th July - Year 11 Prom
  Thursday 10th July – PTA Ladies Night
  Wedneday 16th July – 7pm JET Schools Music Prom, Central Hall
  Friday 18th July – Years 7-9 Sports Day
  Tuesday 22nd July – 7-8.30pm, Parent Action Group social/wrap-up
  Wednesday 23rd July - School breaks up for Summer holidays