023 8032 5333

USH Newsletter 18th September 2015

Message from Mr Woods

Dear Parents

Welcome back to School for what promises to be a very busy Autumn Term.  I do hope that you had a restful summer.

I am delighted to welcome some new members of staff: Clare Williams (Assistant Head); Emma Hyslop (Subject Lead, Geography); Susanna Shaw (Subject Lead, Music); Grainne Linehan (Science); Marzena Andrzejewska and Rhiannon Ashford (Inclusive Learning) and Nichola Vincendeau (my new PA).

I am sure that you will have heard of our successes on GCSE Results Day, with the best ever results in the history of Upper Shirley High School, so well done to our ex-Year 11s.  We are very proud of you!

I would also like to take this opportunity to welcome our new Year 7s.  The move to a new, bigger school can be daunting but I know that our Staff and the older students will have helped them settle in well.

We look forward to a productive term. Many thanks to you for your ongoing support.

Kind regards

Stuart Woods

Head Master

Message from Kitty and George, Head Girl and Boy

We are George Fay and Kitty Clark, the newly elected Head Boy and Head Girl for Upper Shirley High.  Within this role, we believe that we can do great things together.  Our aim is to inspire and lead younger students to achieve their ambitions in School and life.  We want to make sure that all students feel involved within the School and have the best chances to succeed in the things they enjoy.  We believe in encouraging people to try new things and meet new people.  Also, we strongly believe that building relationships with staff will help students feel happy in a positive learning environment.  Having been elected by the students and teachers, we feel that we are the best possible people to carry out changes which will bring out the best in our School.  We hope that what we do within our final year will leave a lasting impression for years to come.

Kitty Clark and George Fay, Year 11 Head Girl and Head Boy


Open Morning - Saturday 26th September

We are hosting our Open Morning on Saturday 26th September from 9am-1pm.  Please do come along, particularly if you have children in current Y5 and Y6 at Primary or Junior School.

Parenting Workshops

Some parents have already emailed us to tell us how useful they found the Parenting Workshop on Tuesday 15th September.  Each session is targeted at a different area and you do not have to attend all sessions.  They are free to all USH parents, so if you are free for the remaining sessions, please come along.  Please use the links below to book onto any of the sessions that may be of interest to you.

Session Two - Tuesday 20th October: Adolescent & Teenage Boys Development, 7.30-9.30pm www.ushadolescentboys.eventbrite.co.uk

Session Three - Tuesday 17th November: Adolescent & Teenage Girls Development, 7.30-9.30pm www.ushadolescentgirls.eventbrite.co.uk

Session Four - Monday 14th December: Managing Anger & Strong Emotions, 7.30-9.30pm www.ushmanaginganger.eventbrite.co.uk


Paris Trip

The Paris Trip is only a few weeks away now, we leave on Thursday 15th October in the early hours. Students have been asked to see me to decide who they would like to travel with on the buses. We will do our very best to put everyone amongst friends.  Students can sign up in a pair, three or more if they so wish.

Information regarding passports and the itinerary will follow once our plans have been finalised.

As ever, if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Kind regards

Mr Perry

Martin.Perry@ushschool.org

More information following the Year 7 Parent Information Fair

One of the questions raised at the Parent Information Fair related to how we set students in Year 7. Almost all classes (including English) are mixed ability, in fact the only two classes that are not are Mathematics and Science. Within these two subjects the classes are set by ability. Initially, we use the KS2 results, along with Teacher Assessments to determine the classes. However, we continually review the progress of our students and set movements over the course of the year are common.

If you would like any further information on setting as a New Parent to USH, please contact Mr Taylor (Deputy Head) and he will get back to you with more information.