Goffs Academy Newsletter

It is such a pleasure to be able to update you on the Trust in some form of normality. The past 18 months have been extraordinary for us all. I am incredibly proud of how both schools and all their staff rose to the challenge of remote teaching, with everything that that entailed. We have always been blessed with phenomenally committed and professional staff, and I'm nothing but grateful that that continues to be the case. I'm equally proud of every one of our students, who also had to adapt to remote learning, plus a far more isolating experience, away from their friends. Their resilience is to their credit. Whilst the national press has led on much rhetoric about "the lost generation" of students because of Covid, we have deliberately taken a very different approach, focusing instead on the many skills and attributes that our young people have developed. Things like resilience, adaptability, determination, creativity, and empathy for others. These are skills and qualities that will stand them in good stead for the rest of their lives, and I would far rather see the Trust focus our young people on this.

In terms of the Trust's priorities for this academic year, getting back to as normal operation as we can is my key priority. Notwithstanding my comments above, we are very conscious that times have been demanding, and as such, we have directed additional money and staffing to support emotional and mental health across the Trust. In addition, we have a sharp eye on preparing our exam year groups for exams in 2022, using the information being provided by exam boards. The current intention is that students will sit public exams in the usual way, albeit with some modifications to exam content and requirements. However, should Covid again make this impossible, the Government has a shadow plan to run a slightly refined version of the 2021 Teacher Assessed Grades system. It is the hope of all of us that this doesn't prove necessary.

On a general note, the national picture is that one of the key impacts of the pandemic has been a marked drop in student reading ages. Both schools are also seeing this. Significant time and money being put into supporting literacy/reading age catch-up across Years 7 - 13. The key thing that you can do at home is to ensure that your children read every day, for at least 30 minutes. All the evidence shows that daily reading significantly increases student literacy and comprehension. Given that the average reading age of a GCSE paper content is 16 years old, if your child is operating at lower reading age, they will struggle to understand the questions being asked of them in the exam papers. Both schools are working tirelessly on this, but you can also make a significant difference by having your child read every day. If you are struggling with ideas for books, contact either Principal where they will be able to help you. I really can't overstate how important this is.

In terms of the Trust's expansion, this has been on pause throughout the pandemic. As I write, I am hopeful that I may soon be able to tell you about a nursery provider joining the Trust, on the Goffs-Churchgate site. In addition to offering the highest quality of nursery provision to our staff and the Cheshunt area, the company concerned is keen to partner with us in a very active way, offering work experience, plus opportunities for students to directly link relevant curriculum work to the nursery children. For example, if writing a storybook for very young children, our students could go into the nursery and work with the children there. I will update you on that as soon as I can, should it come to fruition. In addition, many of you will have seen the new building going up on the Goffs site. This has been a major challenge to effect throughout a pandemic, but we are almost there. The Goffs building is very much in need of additional space, and this building will offer 8 additional classrooms, plus a professionally run gym, offering Years 7 - 11 professional equipment during PE lessons, and staff and the Sixth Form discounted gym membership. It is our hope that the classrooms will be in use from 1st January 2022, with the gym aspect following around Easter 2022 - Covid permitting.

So, it's a busy time. I look forward to keeping you updated as the year progresses. In the interim, I wish you all a very happy half-term break.

Alison Garner

Executive Principal

Dear Parents/Carers,

What a superb half-term! We have been delighted to welcome students back to school to get stuck into their learning across different subjects, especially our new Year 7 and Year 12 students, who have quickly settled into the school community.

I am particularly delighted to have been able to re-introduce a rich and varied programme of clubs and trips. Many students have been already involved in training and fixtures in sports such as football and netball, many Year 7s recently visited Stansted Mountfitchet as part of their learning in History, and we have various international trips planned for the remainder of the year, including the ski trip, a football tour to Porto, and an A level Science trip to CERN.

As you will see in this newsletter, the school has been a hive of activity throughout the half-term so far. I am particularly pleased to see many of our older students helping and supporting our younger students – through being a Reading Mentor, Sports Leader, or simply taking the time to show them the way to their classroom. These interactions, which were often restricted last year, are at the heart of what makes our school community special.

I would also like to thank all staff who are leading revision sessions during the break, to support students in preparing for mock exams – I know that these additional sessions will be very much appreciated by students in crucial examination years.

I hope all students and families have a good break during the half-term period, and we look forward to seeing students on 1st November.

Mark Ellis

Principal

Harry Brunton and Ashlee Willet took part in Swim Serpentine, an open water swimming race to raise money for charity. Harry raised funds for the Scoliosis Campaign Fund, and Ashlee for Children with Cancer. They have raised over £600 between them for their respective charities. This is an amazing achievement by two of our Year 11 students - well done!

As we began a new academic year, our students had the challenge of nominating the charity that we will be fundraising for until July. Pupils had to cast their own vote and we had a landslide for our winning charity – The Rainbow Trust Children’s Charity. The charity focuses on helping and supporting families of children aged 0-18 who have a life-threatening or terminal illness. It is estimated that over 86,000 children in England fall into this category.

Rainbow Trust pairs each family with an expert Family Support Worker who enables them to make the most of time together, giving them practical and emotional support, whenever they need it, for as long as is needed. They support the whole family including parents, carers, the unwell child, brothers, sisters, and grandparents. It is going to be fantastic to be able to raise money for such a worthy cause.

If you would like to find out more about our newly elected charity, The Rainbow Trust Children’s Charity here is the link to their website: https://www.rainbowtrust.org.uk.

Also, this year the House team is expanding! Each form in the school has nominated its own House Captain who will be an invaluable part of the House Team. They will help to create and run events, share notices in ATM, promote House spirit and fundraise for our charity. It is going to be a superb opportunity for our Goffs students, and we are pleased to see so many students involved in House leadership.

We have started the year with a whole heap of competitions and fundraising opportunities! Firstly, we have been collecting for the Broxbourne Foodbank in our Harvest Food Collection. Each form has been challenged to collect the most donations in the hope of winning 1,000 House Points with the House that has donated the most being awarded 50,000 House Points! We also have the Great Geography Bake Off that is being run by Miss Avril in which students can 'get their baking on' with the hope of winning one of the five categories.

The House Team is hoping to run lots of entertaining events, challenges, and competitions in the lead-up to Christmas next half term. We are very much looking forward to another year of raising House spirit and fundraising for a phenomenal charity.

Miss K King

Director of the House System

After the difficulties of last year, we are very happy to be back and promoting student wellbeing in the school. This year, we are building on last year's work and will be celebrating many different events. This work will be focused on one of three Wellbeing 'strands':

NEW: Goffs Wellbeing Strands

In order to make sure that the work we do is being done consistently and with proper purpose, the Wellbeing Team have developed the Goffs Wellbeing strands. There are three strands:

1. Anti-Bullying – This strand is all about supporting students' education about anti-bullying, and bringing this important issue to the attention of all students in the school.

2. Mental Health – It is important that we focus on the work we do regarding mental health, as this is one of the most important areas for our Wellbeing work this year.

3. Equality and Diversity – We are proud to be a very diverse school. It is therefore vital that we celebrate all the differences that make our community special and unique.

The Student Wellbeing Team

We started the year with developing our Student Wellbeing Team. The Student Wellbeing Team is made up of students from each form group in the school, as well as our Sixth Formers, who will be taking on key leadership roles with the students. Below is a diagram of our Student Wellbeing structure, and also our Junior Wellbeing Team members.

Junior Wellbeing Team

The Senior Wellbeing Team

In order to help prepare them for their participation in the Senior Wellbeing Team, all members were given a day off timetable to receive high quality training. The training day focused on child safeguarding, how to be a good SWT member and an amazing course run by the Education for Child Protection Company (ECP).

Black History Month

During the month of October, we started our celebration of Black History Month. For this year’s theme, we are looking at how we can be ‘inspired’ by key historical figures. We started our celebration with amazing assemblies by Mrs Sarah Edu, who talked to the students about how we can learn from inspirational historical figures, and apply this in our own lives.

This led on to us starting the ‘Be like...' campaign. Over the month (as well as throughout the year) we would like students think more deeply about how we can implement lessons from Black History Month into our own lives. We focused on eight black visionaries:

· Lead like Harriet Tubman

· Be Responsible like Barack Obama

· Learn like Ruby Bridges

· Write like Maya Angelou

· Be Resilient like Nelson Mandela

· Be Respectful like Jesse Owens

· Inspire like Martin Luther King Jr.

· Speak like Malcom X

World Mental Health Day (WMHD) – 10th October 2021

The theme for this year’s celebration is “mental health in an unequal world”. To recognise this event, I led on assemblies for the whole school on the importance of mental health and the reason why we all recognise it.

Last year we focused on the “Do one thing…” campaign, which focused around getting out after the lockdown and getting back into the habit doing one extra thing to help our mental health. This year we want students to think about the importance of helping people around us, regardless of who they are or where they come from. As such, this year we are running a campaign called “Say one thing…”. The aim of this event is to enable students to think about how they can vocalise their support for other people in their community.

Students have been send the resources to have a go at this and there are some serious House points up for offer!

1. For submitting an entry: R3

2. Runners up: R4

3. Winner: R5

I am looking forward to being able to present the winners to the whole school community for their amazing ideas and work.

As I said at the beginning of this update, I am very excited about all the work that will be going into this year’s wellbeing effort.

Many Thanks,

Mr J. Lewis

Student Wellbeing Lead

I would like to congratulate all Year 7 students for making a very positive start at Goffs Academy. The enthusiasm of our students has been tremendous and is something that I expect to continue throughout the year.

Well done to all students who worked extremely hard over the summer break to complete their Summer Transition Projects. It was clear to see that a remarkable amount of time and effort went into their work.

It was a hard decision to make when judging the projects as they were of a very high standard. Our Year 7 Transition Project finalists are below. They all received an R4 and a certificate in assembly:

Junaid Dar

Isla Simpson

Kiya Hammond

Shaya Patel

Neo Redford

Favour Emelogu

Freddie Hollings-Yates

Isabelle Mace

Jasmine Amartey

Summer Noble

Ruby Rowley

Daniel Hillman

Laila Vince

Kayley Jeffrey

Frankie York

Chloe Honneyball

Kaitlin Blackmore

Keira Greatorex

Poppy Hackett-Ford

Sophia Gibson

Miracle Emelogu

Kayra Saffet

Louie Cook

Jake Page

Lia Commisso

Poppy Bickerton

We chose 5 finalists for outstanding projects. These students were invited to have lunch with Mr Ellis on Wednesday 13th October to show off their fantastic work. Students were provided with refreshments and were awarded certificates, an R5, and vouchers for their exceptional projects. Well done to:

Astrid Wackett

Melissa Fiocco

Maeve McGinley

Max Keene

Thomas Chalkiadakis

Rayah Moss

Miss K McBride

Director of Learning - Year 7

Selected Year 7 students were chosen to take part in a Summer School in July. This was a fantastic opportunity for our new Year 7 students to get to know each other through fun team activities. Students took part in a team-building day with Wise Up, and completed lots of team challenges. They also went to the Edge Outdoor Activity centre and took part in Segway fun, archery, laser tag and lots of students faced their fears on the high ropes course and zip wire!

Students also took part in a CHEXS enrichment morning, developing their team building and leadership skills, and all students were successful in creating their own dream catchers. We finished the week with a talent show and the acts were very impressive. The talent ranged from comedy, karate, singing, hula-hooping, recorder playing, incredible artwork, magicians, a group singing and dancing performance, gymnastics, a presentation about Morse code, and some amazing poetry from 2 students about their experience of summer school and joining secondary school. Students were awarded House points and vouchers for their contributions during the summer school.

1st place- R4 and £20 voucher- Max- an incredible card trick

2nd place- R4 and £10 voucher- Crystal and Aisha - poetry- please see entries below

3rd place- R4 and £5 voucher- Kaleo- impressive karate skills

Well done to all of our enthusiastic students who got involved and made the Summer school a very enjoyable week.

Some student quotes:

‘I was terrified about coming to Goffs but Summer school has allowed me to feel confident and I am now looking forward to September.’

‘I was the only student coming from my primary school and I was so worried about making friends but I have made lots of friends already.’

‘Summer school has made me excited for September- I am happy to call Goffs my new secondary school.’

We wish all students the very best as they start in Year 7.

Miss McBride and Mrs. Pressney

Poetry:

A new chapter

A world of surprises waiting just for you,

A new adventure, a new journey to look forward to.

Making new friends along the way,

The incredible teachers making your day.

A wide range or sensational subjects,

English, Art and the suffragettes.

Waves of emotions coming at you,

Happiness excitement or the blues.

But those around you can help you through,

To grow, bloom and flourish too.

So hold your head up through the halls,

And your name may appear on the school walls.

Aisha

Summer School

First day jitters, feet felt heavy like flippers.

So many new faces, pacing like horses at the races.

Really big building, promoting historic notes, the creative phrases get my vote.

My arrival, very welcoming, all thanks to Mrs. Pressney and Miss McBride. Their friendly faces made me not want to hide.

Thankful for lots of laughter and the times we’ve had getting to know one another. I’m no longer afraid of being a new Year 7 starter!

Crystal

On Monday 27th September the whole of Year 7 participated in a team-building day led by an external company called ‘Wise Up.’ The students were working in groups of 10 and were able to develop and demonstrate some outstanding communication and collaboration skills throughout the day. In their groups, the students were set a range of different challenges that were laid out across the school field with each group being guided by a Sixth Form volunteer.

The challenges were varied and required the students to use a range of skills to complete them, however, the primary focus was students working effectively as a team. The challenges included ‘The Crazy Maze’ in which students had a giant wooden ball maze that they had to collaboratively maneuver a ball from the start to the end, without it dropping through the holes sneakily placed on the board! The shrieks of excitement when students completed this task demonstrated the level of commitment they had to succeed in the challenges.

It was so fantastic to see the students working so well together and the high levels of motivation they had to succeed. It became clear very quickly to the students that the challenges were just that, a challenge - and therefore they had to be resilient and persevere in order to complete the tasks. The way the students supported each other within their groups was a real highlight of the day and we hope these transferable skills are ones they can continue to use in their day-to-day life here at Goffs.

Miss K McBride

Director of Learning – Year 7

Students completed their expedition in June and are continuing to show fantastic commitment to their award by working towards completing their other three sections; physical, skills and volunteering. Students spend 3 or 6 months completing these sections, spending a minimum of one hour a week on each.

We have had a lot of interest in D of E this half term and are looking forward to signing up year 10 students to complete their Bronze Award, as well as year 12 students to complete their Silver Award. After the half term holiday they will start attending the D of E club where there will learn the skills needed for the expeditions later in the year.

Miss F Crichton

Duke of Edinburgh Award Co-ordinator

“There’s something in our house. I hear it every night, at the same time.”

On Wednesday 6th October, the Goffs Drama department and Sixth Form students visited London’s new West End production- ‘2:22- A Ghost Story’.

The supernatural thriller stars Lily Allen, Jake Wood, Julia Chan, and Hadley Fraser, each bringing an incredibly realistic and chilling performance to the stage. The rich character dynamics and unsettlingly brilliant stagecraft pulled us away from the hints at what the ending of the play would be, leading to audible gasps throughout the theatre.

One student on the trip said: ‘this was completely different to anything I had experienced before’.

The theatre itself is beautiful, with intricate gold details on the walls and across the seating areas. Part of the reason why this play was so impactful is that the incredibly naturalistic set was designed to look like any modern-day house, which only made the story feel more real. It’s safe to say that this show left us all exhilarated as the trip back to Goffs was an hour of eager conversation about our favourite parts, and sharing realisations about the clues left throughout. Of course, as theatre enthusiasts, it swiftly turned into an analysis of the production, but everyone agreed that it was amazing!

‘2:22- A Ghost Story’ will finish its run at the Noël Coward Theatre on October 16th and, as we have been sworn to secrecy not to reveal the ending, we encourage you to see this intense and astounding play for yourself.

Leah Meek

It’s been a really busy but exciting start to the year for literacy at Goffs Academy. We have introduced a number of new strategies and activities to support our students' reading comprehension and encourage a love for reading.

This year at Goffs we have made reading a priority across the school as we believe that the ability to read is fundamental to student development and are therefore providing a number of opportunities for students to read. Research shows that daily reading is critical to children’s development. Not only does it improve children’s language skills but it also encourages empathy, develops focus and teaches children about the world around them. In fact, studies show that reading for pleasure is more likely to determine whether a child does well at school than their social or economic background.

During ATM students will be listening to an audiobook which they have helped select – Year 7 will be listening to ‘Northern Lights’ by Phillip Pullman, Year 8 are listening to ‘One of Us is Lying’, and Year 9 to ‘Boys Don’t Cry’ by Malorie Blackman. Alongside listening to their chosen audiobook, students will also be completing a reading activity booklet and taking part in weekly spelling tests.

We will continue to read a novel in Literacy lessons with Year 7 reading ‘Noughts and Crosses’ by Malorie Blackman, and Year 8 reading ‘The Hate You Give’ by Angie Thomas.

These lessons will take place once per fortnight and require students to partake in discussion on themes, structure and authorial intent as well as encouraging students to engage with plot, character and language.

In addition to this students will also have a fortnightly ‘Bedrock’ lesson. During this hour students will complete their two lessons of Bedrock vocabulary in computer rooms (this forms a part of their home learning each week and will require students to complete learning at home each week they do not have timetabled literacy lessons).

In addition to reading at school students are encouraged to read at home - aiming for a minimum of 30 minutes daily. This year, students have a reading log at the back of their ‘Student Toolkit’ which will need to be completed and signed by the parent/carer as proof that reading has been undertaken. We would encourage you to listen to your child read and/or read the same book as your child so that you can have discussions about the text and explore characterisation, setting and plot.

To further support students with their reading, we have developed a reading mentor scheme where selected students will go and read with a Sixth Form Reading Mentor to help improve their reading age and develop their love of reading. The reading session will take place once a week after school. The mentor will support the student in finding an age appropriate book, listen to them read and then ask questions that help students demonstrate their understanding of the text.

Finally, we have introduced a whole school reading scheme where departments will set a text each term. These texts will be issued to students by the school and will form a part of their home learning for that particular subject.

We cannot wait to continue to develop the Literacy programme at Goffs across all subjects and look forward to offering students a range of exciting opportunities to improve their literacy.

Miss E Wakeling

Assistant Director of Literacy and Communication

This month in the LRC we have been marking Black History Month, with a selection of books on display. Also, as it was National Poetry Day on 7th October, we have been celebrating black poets, with their work and some information about their lives also on display. I’ve included a couple of poems below and if you’d like to see more, or find out about these poets, please come along to the LRC.

Rita Dove (1952- )

It’s neither red
nor sweet.
It doesn’t melt
or turn over,
break or harden,
so it can’t feel
pain,
yearning,
regret.

It doesn’t have
a tip to spin on,
it isn’t even
shapely—
just a thick clutch
of muscle,
lopsided,
mute. Still,
I feel it inside
its cage sounding
a dull tattoo:
I want, I want—

but I can’t open it:
there’s no key.
I can’t wear it
on my sleeve,
or tell you from
the bottom of it
how I feel. Here,
it’s all yours, now—
but you’ll have
to take me,
too.

Benjamin Zephaniah (1958- )

People will always need people

People need people,
To walk to
To talk to
To cry and rely on,
People will always need people.
To love and to miss
To hug and to kiss,
It’s useful to have other people.
To whom to moan
If you’re all alone,
It’s so hard to share
When no one is there.
There’s not much to do
When there’s no one but you.
People will always need people.

To please
To tease
To put you at ease,
People will always need people.
To make life appealing
And give life some meaning,
It’s useful to have other people.
It you need a change
To whom will you turn.
If you need a lesson
From whom will you learn.
If you need to play
You’ll know why I say
People will always need people.

As girlfriends
As boyfriends
From Bombay
To Ostend,
People will always need people-
To have friendly fights with
And share tasty bites with,
It’s useful to have other people.
People live in families
Gangs, posses and packs,
Its seems we need company
Before we relax,
So stop making enemies
And let’s face the facts,
People will always need people,
Yes
People will always need people.

Do you love to read and always have a book on the go? Or are you someone who would like to read more but you’ve just not found any books that really appeal to you? Are you interested in coming along to a friendly reading club every week to talk about the books you enjoy or to find out some good recommendations for your next read?

Then Hooked on Books is for you! If you are in Years 7, 8 or 9 and you’d like to join in, we’ll be meeting every Wednesday lunch time in the LRC from 12:20-1:00pm. You can bring along any book that you’re reading, or that you’ve enjoyed in the past. It can be any genre and any topic but it should be a book that you think other people would enjoy too. We’ll chat about favourite characters, great plot ideas, things we’d improve and anything else book related!

If you’d like to come along, everyone is welcome. If you have any questions then please see Mrs Trippier in the LRC during lunch times.

At Goffs we’re lucky to have a well-stocked LRC, but sometimes with such a lot of choice, it can be difficult to know where to start. A good way to help you narrow down your choice, is to start by deciding which genre you want to read. You may enjoy reading one type of book in particular, or you may know that a certain type isn’t for you, and that’s just fine. Reading is about an individual’s taste and choice, and so long as you’re reading, it’s good! A genre describes the theme and the subject matter of a book, so in the LRC you’ll find mystery, science-fiction, fantasy, horror and many more.

Starting in this newsletter, I’m going to take you through some of the most popular genres, and give you some examples that we have in the LRC. Obviously this isn’t an exhaustive list of the books, so please come and have a look for yourself. I’m available every lunch time, so if you need help to find exactly what you’re looking for, then just ask!

I’m going to start with a type of book that’s exciting, action-packed and will have you on the edge of your seat:

ACTION ADVENTURE

Books in this genre are all about excitement, danger and risky situations. Usually you’ll follow the adventures of a main character – the hero of the story. They will often be pitted against a dark villain, or an unknown and shady dangerous enemy of some kind. It’s also quite common in these books for the characters to set off on a journey to unusual and exciting destinations, with a specific goal to save the day – often against the clock. So, if you like your stories fast-paced, thrilling and with an ever-present threat of danger and intrigue, then this is the genre for you!

Action Adventure books in the LRC

Point Blanc by Anthony Horowitz

Part of the Alex Rider series, this book is by British author Anthony Horowitz. In this story, Alex is sent by MI6 to infiltrate the exclusive Point Blanc Academy to investigate the evil Dr Grief. The action moves from London to an isolated area of the French Alps and Alex must discover the dark secrets hiding there. Can he discover the truth before it’s too late?

Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

Whilst serving a year of hard labour, teenager Celaena Sardothien is offered her freedom on the condition that she takes part in a competition to find a new royal assassin. If she beats her opponents then she will eventually be free. But then one of her opponents is killed, and then another. Calaena must find who is responsible before she becomes their next victim.

SilverFin by Charlie Higson

This is the first in a series of books about the boy who will grow up to become the world’s most famous spy. James Bond is starting a new school and he’s trying to fit in and make friends. The action moves to the Scottish Highlands where a local Laird and his terrible scientific experiments threaten the whole of society. Can James uncover this sinister plot and prevent his enemy from taking over the world? Will he discover the deadly secrets that are hidden on the shores of Loch Silverfin before it’s too late?

Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson

There is a reason that this tale is as popular today as it was when it was first published in 1883. With plenty of adventure, peril, amazing characters and exotic locations, this book is a real classic in the adventure genre. Jim Hawkins finds a treasure map on the body of a dead pirate and he sets sail to try and find where it is buried. But Jim isn’t the only one in search of the treasure and he finds himself up against the legendary Long John Silver. Can Jim overcome the obstacles to find the treasure and return home safely?

Survival by Chris Ryan

This is the first in a series of action adventure books featuring five teenagers who go on to form a group called ‘Alpha Force’. In this book, they begin as strangers on board a sailing ship crewed by young people from all over the world. But then disaster strikes and they find themselves drifting, alone, in a small rowing boat. They must face shark attacks and deadly reefs before they even make it to land. Then they have to figure out how to survive on a small, uninhabited island, working together. But when they encounter modern day pirates and killer komodo dragons will it be too much for them, or will they finally make it back to civilisation?

Mrs Y Trippier

LRC Coordinator

As an initial way to assess students’ ability in PE, Year 7s undertake a range of physical tests over the first 5 weeks of the term. The students have taken these with a fantastic attitude and great behaviour, demonstrating they will be an asset to Goffs Academy within the PE department but also the wider community.

Students undertook tests such as the Illinois Agility Run, 20M sprint, Hand Wall Toss test and the Standing Broad Jump to name a few. Students have been placed into sets based primarily on the results of these tests with some further observations made by the PE department too.

Here are some of the top results from the students:

Illinois Agility Run

Top Girl – Luella Hawkins: 18 seconds

Top Boy – Luca Rossi: 17.1 seconds

20M Sprint

Top Girl – Rabia Khan: 3.4 seconds

Top Boy – David French, Harry Ross Stone, Luca Rossi: 3.4 seconds

Standing Broad Jump

Top Girl – Lacey Brown: 1.76m

Top Boy – Samuel Boakye: 2m

Cooper Run

Top Girl – Emmie Freeth, Layla Hierons: 2500m

Top Boy – Ailbe Coleman, Oscar Pickett: 2850m

Wall Toss Test

Top Girl – Luella Hawkins: 46 times

Top Boy – Callum Warren: 42 times

Press Ups

Top Girl – Jasmine Amartey: 40

Top Boy – Cian Dwyer, Miles Pearson, Ben Thompson, George Eglington: 47

Sit Ups

Top Girl – Kiya Hammond: 47

Top Boy – Oscar Pickett: 32

Sit and Reach

Top Girl – Luella Hawkins, Debora Neli: 39cm

Top Boy – Stanley Jordan Webb: 32cm

Thank you,

Mr R Ashdown

Head of Physical Education

This term students in KS3 have had the opportunity to take part in the Royal Geographic Society national competition, “Remapping My World”, in which students remapped their local area and the way in which it changed as a result of the pandemic.

Winning the competition will see the students named Young Geographer of the Year. We have entered 10 students into the national competition from Y7/Y8/Y9. Thank you to all the students that took part and well done on your amazing entries. Here are a few of the amazing entries

below!

It has been a pleasure welcoming back our students after the summer holidays, and we wish a warm welcome to Year 7, who have settled in tremendously.

Year 7, 8 and 9 students have been introduced to a range of rich learning opportunities and texts that have been both challenging and enjoyable. There have been speaking and listening opportunities, where all KS3 groups have had the chance to showcase their amazing presentational skills, as well as developing a love of reading through the set texts introduced to them this half term. Year 8s have currently been studying Myths and Legends and Year 9 have thoroughly enjoyed the challenges of reading ‘Of Mice and Men.’ Some wonderful pieces of work have been produced by members of both year groups, demonstrating skills in writing about plot, characterization, and the effect of these - all skills that will help them develop their academic writing, as well as appreciation of classic literary texts.

Year 7s have been learning about mighty figures throughout history, sharing their inspirational idols, which has been a lovely way to get to know each other. This has also provided opportunities for students to broaden their knowledge of current events in the news, as well as taken a trip through history – which has been a thoroughly enjoyable experience for both students and English teachers.

They have also been engaging with an autobiographical text: ‘Welcome to Nowhere’ and a range of autobiographical extracts. Students have been taught the fundamental skills needed to write their own autobiographies.

Year 10 have been studying ‘An Inspector Calls’ which will be part of Literature Paper 2 in their Year 11 exams. Students have been developing skills in analysis, exploring characterization, referring to contexts, themes, and drawing on knowledge and skills from wider reading.

As part of the GCSE Spoken Language component, Year 11s have been delivering fantastic speeches, exhibiting effective presentational and oratory skills.

Special mention to Sharon Hood of 11W/En1, who was awarded a Distinction for her outstanding speech, and has always been an inspiration to her peers.

Sharon is an extraordinary student, and the speech she delivered was truly inspiring. Here is an extract to give us all the opportunity to hear her words:

Here at Goffs Academy we endeavour to promote a school wide reading culture, in the hopes of enriching pupils’ learning and creativity. Reading is a vital skill in any walk of life and enables students to be able to make the most out of their experience at school.

While in Years 7, 8 and 9, you should try to read a wide variety of types of books. Don’t just stick to one author, or one genre. Experiment with something new. That is one reason why this list is arranged in genre-based sections. As well as reading books, don’t forget that newspapers and good magazines are also excellent reading material and will get you used to a range of reading experiences that will set you up well for GCSE and beyond, as well as broadening your knowledge and understanding of the world in which you live.

The following websites are recommended and feature news and views about all types of books written for young people. So, as well as using this reading list, why not check the websites out too and see what other people are recommending? They will also give information about brand new books.

http://www.readingmatters.co.uk/

http://www.booktrustchildrensbooks.org.uk/Teenage-Books

http://www.cool-reads.co.uk/

http://www.lovereading4kids.co.uk/

http://www.ukchildrensbooks.co.uk/

https://www.lovereading4schools.co.uk/lists/15065/Inspirational-Book-List-KS3

https://www.englishandmedia.co.uk/blog/60-great-books-for-reluctant-readers-at-ks3

Year 10 & Year 11:

Macbeth
http://shakespeare.mit.edu/macbeth/full.html

A Christmas Carol
https://www.gutenberg.org/files/46/46-h/46-h.htm

An Inspector Calls

An Inspector Calls - GCSE English Literature Revision - AQA - BBC Bitesize
Power & Conflict Poetry
http://thebicesterschool.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Poetry-Support-Booklet.pdf

Recommended reading

https://www.hhtswalthamforest.com/uploaded/HHTS/KS4-Reading-List.pdf

https://www.lovereading4schools.co.uk/lists/15067/Inspirational-Book-List-KS4

The new Year 7 students have started the year with a great effort in their Maths lessons. They have been working hard at understanding sequences and functions, showing a great grasp of some new Mathematical content.

We’ve had some great discussions in lessons where pupils have had to really articulate reasons for their answers and explain their understanding. The Maths department have been really impressed with how well everyone has tackled the new challenges and are enjoying their lessons.

Some fantastic work can be seen below.

This academic year started with a bang as we have been full steam ahead with our new topics and year 12 volunteers have been supporting as Psychology assistants in lessons with the younger years.

We have launched Psychology Club on Wednesdays at lunchtimes and for World Mental Health awareness day this October all Psychology students were set a link on Doddle to join a virtual tour of the Freud museum. The link is below if you would like experience this tour:

https://www.freud.org.uk/visit/virtual-tour/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIndr-udLH8wIVjpntCh2UJg-QEAAYASAAEgK6mPD_BwE

This virtual tour was followed by a lecture on Psychotherapy by a PHD graduate who volunteers at the museum. We are looking forward to doing some trips and visits this year and will be letting students know of all of the opportunities as they arise.

Mrs W Kleynhams

Head of Psychology

A mixed 11-18 comprehensive Academy with approximately 1450 students on roll, including a thriving and successful Sixth Form. Our Academy is extremely popular in the local area, with an average of over 800 applications annually for the 240 places available, and significant waiting lists for places across the year groups.

Email: admin@goffs.herts.sch.uk
Website: goffs.herts.sch.uk
Location: Goffs Academy, Goff's Lane, Cheshunt, Waltham Cross, UK
Phone: 01992424200