Proposed changes at St Bernards
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Proposed changes at St Bernards
Evening all,
Last week there were 2 parental consultations at St Bernards, one for yrs7-9 and the other one for yrs10-12.
I went to the Tuesday one which was for the yr 7-9 parents; the new Head ( Mr Kassapian) had 4 proposals for us - they might not effected a lot of you, but if they come in then will effect dp and dc currently in year 6.
So the proposals are:
1) change the curriculum -
have the dc start GCSE studies from year 9 instead of 10. This would mean a 2 year ks3 though, so less time studying music etc before they had to choose their subjects. Some subjects might use yr9 as a bridging year between ks3 and 4.
If it is agreed then the plan is for the current yr9 to start GCSE lessons in the summer term 2018 (so this school yr) and for the yr8 dc (like my dd) to make their choices this year and start GCSE lessons from Sept 2018.
2) bring in your own device -
They are looking at using tablets (probably ipads) for some of the lessons. If this goes ahead then we might be able to buy the device over a 24 month period if we don't already have one. One of the options suggest by the dp was that the tablet was classroom specific, which would mean less chance of it being stolen or damaged.
There is also a plan to improve the school wifi and possibly move to more cloud storage, so enabling the kids to be able to work anywhere.
3) homework / school apps -
They also propose introducing various apps including 'show my homework' and epraise.
4) change to the girl's uniform - basically letting the girls wear trousers.
It will be interesting to see what the other dp thought. We should find out in this Friday's newsletter.
I'm for these changes especially anything that helps us keep track of homework lol.
Last week there were 2 parental consultations at St Bernards, one for yrs7-9 and the other one for yrs10-12.
I went to the Tuesday one which was for the yr 7-9 parents; the new Head ( Mr Kassapian) had 4 proposals for us - they might not effected a lot of you, but if they come in then will effect dp and dc currently in year 6.
So the proposals are:
1) change the curriculum -
have the dc start GCSE studies from year 9 instead of 10. This would mean a 2 year ks3 though, so less time studying music etc before they had to choose their subjects. Some subjects might use yr9 as a bridging year between ks3 and 4.
If it is agreed then the plan is for the current yr9 to start GCSE lessons in the summer term 2018 (so this school yr) and for the yr8 dc (like my dd) to make their choices this year and start GCSE lessons from Sept 2018.
2) bring in your own device -
They are looking at using tablets (probably ipads) for some of the lessons. If this goes ahead then we might be able to buy the device over a 24 month period if we don't already have one. One of the options suggest by the dp was that the tablet was classroom specific, which would mean less chance of it being stolen or damaged.
There is also a plan to improve the school wifi and possibly move to more cloud storage, so enabling the kids to be able to work anywhere.
3) homework / school apps -
They also propose introducing various apps including 'show my homework' and epraise.
4) change to the girl's uniform - basically letting the girls wear trousers.
It will be interesting to see what the other dp thought. We should find out in this Friday's newsletter.
I'm for these changes especially anything that helps us keep track of homework lol.
Re: Proposed changes at St Bernards
I'm not familiar with the school but just to say that these changes are similar to many schools. BGS has just introduced "Show my homework" - DS is in year 12 do it's less relevant now but would have been really useful lower down the school & would have saved him from several detentions!
scary mum
Re: Proposed changes at St Bernards
My DD’s in year 7 at BGS and the ShowMyHomework app is great: it has a “view code” for parent and a “full access” mode for the student. Very useful to check if there’s a task outstanding, And some of her friends who are at the local non-selective use it too.
Re: Proposed changes at St Bernards
'Show my homework' has been around for some time - I know of a few schools using it.
Re: Proposed changes at St Bernards
DS2's school signed up to it relatively recently. Some teachers were 'earlier adopters' than others, I believeGuest55 wrote:'Show my homework' has been around for some time - I know of a few schools using it.
Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read.Groucho Marx
Re: Proposed changes at St Bernards
I have to say the rest seems common place, but I was most surprised by this one, well actuallly more surprised girls wouldnt be allowed to already.change to the girl's uniform - basically letting the girls wear trousers.
Re: Proposed changes at St Bernards
Yes, Tinkers, is there any other school that doesn't let girls wear trousers these days?
Re: Proposed changes at St Bernards
I suspect some private schools don’t have trousers in their uniform, but as it will always be a choice to send a DD there, it is a choice to accept the uniform.
Whereas you might not get a choice of state secondary.
I remember going to a CofE middle school. Girls were not allowed trousers. We weren’t even allowed tights.
In Yorkshire, in winter, that is dire. Especially when theres a few inches of anow on the ground. My mother fought hard to get them to allow girls to wear tights and/or trousers.
We were allowed to wear them underneath our pinafore dresses (not allowed skirts either)
on the way to and from school and at playtime. Looked ridiculous, but as soon as the letter went out saying we could, every single girl did. Too cold not to.
Whereas you might not get a choice of state secondary.
I remember going to a CofE middle school. Girls were not allowed trousers. We weren’t even allowed tights.
In Yorkshire, in winter, that is dire. Especially when theres a few inches of anow on the ground. My mother fought hard to get them to allow girls to wear tights and/or trousers.
We were allowed to wear them underneath our pinafore dresses (not allowed skirts either)
on the way to and from school and at playtime. Looked ridiculous, but as soon as the letter went out saying we could, every single girl did. Too cold not to.
Re: Proposed changes at St Bernards
St Joseph's doesn't let the girl's wear trousers either.
I spoke with a parent who's dd is at St Joe's, she would love trousers - they have to wear tights or short white socks. They aren't even allowed knee high socks.
Don't know about the other local schools.
I spoke with a parent who's dd is at St Joe's, she would love trousers - they have to wear tights or short white socks. They aren't even allowed knee high socks.
Don't know about the other local schools.
Re: Proposed changes at St Bernards
We were shown Show My Homework using the BGS's website.
I like the look of it.
I like the look of it.
