Welcome to Year 8

Welcome to the Year 8 information and guidance page

The information here covers (click on the bullet point to take you to more detailed information):

Key Contacts
Information on remote learning/project based work/Microsoft Teams
Video Assembly from Miss Etches
Messages to parents/carers
Information on completing their Learning Logs (explained below)
Recognition/Hall of Fame
Accelerated Reader Support

1. Key Contacts

Achievement Lead: Miss L Etches – Letches@garibaldischool.co.uk

Student Services Year Manager: Mrs E Jewsbury – EJewsbury@garibaldischool.co.uk

Year 8 Mentors

8KL	Mrs K Lever	Klever@garibaldischool.co.uk
8WR	Mr W Rae	WRae@garibaldischool.co.uk
8GS	Miss G Smedley	GSmedley@garibaldischool.co.uk
8AB	Miss A Bleasdale	ABleasdale@garibaldischool.co.uk
8MB	Mr M Ball	MBall@garibaldischool.co.uk
8BH	Miss B Hough	BHough@garibaldischool.co.uk
8SDS	Mr S Dench-Smith	KDench-Smith@garibaldischool.co.uk

2. Information about remote learning

Remote learning is a new experience for everyone. One of the challenges is managing your time to ensure you get the right balance. Click the link below to access some time management tips including how to use the calendar function on Teams to set up your working week.

Time Management Tips

The following link is to the Study Support page, this contains guidance sheets, notes and help videos on accessing work through Microsoft Teams:

Study Support page
Guidance Sheet
Guidance Video on how to upload files to Teams
Remote Learning - things to consider Year 8

Year 8 project or pack based work

In light of the government’s decision to close schools to the majority of students for the foreseeable future we will be setting work for students to do at home. For Year 7 and 8 we’ll be setting project or learning pack based work

These will be extended pieces of work which should take around 5 - 8 hours to complete: two projects, one from a core subject and one additional project from another non-core subject (approximately 5-8 hours per week per project)
Study Period/Mentor tasks (a short 15-minute task each week)
Learning Log every other week (15 minutes required)
These will be posted on the website for students to download and work on.
Each week work will be set for one of the Core and one of the non-Core subjects.
Work will be differentiated for students to be suitable for their ability group.
Guidance will be provided on how students can get support from teachers if needed and how they can upload their work to get feedback from staff if required.

This should be equivalent to approximately 15 hours’ worth of work for students, to be completed each week.

The files below are in PDF format; this means they can’t be edited electronically. If you have the facility to, these can be printed out and written on and staff will be happy to receive scanned or photographed versions sent through for feedback. All staff emails can be found here https://www.garibaldi.org.uk/page.php?p=staff

However copies of the files in either Word or PowerPoint format which can be edited have been uploaded to Microsoft Teams (see guidance here on how to get access and the information has also been sent to students’ school email accounts (see video link here for how to get access to school email https://youtu.be/ygvEVrOxEvg)

Week commencing Monday 13th July 2020

Maths

Creative Arts

Art & Design

Drama

Music

wc 13 07 20 Music Project

Year 8
w/c 23rd March	w/c 30th March	w/c 20th April	w/c 27th April	w/c 4th May	w/c 11th May	w/c 18th May
English DT	Science History	Maths PSCHE	English Geography	Science Computing	Maths Spanish	English Creative Arts
w/c 1st June	w/c 8th June	w/c 15th June	w/c 22nd June	w/c 29th June	w/c 6th July	w/c 13th July
Science DT	Maths History	English PSCHE	Science Geography	Maths Computing	English Spanish	Maths Creative Arts

3. video assembly

3rd June 2020

Welcome back after a sunny half term, I hope you are all well and have had an enjoyable break? As we start the final half term and the run up to the summer holidays we still find ourselves in a position where we are working from home. We should all be in a position of being able to access work either through Microsoft Teams, the school website, or via post which should enable you to continue to make progress. Over the last half term many of you have demonstrated the full range of ATL characteristics, evident in some fantastic work being produced and the recognition that has been received through the ‘Hall of Fame’ below.

Before we began working remotely the whole year group demonstrated huge potential, and set the standard high for progress, ATL and Attendance. As we continue to work from home, which is likely to be for this half term, I urge you all to continue to work through the projects set, use your school email accounts and Teams to talk to your teachers, mentors and each other, and end the year to an equally high standard and level of participation. To help with your workload and to ensure that you are able to manage your time effectively we have reduced the amount of time needed to spend on each project to 5-8 hours.

Thank you all for your determination and resilience, I am very proud to be the Achievement Lead for a great year group.

4. Messages to Parents

3rd June 2020

Thank you for continuing to support your son/daughter with their remote learning at Garibaldi. In response to feedback from staff, students, and parents, from the week beginning 8th June we will reduce the amount of work that we set for students by 25%.

We appreciate that remote working is a complete shift for students and we acknowledge that, over the last half-term, we have placed high demands on students to complete the same amount of work as they would when at school. We have made this change because we want to ensure that students’ experiences of remote working are positive. This will allow students to practise what they’ve learned in Microsoft Teams and receive feedback from staff. We do not want to cause unnecessary stress for students.

For Year 8, this means that students will be set:

Two projects, one from a core subject and one additional project from another non-core subject (approximately 5-8 hours per week per project)
Study Period/Mentor tasks (a short 15-minute task each week)
Learning Log every other week (15 minutes required)

This should be equivalent to approximately 15 hours’ worth of work for students, to be completed each week.

5. Learning Logs

Learning Logs have been created for students to complete each fortnight. These will be set by Mentors as assignments through Teams. Mentors will check these on a rolling basis and offer feedback to students.

The Learning Logs give students an opportunity to:

Map out a record of the work they’ve done in recent weeks
Reflect on their efforts and identify strengths and areas for development
To consider and reflect on what they may need additional support with
To consider and reflect on their Attitude to Learning
To develop their independent learning skills
To help them manage their time while learning remotely
To flag up points of discussion/follow up with mentors through email or Microsoft Teams

We’d encourage parents to engage in supporting students with the completion of these as they are a good way on checking on their engagement with work and to flag any issues that might need to be followed up with subject teachers or mentors.

6. Recognition

Six students in the Year group will be recognised for their efforts from September 2020.

The students will be recognised for the quality of the work they’ve produced or the positive attitude to learning they’ve displayed.

Their name will be added to the Hall of Fame below: