Year 8

YEAR 8

Welcome to Year 8 – ‘Be the best you can Be’

Welcome to Year 8. This year we see our students starting to grow into young adulthood.  It is during this time that we see students developing resilience and independence towards their own learning.

"If you hear a voice within you say 'you cannot paint,' then by all means paint and that voice will be silenced." -- Vincent Van Gogh

Year 8 is a pivotal year for all students. Having had the opportunity to settle into secondary school last year, the focus now is to develop confidence, maturity and independence in pupils’ learning. It is crucial for Year 8 students to enhance their strengths, which will allow them to start working towards their final examinations in Year 11. Every student in Year 8 is seen as a young adult, capable of making the right decisions about their learning as well as their behaviour. It is also their opportunity to shine and act as mentors for the newest students at Gaynes School.

Gaynes School aims to support all students’ learning and to ensure that they all reach their full potential. Form tutors will monitor how students use their planners and advise them on areas concerning personal organisation and academic progress

Our message to the students starting year 8 is simple: We expect you to make excellent progress, we expect your very best and will work with you to make sure that you make outstanding progress towards your GCSE.

Students must actively take ownership of their studies, producing their best work at all times.  We will also ask parents to support the school and their child by:

• Making sure that your child maintains outstanding attendance and punctuality
• Checking your child’s homework diary every day
• Checking your child’s exercise book to make sure that they have completed their classwork and homework
• Discussing their work with them, always encouraging them to produce their best
• Signing the student planner every week to show that you are happy with their work
• Supporting our code of conduct and our positive “can do” ethos
• Staying in contact with us whenever you have any concerns that you would like to discuss.

If we have any concerns about your child’s progress, we will contact you either by phone or letter.  We like to keep parents as involved in their child’s education as possible, so a phone call does not necessarily mean that there is a major issue, just that we would like to discuss something with you.  We will also phone or write to you to congratulate your child when they have done something well. 

In school, we aim to nurture students towards success and support them at every opportunity to enhance their learning. We instil British values during PSCHE and assemblies to prepare them for life in modern Britain and for careers beyond their time as a student.  There will be events throughout the year which aim to develop students’ understanding of the choices that they should make for life after school.  Our extracurricular programme allows students to be involved in activities outside of their academic subjects such as sports, arts, sciences, drama and musical clubs.

All students must follow the school Code of Conduct and be in the right place, at the right time, doing the right thing to ensure that they maximise their opportunities to succeed. Sanctions are used if students do not meet our high standards and parents are asked to support us in the application of these sanctions.

Your child should expect to be set homework on a weekly basis; this should be completed without exception. As parents and carers, it is important to provide children with a quiet and safe environment in which this can be done.

Gaynes School is proud of its substantial improvement over the last four years, since it became part of the Loxford Schools Trust.  We look forward to your year group promoting the values of the school.

Miss Guthrie  

Senior Deputy Head