Year 9

YEAR 9

Welcome to Year 9 – ‘Have Courage and Be Kind’

Welcome to Year 9. This year we see our students closer to GCSE examinations than they were to their primary school days.  It is during this time that we see students taking more responsibility and independence towards their own learning and maturity in their own lives.

“The principle is competing against yourself. It’s about self-improvement, about being better than you were the day before (Author, Steve Young)”. 

Year 9 is about choice and next steps. Students will be starting to think seriously about how they will contribute to society, taking responsibility for their actions, understanding consequences and developing more self-awareness.  Students will consider some choice about their GCSE’s, knowing that their grades are a passport to what they decide to do next.  Students will have opportunities to explore their options for post-16 study and gain a better understanding of the choices for career paths.  We hope they will explore their differing interests, participate in roles of responsibility and leadership as role models for the younger years before embarking on their own KS4 journey.

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 9 is simple: We expect you to make excellent progress, we expect your very best and we 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 S L Guthrie

Senior Deputy Head