亲爱的家长们，

本周又是充实和美妙的一周！感谢各位参加万圣节家庭欢乐夜，下雨也未曾浇灭大家的热情，依旧度过了一个愉快的夜晚。举办学校社区聚会，大家一起闲聊社交，是非常有趣的活动。预备部举办的万圣节恐怖故事及故事演讲活动无疑为本周增添了一丝风采，许多新面孔在舞台上自信地交流和展示他们的学习成果，不禁令人眼前一亮。

学校目前正在筹备11月16日佛山霍利斯校庆日活动。感谢所有为学校的创立而倾尽全力付出心血的重要人物。活动当天，Mrs Heather Hanbury 和 Mr Michael Berkowitz 将从伦敦赶来参加我们的庆祝活动，他们自学校奠基仪式后就没有来过佛山，因此我们也非常荣幸邀请他们。相信他们也很期待亲眼目睹学校的竣工。

欢迎大家一起前来参加，欣赏英国霍利斯学校远程带来的精彩线上音乐表演，享受美食，感受校庆氛围。

期待在周六的预备部足球邀请赛见到大家。祝大家周末愉快！

祝好，

Mrs Arden

亲爱的佛山霍利斯预备部家长们， 

“愉悦，充实，且有目标。”相信您通过每周的精彩照片就可以看出我们目前正处于学年中最为忙碌的时期。许多的学习任务和精彩活动正在同步进行，此时，孩子们的休息和睡眠就显得尤为重要。科学家们早已认识到，获得足够的睡眠对儿童大脑的发育有益。学龄儿童每晚需要9至12个小时的睡眠，而睡眠可以通过特定的大脑变化影响孩子们的学习和行为。 

睡眠不足的孩子在大脑特定区域（负责注意力、记忆和抑制控制）的体积要比那些拥有健康睡眠习惯的孩子小。睡眠之所以重要，是因为它能让身体修复，以元气满满地迎接新的一天。在早期养成健康的睡眠模式对儿童发育非常重要。 

在佛山霍利斯，下午5点至5点50分为作业俱乐部的时间，老师们会在此时间去支持学生完成家庭作业。这样，学生回家后就可以尽情和家人分享以及度过宝贵的家庭时光。家庭在孩子们生命早期扮演着至关重要的角色。通过爱、支持和引导，父母和祖父母会帮助孩子们在生理、认知、社交和情感等多方面取得发展。 

与家庭和亲人共度时光对我们的心理健康有着积极的影响。它让我们感觉更亲近他人，理解和被接纳，就像我们属于某个地方，充满归属感。我们的大脑将被催产素浸润，减少压力、焦虑和抑郁。 

这就是为什么在佛山霍利斯我们举办像万圣节家庭夜和冬日市集这些特别的家庭活动，这非常重要。我们喜欢与您一起度过愉快的时光，看着我们的学生茁壮成长，成长为自信主动、富有同理心、有创造力和充满好奇心的学习者。希望您与家人享受下周的四天愉快假期。 

关键阶段二

预备部的学生们一直在进行肖像画课题。每个年级的学生都研究了不同的艺术家。

三年级：毕加索自画像

3年级的学生们以毕加索（Pablo Picasso）的风格制作属于自己的肖像画，毕加索是现代艺术运动 "立体主义 "之父。"立体主义 "的特点是运用大面积的色彩、多视角和扭曲的比例创作出丰富的画面效果。学生们将自己内心的毕加索表现得淋漓尽致，创作出了用色大胆、色彩丰富的肖像画。

四年级：水果和蔬菜自画像

4年级的学生们以朱塞佩·阿尔钦博托的风格创作自己的肖像画，朱塞佩·阿尔钦博托（Giuseppe Arcimboldo）是一名意大利画家，以创作完全由物品构成的富有想象力的肖像头像而闻名，比如：用水果、蔬菜、花、书、鱼等各种物体来堆砌成人物的肖像。学生们的目标是通过用自己最喜欢的水果和蔬菜创作一幅水果和蔬菜肖像画来表达自己的想法。学生们创意十足，作品充满乐趣、想象力和表现力。

五年级：个性肖像画

五年级的学生通过了解艺术家斯蒂芬妮·勒杜来学习如何结合自己的特点创作自画像，斯蒂芬妮·勒杜的作品颂扬了多样性之美，记录了人类文明和习俗传统。学生们在创作中表现十分出色，从他们的作品中可以看出他们对结构和比例越来越敏感，绘画技能也在不断提高，已经能从作品中传递出自己的想法。

六年级：数码自画像

六年级的学生们挑战了数码摄影课。数码技术让孩子们得以轻松地进行摄影，他们对这个世界有着自己独特的视角，他们可以用平板电脑、手机或数码相机来捕捉生活中的瞬间并与他人分享。我们生活在一个越来越受图像驱动的社会，摄影是一种极好的培养孩子数字和视觉素养、提高自我表达能力的方式。 

数码摄影课围绕美国女摄影家南-戈尔丁（Nan Goldin）展开。学生们学习了如何选取拍摄镜头和拍摄角度，根据自己的想法创作出独一无二的“自画像”。

13 年级学生目前一直忙于撰写个人陈述书和商讨决定英国大学的课程。我们很高兴地跟大家宣布，Cheuk Yiu 同学已获取两份录取通知书。纽卡斯尔大学（商业与人力资源管理）要求学生达到114的UCAS分数；格罗斯特郡大学要求学生成绩至少达到BCC，Cheuk Yiu目前的申请形势非常有利。每位学生最多可收获 5 份来自英国大学的录取通知书（医学专业则为 4 份），最终再决定入读学校。这真是一个激动人心的时刻！

IGCSE 和 A Level 

对于 11 年级、12 年级和 13 年级的艺术生来说，现在是非常繁忙和激动人心的时刻，他们正在努力完成剑桥 IGCSE、AS 和 A Level 考试的课程作业。他们一直在尝试各种材料、技术和工艺，包括素描、油画、版画和陶艺，为完善自己的项目提供依据。每个学生都在进行研究，并对所选艺术家的作品做出回应，从而为自己的独特发展提供信息，完成最终的作品。

11 年级学生在我们的版画工作室进行蚀刻

IGCSE 课程作业主题 "回忆 "和 "衰变 "的初步探究范例。

12 年级学生Konstantin一直在探索自己对音乐的兴趣，并通过观察研究，然后通过艺术家调研，尝试使用材料、技术和方法来完善自己的想法。

13 年级学生Jasmine正在探索拥挤的城市建筑对人们心理健康的影响。

11年级 A Level 预科

本学期，学生们开展了静物素描项目。学生们了解了静物画在西方传统和艺术教育中的重要性。学生们绘制了包括负空间和比例在内的态势图、连续图和轮廓图。 对于我们的许多 A-Level预科学生来说，他们在艺术和设计方面的经验有限，这个项目为他们提供了绘画的基本技能。

为了进一步发展他们的创造力，他们现在正在进行一个静物和立体主义小型项目，他们将为自己选择的艺术家创作一幅立体主义风格的艺术作品。他们对艺术运动进行了研究，并以创造性的方式展示了自己的研究成果，其中包括一份他们所研究的艺术作品的副本。

研究技能使他们能够专注于一个特定的目标，收集相关信息，并与他人交流他们的研究成果。通过使用关键的艺术词汇，写作有助于发展他们的英语语言技能，同时让他们更加了解材料和技术是如何使用的。

10年级：静物

10年级的美术学生正处于IGCSE学习的起步阶段，他们一直在学习素描的基础知识、艺术媒介、技法，并发展他们对关键艺术术语和实践的认识和理解。他们通过静物画这一艺术体裁来实现这一目标；通过直接观察来进行创作，这对于培养眼/手的意识和协调能力，以及写实绘画的能力至关重要。现在，他们正在学习色彩理论和绘画技巧，为下一阶段的课程打下坚实的基础，下一段课程的重点是对材料和技术进行实验，并发展创造性的想法。

10 年级学生发展摄影技能，并建立自己的静物画。他们在一系列绘画实验中探索艺术元素：形状、线条、质地、形式、空间和色彩，同时学习关键的艺术术语。

关键阶段三：7-9年级

学习研究艺术家

学生们根据自己的主题研究了艺术家的画作，如七年级的 "海底珊瑚礁 "项目研究了 Courtney Mattison，九年级的 "肖像 "项目研究了文森特-梵高，并运用艺术评论的四个步骤：描述、分析、解释和判断，对他们的作品进行了评价。撰写关于艺术作品的文章有助于培养学生的英语语言技能，如学习如何安排写作结构和使用关键的艺术术语，同时让他们更深入地了解材料和技术的使用方法以及艺术作品的含义和目的。

关键阶段三的学生还学习了标记技术，并将其应用到绘画中。这些传统的标记方法已有几个世纪的历史，也是最早传授给美术专业学生的绘画方法。这些方法包括刻划、交叉刻划、点划、线描等。在艺术创作过程中，这有助于学生学习，使用简单的标记可以帮助创作出与我们日常所见物体的纹理和图案。

在掌握了基本的绘画技能后，他们将在下一部分项目中学习设计和制作技能。我们期待着向您展示七年级的海底陶瓷雕塑项目、八年级的 "亡灵节 "纺织项目和九年级的肖像与身份作品。

课外艺术活动

初级 - 展览艺术课外活动课

奥地利艺术家 Hundertwasser 以色彩鲜艳、图案丰富的肖像画和风景画而闻名。学生们正在画布上创作富有想象力和趣味性的丙烯画。所有画作将在学校展出，成为一个大型绘画展览。我们期待着向您展示最终的作品。

高级纺织工艺课外活动课

我们的纺织工艺课外活动课是一门实验性跨学科课程，侧重于创新纺织品表面和时装的创作。学生们通过研究、取样来了解设计的基本过程，完善自己的想法，做出一个独特的成品。学生们正在为阿迪达斯夏季系列设计一款新的运动包。他们必须结合使用织物标记、缝合和织物贴花来表现夏季主题。

一些正在制作中的袋子样品。

个人、社会、健康及财商教育课程（PSHE）是一门助力于儿童和青少年的个人成长和发展的课程。它关注学生作为独立的个人，以及作为家庭、社会和经济社区一员的发展，关注学生们的身心健康、人际关系、职业生涯和经济福祉。

在整个学年里，学生们将学习“身心健康”、“人际关系”和“融入广阔的世界”这三个核心主题，具体涉及到的话题包括：

• 身体健康

• 心理健康

• 成长与变化

• 虚拟与现实生活中的个人安全

• 人际关系与性教育

• 欺凌与歧视

• 媒体与数字素养

• 财富与事业

• 社区与责任

七年级

七年级的学生处于向中学过渡的阶段，他们在学习新的知识和技能，并且茁壮成长。他们开始了解自我，发现自身优势，建立自信和自尊；他们开始理解友谊，学会正确处理和朋友们的人际关系。

很快，学生将学习急救基础知识和基本生命支持的技能，包括伤情初步评估、复苏体位、心肺复苏术，以及如何处理出血伤口。

本学期结束前，学生们将通过“Changing Faces, A World of Difference”这一主题了解“歧视”问题，随后初步探索经济学领域。

八年级

八年级本学年的学习始于数字素养，他们学习了恶意软件、网络钓鱼和网络霸凌对人们的影响，这些内容意在让学生们意识到网络中的潜在威胁，而实际上大多数学生之前并不知道这些威胁的存在，这门课程提醒了他们在网络环境中要提高警惕。

接下来，他们将开始接触情绪健康的概念，通过了解多种应对消极情绪的方法来学习管理情绪。

九年级

本学期伊始，九年级的学生学习了怎样辨别健康与不健康的友谊，之后又学习了在面对“小团体”时如何自我保护。

随后，他们了解了药物滥用及酗酒的风险和后果，学习了如何应对来自同伴的压力。

本学期结束前，学生们还会了解职业发展方向和GCSE的选修课程，这让他们的未来有无限可能。

十年级

十年级的学生在本学年初接触了心理健康的板块，他们重点了解了青少年可能面临的心理健康问题，关注如何调整消极的状态，促进心理健康和情绪稳定。

接下来，他们将了解财务决策、债务、赌博以及广告对理财选择的影响。在这一课题中，他们不仅会了解债务和赌博的潜在威胁，还将学习如何管理金融相关的风险、如何获得帮助。

十一年级

十一年级的学生本学年的课程从关注身心健康开始，他们学习了身体与心理健康之间的关联、改善身心健康的策略，以及如何获取相关的帮助和支持。他们同时也在关注考试压力的影响和睡眠的重要性。

后续他们将学习如何做一名“网络公民”，重点是能够识别错误和虚假信息，理解这些信息存在的原因，学会有效应对这类信息。

学期结束前，学生们还将重点关注职业发展，了解如何根据自己的价值观进行职业选择， 自己的职业原则又将如何产生影响。

十二年级

十二年级学生在新学年进一步加深了对心理健康和情绪状态的认识理解。随着学生考试压力的增大，我们的课程也向学生们介绍了积极的应对方法，正念减压法就是其中之一，它引导学生关注当下，而非思虑过去或未来。

后续学生们还将了解各种职业机会，为进入社会做好准备。

十三年级

十三年级的学生在开学初学会了对自己负责，做出有益于身心健康的选择。学生们开展了一场题为“精神疾病源于先天还是后天”的辩论。这是一个锻炼学生深层次思维的好机会，促使他们反复思考自己的立场观点。

目前学生们正学习基本急救知识，包括伤情初步评估、复苏体位、心肺复苏术等内容，学习这些内容后，学生可以及时帮助那些有需要的人。在这个简短的单元之后，我们将开始关注他们的 "下一步"，继续思考未来的职业发展机会，同时关注他们将面临的大学申请流程。

学生们在 PSHE 课上的出色表现给我留下了非常深刻的印象，尤其是一些话题和内容经常需要他们走出舒适区、重新审视自己的观点和看法，我期待着他们继续深度参与到课堂中，并分享能够发人深思的想法。

今年，佛山霍利斯学院制度继续延续上学年的优良传统。每个学院都迎来了许多新学生和教职员工，我很高兴看到许多老生帮助所有新生，让他们倍感归属感。凤凰新任学院主任 Mr Munim 和独角兽新任学院主任 Ms Homer 对他们的学院感到非常满意，看到学院孩子们展现出来的团结意识，给予了高度评价。

龙学院在上周的全校集会上表现非常出色，他们向全校师生展示了8C价值观的核心概念，确保大家深入了解8C价值观的培养在佛山霍利斯的重要性。在剩下的学年里，学校希望每个学院能够专注于发展8C价值观的其中之一，并在学院主题全校集会上呈现。

我们的学院正在蓬勃发展。学生们一直在奋力获取学院积分，到目前为止，凤凰学院一跃成为领先者。当然，其他学院也在奋力追赶，情况有望扭转。本周，学校举行了学院万圣节装饰大赛，共同营造万圣氛围。目前，所有学生都在为 2023 年 11 月 17 日首次学院音乐大赛进行排练准备。运动会和游泳比赛也即将到来！此外，本学期还安排了许多学院竞赛，请大家记得留意活动日历！下学期，我们计划再次举办去年非常受欢迎的学院小测知识竞赛，为此，学院主任正筹备安排一场新型的解题大赛。

祝大家好运！希望所有学生勇于挑战，发扬竞争精神！

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Dear Parents,

What a fantastic week we have had. Thank you to everyone who joined the Halloween Family Night regardless of the rain we had a great evening; bringing the school community together is so much fun. The Prep School Halloween Spooky stories and Poems competition was an absolute delight, so many new faces on the stage communicating confidently and showcasing their learning. 

The school is preparing for our Founder’s Day celebrations. The 16th of November will recognise the hard work and tenacity demonstrated by many parties to open the school and we will take time to thank and recognise some key figures. Heather Hanbury and Michael Berkowitz will join us from London; they have not been to Foshan since the Groundbreaking ceremony so will proudly invite them into the school. I know that Heather and Michael are very excited to come and finally see for themselves the school as a finished entity. 

Please come along to this occasion, it will be fabulous to watch our sister school’s music concert in the evening, have some food and celebrate our school.

Have a great weekend and I hope to see many of you at the first Prep football tournament.

Best Regards,

Mrs Arden

Hello LEHF parents, 

Happy, Busy, Purposeful. I am sure by looking at all the wonderful photographs you receive, you can see we are currently in one of the busiest times of the school year. With so much learning, many activities, and events happening it is important that children are resting and sleeping well. Scientists have long recognised that getting enough sleep during childhood can benefit developing brains. School-aged children need 9 to 12 hours of sleep each night. Sleep affects learning and behaviour through specific brain changes. 

Children who have insufficient sleep have smaller volume in certain areas of the brain responsible for attention, memory, and inhibition control, compared to those with healthy sleep habits. Sleep is important because it enables the body to repair and be fit and ready for another day. Establishing a healthy sleep pattern in early life is very important for child development.  

Here at LEHF, we support students with their homework during ECA time 5-5.50 p.m. so that students can return home and have some well-earned family time. Families play an essential role in the earliest years of children's lives. With love, support, and guidance, parents and grandparents help them to develop physically, cognitively, socially, and emotionally.  

Spending time with family and loved ones has a strong positive impact on our mental health. It makes us feel closer to others. It can make us feel understood and accepted like we belong somewhere. All these things lead to a reduction in stress, anxiety, and depression, and our brains become marinated in oxytocin. 

This is why at LEHF we know it is important to have our special family events such as our Halloween Family Night and our Winter Market. We enjoy spending time with you and watching all our students grow and develop into Confident, Committed, Compassionate, Creative, and Curious learners. Please enjoy the upcoming four-day weekend with your families. 

Key Stage 2 

The Prep school students have all been working on their Self Portrait projects. Each year group researched a different artist.  

Year 3- Picasso Self-Portraits 

The Year 3 made their portraits in the style of Pablo Picasso who was the father of the modern art movement called Cubism. Cubism was characterised by large, colourful surfaces, multiple viewpoints and distorted proportions. The students brought out their inner Picassos and made bold, colourful self-portraits. 

Year 4- Favourite Fruits and Vegetable Self-Portraits

Year 4 made their portrait in the style of Giuseppe Arcimboldo an Italian painter best known for creating imaginative portrait heads made entirely of objects such as fruits, vegetables, flowers, fish, and books. Their goal was to communicate something about themselves by creating a fruit and vegetable self-portrait made of their favourite fruits and vegetables. The students got very creative and produced fun, imaginative and well executed work.

Year 5- Identity Self-Portraits

Year 5 researched the artist Stephanie Ledoux to help them understand how they could create their own self-portrait about their identity and culture. Her work celebrates the beauty of diversity, keeping alive people’s culture and traditions. Students did exceptionally well to create work that showed their growing awareness and ability to draw the correct shapes and proportions, to use the pen and wash technique and to be able to communicate a message in their artwork. 

Year 6 – Digital Self-Portraits

Year 6 took on the challenge of a digital photography project. Children have their own unique perspective on the world. Digital technology makes photography easily accessible for young children. Using a tablet, camera phone or digital camera they can capture their world view and share it with others. We live in an increasingly image-driven society. Photography is an excellent way to build children’s digital and visual literacy skills and their ability to express themselves. 

This digital photography project focussed on the American female photographer Nan Goldin The students learnt about camera shots and angles including creatively editing and distorting photographs. 

Year 13 have been busy writing personal statements and deciding upon university courses in the UK. The applications have been made and we are delighted to announce that Cheuk Yiu has already received 2 offers. The University of Newcastle (Business and Human Resource Management ) and the University of Gloucestershire (International Business Management) have asked for 114 UCAS points and BCC respectively to study, so Cheuk Yiu is in a very strong position.  Students could receive up to 5 offers from the UK (4 for medicine) and will then have to decide which to accept. It’s an exciting time!

IGCSE and A Level 

This is a very busy and exciting time for our Year 11, 12 and 13 art students who are working very hard on their Cambridge IGCSE, AS and A Level Examination coursework. They have been experimenting with varied materials, techniques and processes including drawing, painting, printmaking and ceramics to inform the development of their individual project ideas.  Each student directs their own investigation and responds to their chosen artists to inform their own unique developments and ultimately a final piece.  

Year 11 Students Etching in our Print Studio

Examples of IGCSE initial investigations into the coursework themes ‘Memories’ and ‘Decay’.

AS Level, Year 12 student Konstantin has been exploring his interest in music and developing his ideas by making observational studies and then through artist research experimenting with materials, techniques and approaches.

Year 13 student Jasmine is exploring the impact of crowded urban architecture on peoples’ mental health.

Year 11 Pre-A level

This term students have been working on a Still-life Drawing Project. Students learnt about the importance of the Still Life genre in western tradition and in their art education. The students drew gestural, continuous and outline drawings including negative spaces and proportions.  For many of our PAL students they have limited experience with Art and Design and this project has given them essential skills in drawing.

To further develop their creativity they are now working on a Still life and Cubism mini Project where they will create a Cubist style artwork of their chosen artist . They have researched the art Movement and presented their findings in a creative way, including a copy of one of the artworks they have researched.

Research skills enables them to focus on a specific goal, gather relevant information, and communicate their findings to others. Writing supports the development of their English language skills, by using key art words, whilst giving them greater awareness into how materials and techniques are used. 

Year 10- Still Life

Year 10 Art students are at the beginning of their IGCSE journey and have been studying the fundamentals of drawing, dry art media, techniques and developing their knowledge and understanding of key art terminology and practice. This is achieved through the art genre of still-life; working from direct observation is essential in developing the eye/ hand awareness and coordination, and the ability to draw and paint realistically. They are now learning about colour theory and paint application skills and are gaining a solid grounding for the next stage of the course, which focusses on experimentation with materials and techniques and the development of creative ideas.

Year 10 students develop photography skills and set up their own still-life. They explore the elements of art: shape, line, texture, form, form, space and colour in a series of drawing experiments whilst learning key art terminology.

Key Stage 3 – Year 7, 8 and 9

Learning to Research Artists

Students researched the paintings of the artist specific to their topics, such as Courtney Mattison for Year 7 for their Under the Sea Coral Reef project and Vincent Van Gogh for the Year 9 Portrait project and wrote about their work using the four steps of art criticism: description, analysis, interpretation, and judgment. Writing about artworks supports the development of their English language skills, such as learning how to structure their writing and use key art terminology, whilst giving them greater insight into how materials and techniques are used and the meanings and purpose of artworks. 

Key stage 3 students have also learnt mark making techniques and applied to it to their drawings. These traditional methods for making marks are centuries old and are the first drawing methods taught to art students. These include hatching, cross-hatching, stippling, stippling amongst others. In the creative process of making art, it helps students to understand that simple marks were used to help create a picture or drawing that resembled or reproduced the same textures and patterns of objects that we see every day. 

Having developed their fundamental drawing skills, in the next part of their projects they will learn design and making skills. We look forward to showing you Year 7’s Under the Sea Ceramic Sculpture project, Year 8’s The Day of the Dead Textile project and Year 9’s Portrait and Identity work.

Extra-Curricular Art Activities

Junior - Art for Exhibition ECA

Our talented and budding junior artists designed their own compositions for paintings of an animal inspired by the Austrian artist Hundertwasser who is famous for his brightly coloured, patterned portraits and landscapes. Students are in mid production of their imaginative and fun acrylic paintings on canvas. All the paintings will be put on exhibition in the school to make one large painting installation. We are looking forward to showing you the final piece.

Senior Textiles ECA 

Our Textile ECA is an experimental and interdisciplinary course which focuses on the creation of innovative textiles surfaces and fashion. The students are learning to understand the fundamental process of design through research, sampling and developing ideas into unique and exciting outcomes. Students were asked to sketch and design a new sports bag for the Addidas summer range. They had to use a combination of fabric markers, stitching and fabric appliques to show the summer theme

Examples of some of the bags in the process of being made.

Personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) education is a planned programme of learning opportunities and experiences that help children and young people grow and develop as individuals and as members of families and of social and economic communities and is dedicated to supporting children’s physical and mental health, relationships, careers and economic wellbeing.

Throughout the year, students cover the three core themes of ‘Health and Wellbeing’, ‘Relationships’ and ‘Living in the Wider World’. Within these core themes, they cover topics which include:

• Physical health

• Mental health

• Growing and changing

• Personal safety, both online and in real life

• Relationship and sex education

• Bullying and discrimination

• Media and digital literacy

• Money and work

• Community and Responsibility

Year 7

Year 7 students have covered transition and safety, looking at the transition to secondary school, developing new skills and thriving in a new Key Stage. They learnt about their Character Strengths, using them to build self-confidence and self-esteem and develop an understanding of friendships and how to ensure they make the right decisions when making new friends. 

Shortly, they will be moving onto the basics of first aid, where they will cover basic life support, including undertaking a primary survey, placing some in the recovery position and CPR and understanding how to deal with a person who is bleeding.

By the end of the term, students will cover discrimination through the topic of Changing Faces, A World of Difference, before ending the term looking at basic economic education.

Year 8 

Year 8 started the year off focusing on digital literacy, they learned about the possible consequences of malware, phishing, and cyberbullying. While the information was designed to make them aware of the potential threats they may face while being online, most of the students were unaware of these and found the content a little worrying as they were so unaware of these threats.

Moving on they will begin learning about emotional wellbeing, managing emotions and learning how to deal with unhealthy coping strategies by understanding and identifying healthy coping strategies.  

Year 9 

Students in Year 9 began the term looking at the difference between healthy and unhealthy friendships before moving on to learning about gangs, managing risks and staying safe.

They then moved on to learning about the risks and consequences related to drug and alcohol use and how to deal with the potential peer pressure they may face in the future.

By the end of the term, students will move on to looking at career pathways and GCSE options to ensure they are fully aware of the possibilities and opportunities open to them.

Year 10

In Year 10 students started off the year developing an understanding and awareness of mental health and wellbeing and the stigma behind mental health issues especially those faced by adolescences. They focused on how to reframe negative thinking and develop strategies to promote mental health and emotional wellbeing.

Moving on they will begin to look at the impact of financial decisions, debt, gambling, and the impact of advertising on financial choices. During this topic not only will they learn about the potential issues of debt and gambling, but they will also learn about how to mange risk in relation to financial activities and how and where to get support.

Year 11

Year 11 students started the year focusing on mental health and wellbeing, learning about the link between physical and mental wellbeing, describing strategies for improving physical and mental wellbeing and understanding where to get help and support for their physical and mental wellbeing; they also looked at exam stress and the importance of sleep.

They will then move on to how to be an Internet citizen, focusing on identifying traits of disinformation and misinformation, the potential motives for posting inaccurate information online and developing effective responses when encountering dis/misinformation online.

By the end of the term, students will focus on career education and will learn how people can align their actions with their values and how individuals can make a difference through their career choices.

Year 12

Year 12 started the year furthering their knowledge and understanding of mental health and emotional wellbeing by developing healthy coping strategies for managing stress, especially exam stress, this was done by introducing them to mindfulness which teaches students to take time to focus on the here and now and not on the past of future.

Moving forward they will start to look at the readiness for work by understanding career opportunities available to them which will prepare them for the world of work.

Year 13

Students in Year 13 began the year with a focus on health and wellbeing with a focus on responsible health choices, which included a debate on whether mental illness are caused by ‘Nature’ or ‘Nurture’. This was an interested opportunity for students to develop deeper thinking skills and made them question their own thoughts and opinions on the issue.

Currently we are covering basic first aid in lessons giving students the opportunity to gain an understanding of how they can help a person in need by learning basic life support which includes how to perform a primary survey, place a casualty into the recovery position and perform CPR. Following this short unit, we will begin focusing on their ‘next steps’ and continue thinking about future opportunities and career development, while having a focus on the application process they will face following university.

I have been very impressed by the attitude and mature approach our students have demonstrated in their PSHE lessons, especially as some of the topics and content regularly pushes students outside of their comfort zone and makes them reevaluate their views and opinions. I look forward to their continued engagement in lessons and their thought-provoking comments.

This year, the LEH House system has continued with the same momentum as it did at the end of the previous academic year. Each House welcomed many new students and staff and I was delighted to see many existing students helping all the new students feel welcome. Our new House Masters in Phoenix and Unicorn have been delighted and impressed with their Houses, with both Mr Munim and Ms Homer commenting on the sense of 'togetherness' in each House.

Dragon House were exceptional in last weeks Whole School Assembly whereby they presented the 8 C's to all of our students and staff, which is so important to ensure that these 8 values are embedded across the whole of the school. Throughout the remaining academic year, each House now has the responsibility to focus in one the 8 C's and deliver their own Whole School Assembly.

The House system is 'alive and running'. Students are collecting House points all the time and so far, Pheonix has jumped into the lead. Of course, this may quickly change. This week there is a Halloween House competition and currently all the students are rehearsing for our first ever House Music Competition on the 17th November 2023. The Sport Days and Swimming Gala are quickly arriving, alongside many Inter-House competitions planned into the School Events Calendar for Term 1.  Next term, we plan to stage the House Quiz which was very popular last year and our House Masters are working together to arrange a new problem solving competition.