Dear Parents/Carers, Today the school felt very different as students came in wearing their own clothes to raise money and awareness of genetic illnesses – Jeans for Genes Day. I am always a little anxious when we have a ‘non-uniform day’, but, as usual, the girls were wonderful; there are so many varieties of ripped jeans! Similarly there are between 4,000 and 6,000 diagnosed genetic disorders and between 1 in 25 children are affected by some form. Some of our girls are, of course, affected; several by sickle cell anaemia and other disorders. Today I was fascinated to see a DNA helix being made out of sweets (my kind of Science), as our Science teams taught the details of genetics during Jeans for Genes day. We are grateful to you for supporting this worthy cause through your daughters. The STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Maths) theme was continued when we welcomed our prospective Year 7’s at the Science and Maths Year 6 day this week. Some superb Scientists and Mathematicians engaged in exciting learning. We will see them at Open Evening in the next few weeks. Charitable works, of course, are part of our ethos in a Catholic school, doing as Jesus did, and indeed part of our LSU charism of ‘unity, service, worship, work and prayer’. The girls offer a great deal of these core values to their community – not just in raising money but in their kindness and the way they work for each other. Exams are important, but they are only part of the story – raising good Christian people with you is also part of our role. Next week we are collecting our parcels for Thurrock Foodbank, one of our year group charities. Please contribute one item if you can. One of the people who helps us share this good news with you, our Art and Media technician Amy Chapman leaves us today. She is off to an exciting future in Canada. We will miss her very much and wish her an exciting time there. I’m sure she will tweet her adventures with us. My second daughter is also leaving, off to university for the first time this weekend, so good luck to all of those of you sending off your children to their exciting futures too, special love and prayers go to some of our old Convent girls who I know are packing as I write. Perhaps words from Robert Frost’s famous poem are relevant here, “Two roads diverged in a wood, and I took the one less travelled by, and that has made all the difference“. Enjoy your weekend together. Penny Johnson Headteacher

Inspiring Ambition,

Achieving Excellence Week ending Friday 21

st

September 2018

At Grays Convent our Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) is Mrs Collis, and our Safeguarding Officers are Mrs Wells and Mrs Bishop. Students can contact any of our Safeguarding Team during the school day.

Mrs Collis

Advice for 11-13 Year Olds The following link provides you with useful advice if you have any concerns regarding keeping yourself e-safe.

https://www.thinkuknow.co.uk/11_13/

Mr Burr

SAFEGUARDING OUR CHILDREN AT GRAYS CONVENT

INTERNET SAFETY TIP – Think you know…

Worried about a child? You can phone or write to The MASH about your concerns. Phone immediately if you believe it is urgent.

Thurrock MASH (Multi Agency Safeguarding hub), Civic Offices, New Road, Grays, Essex, RM17 6SL, Tel: 01375 652802.

Emergency Duty Team (for out of hours) 01375 372468.

Police Child Abuse Investigation Team 01277 266822 or call 999 if you are concerned a child needs immediate protection.

Childline 0800 11 11 www.childline.org.uk

NSPCC 0808 800 5000 www.nspcc.org.uk; www.facebook.com/nspcc

The students and staff wore their jeans for a £1 donation to raise money for Jeans for Genes Day today. We will let you know how much we raised in next week’s newsletter. Today we raised £60 for Jeans for Genes Day by selling blue cakes. The cakes were an unusual shade of Duck Egg Blue…?!?!?!

Special thanks to our gorgeous Kitchen Staff, Mrs Goddard, and Lucinda Anane who stepped in and helped Mrs Goddard to sell them. And of course a big THANK YOU to all students and staff for buying them and for their kind donations.

Mrs Blackburn

As part of the Trailblazer programme, Year 10 BTEC Dance group today went on a trip to see The New English Ballet Theatre Group performing at the Thameside Theatre. To assist the BTEC Dance group the Dance/Drama Department are trying to expose the girls to as much live theatre this year as they can, and the girls were asked to fill out a live theatre evaluation sheet based upon this particular ballet performance. More details about the trip, and feedback from the girls in next week’s newsletter!

Mrs O’Donoghue

All trip money must be in a SEALED ENVELOPE, as lots of money is coming through the letter box loose and falling out. Also, please DO NOT USE THE ACTUAL RETURN RECEIPT SLIP STAPLED UP AND MADE INTO AN ENVELOPE or monies in a food freezer bag! Envelopes must have pupils name, and which trip it is, and a separate envelope for EACH trip please!

Finance Department

JEANS FOR GENES DAY TRAILBLAZER TRIP TO THE BALLET

TRIP MONEY

William Stillaway was born in East London and moved to Manor Road Grays. Following his marriage he lived with his wife at 17 Charles Street, Grays. He was a storekeeper on the cruiser HMS Clan McNaughton. In February 1915 the ship sank off the coast of Ireland. All 261 crew members were lost.

William’s two brothers also went to sea. They served together on the SS Minnehaha. In September 1917 the ship was hit by a German torpedo and sank in just four minutes. Both Alfred (22 years old) and Arthur (17 years old) were lost.

Mrs M Smith

Please, follow us on Twitter: @GraysConvent, and re-tweet all our good news! See our Twitter feed: http://www.graysconvent.thurrock.sch.uk. If you would like real time up-dates and photos on our sporting fixtures follow @graysconventPE or look for the #GCHSsport tag!

Students must be in school by 8:25am and go straight to their form class for registration. We have had a number of girls say that they were in school for 8:25am but were “looking for a teacher”, or “dropping off equipment” etc. This must be done after registration. If your daughter arrives late to registration she will be issued a ‘late mark’.

Mrs C Smith

Please note we now have a new leave of absence form, printed on green paper. This can be obtained from the Finance Office. We will no longer be accepting the old version printed on white paper.

Mrs Wood

LEST WE FORGET… GCHS TWITTER

PUNCTUALITY

STUDENT LEAVE OF

ABSENCE FORMS

Congratulations to our Jack Petchey Award winner for May

2018 – Grace Chukwurah. Grace was nominated for the award

as follows:

“Grace only joined Grays Convent in February and already gets along well with everyone. She participates in afterschool sports clubs, is a really nice

person and takes her learning seriously. Outside of school she

is a very bubbly and fun friend; always willing to help others. I think she deserves this Award!” Congratulations to our Jack Petchey Award winner for June

2018 – Jacinda Boateng. Jacinda was nominated for the award

as follows:

“Jacinda is a smart caring girl who goes out of her way to help others. She is a Chapel Representative and Librarian. She

participates in many school clubs e.g. dance and athletics.

She shows leadership skills by being a Vice Captain for her Form,

leading class assemblies and performed in school productions. She was awarded a certificate for reaching her target grades in all her subjects and received distinction in her Lamda examination!”

Mrs Barrett

If your daughter is required to take medication in school, and in particular suffers from menstrual pain, could you please provide the school with suitable medication. You will be required to complete a form for the school to be able to administer the medication. This form can be obtained from the school reception. Medication and the consent to administer form will be kept in the medical room for your daughter to take it when necessary.

Mrs C Smith

At the same time, they frequently avoid being honest with people in their everyday lives. Who hasn't told a fib or half-truth to get through an awkward social situation or to keep the peace?

New research from the University Of Chicago Booth School Of Business explores the consequences of honesty in everyday life and determines that people can often afford to be more honest than they think.

In the paper, You Can Handle the Truth: Mispredicting the Consequences of Honest Communication, Chicago Booth Assistant Professor Emma Levine and Carnegie Mellon University's Taya Cohen find that people significantly overestimate the costs of honest conversations.

"We're often reluctant to have completely honest conversations with others," says Levine. "We think offering critical feedback or opening up about our secrets will be uncomfortable for both us and the people with whom we are talking."

The researchers conclude that such fears are often misguided. Honest conversations are far more enjoyable for communicators than they expect them to be, and the listeners of honest conversations react less negatively than expected, according to the paper, published in the Journal of Experiment Psychology: General.

For purposes of the study, the researchers define honesty as "speaking in accordance with one's own beliefs, thoughts and feelings."

In a series of experiments, the researchers explore the actual and predicted consequences of honesty in everyday life. In one field experiment, participants were instructed to be completely honest with everyone in their lives for three days. In a laboratory experiment, participants had to be honest with a close relational partner while answering personal and potentially difficult discussion questions. A third experiment instructed participants to honestly share negative feedback to a close relational partner.

Across all the experiments, individuals expect honesty to be less pleasant and less social connecting than it actually is. "Taken together, these findings suggest that individuals' avoidance of honesty may be a mistake," the researchers write. "By avoiding honesty, individuals miss out on opportunities that they appreciate in the long-run, and that they would want to repeat."

Mrs Sajid

JACK PETCHEY AWARDEES

STUDENT MEDICATION

SCIENCE SPOT…

The following fixtures are subject to change - please make sure you check every week!

Date Year Opposition Venue

Tues 2nd October 8 Netball Harris Chafford & Riverside Home

Thurs 4th October U16 Netball OPA Away

Tues 9th October U16 Netball Rally Hassenbrook

Wed 10th October 10 & 11 Athletics Lee Valley Indoor Semi-Final Lee Valley

Thurs 11th October U16 Netball Gateway Home

Thurs 11th October Y7&8 / Y9&10 XC English Schools XC Cup Campion

Wed 17th October 10 & 11 Athletics Lee Valley Indoor Finals Lee Valley

Thurs 18th October U16 Netball St Cleres A & B Away

Thurs 18th October 9 Netball Ockendon Home

Wed 7th November 7-11 Cross Country District Cross Country Blackshots

Thur 8th November U16 Netball William Edwards Home

Mon 12th November 7 Netball OPA Home

Tues 13th November U13 Rugby William Edwards Away

Wed 14th November 8 & 9 Athletics Lee Valley Indoor R1 (TBC) Lee Valley

Thurs 15th November U16 Netball Ockendon Away

Tues 20th November U14 Netball Rally Hassenbrook

Wed 21st November 8 & 9 Athletics Lee Valley Indoor R1 (TBC) Lee Valley

Thurs 22nd November U16 Netball Harris Chafford Away

Tues 27th November 7 Netball Hassenbrook Away

Tues 27th November 8 Netball Hassenbrook Away

Thurs 6th December 8 Netball William Edwards Away

Tues 11th December 7 Netball St Cleres A & B Away

Wed 12th December 8 & 9 Athletics Lee Valley Semi-Final1 (TBC) Lee Valley

Thurs 13th December 9 Netball- 3:15 start St Cleres Home

Wed 9th January 8 & 9 Athletics Lee Valley Finals (TBC) Lee Valley

Tues 15th January U16 Netball Hasssenbrook Away

Wed 16th January 7 Athletics Lee Valley Indoor R1 (TBC) Lee Valley

Tues 22nd January 8 Netball- 3:15 start St Cleres Home

Wed 23rd January 7 Athletics Lee Valley Indoor R1 (TBC) Lee Valley

Thurs 24th January 9 Netball Harris Chafford Home

Tues 29th January 9 Netball Hassenbrook Away

Thurs 31st January U16 Netball Gable Hall Away

Thurs 31st January Y9 Netball Gable Hall Away

Tues 5th February 7 Netball William Edwards Home

Thurs 7th February Y7 Netball Gable Hall Home

Thurs 7th February 8 Netball Gable Hall Home

Tues 12th February 7 Netball Chafford Harris & Riverside Away

Thurs 14th February 9 Netball William Edwards Away

Tues 26th February 7 Netball Gateway Away

Wed 27th February 7 Athletics Lee Valley Semi 1 (TBC) Lee Valley

Tues 5th March 8 Netball Gateway Home

Wed 6th March 7 Athletics Lee Valley Semi 2 (TBC) Lee Valley

Tues 12th March 8 Netball Rally Hassenbrook

Wed 13th March 7 Athletics Lee Valley Finals (TBC) Lee Valley

Tues 19th March Y7 Netball Ockendon Home

Tues 19th March 8 Netball Ockendon Home

Tues 26th March 7 Netball Rally Hassenbrook

Mon 20th May 7-11 Athletics District Athletics Finals Blackshots

Weds 22nd May 8-11 Athletics Essex Schools C. E. T Brentwood School

WINTER/SPRING FIXTURES 2018-19

We greatly appreciate the generosity of our girls and we are asking for contributions of tinned foods and non-perishable items to support the Foodbank appeal launched by Mrs Collis this week. There is information below with a list of items that they need, (but no more baked beans!) if you can help please?

God bless you and thank you for your support.

Miss Carson

Wednesday 26th September School Elections Whole School

Thursday 27th September Year 10 Information Evening 6-8pm Year 10 Parents/Carers

Monday 1st October TAP Meeting – Year 11 Parents 6-8pm Year 11 Parents/Carers

Wednesday 3rd October Year 10 Opportunity Thurrock Year 10

Year 6 Open Evening – 6-8pm (Early closure: students dismissed at 12:10pm)

Year 6 Parents/Carers

Thursday 4th October Students should arrive for 9:30am

Registration All Year Groups

Friday 5th October CAFOD Harvest Fast Day All Year Groups

Thursday 11th October Year 7 Welcome Mass 6pm Year 7 Parents/Carers

GRAYS CONVENT HIGH SCHOOL HELPING LOCAL PEOPLE IN NEED

KEY DATES, TRIPS & EVENTS