Together We Can Make a Difference – Children in Need 2021

Dear Parents,

We are supporting Children in Need this year with a 

FEEL GOOD FANCY DRESS FRIDAY

The boys are invited on Friday 19th November to come in their fancy dress; wacky outfits welcomed.  We hope the boys have a fun day and we look forward to seeing a whole host of different looks.

This is where the Keble community shines, the generosity in years past has been fantastic and we hope to outdo ourselves this year by raising a huge amount for Children in Need charities around the world and here at home.

Please see the attached letter for details of how you can donate.

Thank you

Mrs Pontin

FLU INOCULATION NOVEMBER 18th

Please find a link to the Government site on the school flu vaccination programme 2021 -22 here

All boys will have the opportunity to receive a Flu-enz nasal spray when the Enfield Immunisation Team visit us on November 18th. In the parent letter below you will find all the details. 

The important thing is to complete the online consent form here                 https://www.enfieldhealthimmunisations.co.uk/Forms/Flu

You will then be able to tell the Enfield team whether you wish your son to receive the spray or not. PLEASE COMPLETE THE “NO CONSENT” SECTION IF YOU DO NOT WISH YOUR SON TO RECEIVE IT. 

Keble’s unique code which you will need when you complete the online form is ENF102060.

Mr Field

Growth Mindset

A growth mindset is defined as:

“In a growth mindset, people believe that their most basic abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work—brains and talent are just the starting point. This view creates a love of learning and a resilience that is essential for great accomplishment.” ( Dweck, 2015)

At Keble, we believe developing a growth mindset is one of the most important skills our boys can learn. Moving away from the restrictions of a fixed mindset, boys need to embrace this ethos from Reception right through to Y8. Boys are taught about the magic of the word “yet”. Any skill that is out of reach at the moment is only something we cannot do yet.

Boys this year will focus across the school on developing a growth mindset and embedding it as the school ethos. They will be encouraged to take measured risks by embracing challenges and exploring problems. Boys will build the confidence to change their mindset to appreciate the value of getting something wrong in the process of learning. In getting something wrong, truly understanding why, and embracing this as a positive, we continue to develop.

Seeing learning in a different way, and turning negative approaches into positive experiences can help boys to reprogram their learning experience. We have already embraced much of this instinctively, talking about the “learning pit” amongst other things. But by making it an overt process across the whole school, and reinforcing it in assemblies, we hope to help our boys to flourish even further. The boys will be encouraged to take part in more challenges in lessons, in the wider school, and in their houses.

Some examples of a growth mindset include :

“I can’t do this.” becomes “What can I do to improve?”

“This will do” becomes “Is this my best work?”

“I’ll never do this! It’s too hard!” becomes “It make take some time and effort.”

“I just can’t do this!” becomes “I am going to try a different strategy.”

“How come my friend can do this?” becomes “I will learn from and with them.”

“I am not clever enough.” becomes “I will learn how to do this!”

“I made a mistake” becomes “Mistakes help me learn and improve.”

The Juniors have continued to use Seesaw throughout lockdown and much of last year to showcase excellent work. They will continue to use Seesaw to demonstrate good work and reflect on their work and targets.

The senior boys will now be using Seesaw in a similar way. They will continue to have an Art and PE class but they will now have a form class in Seesaw. During Form periods, the boys will be using Seesaw to think about targets. Targets are set in subjects but this will give the boys more time to reflect more on all kinds of targets, posting work they are proud of and reflecting on what they felt they did well and what could be improved. This could be any subject or aspect of their learning. The boys will also peer-to-peer assess each other’s work. The idea is to help all boys across the year groups improve their work through teamwork and reflection. Boys will be, amongst other things, filming presentations and analysing their performance. Mr Gill’s focus this term, reinforced in assemblies, is communication. We are all working towards helping our boys improve in this area, in all its different forms. As this develops parents will be invited to the new Seesaw classrooms so they can share in this process.

New Curriculum Page

The parent dashboard continues to be developed to help provide parents with useful information. This week the curriculum page on the parent dashboard has been updated to include more information about the assessment undertaken at Keble to help your son understand his progress year on year.

Please could I remind parents it is a requirement that all parents in the junior school sign an Acceptable Usage form, and all parents in the senior school Y5-8 sign the iPad agreement. Both can be found here .

If you have any ideas of things you would like included on the dashboard, please fill in the form below

Bike to School Week

Bike to School Week takes place between 27 September and 1 October 2021.

During the week, schools encourage families to cycle or scoot to school and beyond.

It’s a great opportunity to celebrate cycling and scooting and the positive impact it has on children’s health and wellbeing as well as the environment.

Welcome Back

Dear Parents,

I hope you have had a good summer, and that your sons are rested, refreshed and ready to be back at school.

A few things to help get the academic year started. Parents can now go to the parent dashboard on the website and find updated copies of most information. Please note some pages continue to need the dashboard password to access. Please call the office if you need a reminder.

Clubs and Activities should be live by the end of the day on Friday. This year the page will allow you to book most clubs directly via a Google Form which will go directly to Mrs Maloney, who has taken responsibility for the clubs and activities across the whole school. 

Please could parents also remember to sign all AUP ( Acceptable Use ) forms for their son.

13+ Key Admissions Dates

We are now pleased to confirm the arrangements for both the Mill Hill Year 6 Track 13+ assessments and their Year 8 Track Chance Vacancy process.

For the Year 6 Track candidates, testing will take place at Mill Hill School on Saturday 13 November, with the deadline for registration on Friday 5 November. Individual timings will be sent to families by Mill Hill in due course with full details of the arrangements.  In addition to the testing, there will also be an activity to give a taste of life at Mill Hill.

The Chance Vacancy process for Year 8 candidates will operate as last year, with the deadline for registration being Friday 26 November 2021 and CEM testing taking place at Mill Hill School on Saturday 4 December.  A waiting list will then be drawn up and candidates will be invited to interview as and when places come up, which is likely to be in the Spring or Summer Term.

Please make a note of the date below.

Mill Hill Open Morning – Saturday 9 October 2021

The date for the forthcoming Mill Hill Open Morning is Saturday 9 October 2021, and the following link will enable you to register for attendance.

https://www.millhill.org.uk/senior/admissions/openmornings/

The Open Morning format has evolved to include School tours with both staff and pupils, departmental displays and a presentation by the Head of the School.  There will also be an opportunity to meet with the Admissions Team, the academic staff and Senior Leadership Team.

Team changes at Keble

I would also like to take this opportunity to remind you of staff changes and welcome Mrs Ford (Rec) , Mrs Halpin (4H) and Mr Calder (Head of Games and 5C Form Tutor). I hope they will be very happy at the school.

Mrs Maloney (Head of English) will now also be responsible for Safeguarding and clubs and activities, and I will continue to be responsible for technology but also teaching and learning at the school.

I hope your sons have a great start to the year. In the coming weeks, blogs will cover assessment at Keble with a timetable and explanation of the different forms of assessment that your sons will undertake.

Karen Fleming

Keble Prize Giving

Dear Parents,

Today, we held our prize-giving ceremonies in the playground to reward our boys after a difficult year. It was a day of celebration. All our boys have worked hard this year and coped well with the pandemic. It has been really good to have them all back at school this term.

We filmed this morning’s Prize Giving ceremonies. You can find them on the Parent dashboard at Prize Giving Ceremonies The page is password protected with the parent dashboard password. An SMS will be sent with a reminder of the password.

Three ceremonies were filmed
Reception-Y2
Year 3 and 4
Years 5 and 7

Year 6 and Year 8 Prize Giving will be taking place tomorrow Saturday 10 th July.

Year 8 Raffle

In January 2019, just before lockdown, Y7 and I went to the Bett exhibition. We have some really enthusiastic programmers in this year group and we had an amazing day. We got to chat with the Fable team and try out their new robotics kits, and spent the day checking out all the latest technology on offer.

On one of the stands, a prize was sealed in a giant clear plastic tube. The Prize was the latest Nintendo Switch. There was a queue to try and win it. The tube was locked by a padlock which only opened if you figured out some difficult problems and solved them in just the right order. People were walking away having not managed to figure out the solutions. The then Y7 boys ( now Y8 ) asked if they could give it a go. They were desperate! I could see all these people – many of them adults – leaving disappointed, but in the “can-do” spirit said, “of course, go for it!”

I left them to it for a couple of minutes while I picked up a leaflet from another stand only to be greeted by an excited Y7 class beaming at me and carrying the Nintendo Switch! They had won it! Dharman had solved the lion’s share of the problems but was ably aided by the rest of the class.

The boys on their return wanted to donate the Switch to charity but lockdown took hold. They are now leaving for pastures new but the Nintendo has never been opened and sits in the school office. The boys, this week, asked if they could raffle it and present it to the winner in the final assembly next week. The money will go to a charity of Dharman’s choice.

Thank you in advance for your support

Mrs Fleming

Y8 Common Entrance Success

The past eighteen months have been a difficult time for all of us, but as the Y8 Form Tutor, I have seen at first hand how difficult it has been for the boys taking life-changing examinations.

Last March, as we went into lockdown, remote learning began for these boys. Each morning, all the Y8 boys were there with me for registration via Google Meet. Some bleary eyed, others rushing to hide cereal bowls, in a range of sweatshirts and hoodies but nonetheless there, without fail, day in day out. These boys attended all Google meet lessons with all their teachers and continued to submit work and homework diligently.

Fast forward to this term. The boys were so excited to be back and see each other again. Even though they knew it was the term leading up to their exams they were still relieved and happy to be back. They continued to work hard and completed all their regular duties around the school with a calm and positive attitude.

On the last day before half term, as other classes were excited to have a break, I looked at Y8 and advised them to make sure they managed to have some break, however small. They looked back nervously as they knew the week after half term was CE week. The week they had been working towards for two years.

CE week came and went. It was hot and the boys crowded each day into the gym for their exams. They did so with good grace, and the week they had worked towards flew by.

Last week we all went with Mr Gill for their well-deserved post-CE trip to Cornwall. Spain wasn’t possible this year, but Mr Gill was able to put together an amazing trip. The boys had a surfing lesson, went coasteering, Go Kart Racing, Quad Biking, Zip Wiring and had a great afternoon in the Adrenalin quarry.

It was an amazing trip and the boys impressed Mr Gill and I with their good behaviour. They were an absolute pleasure to be with. The best part of the trip was to see these young men (as they are mostly 13 now) enjoy themselves together. They laughed, joked and enjoyed each other’s company, on a trip they will, I’m sure, remember for a lifetime.

This week they received their CE results. We couldn’t be more proud of them, and I know their parents certainly are. Despite Covid 19, Y8 produced a fantastic set of results. In ten out of eleven subjects, 91% of the boys achieved grade B or above, with five of those subjects at least 73% attained A or A*

As I opened the spreadsheet to view the results I was struck by the array of As and A*s in particular, and I breathed a sigh of relief for them. All the boys got their grades and I know they will do themselves proud at the City of London, Haileybury, St Albans, St Edmunds, Mill Hill and Mounthouse schools.

We have a tradition of many of our boys going on to be Head Boys at their future school. A perfect example is Mr Davis, who has come back for a year to support in Y4, after finishing Aldenham School, before going to Cambridge University. I hope, and have every confidence, that this will remain true for the Class of 2021.

Mrs Fleming