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Archive: April 2024

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The DOSE Effect - TJ Power Visit
Posted on: 29/04/2024

The DOSE Effect - TJ Power Visit

The DOSE Effect is an approach championed by Tj Power, a neuroscientist, who has been working with the school to educate our students, families and staff to help us to understand how brain chemistry affects mental health, and how the things that we do can positively influence these chemicals. We are delighted to have been awarded financial support from Waitrose Alton and Gallagher Insurance which will enable us to extend the programme to other students and families within our school community. The potential of this project is far reaching and having trialled the programme with our Year 9 students, we have already had some incredible feedback. The students have been really engaged with the programme and the workshops that Tj has run for them and the feedback suggests that it is making a positive difference for many within our community – students, primarily of course, but families too. Educating and supporting our young people to understand and further their knowledge on how to enhance their mental health will not only lead them to being more fulfilled but will help them to achieve their full potential at school and also beyond, as they turn their minds to college, perhaps university and employment. Our thanks to both Waitrose Alton and Gallagher Insurance for seeing the benefit for our students in this programme and for providing additional funds to allow us to roll out the programme to other students. What the students said... "Loved having you at my school, defo going to miss your sessions every week"  "Thanks so much WE ALL miss you already" "Thank you so much for coming into our school. I have learnt a lot from you. Also my mum thought you were amazing"  "Really interesting to learn about all the different chemicals and has definitely changed the small things in my life to make a big difference thanks so much" "Thank you so much for coming to my school. I have learnt so much from you over the past few weeks" What our parents said... “Just a quick note to say thanks so much for organising Tj Power's school visits and the talk last night.  He was brilliant!  So insightful;  I think it's great that you guys have brought him into Amery to work with the kids.  My child has been working harder at school, taking the dog for walks and has even set a TikTok limit on her phone - all off her own back! Really appreciate it.  Thanks again.” “I just wanted to say thank you for the session with Tj yesterday.  I was incredibly interesting and really gave us something to think about with the girls. I hope that other years will be able to benefit in the future- very much education for life and giving a different perspective.  We are enjoying our hugs very much!”  “Thank you for bringing Tj Power into school yesterday to talk to the Yr 9 parents - I found him really easy to listen to, I found his DOSE effect really resonated with this age group. My child and I chatted about it afterwards and already have planned some things to focus on doing from now on. I’d love to see this continue through and embed into the school. Many thanks.”  “Thanks again for organising last night. Tj is so engaging and I can see why the kids got so much out of it too. I definitely went away with some new motivation to improve things at home.”  View Article
Supporting Our School
Posted on: 22/04/2024

Supporting Our School

Thank you to those of you who have contributed to the School Trust Fund this term. We are delighted to have been able to disburse just over £2,500 to purchase some great resources for our students including sewing machines, table tennis tables, MFL language books for the library, air fryers in Food Technology, an author visit, clay extruder and die set for Art and resources for our popular Crochet and Knitting Club. In addition we’ve been able to support the Year 9 mental health programme delivered by Tj Power. The School Trust is just one way in which you can support the school. As Mr Jeckells referred to in his recent message to parents/carers, there are plenty of ways you can get involved and support the school! Here’s a reminder: Are you able to give us some of your time or expertise for one of our ‘Education for Life’ events, such as our Careers Fair or our Mock Interview Day? Do you work in an industry which could prove insightful to our students, and would you be willing to come in and talk to students about your job and role to enrich our careers education? Please get in contact with Mr Millard, EfL Co-ordinator on l.millard@ameryhill.school if you think you could help. Are you interested in getting involved in our PTA – the Friends of Amery Hill? We are always looking for a willing pair of hands to help but you shouldn’t feel you have to commit to every event. From helping arrange fundraising Quiz Nights or Wreath Making workshops to organising the bar at School Drama and Music events, it’s a great way of becoming involved, and meet other parents while supporting the school. For more information, please contact us at friendsofameryhill@gmail.com Does your employer have a match funding scheme? There are many companies which offer this, and with our school-based fundraising events not requiring much commitment, yet still eligible for match funding, this may be an easy way for you to generate funds for the school. Please get in touch at contactus@ameryhill.school if this is something which might be possible. Do you have any textiles for recycling? The school has partnered with a small Hampshire business, Astra Recycling, who recycle textiles. In return for collecting textiles the school generates a small income. The textile bank is located in the back car park of the school. Please note: the textiles bank is only accessible to parents outside of school hours; students are welcome to pop a bag into the bank as they come into school. An easier way to donate to the school When you now use SCOPAY, you will see we have added a ‘Donate to the School’ option. This is in response to a number of parents asking for an easier way of donating to the school; a little donated every now and then by a lot of people can make a big difference. Do you shop on-line? Did you know that your purchases can raise money for the school at no extra cost to yourself. Shop as normal with over 4,700 retailers, just start your shopping journey first at https://www.easyfundraising.org.uk/ and enter Amery Hill as your chosen charity to support us. Do you have expertise in the area of grant applications and would you be willing to offer some advice? Or perhaps you have heard of a grant scheme you think we could apply to? Please let us know on contactus@ameryhill.school Or if you prefer, you can visit our School Trust partner GoodHub and make a donation! Visit https://app.goodhub.com/amery-hill-school-trust to make a donation. If every family donated just 50p a week, it would generate over £20,000 a year! Thank you for your continued support, in whatever shape or form that comes, it really is appreciated. And, of course, a massive thank you on behalf of all of our students.View Article
Education For Life
Posted on: 2/04/2024

Education For Life

Mr Millard, EfL Co-ordinator Opportunities abound During the Spring term we held a number of careers-based events, which were targeted towards students in Key Stage 4. On Friday 23 February Year 10 students took part in the 'Mock Interview Day', where local businesses came in and interviewed each student for a job that they had shown interest in. Each student will be given feedback in their upcoming careers EfL lessons. At the end of the day the interviewers praised the students saying that they were 'Engaged and polite... confident and prepared... and professional young people'. The second careers event we held was the Careers Fair, which started with a carousel of activities which the students took part in. These involved a wide range of careers and future education courses, which involved snails, a hedgehog, robots, the police and a stranded submarine to name just a few! Alongside this, students found out about the ever-growing number of apprenticeships which are on offer. After school we held the fair where more businesses, colleges and universities joined us to give the students an opportunity to ask questions and help them with their on-going careers education. To help inspire students to interact with the exhibitors we set up a challenge in which all students could take part. If a student asked a meaningful question to a visitor they received stamp on a bingo card, and after the event three completed cards were selected at random with students winning a brand new laptop. These laptops were given to us by The Careers and Enterprise Company, who put on a parental talk about careers alongside the Fair - there will be another parental talk around careers later in the school year. The laptops were presented to students by Mr Jeckells. Mr Jeckells also awarded another Careers Fair prize to a student who had won an Amazon voucher donated by local accountancy firm Sheen Stickland. Thank you to our these organisations for helping to inspire our students. Health and Wellbeing Spring has been quite a term for ‘Education for Life’ with a number of events and enrichment activities alongside lessons which have covered many important topics. The first of which was a series of sessions run by the fantastic Tj Power. Tj spoke to students and parents about the importance of wellbeing; whilst exploring how our minds worked, students left sessions with small achievable tasks to help improve their mental and physical health. See page 15 for more details on this. These topics were also looked at by Year 7 who have been studying 'Health and Puberty', looking at the importance of sleep and healthy eating, whilst connecting it to mental health. Year 10 have also looked into this theme by finishing off their studies of substance misuse, with the visit of the Daniel Spargo-Mabbs Foundation. Students heard the powerful story of the misuse of substances and were given guidance on how to make safe choices.View Article

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