The Deanes

Summer Term Dates  

Term:

Monday 12 April 2021 - Wednesday 21 July 2021 

Half Term:

Monday 31 May 2021 – Friday 04 June 2021

Non-Pupil Days:

Wednesday 21 July 2021

Contact Us

Our new Contact Form is on our website under the 'Contact Us' menu item, or it can be accessed by clicking here. This is the best way to communicate directly with us.

Dear Parents / Carers and Students,

I hope you have had a good week.  This week we had the third extended assembly delivered by Essex County Fire & Rescue Service (ECFRS).  The theme was 'Road Safety'.  The final assembly in this series will take place on Wednesday 09 June on theme of 'Summer Safety'.

I would also like to thank our Year 11 teachers who working extremely hard to assess Year 11 students while continuing to perform all their normal duties. This process has caused huge time pressures for staff and we owe them a debt of gratitude. 

Home Testing

Just a reminder that students should be testing themselves each Sunday and Thursday, using the Lateral Flow Tests we provide.  

Once the student has conducted the test and obtained their result, they must register the result on https://testregister.co.uk/.

Lockers

Now that we are gradually unzoning, we are in the position to offer students the use of lockers again.  We have a large amount of available lockers in the Renaissance Building (Pink Zone) that students can access daily.

If your child would like the use of a locker, please complete this short form and we arrange it.  This offer is for all students who currently pay for a locker and also for students who wish to have a locker for the first time.

The deposit for first time users is:

Year 7 - £20

Year 8 - £15

Year 9 - £10

Year 10 - £5

The deposits are refunded when the student leaves The Deanes at the end of Year 11.

Year 11 Update

I would like to congratulate Year 11 students on their continued commitment and resilience whilst they are sitting the assessments which will form their grades for their GCSE and BTEC qualifications.  

The final assessments take place on Monday.  For the rest of the week, we have invited selected students to attend further sessions in order to complete their coursework and NEAs.  Year 11 students should only attend school if they have received an invite.

I want to emphasis that this is not the end of term for Year 11.  We are arranging some events which will take place after half term, such as a visit to USP College and the Leavers' Breakfast and Leavers' Assembly. Further details will be sent out next week by Mrs Ayanbadejo. 

In the meantime, staff have produced a 'Continued Learning' programme for students to help support the transition to Level 3 and A-Level courses.  Students can access the guides and materials here.

Year 9 Parents' Evening

I would like to invite you to attend our Parents’ Evening on Tuesday 8th June 2021 from 15:30 to 18:30. This event will give us the opportunity to discuss your child’s progress in Year 9 based on the time that they have been in school for face to face learning, and for the remote learning that has taken place most recently. 

We will be using an online system called Schoolcloud, which will allow you to book your video appointments.

Instructions will be sent out on Monday, if you have any issues, please contact Miss Fanning - kfanning@thedeanes.essex.sch.uk. 

Free School Meal Vouchers

Free School Meal funding is being provided for the May half term holiday week.

Therefore, parents / carers of students identified as eligible to receive Free School Meals will receive a text message on Wednesday of next week from Wonde.  The text will contain the details you need to redeem the £15 voucher.

The vouchers can be used at a number of supermarkets and local shops, details of which you’ll see when the voucher is accessed. They can only be used to purchase non age-restricted items and will carry an alert to warn of this.

If you have any issues please contact Mrs Hunt - thunt@thedeanes.essex.sch.uk.

School Uniform Grant

Given the financial impact of COVID-19 on some families, we would draw your attention to the Essential Living Fund Scheme which may be able to assist families who fit the eligibility criteria. This scheme is run through Local Authorities.

If you are a resident in Essex Local Authority, you can apply online or call 0300 7900124 between 8:45am - 5:00pm.

If you are a resident in Southend Local Authority, please visit here for more details.

Competition Time

The Deanes will be celebrating a big birthday next academic year - we will be 50 years old!  The school first opened in September 1971.  Throughout next year, we will be hosting several events to celebrate and we would like to have a specially designed logo for these events.

We are asking students to design a 50th Birthday logo for The Deanes.  The design can be hand drawn or created on a computer.  The student with the winning logo will work with two local artists, who are ex-students, and will develop their design and help to professionally produce the logo which will be used throughtout next year.

All entries must be received by Friday 02 July 2021.

Community Policing Newsletter

Please find attached the May Newsletter from the Castle Point Community Policing Team.

Book Recommendations

Year 7 & 8:The Dog Runner by Bren Macdibble. 

In this fast-paced adventure n ovel, environmental disaster has destroyed all wheat, oat, sugar and grass leading to catastrophe in Australia and around the world. Ella needs to find a way to survive, and her 'doggos' are ready to help. This is a wonderful story that will make you bite your nails, laugh and cry -- and it will remind you of what might happen if we don't take care of our environment.

Year 9-11: Rose, Interrupted by Patrice Lawrence. 

Siblings Rose and Rudder have been raised in a strict religious cult but are now learning how to live in the 'Worldly World' in London. They are naive about the teen 'online world' and much more -- and they are traumatised by their life-experiences. Should they go back to the cult? This is a heart-wrenching and powerful story of family and strength of character. 

So you have a reluntant reader...?

Part 1

Reading for pleasure is possibly the single-most important activity your child can do to improve achievement in school. Research has shown that reading helps cognitive development; a recent Institute of Education study revealed that students who read at home do ‘significantly better’ across the curriculum – including 9.9% better in maths – than students who don’t read. Linked to this is the fact that reading is the best way to improve vocabulary, essential for success in every subject.

Reading also has social and emotional benefits. It increases self-esteem and studies show that students who read are more empathetic. Growing up is tough - reading can help young people explore complex problems from the safe fictional world of a book. 

The problem, of course, is convincing young people of the importance and joy of reading.  Here are some tactics you can use:

• Find books with a connection to something they love. If they are football fans, look for footie fiction for teens – try Booked by Kwame Alexander; Football School Star Players by Bellos; or Dan Freedman or Tom Palmer’s books. If they like military/action/war, then try the Dog Tag series by CA London or Andy McNab’s teen books. If they like to watch Youtubers, try Zoella’s book club. And if they are into gaming, try fast-paced chapter books or ‘choose your own adventure’ stories. (Tip: try teen/Young Adult author Alex Scarrow’s books – he was a professional video-game developer before he turned to writing; or Jeff Norton’s MetaWars series, billed as ‘a video game you can read’).

• Any type of reading is helpful, so try graphic novels. Graphic novel versions of The Recruit by Muchamore, Silverfin by Higson and Stormbreaker by Horowitz are popular. Likewise, it is absolutely fine to read Wimpy Kid books if this is what sparks the interest of your reluctant reader.

• Try Barrington Stoke books: these are produced with tinted pages, special fonts and spacing, thicker paper and editing to reduce comprehension barriers and/or issues resulting from dyslexia. https://www.barringtonstoke.co.uk/

More useful tips will be included in future newsletters.

I hope you have a lovely weekend despite the gusty conditions.

Take care

Desi

Desi McKeown

Headteacher