Head’s News – 18 October
Verulam Boys GCSE Success DfE Performance Tables 2019
The 2019 performance tables show Verulam pupils making above average progress at KS4.
Their Progress 8 score of +0.22 places Verulam in the top third of schools in the country.
Compared to the boys’ national progress figures -0.25 in 2018 Verulam pupils achieved almost half a grade better in every subject!
Our aim is for all our pupils to achieve even more and to reach the top 15% and for the school to be judged well above average.
https://www.compare-school-performance.service.gov.uk/school/137038/verulam-school/secondary
Black History Month
October is a month in which Black History is celebrated in the UK and it’s been celebrated nationwide every year for nearly 40 years. This month was originally founded to recognise the contributions that people of African and Caribbean backgrounds have made to this country over many generations.
Black History Month was first launched in London in the 1980s, where the aim was for the local community to challenge racism and educate themselves and others about the British history that was not taught in schools.
Black British history is everyone’s history.
As part of Verulam’s work in this area, form tutors have shared a number of videos and stories with their form throughout the month.
The History department addresses Black History in two main areas. The first is in Year 8 spring term where the students study the Civil Rights movement in post WW2 America. The second is in Year 12 when the students investigate the changing nature of the Civil Rights movement across the 20th century.
This year we felt it was time to take another look at how the school dealt with Black History Month and issues around Black British identity. I have been meeting with a diverse group of senior pupils from Years 11-13 to discuss how they feel we should celebrate Black History and identity. The pupils have decided that we will present a wide ranging assembly later this year which looks at Black History from a more personal angle and at representation.
A number of pupils have asked to take part in the assembly in order to present their family history and how that reflects the history of Black people in the UK and around the world. Others wish to talk about photographs they have researched which shed fresh light on the often-unseen history of Black people in the
Further discussions with pupils led us to decide that it would be valuable to ask a broader range of pupils from Years 7—11 to contribute to an article for a future edition of Verulam’s student magazine “Top Button”. If you or your son or daughter would be interested in participating in this project, you can register your interest by contacting Ms K Bonass on
kelly.bonass@verulam.herts.sch.uk. The two Sixth Form coordinators will arrange a brief meeting next Thursday lunchtime in order to move
this forward.
Headmaster’s commendations
This week’s commendation goes to Nathan Massam who went to Tesco to ask for Feed donations and spoke with the charity manager who then donated 40 items.
