Is your child is eligible for Free School Meals? To check see: http://www.lincolnshire.gov.uk/schools-and-education/free-school-meals/

The application doesn't take long to complete and could be very beneficial. Please do not hesitate to speak to our Attendance and Welfare Officer, Miss Carter at the school if you require any further help.

Full details are available on our website under The School: Funding and Financials; alternatively click here to view our Pupil Premium information.

This is my second stint as Acting Headteacher at Q.E.H.S. When I knew this was coming up I started reflecting on the last time, which was over 10 years ago now. A lot happened during that time; our boilers broke down, we had a gas leak that closed most of Upper School for a week; the then government made a decision to reduce our budget by tens of thousands of pounds (just after the date by which we had to submit this to the Local Authority), two members of my Leadership Team were off for much of the period and at the time the School only had one Deputy. This time there are two of us, Mr Allan and myself working as Co-Headteachers. Some of you readers may be mildly amused if you were told that my main thought was, whatever happens it’s not going to be as eventful and unusual as last time was!

There have been some constants. I remember the tremendous support that I received last time from staff and governors, which is true this time as well. The staff have stepped up and are working their socks off to make sure that the teaching and learning quality is high in difficult circumstances and, whilst you as parents and students will be unaware of this, there is a list of staff too long for me to mention them all by name who have gone out of their way to make sure that Mr Allan and I are able to operate effectively in a dual role over this period of time; selflessly taking on extra jobs and tasks. For this we are both very grateful.

There are other areas where the circumstances mean that I can see things in a different light this time round; and not just because I’m that much older now! The level of support for staff from parents has been phenomenal. There have been so many cases where it has been really clear that parents and staff are working together to effectively move learning forward and support the children. I thank you for your patience when we haven’t got things right the first time in this new and ever changing environment, and I am incredibly appreciative of all the positive messages and thanks that have been sent in by so many of you for the work we are doing. Please accept my heartfelt thanks in return on behalf of all the staff.

It has been a privilege and an honour to serve the school throughout my thirty years here, but never more than it feels now - even if the circumstances are somewhat out of the ordinary. Let’s hope that things settle down to a more normal pattern for Mr Eastham when he picks up the reins at Easter.

https://justoneocean.org/

#Justoneswap

My name is Amy White, and this is how I started working to help save our oceans during my gap year.

I was a Year 13 student at QEHS last year and due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the exam marking situation I ended up taking an enforced gap year to get my dream place at Oxford University.

With travel completely out of the picture, and wanting to make the most of my time, I contacted a handful of ocean conservation charities in search of an opportunity to help out in an area I am passionate about.

An organisation called Just One Ocean responded and we began working together on a TikTok social media campaign. The campaign is called #Justoneswap and aims to promote small but effective changes we can make to reduce the amount of plastic we use. The driving force behind the idea was knowing that the oceans are essential for our existence on this planet, and if they are full of plastic, and not functioning as they should, we are not only hindering our survival but the survival of all marine organisms.

The process of shifting to a greener, more plastic-free lifestyle is an overwhelming adjustment and therefore my goal was to promote simple swaps, such as swapping from shampoo bottles to shampoo bars (which work just as well), to make the change progressive and gradual. I hope to encourage a ‘#justoneswap at a time approach’, as every change we make significantly reduces how much plastic enters our oceans as plastic pollution. If you would like to have a look at the campaign, and maybe implement some of these ideas into your daily life, head over to the Just One Ocean TikTok account or click the link below:

https://justoneocean.org/

As lockdown is set to continue, there is a growing need for wellbeing support for us all.

Half Term Changes to the Counselling Provision

QEHS Counselling Service

We are very fortunate to have our amazing School Counsellor Diane Hall at QEHS. To find out more about her counselling team click on the photos below to discover their bios.

The QEHS Counselling Service is located in C3 in College House and remains available to all students and staff. You can contact Diane Hall online through email: [email protected] or via Google Hangouts in the usual way. You can find Google Hangouts in the same way that you access Google Classroom or Google Meet. Currently Diane can be contacted for ‘pop-in’ sessions through Google Hangouts from 13.15-14.00 each day.

Once all students return to school each Year Group will have a weekly slot when Diane will be available to offer face to face support once more.

    

      

"The door is always open, for you to take the first step."

Dear schools, 

We would just like to provide you with a quick update on our upcoming workshops for parents and young people.

Virtual Workshops: 

We are offering a variety of online workshops for both parents and young people over the coming months. The following workshops are being run on various dates in February and March and are being delivered via Microsoft teams. Parents/guardians and young people can book onto these via Eventbrite.  

• Improving a young person’s wellbeing – workshop for Parents of 11-16 year olds  
• Staying emotionally well – workshop for young people (secondary age)  
• Parent and child worry management – workshop for parent and child aged 5-10 
• Parent and child managing angry feelings – workshop for parent and child aged 5-10  
• Parents supporting children with anxiety and SEND – discussion group; this event is a parents' discussion group and requires watching of the recorded workshops prior to attending. Please see the Eventbrite page while booking for more information. 
• Building positive self-esteem – workshop for young people (secondary aged).

We will be releasing tickets on a monthly basis, so families should keep an eye out on our Eventbrite page for dates and times; all workshops are free to attend! Our Eventbrite page can be accessed via this link: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/healthy-minds-lincolnshire-20000004846 

Pre-recorded online workshops: 

Just a reminder that we have also created several online recorded workshops for both young people and parents on: Managing Worries and Anxious Feelings, Managing Angry Feelings, A Survival Guide to Change and Parents Supporting Children with Anxiety and SEND (to be watched prior to attending the discussion group). These can all be accessed via our website https://www.lpft.nhs.uk/young-people/online-workshops.  

Of course, as always if you have concerns about a child or young person’s emotional wellbeing please visit https://www.lpft.nhs.uk/young-people/lincolnshire/home where you can find useful information and self-help advice if you require additional support following this please contact us on the Here4You line which is operational on 01522 309120 (available Monday to Friday 09.30–16.30) – eligibility criteria applies.

Thank you, 

Healthy Minds Lincolnshire 

Meet the new members of the Safeguarding Team

Special Educational Needs and Disability Coordinator		Attendance and Welfare Officer
My name is Mrs Lia and I have taken on the role of SENDCO from Mrs Burrage. I have spent the last 6 years teaching and supporting SEND provision in local primary schools. I attended QEHS as a student before going on to study at University College London and the University of Cambridge. I am excited to return to QEHS to support the students in any way I can.		My name is Miss Carter and I am the new Attendance and Welfare Officer at QEHS. I attended QEHS as a student from Year 7 to 13 so I know the school well. When I left Sixth Form, I went on to complete an Advanced Level Apprenticeship in Business Administration. I am looking forward to putting names to faces once we return to some normality!

Huge congratulations go to Sixth Form Scientists (and Head Boy and Girl) Ben J and Erin G, who both received a Bronze II Award in Round 1 of the BPhO (British Physics Olympiad).

This was an extremely challenging paper and the organisers commented:

"The paper was designed to challenge a range of student knowledge, preparation and ability, allowing access for good students, whilst also aiming at stretching and challenging the top young physicists in the country in a national competition. Every question requires a different perspective to get the measure of it and a fluency in recognising topics and linking ideas."

At QEHS we are fortunate to be able to offer Speakers For Schools' lectures to our students. Since Summer Term 2020 we have seen a great uptake, with QEHS students joining the 1,000,000 others accessing the Speakers for Schools’ programme of virtual talks.

There really is something for everyone; if you haven’t already joined a talk then please do. It is really useful to refer to talks like these when you find yourself going for university or job interviews.

Calendar links have been included to help you to save the dates. For further details you can visit the Speakers for Schools website:

https://www.speakersforschools.org/inspiration/

HOW TO JOIN THE LIVE BROADCASTS

• Join 10 minutes before the broadcast to be ready
• You can join without needing an account – Watch how here
• For full speaker descriptions visit the Broadcast Schedule here

LIVE BROADCASTS LIBRARY & MORE

• Watch pre-recorded broadcasts from our library here
• Please see our Schools Guide here

As I am sure your aware in 2020, during the first country-wide lockdown, some students were able to kickstart the QEHS Messenger - a newspaper created by the students in order to help inform other students about topics such as current affairs, food recipes and much more.

So far, we have managed to publish Editions 1 and 2 of the QEHS Messenger. However, ever since the first lockdown ended, and we came back to school, the newspaper, which has a great deal of potential has slowly come to a grinding halt. This is probably due to lack of time available for people who were writing articles during lockdown, compared to life out of lockdown, when the school was trying to get some routine back. This new school life, along with the Year Group bubbles has made it very hard for us to communicate with each other about the newspaper.

To help restart the QEHS Messenger, we are looking for some new determined and enthusiastic writers to help renew what was a successful project when first published.

You may be a writer, reporter or artist, perhaps seeking a regular column or an occasional piece, either way, you would be very welcome to join us for the next edition. Before you sign up, we need to make you aware that if you submit an article, unfortunately due to the size of the newspaper we may not always be able to add everything that is submitted, however, if we can’t get your article in an edition, we will try to add it or a different article written by you in the next edition. (To increase the number of articles would mean to double the size of the newspaper, which at the minute isn’t worthwhile.)

If you want to ask any questions or sign up please feel free to email: [email protected] and someone will be more than happy to answer your questions.

Thank You,

Alfie R 10E

Newspaper Editorial Team

Congratulations to Tom P (12D) who passed his Grade 8 Saxophone Exam with Distinction.

The Music Department and Tom's family are very proud of all the hard work he has put into music both at school and practising at home.

Lincolnshire Music Service is trying to gauge interest in online music theory lessons.

If you would like to take up this offer, please register your interest at: https://uk.culturecounts.cc/s/2K45Jv/splash

Congratulations to James A (7D) who has passed his 3^rd Dan black belt in Taekwondo!

This is an amazing achievement for someone of his age – he cannot progress to 4^th Dan until he is 18, which shows how far he has come.

He trains hard each week and also spends a lot of time helping out many of the younger/less experienced students as they strive for their 1^st Dan black belt. This takes such a lot of patience and both QEHS and James' family are so proud of him. This is a significant achievement for all that he does in the club.

Thank you to all those who donated shoe boxes for the Hedgehog Hospital and Rescue, Gainsborough Feral Rescue and the Staff of Bransby Horses Home.

Your gifts were greatly appreciated.

   

Tell the teenagers

That this will not go on forever, that very very soon, their life will begin again and it will begin in glorious technicolour.

Tell the teenagers

That they are not being left behind, that all the other young people are waiting too, this stress is collective.

Tell the teenagers

That night is darkest before dawn, so if they are feeling extra hopeless right now, that’s because it’s coming to an end, soon.

Tell the teenagers

That it’s possible to feel utter despair and misery, then, for no apparent reason, to wake up one day and to suddenly feel joy again, we don’t know why. Don’t believe anything to be permanent, it’s not.

Tell the teenagers

That we may not understand how this is affecting them but we can imagine, and we can worry. We don’t know what to do for the best but we are here.

Tell the teenagers

That one day they will look back on this and realise it made them a far better human somehow. They will seize the moment, face the fears and take every opportunity with open arms. And when tough times come, they will remember they survived.

Tell the teenagers

To find a little purpose every day and hang onto it, like a life raft. Anything, no matter how small, can keep you afloat.

Tell the teenagers

That what they are enduring right now is not fair, it’s not easy and it is hard. But great things are coming, if they can just hang on and wait...

Wait...

Just a little longer.

Donna Ashworth

Author of 'To The Women'

#itsokcampaign #teenmentalhealth

Look out for the QEHS Family Quiz next term.

The Parent Supporters will host a fun virtual quiz, with prizes to be won.