Principal's message:
I hope you and all our students had a restful half term. As always there will be lots going on this half term with the start of the Year 6 to 7 transition which will begin once we have received confirmation of all the students that will be joining us from around Reading. We remain very popular as a school so we are excited about welcoming all the new students and support them with their transition.
We will also be preparing the Year 8s for their GCSE Options which will start this half term. Students will be involved in a number of activities to support them making the right choices that will allow them to follow their future career ambitions and pursue their love of learning. Year 11s are in the midst of their second mock exams and I know you, as I, will want to wish them all the best. I know how hard they have been working in and out of school in order to make great progress from their last mock exams. Our Year 10s are also preparing for their first full mock exams which will take place in the summer term. I urge them to start revising early so that they can perform their very best in these exams. Year 7s have settled in really well and are making the most of their learning experience.
We also have a number of trips taking place this half term, the most exciting being the trip to Greece. Ms Connolly and other members of staff will be taking over 40 students to Athens to visit places of interest, such as the Acropolis. I look forward to letting you know how it went, when they return. We also have a number of our Year 9 and 10 students visiting Windsor Castle. In addition, some of our Year 10s are attending the Reading University Scholarship programme. We have the return of the School Musical which will take place after the Easter Holidays – more information to follow regarding how to purchase tickets.
As we work hard to maintain a positive and focused learning environment, I would kindly remind you of the importance of adhering to our uniform expectations. By ensuring that your child follows the school's uniform policy, you contribute to their overall school experience and the smooth operation of our school community. The unform policy is on our website. Can I stress the importance of students coming to school with a jacket/coat rather than a hoodie which will be confiscated. In addition, as we seem to collect a great deal of lost property, please label your child's garments so that we are able to return it should they misplace them.
A short but busy half term. I wish you all a restful weekend.
Marika Farrugia, Principal
Principal's Surgery held every Friday 8.15 – 9.00am.
Careers Fair at The Abbey School
The Abbey School warmly invites students in Year 9 upwards and their parents to attend their Careers Fair. It is being held at The Abbey on Wednesday 20 March from 18.00 to 20.30. There will be multiple stalls and representation from a wide spectrum of careers, from STEM to Creative Arts to Business & Entrepreneurship.
For this year's Jo Trott Memorial Lecture, The Abbey is delighted to welcome Professor Russell Foster, Head of Oxford’s Nuffield Laboratory of Ophthalmology and founder and Director of the Sleep and Circadian Research Institute. The lecture will focus on the science of sleep and will take place on Wednesday 6 March at 17.00.
Professor Foster's research addresses how circadian rhythms and sleep are generated and regulated, and what happens when these systems fail as a result of societal pressures, ageing and disease. Professor Foster was awarded a CBE in 2015 for services to science, and has published over 300 scientific papers, receiving multiple national and international awards. He has co-written four popular science books and his fifth with Penguin, entitled LIFE TIME, was published in May 2022 and is a best-seller in both hard-and paperback.
This is an ARCH 'sign up and show up' event and places can be booked via this link. Please note that students under the age of 14 must be chaperoned.
We hope to see you there!
The Year 10s taking part in the University of Reading's Scholars Programme had their first visit this week. Six schools from Berkshire attended and also schools from London, Bristol and Birmingham.
The Year 10s found out about university life and what it can offer, and also the wide range of courses available. They are invited to take part in a research project to develop their study skills, so they also had activities about forming a research question and sources for research.
They also enjoyed a campus tour and talking with student ambassadors to find out about student life.
Find Your Future
A group of Year 9s visited the University of Reading this week for a Find your Future event focussing on the theme of Time.
The first activity looked at time travel tropes in films, television and fiction, and considered the variety of themes and uses it has in modern story telling. They were also considered if they devised their own time travel device what form it would take.
The second session looked at the nervous system and the body's response times. After the Year 9s made a model of a neuron in play dough, they timed how quickly they could catch a ruler and tennis balls dropped by someone else and investigated how playing music could affect response times.
The final activity looked at paleontology, fossils and how rock strata developed. They found out how scientists know how old fossils are, and how carbon dating and radioactive decay work.
Sadly it was raining too much for a full campus tour, but the Year 9s enjoyed walking between the venues, seeing how big the campus is and the shops and facilities on site. They also enjoyed talking with the student ambassadors about university life and finding out about different courses.
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MENU
FROM 1ST NOVEMBER 2023
All meals are provided by Chartwells - a school meal consists of a main meal and a dessert for £2.78 a variety of snacks and drinks are also available.
Chartwells operate a cashless till system, operated by biometrics. The accounts are topped up online using a secure website called ParentPay, if your daughter is eligible for free meals, £2.78 is credited to her account each day. Your daughter will be provided with her ParentPay login details on her first day at Reading Girls' School. You can find more information about ParentPay on their website http://www.parentpay.com. The school office is also happy to help with any enquiries.
Follow the link for details of the school menu.