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As part of our statutory PSHE programme we need to deliver lessons on some tough content including gangs, grooming and child criminal exploitation. This week we had the pleasure...
Junior Student Parliament We are excited at Bushey Meads to host our very first Junior Student Parliament, where our Senior Student Leaders from Bushey Meads and our Junior...
Name: Joseph House: Willow Reason for nomination: Fantastic behaviour and attitude to learning. Joseph is a hard-working student who participates well in class and shows a...
It is not just our physical health that we need to be aware of but also our mental health which is just, as if not more, important. As you will know, Mental Health Week...
Try to equip yourself with as much knowledge as possible regarding how your child is performing at school. There are lots of ways to do this effectively; use the Arbor app to keep...
ATHLETICS County League Athletics – Match 4 Date : Tuesday 20th May 2025 Match 4 of the County League season saw the team in competition with Parmiters, Longdean, Ashlyns...
We’re diving into the past once again—but this time, we want your help! We’re on the hunt for real-life connections to major moments in history, and we’re collecting...
We are delighted to welcome Ms Kerry Hill to our school community as our new PSHE teacher. A dedicated PSHE specialist, Ms Hill is trained to deliver high-quality personal,...
Summer is the perfect time to explore new STEM ideas and we’re excited to share an incredible opportunity just for you! Join the STEM Adventures Season Panel, a vibrant event...
As part of their GCSE English curriculum, Year 10 students are currently studying a range of poetry from 1900 onwards focused on the themes of ‘Power and Conflict’. Students in 10En Hardy have been exploring the poems through student-led discussion circles, helping them engage more deeply before moving on to teacher-led annotation and analysis.
Each new poem begins with a student-led discussion, giving pupils the space to share first impressions and explore meanings collaboratively. Roles are assigned to help structure the discussion: a Discussion Host leads the conversation, a Summariser feeds back key points at the end, and a Talk Detective observes group interaction. The teacher listens in from the outside, allowing the students to take the lead.
To support these sessions, students co-created a set of discussion guidelines:
This structure has helped create a respectful environment where all students are encouraged to contribute.
Over time, students have grown more confident in expressing their ideas, asking thoughtful questions, and grappling with ambiguity in the poems they study. Their analytical thinking is developing, and so too are their communication and collaboration skills – valuable tools both in and beyond the classroom.
