Head Teachers Blog

House Competition 2017

Peer Learning

This week in year 12 Ethics students have been leading the learning of their peers, delivering content on modern ethics through a range of activities.  It is great to see this preparation and participation.

Year 10 District Rounders Winners

The girls rounders team won the district rounders league without dropping a point. Victories came against Granville, John Port, Abbot Beyne, John Taylor, Deferrers, Paget, Pingle, Robert Sutton, Paget & William Allit. Well done to all of the girls involved, Emelia Lowe, Jaz Sutton, Sophie Howe, Freya Barkas, Belle Hancox, Abby Chilvers, Elsie Howell, Lillian Ford, Heidi Woodward, Tilly Edwards, Abigail Walters, Sophie Lomas, Emily Barton & Kim Burgess.

GCSE and Post 16 Exam Results Days August 2017

Please note the following dates and times for the collection of results:

Post-16 Thursday 17th August
Students can collect results from 7:30am

GCSE Thursday 24th August
Students can collect results from 9am

Any student who is unable to collect their results in person may send a nominated person to collect on their behalf. The nominated person must bring with them a written letter of permission from the student and photo ID.

Alternatively, a stamp addressed envelope can be left at the school office.

We are unable to give results over the telephone.

Teachers will be on hand to support on the day. Alongside the results sheet, forms will be placed in all envelopes should any student wish to discuss an exam paper review of marking.

Post-16 priority appeals will be discussed on Post-16 Results Day.

Due to the amount of students collecting results on GCSE Results Day, Mrs Harris will be available on Friday 25th July between 8am and 12pm to collect marking review paperwork/payment. This will be in the theatre and on a first come first served basis.

Future Olympians?

Business Enterprise Challenge

Congratulations to all the Year 12s who took part in the Business Enterprise Challenge at ‘Indulgence’ last week. The students all presented their unique business ideas and plans to judges David Hunter and Dawn Shirley. The ideas were all excellent ranging from Luxury Popcorn bars to Infant Sports clubs to an employment app for young people. Will Cooper, Alex Hayes and Johnathan Duckworth impressed the judges with their idea to create a youth employment app to match up Businesses with potential employees. Their prize, an opportunity to network at the Uttoxeter Business Breakfast club and some chocolate!

All the ideas were fantastic and the quality of Business plans produced by all the other groups was outstanding.

Thanks to David Hunter and Sue for hosting the event at Indulgence and thanks to Dawn Shirley for coming to be a judge.

http://www.liaisonslounge.uk/

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Sports Day 2017

Once again sports day was a great success with Torrance emerging the overall winners. There were some fantastic performances and full list of the winners is below. Thanks to all the staff and competitors form making this such a great event.

Sports Day Results Certificates 2017

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Science Transition Work at Windsor Park

As part of our continued commitment to provide students with a smooth transition, science staff from TAHS and Dr Jones, a senior lecturer in organic chemistry at Keele University, provided a work shop on molecules for yr7 pupils at Windsor Park Middle school. The ‘Make it Molecular’ activity involved the students learning the molecular structure of common substances such as caffeine, salbutamol and even skatole, the ‘smell of death’. The students had great fun building all of these molecules using the molymod kits and then learning about the similarities and difference between their different structures.

Network Upgrade

Due to a major network upgrade in school a Insight will be unavailable to all for up to the first three weeks of the holiday.

School Gateway App

Have you downloaded the school gateway App yet?

This is  free app that is linked to our school communications system and has many benefits:

1. The school can send you text messages for free via the app. You still get a notification on your phone.
2. You can reply for free!

So download it now and save both of us money!

You will simply need your email and mobile phone number as held by the school to register on the app & it then sends you an access code. If you have issues logging in please email schoolcomms@tahs.org.uk stating:

• Your name & relationship to the child
• Child’s name
• Child’s tutor group
• Child’s DOB
• The email address and mobile number you wish to use

We will then update our records and the app will work.

      

Unused Uniform?

If you have any good quality uniform that you can donate to the school please ask your child to drop it into the student support base any morning next week.
As a thank you we will issue 5 credits per student  in September.

Old Art/Photo work collection date – 

Extra date added

Old year 13 Fine Art/Photography/Applied Art and year 11 GCSE work can be collected on Wednesday 11th October 2017 between 3:30-5:30pm as previously noted. Mr Robinson and Mrs Derby will be around to help

However, Old Y11 Art GCSE work can now ALSO be collected on TUEDAY 17th October 2017 3:30-5:30pm Mrs Cornell will be available.

If you cannot come in person to collect your work, please send a note with a family member or friend to collect on your behalf.

Please note that some work will be retained by the Art Department for the impressive displays in the art rooms and around school. Also the AQA exam board may have requested examples too.

Any work NOT collected or on display will be disposed of- Don’t miss out!

School Production 2017

December’s school production will be The Woman In Black!

Auditions will be advertised on Insight in the 1st week back. We will be looking for actors dancers and designers to be part of the show…

As we approach our summer break please be advised of this guidance from Staffordshire police about keeping children safe. Do please also access the website https://www.thinkuknow.co.uk/ for all kinds of safeguarding advice for young people.

Staffs Police Parental Presentation

Uniform

Thought of the Week

Head Teachers Blog

Thomas Alleyne’s High School Farm – Runner up in National Award

We are very pleased to announce that our school farm came runners up as Community School Farm of the Year in a national gala award ceremony at the School Farms Network Education Alliance (SFNEA) Conference, held at the Royal Agricultural University (RAU) in Cirencester last week. Students and staff from school attended the 2 day conference which included the inaugural SFNEA Gala Awards Dinner on Friday night. This celebrated the very best of school farms from across the UK. The award was presented to students and staff at TAHS by TV presenter Adam Henson.

RAU Vice-Chancellor Professor Jo Price said: “Congratulations to all of entrants; the standard was incredibly high. We are so impressed by the achievements of all of the schools, teachers, and their students. Without all of your hard work, passion, and dedication, none of this would be possible – and for that, we sincerely thank you. The conference was a wonderful opportunity to meet staff and pupils from schools in the School Farms Network, and to exchange knowledge, hear success stories, and discuss the challenges and opportunities ahead.”

The Conference was attended by 100 teachers, students, and education practitioners from across the UK, and it was a golden opportunity for those passionate about school-based farm learning and developing pathways to higher education to come together and share knowledge and expertise. The conference explored the role of rearing farm livestock in schools, and the value of land-based education, including the areas of agriculture, business, technology, food security, and the environment. Justine North, the Head of Department at Uttoxeter Community Farm, ran a popular workshop during the conference on using the school farm in the curriculum. Meanwhile the five students were given a tour of the facilities on the campus as well as attending lectures and activities that introduced them to the possibilities of further study in the land based industries.

There were a number of key messages which shone through all of the sessions:
– We need bright young people in the future of the agri-food and wider land-based sector.
– School farms help students to become passionate about animals and farming practices.
– School farms enable students to build confidence and improve their academic performance.
– Young people are interested in where their food comes from, and the food supply chain.
– Conservation is a key part of agriculture, the two must go hand in hand.
– Education must be fun and hands-on, that’s when students learn and become inspired.
– Once inspired, we need to help students select the appropriate progression routes
– We need to promote the vast career opportunities in food and agriculture to young people.

Derby Theatre

End of Year Reports

Please be aware that Year 9, 10 and 12 reports will be available on Insight from 10am on Monday 17th July. These reports will include a pastoral report.

Year 10 Mock Exams & Results Day

GCSE and Post 16 Exam Results Days August 2017

School Gateway App

Have you downloaded the school gateway App yet?

This is  free app that is linked to our school communications system and has many benefits:

1. The school can send you text messages for free via the app. You still get a notification on your phone.
2. You can reply for free!

So download it now and save both of us money!

You will simply need your email and mobile phone number as held by the school to register on the app & it then sends you an access code. If you have issues logging in please email schoolcomms@tahs.org.uk stating:

• Your name & relationship to the child
• Child’s name
• Child’s tutor group
• Child’s DOB
• The email address and mobile number you wish to use

We will then update our records and the app will work.

      

Unused Uniform?

If you have any good quality uniform that you can donate to the school please ask your child to drop it into the student support base any morning next week.
As a thank you we will issue 5 credits per student  in September.

Summer Concert

Have you got your ticket yet for the end of year musical extravaganza?

Do so now – tickets available via the school shop linked at the bottom of this page.

Biology Field Trip

On Tuesday our Year 12 students visited Formby sand dunes and pine forest to carry out a required practical as part of their A Level Biology course.

The students investigated the growing conditions of the marram grass – which helps to stabilise the sand dunes and prevent coastal erosion. Older sand dunes were found to have a lower density of marram grass, but higher plant species diversity overall when compared to younger dunes.

The light-level conditions in the pine forest were studied with respect to the location of lichen on the tree bark. The students concluded that the most favourable growing conditions were on the north facing tree trunks away from direct sunlight.
The students are now back in the lab analysing their data and presenting their findings!

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As we approach our summer break please be advised of this guidance from Staffordshire police about keeping children safe. Do please also access the website https://www.thinkuknow.co.uk/ for all kinds of safeguarding advice for young people.

Staffs Police Parental Presentation

Afternoon Tea Challenge

Our thoughts and condolences are with the families, students and staff of John Taylor High School following the tragic accident on Friday last week.

Thought of the Week

Head Teachers Blog

It has been a busy but inspiring week at TAHS this week.

Year 11 returned to the school on Monday to celebrate the official end of their year. It was wonderful to see them all and to have the opportunity to share in some of their memories of their time at Thomas Alleyne’s. We are thrilled that so many intend to return to join our sixth form next year.

On Tuesday and Wednesday Year 8 students joined us for their induction days. They made an excellent first impression on the school and we hope that they managed to get all their questions answered! If any parent does have any further queries please let us know.

Throughout the week Mrs Dodd has been running her comprehensive ‘Future Intentions’ programme for Year 12 students and parents. Students have had the opportunity to listen to a wide range of talks ranging from a talk on student finance to one which introduced them to the fantastic new resource ‘Unifrog’. We are excited by the support this will offer parents and students. Whilst we are only introducing the package to Year 12 initially we will be sharing it more widely with other students over the next academic year.

The Art exhibition on Thursday was an absolute joy to be able to visit. The work was inspiring and highlighted the dedication of the staff and students. We know how much hard work goes into preparing these final pieces. Uttoxeter Rotary held their Photographer of the year competition during the evening and I would like to congratulate all the students who took part – it was wonderful to see them collect their certificates.

Year 10 mock marking is well underway and results will be shared with students in the final week of term. Over the Summer some students will want to start some preparations for next year. GCSEpod is available for them to revisit topics they performed less well on or to support them in the more challenging work. We have just received a yearly report from GCSEpod and were amazed to find out that this year, in preparation for GCSEs, 39,000 podcasts were watched. This works out at about 3000 hours of study!

Finally I wanted to share with parents that I am delivering some very difficult assemblies to our students at the moment. I hope parents will be able to watch the video we are sharing with your sons and daughters so that you can discuss it with them .The link is below. The video is guidance on recommendations of how people should respond if there were a terrorist incident. If you have any questions please contact us.

Year 9 have already had their assembly. I will be speaking with Year 10 and 12 next week. Please reassure your sons and daughters that this is being shown as we have been advised by the Local Authority that school children should be briefed on the school plans if there were an incident.

Snapchat Upgrade

Further to our message about a warning for parents about safety concerns about a new feature on the social media app Snapchat  please see the article below for further details.

BBC News Article on Snapchat Upgrade

End of Year Reports

Please be aware that Year 9, 10 and 12 reports will be available on Insight from 10am on Monday 17th July. These reports will include a pastoral report.

Sports Day

Sports day (House Athletics Championships) is next Wednesday 12th July.
Please see below timetable and team lists (Elkes yr10 girls missing at time of going to press). Please check what time your event is and arrive at the start of that lesson. You must still arrive at school in uniform and bring full PE kit to compete in.

Changes can be made to teams up until the day- see your Head of House if you think you should be competing and are not listed for an event!

Please bring- sun cream, plenty of water. If it is cool/wet you may bring track suit, water proof to wear when you are not competing. Break and lunch will be at normal times.

Changing rooms
Boys Pavillion – Boys Elkes & Orme
Girls Pavillion – Boys Whitmore & Torrance
Sports Hall Top – Girls Elkes & Orme
Sports Hall Bottom Boys and Girls – Girls Whitmore & Torrance

To see the teams click on the house names below

Elkes Orme

Torrance Whitmore

RE Debate

Last week the RE Department hosted an ethical debate day with year 8 students from Windsor Park and Oldfield’s. This was a great opportunity for students to get to know each other, think critically and collaborate in a series of short debates. Many thanks to all who took part. It was lovely to see sixth form students work supporting students to develop ideas.

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House Cricket

Thomas Alleyne’s house Cricket began on Monday, with Whitmore batting first against Torrance. Whitmore batted brilliantly hitting 141 off 13 overs with Archie Whitehead retiring on 52 and Joe Haywood 31. Lucas Rodgers came in and hit a quick 12 not out with Tom Bagnall and Jenson Bosworth taking deserved wickets for Orme. Torrance began well with Bosworth and Frankie Bussell scoring at a good rate. Whitehead caught Bosworth at slip off Haywood and Whitmore restricted the other batters with Jack Edge taking 2 wickets. Bussell batted superbly for 46 not out but Orme could only manage 98 off their allocation.

The second game saw Elkes bat first against Orme. Pick of the bowlers was Samantha Cotterell with 4 wickets. Top scorers for Elkes were Brad Cope with 10, Rob Minshall 9 and Jasmine Sutton 8, while all 3 hit good shots they couldn’t stay in Long enough to build a score. Elkes were all out for 57.Alfie Bednall 14 and Callum Dreher 18 knocked the runs off with ease after just 10 overs. The most pleasing thing about this year’s competition was the number of girls making a positive contribution with 6 girls in this game alone. This is credit to the work done by Miss Jones and Checkley coach Gavin Carr.

The 3rd, 4th place game took place on Tuesday morning with Torrance restricting Elkes to just 75 off 17 overs. Cricket debutant Chris Kitson took 3 wickets after excellent bowling from Frankie Bussell and Jack Bond who took 2 wickets each. Highlights for Elkes included a well struck 4 by Kyle Young and captain Kieron Coates not out on 11 and Lucy Carr 7 not out. Torrance had little trouble with the target with good hitting from Jenson Bosworth and Harvey Belcher. An excellent catch by Coates off the bowling of Cope at least gave Elkes a wicket.

The final began on a hot and sunny Wednesday with Whitmore batting. Orme bowled outstandingly with Bednall bowling Haywood and Thornton bowling Whitehead, when Thornton bowled Rodgers next over, Whitmore were in real trouble. Man of the match George Whitehurst then came to the rescue with 25 before he was caught behind by Dreher off the bowling of Sophie Lomas. Alex Ford then overcame a lean spell to push singles to get 15 not out. Whitmore finished on a competitive 90 off 16 overs. Whitmore depth off bowling paid off though with Orme struggling too score. Callum Dreher batted through the innings for 22 not out, with wickets shared between Whitehead, Ford and Matthew Meakin. The pick of the wickets came with an outstanding diving catch from Owen Carrington to dismiss Dylan Morley. Orme finished on just 68.

Final places 1st Whitmore, 2nd Orme, 3rd Torrance, 4th Elkes.

Sports Success

In March the trampolining team went to Paulet and competed in the first round of the school games. Our intermediate team qualified to attend the Level 3 Summer Games held at Keele University at the end of June. These are the only trampolining competitions held within the school year, so all their hard work and training comes down to performing a 10 bounce routine, twice. The best 3 scores are then taken from round 1 and the best 3 scores from round 2 and added together to create the team’s final score. The girls, Elsie Howell, Tilly Edwards, Abby Chilvers and Abby Walters, all performed fantastically and can use the competition towards their GCSE PE grade. Not only did they do themselves and the school proud, they also came 3rd in the county, which is a fantastic achievement. They attended a full day of competition, including opening and closing ceremony and also got to meet Sam Quegg, an Olympic gold medalist for hockey. Well done ladies and a huge thanks to Mrs Millington for helping to get them there and back.

Science Students of the Week

This week’s Science Students of the Week selected by Mr Crum are:

Year 9
Emma Allen and Jack Wright for continual excellent effort!

Year 10
• Amelia Murray for superb effort in Chemistry
• Amelia Barnacle for phenomenal hard work
• Carl Hallam for continual enthusiasm in Chemistry

Well done!

GALLERY

 

I am sure that you are only too clear of the risks associated with the carrying of knives in public and want to do everything you can to protect your child(ren). Unfortunately the majority of knives and bladed articles that we find young people in possession of have come from their own home, so anything you can do to make sure your knives are as secure as they can be could make a huge difference.

Staffordshire Police are conducting a week long knife amnesty which starts on Monday 10th July to encourage those storing knives that could be dangerous to hand them in without any risk of prosecution. In every home in the county you will find knives. The amnesty is about getting rid of those that are surplus to requirements, particularly those that are ornamental, ex-military or combat styled which could easily end or ruin a life if used recklessly. If you don’t need it – just bin it.

You can hand them in at our Knife Amnesty bins that will be found either at your nearest police station or in some locations at your local waste and recycling centre. The full list of bin locations can be found at www.staffordshire.police.uk/bintheblade

You are not receiving this letter because your school has a problem with knives. We are working with schools across the County to educate children and parents as to the dangers associated with the carrying of knives.

Please spread the word of the amnesty and encourage everyone to get involved so that together we can reduce the risk of knife injury in Staffordshire.

Best wishes

Wayne Jones
Chief Superintendent of Local Policing and Operations
Staffordshire Police