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
There are no assemblies w/b 10th due to it being reading week. Therefore some ‘Thoughts for the Week’ on the theme of ‘Reading’
“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.”
― Dr. Seuss, I Can Read With My Eyes Shut!
Today a reader, tomorrow a leader.”
― Margaret Fuller
“If you don’t like to read, you haven’t found the right book.”
― J.K. Rowling
“The ability to read awoke inside of me some long dormant craving to be mentally alive.”
― Malcolm X, The Autobiography of Malcolm X
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
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.
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.
Wow, what a packed week this has been! Future Intensions really is intense.
Our Year 12 students have been brilliant, we have had outside speakers presenting about a range of topics which will give each and every one of the 6th Formers something to think about over the weekend and also in the months ahead.
On Tuesday we invited previous Head Boy, Dale Spratt, to give an insight into the application process and what students should expect when they attend university. Then Suki Thandai from WorkPays Organisation explained about the Apprenticeship scheme and showed each and every student how to log on to the government website so that they could see what was available to them. It was nice to see so many listening and asking Suki questions when they broke off into forms to research the Apprenticeships further.
Jason Turner gave advice on practical finance for the future and may have scared some when he talked about pay day loans, but this was the desired effect. We want our students to know about credit cards and loans and how they may have an impact on their credit rating in the future. Mr Robinson-White gave an inspiring talk which focused upon their personal statements and what they should include but also what they should not include, this inspired many to set off straight away and start planning their statement and Mrs Dodd has already been asked to check a first draft. Well done.
Mrs Walton and Mrs Young spoke to some about becoming a prefect and what this entails and Mrs Dodd trained the Senior Prefects in their role and her expectations of them. On Thursday Future Intentions was handed over to our students, Ellie and Saul who explained why we have Dougie Mac as our chosen charity and how important it is that we support them. They are our ‘forever’ charity.
Each form was then given 45 minutes to come up with suggestions that they could do to raise £50 per full term, the ideas that were fed back to the 6th Form Team and the students were excellent, amusing and also inspiring and we hope to see many of these materialise in the Autumn term.
Other events that happened this week were; Spelling Bee which was delivered by Mrs Bell and Mrs Fisher with some help also provided by Michael, student finance and budgeting which was provided by Staffordshire University and then on Friday all Year 12 were given the option to log onto UniFrog.
Please speak to your child and ask them what they learnt this week, all have now registered with UCAS so we would like to see them filling in their application as much as they can. First draft of the personal statements is due on the 17th July, this will give form tutors a chance to look over them and see what needs to be amended or included over the summer holidays ready to apply around October to December 2017.
It may seem scary but we hope that we have given them the tools to navigate their way through.
It was nice to see parents on Thursday for the HE Information Evening, remember your parent login for Unifrog is important, it will help you support your child in their journey.
If you would like further information, then please contact the Sixth Form office where we will be able to assist you.
Lastly the Senior Prefects organised a sporting activity to wind down the week, some of our students were playing rounders, others football and those that were too worn out were able to sit and enjoy the sunshine on the sports field and have some cake or ice lollies which were sold to help support the sixth form fund.
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!
Languages Festival 7th July
Old Alleynians Reunion – Class of 61
This week Mrs Harris and Mr Mirams welcomed back the class of 1961! It was wonderful that they took the time to return to the school and share with us their memories of their school days.
Art Work
Check out some fantastic art work in the gallery linked below from the exhibition & Rotary Competition.
Summer in Music
Summer events for the Music Department are fast approaching. The House Music Competition rehearsals are in full swing and it promises to be a hotly contested competition this year.
The Summer Concert on Wednesday 19th July will this year be a showcase for the House Music competition and give parents the opportunity to see the amazing achievements of their children. The event starts at 7pm in the theatre and tickets are available on parentpay.
Full details are available on the letter going out to pupils on Monday 10th July. I look forward to seeing you there.
School Walk 2017
Careers
Don’t forget to check out the new careers page on tahsroundup.wordpress.com This week featuring a fantastic opportunity from Rolls Royce.
Advice from Staffordshire Police
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
Links
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Thomas Alleyne's high school 