Auschwitz stands as a tragic reminder of the terrible potential man has for violence and inhumanity. (Billy Graham)
Dates for your diary
22/3/2018 Year 10 Parents Evening
29/3/2018 End of Term
16/4/2018 School Reopens
Headteacher blog:
Business leaders frequently cite teamwork, problem solving, and communication skills as qualities they look for in employees. Therefore as well as developing students subject knowledge, we also look to develop their ‘soft skills’. Last week, we took part in the Business and Enterprise Challenge led by the Business Studies department. This week, Mrs Lindsay built on this work developing students teamwork and public speaking skills by leading the BBC School Report Day with Year 9 form tutors. The performance of students was superb.
We have also been notified that a number of our students have been successful in the Rotary Creative Writing competition. Mrs Fisher organised these entries and as a result 5 students will be invited to attend the awards ceremony at the town hall.
I had the pleasure of attending the BTEC results day on Thursday. Many students who received these results, have achieved beyond their expectations. They now have their coursework to complete to ensure that the grade they have attained in their examination is also achieved in their coursework.
Finally well done to everyone who attended the French GCSE session on Saturday morning.
Message from GCSEpod for all TAHS parents
There are now approximately 10 weeks until the examination season begins for Year 11. This means that if your child is not following a well structured revision strategy, it is time to start.
GCSEPod provides over 6,000 3-5 minute bursts of visual learning ‘Pods’. The way in which GCSEPod maps content can help revision be much more manageable as your child can see their revision displayed in a logical way. Each Pod is exam board specific, so you too can be reassured your child is only learning what they need to learn.
At this time of year, we ask you to encourage and support your child to engage in revision in any way you can. Whether you’re staying at home this Easter or going on holiday, GCSEPod is your child’s go to revision resource to help reduce stress and pressure that inevitably accompanies this period in their lives.
Staying at Home this weekend and at Easter?
GCSEPod is available on desktop and mobile devices. If you’re not planning on any trips this Easter, why not challenge your child to watch 10 Pods a day, that’s approximately 40 minutes of revision! GCSEPod helps to make revision seem much more manageable with organised Exam Specific Playlists, which you can find in the My Courses area of your child’s account.
Planning an Easter Trip away?
One of the remarkable things about GCSEPod is the ability to download the content to your child’s mobile device so it’s like they are carrying text books in their pockets without the need for internet! If you’re planning any trips with long journeys this Easter, ensure to download the GCSEPod app from the App Store (Apple and Android are supported) and download the content straight to your child’s device. GCSEPod is the perfect resource to ensure your child isn’t missing out on their key revision time.
Your child has already been registered with GCSEPod and if they’ve not yet activated their account they will need to follow the instructions below. If your child has already activated but can’t remember their username and password, please ask them to contact a member of staff.
1) Go to www.gcsepod.com and click “Login” in the top right-hand corner
2) Click “New here? Get started.”
3) Select “Pupil”
4) Enter your child’s name, date of birth and confirm the school name.
5) Create a username, password, and a password hint to help you remember the password.
For more ways you can help support your child using GCSEPod, please visit www.gcsepod.com/parentswhere you’ll find lots more information and resources.
If your child is in Years 9 – 10 you may want to encourage them to get in good habits early.
This week was an important step for our Year 12’s. Manchester Convention Centre was the location for the UCAS convention and we were lucky enough to be able to take the majority of our Year 12’s to speak to over 140 University providers. As we walked round and observed our young adults asking pertinent questions we, as usual, felt a sense of pride. This, for many, was the first step in looking at the future. It’s a big world outside of Thomas Alleyne’s and for them to be able to talk to so many providers in one place and to see the variety of courses on offer could be daunting. Chatting to them, however, we realised that this was exciting for them.
As well as the Manchester trip Year 12 were introduced to Unifrog. It is a one stop platform for Apprenticeships and Universities and has proved so worthwhile for our current Year 13 students. If your child has not come home and spoken to you about it then please ask them to show you. It is easy to use and allows all students to access all current Apprenticeships in the UK and view all university courses and providers, not only in the UK, but across other countries as well. All their form tutors can see what they have been looking at, so they can keep a supportive watch over them. It is also a portal to upload their personal statement to so that their form tutor can access it a provide feedback. We really do value Future Intentions at Thomas Alleyne’s and this is just two ways that we support our students.
On a completely different note, Year 13 have had their leavers photo taken today. Traditionally there is a formal photograph and then there is the ‘silly’ photo where they are able to wear silly hats amongst other props. We, as the Sixth Form Team, look forward to seeing the finished photographs.
BBC School Report Day.
BTEC Results Day
Over 100 students in school got the results from their January BTEC exams this week. Students in years 10-13 achieved results in Applied Science, Children’s Play, Learning & Development, Health & Social Care, ICT and Sport. A particular well done Shannon Davies in year 10, who scored the highest mark in the school on her Children’s Play, Learning & Development exam beating year 11 students who also took this paper. In all subjects our students did really well and this is a step closer to some excellent BTEC results again this summer.
French Intervention – Saturday!
Well done to everyone who attended the French intervention on Saturday 17th March.
News from PE
Year 9 Futsal County Final
Science News
This week in Science we have been celebrating British Science Week with a series of activities.
Students visited the department at lunchtime throughout the week.
- On Tuesday Mr Melland looked into all forms of motion and the science behind rocket propulsion. Carbon dioxide powered film canisters, a model steam engine, soap boats and hydrogen rockets were all used in the demonstrations.
Soap boats revealed the force encountered due to water tension. Adding soap to the centre of the boat disrupts the arrangement of the water molecules, decreasing the surface tension behind the boat. The boat is pulled towards areas of high surface tension by the water in front of the boat; resulting in the boat moving quickly across the water tank.
When the gas was ignited in the model hydrogen rocket it moved a little faster than the soap boat as it was launched across the room!
- On Wednesday Mr Crum created lots of noise with an impressive display of combustion and explosions. Balloons filled with a hydrogen/oxygen mixture produced the loudest explosion. An ethanol-oxygen fuelled ‘whoosh’ bottle proved to be impressive and the methane-oxygen fuelled rockets moved with incredible speed. The students made their own methane fuelled ‘Pringle Tube’ rockets. And the students particularly enjoyed ‘setting fire’ to Mr Crum’s hand!
- On Thursday Mrs Swinson had a captivated audience for the rat dissection. The students were fascinated by the internal organs of the rat and were amazed at the length of the small intestine!
Check out the pictures:
Science Week Photos March 2018
This week’s Science Students of the Week selected by Mr Beech are:
Year 9
Zack Hedgcombe and Caitlin Beardsley for excellent work in Chemistry
Year 10
Rowan Hall and Charlie Martin for excellent Biology assessment scores
Year 11
Amelia Murray and Heather Forsyth for excellent Biology mock scores
This week’s Animal Care Students of the Week selected by Mrs North are:
Ellie Matthews and Matthew Payne for excellent course work
This week’s Environmental Land Based Science Students of the Week also selected by Mrs North are:
Megan Miller and Charles Frogatt for attending after-school sessions for completion/improvement of course work
Well done!
Geography Revision
TIMSS 2018
Year 9 Options
Bake Sale
TO RAISE FUNDS TO SUPPORT FORMER PUPIL
WILL ROOBOTTOM
WHO HAS BEEN CHOSEN TO REPRESENT
ENGLAND LIONS FOR INDOOR CRICKET
IN SRI LANKA.
MONDAY 19 MARCH
OUTSIDE THEATRE
BREAKTIME
CAKES 50P – £1
Art News
Careers
Don’t forget to check out the new careers page on tahsroundup.wordpress.com
This week information on:
Medicine Taster Days @ Keele
Links
Follow the links to; School Website, Facebook, Twitter & our Online Shop
Thomas Alleyne's high school 