Dates for your diary
Headteacher blog:
We are thrilled that the school has been successful in securing two ‘Condition Improvement Grants’ which means that over the next 2 years, £2.5 million pounds will be invested in the school building.
The first bid is to improve heating across the school. The boilers and all associated pipework will be replaced over the next 12 months.
The second bid was for the replacement of our mobile blocks and the Sports Pavillion with a stand alone new block. This 2 year project will significantly improve the environment for students as the dilapidated buildings are replaced.
These grants have been secured through Mike Osborne-Town’s work on academy conversion, and Andy Storer and Ian Mirams’ development of the bids. My thanks to all of the team for their hard work.
Whilst we do not know exact numbers, we are aware that in our county, less than 30% of bids were successful.
On a connected but separate area, our campaign to address the essential repairs needed on the swimming pool continues. Approximately £125,000 of the funds received from the Condition Improvement Funds could be used for the school pool boilers. The estimate for repairs is £270,000: therefore we continue to work with Andrew Griffiths MP, the LA, Staffordshire County council, local pool groups and the Borough Council to prevent closure.
It has been wonderful to see everyone back after Easter.
Year 11 are currently receiving additional tuition in English, Maths or MFL in the form of our GCSE+ programme.We have less than 20 days left before their first examination and want to ensure they are all ready for the papers they will be sitting. They have received their examination timetable and will be able to share this with you so that it can go on the family calendar/diary. Some days are particularly challenging as students have more than one exam in a day.
If you need advice or guidance in supporting their son or daughter with their revision, please contact your Head of House.
The sun has finally arrived in Uttoxeter and with this we need to remind our students about the uniform that we require all out students to wear. Smart work wear is require everyday. Our Year 12 and 13 students are seen as role models by our younger students so could we ask that this is adhered to. Skirts must be of an appropriate length and tops must be not be ‘bardot’ tops nor must they be ‘shoe string’ straps.
The beautiful weather of the last few days seems to make everything seem better, revision and exams included it seems when talking to my Year 12 and 13 students. I encourage all to continue to use their non-contacts correctly and to make use of time out of school. A delicate balance needs to be found to achieve ‘mindfulness’. A rich mix of family and friends time, a pinch of work and then a good helping of revision is what we recommend.
We are proud of each of students when they achieve a milestone such as passing their driving test. With this huge responsibility and with this in mind we have invited an outside organisation to come in to school and deliver a talk about safe driving. The aim is to make students aware of the risks of speeding and lack of concentration when they are behind the wheel. If we can provide them with the tools to make the right decisions then we have fulfilled a duty of care. It can be hard hitting and can stir memories and trigger reactions but we feel that we can not avoid the topic. Some extra details are below:
‘COW’ is for year 12 students and investigates many issues relating to young drivers and passengers, focussing on the use of mobile phones in cars, the use of seatbelts, and peer pressure. The resource includes the ‘Cow’ film, a true story re-enacted, with some scenes that some might find uncomfortable, although not too graphic. The total time for the resource is 1 hour.
Students will be receiving a letter about this beginning next week.
The “COW” presentation is taking place for all Yr 12 students on Thursday 26th April at 10.00am.
To continue on theme of support, all Year 12 students now have access to Unifrog. This is a valuable tool when looking at Post-18 options. I recommend that you ask them to share the platform with you so that you can see the benefits when looking at universities and also apprenticeships.
GCSE+
Saturday Year 11 Revision Sessions.
Photography Competition
Well done to all the students who have entered work for the Uttoxeter Rotary Club Young Photographer of the Year competition which have now been submitted to be judged by an expert panel. The art department had a difficult job selecting the work for submission on the portfolios and a particular big thank you to Mr Robinson for uploading the images onto the Flickr website so we can share these with you.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/georgerobinsonwhite/albums
We are of course biased, but we think they have done a pretty good job! We will let you know if any of our students are successful later on in the year.
Save the Date!
Tues 26th June 2018- Art department Exhibition
Please note that the Art Department Exhibition will be open to the public on Tuesday 26th June 5-7pm, and is a great chance to see a lot of the wonderful work that our students have produced. There is hours and hours of dedicated work in Art, Craft & Design, Photography from Year 9-year 13 on display and a chance to talk to some of the 6th form artists about their work.
News from PE
Last cheerleading session of the year done this week. The girls worked so hard and have really enjoyed learning new skills. I’m very proud of how hard everyone has worked in these sessions, well done to all. Now the summer sports start, rounders club begins on Tuesday after school for all year groups. Please come along.
Science News
Students are encouraged to attend our GCSE revision sessions which take place each week:
Biology on Wednesday lunchtime in Room 55
Chemistry on Friday at 3.05pm in Room 52
Physics on Wednesday at 3.05pm in Room 50
Higher tier Biology students are invited to attend a ‘walking-talking mock exam’ on Tuesday 24th April at 3.05pm in Room 54 to watch how a teacher attempts examination questions.
This week’s Science Students of the Week selected by Mrs Bracebridge are:
Year 9
Freya Hadgett, Isobel Watts and Tom Haines for excellent test results in Physics
Year 10
Euan Walsh and Shani Wright for consistently high effort and attainment in Physics
Year 11
Niamh Collins and Joe Haywood for their commitment and effort to their exam preparation
Well done!
Art/Photography EXAMS
French Revision
Spring News on the Farm
Spring has definitely arrived on the school farm with lambing in full progress as well as new arrivals in the rabbit pens. Students have been learning about the care of new born lambs including tail docking and castration.
We are also very pleased to announce that our application to the Tesco Bags of Help scheme has been successful. We will be competing against two other projects from 1st May until 30th June and if we receive the most blue counters we will get a grant of £4,000. This will go towards enhancing our outdoor areas for the guinea pigs and rabbits as well as purchasing more small mammals, including rats, to help with the teaching of our new Animal Care course. If you are in Tesco during this period we would be very grateful for your support.
Careers
Don’t forget to check out the new careers page on tahsroundup.wordpress.com
This week information on:
Trainee Quantity Surveyor position in Burton
Links
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Thomas Alleyne's high school 