We have had a busy week! External visitors willing to share their wealth of knowledge and to impart wisdom upon our Year 12 and 13 students.  Last week I talked about enrichment and how we have a commitment to our young adults, the feedback I have had from our students this week is that we are helping them see life from many directions. Mrs Walton has provided an account regarding the inspiring words he imparted on the Year 12’s on Tuesday. It seems that Commando humour is something we all need and humility and courage will always serve you well, I wish I had been able to listen, I hope we are lucky enough to have him back. 

On Wednesday, staff from T3 Drug & Alcohol Advisory Unit visited Year 13 as part of their wellbeing programme and our commitment to our educate on matters where we know we are not always the specialist.  I was not teaching so I was able to listen to this talk, I found it interesting but also very concerning about how many illicit substances there are.  Adam was able to speak clearly about the dangers surrounding drug misuse and also explained how useful the T3 programme is.  T3 is a free and confidential service for young people up to 18 years old in Staffordshire.  They help young people make informed choices about their alcohol and drug use, and to raise awareness of all the risks involved. This includes providing high quality and responsive support and assistance to parents and carers, schools and colleges, reflecting an inclusive approach to care co-ordination.

AS you know we are committed to helping within our local community and one way which we are doing this is by donating unwanted glasses to the Uttoxeter Lions, today they collected 13 pairs of glasses from our school.  They stated that this is ‘an impressive result on top of the 21 pairs collected last month’. Thanks to all those people who donated and thank you to Mrs Bell who helps organise these events..

We are looking for Year 12 students who would be interested in being an accelerated reading mentor.  This will involve being assigned to a lower school student who is struggling with their reading and literacy skills.  They will listen to them read and give them strategies to improve (training will be given).  This is a very worthwhile project and they will get to see their mentee improve in reading age (students take an online test after reading each short book).  It will take place during registration once per week in the library.  This is also excellent to put on their personal statements/job applications about a time when they have made a difference, overcome obstacles, helped others etc.  If anybody is thinking of becoming a teacher or healthcare worker, there are also opportunities to learn about dyslexia and other special needs.  We have run this support to Lower school for many years and feel that it is beneficial and worthwhile.

Over the next two weeks we have our Year 13 mocks.  All Year 13 students should be ready to sit these exams. Please reiterate to them that it is ok to feel nervous and anxious, others will be feeling the same.  We ask that all students turn up to the exam in plenty of time, all students are expected in lessons if they are not in an exam. All students must bring the correct equipment to their exams and behave accordingly. After Christmas there are some BTEC external exams, again ensure that they are revising for these, they are important and do count towards their final BTEC qualification.

“On Tuesday 4th December, the Y13 A Level English Language group were lucky enough to have a session delivered by Dr Barbara MacMahon from Derby University.  They learned about advanced Theory Of Mind as enrichment towards their Child Language Acquisition module.  We look forward to continuing this successful partnership with Derby University.”

Year 9 East Staffordshire Futsal Championship.

The pictures tell the story… 1st and 2nd in the district.

Year 9 Rugby

On Wednesday 12th December Year 9 have a boys rugby fixture against St Josephs college away. Team list below. Team will require parents to arrange lifts meeting at 1.20 at school and getting to St Josephs for 2pm. Game will finish at approx 3.30pm.

Address of pitch is – Rose Tree Avenue Trent Vale Stoke On Trent ST4 6NL

Team to see Mr Barrow Monday registration to confirm availability.

Tim Hensman, Toby Minshall, Charlie Ratcliffe, Ben Ogden, Connor Buxton, Blake Plant, Adam Bulmer, Leo Hemmings, Driss Chouhibi, Lewis Tomlinson, Luke Watt, Charlie Allcock, Duncan Craven, Toby Patterson, Hal Thornton, Aiden Moorfield, Ben Pagett, Ethan Hudson