TAHS Weekly Newsletter.
Headteacher blog:
This week, we had the pleasure of over 100 first school children spending the morning with us. They joined us to spend the day taking part in French lessons. These were taught by our Year 9 students. The feedback was that the Year 9 students were a credit to our school. There were lots of smiling faces at the end of the day, as the younger students headed home. Thank you to the French department, particularly Mrs Clemett, for organising the day and to all student leaders who looked after our visitors from the first schools.
Last week, the Art department’s exhibition took my breath away. Some of their work will be on show when we hold our Junior Prize Giving event so that everyone has the chance to appreciate it.
As end of term approaches, we have a number of celebration events when we will be celebrating excellence. Year 12 will be invited to their graduation and Years 9 and 10 to celebration breakfasts. It has been lovely to see Year 11 students back in school completing their bridging sessions before they take a very long, well-earned break!
What an amazing day it was at the UCAS convention at the NEC. Rows and rows of universities all pitching for the attention of our students. A whole section for the apprenticeships and the armed forces represented by the Navy and RAF. It is clear from the conversations we heard on the coaches on the way back that the convention had been a success. So many students were able to ask questions about entrance grades, course specifics and to get contact details from their preferred universities. The apprenticeships were equally proactive providing apprenticeship information for specific companies and explaining the different types of schemes available.
On the back of his we have scheduled our Future Intentions intensive workshops at school week commencing 8th July where all students will register with UCAS, where Unifrog and personal statements will be revisited. All Year 12 will be on a collapsed timetable for these few days and will be working with the Sixth Form Team and external providers to continue to enrich and enthuse their Post-18 journey.
Over the next two weeks we will be assessing Year 12 and their academic performance using the results from their recent mocks, teachers class assessments, attendance and attitude. Students were explained this in assembly on Friday morning. This may seem worrying to them but if it is clear that they have worked all year, have had a good attitude towards their subjects and are on or as near to their target grades as possible then we feel that these students need to be celebrated. For those that have not shown the same level of commitment to their learning at TAHS then we will be putting a programme of study together to enable them to succeed in Year 13. For those that this applies to it is an expectation that poor working habits are replaced with positive and focused outcomes towards improving on Year 12 performance. We will be sharing further information on this over the next week.
Date for diary:
Year 12 Future Intentions Parents Information Evening – Post 18 Options Wednesday 10th July 6.30pm in school theatre. Letters will be sent out next week
Year 12 Geography Field Work
Wednesday to Friday evening saw 21 year 12 students, accompanied by Mrs Goodwin, Miss Robinson and Mr Cartwright descend on the YHA in Liverpool to conduct essential field study work.
Wednesday saw us explore the city, visit the landmarks including the Cavern Club and the world famous water front enabling the students to start their research into regeneration, tourism to name but two topics.
Thursday dawned bright and sunny and physical Geography was the order of the day with sand dune transects taking place at the glorious Formby Beach.
Friday was the day to finalise any research around various city locations including Anfield, Toxteth, Liverpool One and the regenerated Albert Dock. All students now have considerable live data sets to enable them to complete their A Level coursework.
A final meal and then it was back in Uttoxeter for 9.30pm – a great and productive few days.
News from PE
U15 County Cup Cricket
Congratulations to our boys team who beat OSSMA by 30 runs. Top scorer was Charlie Allcock with 22, top performer with the ball Jamie Richardson with 5 wickets. Game changer Archie Cooper who removed their county batsman.
Science News of the Week
This week in Science, our Year 11 students had the opportunity to sample activities in a range of A Level and BTEC Science subjects during the Sixth Form Subject Taster Sessions.
The Biology Department looked into the effect of substrate concentration on enzyme activity using hydrogen peroxide and the enzyme catalase in potato extract.
The Chemistry Department introduced students to the art of mole calculations.
The Physics Department used diffraction gratings to determine the wavelength of laser light.
The BTEC Applied Science taster entailed investigating diffusion rates using different concentrations of hydrochloric acid and pink alkali agar cylinders infused with phenolphthalein indicator.
For the first time we are running the BTEC course in Forensic Science. Students extracted some impressive strands of DNA from ‘blood’ samples – actually strawberry extract, but quite convincing!
We look forward to seeing the students in the Science Department in September.
This week’s Science Students the Week selected by Mrs Faizey are:
Year 9
Joshua Gascoigne, Elizabeth Shaw and Lucy Harbour for always making an excellent effort with a positive attitude.
Jessie Johnson for excellent attitude and progress in Chemistry.
Year 10
Katie Simister, Brad Cantrill and Sam Johnson for excellent progress in Chemistry.
Well done!
For a selection of photos from the session please see this link:
Languages Festival
Thank you to all the Y9 students who presented at the Languages festival. Their preparation and skills was praised by both teachers and children from Richard Clarke, St Mary’s, Picknalls and All Saints Church Leigh. They presented activities on fruit, favourite foods, coloring in a boulangerie picture and lots of mini white board and running and repeating games. Thank you to everyone involved.
Year 12 Drama in London
On Wednesday Mrs Wheildon and the current year 12 Drama Students travelled to London to see the West End Musical Everybody’s Talking About Jamie. This trip is part of their course where they have to see alive performance to review in their written exam in year 13.
After a walk down Tottenham Court Road and a quick burger we attended the Apollo Theatre on Shaftsbury Avenue. The show is an inspiring story about a boy, Jamie, who aspires to be a drag queen. The story shows the highs and lows of his life in a small minded northern town. The performance was modern, funny and eye opening as to what goes on in peoples lives. There was such a great message , delivered in a fantastically relatable way. A great way for the theatre to challenge such issues.
Links
Thomas Alleyne's high school 