TAHS Weekly Newsletter.
Headteacher’s Blog
We have just completed our staff training day and it has been incredibly useful. It was lovely to welcome our new CEO Sarah Clarke to the Multi Academy Trust. I am excited to begin working with her from January.
We hope students and staff take a break to recharge their batteries, but are aware that many students will be wanting to combine time for relaxing with time revising ready for their trial examinations in December. Some students may want to revisit content taught in this term.
There are some fantastic resources to support parents and students with revision techniques one set is at GCSEpod https://www.gcsepod.com/free-resources/student-resources/. Thank you to the parents who attended the training session at Year 9 parents evening on Unifrog and GCSEpod. As we mentioned, we have purchased access for Year 9, 10 and 11 students to both packages.
We hope Year 11 parents can join us at revision evening on Tuesday 5th November at 6.00pm in the Theatre. We have some materials we will be giving away on the evening. If parents of a child in any other year group would like to attend please feel free to join us. The session is usually finished by 7.15pm.
Finally, on this rather rainy evening, I wanted to wish our World Challenge students well as they take on the elements this weekend, camping in the peak district. Thank you to the staff who are working with them.
I hope you all have a lovely half term
This upcoming week is a week to plan, to get ahead and to start thinking about the upcoming mock examinations. It is a week to complete personal statements, look at apprenticeships and to look at completing UCAS applications. It is a week to find time to sit, relax and contemplate how much our students have completed in eight short weeks.
All students must not forget to bring their data collection sheets back to school when they return. If their uniform is not quite right then it is a time to make those changes. We would also like to state that all students should be in school between the times of 8.40 – 3.05. If they leave school at break or lunch then they must sign out, this is a mandatory requirement.
Upcoming events for the Sixth Form are: Body Worlds Trip, Maths Inspiration Trip, GCSE Prize Giving, Year 13 Parents Evening, UCAS Design Your Future Art Trip and Year 13 mock examinations.
6th Form Tutor Time Activities
These are the weekly activities for 6th form registration for Monday 4th November’, then the above under Y12 and Y13.
Year 12
Read the Which guide to higher and degree apprenticeships. Consider which is the right route for you.
Year 13
Spend some time working on your personal statement. Talk to your tutor. Read the TAHS personal statement advice on Twitter. Consult Unifrog advice and exemplar statements.
Year 11 Revision Evening
On 5th November 2019 6pm we would like to invite all Year 11 students, parents and carers to attend a Revision evening to share key information about revising for cores subjects and effective strategies for exam success. Please join us to support your preparation for the mock exams.
Robotics Challenge
Our first Robotics UK challenge team made up of pupils from year 9 through 13 are busy preparing for their first event on 4th December at Staffordshire University. This will then be followed by a regional competition at RAF Cosford in the New Year. Keep an eye on the school social media for updates and links to their own social platforms.
idea Award
Three more students have attained their idea.org.uk Bronze award in Digital Literacy in their 6th Form 7 time. They are now working towards their silver award. Congratulations to Harvey, George & Jack.
Sports News
Lifesaving Training
The PE Department successfully completed the RLSS National Rescue Award on Wednesday.A full day of training was delivered by Miss James, covering aspects of pool safety, operating procedures, CPR and basic first aid. The test included practical rescues, demonstrations of first aid techniques and questioning. Completion of this award will allow for more swimming lessons to be delivered on our curriculum.
U18 ESFA Cup
On Tuesday our U18 boys bowed out of the FA cup at the second round stage going down 4-2 to John Taylor. After taking the lead through Lewis Dawson we took the foot off the gas and allowed the home side back into the game. Poor defending allowed a 3-1 deficit before Archie Whitehead pulled a goal back. We then missed an open goal, hit the post and had another disallowed- It was not going to be our day.
U16 BDSFA Cup
On Thursday we travelled to Robert Sutton in the semi-final of the district cup. Despite playing some lovely football we went down 3-0 to a very strong side, in what was our first defeat of the season.
Science News
This week’s Science Students of the Week selected by Mr Crum are:
Year 9
Lucy Blood for excellent effort
Harmony Green for superb attainment
Thomas Yeomans for his enthusiasm and effort in lessons
Year 10
Charlie Hallam for his consistently high effort and attainment
Harley Walkenden for exemplary effort this half term
Isaac Stanier for excellent effort and attainment
Year 11
Chloe Yates for consistent effort
Abi Wildman for always trying her best every lesson
Year 12
George Mothershaw
Katelyn Poole
Ben Seaman
Leyton Tyers for their brilliant efforts towards their forensics assignment at Staffs University
Year 13
Elliot Jones for superb effort all half term
Luke Langley for consistent excellent effort
Sian Rendell for her conscientious approach to her studies
Well done!
Maths Revision
Maths after-school support sessions start after half term for Year 11, 12 and 13. Come along if you need help with any topics or want to work on practice questions.
Apprenticeships
If your child is thinking about whether to go to university or to do an apprenticeship, please read this guide to help with your decision. Y12 have been watching useful videos on this topic during registration this week. We would also advise researching university websites.
Geography Revision
Optional Geography revision sessions, every Thursday in room 6B from 3:05 to 4pm.
Sadfishing
SadFishing’ is described as a behavioural trend where people make exaggerated claims about their emotional problems to generate sympathy and attention. The term was created at the beginning of the year by a blogger using the term to describe certain celebrities who embellish their emotional difficulties to generate sympathy and gain more followers. The term has now gained traction and is seen as a growing trend on social media. The challenge with sadfishing is that sometimes real problems can become overlooked or young people can even be bullied for having shared their problems online.
A guide for parents from the National Online Safety Centre can be found here:
Support for D & T
We are looking for support from local businesses in giving some real world examples to our A level DT students who are covering some complex Industrial practices in preparation for their main exam. If you feel that you could support our students by sharing your own expertise and experience, giving them examples to refer to in their coursework and exam, then we would love to hear from you. We are looking at Manufacturing systems and strategies including Concurrent Manufacturing, Project Data Management and Enterprise Resource Planning, Scrum, SixSigma, DMAIC and DMADV. Please contact office@tahs.org.uk and I will get back to you. Many thanks, Mr Swindlehurst
Vacancies
We require a number of exam invigilators for our exams in December. Please see the attached for full information.
We also have some vacancies in our Special Needs team.
YESS Drop in Sessions
Parental Help with Fortnite Chapter 2
Links
Thomas Alleyne's high school 