TAHS Weekly Newsletter. 

Headteacher’s Blog

We have very much appreciated the support of parents and students this week. It was a difficult decision to postpone our production on Tuesday but students responded exceptionally well and put on a fantastic show on Wednesday. Congratulations to all involved. It was an innovative, refreshing presentation of Sharkespeare’s final play.  I would like to thank Mrs Mood and Mrs Shackell for their hard work in supporting students in preparing such a fantastic show. 

Student leadership has really shone this week. We have had Amanda from our sixth form leading assemblies on St John’s Ambulance and Oki and his team have submitted a bid to the Dragon’s Den Eco Challenge. We wish them every success in the bid they have compiled, which aims to reduce the school’s carbon footprint. Finally, Mia supported students in the production of The Tempest in the role of make-up artist and Corey led the lighting team. Along with this, Holly from our sixth form, did an exceptional job in leading the Choreography.

We know the vast majority of Year 11 and 13 students are working hard to prepare for their mock examinations. Please encourage them to stream GCSEpods as these offer an excellent revision resource. All students from Year 9 through to Year 11 have access to this superb resource.

Assemblies week commencing 2nd December

Assemblies next week will be led by Mrs Shanahan on the theme of attendance. Due to mock exams starting this week assemblies will be as follows:

Year group assemblies (Monday year 9, Tuesday year 10, Wednesday year 11)

Sixth form Assembly in Canteen

Our thought for the week is:

“Vulnerability is about showing up and being seen. It’s tough to do that when we’re terrified about what people might see or think.” Brene Brown

Mrs Young sent information on Insight about Unifrog on Friday 15th November, some Year 12 students have registered but we still have many that have not. This is part of their tutorial programme and must be completed. It is a great tool and will benefit all students over the next two years. It helps students navigate their way through the process on apprenticeships, universities and employment.

Please contact Mrs Young at sixthform@tahs.org.uk for further help and support.

Sixth Form TAP activity w/c Mon 2nd December.

Year 12

Log onto Unifrog and research their careers library.  You can search by keyword eg law; by your 3 subjects; by career area eg social services; by theme eg community; or by competency eg team work.  At the bottom of the page is the Myers-Briggs personality test to take and compare with your friends before seeing which careers are best suited to you as an individual.

Year 13

Log onto Unifrog and take a look at their live apprenticeships.  Even if you are considering university, take a look – you might be surprised, especially with the Higher Level Degree Apprenticeships on offer.

Revision Tips

Do you understand the need for breaks and keeping active. Active body active mind!!

BEBRAS Challenge

In computing lessons year 9 have taken part in the Bebras Challenge, an international computational thinking competition. All students had 40 minutes to work through as many challenges as they could and they were then graded against all other competitors.

131,000 students from across the country took part in the same age group challenge as our year 9s and I am pleased to report that 18 of our students were in the top 10% nationally. They will now be invited to a further extra curricula club to prepare them to partake in a further challenge in March run by Oxford University. Names will be published in due course.

Well done all.

December Mock Examinations

Please see below for the upcoming examinations to held in school:

Well Done Max

Max Houghton in year 11 entered the National Young Drummer of the Year Competition and today found out that he is down to the last 40, shortlisted from over 4000 entries. He finds out on December 11th if he will be shortlisted for the final 10.

He performed his GCSE music composition as his entry and will be performing this at the Christmas Concert next week on December 5th at 7pm.

Tickets are £5 for adults and £3 for concessions and include seasonal interval refreshments. Tickets are available from the online shop or directly from Mrs Todd. 

Rehearsals for the Christmas Concert will take place all day on Wednesday 4th December. Please see Mrs Todd for further detail

 

Senior Maths Challenge

  On Monday, four Year 12 Further Maths students took part in the UKMT Senior Team Maths Challenge Regional Final. It was a closely fought competition with Thomas Alleynes performing exceptionally well, finishing in 6th place of 17 teams. The team achieved an excellent score in the group round, demonstrating brilliant team work alongside outstanding mathematical ability. Congratulations to Vicky, Alex, Andrew and Euan on their achievement!

Most Able Programme

Last week 30 year 9 students took part in the first session of the Most Able programme. After 4 hours of intense and entertaining French, they had all produced French lyrics to fit their favourite songs. They did a fantastic job, and even went so far as to perform them live for the rest of the group.
Try singing along to Wonderwall by Oasis:

J’ai mangé au petit déjeuner et c’était très bien,
J’ai bu du jus d’orange et c’était fantastique

Or try singing along to Rocking Around the Christmas Tree:

J’adore le fromage,J’adore le poulet et,Je mange des pommes de terre

Order your Alleyne’s Turkey Now!!!

Christmas turkeys available- Fully cared and prepared by our year 10 students, £7 per kg. Email deakingallimore@tahs.org.uk to order yours now! Thankyou for your continued support to the school farm! 

Flu-like illness at Thomas Alleyne’s School

This letter is to inform you that several children have been unwell from Thomas Alleyne’s School with a flu-like illness. There is no need for alarm as this most likely to be normal seasonal “colds” or flu. Please be reassured that the illness has been mild in most affected children and they are recovered at home.

If your child develops flu-like symptoms it is very important that your child stays at home and does not attend school or mix with others outside the home until 7 days after the onset of first symptoms.  

General infection prevention practices and good hand hygiene can help to reduce spread of all viruses, including flu. This includes:

• Covering your nose and mouth when coughing or sneezing, using a tissue when possible.
• Disposing of dirty tissues promptly and carefully.
• Maintaining good basic hygiene, for example washing hands frequently with soap and water to reduce the spread of the virus from your hands to face or to other people.
• Cleaning hard surfaces (e.g. door handles) frequently using a normal cleaning product.

If your child has a underlying chest illness such as asthma problems you should contact your GP for further advice.

Further information on influenza is also available on www.nhs.uk  Health A-Z/Flu. If you would like further advice on flu please contact NHS 111.

Sports News

U16 County Cup Basketball

Well done to our U16 boys who beat Endon 65 -18! The team showed great improvement from last year.  Harry Taylor and Connor McLaughlin led the team well with good shooting percentages. Ben Wain was man of the match with a fantastic all round performance. Lewis Caparis was a ball of energy in attack and Hayden Fisher was incisive with the ball. Josh and Kain spread the ball well and Ricardo defended brilliantly.

U14 County Cup

Well done to year 9 boys who played gallantly against a talented Trentham High School team on Tuesday. In very muddy conditions we played well with the ball but could not penetrate their defence. In defence we rucked well but we’re unable to contain some of their individual brilliance.

U18 County Cup Rugby

So near… A missed kick proved the difference in a close fought 21-19 defeat to Denstone. Captain Ben Simon did a great job getting the team organised and he was rewarded with a length of the field interception try. Their were good performances across the board. See team picture below.

Science News

Thank you for all the entries received in the ‘Big Science Question Competition’.  The competition is now closed and judging has commenced!

All entrants will receive a Credit Point, runners up will receive a ‘front of the queue’ lunch pass and the overall winner will also receive the fabulous prize of an Echo Dot. The results will be announced in next week’s ‘Weekly News Bulletin’.

Throughout December we will be celebrating success in Science with special nominations for our Science Students of the Week.  Students will be selected from teaching groups across all Science subjects.   

Students receiving our award, featured in each December ‘Weekly News Bulletin’, can, pick up a hot chocolate at break time from the Science Department on the following Monday (2^nd December this week).

Year 9

Joel Armstrong for fantastic practical work.  Selected by Miss Thorley.

Yasmin Liu for excellent effort in Chemistry.  Selected by Mrs Hughes.

Year 10

Blake Plant for consistent hard work in Chemistry and for figuring out and completing the electronic structure table with minimal help. Selected by Mrs Macdonald

Bradley Marcroft for being above baseline all term. Selected by Mr Mitchell.

Duncan Craven for receiving the top mark in the end of unit Chemistry test.  Selected by Mrs Evans.

Tilly Shelley for excellent work in Chemistry.  Selected by Mr Crum.

Year 11 

Katie Simister and Sam Johnson, both students were selected for their focus and conscientiousness in their Physics lessons.  Selected by Mrs Pavey.

Year 12

Aaron Gwynne for consistent hard work and excellent results in Chemistry.  Selected by Mrs Evans.

Andrew Pye for his work with IRIS.  Selected by Mrs Pavey.

Katie Lawrence for always being so helpful in the Science Department.  Selected by Mrs Gouldsmith.

Year 13

Emily Whieldon, Elliot Jones and Luke Langley for excellent effort in Chemistry. Selected by Mrs Hughes.

Very well done to all students – we look forward to seeing you at breaktime on Monday!

 

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.

PTA Raffle

 

A level / GCSE Certification Collection Dates

Certificates are available for collection as follows:

1. Monday December 2^nd 2019 – 9am – 11am
2. Thursday December 5^th 2019 – 5pm – 6.45pm

If you are unable to collect your certificates please see the option below:

Nominate a friend/relative to collect them on your behalf.  They must bring with them photo ID plus the completed Certificate Collection form that was given out with exam results OR a letter of permission written by you.

Links

School Website

School Shop

TAHS Weekly Newsletter. 

Headteacher’s Blog

 

Outdoor Education Opportunity

We have a few places for Year 9 students on the Aberdovey Outdoor Education visit running from 6th – 10th January. This visit received fantastic feedback from students who went last year. 

If you would like to know more about Outward Bound please go to  https://www.outwardbound.org.uk/secondary-schools-and-colleges
If your son or daughter signed up but you have not made the first payment, please do so as soon as possible to secure a place. Please contact Mrs Julie Malbon who will support you on ParentPay if you have any difficulties. We are assuming that anyone who has not made a payment by Wednesday, no longer wishes to take up their place. 

If you are interested in securing one of the remaining places on the trip, and have not been allocated a place as yet, please email headteacher@tahs.org.uk with Aberdovey in the subject heading. You will then be given the opportunity to purchase a place on ParentPay. This will be organised on a first come first served basis for the remaining places.

The price of the week-long residential is £250.00.

All students who are participating will need to complete a medical form. These will be sent home next week. 

If any student receives PP funding, we will fund 50% of the £250.00.

There are just 7 days for Year 9 to take up these final places as we will then offer the places to Year 10 students. 

Ofsted visit

Thank you to all parents who completed the parent survey during our Ofsted visit. We hope to receive the report before the end of term and will forward you a copy on receipt. 

Parents’ evening

Thank you to all parents who attended Year 13 parents’ evening this week. We are looking forward to meeting parents of students in Year 11 next Thursday. 

Finally, in assembly this week we talked Year 9 through the advice given to us by the government on what to do in the event of a  terrorist attack. We do this each year. The video we shared with them is below as we understand some students may have found this difficult and may want to talk to you about the assembly. The students approached this difficult topic in a mature way. 
https://www.staffordshire.police.uk/advice/advice-and-information/t/terrorism-in-the-uk/staying-safe-from-terrorism/

Assemblies week commencing 25th November

Assemblies next week will be led by The St John’s Ambulance and will be led by Heads of House.

Our thoughts for the week are:

“Healing through the mind can work harmoniously with medicine.”  Rhonda Byrne

“Without a sense of caring, there can be no sense of community.” Anthony J. D’Angel

This was such a busy week, unexpectedly so as well! Tuesday 19th November was Year 13 parents evening.  Thank you to all that attended. It was a very successful evening with 86% of students being represented by parents and carers. If you were unable to attend or had further questions that you would like answered then please email Mrs Walton on sixthform@tahs.org.uk

11th – 18th November was Samaritans Christmas shoebox week and Sixth Form form groups decided to get involved with a challenge to see which form group could put together the best shoebox.  We have had some amazing shoeboxes ensuring that children around the world will receive some wonderful gifts at Christmas.  Mrs Dodd has chosen a winning form from both Year 12 and Year 13 as the standard was so high.

Well done to the winning form groups – Ms Thorley’s form 12D and Mrs Evans form 13D 

We are always happy to receive positive feedback from outside organisations regarding our Sixth Formers and would like to share with you a message we have received from The Education and Learning Manager at Burton Albion Community Trust “Thank you for joining us yesterday at BBC Media City.   Just to say that your students were a true credit to your school, they joined in all day and they were superbly polite”

Mrs Young sent information on Insight about Unifrog on Friday 15^th November, some Year 12 students have registered but we still have many that have not. This is part of their tutorial programme and must be completed. I will resend the information to all students and parents. It is a great tool and will benefit all students over the next two years. It helps students navigate their way through the process on apprenticeships, universities and employment. Please contact Mrs Young at sixthform@tahs.org.uk for further help and support.

Sixth Form TAP activity w/c Mon 25th November.

Year 12

Visit the Bright Knowledge website and look at the tips on getting rid of stress.

https://www.brightknowledge.org/health-wellbeing/stress-busting-tips

Year 13

Watch this RAC video about safe winter driving.  Take away the handout from ROSPA.  Winter driving factsheet is attached.

https://www.rac.co.uk/drive/advice/winter-driving/winter-driving-how-to-drive-on-snow-and-ice1/

Free School Meals

Your child may be able to get free school meals if you get any of the following:

• Income Support
• Income Based Job Seekers Allowance
• Income Related Employment and Support Allowance
• eligible for Child Tax Credit but not Working Tax Credit and the household income (as used by HMRC to assess tax credits) is not more that £16,190. Please note: anyone eligible for Working Tax Credit, or if you have a partner and they receive it, regardless of Income, you will not qualify
• The Guarantee element of State Pension Credit
• Support under part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
• In receipt of the 4 week run on of working tax credit (this is where someone becomes unemployed or reduces their hours and so is no longer entitled to working tax credit but will continue to receive it for a further 4 weeks and is entitled to free meals during that time) 
• Universal credit (provided you have an annual net earned household income of no more than £7,400 as assessed by earnings from up to three of your most recent assessment periods). Your net earned income is your household income after taxes and deductions and does not include income from Universal Credit or any other benefits you may receive.

To apply for free school meals please use the online link below:

https://www.staffordshire.gov.uk/Education/Educational-awards-benefits/FreeSchoolMeals/Apply-online.aspx

Revision Tips

Have you ever used / created Flash Cards to assist with your revision – well have a look at these hints and tips to help you prepare for your mock exams.

Year 11 Unifrog

Mrs Young sent information on Insight about Unifrog on Monday 18^th November, some Year 11 students have registered but we still have many that have not. I will resend the information to all students and parents. It is a great tool and will benefit all students over the next four years. It helps students navigate their way through the process on apprenticeships, universities and employment. It is a great way to look at pathways needed for future employment. Please contact Mrs Young at sixthform@tahs.org.uk for further help and support.

December Mock Examinations

Please see below for the upcoming examinations to held in school:

Success for School Farm at the English Winter Fayre

Students at Thomas Alleynes High school have yet again achieved huge success at the prestigious winter fayre run by the Staffordshire and Birmingham Agricultural society.

Training of both students and animals begins in September when halters are first put on the lambs. The lambs are never initially very keen on being restrained, but with a lot of patient encouragement and cajoling by students, they soon get used to the feel of the rope and walk confidently around the farm. The pigs are always a bit trickier because they go into the ring without halters and so require skilful manoeuvring with a stick and board; however, the students often have to resort to a tasty treat as a bribe to keep them well behaved.

The week before the show is always incredibly busy; the sheep have to be trimmed and washed, the pigs bathed and this year students also plucked two turkeys to enter into the poultry class. The hard work didn’t stop there with the students arriving at the show ground at 8.30am on both Saturday and Sunday in order to feed the livestock and carry out last minute cleaning and grooming.  Saturday started off well with two y10 students winning 3^rd prize in the pair of cutter pigs class and one of our turkeys, plucked by the y11 students, winning 2^nd prize. Despite all their other commitments, eight students also managed to take part in the sausage making competition which they found both educational and interesting and particularly enjoyed tasting the final products.

The main event of the day however, was the stock judging for our high quality Beltex cross lambs. At 3.30pm twenty very nervous students with their beautifully turned out animals entered the packed arena and led the lambs out in front of the judges.  All the hard work and many hours of halter training paid off with the lambs behaving impeccably, even standing still in pairs when required.  The judge started making his final decisions and we were thrilled when all six of the top pairs were chosen from Thomas Alleynes.  The students showing the top four pairs all received rosettes and were justifiably proud of their achievement.

On the Sunday, it was the turn of young handlers in which the students were judged on how well they understood and handled the animals.  Once again our students showcased the school, winning first, second and fifth prizes for their skills in showing the pigs and third and fourth with the lambs.

Our thanks and congratulations go out to all the students who took part in the competitions and in particular to the skill and dedication of Rosie Deakin-Gallimore the farm manager without whom this could not have been achieved.

 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Geography Star of the Week

This week’s stars are:

This week our winners are…

Year 9: Harry Pickering and Luke Norman for some fantastic subject knowledge and effort.

Year 10: Benjamin Edwards for great participation and showing eagerness to learn.

Well done stars.

Senior Maths Challenge

Thursday 7^th November, ten Year 12 and Year 13 students took part in the UKMT’s Senior Mathematical Challenge. A national competition for all sixth form students. After a two week wait, the results are in…

Congratulations to the following award winners

Matthew Ockleton, Vicky Catterall and Euan Walsh – Bronze Award

Carl Hallam, William Taylor and Alfred Bednall – Silver Award

Alex Ford and Andrew Pye – Gold Award

Well done to all participants but especially to Alex and Andrew who have also qualified for the next round of the competition, the Senior Kangaroo which take places place Friday 29^th November.

 

Production – The Tempest

Our school production, The Tempest by William Shakespeare will be
performed on the 26th and 27th November at 7pm. Tickets cost £4.00 and
can be purchased from the online school (see link at the bottom of this Newsletter). Then send the receipt into school for collection of tickets and allocation of seats.

For the past few months we have started a project called IRIS run by year 12 students. It is a project where we are sent data from the SPITZER telescope to analyse and identify Galaxies and stars. So far, we have analysed a known sample set and currently we are analysing an unknown data set which we will eventually send to the project organisation to confirm whether the analysis is correct. Eventually we will get data that no one else has analysed which means we will be the first people to uncover this data and will play a pivotal role in helping physicists to decide what interstellar objects to observe with the James Webb telescope when it is launched. This is an incredible opportunity for us and we will keep you updated on our progress and research.

Jess & Libby

Order your Alleyne’s Turkey Now!!!

Christmas turkeys available- Fully cared and prepared by our year 10 students, £7 per kg. Email deakingallimore@tahs.org.uk to order yours now! Thankyou for your continued support to the school farm! 

Sports News

Inclement Weather

As the weather becomes wetter and colder please ensure students bring suitable clothing for outdoor PE.  We endeavour to carry on with normal curricular activities – students may wear skins or other tops under their PE top and may wear plain black tracksuit bottoms over their shorts.  Students may also wear gloves. Reminder if you are injured you need a note explaining what is wrong and you must bring full PE Kit so you can be involved in the lesson.  The pool is now fully operational and a major part of our curriculum. Students require plain black swimming costumes / black swimming shorts they may swim with a T-shirt if they wish.

6th Form BTEC Sport BBC Sport Media Trip

On Thursday we took 4 of our Year 13 sport students to Media City to work with BBC sport. The morning was spent having a tour of the BBC, meeting presenters, Editors, Producers and the news crew.  The boys had tips on how to use social media and practiced making insta stories to deliver news content and made their own insta story on their county cup run.   The afternoon we explored the docks area and then had some sessions on how to apply for jobs and talent ID at the BBC .

• 

• 

Science News

This week’s Science Students of the Week selected by Mrs North are:

Year 9

Joseph Hall and Abigail Rolph for an excellent start in Biology and high assessment scores.

Year 12

Georgia Fleeman and Alex Done for excellent practical work and write-ups in their Applied Science studies.

Year 13

Nick Jakes and Luke Langley for consistent commitment and effort in their Biology studies.

This week’s Animal Care Students of the Week selected by Mrs North are:

Year 10

Rebecca Wooliscroft for excellent work showing sheep and pigs at the Winter Fayre.

Emily Carrington for excellent work at the Winter Fayre and a brilliant piece of course work.

Year 11

Alex Pope and Saffron Forrester for excellent results in recent assessments and a superb attitude to learning.

Well done!

Maths Inspirations Trip

On Tuesday, 25 year 12 students along with Miss Wright and Mrs Rodi, travelled to Birmingham for a Maths Inspiration trip. The day was hosted by mathematician and stand up comedian Matt Parker, who we all agreed was extremely entertaining.  We were also treated to talks by three guest speakers, including a talk on how maths can stop an AI apocalypse. Ben Sparks’ talk, ‘Windmills of your Mind’ was particularly interesting; looking at rational, irrational and complex numbers, their visual representations and the surprising places these crop up in the real world. Zoe Griffiths, gave a fascinating insight into the pitfalls of believing every headline or statistic you read in the media. Alex Ford (Year 12) says “It was a fascinating day which highlighted the enjoyment and surprising applications of different branches of Mathematics”

‘A Monster Calls’ at Nottingham Theatre Royal.

We have managed to secure a set of excellent seats to see the smash-hit play ‘A Monster Calls’ during February half-term. If your child would like a place, please return the form below. We are currently offering places to Y9 and Y10 students. Any questions, please email Mr Hollins (hollinst@tahs.org.uk). Full details of the trip are available on the letter.

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.

PTA Raffle

 

World Challenge Christmas Gift Fair

Two Thomas Alleyne’s 6th form students are raising money to go to Malawi for a month in July 2020 with the prestigious World Challenge organisation. Archie Whitehead and Alfie Bednall are hosting a Christmas Gift Fair at Denstone Village Hall on November 30th from noon to 4pm.

The event is for all the family and includes hand picked gift stalls from organic skincare, hand made homewares to delicious home made treats and much more. There will also be a cafe serving home made soup, toasties, refreshments, cakes, mince pies and mulled wine. All this will be washed down with fun games for children of all ages, live music, a raffle and fun for everyone.

A level / GCSE Certification Collection Dates

Certificates are available for collection as follows:

1. Monday December 2^nd 2019 – 9am – 11am
2. Thursday December 5^th 2019 – 5pm – 6.45pm

If you are unable to collect your certificates please see the option below:

Nominate a friend/relative to collect them on your behalf.  They must bring with them photo ID plus the completed Certificate Collection form that was given out with exam results OR a letter of permission written by you.

Data Collection/Photo Consent Reminder

If you have not yet returned data collection and photo consent sheets to the school office would you please do so as soon as possible.

Links

School Website

School Shop

TAHS Weekly Newsletter. 

Headteacher’s Blog

Thank you to our guest speaker Emma Gerrard who spoke at GCSE prize giving on Thursday. We had a wonderful evening celebrating students’ achievements. 

Oki, from our sixth form, asked me to  try to reduce the school carbon footprint by contacting our school bus companies. The results of his request are evident from the letter below which will be sent out to all school bus companies in Staffordshire. I am sure you will agree that this shows what a difference an individual can make.

Dear Operator,

I have received a request from the students of Thomas Alleyne’s High School asking that all school bus drivers do not leave their vehicle engine running whilst waiting for students.

I hope you agree that it is very commendable that the students are considering the impact on the environment that school buses have. 

Staffordshire County Council have already issued notes regarding “Efficient Driving” on the final page of  the Drivers’ Guide to Home to School Transport.

Also, for any contract let from the 1^stSeptember 2019, it is now part of the terms and conditions of contract that drivers avoid engine idling when a vehicle is due to be standing still for a minute or more at or adjacent to a school site. Obviously it is good practice to apply this rule on all contracts.

Please could you ensure that all your drivers receive this message and everyone’s cooperation in complying with this request would be very gratefully appreciated.

Staffordshire County Council

Assemblies week commencing 18th November

Mrs Mood will be leading assemblies for lower school this week showcasing the school production of The Tempest.

On Friday there is no sixth form assembly, instead year 9 will take part in the Prevent assembly led by Mrs Rudge.

Thought(s) for the Week

“The word theatre comes from the Greeks. It means the seeing place. It is the place people come to see the truth about life and the social situation. The theatre is a spiritual and social X-ray of its time. The theatre was created to tell people the truth about life and the social situation. “ Stella Adler

“If you turn up worrying about how you are going to perform you have already lost” Usain Bolt

I am pleased to pass the following information on to you all. Amanda, who shaved her head for charity as part of the Macmillan Brave the Shave last Wednesday, has raised an amazing £800.00.  We are so very proud of her. Well done Amanda.

As part of the Sixth Form we like to give opportunities to all our students, participating in Uttoxeter’s Christmas Cracker night, World Challenge, Brave the Shave, Community Service are just some. A little closer to home we ask that students involve themselves, where possible, in the school community. We have many opportunities for students to represent the Sixth Form at school events. Next week, Tuesday 19^th November is Year 13 Parents evening. We would like students to volunteer to help support staff and parents at this event.  We generally see students that are looking for senior roles in Year 13 helping and it is acknowledged by parents and staff how helpful these volunteers are.

The theme of Mrs Dodd’s assembly this week was happiness.

To support this assembly please find attached an image from the action for happiness organisation which discusses the ten factors that are important to our well-being and what we can do about them.

The website is: www.actionforhappiness.org and there is an app that can be downloaded.

• 

• 

In next week’s form TAP activities:

Year 12

Watch this RAC video about safe winter driving.  https://www.rac.co.uk/drive/advice/winter-driving/winter-driving-how-to-drive-on-snow-and-ice1/

Year 13

Getting ready for university, watch these videos about clearing, adjustment and managing offers.  Handout about clearing is in your pigeon hole to give to your students.

UCAS advice on clearing (if your results are not as good as you expected):  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTMOLaHoVcY

UCAS advice on adjustment (if your results are better than expected):  https://www.ucas.com/connect/videos/how-use-adjustment

Understanding UCAS offers by Bedfordshire University:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSJBhAvcmzw

Mrs Young has sent a link to all Students regarding Unifrog and how to log on, this information is on Insight. Please encourage your child to log on. When they have signed in they need to add their subject teachers and then they can start using the tools. It is a great platform that will help inform them of the many choices, apprenticeships and universities, that are available to them in the future. We will be holding information talks about these in school in the future.

Art Collection Dates

There is a second Year 11 Art work collection day for last years’ work is this Wednesday 20th, 2019- from 3:20- 5:00pm- Please collect your work from the Art Dept. from Mr Robinson-White. Don`t panic if you can`t make it and want to collect your work- we will keep it in storage until Christmas.

Revision Tips

This weeks tips are around the spacing and timing of revision, pertinent as we have mock examinations coming up in December. Take time to review these documents to assist you.

December Mock Examinations

Please see below for the upcoming examinations to held in school:

Geography Star of the Week

This week’s stars are:

Year 9: Amy-Lee Jones for a superb performance in her exam.
Year 10- Lewis Tomlinson- some brilliant engagement in lesson and always showing willing to learn.

Well done stars!

An Inspector Calls

There are a very small number of places available on the ‘An Inspector Calls’ trip taking place on Thursday 21st November in the evening. Please email Mr Hollins (hollinst@tahs.org.uk) if your child would like a place. This is a performance of an exam text for GCSE English Literature, therefore attending is encouraged. The trip is open for all of lower school.

Production – The Tempest

Our school production, The Tempest by William Shakespeare will be
performed on the 26th and 27th November at 7pm. Tickets cost £4.00 and
will be available next week, details of how to buy the tickets will be
posted on Insight.

Christmas in Music!!!

The Christmas Concert will be on 5th December at 7pm and tickets are now on sale via the online shop or see Mrs Todd in the music department.

Rehearsals take place at lunch time for the following groups:

Monday: Band

Wednesday: String Group

Thursday: Jazz Band

Friday: Choir

If you wish to be involved in the Christmas Concert, please make sure you attend the rehearsals at lunchtime from 1.30 in the main music room. Please see Mrs Todd asap to collect a letter and consent form.

Save the date

7th February
PTA Quiz

Sports News

U18 County Cup Football

On Tuesday we hosted John Taylor in a rematch of our national cup defeat before half term.

On a wet boggy pitch, Alleynes had made some positional and personnel changes. Lewis Dawson open the scoring after teasing the fullback, Coates squared to Johnson who held it up and set it for Archer who shaped to shoot before sliding it to Dawson. With the crowd shouting shoot, Dawson treated us to some extra trips before smashing the ball the the keeper into the net.  Archer then rattled the cross bar from 35 yards.

1-0 at half time, Coates pulled his hamstring which resulted in Haywood coming on.

In the 2nd half, Bosworth bundled in a Archer cross.  Despite being on top John Taylor scored to increase the pressure. On another day Harry Johnson would have had a hat trick but the ball would just not roll the right side of the post. He did get a deserved goal in the end when a poor goal kick allowed Whitehead to head on and Johnson slotted the ball through the keepers legs. 

Final score 3-2

Man of the match Archer Team-  Rodgers, Archer, Ford, Bussell, Cope, Brain, Coates, Shaw, Johnson, Cope, Haywood, Bednall, Dawson, White

U16 County Cup Football

On Wednesday we made the trip to Chesterton. Playing on a 3G pitch we were able to play some attractive football. Kenny opened the scoring from distance, man of the match was Ashton Bagley who had his best game of the season and scored a deserved goal late on.Final score was a 3-2 winTeam- Whitehead, Cope, Clarkson, Brunt, Mangon, Hall, Beech, Hocking, Evans, Kenny, Stockbridge, Van Hoek, Lynn, Kenny

U14 County Cup

Home v Repton postponed due to conditions.

Science News

Mr Mitchell would like to send a really big ‘thank you’ to Mr Barrow’s form for the significant number of entries received so far for the ‘Big Science Question Competition?’.

There is still time to enter – look out for the posters displayed around the School. All entrants will receive a Credit Point, runners up will receive ‘front of the queue’ lunch passes and the overall winner will also receive the fabulous prize of an Echo Dot.

Entries must be received by Friday 29^th November 2019.

Year 11 students are advised to refer to the posters in their Form Room and in the Science Department for information on Intervention Support for their upcoming trial exams. 

This week’s Science Students of the Week selected by Mrs Gwynne are:

Year 10

Bailey Redshaw and Alyssa Whitehall for hard work and commitment in all lessons.

Year 11

Alice Boothby, Oliver Taylor and Thomas Johnson for getting 100% in both recent assessments.

Year 12

Charlie Martin and Emma Kendrick for consistent effort and achievement.

Year 13

Emelia Lowe and Luke Hardwick for excellent contributions to lessons and superb progress.

Well done!

All students receiving our Science Students of the Week award in December can pick up a hot chocolate from the Science Department on the following Monday at break time – just the thing for a cold winter’s morning!

Maths Inspirations Trip

On Tuesday, 25 year 12 students along with Miss Wright and Mrs Rodi, travelled to Birmingham for a Maths Inspiration trip. The day was hosted by mathematician and stand up comedian Matt Parker, who we all agreed was extremely entertaining.  We were also treated to talks by three guest speakers, including a talk on how maths can stop an AI apocalypse. Ben Sparks’ talk, ‘Windmills of your Mind’ was particularly interesting; looking at rational, irrational and complex numbers, their visual representations and the surprising places these crop up in the real world. Zoe Griffiths, gave a fascinating insight into the pitfalls of believing every headline or statistic you read in the media. Alex Ford (Year 12) says “It was a fascinating day which highlighted the enjoyment and surprising applications of different branches of Mathematics”

Wembley…

13 year 9 and 10 students went to Wembley on Saturday 9th November to watch England V Germany ladies football.

England lost in the closing minutes 2-1.

All students were a credit to the school and have a great experience.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

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.

PTA Raffle

A level / GCSE Certification Collection Dates

Certificates are available for collection as follows:

1. Monday December 2^nd 2019 – 9am – 11am
2. Thursday December 5^th 2019 – 5pm – 6.45pm

If you are unable to collect your certificates please see the option below:

Nominate a friend/relative to collect them on your behalf.  They must bring with them photo ID plus the completed Certificate Collection form that was given out with exam results OR a letter of permission written by you.

Data Collection/Photo Consent Reminder

If you have not yet returned data collection and photo consent sheets to the school office would you please do so as soon as possible.

Links

School Website

School Shop

TAHS Weekly Newsletter. 

Headteacher’s Blog – A Thank You!

Thank you to all the staff who have offered additional activities this week. It has been fantastic to hear recounts of students’ experiences watching Hamilton, The Woman in Black and at the Bodyworks visit. 

Attendance at our Year 11 revision evening was the highest we have ever had. Mrs Peers will be following this up with an assembly preparing Year 11 for their trial examinations 

Before Christmas, each Year 11 student will be meeting with one of our pastoral leads or senior staff to have a one-to-one guidance meeting to consider their next steps post GCSEs. 

Thank you to parents who joined us for the workshop on mental health. The feedback has been very strong. If you would like a place we are continuing to fund parental places on the workshops for a limited amount of time. Please email headteacher@tahs.org.uk to reserve a place. 

We would appreciate your support in ensuring that your children are dressed appropriately for school/ We encourage them to wear a plain black v-neck jumper under their blazers during the winter. However, they must not bring hooded tops or sweatshirts, of a different colour, into school. If they are seen in school wearing these they will be confiscated. Please also ensure that students are not wearing acrylic nails to school. These are not part of our school uniform. 

Assemblies week commencing 11th November

Assemblies will be taken by Mrs Dodd on the theme of Actions for Happiness.

Our thoughts of the week are:

“Happiness is not something ready-made. It comes from your own actions.” Dalai Lama

“In life everyone has a choice. The key is: make a right choice.” DJ Khaled

Year 13 Parents Evening

We would like to say how proud we were of our Year 13 English Literature group who delivered the Remembrance Assembly to all year groups this week. It was delivered with the high level of respect and many staff and students alike have since commented on how well the students composed themselves throughout the twenty minutes assembly.

It is also very clear that the students in Year 12 and Year 13 are making a huge effort with regards to attendance.  We are very appreciative of the work that you as parents and carers are doing in ensure that students are in school and able to learn.  If for any reason they are unable to attend then please let us know at your earliest opportunity.

Year 13 Parents’ Evening is on Tuesday 19^th November, 2019.  The evening will last from 4.00pm to 7.00pm. Letters have been posted home.    
In order to prevent queuing please can you make appointments with your child’s respective subject teachers. This is done via Insight. Please log on to Insight and book your appointments. This will be live from 3.30pm on Friday 8^th November. If you have a problem accessing Insight please email insight@tahs.org.uk for support.  If you would like to speak to Mrs Dodd or another member of the Sixth Form Team on the evening then please let us know.   

Charity Event

Well done to Amanda, one of our Year 13 students. On Wednesday 6th November 2019, at lunchtime in the school theatre Amanda had her head shaved to raise money for Brave the Shave in support of Macmillan Cancer. Staff and students had to give a donation if they wanted to watch.  Amanda raised over £80.00 from donations at lunchtime and is currently well on track to smash her £600 goal.  Amanda is also sending 8 plaits of her hair to the Little Princess Trust.

• 

• 

• 

• 

Mock examination timetables will be issued soon to the Year 13 students, please spend sometime looking at these with your child to ensure they are a fully prepared for them as they can be. We want all our students to succeed and supporting them at home is a great way to start on the path of success.
Students that are completing BTEC subjects will be completing external examinations and these will count towards their final grade, this will Year 12 and 13 students.  Students will receive a timetable with these dates and times on.

6th Form Tutor Time Activities

Year 12

Watch the Unifrog video on Moocs.  Log onto the Future Learn website and look at some Moocs you can start during your enrichment time.  Once you have access to Unifrog, you should start filling in your competencies and researching universities and apprenticeships.

Year 13

Log into Unifrog and look at their personal statement writing advice.  Read some of their exemplars to help you improve your own.  Go to ‘subjects library’, choose a career area and scroll down to ‘statement’.  Remember not to plagiarise but to use this as a starting point.

Unibuddy

Discover Unibuddy!Chat online with current university students and gain insight into what life is really like at specific universities or specific courses.  Via UCAS, log onto the UCAS hub:

Year 11 Revision – Guidance for parents and students

Thank you to all students and parents who were able to join us for Y11 Revision Evening on Tuesday 5th November Materials and Powerpoints from the evening have been sent via insight – please let us know if you need any assistance.We are going to share additional strategies each week on round up to support your revision – with a handout for parents and students. Please see the attached parent and student information sheets on ‘chunking information’.  

Start now to maximise your potential.

December Mock Examinations

Please see below for the upcoming examinations to held in school:

Learning Support Evening

Thank you to staff and parents who attended the evening on Thursday.  It was an excellent opportunity to meet year 9 parents and catch up with them regarding their son or daughter’s progress at school over the last 8 weeks.  The event held in Keeling House provided the opportunity for parents to meet the staff who were working closely with their child and visit the environment they work in .  Thank you once again.

Staffordshire Winter Fayre

This will take place on Saturday 16th and Sunday 17th November at the County Showground.  A large number of students from the school will be taking part in the show with our pigs and sheep.  Most of the competitions will be on Saturday, with pig showing from 10am onwards and the big schools sheep competition at approximately 2pm.  Please come and support the students who have worked hard to prepare for the show. 

History Year 11

If you are considering taking A level history next year or would like to know more about the subject then you may be interested in attending a short A level History taster lesson. If you would like more information about this then see Mrs Johnson or Mrs Young for details.

Production – The Tempest

Our school production, The Tempest by William Shakespeare will be
performed on the 26th and 27th November at 7pm. Tickets cost £4.00 and
will be available next week, details of how to buy the tickets will be
posted on Insight.

Woman in Black

Mrs Mood, Mr Hollins and Mrs Goodwin took the GCSE Drama and A Level
Drama and Theatre classes to see The Woman in Black at The Regent
Theatre, Stoke this week.

The students will be writing about live theatre in their final exams
and this longstanding hit production certainly provided enough
material with some screams and jumps along the way!

• 

• 

West End Visit

This week, Y9 and Y12 students got the chance to visit London to see the musical, Hamilton.

“Organised by Mr Hollins and accompanied by Mrs Hunt, Mrs Robinson and Mrs Mitchell, we boarded the coach at 7:30 in the morning – a very early start! After a long and tiring journey, we finally arrived in the busy, bustling city of London. Sites greeted us everywhere we looked, including: the Lord’s Cricket Ground, Hyde Park and the amazing Buckingham Palace.

We got off the bus and stretched our legs before taking photos outside of Buckingham Palace and then eating our much-wanted lunch. While eating, we caught sight of Prince William! What a place to have lunch!

Arriving at the Victoria Palace Theatre, we took our Grand Circle seats (with an incredible view), ready to watch the much-anticipated American Musical: ‘Hamilton’. Overall, it was amazing – everybody enjoyed it!

After the performance, the cast came back on stage to do a Q+A – one question of was asked from our school! The cast gave us valuable information which we all remember and treasure. It was a brilliant, fun-packed, amazing day!”

Joe H – Year 9

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Bodyworlds Health & Social Visit

We went to the BodyWorlds exhibition in Piccadilly, London to see the anatomical specimens on display. This supports our work in Health & Social Care towards the Anatomy & Physiology exam we are taking in January and supports the curriculum in Biology, Psychology and Sport.

“It was an eye opening experience and it taught me a lot about the human body. I found it very interesting and insightful and enjoyed the interactive exhibits.  We are grateful to the people who donated their bodies to science so that we could learn so much about the human body.”

• 

• 

Save the date

7th February
PTA Quiz

Sports News

Goal fest at John Port – Netball

Both our Year 9 & 10 teams enjoyed victories at John Port on Wednesday. The Year 9 team winning 38-5 & Year 10’s enjoying at 34-8 victory. The girls played some quick passing netball, quite direct providing our shooters with plenty of scoring opportunities.Both teams rotated players to unfamiliar positions in the second half of the fixture and looked to score from the edge of the D.   

Year 9 – Hattie, Lucy O, Amelie, Flo, Lucy L, Kiera, Molly & Evie

POM – Amelie

Year 10 – Halle, Zoe, Teegan, Lydia, Evie, Lucy & Holly

POM – Evie

Cross Country

Thursday brought the heavy rain and strong winds associated with cross country. The competitors warmed up well for the races with the walk to Oldfields.The Year 9 girls raced first and Grace Ingram finished 6th, Georgie Fryatt 16th, Amelie Rastall 17th, Katie Schuk 23rd, Alice Morris 25th, Harriet Ekins 26th and Chloe Stockbridge 28th all completed the course. The girls finished 5th as a team.Bertie Ingram won the boys race or Year 9 and Lewis Bradley finished 3rd, Sam Pickup and Harry Irving also competed and as a team TAHS finished 3rd.In the senior girls we had two competitors Evie Bowers and Issy Punchard who both finished in the top 10.The senior boys had team success winning this category represented by Max Houghton, Josh Rogers, Duncan Craven, Ben Twynhamn and Harry Meredith – Wood.

• 

• 

• 

• 

Under 15 Football District Cup.

On a very wet Thursday afternoon the year ten side ventured over to De Ferrers in the first round of the cup.  On a very wet pitch  both teams played good football with De Ferrers dominating the first 15 minutes.despite a spirited comeback at the end of the half and having a goal disallowed Alleyne’s  went into half time 2 nil down.  At half time Harrvey clarke came on to central midfield and gained some decent possession for the team, unfortunately despite this they were unable to score and take chances, Alleyne’s even had a penalty saved it was not tp be their night.  Chasing the game Alleyen’s lost 2 further goals, losing 4- 0. 

Science News

Our Year 13 A-level Physics students have recently been on an extremely interesting visit to CERN, the European Organisation for Nuclear Research, in Switzerland.  The students had the opportunity to see some of the world’s most powerful particle accelerators; which aim to uncover what the Universe is made of and how it works.

The students also had the opportunity to visit the United Nations buildings in Geneva.

Below is a write-up from one of our students:

‘Our trip to Geneva began late on Wednesday evening when we arrived in the city and made a short bus trip to the tram station, from which we got the tram to our hostel. After a relatively early start we rode the tram to CERN on Thursday morning, where we were shown two exhibitions in the museums. The first was a fascinating overview of the history, work and results of CERN since its formation in 1954. This provided us with an insight into the scale of the project (with their largest particle collider measuring at 27km long), what their experiments consisted of and how they worked whilst simultaneously exhibiting some of the equipment used in previous work. The second exhibition focused on CERN`s work answering some of the biggest questions in science and gave simple yet detailed explanations of everything from how there is energy in a vacuum to timelines of the Big Bang and understanding time as another dimension.
The second day began with a tour of the UN buildings after a walk through the greenhouses and groves of the Botanic gardens. We were shown around the complex and given a guided tour, informing us of the history, work and administration of the United Nations. In the afternoon we were taken on a boat trip around the lake, with views of Mont Blanc, the cathedral and the mountains across the lake.’ 

The visit has left a lasting impression on the students and enthused their Physics studies in school.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

World Challenge Training Expedition Weekend

During the first weekend of half term, 27 Thomas Alleynes students made their way to the Peak District for their training expedition, in preparation for their trip to Malawi in summer 2020. Despite the cold temperatures and continuous rainfall, students spent their weekend with their teammates practising their roles and responsibilities that they will be expected to do whilst in Malawi.

This involved pitching their tents, preparing meals on trangeas and practise walks – with each team completing an 18km walk to the top of The Roaches. Students worked hard throughout the whole weekend, both individually and as a team, which resulted in a highly successful and enjoyable weekend.

Well done to all students (and staff!) who battled through the weather and for keeping morale high despite the poor weather conditions!

Star Geographer of The Week

This is a new scheme being brought in to the geography department, to showcase the students who have really shown great effort and achievement in their lessons.

Currently we are starting this scheme in Mr Harris and Miss Patrick’s classes and focusing on Year 9 and 10, but will be rolled out across the whole department and all year groups by the end of term. 

This Week’s Stars are:

Year 9- Joshua Leyland- Amazing effort in lesson, and showing willing to push himself further.

Year 10- Bradley Marcroft- Fantastic work produced this week, with great answers to the activities in class.

Well done to our Star Geographers! 

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.

PTA Raffle

Tickets on sale soon…..

A level / GCSE Certification Collection Dates

Certificates are available for collection as follows:

1. Monday December 2^nd 2019 – 9am – 11am
2. Thursday December 5^th 2019 – 5pm – 6.45pm

If you are unable to collect your certificates please see the option below:

Nominate a friend/relative to collect them on your behalf.  They must bring with them photo ID plus the completed Certificate Collection form that was given out with exam results OR a letter of permission written by you.

Data Collection/Photo Consent Reminder

If you have not yet returned data collection and photo consent sheets to the school office would you please do so as soon as possible.

Keeping Children Safe online. 

Childnet have updated their parent and carer toolkit that will help parents have conversations about online safety. 
Their booklet ‘Let’s talk about life online’ includes ten key messages that should be shared with children which we thought parents may find helpful.

1. “You can always come to me if you need help.”
2. “What would you do if this happened…?”
3. “Remember that not everyone is who they say they are online.”
4. “Keep your personal information safe, and other people’s too.”
5. “Be respectful to others online.”
6. “Think before you post.”
7. “Remember to ask if it’s okay.”
8. “Remember not everything is true online.”
9. “The things other people post online might not always show what their life is really like.”
10. “Recognise how going online makes you feel and take a break when you need to.”

The Parent and Carer Toolkit can be found here:

Workshop Available…..

If you are interested, and have not replied, please email headteacher@tahs.org.uk. For those parents who have expressed an interest you will be contacted by our office staff who will offer you dates that remain for the sessions.

Anxiety Workshop

We all experience anxiety at certain times in our life, when it reaches high levels it can cause us physical and psychological distress. As an experienced counsellor and trainer, I have developed this 3 hour workshop to help you understand anxiety and learn how to feel more in control, not to fear it.

· Understand what anxiety is

· Why and how anxiety works, biologically and psychologically

· The effects of high levels of anxiety and panic attacks

· Effective coping techniques to reduce your level of anxiety

· How to feel more in control and achieve your goals

· Helpful for anxiety at work and in your personal life

· Students preparing for exams and parents supporting them

This workshop is aimed at parents who would like to learn more about anxiety concerning their child. It is useful for those experiencing life events which may cause increased levels of anxiety or anyone with longer term anxiety issues. It is a psychological educational workshop aimed at helping you to feel more in control of your life again. Come and join me in a relaxed atmosphere and increase your sense of well being. Jane Differ

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

Links

School Website

School Shop