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 1stSeptember 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 19th 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 29th 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:
- Monday December 2nd 2019 – 9am – 11am
- Thursday December 5th 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
Thomas Alleyne's high school 