TAHS Weekly Newsletter. 

Headteacher’s Blog

Thank you to all parents who joined us for the art GCSE evening. It was a fabulous turn out. We look forward to seeing your sons and daughters’ work as they work through their course. I am always astounded by the quality of work produced. 

Year 11 received their trial examination results on Friday. We know many students worked incredibly hard for these examinations and have seen their hard work rewarded with strong sets of results. Please wish them congratulations from the school staff. 

There are some students who are disappointed with their results. Please reassure them, as we have, that this was a practice and they will have many more opportunities to practise questions before their final examinations. We have urged them to ensure they have a detailed revision plan in place as we approach the GCSEs, There are after-school sessions they can attend to support them in this. 

Once again, our PTA is running their annual quiz. It is always a great night. If you can support the PTA, we look forward to seeing you there. (Further details below) 

The UCAS deadline has been and gone.

84 of our Year 13 students have applied to university this year. Of those 84, many students have received conditional and unconditional offers and others have been invited for interview. Some students have already accepted their offers.  As we continue through the next few months I will keep you updated on progress, not only of our university applications, but also of those students who chose a different route, those who are choosing apprenticeships and work.

Please remember that assessment week for Year 12 is week commencing 3rd February. All students are aware of this and we hope that they will be revising in preparation. We want them to use this is as an opportunity to show the knowledge and skills that they have learnt.

On Monday 15th Year 12 students, who have consistently shown commitment to their subjects and are working above target in their subjects, were invited to a Headteacher Breakfast where they were congratulated for their hard work.

Turor Activites for next week are:

Year 12

Read this useful hand

Understanding depression.  Look at some facts and symptoms of depression (which affects around 3 students in every class) on the Bright Knowledge website:  https://www.brightknowledge.org/health-wellbeing/understanding-depression

From here, take this NHS questionnaire about low mood (mood self assessment):  https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/stress-anxiety-depression/mood-self-assessment/.  (Once on the NHS website, scroll down to ‘focus on mental health’).Most importantly, don’t suffer in silence. 

Speak to staff, family or friends who will be very understanding.

Year 13

Watch this 10 minute video about the level of support you can expect from universities.  This example is from Nottingham Trent:

Assemblies

Assemblies: w/b 20^th of January

Assemblies will be led by Mrs Young on the theme of being Respectful, Safe & Ready to Learn.  

Thought(s) for the Week 

“Respect yourself and others will respect you.”  ― Confucius

“I am always ready to learn although I do not always like being taught.” –Winston Churchll

Uniform

Please be reminded that we do not expect to see any hooded tops or sweatshirts with logos in school. We encourage students to wear a plain black sweatshirt, whilst it is cold, and to bring a coat with them to school, Any students wearing hooded tops or sweatshirts in school should expect them to be removed.

Please also ensure that students are not wearing acrylic nails or coloured nail varnish to school. We appreciate your support with this. 

Important Guidance

We would like to share the most recent guidance on the use of technology with you. Please share this guidance with your sons and daughters. It has come from the Royal College of Psychiatry.

Five to 11-year-olds:

• develop a plan with your child for screen time and try to stick to it
• ensure children have a balance of activities in the day, with physical activity, face-to-face conversation and tech-free times
• encourage mealtimes to be tech free
• ensure you have spoken to your children about how to keep safe online, check they are keeping safe and make it clear you will support them if they feel unsafe or upset online
• try to ensure there are no screens in the bedroom at night

For 11- to 16-year- olds:

• develop a plan or check your existing one is still appropriate 
• encourage a balance of physical activity, face-to-face social time, schoolwork and family time
• encourage mealtimes to be tech free
• keep having conversations about keeping safe online and offer space to talk about upsetting things teenagers might see online
• make it clear you will support them if they feel unsafe or upset online
• try to ensure there are no screens in the bedroom at night

Intervention

We would appreciate all parents sharing the dates of the GCSE interventions with Year 11 students. A link to the timetable is below:

Help Shape the Future

Uttoxeter Town Council are interested in hearing the views of young people on the future of our town centre.  There is a short survey for students in any year group to complete.

https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/DJ6GFVS

School Council

The next student council meeting will be on WEDNESDAY 22nd JANUARY PERIOD 4 room 62 we look forward to seeing you there. 

Insight

We are aware of a few issues with Insight at present. This is being worked on by our technicians and our supplier and we hope to be back up and running as normal very soon.

BTEC Technical Award in Sport

Activity and Fitness – Information for internal assessments

Students following the BTEC Technical award have to complete 6 internal assessments, which contribute in total 60% of their final award. These make up components 1 and 3 for the award, with the full award made up of 3 components. 

The final 40% is the examined unit, which is due to take place on 4^th February 2020.  This is component 2.

Internal assessments consist of 3 assessments for component 1 (Understand the body and the supporting technology for sport and activity) and 3 for component 3 (Applying the principles of sport and activity).

Component 1

Students have covered all learning content for this component.  Assignment deadlines for this component are as follows:

Assignment 1 – Understand the use of technology for sport and activity. 

Issue:  07/01/2020  Submission: 22/1/2020   This is then reviewed against the criteria and returned to students for improvement by 24/1/2020 for resubmission of final piece on 31/1/2020 to their class teacher. 

Assignment 2 – Explore common injuries in sport and activity and methods of rehabilitation 

Issue:  05/02/2020  Submission: 14/02/2020   This is then reviewed against the criteria and returned to students for improvement by 24/02/2020 for resubmission of final piece on 28/02/2020 to their class teacher. 

Assignment 3 – Investigate the impact of sport and activity on body systems 

Issue:  02/03/2020  Submission: 20/03/2020   This is then reviewed against the criteria and returned to students for improvement by 23/03/2020 for resubmission of final piece on 03/04/2020 to their class teacher. 

The work for the assignments above is to be completed in class and for homework as guided by staff.  This will be done in lesson with Mr Godwin and Mr Barrow.

Component 3

This is a synoptic unit which covers learning students will have completed for components 1 and 2.  The leadership content is currently being delivered in lessons with Miss Arrowsmith and after half term, this will include core PE lessons where students are leading activities for others as part of their assessment.  Assignment deadlines for this component are as follows:

Assignment 1 – Understand the fundamentals of sport and activity leadership 

Issue:  05/02/2020  Submission: 13/03/2020   This is then reviewed against the criteria and returned to students for improvement by 18/03/2020 for resubmission of final piece on 27/03/2020 to their class teacher. 

Assignment 2 – Understand the fundamentals of sport and activity leadership 

Issue:  30/03/2020  Submission: 20/04/2020   This is then reviewed against the criteria and returned to students for improvement by 27/04/2020 for resubmission of final piece on 01/05/2020 to their class teacher.   This piece is a shorter piece, consisting of an activity plan.  Leading the activity planned is assignment 3, which is videoed (completing a 10 minute video).  Some of the videos may be completed in an activity session after school to support the particular choice of sport a student has made.

Assignment 3 – Delivering and reviewing sessions for target groups  – video evidence and evaluation of leadership of the activity above in assignment 2

Issue:  30/04/2020  Submission: 08/05/2020   This is then reviewed against the criteria and returned to students for improvement by 11/05/2020 for resubmission of final piece on 14/05/2020 to their class teacher.   This piece is the video and evaluation.  For some students, the video and evaluation may well have been completed prior to the submission date due to the timing of their chosen sport.  All sport and core lessons are dedicated to this assignment with all staff during this period.

For all assignments, students have been given a brief which outlines what is required to be submitted in order for the to maximise their potential and reach their target grade. There is a revision/coursework support session after school each Friday in room 43. Students can also work on the assignments at home.

Science News

This term we will again be running our ‘Big Science Question Competition’; we are continuing with the theme ‘Science in Society’, this term’s topic is Chemistry. The Competition is open to Years 9, 10, 11 and the 6^th Form; see the poster below for details or look out for posters around the Science Department next week.

All entries should be handed in to Mr Mitchell by the end of school on Friday 20^th March 2020.  Rewards for the outstanding entries will be given out in April.

This week’s Science Students of the Week selected by Mr Milward are:

Year 10

Leighton Thomas for improvement in effort

Tiff Beardsley for effort in Science

Year 11

Scarlett Simister and Owen Birch for good progress

Year 12

Jenna Timmis and Emma Rose for progress in A Level Biology

Year 13

Beth Millward for progress and effort in A Level Biology

Emelia Lowe for attainment in A Level Biology

Well done!

PTA Quiz Night

Exam Dates

The last GCSE exam day is Thursday June 18th 2020.  The last GCE exam day is Tuesday June 23rd 2020.

The Contingency Day for GCSE/GCE is Wednesday 24th June 2020. In the event of national or local disruption to exams all students are advised to be available up to and including this day.

Geography Revision

Geography revision on Tuesday after school for all Year 11 students to attend in 6B.

GCSE Pod

 

Links

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