TAHS Weekly Newsletter.
Headteacher’s Blog
Please see below our press release regarding the opening of our Sports Pavilion on Saturday. Thank you to students, who delivered some fantastic speeches and to everyone who joined us on the day.
Press release
A new, £1.5 million development, including new classrooms and state-of-the-art gym at Thomas Alleyne’s High School opened officially on February 1st 2020.
“The opening of the gym is part of our drive to provide the students of Uttoxeter and surrounding area with modern facilities which will enable them to study a broad range of subjects. We have always been fortunate to have our unique school farm on site to support students in their study of Environmental Science, and are thrilled to be able to now offer our Sports students such a fantastic additional resource,” said Headteacher Mrs Rudge.
Last year, Jack and Jess secured places to study Sports Science at Sheffield Hallam and Loughborough Universities, Lydia and Sean commenced their coaching qualifications and Thomas was successful in attaining a swimming scholarship. We currently have a number of students with their sights set on being part of the British team for the Paris 2024 Olympics.
She added, ”The sports industry boasts a diverse range of career options from physotherapy, coaching to sports technology and which ever route our students wish to take we want to make sure they are supported and well prepared. ”
Events this week
It has been a busy week with our Careers and Year 9 options evenings on Thursday and our PTA Quiz on Friday. There was a fantastic turn-out to both events and we felt very fortunate that over 40 organisations joined us for the careers evening. Thank you for your feedback during the evening. We were thrilled that so many of you found the event helpful.
If any of our readers have contacts in any businesses or higher education establishments that may be prepared to exhibit in 2021 please make contact with Mrs Dodd via office@tahs.org.uk.
My thanks to our fabulous PTA, our exhibitors and Mrs Dodd and Mrs Walton for such a fantastic Future Intentions evening.
Fantastic opportunity for a sixth former from Staffordshire Police.
The police have set up the East Staffordshire Citizens Academy which is a ten week course which is open to anyone from the community of East Staffordshire. The course is not limited to those with an interest in Policing but may be of benefit to anyone wishing to join the Police as a future career.
It is open to anyone from the community who wants to find out about the work we do and over a ten week period the following subjects will be covered:-
Week 1 – Neighbourhood Policing, Police Powers and Problem Solving
Week 2 – Crime Prevention, contact services and Single Online Home
Week 3 – Child Sexual Exploitation & Cyber Crime
Week 4 – Domestic Abuse & Stalking
Week 5 – Prevent and Forensics
Week 6 – Major Investigation Department
Week 7 – Anti-Social Behaviour, Knife Crime and Stop & Search
Week 8 – Operational Support including Dog Support, Firearms and Tactical Support
Week 9 – Working at heights, Protest Removal and Specialist Search Officers
Week 10 – The Showcase Event.
Each session will be around two hours in length and the course is due to commence at 1800hrs (6pm) on Tuesday 3rd March 2020 and the venue for the course is Princess Resource and Community Centre, Princess Street, Burton, Staffordshire, DE14 2NW. There will be light refreshments provided during the sessions along a final end of course presentation, certificate and photograph.
If anyone is interested in attending the course or wish for further information then they are asked to email scott.gidman@staffordshire.pnn.police.uk and further information will be provided. Please also let Mrs Walton know you have applied.
This week was the careers fair at TAHS where we had many Post 18 providers here to share information and offer advice to our all of our year groups. We saw many Year 9 and Year 11 students and were able to offer support in using Unifrog and about career pathways in general. It was nice to see some Year 13 attending, these students are ensuring that really have got many options to choose from on results day in August.
All week Year 12 students have been completing assessments in their lesson, this is our interim assessment and will enable the students to see what it may be like in their mock examinations in June. I have seen many students revising in the canteen and in the study room this week and know that all those that have worked hard and prepared for these assessments will be rewarded.
I hope that all Year 13 students have started their revision and have a suitable plan in place. I want all students to do well and we offer arrange of support to help them. Please encourage students to ask for subject support, they can arrange revision sessions with their teachers, complete past paper questions and receive feedback on them. They can also see what guidance is written on the exam board. My best piece of advice is to plan the revision schedule, ensure that students know what they are revising and that they have all the topic clearly identified at the start, my second piece of advice is for them to let their friends know when they are revising, this may lead to less distractions.
Thank you to the students who have helped at school functions over the last few weeks. The same wonderful students have helped out at Year 12 and Year 11 Parents evening and supported at the Careers Fair. If you are in Year 12 and would like to be considered for a role in the Senior Prefect Team then please consider attending these events and helping the wider school community.
Tutor Activities for Next Week
Y12
As part of our legal responsibility to guide students about healthy relationships, students are being asked to watch a short BBC video about stalking and discuss the surrounding issues
Y13
As part of our legal responsibility to guide students about healthy relationships, watch a video from Plan International about sexual identity & then a further video giving advice to LGBQT+ teens. All videos will be shown by tutors.
Year 9 Options
Many thanks to all Parents/Carers who attended the Year 9 Future Intentions evening this week. It was a fabulous night with over 40 exhibitors on hand to give advice to our students.
Please find attached all of the information shared during the options presentations and a copy of the subject prospectus.
Please take your time read through and discuss the options with your child.
The options form will go live next Friday via Insight.
National Finalists
On Tuesday, the Thomas Alleyne’s Robotics team travelled to RAF Cosford, Wolverhampton to attend the Regional FTC Competition. We qualified for the National Championships which will be hosted in London, at the Olympic Park from March 27 – 28th. The team came first in a social media image competition and were runners up in the Inspire and Innovate awards out of 21 teams!
Almost winning the Inspire award meant the judges deemed our team to be one of the most successful in our journey, overcoming obstacles and reaching the Regionals with a high optimism and willingness to improve.
We thoroughly enjoyed our experience participating in the competition and the games, with our team placing 10th in our ability.
It wasn’t all about the robot however, as we were judged not only on the hardware and the programming, but also our ability to work as a team and as a business, securing fundraising in order to progress in the project. Our triumph in this leg of the competition came forth from not only our smarts with robotics, but also our social skills and communication skills when securing sponsors.
However, to proceed to the National Championships, a two day event, we do still need some more investment. If you are interested in supporting us, we have a JustGiving donations page here:
https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/assrftc?utm_term=ndZpDd4KN
Furthermore, any companies interested in sponsoring us, please send an email to: RobotTeam@tahs.net to enquire further.
Your help would be greatly appreciated!
Year 9 Parents Evening
Year 9 parents evening is now live on insight, http://www.thonasalleynes.org.
Please check you appointments to see if you have missed any teachers – they are going fast!
If you have issues with insight please email insight@tahs.org.uk and we will get back to you as soon as possible.
Uniform
Thank you for the continued support with the implementation of the uniform policy. We have seen a decrease in non-school uniform items being worn to school which allows the students to be ready to learn when they enter the classroom. Please can you continue to support the school uniform policy by ensuring that your child is wearing the appropriate trousers, skirts and shoes to school.
Intervention
We would appreciate all parents sharing the dates of the GCSE interventions with Year 11 students. A link to the timetable is below:
Sports News
House Basketball Results
Year 9
1st Whitmore, 2nd Orme, 3rd Torrance, 4th Elkes
Year 10
1st Whitmore, 2nd Orme,3rd Elkes, 4th Torrance
Year 11
1st Orme, 2nd Elkes, 3rd Whitmore, 4th Torrance
U16 County Cup Basketball Semi-Final
On Wednesday we took on Robert Sutton in the county cup semi final. We started slowly with the tactic of bringing on our stronger players as the game developed. 14-3 down after the first quarter, it was a tough hill to climb. Ben Wain began to find the basket inside the paint and with their stair player on 4 fouls we clawed it back to 32-32. The game became end to end with Wain scoring 3 pointers and Harry Taylor beginning to dominate inside the key. Some missed chances and improved discipline from our opposition resulted in a narrow loss but the boys could hold their heads high.
10 Tips to Stay Safe Online
- Only talk to people you know and trust in real life
- Don’t give away personal information to strangers – like what street you live on, or where you go to school. Say “no” if they ask you to share photos or videos of yourself
- Set your profiles to private
- Be ‘share aware’ – once you share something online, you’ve got no control over what anyone else does with it. And it’s illegal to take, share or view sexual images of under-18s, full stop
- Be mindful of your digital footprint – it could come back to bite you
- If you see something upsetting, or someone bullies you, tell an adult you trust
- Don’t assume everything you see is true to life. People often make their lives look more exciting online
- Watch out for hoaxes and scams, like messages you’re asked to pass on or that as you for payment details or passwords
- Be wary of schemes that promise easy cash in return for you receiving and transferring money, and don’t be fooled by anything that glamorises gang lifestyles
- Watch out for loot boxes or other ways that games get you to pay – before you know it you can spend a lot on them
Science News
This week’s Science Students of the Week selected by Mrs Pavey are:
Year 9
Alex Bryden – for his consistent good work and focus in lessons
William Ball – for his steady progress in Physics (and achieving his target in his end of topic test)
Year 10
Cole Moody – fabulous last assessment score
Tilly Shelley – for consistent hard work and good progress this half term
Year 11
Freya Bettaney – for her growth in confidence in Physics and her consistent hard work this half term
Martha Murray – for her positive attitude to learning and determination to master difficult topics
Year 12
Okii Ari and Vicky Catterall for their work for the James Webb Space Telescope Project
Year 13
Nicole Rankin – for her resilience and determination in Physics
Will Taylor – for his determination to master the subject and his independent work outside lessons
Well done!
Links
Thomas Alleyne's high school 