TAHS Weekly Newsletter. 

Thank you to everyone in our school community for your support this term. We hope you have a wonderful Summer and look forward to welcoming everyone back in September.

We will be in touch in the second half of the Summer with short films to support students’ return.  Please continue to send questions to us and we will address these in our Summer news. 

I would  like to offer my personal thanks to governors and our staff team. 

Take care and stay safe.

We hope that you have found all our school communication useful and that we have been able to answer all your queries regarding online learning, face to face session.  Mrs Dodd provided all Year 12 students with the opportunity to have a live session to discuss next academic year and Unifrog and UCAS. If you or your child has any questions about next year then please let me know.

We will communicate back to school information through Parent News and school comms.

I hope all students have worked to the best of their ability this year and that next year has less challenges. Please see Parent news for frequently asked questions.

STUDY IN WALES VIRTUAL FAIR, 4th SEPTEMBER 2020

Thinking about studying in Wales? With eight universities, one conservatoire and hundreds of courses, join Swansea University at our online and interactive Study in Wales Virtual Fair to find out more.

The event will feature all universities in Wales, the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol and Student Finance Wales and England. You can attend up to ten bilingual webinars with live Q&A on essential topics such as choosing a course, personal statements, student finance and the benefits of studying all or part of your course in Welsh. 

This interactive event will enable you to visit exhibition stands and chat to representatives, view information and videos, download prospectuses and take part in live webinars in the virtual auditorium.

The event is completely free of charge and is open to Year 11 – 13 students, parents and teachers.

Swansea University appreciate that it’s difficult to make decisions about university study when you can’t visit open days. They are here to help and this fair is designed to provide you with everything you need to make the right decisions. 

If you would like any further information, please contact Mrs Bell on bell@tahs.net.  Otherwise please click this link to register:

https://bit.ly/39hcY5X

Amazing Apprenticeships

Check out this website for help and support:

https://bit.ly/30hTBWd

UNIVERSITY LIFE

If you are anxious or maybe excited about starting university, find out more about student life at university eg clubs, student ambassadors, sports teams here:  https://www.brunel.ac.uk/life/get-involved, and here:  https://www.brunel.ac.uk/student-blog/Post?id=932023ca-721a-4168-b428-ccdb820b1c64.

Year 8 Transition

This is my final edition of Year 8 Transition information via Round Up. I hope that you have found this useful and that we have been able to resolve your queries and answer your questions. If you find that over the school break you do have questions then please visit the school website and see the Covid-19 and Year 8 Transition pages. Here you will find many frequently asked questions, uniform and behaviour expectations and first day back details.

On the first day back we are asking all Year 9 students to arrive through the main gates at the front of reception, there they will be sign posted to the basketball court.  If you are intending to drive your child to school can you please use the public car parks in Uttoxeter to drop off and collect.  The first day for Year 9 students will be Wednesday 2^nd September and we would like students to arrive no earlier than 8.15 am.

Year 9 students will spend period 1 with their form tutor and complete a range of activities including a school tour. The rest of the day will spent in taught lessons.

Over the last few weeks I have sent assemblies with activities to complete and a from that can be filled in and sent to their new form tutor. If these forms are emailed then their form tutor will send them a ‘getting to know you’ reply.

Please be aware that Miss Keeling does not start TAHS until September 2020, if you have any questions regarding Torrance then please email me younge@tahs.net

Support over the Summer

September 2020-21

Dear Students,

I hope you have a great holiday and really look forward to your return in September. Your timetables will be available on insight from Wednesday 2nd September. You will receive a printed copy on your first day in school,

kind regards. Mr Mitchell

History

Year 10 – thank you to everyone who has contacted their teacher to let them know how much progress they have made working through the lockdown lessons. It is very important that we know who has done what to support our planning for September. Please help us with this by asking your son / daughter if they have emailed Mrs Johnson or Mrs Young with this information and encouraging them to do so if they have not contacted us.Live revision lessons (reviewing all of Year 10 work – not just lockdown work) are continuing over the summer at 3.00pm on a Tuesday with Mrs Johnson – please email Mrs Johnson if you wish to take part so that you can be added to the Team.

Year 12 – all students should be working on their A level coursework throughout the summer. Live coursework sessions are taking place weekly to review progress and support future work.

Elkes News

I hope all of you are safe and well as we draw this term to a close, and wanted to take this chance to say that from speaking to students and parents, and from receiving messages and emails, I’m incredibly proud of our students and the various ways in which they’ve grown and managed during this period of great change. I know some are looking forward to a well-earned rest, while others are going to use some of their holidays to get caught up and get on track in preparation for September. Whatever happens between now and then, it’s fantastic to know that so many of you have got the fortitude to take it in your stride. While our doors are closed there are still many services available in our local community for support should you need it, and you’ll have seen elsewhere in here the main methods for getting in touch. Take care, look after yourselves and each other, and I’ll see you soon. Mr Parker

Torrance News

It feels very strange for me today as I sit at home writing this week’s Torrance news, as today is my last day at Thomas Alleyne’s and therefore my last day as Head of Torrance. I wanted to take the time to reflect on the last couple of years and share a few thoughts with you as I move on. I joined Thomas Alleyne’s in January 2019, taking over from Mr Hawthorne as Head of Torrance. These were undoubtedly very big shoes to fill, as Mr Hawthorne was a much loved teacher and member of the Thomas Alleyne’s Community. That being said, I was immediately welcomed with open arms by both staff and students alike and I have thoroughly enjoyed working with you all during my time here. I remember the first assembly I gave to all students was on the topic of change and trying not to be afraid of it, but to embrace it. I think it’s safe to say that we have all had to deal with a great deal of change over the last few months, but now more than ever, I am so proud of all of the students of Thomas Alleyne’s and how they have adapted to our ‘new normal’. September will bring even more change, with a new school day structure, new routines and for Torrance students a new Head of House. I hope you embrace the changes fully, make the most of the opportunities presented to you and welcome Miss Keeling as the new Head of Torrance in the same way as you welcomed me. I wish everyone the very best for their futures, at Thomas Alleyne’s and beyond.

Whitmore

Like all the reigning Olympic Champions, who are able to keep their titles an extra year due to the postponed Olympics, I assume we get to keep the Gold coloured ribbons on the House Trophy a little longer. I would like to thank all of our students for their hard work during a very strange school year. I enjoyed the commitment you showed to extra curricular activities, your help in the community and your dedication to your studies. I would also like to show my gratitude to our Whitmore pastoral team, who throughout the year have had your best interests in mind and have kept the link with you and school over the past months. I hope we can all enjoy a safe and happy summer. 

Psychology Superstars!

Thank you to all next year’s year 12 Psychology students who have made a great start to the course by completing a series of activities for their bridging work including writing a script about eye witness testimony for a famous court case, completing an OU course in introductory psychology, exploring the phrenology of their own heads and researching about the parts of the brain by creating a new one – below are a few examples of our favourites!  Really looking forward to starting the A-level course with you in September!

In Game Chat

Online games are really popular amongst children. 59% of 5-15 year olds play online games, as games like Fortnite, Minecraft and Roblox become increasingly important part of their social lives.

While playing games online is often great fun and a good way to chat, there is a chance that your children will play with people they don’t know who may  use in-game chat inappropriately to expose them to harm or risk.

https://bit.ly/32tDqI8

Links

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TAHS Weekly Newsletter. 

If your child is interested in applying to Oxbridge, or medicine, veterinary, or dentistry courses, then please tell them to register their interest for a virtual exhibition for these courses. UCAS have said the places on these courses are going really quickly.

The details are below:

The deadline for UCAS applications for these competitive courses is 15 October 

UCAS virtual exhibition – 23 July 2020
7:00 – 23:00 

Students can register here: ucas.com/vet-med

This online event means your child can explore courses at universities and colleges around the UK. It’s perfect for anyone considering applying to Oxbridge, or medicine, veterinary, or dentistry courses. 

Students will have chance to speak directly to subject and admissions specialists via 1-2-1 or group chat, listen in on topical seminars, and pick up digital prospectus’ and other information.  

If you’re child would like to involved in future virtual events then please ask them to register their interest at ucas.com/virtual-exhibitions and UCAS will email them as soon as booking is available. 

If your child or you have any questions, please get in touch at events@ucas.ac.uk. 

To support the idea of virtual tours further Mrs Dodd has requested that you access the Cambridge Virtual Open Days, if your child interested in any of the competitive courses., this is open to all students in Year 11 and Year 12.  There is a wealth of information about Cambridge courses, Colleges, their facilities, services and life as a student in Cambridge on their Virtual Tour which can be found here: www.virtualtour.study.cam.ac.uk I will look to see if there is anything similar for Oxford too.  

The Sixth Form Team and I have been looking through Unifrog and UCAS over the last few days and have noticed that there are still some students that have not logged on to Unifrog in a long time and some that have not registered with UCAS!  I have ensured that all Year 12 have received a message on Insight to encourage them to do this.  It is usual that as this time we would be focusing on their Future Intentions, unfortunately due to our current situation this has to be delivered remotely. This means that your child will need to work on these tasks at home. 

In order to help the teachers write tutor and academic references each student in Year 12 must assign their teachers to their subjects. 

All students in Year 12 have been instructed to provide a draft of their personal statement, if this is done on Unifrog it will be sent straight to their form tutor. There is no need to print a copy off. The tutor can edit the document and return it to the student, it really is very user friendly.  I would also suggest that all students who have an Instagram account follow Unifrog, in their bio they have useful links and hints and tips for all students.

In our Head Teacher update we have prepared answer to some frequently asked questions, I have included some below. I do believe that these answers really will help your child to be fully prepared for the changes that we have had to implement in order to keep our students and staff as safe as possible.

Do I need to wear my full sixth form uniform when we return?

We are proud of how smart our sixth form students look in their business-like attire and know that they take great pride in wearing it so will expect students to adhere to the sixth form dress code upon return. During September, sixth form students will not need to wear a blazer unless they wish to do so. It is a safeguarding requirement that all post-16 students always wear their sixth form lanyard/ID card.

What about food – will I still be able to go into town?

Our priority is to make the school as safe as possible, and therefore upon return we request that the sixth form do not go into town to purchase food or other items. However, we will be providing a sixth form servery where students can purchase food which will prevent the need to leave site. As always, students are welcome to bring their own food with them to school.  

Can we use the common room?

Yes, the common room will continue to be a dedicated study space for sixth form students. Initially we ask that students do not use the kitchen area, and that they ensure the space is kept tidy without clutter to reduce the likelihood of infection and to support our cleaning team. In addition, we will be changing the seating to ensure that the area is as clean and safe as possible.

Where will we go at break and lunch time if year groups must stay in bubbles?

When we return, we ask that sixth form students stay in the sixth form area during this time, including the lawn area in front of the sixth form block. 

Y13 UCAS ADVICE ON CLEARING

Please visit this link if you are interested in clearing.  This means you want to change your university course for reasons such as:  you have changed your mind; you haven’t applied yet; you haven’t met the course conditions; you haven’t received any (or any suitable) offers or you have declined your firm offer.  Please contact the 6th form team if you would like further support.

https://www.ucas.com/undergraduate/results-confirmation-and-clearing/what-clearing

Student Life

Derby University have shared some recordings of live sessions about different subjects, student life and finance.  Please click this link if you would like more information: 

https://bit.ly/3fhDduX

Late Application & Clearing

If you want to make a late application to university (for Y13’s) or if you want to find out more about clearing, Derby University have provided this useful information:

https://bit.ly/3iVOBiD

If you would like to find out more about the entire UCAS application process, personal statements, firm or insurance places, or book a place on Derby University’s live sessions, please click this link:

https://bit.ly/2W797mp

Year 8 Transition

This next week should have been a week where all our Year 8 students would be in school and would have said goodbye to their Middle School teachers and celebrated the last four years of their education journey.  All at Thomas Alleyne’s are excited to welcome you all to our family.  It may not have been our usual transition process, but I hope that you have found all our weekly communication useful. I have enjoyed sharing our plans and ensuring that you all know your pastoral team and have access to us so that you can ask questions.

Thank you so much for all the questions that I have received over these weeks and if you have any further questions then please email me at younge@tahs.net

If you have visited our school website recently then you will have seen the three transition presentations that we have made available to you, this week we will be adding four more, one for each house and I am adding the email addresses of your Head of House, Student Support Assistant and Form Tutors to this weeks update in case you do not have access to them.

http://www.thomasalleynes.uk/page/?title=Year+8+to+Year+9+Transition&pid=93&action=saved

We are hosting a Summer School for our Year 8 students, if you have not replied and would like your child to attend then please complete the google form.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScC1jEGOT1_grkUSakvVRWl5A_vzHSMxjlAkW1yWBH1dJApUg/viewform?usp=sf_link

If you have a query about the transition process at Alleyne’s then please contact me on younge@tahs.net. 

New Editions

This week we have had three Hebridean ewes donated to the farm, all settling in well.

Domestic abuse support during the COVID-19 pandemic

Advice and guidance on helping someone you suspect may be suffering domestic abuse is available using this link: 

https://safelives.org.uk/reach-in

If you believe someone is in immediate danger please call 999 and ask for the police. Silent calls will work if you are not safe to speak – use the Silent Solution system:

   
https://www.policeconduct.gov.uk/sites/default/files/Documents/research-learning/Silent_solution_guide.pdf

Elkes News

I have just finished delivering a face to face lesson in room 7 and again I have enjoyed the opportunity to support them with their home learning, the year 12 group were able complete some independent work on poetry, and it’s great seeing them all back in school again, discussing how they’ve been during lockdown and getting into routines again.

Following last week’s roundup, I’ve had several emails from parents about the brilliant ways in which our students have been demonstrating their maturity and resilience over recent weeks, from cultivating vegetable patches, to supporting families with care, to learning new skills and undertaking new challenges, and I’d love to hear more from you! Please email parker@tahs.net if your son or daughter has impressed you and deserves recognition when we return!

Orme News

I asked you this week in assembly to think about the question “why me?”, I have continued reading around this subject and came across this though experiment from the Jewish psychiatrist and Holocaust survivor Viktor Frankl, who said:

To draw an analogy: a man’s suffering is similar to the behavior of a gas. If a certain quantity of gas is pumped into an empty chamber, it will fill the chamber completely and evenly, no matter how big the chamber. Thus suffering completely fills the human soul and conscious mind, no matter whether the suffering is great or little. Therefore the “size” of human suffering is absolutely relative

The thought experiment is intended to help you focus your perspective outwards rather than inwards. It reminds us that even though things may seem difficult at a particular point in your life, we should also be aware enough to understand what we have to be thankful for. There might come a day where you look back on this moment and feel you did not appreciate the time you have right now, so as we turn our thoughts towards the summer break try to enjoy each day and be grateful for what it gives you whilst also looking towards your future, your goals and asking yourself, “Why not me yet?

Torrance News

Over the last half term in the RESPECT programme, students have been looking at keeping healthy during lockdown, focussing on things such as routine and sleep and how these can have an impact on their physical and mental health. For our final task in the RESPECT programme, I have asked students to consider the idea of mindfulness and how this could impact their day to day lives positively. The last few months have been so hard on so many people and I am so proud of how our students have responded to these difficult times and the resilience they have shown, but there is no shying away from the impact this change in way of life has had on everybody. I hope that this week’s work will help students to reflect on everything that has happened over the last few months and to help them refocus their energy as we move into the summer holidays.

As always, myself and Mrs Collier are here for Torrance students whenever you need us, please just drop me an email on wrightl@tahs.net or collier@tahs.net

Whitmore

This week I have been marking some fantastic Btec assignments on sporting injuries and have also enjoyed being in Key Work School for 3 days. I have also met with a few Whitmore students on 1:1 appointments, it has been great to catch up. If you are in Y9 or 10 and would like an appointment before we close next Friday please let myself or Miss Arbery know jones@tahs.net & arbery@tahs.net

YESS Support

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TAHS Weekly Newsletter. 

Over the last few weeks we have been pushing all students in Year 12 to be proactive and be ready to enter Year 13.  We need them to complete the work on Unifrog, working on competencies and looking at their options Post 18.  If they do this now then this will save them a job when they return.

To further support their Future Intentions we also need all students to register with UCAS. Even if they do not plan to attend university at the moment you will be surprised with how many students change their minds.

We have also asked students to complete their personal statements and we need a first draft to be sent to their form tutors (via Unifrog) preferably before the end of term, or at the very least by the start of September.  This will then be checked and feedback given to help them move forward. We have only had a few and it is very important that this is completed. This will help all students in their next step Post 18.  However, the remainder of the UCAS application itself should be started by 16th July for aspects like personal details, fee code, financial information etc.  Once this is done, the personal statement can be copied and pasted in.  We realise that some of you may want to take the Summer holidays to research your courses but the sooner the application is completed, the better, as this gives staff chance to finalise your application which can take some time.

Registering on UCAS…

Please look at Insight for further instructions. This was sent by Mrs Dodd last week. Aga, Mrs Dodd requires all students to have registered and the deadline for this is Monday 6th July. If you have any problems then please email younge@tahs.net or bell@tahs.net

Possible questions answered:

• Year of GCSE exams for your year group: JUNE 2019
  • You started Thomas Alleyne’s (Assuming you started in Year 9) in: SEPTEMBER 2016
  • You will finish Thomas Alleyne’s (Assuming you complete Year 13) in: JUNE 2021
  • A2 = GCE Advanced Level
  • Fee code: 02 –then select your county (either Staffordshire or Derbyshire) from the student support arrangements drop down menu.

Personal Statement Deadline 

Please can students have a full draft of their personal statement up and running for when we return in September.  Ideally this should have been checked by at least one member of staff such as their form tutor.  Any queries, please email Mrs Bell on bell@tahs.net.

Year 8 Transition

Please see the contact details for your child’s form tutor. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact them.

Miss Keeling does not start TAHS until September 2020, if you have any questions regarding Torrance then please email me younge@tahs.net

Please see the link for the transitions presentation and a presentation by our SEN department. If you have any question that arise from this then please email godwin@tahs.net or oliver@tahs.net

You should receive a letter shortly regarding which teaching groups your child will be in for all their subjects.

http://www.thomasalleynes.uk/page/?title=Year+8+to+Year+9+Transition&pid=93&action=saved

Week Commencing	Event
22/06/2020	Mrs Rudge Assembly – complete
22/06/2020	4 week programme of LORIC Assemblies sent by Mrs Young – complete
29/06/2020	Mr Godwin SEN Presentation – attached
06/07/2020	Head of House Assembly – to follow
06/07/2020	Mrs Rudge Assembly 07/07/2020 – to follow

Year 10 & 12 Future Intentions

Year 10 and Year 12 students have all been assigned questionnaires on their Insight regarding their future intentions. This is to allow us to identify what support they will need next year. Students can also access these questionnaires via the links below.  

We would be grateful if they can be completed by the summer holidays.

Year 10 

https://bit.ly/2NRSRkL

Year 12

https://bit.ly/2YWjqM3

English Students of the Week

Science News

Mrs North has selected George and Joe in Year 9 for excellent understanding in Biology.

Also in Year 9 Connor and Anouska have been selected for their excellent bridging work for Animal Care.

Mr Millward has selected Ava in Year 10 for engagement and hard work.

In Year 12 Charlie and Okyanus have been selected for their commitment and progress in Biology.

Mr Melland has selected Eva and Imogen for their continued commitment to completing Science work online.

Mrs Gwynne has selected Lara in Year 10 for continued engagement in Biology.

Well done!

PE Update

Students have continued to take part in a wide range of physical activity on their own and in small groups. Keep sending in your ideas.Well done to all those who have taken part in National School SportIt was great this week to see half of our Yr12 Sport Class in school and we look forward to seeing the other half next week.

This week our Yr 10 and 12’s have been submitting assignments for their BTEC sport courses. We have also received lot of bridging work from our Yr 9 and 11 students.

Reminder BTEC Sport work for Years 9, 10, 11, 12 and 13 is on Teams.
PE students of the week Ava Shenton and Sammy Earl

Elkes News

While looking at how different students have engaged with online learning and the lockdown this week, a huge positive has been seeing how many have managed to stay focused and keep in good habits with their working routines. Our departments have been emailing and recognising student achievements throughout, but the lockdown has meant we haven’t been able to do the more regular things like awarding credit badges, running celebration breakfasts and so on, and so I’d like to ask for your help as parents this week. 

In school we have displays and assemblies championing pupil success both in and out of the classroom, but there’s undoubtedly been so much we haven’t seen since March that you have, so if your son or daughter has really impressed you with their resilience, or gone the extra mile to help you through it all, or contributed to our community in any way that you think deserves recognition, I’d be really grateful if you could email me at parker@tahs.net so we can celebrate their achievements when we get to welcome everyone back. 

Orme News

This week in our assembly I asked you to think about what is going on in your head, in part that was asking you to recognise how successful you are even when you don’t feel that way. As always I am really impressed with the way in which our students at Thomas Alleyne’s continue to work, it is a huge credit to you how so many have continued to stay focused and retain good habits of ensuring work is completed to the very best of your abilities. Speaking of credits (seamless segue), Our departments have been emailing and recognising student achievements throughout the lockdown.

However, the current situation has meant we haven’t been able to do the more regular things like awarding credit badges, running celebration breakfasts and so on, and so I’d like to ask for your help as parents this week. In school we have various ways of celebrating pupil success both in and out of the classroom, but there’s undoubtedly been so much we haven’t seen since March that you have, so if your son or daughter has really impressed you with their resilience, or gone the extra mile to help you through it all, or contributed to our community in any way that you think deserves recognition, I’d be really grateful if you could email Mr. Parker at  parker@tahs.net  so we can celebrate their achievements when we get to welcome everyone back.

As always the Orme pastoral team is here to help you in any way we can, please do get in touch with any concerns or worries at brassington@tahs.net / moore@tahs.net 

Torrance News

This week in the RESPECT programme, students are being asked to think about sleep, how it effects their bodies and minds and whether they are in a healthy or unhealthy routine with their sleep. I know a lot of people have struggled with sleeping patterns since lockdown and so I hope that this will help students to reflect on their own and understand why it is important to keep their sleep routine healthy.

As other Heads of House have mentioned, as we reach the end of the academic year, this is the time when we would ordinarily be celebrating our students’ successes with events in school. Sadly this is something we aren’t able to do in person this year, but perhaps now more than ever, it is important that we do celebrate students’ achievements. I know that many of our students are very modest, and perhaps shy to shout from the rooftops about themselves, so we would really encourage parents and carers to email in and let us know about what your children have achieved during lockdown. Whether this be helping in the community, supporting siblings with work, keeping up with their own school work or anything else, we would love to hear from you and be able to celebrate these successes when we are all back together. Please email any information parker@tahs.net

As always, me and Mrs Collier are always here for Torrance students, should you need anything please just drop us an email on wrightl@tahs.net or collier@tahs.net

Whitmore

Ordinarily we get to hear or see the students’ successes at school. Being a PE teacher, I love spending this term in the great summer weather on the school field, watching our students competing in House Rounders and Cricket Matches and Sports Day. Even more so last year when Whitmore won most of those events and went on to win the House Trophy.

With the virtual school approach it has been fantastic to read in roundup students who have been nominated by their subject teachers  as star of the week and also the information you have told us about. If you have not read the Elkes section above, please scroll back to Mr Parker’s section and nominate your child for going the extra mile or helping in the community. We look forward to celebrating their successes when we return to school. 

If there is anything myself or Mrs Arbery can help with please send us an e-mail at jones@tahs.net or arrbery@tahs.net

Links

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