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:
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:
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:
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.
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.
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:
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
Links
Thomas Alleyne's high school 