Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II
Our thoughts this week are with the Royal Family after the announcement that Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II has died at the age of 96. We will be remembering and celebrating her legacy. A period of National Mourning has started and will continue until the end of the State funeral. The official date of the State funeral is 19 September 2022. This day will be a bank holiday and therefore school will close on 19th September as a mark of respect.
Welcome
Welcome back to all students and families, we hope that you have all had a lovely Summer. Year 9 made an outstanding start to school finding their way round quickly and demonstrating excellent conduct. Thank you helping them prepare for their transition to High School. Years 11 and 13 are now approaching their GCSE, BTEC and A Level examinations. Please encourage your daughters and sons to ask for help where they need it and to attend all additional classes where they are able to. We are very grateful for the way in which students have responded to the change in the rules regarding mobile phone use on site and are already seeing the benefits of this change.
Extra-Curricular
During our assemblies in the first week, we have been encouraging students to take up opportunities to get as involved in the life of the school as possible. Extra-curricular events allow students to learn new skills, have fun and make friendships. Below are a number of events that have been advertised to our students please encourage your daughters and sons to sign up.
Extra-Curricular Performing Arts
Calling all actors, dancers and stage crew!
Thomas Alleyne’s Performing Arts Club will be running every Wednesday in Ede Studio 3.10-4.15pm.
The club is open to all year groups, and we need a whole range of skills be that acting, improv, choreography, musical theatre, and theatre design. It is a great opportunity to build your confidence whilst meeting new people and having fun.
House Drama Competition – ‘A Play in a Day’
We are looking forward to the return of our House Drama Competition which will be held on Tuesday 18th October.
Represent your house to create original drama work and choreography in this day long competition. This is an excellent opportunity, to show your creativity, leadership skills and talent. Backstage and technical team are also required.
If you wish to register your interest in taking part in House Drama, please attend a short lunchtime meeting on Wednesday 14th September with Mrs Mood in room K9 at 1.15pm.
Music updates
Tuition
Music tuition will start week commencing 12th September for instrumental and vocal lessons. Tuition is delivered in lesson time by a specialist music team from Entrust. Lessons are available in voice, piano, guitar, drums, all woodwind, brass and string instruments.
Please see Mrs. Todd as soon as possible to arrange a free taster session and to confirm continuation of your place from last year. For any students who receive free school meals funding is available to support you will the associated costs. We are keen to have as many students involved as possible. If you have never played an instrument before it is not too late to start now!
Music Extra-Curricular Clubs
Music Extra Curricular Groups begin next week. All pupils are welcome. Rehearsals next week will take place at lunch time in room K8 (music room 67). Please bring your lunch with you at 1.10 so a prompt start can be made. Please see Mrs Todd as soon as possible if you have any questions.
Tuesday 13th September Year 9 Band K8 1.10
This groups welcomes all Year 9 pupils. No audition is required.
Thursday 15th September Choir K8 1.10
All pupils are welcome from Year 9 to Year 13. Staff are welcome too.
Friday 16th September Senior band K8 1.10
This groups welcomes musicians from Year 10,11,12,13. Staff musicians are most welcome.
Opportunities in Sport
Football
Great start to the year with 78 boys at football training on Thursday. All welcome next Thursday 3.05-4.15
House Cross Country
On Tuesday 20th September House cross country will take place. This is an open race for boys and girls of all years and is a great opportunity to represent your house
Netball
Last year, the Netball teams were incredibly successful competing at school and county level. If you would like to be involved, please join the meetings below.
Wednesday 14th September Year 9 3.05pm
Don’t miss this first meeting Year 9 we will meet in the Sports Hall straight after school. If you get a bus please see Mrs Jones to sign up.
Thursday 15th September Year 10 and above 3.05pm
You don’t have to have played last year to get involved in Year 10. All interested students please join us in the Sports Hall to sign up for this year.
Latin Club
Friday 16th September 3.15pm
Latin club will be happening in A6 on Friday after school (3:15 until 4:15). Everyone is welcome.
For more information, please feel free to contact Miss Cann (cann@tahs.net)
Allies club
Tuesday 13th September 3.05pm
Allies club is an important part of our school. It is a club which celebrates our diverse community, provides a safe space for students to come and be themselves and discuss the issues which affect them, and a place that offers support.
If inclusivity and diversity are important to you and you would like to come along and find out about being an ally, please come to A6 after school on a Tuesday. For more information, please speak to Miss Cann or Miss Atwood.
The School Paper
Friday 16th September
Calling all students interested in journalism or marketing. The first edition of the school’s new paper is already underway and we would love anyone who is keen to be involved to come along to our editorial meeting on Fridays at lunch-time in A6. Feel free to bring your lunch along.
Student news from Charlotte and Grace
From the 27th of June to the 8th of July we took part in the GoSTEM work experience course. This was supported by international technology company 3M, around which the course was based. Though this course is aimed at current A-level students, everyone was given the same 3 projects to work on, all named after 3M sites in the UK.Firstly, for our Aycliffe project, we had to design a disposable respirator, similar to the one used throughout hospitals and work environments during the COVID-19 pandemic. We centred our design around ergonomics and made our respirator both as adjustable and recyclable as possible.
Secondly was the Skelmersdale project. We had to complete an LCA (Life Cycle Analysis) of an SCBA (Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus). This involves analysing the environmental impact of a product from its raw materials, production and its eventual disposal.
Our last project was focused on the Atherstone site, for which we were asked to produce environmentally-sound lighting solutions. We found many possible solutions, but our main suggestion was to use the kinetic energy generated when cars travelled over pressure plates in the car parks and when people walked over pressure plates in busy areas to power LED desk/working area-specific lighting.
At the end of the 2 weeks, we had our graduation ceremony online: we received 3 awards. 2 were for our “highly commendable” work on the Aycliffe and Atherstone projects, and another for being consistent and committed students throughout the course. For this last award, GoSTEM and 3M send us some prizes including 3M Post-It notes, 3M Powerbanks and a BBC micro:bit with an Inventor’s Kit for use in all sorts of coding and robotics projects.
We have decided to donate the micro:bit and the Inventor’s Kit to the TAHS Computer Science and ICT department to spread the benefit of our work.
Department News
English
Y9 – Bedrock Learning
We’re introducing our new vocabulary programme to Y9 students at the moment: Bedrock Learning. This is a personalised learning platform which supports the building of vocabulary and our ambitions to help our students in their quests to become “more critical readers” and “more precise, purposeful and powerful writers.” Crucially for Y9, this forms part of their homework expectations each week. Parents and carers: once your student has received their login details, please support them in regularly accessing this really helpful resource. We expect students to complete 2 “lessons” (each of approx 15 minutes) each week.
Students: remember, there are prizes for students who engage highly and/or make the most progress, so there are lots of incentives to log on regularly (aside from your obvious desire to improve your vocabulary).
Work of the week:
We set some interesting projects over the Summer: here is Laura’s (Y11) revision work on Eva Smith from An Inspector Calls – combining visually stunning artwork with really useful facts and a helpful timeline of events:
Our Sixth Form students have also been sharing their amazing bridging work this week. Here’s Alfie’s work showcasing the texts he’s read over Summer. It’s both beautifully presented but also thorough and well argued: a really impressive start to their A Levels.
English Revision sessions:
We’re finalising the revision timetable for this term in the next week or so, and would appreciate student input. So please let us know if there is anything in particular you/your student would like to cover ahead of the November trial exams.
Sixth Form updates
Sixth Form Volunteers needed
If you are interested in supporting the school and would like to volunteer during the following upcoming Open Evenings please see Mrs Walton in the Sixth Form office.
Year 8 Open Evening – Wednesday 28th September 2022
Post 16 Open Evening – Thursday 6th October 2022
Extra Curricular Opportunities
Lions Young Leaders In Service Award: gain recognition with an international award for 25, 50 or 100 hours a year for any community service eg sports coaching, Scouts/Guides, helping at home or for neighbours on a regular basis (must be unpaid), taking volunteers around school, helping with school productions etc. See Mrs Bell for a log sheet.
Sixth Form Finance:
The school has been allocated a Discretional Bursary Fund (DBF) which students are able bid into throughout the academic year providing they meet the financial criteria set by the school and outlined in our DBF policy. For the academic year 2022-2023 students are eligible for funding of up to £400 if their parental income is below £27,000 (proof required) or if they were designated as pupil premium. If a student is a looked after child (LAC) they may be entitled to up to £1,200 of financial support. Students must use this funding to support their Post-16 education. For example, Sixth Form uniform, transport costs to and from school, textbooks, revision guides, course materials, IT equipment (up to £150), educational visits, UCAS application Fee, University entrance tests etc.
More detailed information will be available in the DBF booklet which students can be obtain from Mrs Walton in the Sixth Form office or by emailing sixthform@tahs.org.uk
Sixth Form Code of Conduct
Reminder for students from both Year 12 and Year 13 to return their signed codes of conduct to their form tutor as soon as possible. Spare forms can be collected from the Sixth Form Office.
Thank you to those who have already returned them.
Year 12 ID Photos
Any Year 12 students who have not had their ID photo taken, please come up to the Sixth Form office on Monday.
Future intentions Careers
Virtual Work Experience.
Virtual work experience only became available following the pandemic and since then has been fantastic for students giving them the opportunity to discover what specific jobs entail, gain valuable skills and meet employers.
There are a wide range of Virtual Work Experience opportunities available on the links below:
Virtual Work Experience Search (springpod.com) – includes a range of talks and programmes in the week we break up from school
Work Experience | Speakers for Schools
Free Virtual Work Experience Programs from Top Companies – Forage (theforage.com)
Once you have completed a piece of work experience don’t forget to add it to your unifrog page for future reference.
NHS opportunity
NHS Virtual Work Experience Programme
Commencing on Sunday 2nd October.
Students can register using the link below:
Once they’ve registered, students will be emailed links to their virtual work experience portals.
This programme is suitable for students in years 10, 11, 12, and 13 who are interested in the following careers:
Nursing
Midwifery
Paramedicine
Physiotherapy
Occupational Therapy
Dietetics
Radiography
Prosthetics and Orthotics
Speech and Language Therapy
Pharmacy
During the work experience day, students will follow 2 patients from their initial presentation to recovery. They will gain a unique insight into how patients interact with a variety of healthcare professionals and what it’s like to work in an NHS multidisciplinary team.
Attendees will have the opportunity to interact with healthcare professionals throughout each day. This will empower students to make an informed career decision and demonstrate their commitment to healthcare in their UCAS applications.
Students will receive certificates as evidence of having participated in the work experience programme. Those that complete the full 5-month programme will also be awarded Highly Commended References.
Students can register individually at any time throughout the 5-month programme using the link below. We recommend booking early to gain as much out of this programme as possible. Places are £10 a session to cover administrative and technological costs.
Thank you for helping to inspire our next generation of healthcare professionals.
Kindest Regards,
Work Experience Team
Allied Healthcare Mentor
Enquiry Form: https://airtable.com/shrM6UPT8Z2uxx7OL
Allied Healthcare Mentor Helpline: 01530 417299 (Open 10am – 5pm Monday – Friday)
News reports from results days
Thomas Alleyne’s Class of 2022 GCSE and BTEC students share their hopes for the future
Thomas Alleyne’s High School students have shared their hopes and ambitions for the future after receiving their GCSE and BTEC results today – August 25th, 2022.
Around 267 students completed GCSEs and BTECs this year and they are celebrating strong academic achievements after overcoming the challenges from the pandemic.
Joseph Hall, who achieved 11 GCSEs comprising nine of the highest grade 9s and two grade 8s, said: “I am thrilled with my results. The teachers have been extremely supportive during difficult times and I’ve made some really good friendships.” Joseph is going onto study four A Levels in chemistry, further maths, maths and physics at Thomas Alleyne’s sixth form. Joseph’s career ambition is to become a civil engineer.
Ella Russell, who achieved 10 GCSEs, eight of which are grades 9 and 8, said: “I am absolutely ecstatic about my results. Everyone, and the environment, at Thomas Alleyne’s has been so helpful and that has supported me to get good results.” Ella, who took a leading role in the school production of Grease earlier this year, is progressing to study three A Levels in drama, music and philosophy with ethics at Thomas Alleyne’s sixth form. Ella is aiming to go to university to study performing arts with ambitions for a career in acting.
Zita MacDonald is one of several students who have made the most progress, significantly exceeding their targets. Zita, who achieved six grades at grade 8 and 9, said: “I feel really pleased with my results. The teachers have really helped me with my confidence.” Zita is continuing her studies at Thomas Alleyne’s sixth form and progressing to study three A Levels in art, design and technology and drama.
Tom Lindsay achieved 11 GCSEs comprising six grade 9s and five grade 8s and is going on to study four A Levels in chemistry, further maths, maths and physics at Thomas Alleyne’s sixth form. Tom said: “I’m very happy with my grades. All of the hard work has paid off. The teachers really encouraged me to work hard and that put me in a position where I could achieve higher grades.” His ambition is to study astrophysics at Oxford or Cambridge University.
Julie Rudge, Headteacher of Thomas Alleyne’s High School, said: “I am so proud of our inspirational students who have shown great resilience and determination to succeed.” She added: “I would like to wish them every success for the future and thank all of our staff for their commitment, hard work and fantastic support this year.”
Thomas Alleyne’s Class of 2022 celebrate A Level and BTEC success
Students at Thomas Alleyne’s High School are celebrating a strong set of A Level and BTEC results and looking forward to the next chapter of their lives.
Around 127 students completed A Levels this year. Despite the challenges of the pandemic, the majority of students have got the grades they need to progress to university. Highlights include Imogen North, one of the highest performing students who achieved an A* in English literature, an A in English and a B in religious studies. Imogen said: “I’m so happy. I wanted to prove that I could turn C grades into A grades. “The school has been so supportive. When I thought I might give up, my teachers never gave up on me. One day I would like to do a PhD as I now believe it is possible.”
Meanwhile Robert Fuller, Head Boy, is going onto study a Degree in Music at the University of Sheffield. He achieved an A* in music, an A in history and a B in English. Robert said: “I am so happy with my results. I am lost for words. There are so many things that I like about the school and I feel really grateful.”
Students have offers to study degrees in a wide range of subjects at top universities. They include Head Girl Isobel Watts who is going onto study a Degree in Biology at the University of York after achieving an A* in biology, an A in chemistry and an A in maths. Twin sisters Freya and Amelia Hadgett will be pursuing a career in STEM. Amelia achieved an A* in history, an A* in maths and an A in physics and is progressing to a Degree in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Loughborough. Freya achieved an A* in maths, an A in chemistry and an A in physics and is going onto the University of Leeds to study a Degree in Astro Physics.
In addition to progressing to higher education, some students are going onto apprenticeships, such as with Rolls-Royce, employment and vocational training courses.
Julie Rudge, Headteacher of Thomas Alleyne’s High School, said: “We are extremely proud of our Class of 2022 and wish them all the very best for their future and the next exciting chapter of their lives. We believe all young people have the potential to achieve success and I want to thank our fantastic staff for their amazing support.”
Carole Dodd, Senior Assistant Headteacher and Head of the Sixth Form, Thomas Alleyne’s High School, added: “It has been a privilege to guide this year’s sixth form students and see them grow into confident, well-rounded individuals with the character and skills to succeed in the next stage of their lives. They are an inspiration to us all.”
Thomas Alleyne's high school 