Newsletter 14 02 2014

All Hallows Catholic College Newsletter Epiphany Term

Friday 14th February 2014

EXAMS Friday 23/05/14 INSET DAY EXAMS Please be advised that the following GCE/GCSE exams will be taking place on the above date.

PRAYER

for Fairtrade Fortnight, God of solidarity, You entrusted the earth and its resources to the stewardship of humankind. Yet the goods of creation, destined for the whole human race, are enjoyed by a privileged few. For the producers of our consumer goods there are no privileges; just working long hours for little pay. For us, who benefit from unfair trade, we take for granted the toils of men and women who maintain our standard of living. Inspired by Jesus who brought good news to the poor, show us how we may stand in solidarity with people who suffer through unjust trading rules. May they soon experience the joy of the vineyard workers who were called to be the first among the last, and were included as equal inheritors of your kingdom. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

PARENTS AS PARTNERS: MOBILE TELEPHONES Parents and students are reminded that all students’ mobile ‘phones must be switched off between 8:55am and 3:15pm and not be used for any reason during the day. Failure to comply with this rule may result in items being confiscated which will have to be collected from College by a parent. If a student is ill and uses the ‘sick room’, then the office staff must contact home, not the student on their mobile ‘phone. Thank you for your on-going support with this matter.

GCE (AS) CHEM1 @ 9.00 am GCE (AS) 6RS02 @13.00 pm (Ethics and Psychology Paper 2) GCSE (Year 11) Drama Unit 3 @13.00 pm GCSE (Year 11) History Unit 2 @ 9.00 am Dates and times are set by the exam boards and cannot be re-arranged by the college. Students taking these courses are therefore expected to attend their exams on this date in school uniform or business dress. School buses will be arranged for students concerned. Parents/Guardians please complete transport requirements slips and return to Form Tutor/Reception/ Exams Office. Thank you.

Exam Results Days - August 2014 Thursday 14th August 2014 8:30am - 10:30am A2 Results (Year 13) 11:00am - 12:30am AS Results (Year 12) Thursday 21st August 2014 10:00am - 12:00 noon - GCSE Results (Y11 only) SPECIALISM SUCCESS OF THE WEEK Valentine's Day, falling on the last day of this half-term, provided a fantastic opportunity for enterprising Year 7, 8 and 13 students to produce and provide a range of imaginative products and activities for students to buy and get involved in. Year 7 students starting their enterprise programme of study produced a range of products including beautiful heart shaped decorations, hand-made scented gifts and cakes decorated with marshmallows and hearts. Year 8 Young Co-operatives really 'rose' to the challenge of making the most of the Valentine market. One group spent weeks making batches of red, heat shaped candles, melting wax and setting wicks in moulds. All these enterprising activities in The BITE Faculty will raise funds for The India Clinic Appeal.

COMMUNITY MASS All Hallows Chapel every Friday 9am-9.45am Parents/Carers/Parishioners are all welcome

YEAR LEADER "DROP IN SURGERIES” Year Learning Leader "Drop In Surgeries" will be run on the following times and dates: Year 11 Tuesday 4 March 2014 between 2.00 pm and 3.00 pm with Mrs Williams These are for parents who would like to discuss any concerns relating to their child. No appointment is necessary but please be prepared to wait. Future dates for other year groups will be confirmed shortly.

HALF TERM CLASSES– Pathway (Option) Process The College is open over half term to offer the following: "Spring Grade Booster Conference 2014" (February Half Term 10am-2pm) Monday 17 - Year 11 Science, Year 11 Languages and Year 12 German Tuesday 18 - Year 11 Languages.

Wednesday 19 - Years 11, 12 and 13 Dance, Year 13 Theatre Studies.

A letter with a permission slip is on the College website YEAR 8 PROCESS Parents/carers of Year 8 students should note the following important dates concerning the Pathway (Option) Process.

Students in Year 8 should come home with a letter on Friday 7 February which will also be on the College website.

Date

Event

February onwards Fri 28th February Fri 28th February

Students involved in dialogue about pathways with subject teachers and form tutors.

Y8 Pathways Assembly Pathways Booklet Issued (Assembly)

Thu 6th March 7.00 pm – 9.30 pm Tue 11th March 3.45 pm – 5.30 pm Mon 17th March

Y8 Pathways Information Evening (please bring Pathways Booklet) Leadership Team Y8 Parental Surgery Conference Room Deadline for Pathway Choices

ATTENDANCE MATTERS 97.00%

Over the last week of College attendance was as follows: Year 7 - 95.7% (down 1.8% on the previous week) Year 8 - 95.4% (down 1.1%) Year 9 - 93.9% (down 2%) Year 10 - 95.1% (down 0.1%) Year 11 - 96.1% (up 1.5%) Not many schools would have Year 11 beating Year 7-10 for attendance so well done Year 11.

Year 12- 95.79% Year 13- 96.5%

96.50% 96.00% 95.50% 95.00% 94.50% 94.00% 93.50% 93.00%

92.50% YEAR 7

YEAR 8

YEAR 9

YEAR 10 YEAR 11 YEAR 12 YEAR 13

The average for the week was 95.2% (down 0.7%), but 4% higher than the same time last year. Since 3rd September attendance is still 95.6%. We aim for 97%.

Last week GIRLS attendance has decreased 1.1% to 94.2%, BOYS attendance has decreased 0.3% to 96.3%. Since 3rd September boys are still winning girls 96.1% to 95.1%. Come on girls, you can beat the boys!

Parents are politely reminded to avoid absence unless it is absolutely necessary. Thank you for your ongoing support regarding medical absence and holiday absence.

Holiday absence from College Holidays have not been authorised since 1st September 2013 under new legislation on all English schools. Requests for holidays must still be made in writing to the appropriate Key Stage leader (Mrs Garvey KS5, Mr Blades KS4 and Mr Diamond KS3), but in the vast majority of cases they will be unauthorised. A Fixed Penalty Notice may be issued of £60 per parent / carer per student, to be paid within 21 days, otherwise the penalty will rise to £120 per parent / carer to be paid within 28 days. If the penalty remains unpaid then the matter will proceed to the Magistrates Court where you will receive a criminal record if you are found guilty.

Medical absence from College Whilst the College requires parents to contact us on each day of absence , school policy now requires that any student who accumulates 7 or more days of absence during the course of the academic year will be asked to provide medical confirmation of the need to be absent before any further absences are authorised for medical reasons. This is a necessary measure as we closely monitor absence due to illness / medical reasons in order that we can ensure students are supported where needed.

For your information medical confirmation does not have to be a doctor's note but can also take the form of a medical appointment card, a copy of a relevant dated prescription or evidence of medication being taken If no medical evidence is provided then the absence will be coded as unauthorised. Ten or more unauthorised absences may result in you receiving a Fixed Penalty Notice. This incurs a penalty of £60 per parent / carer to be paid within 21 days, otherwise the penalty will rise to £120 per parent / carer to be paid within 28 days. If the penalty remains unpaid then the matter will proceed to the Magistrates Court where you will receive a criminal record if you are found guilty.

CALENDAR

Term

College Opens to Students

College Closes to Students

Epiphany

Monday 6 January 2014

Friday 14 February 2014

Easter

Wednesday 26 February 2014

Friday 4 April 2014

Whitsun

Wednesday 23 April 2014

Thursday 22 May 2014

Trinity

Monday 2 June 2014

Tuesday 22 July 2014

The following are the dates for training days in 2013-14. Students are not required to attend on these days. Unless taking an external exam.

Monday 24 February 2014 Tuesday 25 February 2014 Tuesday 22 April 2014 Friday 23 May 2014 Wednesday 23 July 2014

ADVANCED NOTICE Languages Controlled Assessments 2013-2014

Please find below the list of dates for the languages controlled assessments. Each assessment can count for 15% of the final GCSE. Teachers will let your son/daughter know on which dates they will complete assessments. Please avoid time off both on the date and in the lessons preceding these dates. Please contact a.harrison@allhallows.org.uk with any queries.

Year 11 Speaking 2 Year 10 Writing 2

Thursday and Monday 13/17 March 10y Tuesday 6 May 10g Thursday 8 May

Speaking 1 Speaking 2

Tuesday/Wednesday 10/11 March Thursday/Friday 3 /4 July

Year 9 Speaking

Tuesday/Wednesday 8/9 July

RECOMMENDED READS The Baby and Fly Pie

by Melvin Burgess 'We're the rubbish kids, losers and orphans. Every day we go out on to the Tip to sort rubbish for Mother Shelly'.

For Sham, Fly Pie and his sister Jane, this is the grim reality of their lives. Then one day everything changes when they find a baby on the Tip - a baby worth seventeen million pounds. This discovery takes them into a savage, lonely city and so begins an endless fight for survival.

Northern Lights - His Dark Materials

by Philip Pullman Northern Lights by Philip Pullman is set in parallel universe where peoples souls are in animal forms, a daemon, and there is a mysterious thing called dust witch is what Lyra and Pan set off the investigate. Pantalaimon (Pan) is Lyra Belacqua’s daemon . He is a shape-shifting animal daemon that only settles once Lyra is old enough. He is always worrying about the two of them getting in to trouble at Jordon College were they live. But he is also a very brave little daemon who is always there to help Lyra out of sticky messes they both get themselves in to. Pan is strong and brave but also a little cautious.

"Without this child, we shall all die." Lyra Belacqua and her animal daemon live half-wild and carefree among scholars of Jordan College, Oxford. The destiny that awaits her will take her to the frozen lands of the Arctic, where witch-clans reign and ice-bears fight. Her extraordinary journey will have immeasurable consequences far beyond her own world.

PARENT VIEW SURVEY FOR 2012-13

5 parent responses so far to the OfSTED Parent View Survey for 2013-14.

Each week we will be presenting a statistic from the 2012-13 survey and asking you a question or two about how we can continue to work together to do our very best for our young people. 130 parents responded last year and we’d like to reach a minimum of 200 this year!

As a Catholic college we pride ourselves on trying to address the needs of the whole child. 96% of parents strongly agree or agree that their children are making good progress at All Hallows. The new style Parent Consultation Days were designed to help parents support teacher in helping children make progress and the new ‘flight paths’ help students track their own progress in each assessment window. The Parental Gateway gives you real-time access to information and includes academic data and reports. How do we, together, make sure our children make good progress? Email your views to parentview@allhallows.org.uk and please follow this link to complete the questionnaire this year - http://parentview.ofsted.gov.uk

COMING SOON– OUR NEW ONLINE PAYMENT SERVICE We’re pleased to announce that we will be launching ParentPay as our preferred method of payment to school from 23 April 2014.

ParentPay offers you the freedom to make online payments whenever and wherever you like, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week safe in the knowledge that the technology used is of the highest internet security available.

Parents will have a secure online account, activated using a unique username and password (these will be sent to you shortly); making a payment with your credit or debit card is straightforward and ParentPay holds an electronic record of your payments for you to view at a later date.

In addition to payments ParentPay also offers an integrated email/SMS reminders option ensuring you never need miss a payment and helping you keep your child’s school meal account in credit.

We look forward to your support in using ParentPay as it will help us further support teaching and learning by reducing the burden of income collection in the classroom and school office whilst improving school-home communication.

We will be sending letters to parents in the near future and holding a ‘drop-in’ session on 4 March 2014 between 2.30pm-4.30pm to answer any queries CAREERS ADVICE FOR STUDENTS If any parents would like their son or daughter to have a careers interview this year with Mrs Jean Pilling, our new careers advisor, then please notify the relevant Year Leader who can ensure names are added to the list.

Priority will be given to Year 11, 12 and 13 students, but she will also see other students lower down the college for careers interviews. She has a drop in on Thursday lunchtime for students of any year.

ECO FACT If everyone in the UK with gas central heating installed a condensing boiler we would save £1.3 billion on our energy bills every year – enough energy to meet the needs of over 4 million homes for a year – and carbon dioxide emissions by 17.5 million tonnes.

STUDENTS INTERESTED IN A CAREER IN CONSTRUCTION Students in Years 9, 10 and 11 who are considering a career in the construction industry have been invited to a taster day at Reaseheath College. See Mr Blades for more details.

STUDENTS INTERESTED IN AN APPRENTICESHIP FREE TASTER SESSION Students in Y11, 12 and 13 who are considering an apprenticeship are invited to a free taster session being run by Total People on Friday 7 March between 9.30 and 12.00 - see Mr Blades for more details.

COMMUNITY EVENTS FAMILY GAMES NIGHT St Alban’s parish will be holding a family ‘Games Night’ with a fish and chip supper on Saturday 28th February, 6.45pm in the parish centre. All welcome. Soft drinks available. To place an order for fish and chips or for further information, please contact Natalie Nye, tel 421603. There is also a list at the back of St Alban’s church to sign up on