Newsletter 14 03 2014

All Hallows Catholic College Newsletter Easter Term

PRAYER Walk with me Jesus - a prayer for Lent Jesus I pray that you will walk with me along my Pilgrim journey. when I grow weary Lord comfort me with your Holy Spirit. in my trials Lord, walk with me when the shades of life are falling. in my sorrows and joys, Lord walk with me as I place my soul in your hands.

Give me grace to serve you Jesus as I walk towards eternity.

In your name Jesus.

Amen

Friday 14th March 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.

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)

PRINCIPALS SURGERY Parents / carers are invited to attend a Principal’s Surgery to discuss any concerns or ask questions, on the following dates Thursday 27 March, 9am-10am There is no appointment system so please be prepared to wait

SPECIALISM SUCCESS Languages Celebration assemblies have highlighted the success of students in all year groups for their ability to use the language spontaneously throughout lessons, their resilience and determination to tackle even the hardest of challenges.

Particularly commended are: Ben Wardle, Charlie Fox, Phoebe Geary, Tyler Stanley, Conor Hooley, Cara Jackson, Joseph Higham, Alex Insley.

PTA PTA Black Tie Ball on Friday 9th May at the Tytherington Club Macclesfield. £30 per person includes drink on arrival, 3 course meal and entertainment. Please email a.heaton@allhallows.org.uk to reserve tickets

EXAM TIP– IS REVISING A SHOCK TO YOUR SYSTEM? Get into it gradually by starting early and plan your timetable so that in week your one your doing 30-45 minutes a day. In week two up it by 15-30 minutes a day. From week three aim for 90 minutes or more a day.

GSCE AND A LEVEL COUNTDOWN 61 Days until Monday the 12th May 2014, the date of the first GCSE exam.

YEAR LEADER "DROP IN SURGERIES” Year 10 Thursday 24 April 2014 between 12.00 and 1.00 pm with Mrs Remfry.

Year 9 Friday 25 April between 9.00 am and 10.00 am with Mrs Moulsdale 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.

YEAR 8 PATHWAYS Parents/carers of Year 8 students should note the following important dates concerning the Pathway (Option) Process.

Date

Event

Mon 17th March

Deadline for Pathway Choices

BIOMETRIC Can we remind all parents that we urgently need the biometric consent forms returned to college as soon as possible. You can also email your consent to parentpay@allhallows.org.uk, stating the name and tutor group of your child. At present, we have only received 19% of them. A copy of the letter including the consent form can be found on the college website. Thank you to those parents that attended our drop in session, the afternoon was a success. If you have any further queries, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

Many thanks, All Hallows Finance Team.

ATTENDANCE MATTERS Over the last week of College attendance was as follows: Year 7 - 96.0% (down 0.4% on the previous week) Year 8 - 95.6% (down 0.5%) Year 9 - 96.1% (down 0.3%) Year 10 - 95.4% (up 2.0%, well done Year 10) Year 11 - 95.7% (up 1.1%, well done Year 11) Year 12: 94.97% (down 1.14% on previous week) Year 13: 96.58% (down 0.92% on previous week)

97.00%

The average for the week was 95.7% (up 0.3%). Since 3rd September attendance is still 95.6%. We aim for 97%.

94.00%

96.50% 96.00% 95.50% 95.00% 94.50%

YEAR 7

YEAR 8

YEAR 9

YEAR 10 YEAR 11 YEAR 12 YEAR 13

Last week GIRLS attendance has increased 0.6% to 94.7%, BOYS attendance has remained at 96.8%. Well done to our girls on closing this gap. Since 3rd September boys are still winning girls 96.2% to 95.0%.

Parents are politely reminded to avoid absence unless it is absolutely necessary. Thank you for your on-going 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

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.

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

Monday 17 March 10y Tuesday 6 May 10g Thursday 8 May

Speaking 2

Thursday/Friday 3 /4 July

Year 9 Speaking

Tuesday/Wednesday 8/9 July

RECOMMENDED READS The Three Musketeers Alexandre Dumas The famous swashbuckling adventure.

When hot-blooded young d'Artagnan comes to Paris to seek his fortune, he finds himself challenged to a duel with not one, but three of the King's Musketeers. But Athos, Porthos and Aramis are to become his greatest friends, and companions in dangerous adventure when he becomes embroiled in the intrigues of the Court and the beautiful, evil Lady de Winter.

Boy Nobody by Allen Zadoff The explosive new thriller for fans of Jason Bourne, Robert Muchamore and Michael Grant. Boy Nobody is the perennial new kid in school, the one few notice and nobody thinks much about. He shows up in a new high school, in a new town, under a new name, makes few friends and doesn't stay long. Just long enough for someone in his new friend's family to die -- of "natural causes." Mission accomplished, Boy Nobody disappears, and moves on to the next target. When Boy Nobody was just eleven, he discovered his own parents had died of not-so-natural causes. He soon found himself under the control of The Program, a shadowy government organization that uses brainwashed kids as counter-espionage operatives. But somewhere, deep inside Boy Nobody, is somebody: the boy he once was, the boy who wants normal things (like a real home, his parents back), a boy who wants out. And he just might want those things badly enough to sabotage The Program's next mission.

PARENT VIEW SURVEY FOR 2012-13

8 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. 90% of parents strongly agree or agree that their children is receiving appropriate homework at All Hallows. How can we make homework even better for these families and address the needs of the 6% who disagree? Why not have a discussion with your child and Email your views to parentview@allhallows.org.uk.

Please also follow this link to complete the questionnaire this year - http://parentview.ofsted.gov.uk

ALL HALLOWS IS AGAINST BULLYING We would like to remind students and parents that our website has links to an anti-bullying email service.bullying@allhallowslearning.org.uk is the email address that can be used to confidentially report incidents of bullying to a senior teacher.

Students are also encouraged to report bullying to their form tutor and Year Leader.

PARENTS AS PARTNERS: AEROSOLS A reminder to parents and all students that aerosols are banned in College. This includes aerosol deoderants Only roll-on deodorants may be used. Aerosol deodorants brought into College will be confiscated. This is for health and safety reasons, particularly the potential harm to students and staff with asthma. Thank you for your co-operation in this matter.

COULD YOU BE THE GOVERNOR WE ARE LOOKING FOR? A drop-in information session for potential Parent Governors The Local Governing Body of All Hallows Catholic College has completed a skills audit and is now seeking a Parent Governor who can complement the skills of existing members. We are particularly seeking Governors who may be able to help us fulfil our duties in areas such as Finance, Health and Safety, Evaluation, Recruitment and Interpreting Data. A drop-in question and answer session will be held on Monday 17 March at 10am with the Principal and Chair of Governors for interested parents to find out more. Please give this your full consideration. Please let the Principals' PA know if you can attend on principalpa@allhallows.org.uk so we can have an idea of numbers. Advice will be given on how to write your statement and the elections process.

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

CAREERS ADVICE FOR STUDENTS Our new careers advisor, Mrs Jean Pilling, has now seen 81 students for impartial careers interviews since she started in mid-December. If any parents would like their son or daughter to have a careers interview this year 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 and Year 8's are particularly welcome as they chose their option subjects.

ECO FACT Turning down your thermostat by just 1C could cut your heating bill by up to 10% and save around £30 a year. If we all did this now together we’d save over £530 million worth of energy every year.

That’s over 7 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions each year

PARENT DROP IN SESSION - "HELPING CHILDREN MAKE CAREER CHOICES" - 3 APRIL Would you like some advice on how to talk "careers" with your son or daughter? Are you unsure as to which careers route is best for them? Do you need help understanding apprenticeships, GCSE choices, post 16 choices and decisions regards universities? Don't worry as help is at hand. On Thursday 3rd April between 4 pm - 6 pm we are holding an informal drop in session for any parents of our students to help them answer such questions. Mrs Jean Pilling, our careers advisor, together with Mr Blades, Assistant Principal, will be in the Romero Centre Conference Room in our college reception area to help. Feel free to come along, have a drink and ask any careers related questions that may be on your mind.

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.