Newsletter 230414

All Hallows Catholic College Newsletter Whitsun

PARENTS AS PARTNERS: THE NEXT HALF-TERM Parents – please can you check your child’s equipment for learning and uniform over half term and replenish any items as necessary. Every student should carry with them everyday a pen, pencil, ruler and their planner, in addition to their exercise books and textbooks. A calculator is also required for Mathematics, Bible for RE and dictionaries for languages and English. Students are also expected to have the College bag (see policy) for carrying books and equipment 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) Results must be collected in person. They will not be issued over the telephone or by email.

Friday 26th May 2014

PRAYER– Ascension Prayer God our Father, make us joyful in the ascension of Your Son, Jesus Christ. May we follow him into the new creation, for His ascension is Our glory and our hope. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, One God, for ever and ever.

Amen.

YEAR LEARNING LEADERS– DROP IN SURGERIES Year 10 Thursday 5 June between 12.00 and 1.00 p.m. with Mrs Remfry.

Year 7 and Year 8 Friday 18 July between 8.30 a.m and 9.30 a.m with Mr Mercer and Mr Parke 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.

SPECIALISM SUCCESS Six young people from All Hallows Catholic College attended a graduation ceremony at The Town Hall in Manchester.

Six Business students from the Marketing and Communication Career Academy of All Hallows Catholic College graduated on 14 May 2014 after a two-year business education programme, which aims to raise the aspirations of 16 to 19-year-olds and boost their employability skills by giving them real life experiences of the workplace. Completing the Career Academy programme greatly improves the students’ chances of progressing on to higher education or straight into a job.

The students received their certificates from Anne Spackman, Executive Director of Career Academies UK in an impressive ceremony in the majestic Town Hall in Albert Square. David Harrison, Management Consultant with Accenture, Sarah Fanthorpe, Head of Customer Service in Leeds for British Gas and motivational speaker ‘Action Jackson’, offered words of encouragement and top tips on how young people can fulfil their ambitions and achieve future career success.

Jane Lynch, Co-ordinator of the Career Academy at All Hallows said that this is one of the strongest cohorts of students we have had on the Career Academy Programme - all have done exceptionally well and are expected to achieve excellent results for their BTEC Business course in the Summer.

Andrew Loxham who was one of the students to graduate, said: “I chose the Career Academy programme because it offers a unique opportunity to experience a true working environment in major companies. I did my internship at Peaks and Plains Housing Trust, which really opened my eyes to the working world. I would definitely recommend the programme to others. I have learnt vital new skills, which I know have improved my employment prospects, and I’ve had a fantastic time along the way.” Other graduating students had internships with Barclays Bank and The Co-operative College. Congratulations to all six students who went on their final study leave from All Hallows this week.

CAREERS ADVICE FOR STUDENTS Our new careers advisor, Mrs Jean Pilling, as now seen 173 students for impartial careers interviews since she started in mid-December nearly 15% of the whole College. 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 is now with Year 10 who will all be seen over the coming weeks and months. She will also see some Year 9 students over the next few weeks. She has a drop in on Thursday lunchtime for students of any year.

SAINBURYS ACTIVE KIDS VOUCHERS Please can the PE Department appeal to all parents and students to collect as many Sainsbury's vouchers as possible between now and 20th June? Please pass to a member of the PE Department or Mrs Kurek in the Library.

ST ALBANS COMMUNITY EVENT Annual parish hog roast, which this year is in aid of the “Just Drop In” centre in Macclesfield – a charitable organisation giving advice, support and counselling to young people from age 13 upwards. The hog roast will be held on Sunday 20th July, from 1pm, at 148 Prestbury Rd, Macclesfield. Cost is £5 adults, £2 children. All welcome. We would be grateful for people to bring a salad or a pudding (there will be a list up at the back of church nearer the time). Please BYO drinks and chairs. Any further information, please contact Natalie Nye on 421603 ALLHALLOWS 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 Learning Leader.

The College is pleased to announce we have recently become a Stonewall Champion School and will work with students to tackle homophobic bullying. Our Principal has now delivered anti-homophobic assemblies to all of our students and Mr Blades attended a Stonewall Conference in London where we became a Champion School. Mr Blades will give more details to students in due course, but in the meantime students, as well as parents and staff, are welcome to support the Stonewall No Bystanders Campaign. See www.nobystanders.org.uk for details and a thought provoking video that some students may have already seen.

We would also like to thank our College Council for their powerful anti-bullying video they have recently produced. This can be found on You Tube on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_mdTYLbWVQ . Each year our College Council do a large scale bullying prevention event across All Hallows and this year's video is certainly impressive. In the past they have organised online pledge against bullying and even had a airplane fly over the College at the same time our students were on the fields spelling out the words All Hallows is against Bullying.

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 10 Speaking 2

Thursday/Friday 3 /4 July

Year 9 Speaking

Tuesday/Wednesday 8/9 July

RECOMMENDED READS The New Policeman by Kate Thompson Everyone in Kinvara is conscious that time is flying past, faster and faster - to such an extent that when JJ asks his mother what she would like as a birthday present she asks for more time. JJ dismisses this as mere wishful thinking, an impossibility, for who knows where the time goes? The Liddys have been musicians for generations and JJ is no exception but what he discovers is that a shadow from the past hangs over their family - did his great-grandfather murder the village priest? When he sets out to buy his mother time, he discovers the fate of a flute which will provide the key to both problems - it is the vital clue.

He makes the transition to Tir na n'Og, the land of eternal youth, where the fairy people are also having a problem with time and it falls to his lot to locate the leak between the two parallel worlds. JJ finds where time goes! Music proves to be the touchstone for communication between the fairy and the human domains and the book is saturated with the lure of Irish music for JJ's whole existence is built round the ceili and each chapter relates to a tune, printed out as a heading so that the reader can also become a performer. As for the New Policeman, Larry O'Dwyer, he is an enigmatic figure who has a significant bearing on the plot but whose identity is kept a superbly guarded secret to the very last surprising moment.

On the Edge by Gillian Cross Tug wakes up in an unfamiliar place with people he doesn't recognize and is uncertain about his own identity.

Meanwhile, Jinny knows that something strange is happening in the house and decides she must unravel the mystery herself in order to save the boy. She decides on a dangerous course of action to set Tug free, but will she be in time to save him? .

CALENDAR Term

College Opens to Students

College Closes to Students

Whitsun

Wednesday 23 April 2014

Thursday 22 May 2014

Trinity

Monday 2 June 2014

Tuesday 22 July 2014

Michaelmas

Tuesday 2 September 2014 (Year 7, 12 and 13) Wednesday 3 September 2014 (All Students)

Friday 24 October 2014

Christmas

Monday 3 November 2014

Friday 19 December 2014

Epiphany

Monday 5 January 2015

Friday 13 February 2015

Easter

Monday 20 April 2015

Friday 22 May 2015

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.

Friday 23 May 2014 Wednesday 23 July 2014 Monday 1 September 2014 Please click here for the 2014- 2015 Calendar

ATTENDANCE MATTERS Over the last week of College attendance was as follows: Year 7 - 96.3% (up 0.7% on the previous week, well done Year 7) Year 8 - 96.7% (up 0.6%, well done Year 8) Year 9 - 93.6% (down 0.8%) Year 10 - 94.5% (up 0.9%, well done Year 10) Year 11 - 93.6% (down 1.3%)

This was a better week and well done to three year groups on their increases. The average for the week was 94.9% (no change on the previous week but 2% higher on the equivalent week last year). Since 3rd September attendance has remained at 95.5%. We aim for 97%.

Last week GIRLS attendance has increased 0.4% to 94.2%, BOYS attendance has decreased 0.5% to 95.7% so well done to our girls.

Since 3rd September boys are winning girls 96.2% to 94.9%.

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.

The link between attendance and achievement is well researched and documented and students should be aiming for an attendance rate of no less than 97% over the year. Thank you for your continued support with this importance issue ECO FACT Each UK family uses an average of 500 glass bottles and jars annually