Newsletter 25 04 13

All Hallows Catholic College Newsletter Whitsun

PRAYER– HE IS RISEN Heavenly Father and God of mercy, we no longer look for Jesus among the dead, for He is alive and has become the Lord of life. From the waters of death You raise us up with Him and renew your gift of life within us. Increase in our minds and hearts the risen life we share with Christ, and help us to grow as your people toward the fullness of eternal life with You. We ask this through Christ our Lord.

Amen EXAM TIP– DON’T KNOW HOW LONG TO SPEND ON EACH QUESTION Be guided by the amount of marks awarded for each question.

For example, it would be a waste spending half the exam time on a question that carries 10% of the marks.

GSCE AND A LEVEL COUNTDOWN 17 Days until Monday the 12th May 2014, the date of the first exams.

Friday 25th April 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 Philosophy 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 rearranged 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 New style' Mentoring Programme for CAUK Business Students Year 12 CAUK Business students have all been allocated a Partner in Business to mentor them over the coming 18 months. For the first time this year every student has opted into this aspect of The Career Academy Programme which has been re-launched with partners mentoring students in pairs. There will also be a greater emphasis on electronic communication to facilitate activities such as CV writing, making UCAS applications etc. A Partner in Business is an employee volunteer who provides a Career Academy student with support, friendship, reinforcement and constructive advice based on their own experiences in the work place. Partners in Business this year include Pete Pealing from Peaks and Plains Housing Trust, Tom Agar of MS Events Ltd, Denise Riddell from Total People and Belinda Peach of Peachy* based in Media City. Students have already met their partners in a brief 'ice-breaker' session and some are now planning their first meeting or visit to places of work. All Partners in Business this year also sit on the Career Academy Advisory Board which meets once a term to support The Marketing and Communications Academy run by Jane Lynch at All Hallows. Any parents or local business people interested in joining the Advisory Board or supporting The Career Academy in any way should contact her on 01625 426138 or email her at j.lynch@allhallows.org.uk.

SUCCESS– INCLUSION QUALITY AWARD Before Easter the College was once again successfully awarded the national inclusion quality award. The assessor highlighted a considerable number of areas that we did exceptionally well in and promoted exceptional inclusion within our College and for our students.

The assessor has commented on our ethos and values and how palpable this feels around our College.

SPORT EVENT– ALL HALLOWS VS 6TH FORM FOOTBALL MATCH May 1 @ The Moss Rose Stadium 4:30 Start Tickets: £1 Students / £2 adults For information or tickets please contact Mr D Howells (D.Howells@allhallows.org.uk) or Kevin Wright VIRAM. PARENT PAY– OUR NEW PAYMENT SERVICE We’re pleased to announce that the implementation of ParentPay has been a success! ParentPay will be the only method of making payments to College, going forward.

What are the benefits?

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ParentPay is easy to use and offers you the freedom to make online payments whenever and wherever you like, 24/7

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The technology used is of the highest internet security available ensuring that your money will reach college safely

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Full payment histories and statements are available to you securely online at anytime

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Your children won’t have to worry about losing money at college

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Parents can be alerted when their balances are low via email and/or SMS text

Students will pay for their lunches using either their biometric print or a PIN number. If your child wishes to use their biometric print, we will need parental consent. Although the majority of students have signed up for biometrics, there are still a few who haven’t.

If you wish to consent for biometrics, please send a signed note stating your consent for your child into College, or you can email ParentPay@allhallows.org.uk.

PARENTPAY QUERIES Whilst the introduction of ParentPay as our new payment system has gone well, we understand that you may have queries. If you need your log in details, or assistance with anything else, please call finance on 01625 426138 or email parentpay@allhallows.org.uk and we will get back to you as soon as possible.

The majority of sQuid card balances have been transferred over to ParentPay. If you think the balance is not correct or you would like to contact sQuid to confirm that they have cancelled any further auto top-ups, please call 0208 3392111 and ask for Michelle. Michelle will be able to check through your account and refund any remaining balances directly to your bank account.

We thank you for your continued support.

IS YOUR CHILD ADOPTED? CAN YOU HELP US SECURE ADDITIONAL FUNDING TO HELP OUR CHILDREN ACHIEVE THEIR FULL POTENTIAL? From April 2014, schools in England are entitled to receive a grant called the 'pupil premium for children adopted from care or who left care under a Special Guardianship Order (SGO) on or after 30 December 2005.' Schools can also claim the pupil premium for children who left care under a Residence Order (RO) on or after 14 October 1991. In order to claim this valuable grant, we would be grateful if adoptive parents could inform the college if their child is adopted and provide supporting evidence, for example, the Adoption (Court) Order. This information will be dealt with discretely and confidentially and the grants will be used to help this particular group of children achieve their potential in their education.

Please contact the Principal's PA if you are able to supply this information. principalpa@allhallows.org.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.

Together we can stamp out all forms of bullying.

All Students have received an assembly on homophobic bullying as a means on developing and sharing our College valves 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 137 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.

ECO FACT About 85% of the electricity used by your DVD player is consumed while it’s on standby. The unnecessary us of this energy makes your meter spin, wastes energy and also harms the environment.

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 a suitable bag (see policy) for carrying books and equipment.

Please can you also check your child's uniform . In particular:  Coats must be a black rain jacket that can be worn over the College label and , for Year 7 students , must be embroidered with the College badge. Smaller jackets or „hoodies‟ are not allowed.  Jumpers must be V-necked black in Years 9-11, embroidered with the College badge and V-necked grey in Years 7-8 embroidered with the College badge. Cardigans or other style jumpers are not allowed.  Footwear should be black shoes, not trainers. Female students should not wear any heels greater than one inch. The ballet style shoes some of our female students are wearing are not suitable or robust enough for all-day wear. Fabric shoes, pumps or boots are not acceptable.  All students should have the College bag with BEC logo We welcome the support of all parents in ensuring that our students are equipped for learning and are 'Dressed for Success'.

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 Writing 2

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 Cloud Busting by Malorie Blackman Despite his Mum's insistence, Sam doesn't want to be friends with Davey, he thinks Davey's a first class, grade A, top of the dung heap moron. But one day Davey saves Sam's life and a bond is formed between them. Sam is still embarrassed to be seen with Davey, but little by little he has to admit, when it's just the two of them, Davey is a lot of fun. But then something terrible happens to Davey...Told in verse, in first person, this is the touching story of an extraordinary friendship, that changes two boys lives for ever. An uplifting tale that truly sings out.

PARENT VIEW SURVEY FOR 2012-13

25 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 and this means our college needs to be able to respond quickly and appropriately to any concerns raised. 88% of parents strongly agree or agree that the College responds well to concerns rasied and the figure rises to 94% if we assume that ‘don’t know’ means there is no issue. Our vision is that you should feel as close to the college and supported as hopefully you did when your child was in their smaller primary school. E mail contacts are available for all staff on the website and regular open surgeries are held by the Principal, the Leadership Team and Year Leaders if you just want to drop in. We can’t promise that we always get everything right but we will try our best. Email your views to parentview@allhallows.org.uk. Please also follow this link to complete the questionnaire this year - http://parentview.ofsted.gov.uk

ATTENDANCE MATTERS Over the last week of College attendance was as follows: Year 7 - 96.3% (down 0.9% on the previous week) Year 8 - 96.1% (up 1.9%, well done Year 8) Year 9 - 94.6% (down 0.9%) Year 10 - 92.7% (no change) Year 11 - 93.8% (up 3.7%%, a very good week for Year 11) Year 12: 94.18% (down 5.28% on last week) Year 13: 94.89% (down on 2.66% on last week)

97.00% 96.00%

95.00% 94.00% 93.00%

92.00% 91.00% 90.00%

This was a better week with the average being 94.7% (up 0.7% on the previous week and YEAR 7 YEAR 8 YEAR 9 YEAR 10 YEAR 11 YEAR 12 YEAR 13 2% higher than the same time last year). Since 3rd September attendance remains at 95.5%.

We aim for 97%.

Last week GIRLS attendance has increased 1.2% to 94.1%, BOYS attendance has increased 0.1% to 95.3%. Since 3rd September boys are winning girls 96.1% 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.

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.

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

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 Please click here for the 2014- 2015 Calendar