Newsletter `27 01 2013

All Hallows Catholic College Newsletter Epiphany Term

Friday 31st January 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 CHINESE NEW YEAR Prayer based on an ancient Chinese blessing: May God guard us and keep us in safety and comfort and in health and strength, sending us nothing but good.

May God send down so many blessings that the day is not long enough for them all.

Amen.

STUNDENTS 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.

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.

PARENTS AS PARTNERS – MAKE-UP Parents are reminded that the College has a no make-up policy. Female students should not be wearing make up or nail varnish during the College day. We welcome the support of all parents in ensuring that this aspect of the College uniform policy is followed.

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 'Children's Takeover Day' proved to be a great success on Thursday with 75 Year 9 and 11 students accompanying their parents to the workplace to experience 'the real world of work'. Mrs Moulsdale, Year Learning Leader for Year 9 witnessed the buzz of excitement amongst Year 9 students as they looked forward to the day. Students came back into college after their experience with photographic evidence and lots of stories to tell. Workplaces visited include Macclesfield District General Hospital, Kek-Gardner, Astra Zeneca, Bristol Street Motors Vauxhall, Albis UK Ltd, Bespoke Signs and Scamps Day Nursery. Providing opportunity for students to participate in ‘The Takeover Day’ is just one part of a portfolio of events and activities that prepare students at All Hallows for the workplace.

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 7 and Year 8 - Friday 7 February between 8.30 am and 9.30 am with Mrs Moffat and Mr Parke Year 9 Friday 14 February between 9 am and 10am with Mrs Moulsdale.

Year 10 Thursday 6 February 2014 12:00pm and 1:00 pm with Mrs Remfry 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.

PRINCIPALS SURGERY Parents / Carers are invited to attend a Principal's Surgery to discuss any concerns or ask questions, on the following dates Wednesday 5 February, 9am - 10am There is no appointment system so please be prepared to wait

X.CELL YOUTH GROUP Year 7, 8 and 9 quiz night on Friday 7 February at 7.00pm. Questions will be age appropriate. Come along, have some fun and maybe win a team prize in the “University Challenge” round.

CAREERS ADVICE FOR STUDENTS Mrs Jean Pilling, our new careers advisor, is a very experienced careers advisor who will be seeing students for 45 minute careers interviews across Years 9 to Year 13. These students may have requested appointments themselves, have nominated by pastoral staff. 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. In the first instance she is seeing students who are unsure as to their career paths after the end of their studies as well as students who would benefit from an interview to motivate them. She will also run a series of workshops over the next 6 months and has already run a session on CV writing for sixth formers. More sessions will follow shortly with other groups of students.

ATTENDANCE MATTERS 100.00% 98.00%

Over the last week of College attendance was as follows: Year 7 - 97.3% (up 0.6% on the previous week - well done Year 7) Year 8 - 98.0% (up 01.1% - well done Year 8) Year 9 - 94.8% (up 1.2% - well done Year 9) Year 10 - 95.1% (up 0.5% - well done Year 10) Year 11 - 95.1% (down 0.9%- oh dear Year 11 !)

Year 12 -92.2% Year 13 - 87.8%

96.00% 94.00% 92.00% 90.00% 88.00% 86.00% 84.00%

82.00% YEAR 7

YEAR 8

YEAR 9 YEAR 10 YEAR 11 YEAR 12 YEAR 13

This was an excellent week for our students overall with only Year 11 letting the side down although this year group is still 1.3% higher than their autumn term average. The average for the week was 96.0% (up 0.5%) which the highest since October. Since 3rd September attendance is still 95.6%. We aim for 97%.

Last week GIRLS attendance has increased 0.2% to 95.2%, BOYS attendance has increased 0.8% to 96.9% so well done once again to both girls. Since 3rd September boys are still winning girls 96.1% to 95.2%. Come on girls, you can beat the boys!

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

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

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RECOMMENDED READS Man of the Match - Jamie Johnson Series 4

by Dan Freedman Jamie Johnson starts the season on fire. He's playing for his beloved Hawkstone - and he's the top scorer in the country. But when a rival from an Italian club joins his team, everything changes. Jamie's temper gets the better of him, and he's sent on loan to a much smaller club. Will Jamie be able to make it back into the big time - or has he blown his chances for good?

Unleashed: Trick or Truth – book 3

by Ali Sparkes A group of very special teenagers. Each with an incredible power, they live together, protected by the government.

Out in the ordinary world they know they must not use their powers. But good intentions are easy ...following them through is another matter. With his supernatural ability to conjure spectacular illusions, Spook Williams knows he is destined for greatness. So when he's kidnapped by a celebrity magician claiming to be his real father, he can't help but be intrigued. Very soon, Spook is living the dream: bathing in a jacuzzi aboard a luxury yacht, rubbing shoulders with billionaires, and spending time with gorgeous magician's assistant, Kamilah. But when he is asked to take part in a daring heist, will Spook be able to resist this opportunity to flex his powers?

PARENT VIEW SURVEY FOR 2013-14

3 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. 97% of parents strongly agree or agree that their children are happy at All Hallows so much of what we do is working very well for the vast majority of children – but even a very low percentage of unhappy children can not be accepted, even if school is not the source of unhappiness. With the immense pressure on children to succeed in today’s education system - How do we nurture everyone’s happiness and well-being? Email your views to parentview@allhallows.org.uk and please follow this link to complete the questionnaire this year http://parentview.ofsted.gov.uk

INDIA PENCIL CASE APPEAL A big thank you to all of our students (and parents!) who have made generous donations to this appeal. Your gifts are going to make some children very happy.

HELP YOUR CHILD LOVE READING All students in KS3 use Accelerated Reader. This is a programme that motivates students to read, monitors their reading and helps them to select suitably challenging books to read.

How does it work?

An initial quick test tells students what book level they are. All fiction books in the library are colour coded so they know what level each book is. Once they have read a book, they log on to the AR website and complete a quiz. If they get 85% correct, they pass the quiz and earn points. They can track on the website how many books they have read, how many words they have read, what percentage they are getting correct and what their average book level is (based on their understanding of the books they have read). At the end of each term students are rewarded for their point scores and percentage correct on the quizzes.

Can they do this with any book?

AR currently has about 30,000 popular children’s book titles and the number grows every day. New releases are unlikely to be on AR as the company have to assess the book and add it to their database first, which takes a couple of months. You can find out which books are on AR by using the ‘AR bookfinder website’. http://www.arbookfind.co.uk/UserType.aspx What does the school do with the information?

We use the students’ test scores to monitor their reading ability and comprehension. It allows English and support staff to see which students are reading regularly and which may need more support or intervention. We can also track the progress students are making in their reading ability.

Can I see how my child is performing?

The AR ‘home connect’ site allows you to log on to your own son / daughter’s progress page and see how they are doing. You can also add in your email information so the site automatically emails you if they take a quiz and tells you how they did. This is great for allowing you to have meaningful conversations with your child about the books they are reading. Just follow the link below to the site. Your log in details are the same as your child’s.

Username is usually their first initial followed by the first 4 letters of their surname, eg John Smith would be jsmit Passwords for everyone is abc