Friday 26 September 2014
All Hallows Catholic College Newsletter Michaelmas Term PRAYER FOR THE SVP SOCIETY SPECIALISM SUCCESS
All Hallows Catholic is part of a group of schools who have successfully bid to the Department for Education for funding to support teaching and learning in languages. The consortium consists of 6 schools across the Midlands and the North West. We will lead on transition and primary / secondary collaboration. From September 2014 Languages are compulsory in key stage 2 (ACH)
Lord we pray for the Saint Vincent de Paul Society, the churches that sponsor them, all other charitable ministries, and the people they help. O Lord, multiply the supplies they distribute to the needy, give new strength to the workers, and bring in more volunteers who serve the poor with genuine love. Protect these ministries and teach us all by their example that helping the needy brings great joy. Saint Vincent, pray for us. Amen.
PARENTS AS PARTNERS The college is hosting a Target setting Parental Information Evening on Thursday 9 October from 7-8pm, and is open to all parents. All Hallows Catholic College will be hosting an Esafety awareness evening for parents only on Thursday 16th October at 6:00pm. This is being led by PC Jane Commins from Cheshire Police. The aim of the evening is to provide up to date Information and guidance to parents/carers that will assist with your understanding of the risks technology can bring to your child. All parents/carers of children in any year group are welcome.
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
PROCEDURES FOR A MEDICAL APPOINTMENT DURING THE COLLEGE DAY Students must sign out at the Attendance Office before leaving College to attend a medical appointment. When they return to College the student must sign back in. This ensures registers will be accurate and we know the student is off site should we have a fire alarm. The Attendance Office is currently located along the Science corridor, but will shortly be moving to a new space along the RE corridor. We thank parents for making medical appointments, where possible, that do not take up a whole day of schooling. This often allows a student to have their legal registration mark for both a.m and p.m sessions and so their overall attendance does not fall.
TRIPS AND UPCOMING EVENTS Geography drop-in session KS4/5 students every Thursday 3:30-4:30. The session will provide assistance on case studies, exam questions and key terms. Year 7 Service of Welcome October 4. 6-7pm AHLC Football Tournament October 15. 1-3pm Peace and Remembrance Day November 10 Year 11 Mock Exam Starts November 12 Year 7 and 9 Parent Consultation Day November 20. 9am – 7pm Celebration Assemblies Week Year7-13 November 24 SRE Parents’ Information Evening November 27. 7pm-8pm AHLC Rugby Tournament December 3. 1-3pm Carol Service St. Alban’s Church December 11 7pm All Hallows Has Talent December 19
Friday 26 September 2014
All Hallows Catholic College Newsletter Michaelmas STUDENT SUPPORT ACROSS THE COLLEGE Careers Support—Mrs J Pilling—Monday and Thursday Visyon Counsellor—Mrs L Nolan—Tuesday College Nurse—Mrs J Jones—Wednesday Family Support - Mrs P Shatwell—Monday to Friday
Based in the Student Support office Based in the office next to room A9/A10
Bullying@allhallowslearning.org.uk Beingme@allhallowslearning.org.uk Esafety@allhallowslearning.org.uk
BIOMETRIC
Students use a biometric system to pay for meals in school. Each child will only be registered with your consent. If you do not consent to your child’s biometric data being taken, they will be issued with a PIN which they can use to pay. The system uses an image of the fingerprint to create a mathematical algorithm and then discards the fingerprint. Only the numbers remain and these cannot be reinterpreted back into the fingerprint. It is very similar to the way a barcode works, in that the shape is scanned to recall a number.
PARENTS PARKING Please can parents who park on Bedford Road/ Cambridge Road at the end of the day not block any driveways when waiting for their children? Thank you for your support on this matter.
SCHOOL BUS SERVICE Parents are encouraged to purchase an Annual Travel Pass for their child’s travel to school. This can be purchased for a single payment of £420, which is a considerable saving on the cost of transport paying by daily return fare and can save time on journeys as students are not searching for change on a daily basis. Alternatively an Annual Travel Pass can be bought for £450, in three staged payments of £150. A 10% discount is available when annual passes are purchased for second and subsequent siblings. Passes can be purchased directly from Bostock’s and further details of passes and concessions are available on the school’s website. If parents have concerns about the running of specific buses they can contact Bostock’s directly, on 01260 273108.
BEING PUNCTUAL AT ALL HALLOWS Most students appreciate the importance of being in College on time. Children who are regularly late do miss out on their education and form bad habits that will not be tolerated in the workplace. As a result of the change to the College day we need to inform parents that students must be in the registration form class for the register to be taken at 8.45am. This means students should arrive 5-10 minutes earlier in College to be on time. Any students arriving after 8.45am will receive a L code. Two L codes within a week will result in a form tutor detention. Any student arriving after 9.05am will receive a U code. This means they will be classed as absent for the whole morning and this may have consequences for overall attendance. Thank you for your co-operation and support with this matter.
Friday 26 September 2014
All Hallows Catholic College Newsletter Michaelmas ALL HALLOWS FITNESS SUITE NOW UP AND RUNNING All Hallows Fitness Suite now up and running! Students are now able to use our fantastic new Fitness Suite as long as they have been inducted (the majority of students have now completed an induction in their PE lesson). Students who have been absent for this lesson will not be able to use the Fitness Suite until their induction is complete. Due to popular demand we have allocated different slots for different year groups. Students must sign up on the day - there will be a sign up sheet on the notice board in the Sports Hall. This will be on a first come first served basis. We can not accommodate more than 28 students in the fitness suite due to space/health and safety. Therefore the first 28 names on the sheet will be able to stay but unfortunately we won't be able to let more than this stay. Clubs are as follows: Monday - Y7/8 (mixed) until 4.30pm Tuesday - Y7/8 (girls only) until 4.30pm Wednesday - Y9/10/11 (girls only) until 4.00pm Thursday - Y11/Sixth form (mixed) until 4.30pm Friday - Y9/10 (mixed) until 4.30pm The Fitness Suite is also open at lunch (second break). See PE club timetable for year group slots. Students MUST wear full PE kit to use the Fitness Suite and follow all safety guidelines and the code of conduct. Any queries please contact Mr Lawson or a member of the PE staff for more information.
EXAM TIP What is an essay plan? - It is the first stage of a successful essay when you note down all the relevant points needed to fully answer the question. Number each point in the order they should appear in the essay
YEAR 11 MODULE EXAMS There are 46 days left until the start of the Year11 Modules
Friday 26 September 2014
All Hallows Catholic College Newsletter Michaelmas
A BIG THANKYOU TO OUR YEAR 7’S
“We are writing to say a huge thankyou to the young people of Year 7 for the wonderful way in which they entered into their “community building” days here at the Marist Centre. Each day began with an invitation to look at their talents, values, strengths and interest and to put these at the service of their newly formed class. Their worksheets and guidelines made the most beautiful offering to God at morning prayer. Role play was great fun as they set about building up a good community spirit in various scenarios! The DVD Ice age reminded us of the importance of learning and looking out for one another! What a lovely Year 7—full of life, a great sense of team-work, and the gift of joy and laughter! Your teachers and support workers are doing a wonderful job and we thank them for the warmth, encouragement and love shown towards the young people throughout their days here. Yours Sincerely, Marist Centre team
”
YEAR LEARNING LEADER “DROP IN SURGERIES” Year 7— 12 November (11:00am-12:30pm) Year 8— 14 October and 16 December (11:45am-1:15pm) Year 9– 6 October and 1 December (9:00am-10:00am) Year 10—17 October and 5 December (1:15pm-2:00pm) Year 11—29 September and 8 December (2:30pm-3:30pm) These are for parents who would like discuss any concerns relating to their child. No appointment necessary but please be prepared to wait. No more surgeries are planned this year with other year groups, but please feel free to contact our Pastoral Assistant , Mrs C Jepson (C.Jepson@allhallows.org.uk – 01625426138 X15), should you require an appointment with a Year Learning Leader
Friday 26 September 2014
All Hallows Catholic College Newsletter Michaelmas
CALENDAR Term
College Opens to Students
College Closes to Students
Michaelmas
Tuesday 2 September 2014 (Year 7, 12 and 13) Wednesday 3 September 2014 (All Students)
Friday 24 October 2014
Christmas
Tuesday 4 November 2014
Friday 19 December 2014
Epiphany
Monday 5 January 2015
Thursday 12 February 2015
Easter
Monday 23 February 2015
Thursday 2 April 2015
Whitsun
Monday 20 April 2015
Thurdays 21 May 2015
Trinity
Monday 6 July 2015
Tuesday 21 July 2015
The following are the dates for training days in 2014-15. Students are not required to attend on these days unless taking an external exam. Monday 3 November 2014 Friday 13 February 2015 Friday 22 May 2015
ATTENDANCE MATTERS AT ALL HALLOWS 98.00%
Over the last week of College attendance was as follows: Year 7 - 96.50% Year 8 - 96.10% Year 9 - 97.50% Year 10– 95.10% Year 11 - 95.40% Year 12- 96.8% Year 13– 91.3%
97.00% 96.00%
95.00% 94.00% 93.00% 92.00% 91.00% 90.00% 89.00% 88.00% YEAR 7
YEAR 8
YEAR 9
YEAR 10 YEAR 11 Year 12
Year 13
Attendance last week was 96.1% (an increase from 95.7% last week) and was also better than the same time last year when we had 94.3% attendance. Indeed it is the best weekly attendance for this week in the first half term for 6 years. We aim for 97%. Last week GIRLS attendance was 95.7% (up 0.9% well done girls), BOYS attendance was 96.5% (no change). The girls have closed the gap with attendance last week 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/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.