6News - December 2015 Edition

D e cem ber 2015 Ed it io n

Welcome to the second edition of 6News, the exclusive staff magazine, featuring...

Dear staff, As we approach the end of 2015, I would like to thank each of you for your hard work, dedication, support and individual commitment to the college and our students. You each play an invaluable role at the college and our successes are a result of mutual support and collective teamwork. We have introduced many new strategies since I arrived in January and I am particularly grateful for the positive way that you have embraced these. Wishing each one of you a wonderful Christmas, a well-deserved break and a very happy 2016!

Jill Gray Principal

Christmas Craft Fair Blackpool Sixth’s third Christmas Craft Fair took place at the college on Saturday 28th November, and featured over 70 different stalls. It was one of the largest charitable craft fairs in the Fylde Coast, with over 800 visitors attending! The event raised £967.08 for both CRY (Cardiac Risk in The Young) and Sands. Stallholders included renowned local craftspeople and artists, students, schools and community groups. Stalls included; ‘Once Upon a Cupcake’, ‘The Apple Emporium with Daisy Frame Gifts’, ‘H is for Hats’, ‘Picture It’ and many, many more! At the event there was also a series of exciting mini-workshops for visitors to make bespoke samples/crafts to take away, and an interactive children’s area for face painting, clay modelling, decorating gingerbread men and several fairground games. Santa paid us a visit and Stonebakers came and sold freshly made pizzas. We also had a large raffle with some fantastic prizes donated by local companies.

Here are some amazing and supportive comments from the event Brenda from ‘Enticing Cakes’ commented, “There’s lots of stalls, good selection, will come again!”

Karen Hall from ‘CD clocks and gifts’ said, “It’s my first time here and I am very impressed as it is extremely well organised and busy. I will be coming back next year.

In fact I was very lucky to get in this year as I was on the reserve list.”

Also, a huge thank you to Susan Franklin; each year she goes around the college collecting money left on the floor and donates it to the funds raised from the craft fair!

Joan Wilson from ‘In Stitches’ said “the fair was really well organised. Communication about booking set up and on the day was fantastic. All the students have been very friendly and helpful.”

Stonebakers stall commented, “It’s a very well organised event, well attended despite the weather! I sold lots of pizzas and raised money for two great charities, I would love to come back!“

Christmas quiz 1. When Alexandra Burke won X-factor in 2008 she had the Christmas number one with “Hallelujah”.

There were two other versions in the top 40 at the same time - who were they by?

Jeff Buckley and Leonard Cohen

2. If all the people and creatures that appear in the song “The Twelve days of Christmas” are counted up how many are there?

324

3. In which carol do the words “tidings of comfort and joy” appear?

God rest ye merry gentlemen

4. In which poem do you find “six hands at an open door dicing for pieces of silver”?

The Journey of the Magi - T S Eliot

5. In the 1976 Morecambe and Wise Christmas special which newsreader famously displayed her legs?

Angela Rippon

6. What did Owen serve the Reverend Geraldine Grainger as “traditional Christmas fayre” in 1996?

Tripe

Alastair Cook

8. Which current English sporting captain was born on 25th December 1984?

Gary Oldman

7. In the 2009 animated film version of “A Christmas Carol” who voiced Tiny Tim?

Congratulations Congratulations to David Williams and his wife Sally, who got married recently at the Marriott Hotel in Preston.

Congratulations to Wendy Aiton who graduated from Liverpool John Moores University on Tuesday 24th November, with a BA Honours in Special Educational Needs.

Congratulations to Laura McGuirk, who won The Local Heroes Teacher of the Year Award after being nominated by an ex-student.

Did you know?

The Germans made the first artificial Christmas trees out of dyed goose feathers.

Did you know?

Each year more than 3 billion Christmas cards are sent in the U.S. alone.

Development Day The Marketplace at the College Development Day was a huge success and the feedback so far has been really positive. We hope you found it useful and that you are putting into place the best practice ideas from other departments.

The energy and enthusiasm you all showed is greatly appreciated and it was nice to see all departments collaborating. It was a wonderful opportunity to speak to staff that you don’t usually get to speak to on a day-to-day basis.

You help shape the CPD offering so if you have any feedback on this, or any other CPD sessions, please let either Amanda Crumblehulme or Curtis Jackson know.

The College Development Day also saw a visit from Blackpool Wellness Service with advisors doing blood pressure and BMI checks, the Memory Assessment Team, the Stop Smoking Services and health trainers to name a few. We hope you found the visit useful and it was nice to see so many of you take the time to visit the stands. Health and well-being is an area that we would like to continue improving on so if you have any ideas or suggestions please let HR know.

Sprinting Santas Dan Moore, Dave Williams and Jon McLeod took part in the annual Blackpool Santa Dash along the prom on Sunday 5th December. The event is held in aid of Trinity Hospice and sees several hundred santas and elves walk, jog or run the two-mile course.

The Blackpool Sixth santas went around the course quickly in blustery conditions. Dave Williams was the first santa taking part to cross the line. Well done, Dave! At that pace, Dave will be challenging the real Father Christmas for his job.

Taylor Shaw compare prices Sue and Jo have been busy checking our prices against other local colleges. Sue and Jo have compared the prices of the most commonly sold items to ensure we, at Blackpool Sixth, offer students and staff the best price possible. Here is our price comparison chart (pictured right).

Following the survey, Taylor Shaw have price-matched the cost of fruit down from 42p to 25p.

Gifted and Talented Co-ordinator Having recently taken up post as Gifted and Talented co-ordinator, Rob has a lead role in monitoring the progress of students applying to Oxbridge. With 20 students applying this year, Rob has worked with pastoral mentors to ensure that UCAS applications were robust and allowed each applicant to ‘shine’ through their personal statement. So far, 9 students have been invited to interview and Rob has co-ordinated the support of heads of department, curriculum leaders and other subject specialists in helping to support their preparations. Many thanks to all involved – we wait to hear the outcome of your endeavours…

In other work, Rob is co-ordinating our involvement with the Cambridge HE+ project to

support our current Lower Sixth students who may be interested in applying to Oxbridge. The HE+ project is unique, in that it encourages schools and colleges to collaborate to engage their very best students in a sustained, year long programme, including academic extension classes, subject master classes and guidance sessions, along with visits to Cambridge University.

Did you know?

In A.D. 350, Pope Julius I, Bishop of Rome, proclaimed December 25 the official celebration date for the birthday of Christ.

World Kindness Day To commemorate World Kindness Day on Friday 13th November, we asked Blackpool Sixth students for affirmations of the things in their lives that they are grateful for. During Pastoral Mentor sessions, students wrote down one thing they were grateful for inside of college and one thing outside of college. We then used the Blackpool Sixth’s

Twitter page to anonymously tweet students’ affirmations to highlight the positive impact of small acts of kindness, and the power of kind thoughts each and every day! We tweeted over 100 acts of kindness throughout the day and it had a positive response from both students and members of the public.

Here are just a small selection of the tweets about things students are grateful for in college. You can follow us on Twitter @BlackpoolSixth.

“I am grateful that all teachers and staff are helpful with my mental health issues”

“I am thankful for the help provided by tutors in my lessons”

“I am thankful for the Focus team working hard to help me and other students”

“I am grateful the college has lifts as I can’t walk properly”

“I am grateful for the amount of support college gives me for my depression and anxiety”

“I am thankful for the help provided by teachers in my lessons”

“I am grateful for the enthusiasm my teachers hold for their subjects”

“I am grateful for the FYi and all its staff”

“I am grateful for an understanding and caring college community”

HR website As part of the College Development Day we launched the Human Resources website. This site, only accessible to those with a college email account, aims to be a one stop for much of the information you may need. It includes a number of useful pages, including:

Handbook The college handbook is a new information source. Primarily for those that are new to college existing and long serving staff members are also encouraged to read through the information here. In the handbook you can find the key college dates, HR policies, useful numbers and much more.

Forms In this section you find an array of forms split into sections for ease of use. You can download a form from here and save it your drive.

FAQs This page will be shaped by you and will grow. Any commonly asked questions, and their answers, will be posted here.

CPD resources All resources from every CPD session throughout the academic year can be found here. A great tool for refreshing your memory from a session you have been on, or an interesting browse through sessions you couldn’t attend.

You can find the website at: https://sites.google.com/a/ blackpoolsixth.ac.uk/hrblackpoolsixth/ If you have any suggestions or think we have missed anything please let HR know.

Did you know?

The world’s largest Christmas stocking measured 106 feet and 9 inches (32.56m) long and 49 feet and 1 inch (14.97m) wide. It was made by the Children’s Society in London on December 14, 2007.

Did you know?

It is estimated that the single “White Christmas” by Irving Berlin is the best selling single of all time, with over 100 million sales worldwide.

A day in the life...

I walk into college at 8:10am and make my way to The Link.

On arrival, I am greeted with a student waiting for me. “Good morning” I say. The student responds with “I need help”.

Having spoken to him for a while, getting to the bottom of his issues by skilfully navigating my way through the maze of teenage thought-patterns, I eventually sit down to deal

with the fallout from the previous day’s attendance, lack of personal application (effort) and students providing challenging situations (problems).

The time is now 8:28am and it’s time for a brew, having already made a difference to one student I feel it’s well deserved. Now the day starts in earnest, by 9:00am I am checking attendances to session 1, phoning any students who failed to get out of bed and make it in. “Where are you?, Why are you not in?”, normally greeted with “I missed the bus”. Buses are quite big so missing them isn’t a valid excuse in my book. After the reasons, I am greeted with promises, “I’ll be in for next lesson”.

In-between phone calls I am balancing students walking in with issues and wanting help with their UCAS applications. At this point in the day The Link resembles a doctor’s waiting room, with students waiting patiently to speak with me about their concerns.

Session 2 is Lower Sixth PM session, a brief respite from responding to emails and chasing students. After the session a chance to catch students for 1:1s. I meet with four students, one after the other, making sure everything is going well , celebrating successes and putting support in place if needed.

After quick 10 minute turn around, I am ready for an Upper Sixth PM session which follows straight after.

Back to The Link and the time away from my desk has resulted in a bulging email inbox, resembling my waistline after the Christmas holiday. The rest of the day is dealing with issues as they arise and catching up with concerns received in the morning, all the while checking for absences, phoning home and arranging meetings. At 4:00pm I have a meeting with a student and her parents. It results in a stage 1 warning and, hopefully, improved attendance.

Not sure what time it is but it has gone dark outside, time to pack away and put my coat on. Hang on! I have a meeting with a parent who can only come in to discuss progress at 4:45pm. Back I go to The Link. Finally, leaving college with a smile and half a dozen UCAS personal statements to check. I know I have helped students achieve their potential and assisted teaching staff the best way I possibly can. All ready for tomorrow... BRING IT ON!

A day in the life at ReFill...

The day starts at 8:00am, in readiness for an 08:15am opening.

These days it’s like working aboard the Starship Enterprise when all the computers, printers and the till are switched on! The first job after switch on is to fill the copiers with paper (we use about 1.5 million sheets of white A4 per year) - that’s not including colour paper. We check there is enough stock on the shelves - if not, refill. Now sort the order for the day’s printing for staff, and it’s up with the hatch and all systems go.

There is a variety of tasks throughout the day, but the majority is staff printing and student glossy printing. The glossy printing is time consuming, so we spend quite a lot of time sitting down at the computers, especially when there are student deadlines looming. We also offer staff printing while you wait, for those last minute printing needs.

Blackpool Sixth has bought an A0 printer, so we can now print large posters – many of which you will see around college.

From the shop, we sell over 180 different items such as pens, pencils, lined A4 pads and art sketchbooks. We also sell diverse items like wire, dis-solvable fabric, lino, sports kit and rolls of black & white film. There is a comprehensive stationery catalogue available, if you follow this link: https://sites.google.com/a/blackpoolsixth.ac.uk/reprographic/catalogue We were recently re-branded following a college wide competition. One of our students, Jake Muttitt, came up with the name “ReFill” and we now have a new logo and signage (designed by the Marketing Department).

We are always more than happy to talk to you about your printing requirements and to offer advice on the best, most economical way, to produce your work.

Finally, the shutters come down on ReFill’s day at 4:00pm for students and 4:30pm for staff every day, except Thursday, when we close completely at 4:00pm.

Did you know?

England has only had seven White Christmases in the entire twentieth century.

The definition of a White Christmas in England is when one snowflake falls on the roof of the London Weather Centre in the 24 hours of 25th December.

LGPS Q&A A new single tier, flat rate State Pension is being introduced for people who reach State Pension age on or after 6 April 2016. The new State Pension should help people better understand what they will get so that they can plan for their retirement. It will replace the existing basic and additional State Pension.

As a member of the LGPS you are currently ‘contracted out’ of the additional State Pension and therefore receive a rebate on your National Insurance (NI) contributions[1]. This means that most members of the LGPS are currently paying a lower amount of National Insurance contributions.

From 6 April 2016 you will no longer receive this National Insurance rebate which means you will start to pay a higher amount of National Insurance contributions.

It is important that as a member of the LGPS you understand that if you are eligible for the new State Pension you might not receive the full amount. This is because you have paid a lower amount of National Insurance in previous years.

You will, of course, continue to be entitled to your LGPS benefits. These will continue to be a very important part of your income in retirement, providing an excellent range of benefits including benefits for your loved ones.

This Q&A has been produced to help LGPS members understand what the changes to the State Pension will mean for them.

Will the new State Pension provide sufficient income in retirement?

The current State Pension is made up of two parts: The State Pension is intended to be only a part of your retirement income and will provide a very basic standard of living in retirement. It is important that you plan for your retirement, taking into account that people are generally living longer so you’re likely to spend more time in retirement, you may want to retire before your State Pension age or if you were a member of the LGPS prior to 6 April 2016 you may not qualify for the full amount of the new State Pension.

Who will receive the new State Pension?

You will be able to claim the new State Pension if you’re: A man born on or after 6 April 1951 A woman born on or after 6 April 1953 and, normally, have at least 10 years qualifying years on your National Insurance record.

If you reach State Pension age before 6 April 2016 you’ll get your State Pension under the current scheme instead. If you do not know what your State Pension age is you can use the State Pension age calculator to find out.

Where do I find out more information?

More information about the new State Pension can be found at www.gov.uk/yourstatepension If you are over age 55 you can request an estimate of the State Pension you will receive under the new system here www.gov.uk/state-pension-statement A video about the new State Pension can be viewed here - www.youtube.com/user/PensionTube

I cannot afford to pay the extra National Insurance contributions.

What can I do?

The new State Pension will only provide a very basic level of income in retirement meaning that the LGPS will remain an important part of your retirement planning.

Remember that you will continue to get tax relief on your pension contributions, as your contributions are deducted from your pay before you pay tax.

Why will I have to pay more in National Insurance contributions?

The current State Pension is made up of two parts: the basic State Pension and the additional State Pension (the additional State Pension is sometimes called State Second Pension or SERPS).

The LGPS is contracted-out of the additional State Pension. This means that during your membership of the LGPS you have been receiving a rebate on your National Insurance contributions and have not been building up additional State Pension. You have been building up pension benefits in the LGPS instead.

You have flexibility to pay less pension contributions, with the option to pay half your normal contributions in return for building up half your normal pension (although you still retain full life cover and ill health cover). This is known as the 50/50 section of the scheme and is designed to help members stay in the scheme, building up valuable pension benefits, during times of financial hardship.

From 6 April 2016 the new State Pension will replace the existing basic and additional State Pensions with a single tier, flat rate State Pension. This will end contracting-out of the additional State Pension and so the rebate on scheme members’ National Insurance contributions will cease. If you do not know what your State Pension age is you can use the State Pension age calculator to find out.

The 50/50 section is designed to be a short-term option and your employer is required to re-enrol you back into the main section of the scheme every three years.

This will be carried out in line with your employer’s automatic re-enrolment date.

A 50/50 option form is available from your employer. Further information about the 50/50 section is available at: http://lgps2014.org/

Why is the State Pension changing?

The Government’s aim is to introduce a simpler, fairer system where people have a clearer idea about what pension the state will provide, making it easier to plan their retirement savings.

Will the benefits provided by the LGPS change because of this?

There are no plans to change the benefits the LGPS provides as a result of the introduction of the new State Pension.

Did you know?

It is considered unlucky to cut a mince pie with a knife.

How much more in National Insurance contributions will I have to pay?

The current National Insurance rebate is 1.4% of pay between certain thresholds. From 6 April 2016 you will no longer receive this rebate and will pay the standard rate of National Insurance. Below are some examples showing how much extra National Insurance contributions will be payable from 6 April 2016’.

Earnings

National Insurance payable currently

National Insurance payable from 6 April 2016

Difference

£15,000 per year (£1,250 per month)

£58.66 per month

£69.36 per month

£10.70 per month

£27,000 per year (£2,250 per month)

£164.66 per month

£189.36 per month

£24.70 per month

£45,000 per year (£3,750 per month)

£307.65 per month

£347.56 per month

£39.91 per month

1 The examples assume the individual is over 21 years, are based on the current NI thresholds (2015/16) and have been calculated using the calculator http://nicecalculator.hmrc.gov.uk/ Class1NICs1.aspx To find out how much more in National Insurance contributions you will be paying from 6 April 2016 you can use the contributions calculator http://lgps2014.org/contcalc/. This calculates the National Insurance rebate you are currently receiving; from 6 April 2016 this rebate will no longer be applicable.

Will I qualify for the full amount of the new State Pension?

The new State Pension will be based on your National Insurance contributions record and a new minimum qualifying period will be introduced. People with no National Insurance contributions record before 6 April 2016 will need 35 qualifying years to get the full amount of new State Pension.

If you have paid into the LGPS between 6 April 1978 and 5 April 2016 and attain State Pension age on or after 6 April 2016 the amount of new State Pension you receive will be reduced, in respect of this period, to reflect the fact that you and your employer have paid a lower rate of National Insurance (due to the LGPS being contracted-out of the current additional State Pension). If this applies to you, you are unlikely to receive the full amount of the new State Pension, however, this will depend on your individual National Insurance record and how many qualifying years you have after April 2016.

The Government has confirmed the full amount of new State Pension will be no less than £151.25 a week. The actual amount will be set in autumn 2015.

For further information about the calculation of the new State Pension and for a definition of a qualifying year please refer to www.gov.uk/new-state-pension/ overview.

Teaching and Learning Update Following the launch of our teaching and learning theme of ‘Excellence through high aspirations’ in August, a team of ‘champions’ was created to drive this theme. Introducing the team; Pete Wright – Humanities Rebecca Lawn – English and Modern Foreign Languages Matt Speight – Humanities Lorraine Linnett – Science Charlie Moore – Performing Arts, Music and Media Zarqa Batool – Visual Arts Vanessa Harwood – Business and IT Rob Fisher – Maths

This term…

As this first academic term draws to a festive close, 45 staff took part in a collaborative learning session, focused upon encouraging students to engage in more teamwork, take responsibility for their own learning and develop their skills of independent learning.

Also this term, the champions have been developing awareness of ‘growth mindset’ through their involvement in the teaching and learning marketplace, held on 11th November. Together we have developed the ‘top 10 strategies’ for implementing growth mindset into the classroom, with the specific focus on improving high grades. A link to the strategies can be found below… https://drive.google.com/ open?id=0ByjK5uzibEm SM0lnVWtMbTU3Vzg

Coming next term…

In the spring term, the teaching and learning champions will be working on developing flipped learning.

Expressions of interest to join the team of teaching and learning champions for next term are invited now!

Autumn Music Concert The Autumn Music Concert was a fantastic annual celebration of the musical achievements of Lower and Upper Sixth students, from music courses and enrichments. It was fabulous programme, offering a broad selection of music to suit all tastes. Performances included talented soloists as well as the Blackpool Sixth Choir, Chamber Choir, Big Band and small ensembles.

The night was thoroughly enjoyed by all, with a hit medley from Les Miserables and beautiful instrumentals from Annie Elliot and Sophie Collier and a stunning saxophone performance from Kathy Clarke. The BTEC bands took to the stage to give an acoustic live lounge rendition of ‘Dancing On My Own’ followed by a big band Blues Brothers Medley, which stunned the audience.

Did you know?

Christmas has different meanings around the world; Christmas Eve in Japan is a good day to eat fried chicken and strawberry shortcake.

Did you know?

In 1647, the English parliament passed a law that made Christmas illegal.

Christmas festivities were banned by Puritan leader Oliver Cromwell, who considered feasting and revelry on what was supposed to be a holy day to be immoral.

Compliments This was received by a visitor to our recent Open Evening: “ I just have to say massively impressed with the open evening last night, very well organised and all staff and students so helpful! The presentation was excellent and has given us a lot more background info that we were lacking so hopefully we will put application in online shortly.”

This compliment was received by a visitor to the Visual Arts department “Please pass on my thanks again to all the staff in the Art department who made my visit on 2nd November so worthwhile. Here are some of the positives which I can comment on. Please feel free to pass them onto SLT. 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

The expertise, knowledge and understanding of staff was exemplary.

The staff passion and drive for the subject was also outstanding.

The care and attention given to the needs of the students was outstanding.

Students really felt valued.

Student interest and engagement in all areas was outstanding. No behavioural issues.

No bells made the start and finish of lessons less hectic.

The studios and work areas fit for purpose. Lovely space to work in.

The work completed by students was innovative. I could clearly see students and staff invest a lot of effort into sketchbook work.”

This was received from the Screening Events Manager at CRY: “I know I speak for the entire CRY screening team when I say thank you for your kindness and excellent hospitality. The warm cakes and wonderful buffet lunch was well appreciated by the CRY team. We all felt very pampered with the constant stream of refreshments and lunch.

Your college has ideal facilities for holding a heart screening event with wonderful support from your estate, administration and catering teams. The CRY team also commented on how polite and courteous your students were. They are excellent ambassadors for your college.

We screened 111 on Wednesday and 109 on Thursday. Of which 4 will need repeat testing in 1 year as their hearts have yet to develop into an adult shape.

Well done for all you hard work in organising and raising the funds for the screening.

Without dedicated people like yourself screenings would not be held.”

A huge thank you to everyone that helped make the CRY Screening happen!

The Festival of Brass and Voice Imagine this, over 50 choirs and singing groups from around the UK displaying a rainbow of colours comprising of their finest stage wear, singing and waving their Union Flags along to the Grimethorpe Colliery Band and The Cory Band within London’s Royal Albert Hall. Well, for two members of the college staff we don’t have to imagine, we have sung there… twice!

The Festival of Brass and Voices is a spectacle that takes place every three years in aid of Cancer Research UK. As one of their major fundraising activities, since 2006 the events have raised almost half a million pounds. It is an amazing opportunity for singers from all over the UK to join in a massed sing with wonderful award winning brass bands recreating the atmosphere of the Last Night of the Proms.

The Capricorn Singers, a local ladies choir of which Julie Halliwell and Upper Sixth student Meredith Ashton are members and Chrissie Turkington is the Musical Director, have taken part in the last three events (2009, 2012 and 2015).

Julie Halliwell was one of over 1300 singers at the events in 2009 and 2012, and Chrissie Turkington sang at the latest event in November 2015 after also having sung alongside Julie in 2012.

It’s such an amazing and awe-inspiring experience and one neither Julie, nor Chrissie will ever forget.

Forthcoming events

Please come and support our staff and students at this year’s Winter event.

Contact our friendly Event Co-ordinators, Nicola Kelly or Emma Lund for information and tickets on events@blackpoolsixth.ac.uk.

blackpoolsixth.ac.uk

enquiries@blackpoolsixth.ac.uk

Blackpool Sixth, Blackpool Old Road, Blackpool, FY3 7LR.

01253 394911