Autumn Newsletter 2015

Autumn Newsletter 2015 Dear Friends,

Welcome to our 2015 Autumn Term Newsletter As I write this, the new academic year is just beginning and we are welcoming our new intake of students. This is an exciting time of year and we wish all our new and continuing students all the very best for the year ahead. It is also a good time to look back at what was a fantastic summer for the college with our best ever set of exam results. Some of the key details of these results are given in the following pages. The most pleasing aspects of the results were the very high pass rates for both A level and BTEC and the increased number of top grades. These results will set our students on course for great success at the next stage whether it be university, an apprenticeship or other employment with training. As ever, this newsletter celebrates the wider contribution of the college to our community. This is something we value extremely highly as is demonstrated by the participation of all of our staff in the sponsored relay walk for the Cardiac Risk in the Young charity around the Fylde Coast early in September. The event demonstrated the teamwork and dedication of staff this is a cornerstone of our continuing success as a college Jill Gray (Principal)

Blackpool Sixth is celebrating a brilliant set of A level and BTEC results this year. The overall pass rate remains at 99% and there has been a significant increase in students achieving high and upper high grades.

Results 2015

Celebrating success This year the college’s largest ever cohort of 1002 students took their final year qualifications, 65 more than last year. Over half of the A level grades were high grades (A*,A or B), up 6% on last year. This is against the background of a national trend of fewer top grades being awarded. The percentage of A levels being graded at A* or A climbed to 20%. Almost 80% of the BTEC Level 3 grades were distinction stars ,the highest possible grade awarded, with 100% of BTEC students passing their courses.

All this means that Blackpool Sixth students will be well qualified to take up their first choice of university places as well as sought-after places on higher apprenticeship programmes.

Blackpool Sixth Principal, Jill Gray, commented, “This is my first year of results as Principal and I’m delighted by the wonderful achievements of all our students. These results are the outcome of a lot of hard work and commitment by students and staff.”

James Pagen, formerly of Baines School, gained an outstanding set of results, with a clean sweep of A*s in Physics, Chemistry and Maths.

James will take up a place at Warwick University to read Maths.

James said, “I have loved my time at college. Going to Blackpool Sixth is the best decision I have ever made.”

Chloe Rice, formerly of Highfield Humanities College has gained a place at Oxford University to read Biological Sciences after receiving A* grades in Biology and Maths and an A in Chemistry.

Chloe said, “I honestly didn’t think I’d get two A*s!”

Rebecca Robinson achieved an A* in English Literature, As in Economics and History and a B in Maths and will read History at Cambridge University.

Zoe Norbury is going to the prestigious De Montfort University to study Dance. The former Montgomery High School student achieved an A* in Dance and Performing Arts and achieved 100% in her practical dance exam, and a B in English Literature.

Amongst the spectacular achievements in the BTEC Level 3 courses this year is Emma Horn who achieved a triple distinction star in Public Services and was also selected as “Outstanding BTEC Public Services Student of the Year” last year by Pearson.

Jack Burrell, from Hodgson Academy achieved A* in Law, and 3 As in Modern History, Classical Civilisation and Economics to successfully secure his place at King’s College London to study History.

Sabine Dunstan has secured her places at Cambridge University.

Sabine achieved an A* in Geography, an A in Economics and a B in Religion, Ethics and Philosophy. She will read Land Economy.

Former Garstang Community Academy student, Georgia Kelsall, will start a coveted apprenticeship in systems control with BAE Systems after achieving top marks in her BTEC business and finance courses.

New model for pastoral care At the beginning of the academic year 20152016 we introduced a new pastoral team who are wholly dedicated to providing the pastoral support and guidance to all students at college.

The main goal is to monitor and support every individual to fulfil their full potential. The ten pastoral mentors report to two pastoral leads who coordinate the provision and take a lead role in the development of the pastoral curriculum. The pastoral mentors will be the key point of contact for parents/carers and guardians.

New programme launched for high-fliers In the course of the last academic year the college reviewed its provision for top achievers.

We consulted widely both with existing students as well as school students and staff. The result has been the launch of a new programme called 6Advance. The programme will keep important elements of the previous gifted and talented provision such as additional support for applying to the most selective universities such as Oxford and Cambridge or prestigious dance, drama and music colleges.

Building developments On September 4th, the new Phase 5 building was handed over to the college. The building provides eight classrooms populated mostly by the maths department. The ground floor contains a modern, spacious, “internet cafe-style�, new social area for students and houses a new shop and coffee bar. The Futures team will also be based here, providing instant access to careers

advice and information about work experience and volunteering.

Over the summer the ground floor of the Brock building was completely transformed into our new administration area for technical support, print room, college shop, student services, information systems and exams.

Student Awards Evening At the end of June we held our annual Student Awards Evening. Over 90 awards were presented to students in our theatre with parents and VIPs in attendance. The guest-of-honour was former Blackpool Sixth student, Ed Taylor, who is now Head of Corporate Affairs at the Telegraph Media Group. The coveted, Student of the Year award went to James Mason who has combined excellence in his studies with strong contributions to the life of the college, especially in drama productions.

Amy Donovan (left) and Fiona Hockey (right)

John Boyle (Chair of Directors, left) and guest speaker Ed Taylor (right)

Mayor (left) and Mayoress of the Fylde (centre) with Principal Jill Gray (right)

Hannah Carter (left) and Gio Torralba (right)

Lorraine Atkinson (left) and Marzia Nurulmomin (right)

Matthew Woolton (left), Rory Pinkney (centre) and Courtney Woodman (right)

Special Award Winners 2015

Steve Craven, Ryan Latham, Michelle Smith and Natalie Dobson (left to right)

Employability Network Evening In June we organised an evening for our growing network of employers who support students through work placements or other opportunities for them to build valuable skills for the workplace.

The evening included input from Steve Craven, Managing Director at NST Travel Group, and Michelle Smith, Chief Executive Of Carers Trust, Fylde Coast Carers Centre. Awards were presented to TechBacc students, Ryan Latham, Abbie Jemson and Zach Mead Mason for excellence in their work placements. Over 70 employers were in attendance at the event and they discussed with Blackpool Sixth staff how to further develop industry links. If you are interested in finding out more about our employer network, please contact Natalie Dobson, our Employer Liaison Officer at natalie.dobson@ blackpoolsixth.ac.uk.

Medieval Day Swords, arrows and full suits of armour were on show at Blackpool Sixth in June, when the college’s humanities department held a Medieval Day. A group of reenactors brought the middle ages to life for A level History students and over fifty upper secondary pupils from St. George’s School, Aspire Academy and Cardinal Allen Catholic High School.

The group, Knights in Battle Medieval Society, is one of the UK’s leading historical reenactment companies and is based in Yorkshire. Twelve reenactors worked with students throughout the day, covering different aspects of fifteenth century life such as fashion, medicine and warfare. Students were intrigued to find out about what life was like for people of different classes during the latter part of the middle ages. They were particularly interested in the details of how various diseases and ailments were treated.

On Wednesday 2nd September over 200 staff from Blackpool Sixth completed a sponsored relay walk to raise funds and awareness for the charity CRY (Cardiac Risk in the Young). At least 12 young people die suddenly each week in the UK of previously undetected heart problems. Staff from Blackpool Sixth walked 28 miles in total around the Fylde Coast in 18 relay teams, each

Alumni staff

A heart-felt walk walking 1.5 miles. The aim of the walk was to help raise ÂŁ7,000, which will allow 200 students at the college to have ECG and Echocardiogram screening. ÂŁ3,500 has already been donated by the Trustees of the Blackpool Grammar School. The event was carefully and meticulously organised by Alex Gardner from Business & IT.

Currently over 50 of our staff are former students of the college. We gathered some of them together for a photo below. We are always keen to hear from our former students. Please see our Alumni webpage for more details, blackpoolsixth.ac.uk/students/alumni

Highfurlong fundraising Students from Blackpool Sixth and their neighbours at Highfurlong School have been celebrating a remarkable fundraising partnership.

A number of highly successful fundraising activities have led to over £2000 being raised for sensory equipment for the special school. The money was handed over to the headteacher and some pupils from the school before the end of

the summer term.

Although Highfurlong School will have a new building in November this year to replace its outdated and cramped current site, there is no funding provided for much needed new equipment such as new computers, furniture, outdoor play equipment, and a sensory room.

The school are looking to raise £100,000 this year through fundraising activities.

New website launched Blackpool Sixth arrives into a new digital age, with a brand new WordPress website that is fully responsive and compatible on all devices and platforms.

The website benefits from lots of new features, such as the Pick ‘n’ Mix personalised prospectus, study programme pathway course recommendations, and integrated social media.

The website has improved accessibility and navigation built-in, which all users should benefit from.

Brilliant young physicist goes down under A Blackpool Sixth physics student spent two weeks of the summer in Australia after winning a place on an elite science programme. Grace Carpenter, 17, from Poulton was one of only five British A level students to be selected to represent the country at the International Science School (ISS) at the University of Sydney.

She was part of a group of 140 top young scientists from ten different countries, including the US, China and India.

Grace, a former pupil of Baines School, was encouraged to apply for the programme by her Physics teacher, Mhairi Mitchison. Mhairi leads a regional partnership of schools, colleges and

universities as part of the Ogden Trust, a national organisation which promotes physics education.

One of the many initiatives promoted by the Ogden Trust is the ISS programme. Competition for places was extremely tough with aspiring physicists from all over the country applying for places.

Grace commented, “I met some of the most brilliant people from around the world who I will stay connected with and maybe go to visit in the future. The ISS is an inspiring network to now be a part of and I am so thankful to Mhairi who helped me apply for this incredible opportunity.�

Grace talking with Professor Michael Roukes

Year 10 STEM days Over four days in June and July, Blackpool Sixth welcomed 650 Year 10 students from seven local partner schools. They were attending a day of science, technology and maths-themed activities designed to boost their understanding of key maths concepts and inspire them to consider studying STEM courses at the next stage. The students worked in teams and received marks for their work in each challenge. The overall winning team from the four days was from Unity

Academy. We want to congratulate all the students who took part; our teachers were very impressed.

Student short-listed for top awards Upper Sixth students, Thom Waite (left) and Grace Carpenter (see Grace on page 9) and former student, Tom Rowland (right) have been short-listed in the 2015 Student of the Year Awards (SOTY Awards). Our student will attend the prestigious awards ceremony on Friday 25th

September at Grange St Pauls’ Hotel in London.

The Student of the Year Awards is a new, unique, annual programme to recognise top students in the UK between 16 to 17 years of age who are in training or education.

Outstanding success for Emma We are very proud of our student, Emma Horn who won ‘Outstanding BTEC Public Services Student of the Year 2015’ at the National BTEC Awards.

The competition, which celebrates achievement in the country’s most widely taken vocational qualification, was held in London on 7th July 2015.

The awards recognise the nearly one million students around the country who are studying BTEC qualifications this year. Pearson, who own BTECs, received over 800 nominations across the 20 award categories for this year’s awards.

At the end of the summer term, the grassed area in the central college courtyard was transformed into a beach volleyball court.

Staff and student teams competed at lunchtimes with lots of spectators enjoying the thrilling matches. The winning team was Spain, featuring Gary Warner (staff) and students Dave Ramadan and ShayJesusanmi.

Next summer, there will be a three-a-side football competition to coincide with the European Championship.

Beach volleyball

A summer of performing arts

Autumn Music Concert

Magic of the Musicals

The end of the summer term saw a feast of fantastic performances by our students from the department of performing arts, music and media, here are just some of the highlights.

Drame Showcase Girls Like That

Poulton Gala

At the start of the new academic year the college welcomed 28 new members of staff: 22 teachers and 6 support staff colleagues. Blackpool Sixth is delighted to be expanding our staffing and to welcome new members to our team. We are fully committed to providing both support and excellent training and development for all of our new colleagues. There are also a number of staff who have been promoted internally this year who we would like to congratulate on their new roles.

New staff

Student Services Lucy Thomas Naomi Lynch Steve Hayes-Brown Nicola Bradley Kerry Jones Daniel Moore Business and IT Lisa Fahey Science Kerry Ormson Lorraine Linnett

Sport, Tourism & Public Services Samantha Tinsley David Pimblett Adam Hollett Maths Rob Butler Yuhui Li Yanguang Liu Humanities Ken Walton Laura Holman

Performing Arts, Music and Media Katie Edgar Social Sciences Laura Kimmins Mariam Khan Admissions, Liaison & Marketing Emma Curphey Amy Roberts

English and Modern Foreign Languages Keith Rolinson Sue Ann Shaw Estates Neil Gowen Leanne Noble Angela Parker Stacey Ward

Key dates Autumn term 2015 Open Day - 3rd October Open Evening - 15th October October half term - 23rd October College reopens - 2nd November Autumn Music Concert - 9th November Christmas Showcase - 10th December Opening Evening - 11th November Students finish for Christmas - 17th December Christmas Carol Service - 17th December

Key dates Spring term 2016 College reopens - 4th January Mock Exam Week - 11th January Parents’ Evening (surnames A-K) - 3rd February Parents’ Evening (surnames L-Z) -10th February Musicians of the Fylde - 11th February February half term - 12th February College reopens - 22nd February Opening evening - 24th February Annual Musical 2nd, 3rd, 4th March International Evening - 8th March Battle of the Bands -16th March Dance Showcase - 22nd March Lower Sixth HE Info evening -24th March Easter break- 25th March College reopens - 11th April

Forthcoming events Please come and support our staff and students at this year’s Autumn events. Contact our friendly event co-ordinators, Nicola Kelly or Emma Lund for information and tickets on events@blackpoolsixth.ac.uk.

Monday 9th November Doors open at 6:30pm show starts at 7pm Adults - £5 Students/Concessions/Children - £3

blackpoolsixth.ac.uk

enquiries@blackpoolsixth.ac.uk

01253 394911

Blackpool Sixth Blackpool Old Road Blackpool Lancashire FY3 7LR /blackpoolsixth

@blackpoolsixth