Spring Newsletter 2016

Spring Newsletter 2016 Dear Friends Welcome to our 2016 Spring Term Newsletter It is now just over a year since I took up my post as principal of the college.

I have had the huge pleasure of getting to know a very large number of students, staff, parents and friends of Blackpool Sixth. The excitement of being principal of such a vibrant, happy and dynamic college remains as great for me as on that first day back in January 2015. I think that this newsletter provides just some of the reasons why the college is such a wonderful place to study, work and visit. Recently we have received some very high profile recognition for our work through our inclusion in the Parliamentary Review and through our achievement of the Investors in People Gold Award. We have launched new initiatives such as the 6Advance programme to promote the highest of aspirations amongst our students.

We have welcomed our local community to a host of brilliant concerts, performances and other cultural events. Students and staff have once again carried out an extraordinary amount of fundraising for good causes. Our students are now taking their January ‘mock’ exams. These exams are a key part of their preparation for the public exams in the summer. With the support of our extremely dedicated staff as well as friends and family, we know that they will approach these exams with determination and plenty of positivity. I would like to wish you all a very happy and successful 2016 and I hope to meet as many of you as possible in person during the course of the year.

Jill Gray, Principal

Parliamentary recognition for the college Blackpool Sixth was selected to feature in a prestigious brochure produced on behalf of the UK parliament. The publication, the higher and further education edition of the Parliamentary Review 2014/2015, presents examples of excellence in the post-16 education sector. We were one of only three colleges to receive coverage in the document, which is produced on behalf of parliament by Westminster Publications.

Maths ‘Student of the Year’ award for Grace A Blackpool Sixth student has won a national award for her academic excellence in maths and her voluntary work. Grace Carpenter (left) was honoured at the first Student of the Year Awards, launched to find the UK’s brightest youngsters.

Grace, formerly of Baines School, was awarded for her hard work helping others, and was one of only five students in England to be given a scholarship to the International Science School at Sydney University in the summer, where she attended lectures from some of the world’s leading physicists. She hopes to move into a specialised area of physics after studying at university either in the UK or USA, with Oxford University being her current preference.

Awards founder Tim Campbell MBE said: “Grace’s academic achievements really impressed the judges and the range of activities she has undertaken for a student of her tender age is remarkable. From teaching English to young students in Kathmandu, raising money for the Nepal disaster, through to a trekking expedition to Andalusia, Grace is clearly extremely talented and has unwavering determination.”

Top music school place for talented trombonist A Blackpool Sixth student has secured a place at one of the world’s top music schools. Talented trombonist, Tom Christie (pictured right), will progress to the Royal Northern College of Music after completing college next year.

Tom has had his sights set on getting into a top music conservatoire for several years. He was invited to audition at six of the best in the UK. Amazingly, given the very high standard expected by these schools, he ended up with offers from all those where he attended auditions.

Tom studies A Level Music and BTEC Engineering.

Alongside his studies, he has become a star performer in college performances. He feels he has greatly benefitted from the teaching he has received at Blackpool Sixth and praises his music teacher,

Michael Hodgkinson, and all the music team for the support they have given him in pursuing his ambitions and developing as a musician.

He commented, “The A Level Music course is really well-rounded. There’s a great balance of theory and performance.”

6Advance promotes high aspirations In the autumn term of 2015, Blackpool Sixth launched a new programme designed to support high achievement and advanced skills for career development. At the heart of the programme is an exciting range of academies for extra-curricular advancement. Each of these choices will provide participating students with excellent activities and skills-building to help them go beyond the exam curriculum and apply their knowledge and skills in challenging contexts. In so doing, they will discover more about about a general subject or job area and will build up a great portfolio for applying to highly selective universities or higher apprenticeship programmes. Further details of the programme are on our website at http://blackpoolsixth.ac.uk/prospective-students/6advance/.

The college has also recently appointed a new Gifted and Talented Coordinator, Rob Fisher. Amongst his current work, Rob is overseeing 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.

Oxbridge offers for students (L to R: Ian Hathaway, Grace Cook, Amy Hughes and Grace Robinson.

Conor Jones

Seven Blackpool Sixth students have received offers of places from Oxford and Cambridge universities.

Four are currently studying at the sixth form and three are taking a gap year, having completed their A levels at Blackpool Sixth in the summer. Grace Cook (French), Conor Jones (Medicine) and Lottie Candy (Fine Art) have offers from Oxford. Amy Hughes (Education and English), Ian Hathaway (Mathematics), Grace Robinson (French) and Jack Burrell (Law) have been offered places at Cambridge.

Mission Christmas for social scientists Students and staff from the department of Social Sciences were busy making sure that local children in need had at least one present to open this Christmas. They have been supporting the Rock FM ‘Mission Christmas – Cash for Kids’ campaign. They registered the college as a ‘drop off’ point for Christmas gifts so that members of the community could leave gifts at the college.

In addition to this each class within the department raised money to buy gifts. One group in particular really got into the spirit of the mission and collected over £100. Many students were so inspired by the campaign that they brought in gifts as well as raising money. The department managed to collect an amazing 328 toys and raised over £300 to buy further gifts.

Christmas party for children in need A Blackpool Sixth Public Services student has helped to bring some Christmas cheer to a group of children who face very troubled circumstances. Josh Latham (pictured right), has been working with the locally-based Empowerment Charity since end of June last year. Josh organised a huge collection of good-quality but unwanted toys to ensure that a group of local children who are victims of domestic abuse have at least one present to open on Christmas day. He also helped to put on a party for forty such children, hosted at Blackpool Sixth. The party featured music, games and a bouncy castle as well as food kindly provided by the college’s caterers Taylor Shaw and, of course, a visit from Santa Claus.

Youngsters enjoy Christmas shows Over three hundred primary children from seven local schools attended special Christmas shows at Blackpool Sixth on Friday 4th December. First year students on the BTEC Level 3 Performing Arts course devised their own children’s theatre productions by using popular Christmas themes of ‘The Grinch’ and ‘A Christmas Carol’.

Chaucer Primary School pupils with BTEC performing

arts students.

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Christmas craft fair a scintillating success Despite the heavy rain and gales, hundreds of Fylde Coast residents flocked to The Blackpool Sixth Form College on 28th November for its charity Christmas Craft Fair. Over 800 local people came through the doors, making it one of the largest of its kind in the region.

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Besides being a big hit with visitors of all ages, the event was a fantastic fundraising success.

A large raffle with prizes kindly donated by local companies as well as other activities raised £967.08. This money will go to the event’s two nominated charities this year CRY (Cardiac Risk in The Young) and Sands (Stillbirth and neonatal death charity).

The fair featured over 70 different stalls selling an amazing array of art and craft items. Stallholders included renowned local craftspeople and artists, students, schools and community groups. An innovation for the event this year was a series of exciting mini-workshops for visitors to make bespoke crafts. There were also activities for young children. Blackpool Sixth students were on hand to help run the event along with members of staff from the college’s Visual Arts department.

The talented Emily Tillotson sells an array of hand-crafted pieces.

Christmas carol concert brings theme of peace

Choir members singing at St. Chad’s church, Poulton

On Thursday 17th December, the college held its annual ‘Christmas Festival of Carols and Readings’ at St. Chad’s church in Poulton. The Blackpool Sixth Choir and musicians rose to the challenge of performing demanding new material. This year’s service focused on the theme of peace and international understanding. The money from the collection will go to the United National Refugee Agency.

Christmas Showcase

Autumn Music

In December performing arts students put on a spectacular show featuring a vibrant mix of dance, musical theatre and drama. The show was a sell-out and the packed theatre showed huge appreciation for all the performances.

The Autumn Music Concert was a fantastic annual celebration of the musical achievements of lower and upper sixth students, from music courses and enrichment. It was a fabulous programme, offering a broad selection of music to suit all tastes.

Footloose Finale

Big Band: The Chicken - Jaco Pastorius

Musical theatre performance

Flute Duet - Annie Elliot and Sophie Collier: Allegro Con Brio from Flute Duo in G major - Beethoven

Sister Act Medley

Blackpool Sixth Singers - Medley from ‘Les Miserables’ - Boublil & Schoenberg

War zone surgeon gives talk Dr Reg Kingston delivered the annual Memorial Lecture in The Blackpool Sixth Form College theatre in Novermber. He told students about his work across the globe for the medical and humanitarian organisations, Médecins Sans Frontières. (MSF) and Merlin (Medical Emergency Relief International).

Dr Kingston talked movingly of his work in major conflict zones such as Ethiopa, Sri Lanka, Rwanda, Liberia and Sierra Leone as well as in the aftermath of the Haiti earthquake of 2010.

He described some of the extremely difficult conditions under which he carried out emergency surgery, such as in Haiti where the earthquake had destroyed all the hospital operating rooms.

The Memorial Lecture is sponsored by the Trustees of the Blackpool Grammar School War Memorial Fund and is held in memory of those former pupils of Blackpool Grammar School and its successor schools who have lost their lives serving their country. At the end of the lecture, the Trustees presented a cheque of £500 to the work of Médecins Sans Frontières.

Dr Reg Kingston delivering the Memorial Lecture.

Celebrating Diwali This year’s Diwali celebration, organised in partnership with the Fylde Coast Hindu Society, was held at the college on Sunday 1st November.

The event began with a short ‘lighting of the lamp’ ceremony followed by a dance and music show, including a performance by some of our performing arts students. This was then followed by a delicious Indian meal.

Members of the Balvikas Cultural School performing (Fylde Coast Hindu Society).

Nepal fundraising Two recent fundraising events at The Blackpool Sixth Form College have brought in more than £700 to support young people in earthquake-struck Nepal. A group of Blackpool Sixth students, who have all themselves carried out voluntary work at a school in Nepal, raised £400 through a bake-sale. Separately, a further £310 was raised through a raffle during the Diwali celebrations which took place at the college last month. The monies raised will all go to the locally-based Impact Foundation which works with its Nepali trustees to support students in need at two schools in the Kathmandu valley, Shubhakamana School and Green Village Secondary School.

(L to R: Tom Yeoman, Mr Reshpal Bilkhu, Will Gradwell, Conal Land, Dr Virendra Khanna, Mr C Khajuria).

AllStars Sports Awards 2015 On Wednesday 2nd December we held the 2015 AllStars at Blackpool Sixth. These awards, organised in partnership with the Gazette, celebrate all that is best in young people’s sport across the Fylde Coast.

Over 150 young people, parents and guests from the local sporting community attended the event.

Following a buffet and drinks reception in Relish, the guests moved to our theatre to find out who had won this year’s keenly contested awards. The ceremony, hosted by Radio Wave’s Ged Mills, also featured performances from Blackpool Sixth band C.R.E.M. The winner of the overall AllStar award was Jasmine Heaps, an English fencing champion from Lytham St. Annes.The judges for the awards this year were: British boxing champion, Scott Cardle; Head Coach of Fylde Rugby Club, Paul Arnold; English sprint champion, Katy Wyper and Head of Sport, Tourism and Public Services at Blackpool Sixth, Tim Craven.

Winners and judges at the Allstar Sports Awards.

Football careers underway for Bright and Myles Two Blackpool Sixth students are experiencing what is a dream for many young people – a career in professional football.

Bright Osayi-Samuel and Myles Boney have been attending Blackpool Sixth for over a year now alongside their football development with Blackpool F.C. At college, they study BTEC Level 3 Sport Performance and Excellence. They were initially part of the youth team set-up but both have now made the leap into first team football with the Seasiders. This is a remarkable achievement considering that both players are still only 17 years old. Bright moved to Blackpool from London. The possibility of breaking through into first team football helped lure the talented youngster to the club but he did not anticipate just how quickly this would come. He made his debut in March this year when he came off the bench in a Championship game against Sheffield Wednesday and earned a further six appearances last season.

This season he has established a regular place in the side and has signed a two-year deal with the club. The young winger has quickly become a favourite with the fans with his impressive performances.

Teammate Myles did not have to travel far to join the Seasiders - he is a local lad who attended Montgomery High School in Bispham. He also made the breakthrough into the first team squad last season. However, he had a longer wait than Bright to make it off the bench and into first

Bright Osayi-Samuel (left) and Myles Boney (Right).

team action. This happened in dramatic circumstances earlier this month when the Seasiders’ keeper was injured during a Johnstone’s Paints Trophy match against Wigan. As soon as he came onto the pitch, he was called upon to face a penalty – a true baptism of fire but also an experience which Myles feels will put him at an advantage in his future career. Blackpool Sixth’s work with Blackpool FC is overseen by the League Football Education (LFE). LFE manage the apprenticeship programme for all Football League clubs and provide the funding to make the education programme possible.

Footballers’ great cup run continues The Blackpool Sixth boys’ football first team beat Blackburn St Mary’s College in Round 3 of the English Schools FA National Cup before Christmas.

Due to waterlogged pitches the game was switched to 3G at Fuse Football, Fleetwood Town FC’s new training ground. Although the Blackburn side scored first, the Blackpool Sixth team soon took control of the game. Danny Squires scored two and Kai Leyland, George MacCauley, Jordan Parker and Kyle Preece all got one a piece. The final score was 6 - 2. Blackpool Sixth now progress to

Action from the third round match.

the fourth round of this national competition when they face Hopwood Hall City Academy at Manchester City’s Etihad Stadium complex in February. This will be a big challenge for our team and a win there will see them through to the last sixteen in the country.

Students meet the Hoff!

More than 100 Blackpool Sixth students were granted unprecedented access to global star David Hasselhoff in October. The Blackpool Sixth students were given the opportunity to meet the star of stage and screen for an exclusive question and answer session while he was starring in his new musical “Last Night A DJ Saved My Life” at the Winter Gardens.

Students from a range of courses including travel and tourism, performing arts and fashion attended the matinee performance of the show on Wednesday 21st October and were then given time afterwards to chat with The Hoff about his career.

The Q&A session with The Hoff is part of a growing partnership between the college and the Winter Gardens will be providing work experience opportunities for Blackpool Sixth students across a wide range of different functions such as front-ofhouse, costumes, hospitality and administration.

TV historian gives talk Students from Blackpool Sixth’s A Level Classical Civilisation course were thrilled to attend a talk by Dr. Michael Scott, an Associate Professor in Classics and Ancient History at the University of Warwick in October. The talk entitled “Ancient Rome: Life in the first Megacity” was held in the college’s theatre.

Dr. Scott (pictured right) is an author of several books on ancient Greek and Roman society, and has written and presented a range of documentaries for National Geographic, History Channel, ITV and the BBC. He is also president of the newest and largest Classical Association in the country based in Lytham St Annes.

Classical civilisation students held a raffle to raise money for the British Red Cross to support refugees from Syria and other war torn areas. Students successfully raised over £80 from the raffle, which had two copies of Dr. Michael Scott’s latest book available, which he then signed for the winning students.

“Scare School” success for performers Four Blackpool Sixth performing arts students were selected to play a major role at the Blackpool Pleasure Beach in October. They beat off competition from hundreds of other hopefuls to gain places at ‘Scare School’ and form part of the Vampire Pleasure Beach event at the famous Blackpool venue’s special attraction, the ‘Pasaje Del Terror’.

At ‘Scare School’ the talented students picked up some new skills such as: the art of scary makeup, how to lead a team of zombies, and how to talk like some of the most frightening characters in horror. The four students selected were Kye Davis, Tony Williams, Josh Hill Barrerio and Catherine Harwood.

Visit gives students an insight into the Brontë sisters A group of students from The Blackpool Sixth Form College recently visited one of the most iconic buildings in world literature. The students, all first year A Level English Literature students visited the Brontë parsonage in Haworth, Yorkshire. The visit was to help them with background to their study of the novel, Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë. They very much enjoyed delving into the histories of the Brontë sisters by visiting each of the rooms in the house. This has given them a deeper insight into the lives, beliefs and values of the celebrated writers.

Students visit the Bronte parsonage with English literature teacher Rebecca Lawn (right).

Public Services students experience army life Students from The Blackpool Sixth Form College’s popular BTEC Level 3 Public Services course gained an insight into what is required of a modern soldier through visits to a local army base. Eighty two students from the two year groups of the course visited Sir Matthew Fell House in Blackpool as guests of The Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment Army Reserve. During the visits the students were involved in a range of mentally and physically challenging activities to build skills in leadership and acquire technical skills. In one activity they used army radios to develop an understanding of effective communication. An additional exciting element of the visit was that Forces TV were in attendance. An item featuring the students was screened on the network.

BTEC Level 3 Public Service students at Sir Matthew Fell House.

Young visitors help out English language students On Wednesday 2nd December, the English and Modern Foreign Languages department welcomed six rather small visitors to their classrooms. This was a chance for our A Level English Language students to study the speech and interactions of pre-schoolers, a topic included in their course. The children took part in a number of games and tasks and loved exploring the activities the Upper Sixth students had carefully designed for them. Everyone had a great time and our students enjoyed seeing language acquisition in action.

Capital Experience for business students On Thursday 10 December 2015, the recruitment firm, Randstad Education opened its London office doors to host 18 students from The Blackpool Sixth Form College, for an exclusive behind-the-scenes visit. The event, part of ‘A Capital Experience’, was organised in partnership with Career Ready, a national charity linking employers with schools and colleges to open up the world of work to young people. During the visit, students were given an insight into the world of recruitment and the different industry sectors available to them.

Career Ready students at the Ranstad London offices.

Teaching hero award for Laura Blackpool Sixth science teacher, Laura McGuirk, beat off all competition at this year’s Radio Wave Heroes in the Community Awards to be crowned Teacher of the Year. Laura (pictured left) has been teaching at The Blackpool Sixth Form College for three years and was nominated for her award by former student Abi Griffiths. Abi spoke in her nomination about how Laura gave up her lunch hours to give her one-to-one tuition when she fell behind with her studies following a bereavement.

Abi has since progressed to study mental health nursing at UCLAN. Radio Wave called Laura to tell her she had been nominated and was down to the final three and invited her to attend the glittering ceremony on held Thursday 19th November. This year’s ceremony took place at Viva Blackpool where the winners were treated to entertainment by former member of Westlife, Brian McFadden and the cast of Chicago.

Blackpool Sixth gains gold again!

Just before Christmas, Blackpool Sixth had its re-assessment for the prestigious Investors in People (IIP) award. Investors in People is an international accreditation which rates organisations in terms of their leadership, their effectiveness and their development of their workforce. The college already held the Gold Award and we have now heard that not only have we retained this high level of achievement but we have also increased our performance against the standards, meeting a total of 186 evidence requirements (165 are required for Gold). The assessor’s report comments that, “The sheer dedication and intention to fully support students should be highly commended and this can only

bode well in terms of meeting the current and future students’ educational and pastoral needs.” It also praises the “dynamic, efficacious and proactive leadership within the college” and the college’s commitment to the needs of its community, describing the college as “very eager to make a difference to peoples’ lives and to “have a strong impact on community sustainability.”

Students helping to spread kindness To commemorate World Kindness Day on Friday 13th November, we asked our 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 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. Here are a selection:

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

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

“I am grateful for the chance to resit my GCSEs.”

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

“I am grateful for my teachers replying to emails at midnight.”

“I am grateful for the college wifi.”

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

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

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TEACHER RETIRES SHIRLEY RICHMOND

At the end of the autumn term, Blackpool Sixth said goodbye to one of its longest-serving and most inspirational members of staff, Shirley Richmond.

The former Collegiate Girls’ School pupil started her teaching career in 1978 at Collegiate High School, before moving to the sixth form college when it first opened as a separate entity. Shirley was involved at a national level in developing the A Level English Language course which has since grown to be one of most popular A levels in the country. She served as Head of English and Modern Foreign languages 1978 20 15 for many years before moving to part-time teaching at the college. Estelle Bellamy, Shirley’s successor as head of department, commented, “Shirley will be very missed in the department, not just for her incredible knowledge and experience, but also A SSI C and her entertaining stories.” for her fun approach to work, her teamC Lspirit We all wish Shirley a very happy retirementV Iand hope that she comes back to visit us often.

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Shirley (left) during her school days at Collegiate Girls’ school.

Shirley receives her leaving gifts from Principal, Jill Gray.

Dates for your diary

Spring term 2016 Parents’ Evening (surnames A-K) - 3rd February Parents’ Evening (surnames L-Z) - 10th February February half term - 12th February College reopens - 22nd February Open Evening - 24th February Footloose - 1st, 2nd, 3rd March March Tasters - 2nd, 9th, 16th, 23rd March Battle of the Bands - 16th March Lower Sixth HE Info evening - 24th March Easter break - 25th March - 10th April

Summer term 2016 College reopens - 11th April Musicians of the Fylde - 20th April Bank holiday – 2nd May College finishes for half term – 27th May College reopens – 6th June Progression Evening - 23rd June Summer Music Concert - 29th June New Student Day - 1st July Summer Break Begins – 6th July A level Results Day - 18th August Upper Sixth Enrolment - 22nd & 23rd August GCSE Results Day - 25th August New Student Enrolment - 25th & 26th August Term begins for new students - 6th September Term begins for Upper Sixth students - 8th September

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

Featuring Clifton Primary School Choir A classical concert to include preformances by; A Level Music students Chamber Choir Instrumental Ensembles

Wednesday 20th April 2016 Concert starts at 7:30pm at The White Church, Lytham Adults - £5 Students/Concessions/Children - £3

blackpoolsixth.ac.uk

enquiries@blackpoolsixth.ac.uk

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

01253 394911