Dear Parent/Guardian(S)

April 2016

Dear Parent/Guardian(s)

Thank you for your support and for working with us to help your child achieve their very best from Penryn College. Please do not hesitate to contact us at any time if we can help in any way.

An update of the progress your child has made this term is enclosed. A Guide to Reading the Year 10 Report is enclosed. If you have a child in Years 7, 8 or 9, please refer to Notes on Page 2 of the report. Please telephone, email or speak to us at the Subject Review Evening if you have any questions.

Subject Review Evening – Tuesday 26th April 4.00pm-6.30pm If a teacher has indicated on your child’s report they wish to speak with you, please make every effort to attend the Subject Review. This very important evening is a time for you to talk with teachers about your child’s report. We value this occasion very much. Appointments can be made on the Virtual School Booking System. If you do not have your log in details, or cannot log in, please contact Mrs S Head by email: [email protected] or by telephone on 01326 372379 ext. 1241. You can also book by emailing [email protected] or telephone on 01326 372379 ext. 1248 between 9.30am and 2.30pm and a member of the Educational Support Team will help you.

Specialist Music Lessons At the Subject Review Evening on 26th April 2016, there is also the opportunity to speak to Georgie Hird (Guitar), from 4.30pm, and John Greaves (Brass) and James Robinson (Percussion) from 5.00pm, onwards. You do not need to make an appointment as they are running a ‘drop in’ session for parents. We hope that you will find this useful.

Attendance We would like to thank all parents who have supported us this year in getting their child to school on time every day. By working together, we now have less children at Penryn College who are persistently absent than any other Cornish School. We are very proud of this achievement as we know this will have a huge impact on the life chances of your child. There is a link between good attendance and good GCSE results. Students who have attendance above 95% perform very much better than the national performance levels. Every day missed is over 5 hours of learning lost. As you know the law requires that all requests for holidays in term time are refused unless there are exceptional circumstances. Thank you for your continued support

“Catch Up” We have recently introduced Catch Up Cards issued by tutors, on which students record the work they must complete because they have been absent from school. If they are absent from school for any reason please remind your child to complete this process following any absence as it is a simple and effective way of helping him/her catch up on missed work.

Head Teacher: Marie Hunter

Penryn College, Kernick, Penryn, Cornwall TR10 8PZ

T: 01326 372379 F:01326 373194 e:[email protected] www.penryn-college.cornwall.sch.uk

“RHAPT” (Revision, Homework and Preparation Time) Students are able to attend RHAPT which is on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday every week from 3.20pm until 4.30pm. These sessions are supervised and supported by two members of staff and guarantees students the chance to work in a quiet environment. Many students are finding this a great help in keeping up to date with their homework and revision. Some students MUST attend these sessions because they have not been completing homework. They must report to IT3. However, all students are welcome to attend voluntarily by simply turning up. Voluntary students do not need to pre book a place and can attend either in IT3 or the library.

Examinations and Assessments Year 10 “Controlled Assessments” take place in lessons and count towards final GCSE exam grades. Each subject’s assessment dates, and details about the assessment are on the College website www.penryn-college.cornwall.sch.uk. Please contact Mrs D’Arcy-Evans, Examinations Officer, on 01326 372379, (Ext 1231) or email [email protected] if you have any queries.

Year 7 - Exams: 4th – 6th May and 9th May Year 8 - Exams: Week beginning 13th June Year 9 - Exams: Week beginning 20th June Further details will be sent home with students closer to the exam period.

Year 9 French Exchange Tues 9th June – Thurs 16th June Please be aware that Year 9 exams start on 20th June, four days after the students return from the French Exchange trip. This has been unavoidable as we have to agree the date of the Exchange before we are informed of Year 11 GCSE exam dates, around which our exam timetable is planned. Teaching staff will ensure that students are prepared for exams before they leave.

Parents’ Survey Thank you to the 272 parents who completed our recent on-line survey telling us what is working well and areas that would be “even better if ...”. Once the students have completed their survey, we will collate the results and start to plan for next year. The Parents’ Forum work closely with us on this. Please join us, if you would like to be involved, on Wednesday 11th May, from 6.00pm – 8.00pm.

Uniform Most students continue to look smart but this is often the time of year when students start to adapt their uniform according to the weather. Please remember that our uniform is:  Black school sweatshirt (black school hoodie, KS4 only)  White school polo shirt  Black, full length trousers (formal trousers, not skinny fit and no Jeans or leggings).  Tailored shorts are acceptable in the Summer Term  Black skirt of a reasonable length  Black leather or faux leather shoes (not trainers or skate shoes) All hair styles should be suitable for the work place; this means no obvious hair dye or designs shaved into the hair. Facial piercings are not allowed and only one stud is allowed in each ear. There are further details on uniform on the school website under “About Us”.

PE Uniform Please note that the new PE uniform currently worn by all Year 7 and those students who chose to purchase this for this academic year will be compulsory for all year groups except Year 11 from September 2016/17. Year 11 from September 2016 will have the opportunity to purchase the new PE uniform if they so wish, but it will not be compulsory for this year group since they are only with us for one more year. Please see the attached price list and ordering information.

The Virtual School (VS) As you know, you can access information about your child’s homework, behaviour and achievement points and attendance on-line through the Virtual School. You can ask to receive a weekly email which gives you key information about your child’s week. There are currently 715 parents who already receive this and they have told us they really value this communication. To obtain your log in details contact Mrs Head by phone or email [email protected] .

Useful dates for your diary

Thurs 21st & Fri 22nd April Dance Production - 7.00pm (1.00pm for Partnership Schools) Tues 26th April Years 7 - 10 Subject Review 4.00pm - 6.30pm Mon 9th May Achievements Evening 5.00pm - 6.30pm Wed 11th May Parents Forum 6.00pm - 8.00pm Tues 9th June - Thurs 16th June Year 9 French Exchange Thurs 30th June Prom Evening Mon 4th July (To Be Confirmed) New Intake Evening 3.30pm - 7.00pm Fri 8th July - Fri 15th July Year 7 Isles of Scilly Camp Mon 11th July Training Day Tues 12th July (To Be Confirmed) Sports Day Tues 12th July Year 9 Graduation Evening 6.00pm - 8.00pm Wed 13th July Sports Personality Awards Evening 7.00pm - 9.00pm Fri 15th July Platinum Awards Winners Day Out Mon 18th July Years 7 - 10 Subject Review 3.30pm - 5.30pm Tues 19th July Achievements Evening 5.00pm - 6.30pm

Many thanks as ever for your support.

Yours faithfully

Marie Hunter Headteacher