Newsletter – July 2018
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Dear parents and students, As we approach the 2018 summer holiday, I would like to thank you once again for your great support for the school. It has been another tremendous year and the students and staff certainly deserve this well-earned summer break. As always, for parents of Years 11 and 13, a reminder that the school will be open on both the Thursdays and Tony Rushworth Fridays of the weeks when the GCSE and A- Level results are published in August. For the rest of our students, we look forward to welcoming you back in September (details are on the school website). Headteacher Reasons to celebrate INSIDE THIS ISSUE As in all end-of-year newsletters, much of this newsletter is a celebration of recent events, especially rewards, Activate Learning certificates and recognition for a year’s hard work. This year, more than 95% of our students achieved a Bronze award or better. This shows a high level of consistency throughout the whole year, so well done to all! ALET Collaboration A particular highlight for me this year has been The Bicester School drama production, which starred a large End of Year Celebration Assemblies number of supremely talented students, including a high number of Year 8’s. This was a fantastic event and the English Department News first school production put on in more than eight years, so hopefully it will now be a regular occurrence. Maths Department News The PE awards evening was another tremendous event, taking place annually, this year was the best ever, with an inspiring talk from Dan Stevens at Oxford United and many of our students winning accolades for their History students Poetry Competition achievements and sporting commitment. Lessons from Auschwitz programme We were delighted to achieve another ‘Good’ outcome in our June Ofsted inspection. This builds on our ‘Good’ outcome achieved in May 2014. The report is published on the school website. My Visit to Auschwitz Technology-rich school Go4SET A year ago we took the decision to invest further in web-based systems to support students and parents better. TBS Visit to Barcelona This included ‘E-Praise’, which has proved very popular and increased usage of ‘Show My Homework’ which has Silver D of E practice Expedition been largely well received. We have taken the decision to expand our investment further in ‘Show My Homework’, so this feels an opportune time to move away from school planners which are increasingly expensive and seem to Group Two be poorly used across the school. (If any parents have difficulties with this arrangement please feel free to contact Cinema Reward Trip me directly at the school so that I can offer help). Cook and Create Competition New roles in September 2018 Carnegie Book Club A couple of senior roles are announced: Mr Wayde Vardy will take charge as Assistant Head, of Key Stage 3 Year 5 and 6 orchestra Day pastoral care. He will now be the senior point of contact for all parents and students of Years 7-9, alongside their Heads of Year and tutors. Staff Profile PE Presentation Evening Ms Nicola Le Brun (Assistant Head) has been promoted to the post of Deputy Headteacher and will have oversight of all academic and curriculum matters, with effect from September 2018. Ms Le Brun brings a tremendous Under 19 Basketball academic and varied senior school experience to the post, including Assistant Head at Warriner School, and we are delighted that she has accepted the post. It is a tremendous achievement. North Oxfordshire tennis qualifiers Who to ask for support and advice We always wish to work in partnership with our parents on behaviour matters and use our tutor system and the Key Stage pastoral support team to keep in close contact when issues arise. Where necessary, more regular updates will be provided via the use of tutor reports/subject reports/etc. As well as contacting us by phone, there is also the option of emailing the school via the school website or writing directly to school staff. I trust you all will July 2018 have a lovely summer break. Yours sincerely Tony Rushworth Headteacher Activate Learning On behalf of the Activate Learning Education Trust, trustees would like to add their congratulations on the recent Ofsted outcome. The Bicester School is a Good school! This outcome is down to a great team effort, with students, school leaders, teachers, support staff and governors all doing their bit to contribute to this fantastic outcome. This outcome, in my view, is not earned through two days of inspection, but is as a result of several years of hard work and dedication by many people. It is also the case that this has not been an easy journey. Over the very recent past, the school has had to deal with the problems of falling numbers of students, significant budget issues and variability in the quality of provision for students. Dealing with any one of these would be hard enough, but the school has had to manage these issues all at the same time. Student numbers have never been higher, our finances are now stable and strong (and when the year’s delay in funding catches up with us – we are in a position to start investing again) and Ofsted has judged the quality of teaching and learning and student outcomes to be secure and good. An overall brilliant achievement – and well done to all! With this in mind, I hope everybody has a fantastic and well-earned break over the summer. Hopefully the weather will hold out a little bit longer! Lee Nicholls Activate Learning In other news, Theale Green School successfully joined ALET on 1 April and UTC Heathrow is set to join on 1 September 2018. We look forward to welcoming these new schools to the Trust and especially look forward to the links between Theale Green and The Bicester School strengthening over the coming academic year. Lee Nicholls ALET Collaboration It has been a real privilege this year to work across ALET with the main purpose of improving collaboration in Teaching and Learning. There have been a number of new initiatives which I hope are becoming embedded across our schools and colleges. Some of the bigger projects have involved our English, Maths and Science departments where conferences have now been held. The impact will not be fully known until this summer’s results but what was very clear was how dedicated our staff are at improving the outcomes for our students. Literacy for learning has been a major focus, and I see that a number of our establishments now have whole school literacy posters in all department areas. At our recent Science conference, we discussed launching our very own ALET Science fair with inter-school competitions and a grand ALET finale. Another area that I have been involved in has been the provision for our trainee and newly qualified teaching staff. It was very apparent that we were already striving to ensure our staff received the greatest training possible, and now that I have collated the best practice across our schools, we can Kerri Knibbs ensure that we implement this. In turn, this should improve our retention. I would like to thank Siobhan Leading Tyson and Mara Simmons for their assistance with this and for also leading the successful coaching and Practitioner mentoring session last month at UTC Reading. We plan to hold a repeat session in the north of our area in the new academic year. I hope that even greater collaboration continues into next year and beyond. Our staff are getting more and more opportunities to meet with one another and look to see what tips we can learn to get that little bit more from our students. I would like to thank everyone who has made me feel so welcome and I look forward to continuing working alongside you. In the meantime, have an amazing and well-earned summer Kerri Knibbs Leading Practitioner The Bicester School/ALET End of Year Celebration Assemblies On Monday 9th July and Tuesday 10th July, we celebrated Year 7-10 student achievements and hard work during the academic year. Students were recognised by House Point achievements and academic successes. During both assemblies, the students were treated to an Academic Showcase led by Ms Pollard, a Dance showcase led by Miss Wood and a Music showcase led by Mr Crook. In the Year 7/8 assembly on Monday, the efforts of our Accelerated Readers were also highlighted and acknowledged. In both assemblies certificates and prizes were given out to our Silver (1250 HP’s), Gold (1750 HP’s) and Platinum (2000 HP’s) winners. Wayde Vardy It was also important to recognise those students who go the “extra mile” in the school. These awards are given to our “wider school” students each receiving a trophy and voucher. Assistant Headteacher Year 7 – Lee Gibbons Year 8 – Thomas Kingsley Year 9 – Jason Blunsdon Year 10 – Amy Long At The Bicester School we hope and encourage all of our students to achieve the Bronze award (1000 HP’s) as a minimum and the majority of our students achieve this. They all received a certificate and recognition in year assemblies. Wayde Vardy English Department News Key Stage Three Year 7 students are currently engrossed in exciting novels, promoting critical thinking and learning how to craft essays on characterisation and themes. Year 8 have been actively engaging in Elizabethan theatre, studying Shakespeare using the Royal Shakespeare Company’s dramatic toolkit. Year 8 are appreciating the form of the play and considering the impact on its audience four hundred years ago.