SPRING NEWS 2015 In this issue College achievement p.2 – 4 Academic achievement p. 5 – 9 Enrichment achievement p.10 – 18 Community achievement p.19 – 20 Parent and community information p.21 – 24

Be happy,

Be ambitious,

Make a diff erence! SPRING N e w s 2 015 College achivement SPRING N e w s 2 015

Welcome to the spring term edition of the newsletter. There have been so many fantastic successes this term that it’s hard to pick out the highlights. We had a great time dressing up as our favourite book characters for World Book Day, which is just one of the many events you can read about to promote a love of reading across the college. We have also seen continued success in sport, at both a team and an individual level and academic success with two of our Y13 students, Oliver and Hanesh, Dyslexia Friendly School being offered places at Cambridge University. This year we have been working towards becoming an accredited Dyslexia Friendly Our work with Curve and the RSC has moved onto a new level this term as we have reached School. Congratulations to Abubakr Razzaque, 13LFD, on winning the Dyslexia Friendly out to support local schools in developing their love of Shakespeare and are involved in the school college logo design.We hope to now use this on letters and in correspondence celebrations around the internment of Richard lll; and our challenge of raising money for our around the school. Childsmile charity will reach new heights (literally!) over Easter when the Childsmile Team attempt the ambitious Three Peaks Challenge. Please read page 19 to see how you can support them Here are some comments from students and staff on their experiences of being dyslexic: for this fantastic cause. We are very proud of our students and their continued success in all areas. Thank you to all the “I learn best through visual aids and make use of a range of multi-sensory staff and parents who continue to support our students to be the very best that they can be. We information. I avoid long spoken lists and always write things down to hope you enjoy reading the newsletter and I hope parents and carers will particularly take the remember. I would recommend having subject specifi c key words to hand. time to read the important information section for them on pages 21 – 23. Being organised has helped me overcome some of my dyslexia problems.” Mr Patel I will leave you with a favourite quote from Sindy Soor, our post-16 Learning Mentor: ‘Spending today complaining about yesterday won’t make tomorrow any better’ “I found out I had dyslexic age 6 years old. I fi nd it hard sometimes. I’m active and I like making things. I would describe dyslexia in 3 words as: Anti-bullying Week Awkward Reading Rampage Inspirational 2014 World Book Day Normal.” Y13 student Y7 and Y8 are currently involved in a project “I discovered I was talented at Arts and Crafts and wanted to pursue a called Reading Rampage. The aim of the project On 5th March, students and staff celebrated our career out of this. I carried onto College and retook my GCSE English is to inspire and motivate children aged 11 –13 love of reading on World Book Day by dressing which I really needed, and also achieved some good A-LEVELS in Art, to become active readers, develop and support up as their favourite book characters. We had a Graphics and Photography. When I passed English, I felt I had overcome reading for pleasure and promote awareness of new range of Katniss Everdeens, Red Riding Hoods, this stage of my and went to University.” Mr Sahota titles/authors. Wimpy Kids and Harry Potter characters from the “I found out I was dyslexic in year 4. I have a good memory and which students, whilst the staff got into the spirit en masse The students have been introduced to 20 new and exciting young adult fi ction/non-fi ction means I know how to do things over and over again. I often feel tired at representing characters from Óf Mice and Men, night because my brain feels like its playing catch-up from all the information books, to increase reading of books and writing of book reviews, leading to an awards 1984, Dracula, Lord of the Rings and …?. ceremony on June 4th at Tigers ground. I’ve had to learn in the day.” Y8 student In the morning of World Book Day, we launched “I would recommend telling somebody if you are struggling with reading Students are being encouraged to read as many of the 20 titles as possible between 9th our new project: The Book That Changed My Life and writing and not to worry. You need to be tested for dyslexia to check.” During anti-bullying week, Kyah Frederick and the Anti-bullying Action Team ran a poster March and 22nd May and complete book reviews using the library software- Eclipse. - a series of short videos, fi lmed by our Pupil Literacy Y8 student competition. The standard and quality of the posters was fantastic and after a vote from all Students who make a signifi cant effort with this will be invited to a big City wide event Leaders, of various staff talking about their favourite students, Nilam Modhwadhia (8OM) was judged the winner of the fi rst prize of an IPod at the Leicester Tigers ground on 4th June, where they will get a chance to meet authors book. The fi rst video to be shown was Mr Cook “Growing up with dyslexia never really affected me growing up. There shuffl e. Nilam’s poster has now become the offi cial anti-bullying poster for TCOLC. The and win prizes. talking about the book that changed his life: Going wasn’t as much knowledge around it as there is now. So I wasn’t aware I runners up were Rehmat Juma 7NRD and Maria Umar 8RLP. We would like to congratulate Solo by Roald Dahl. Students then read an extract had it, I just thought I was forgetful, clumsy and couldn’t spell. When I was During Author Week, 50 Y7 students are also getting the opportunity to go to Leicester all the students who participated. from Going Solo. diagnosed at university a lot of what had happened to me started to make Tigers ground to listen to author Andy Briggs. During this day the students will hear about sense.” Mr Austin The college was decorated with blue streamers that week, on which students wrote their his work and then take part in an interactive writing workshop. Many thanks to Ms Permal for her organisation of own strong anti-bullying messages. Kyah and her team also ran assemblies to highlight the the day and to the Pupil Literacy Leaders who are Many thanks to Mrs Penfold for her organisation of these opportunities. issues of bullying and to encourage students to speak out against bullying and the students leading The Book That Changed My Life project, saw a powerful production called Hope based on real-life stories. especially Dylan Rana (8PES) who has been working really hard to edit the videos. A reminder that students can report any concerns about bullying to Kyah and the ABAT or on our dedicated email address: [email protected] 2 3

Be happy, be ambitious, make a diff erence SPRING N e w s 2 015 College achivement Academic achivement SPRING N e w s 2 015 Yes You Can

At the beginning of March, 11 Y8 students graduated from the Yes You Can project that took place over a 20 week period. The course taught the students that they can achieve anything they put their minds to. Congratulations to:

Alim Bachoo, Milad Yazdanin, Havir Deo, Jaidyn Brown, Yusuf Sajid-Ali, Michel Barret, Jack Lingard, Mudathir Mayambara, Inia Herbert, Callan Nolan, Kaleese Simms.

Art Work Y11 and post 16 students have been working hard in preparation for their fi nal exam pieces. Here are some examples of their work in progress.

BT Mentor Network

10 students in Y10 and Y11 are taking part in an exciting new Careers project in partnership with BT (British Telecom). The City of is hugely proud to have been selected by BT as the fi rst school outside of London to join its prestigious Mentor Network. The network provides students with professional advice and guidance from their own designated BT Mentor. The Mentor Team is made up of 5 experienced BT professionals with a vast range of experiences across different business areas, including high-level , procurement and project management.

Before being chosen for the project, the 10 students involved had to pass through a demanding selection process involving a written application followed by a one-to-one interview. From now on the students will receive regular after-school sessions with their designated BT Mentors. During these sessions, students will draw upon the experience and expertise of their Mentors to help them set, work towards and achieve a range of Shadow General Election. personal goals. Sayeed Kadir is the lead Mentor for the project and works as a Business Connection Engineer and Data Specialist for BT. Sayeed says “This is an exciting opportunity for Have YOUR say... us to be working with the students. They have taken their fi rst step towards their self- empowerment journey and have a great opportunity to draw on the varied experiences that the Mentors have to offer. The Mentors have the satisfaction of putting something On Thursday May 7th 2015 the whole of the country will be going to vote to select the back into the community and is part of BTs Corporate Social Responsibility Program (CSR). next government for the United Kingdom. How would you vote if you were 18? Look out This Mentoring scheme is being run by BTs Ethnic Minority Network which has been for political party posters containing information on what each party represents and how successfully running a mentoring program in the business and for the past few years in they would manage the United Kingdom. schools in London. The Mentors feel proud to be working with the students at TCOLC and This is your opportunity to take part and understand how a general election campaign are looking forward to see them develop and grow.” and the voting systems works - look out for more information appearing around college. 4 5

Be happy, be ambitious, make a diff erence SPRING N e w s 2 015 Academic achivement SPRING N e w s 2 015 Book in a Box

Y8 students rose to the challenge in their English Independent work. Their challenge was to create an interactive box which represented one of their favourite books. It was an enterprising and literary task and you can see the fantastic results here. Year 7 Rolls-Royce STEM Challenge – 24th February 2014 Visit to Library Services for Education With British Science Week fast approaching in March we were delighted to welcome representatives from Rolls Royce and Leicester Education Business Company, who provided At the end of the autumn term, KS3 students were invited to go to LSE to select new books a STEM challenge for Year 7 students across 3 Personal and Social Enterprise classes. for our own college library. After an introductory talk from the librarians, they had a lovely STEM stands for Science, , Engineering and Maths, and the challenge was News from the Music Department morning browsing the shelves for books which they thought would inspire their peers. designed to teach students about careers related to these four areas. Recent performances “A really great experience! Made me think about what to read next and Students used K’Nex construction pieces to carry out an Engineering challenge – working helped me get interested more in reading! ;-)” in groups to try and build the strongest, tallest ‘earthquake-proof’ structure, using the least On Saturday 22nd November, a group of TCOLC singers joined other adult Gospel amount of pieces. The students also received lots of useful information about engineering Choirs to sing in the Festival of Choirs event at Curve Theatre. This is the fourth Festival of “I really enjoyed coming to this library. These books are incredible.” careers in Rolls Royce, as well as STEM careers in general, which experts believe will Choirs event that The City of Leicester College has taken part over the past few years. The “This trip was brilliant! I discovered so many new interesting books. If I account for many future jobs. group sang two songs on their own, and then joined the massed choir. could spend all day just sitting and reading, I would! ” “My favourite part was when we had to make a tower using the bricks to Congratulations and well done should go to: Rahima Alhadhir, Simran Barha, Breanna “I really enjoyed this trip to the library. Alex was extremely helpful & kind. see if it would survive the earthquake” Iqra Awais 7APP Chisiri, Aimee Cole, Anya Dupre, Hanni Esseku, Zoe Green, Mhahera Mohamed, I really appreciate the librarians’ kindness! Looking forward to coming Anjalina Patel, Mya Patel, Jenna Trivedi, Sam Tyler. again. ” “We learnt lots of things like what studies you have to achieve to be an Engineer” Anoop Singh Dhami 7APP “I absolutely loved this trip, I discovered some amazing authors & books.” “I would recommend this as it’s fun and it’s different” Valentines Concert “I enjoyed this trip and it was interesting to see the amazing variety of Savanah Stafford-Williams 7APP books. There were many different books we have chosen and I can’t wait On 10th February we hosted a Valentine's themed concert named ‘Stupid Cupid’. to see who enjoys and reads them!” Students from all year groups took part, including band performances from years 10 and 12, soloists, College Choir and the steel pans group. All songs were based on the theme of love, resulting in a fab evening of music and entertainment! Year 7 Stars Thanks must go to our team of instrumental teachers who have been working with all of our music students. The following Y7 students have been named ‘Y7 Stars’ by their tutors. Many congratulations to them – you should be very proud of yourselves. Lunchtime Concerts We have recently held lunchtime concerts in the Blue Independent Work Area to give students an opportunity to perform in front of a live audience. The performances were very well received by students and staff. Aimee Coe Bhavya Naresh Breanna Chishiri Firdaus Cali Recent music exam success 7LB 7APP 7CIP 7ALW Just before Christmas, Antra Vidinevica in 11NRD passed her grade 3 piano exam with Distinction. We would like to pass on our congratulations! We are encouraging all Music students to work towards a graded exam this year, so there will be more news of exam success to follow!

We continue to have a team of instrumental teachers who visit the College every week to deliver specialist instrumental lessons, ranging from violin and saxophone to keyboard and Israa Sajawal Lewis Williamson Nadia Bham Ravinder Boora guitar. If your son or daughter would like to start receiving instrumental lessons in College, 7LG 7THJ 7AJP 7NRD please contact your child’s Music Teacher. 6 7

Be happy, be ambitious, make a diff erence Be happy, be ambitious, make a diff erence Learning B US INESS & E NTERPRISE The City of Leicester College without Limits A Specialist Business & Enterprise College Supporting Gifted and Talented and Very Able Students at The City of Leicester College Our Vision To develop an inclusive, dynamic, high achieving learning community, where all students and staff are College Provision happy, whilst being supported and The College has a responsibility to ensure that your child maximizes their potential encouraged to be ambitious, achieve personal success and make through the opportunities available within and beyond the classroom. a positive difference to their world. Be happy, be ambitious, make a difference. The Identification of G&T and Very Able Students In-Class Provision We utilise evidence from a variety of quantitative and qualitative sources to identify G&T and Very Able students We aim to ensure students make maximum progress through which include: differentiated planning and through regular formative assessment. We aim to provide lessons which include: • Identification by staff using professional judgment, class- • Challenging learning objectives and outcomes work, tests and assessments • Tasks which demand higher order thinking skills • Standardised, norm and criterion referenced tests including CATS4, NFER reading and spelling tests etc • Differentiation – by task, outcome, resource, dialogue, support or choice • Staff recommendation based on general and subject • specific criteria Access to advanced resources and materials that support the level of challenge SPRING N e w s 2 015 SPRING N e w s 2 015 Academic achivement Academic achivement • Significant • More complex and open-ended tasks and participation and projects high performance in • Variety of extra-curricular activities provided teaching by the school or strategies to external agencies. promote independent study • High expectation of students’ work.

Out-of-Class Provision We aim to offer extension and enrichment to students in their • U area(s) of ability and/interest as well as helping to develop niversity Masterclasses personal and social skills, including: • Aimhigher Programme • • After-school and lunchtime clubs School and external competitions and • Music drama and sporting opportunities awards • Residentials in the UK, Europe and beyond. • Access to • Enterprise activities programmes at HE • Visits to artistic, athletic and sporting events, exhibitions and institutions includin g performances Oxford and Cambridge. This is how we roll! Gifted and Talented Be happy, be ambitious, make a difference. ‘Meeting the educational needs of the gifted and talented is about building on good general school provision,

not about providing something entirely different’ (Professor Deborah Eyre, 2001) Here are just a few snapshots from some amazing gymnastic routines the year 7, 8 and 9 girls have produced in PE. Experimenting is a big part of gymnastics, in which all girls showed a All students who have been identifi ed as Gifted and Talented in Y13 Barclays tenacious attitude in wanting to produce the most spectacular shapes and balances! one or more subject should have received a copy of our leafl et Learning without Limits. This is also available on the college website, along with further information about how we can work together to support and challenge your child. Degree Programme Over the past few weeks we have had student Huge Congratulations to the following students, visits to Oxford and Cambridge Universities and a who took part in an initial workshop assessment number of students have applied for masterclasses at day, before half term, for a place on the Barclays Cambridge University in the Easter holidays: Undergraduate Degree Program. (Feb 2015): Hetal Odedra (Psychology), Yahye Abdi (Maths), Binuri Withanage Perera (Biomedical), Suleman 1) Jaimin Mistry – Yr13 Dadabhai (Biomedical), Kajalpreet Kaur (Chemistry), 2) Ishayat Rahman – Yr13 Akshay Soni (Economics). 3) Akash Odedra – Yr13 Two students in Y12, Ammarah Adam and Samira Mohamed, have also applied for The main recruitment manager was particular impressed with our students for their Cambrdge summer schools I have submitted applications for summer school week places ability to work in a team, demonstrate what he described as leadership qualities Primary Sports Day at Cambridge. and assessing situations with logical thinking and professionalism. At the end of the autumn term the Y11 BTEC Sports students hosted a Primary Sports Day All three students will be submitting an application shortly and we wish them all the for children from Whitehall Primary School. Our students did an excellent job of planning The following students are applying for Nuffi eld research placements for the summer: best. If they are successful, they will complete a three year degree program, earn all of the activities and the organisation of the day, which was thoroughly enjoyed by the £18,000 per year whilst learning and have all their tuition fees paid for them. This Whitehall children. Suleman Dadabhai, Dilip Ratiya, Ammar Vali, Daniel is a fantastic opportunity and I was very proud of how they conducted themselves. Singh, Ruhulamin Patel, Samira Mohamed, Karampal Mr Bull from Whitehall, send this message: Singh. Here are a few words the recruitment manager mentioned to me during the day: “I Just wanted to say what a great day we had. All the children thoroughly BTEC REVISION Kareem Queeley enjoyed their day and I am sure benefi ted hugely from it. I was most Special mention must go to who, in February half A) Leaders of the Future The year 10 BTEC Sport students had the opportunity to impressed with the students from the college. They conducted themselves term, helped Real Madrid to win the Minicopa Endesa, in Gran B) Mature revise for their exam during half term, in which nearly 20 in a friendly and informative way during the activities themselves and really Canaria. He scored 36 points and 13 rebounds and was named C) Confi dent took the opportunity! There were revision games, challenges encouraged the children to try their hardest. What also impressed me was MVP (Most Valuable Player) of the tournament! You can watch his D) Innovative Thinking and various activities for students to test themselves with. the way they chatted informally with the children during the lunch break. awesome performance: http://youtu.be/5rloSz6hNs4. Well done to all who attended and good luck in your exam! They sat with the children and engaged in friendly conversations with them Wishing them the very best of luck. which I thought was really important for the children of Whitehall to be made welcome by all. I asked the children when we got back if they had Mr Bhatt – enjoyed their day and there was a massive chorus of YES!” Yr13 Achievement Co-ordinator Y13 Drama Careers Trip – NEC #WishingYouLuck #Yr13Leaders On Wednesday 4th February the Y13 Drama and Theatre Studies group performed their devised piece of theatre ‘Choices’ for their coursework. Focusing on the role of women in through the 20th and 21st centuries it was a challenging and thought provoking piece Skills Show Trip – that incorporated some interesting and original contemporary theatre ideas. Inspired by a range of practitioners, it certainly asked some diffi cult questions of the audience. Lots of November 2014 hard work and effort have gone into the work and the students; Aireena Amroota, Maya Cambridge Material Dupre, Jenessi Matturi and Danielja Misic should be proud of the outcome. Well done all! November saw forty-fi ve Year 10 and 11 students attend the annual Skills Show at Birmingham’s NEC. This was the third year running that TCOLC has Exciting times ahead for two Y13 students, Oliver Meysner & Hanesh Patel, who attended The Skills Show, and the event gets bigger have both received conditional offers from Cambridge University. This is fantastic each year. The Skills Show is the country’s largest news. Over the past two years these students have continued to work extremely skills and careers event, with more than 75,000 visitors hard towards their examinations and have put in a lot of extra preparation outside every year. of the classroom to present themselves with this brilliant opportunity.

A huge range of career paths were represented at this year’s event, including IT, Oliver has applied to study Medicine and Hanesh will be aiming to start Engineering, Construction, Retail and Healthcare. There was a wealth of exciting Engineering in September. Both candidates performed extremely well at their employers to engage with, including the BBC, O2 and Rolls Royce. Students were able to interviews and we wish them all the best with their summer exams. try out 45 different hands-on activities related to various careers, as well as getting careers You can do it. Keep up the hard work. advice and information throughout. #TCOLCSuccess #CambridgeQuality #WorkingHardPaysOff 8 The show covers as much space as nine and a half football pitches, so the students 9 returned feeling tired but inspired!

Be happy, be ambitious, make a diff erence SPRING N e w s 2 015 Enrichment achivement Enrichment achivement SPRING N e w s 2 015

DRAMA Titus Andronicus Cathedral On Tuesday November 18th a group of Y9 students saw the culmination of a lot Performance of hard work! Since September the group had been rehearsing Shakespeare’s bloody and brutal play ‘Titus Andronicus’. Incorporating lots of physical theatre and Curve theatre has been invited to create a brand new piece of work to mark this historic movement work, as well as superb delivery of Shakespeare’s original language, occasion by creating a performance exploring the life of Richard III and his signifi cance The City Of Leicester College performance was an outstanding piece of work. Learning Performance Network to this country and county. This will be performed as part of the actual re-interment ceremony in Leicester Cathedral on Performing in Curve’s theatre in front of a paying audience, with two other March 27th and we are delighted to announce that Sabah Gani in Y11 has been successful schools who performed on the night, TCOLC’s Titus was widely accepted to be the (LPN) Update in her audition and has been selected to take part in this piece. Congratulations Saba for most inventive and well performed by the students involved. All involved deserve taking advantage of this opportunity to be part of history and good luck on the day. huge congratulations for professionally delivering an incredibly challenging text. “The LPN works with regional schools and partner theatres to change the way young people experience Shakespeare” ‘The experience of performing for the fi rst time on a professional stage has made me one step closer to fulfi lling my dream as an actor. My favourite part of the experience was the applause when we had fi nished, nothing has ever felt so Teachers Learning Together: good. I would do anything to witness an experience like this again and I would Teachers from our cluster schools have undertaken training together led by Tim Ford at love to participate in another production with Curve or with school.’ Mohammad Curve Theatre and Rebecca Gould from the RSC. This has been a great opportunity for Adam Yousaf us to learn new techniques to help us teach Shakespeare to our students, share ideas and develop joint projects. ‘This was a great achievement for me to perform this at the Curve because it helps me to decide what I want to do in drama in the future.’ Arjun Parmar In our last workshop we were shown how to use our voices to deliver Shakespeare’s language by Alison Bomber, a vocal specialist employed by the RSC to work alongside ‘The whole RSC/TCOLC Titus Andronicus experience was amazing. It was the best actors in the world. The Richard III To Do List! fl awless. To think that we were performing at the Curve where famous people As you can see from our student workshops, Alison then came into College to work with had performed before. The entire experience was professional including the our students and those from cluster schools in our hub. Residential Weekend Year 8 Curve Performance Project Tick rehearsals.’ Satvinder Bassi At the beginning of December two of our Y8 students, Hayley Upton and Jayden Patel, were selected to attend a residential weekend at the heart of the RSC in Stratford upon Take part in RSC Workshop on the 5th March with Rachel Garside ✓ ‘The experience I witnessed was incredible. We performed in a well known Richard III Interment Avon. This was an incredible opportunity to work alongside students and teachers from Work as an ensemble to tell the story of Henry VI ✓ theatre in town. It took a lot of time planning and practicing our performance. Performance at other hub schools across the country. In our group, 2013-2016, this includes Blackpool, When it got to the time to perform I was nervous, hot and excited, but when we Stoke, London, Bradford and Canterbury. Friendships were quickly formed and as you Learn more about Richard and his family ✓ performed it was a dream come true. At the end of the show we had the biggest can see we soon made links between all of us and the work that we have been doing. round of applause. It was the best experience ever.’ Bhavdip Soand Curve Theatre Have fun through using drama conventions, extract from the script and team ✓ During the weekend our students undertook lots of practical activities to explore work. During the week of events and activities to mark the re-burial of Richard III, our cluster of schools will be presenting an installation of work at Curve Theatre on Friday March 27th. Shakespeare’s play Loves Labours Won (Much Ado About Nothing) which they went Attend afterschool rehearsals to start shaping our drama from what we’ve learnt! ✓ to see on the Friday evening. The two lead performers, Edward Bennett, who plays Each of the 9 schools in our cluster will be presenting a piece of work based on Benedick and Michelle Terry, who play Beatrice, came to work with us too and our Shakespeare’s play Henry VI part 3 in which we fi rst meet a young Richard. We are The list begins to tell a tale of drama work that cannot fail, It needs to lead us to the Crown students even managed to sneak a selfi e before seeing them on stage later that night. aiming to show all the different aspects of Richard’s complex character and the events that and how Richard III fought and brought it down. happen to him before he becomes King. Jayden and Hayley are now ‘experts’ on the play which all of Y8 will be studying this term as part of their English curriculum. They will also be watching a live broadcast of The workshop with Rachel Garside was epic fun, we lived, we died, we fought, we cried. A group of 30 of our Y8 students have just begin work on our own part of the project the same play in April. We used a Whoosh to set the scene and show the characters good, mad and mean. We which focuses on the climax of the play and leads into the famous soliloquy … “Now is We stayed at a youth hostel in Stratford upon Avon for the weekend where everyone all got parts, both girls and boys, the king the queen the peasants the Lords. The Great the winter of our discontent….” mixed with each other brilliantly. Both Hayley and Jayden were superb ambassadors for chain of being gave us a moment to pause! Students involved in the project are: our College and it was an absolute pleasure to send time with such pleasant, enthusiastic To stop and think, what life would be like then, how different it was, the world belonging Shanice Daji 8PES Adil Nimbona 8PES Joyce Avae 8ZE and committed students. They were both pretty good at pool too …. ask Mr Grego! In to men. But girls don’t worry about the females of this time, for they come into their own Maria Umar 8RLP Aminah Janar 8RLH Kieran Matthews 8LMS the summer term, more students will have this amazing opportunity to attend a residential and commit terrible crimes. Queen Margaret is strong and hell bent on living and comes Piya Bhansai 8PES Ashley Pancholi 8ZE Raeesah Desai 8ZE with the RSC. between the family and Richard winning. Jasmin Hayre 8RLP Niamh Harrington 8RLH Hayley Upton 8STC The trip was just amazing I loved every minute of it. The performing and bonding with Dylan Rana 8PES Jayden Patel 8ZE Riya Odedra 8ZE others was incredible it made me feel like I was one of the actors an I could truly picture There is so much this list could tell, but we need an ending now, oh well! Zaina Valli 8RLP Sejal Odedra 8LMS Aman Nagra 8STC myself being in the same place when I grow up . For me this trip was so helpful as it gave Vivek Wadhwana 8PES Lujain Dassu 8ZE Riya Sharmer 8ZE me some ideas of what it takes to be a confi dent stage performer to work with others and The fi nal tick is on its way, Light, Camera, Action, let’s get started making our play! Nyah Artwell 8RLH Jack Benfi eld 8LMS Evrinn Rowlinson 8OM in role. If I had to defi ne the best part it would defi nitely be when we all split up in different Michel Bauret 8PES Mudathir Mayambara 8ZE Yahya Abdulrahman 8ZE groups and worked with people we didn't even know to perform a scene, in this case it Performance at the Curve Theatre - 27th March 2015 ✓ Manvi Gulati 8RLH Alliyah Mukri 8LMS was the wedding scene where I played Hero, who was rejected at the altar. I felt I was Look out for photos of the fi nal project in our next newsletter. able to engage with others and develop her character while reading lines confi dently from a script. Hayley Upton 8STC 10 11

Be happy, be ambitious, make a diff erence SPRING N e w s 2 015 Enrichment achivement Enrichment achivement SPRING N e w s 2 015 NETBALL SO YOU THINK YOU The year 7 and 8 netball teams have played 2 rounds of an CAN DANCE on-going tournament, playing against schools in the Leicester City CONGRATULATIONS to our TCOLC students district, as part of ‘Sainsbury’s School who took part in the Leicester City School Games’. ‘So You Think You Can Dance’ Competition TCOLC was Alive with the sounds of last term. Shakespeare! Both teams have shown commitment and dedication to weekly training sessions, fantastic teamwork and moments of brilliance in their matches. The talent from across the City schools was You may have wondered what all the noise, rumbles, humming, thuds and strange sounds Sports Hall ATHLETICS Their effort is having a huge impact on their skills and enjoyment for sport which should unbelievable but we are proud to announce that were emanating from the Drama studio on Thursday 29th January was all about. Well be highly commended. Year 7 Girls Team – Rahima Alhadhir, Breanna Chishiri, Sharaya that Anya Dupre danced her way to 1st place wait no more… 29 Y8 students were totally immersed in a voice workshop led by Alison McIntosh and Aimee Coe and our street dance crew of Jahliss, Alex and Bomber from the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) 8’s Player’s Players Kaden achieved 2nd place!! – Jasmin Hayre for her amazing shooting! Year 8 Girls Team – Lujain Dassu, Niamh Harrington, Sakeena Khalifa To get the full effect of what the students experienced cannot really be translated onto 8’s Manager’s Players – Manpreet Kaur and Sejal Odedra for their and Aminah Janar Huge thanks also go to the students who paper, there was a lot of HUUUUUHHHHHH, and MMMMMMMMMmmmmmmm! With defending skills gave up their time to support and help with a TTTTTTTTttttttt and lots of PPPPPPPPppppppppp. Followed by YOU, ME, TOGETHER, Year 7 Boys Team – Kwanza Deacen, Sameer Chenia, Lewis Williamson and Kaden Frank Herbert the organisation of the show- they were WE, NOW, HE, The CROWN, POWER, KING! 7’s Player’s Players – Israa Sajawal outstanding and a credit to themselves and The workshop fl owed through a call and response of words, sounds and physicality to 7’s Manager’s Players – Eleanora Kirwan, Aimee Coe and Mya Patel Year 8 Boys Team – Uday Modhwadia, Nykah Liburd Hines, Mudathir to our school. express and feel the weight, length, tone, stress and vocal communication that can be Muyambara and Jaidyn Brown reached through playing and enjoying the play with words. Who thought sprinting could be done indoors?! City ventured to Crown Hills for the This wasn’t an ordinary vocal warm- up, this took the students on a journey that got them annual East Leicester Sports Hall Athletics competition. The year 7 and 8 boys and girls to explore through repetition, movement, facial expression, gesture and actions and begin LCFC TOURNAMENT were competing in a variety of events from the 2 lap individual race, 4x1 relay, indoor to live and breathe the words on a page of the text. The text being stretched, twisted and long jump and shot and everyone’s favourite…..speed bounce! Despite not having any ripped apart was Richard III. The year 7 and 8 girls took part in a tournament organised by Leicester City Football Club practice in the run up, we had many fi rst and second place winners, including a photo in the hunt to fi nd the best girls football team in . Despite not winning and the fi nish between Kwanza Deacon and a St Paul’s athlete! The students will be using the ideas that were started in the workshop for the Richard III weather being completely miserable, all girls showed a determined attitude and a winning celebration performance at the Curve in March. So here’s what some of them have to say mentality which is to be highly commended. Congratulations to all winners and well done to everyone who competed and represented about taking part in the workshop … themselves and City perfectly. Year 7 Players Player – Breanna Chishiri ‘It was really funny and really interesting to watch and do. I found it really WISPA The year 7 boys fi nished 3rd overall behind reigning champions St Paul’s so huge well done! helpful, and it made me more confi dent than before.’ Manvi 8 RLH Year 7 Manager’s Player – Rahima Alhadhir 8 Y9 girls were selected to attend the annual WISPA (Women In Sport and Physical ‘It was really enjoyable and we all were able to express ourselves freely.’ Year 8 Players Player – Hayley Upton AILSA LINDSAY 11JVW Activity) festival on 5th March in a bid to engage girls in being more active. It was a Aminah 8 RLH Ailsa is really going above and beyond at the moment in PE. She is volunteering masses fantastic event with the girls coming home with a real buzz about the sports they did and Year 8 Manager’s Player – Zaina Valli of her own time in order to help younger students, and to develop her own skills and wanting to know how they could pursue them further- exactly what WISPA is all about. ‘A unique way of improving our vocal skills in drama and helped to boost They were inspired by Olympic and Paralympic stars, sports they have never tried before Year 7 girls: Year 8 girls: character. Ailsa attended every netball training session and every netball fi xture after our confi dence.’ Alliyah 8LMS school, assisting with organisation, tactics and coaching. Netball may not be Ailsa’s such as pilates and a rock climbing wall and took away some really positive messages from the ‘This Girl Can’ campaign. What was most impressive to me about the whole day In the afternoon, the sounds of Shakespeare continued to be made by students from Linden 1. Megan Upton 1. Savanah Stafford Williams personal sport of choice, but with her hard work, effort, enthusiasm and commitment, she is making a real difference to the year 7 and 8 girls, who absolutely LOVE her! was Alannah and Anisa suggesting to start their own morning club to engage more girls in Primary school. They are one of the cluster schools working with TCOLC with the RSC 2. Hayley Upton 2. Jorjia-Rae Howkins physical activity! Something that would make a huge difference to our students. Learning Platform Network. These 30 eager and enthusiastic students couldn’t wait to feedback all they had explored and learnt about Richard III and this included a few of his 3. Amanveer Nagra 3. Israa Ajawal Ailsa has been a vital part in the development of netball at TCOLC in giving up around 30 hours so far, which students and PE staff are extremely grateful for. Please chat to the girls about the day and congratulate them on their impeccable favourite things: betrayal, blood, battles and death. 4. Manvi Gulati 4. Breanna Chishiri behaviour and attitude: Tasneem Khan, Anisa Nur, Ayaan Hassan, Allannah Finnemore, Kara Walker, Aamirah Manjra, Isra Mohamed, Dilraj Sangha. Not your ordinary workshops for these budding stars, but a chance to be challenged by 5. Delaya Kavanagh 5. Mya Patel Well done! using Shakespeare’s language through chorus speaking, echoing and physicalizing the powerful words of a man driven to be king. They showed real strengths in making the 6. Raeesah Ikleriya 6. Rahima Alhadhir KIERA CANPOLAT 9PJW ATHLETICS shapes of their bodies fi t the shapes of their mouths as they chanted key words, phrases 7. Zaina Valli 7. Sumaya Aaden Kiera only started doing this event in year 7 and came fi rst in the East Area Sports lifted from their script Henry VI Part 3. The workshop ended with everyone drinking lots competition after only ever having had one attempt in practice. She has been attending of water and saying a big thank you to Alison for such an entertaining and inspiring day. 8. Sumenvir Kaur 8. Simran Barha a local athletics club ever since and over half term went to the Birmingham Arena to take Ms Douglas 9. Sejal Odedra part in a National event and is now the 6th best shot putter in the UK for the Under 15 and the Y8 students category. A brilliant achievement and well deserved after such hard work and commitment.

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Be happy, be ambitious, make a diff erence Be happy, be ambitious, make a diff erence SPRING N e w s 2 015 Enrichment achivement Enrichment achivement SPRING N e w s 2 015

Basketball Continues to Shine at TCOLC Football Success Year 8 boys’ football team march to the title! On Thursday 22nd January 2015 the year 9 boys basketball team competed in the school We are immensely proud of three of our Y11 students Fantastic news, the year 8 boys have won the East Leicester League! They fi nished the games fi nal. Winners to be rewarded with a place in the National League. who have been offered two year football scholarships for season unbeaten only failing to win 1 game; fi nishing above Judgmeadow, Hamilton, next year: Layton Ndukwu and Elliot Webber will be at Crown Hills to name but a few. 10 schools from the city/county who won their respective area competitions back in LCFC and Tamar Clayton-Naute will be at Notts County. November made it through. Hard work, team work, discipline, not to mention a great deal of skill have seen the boys The scholarship will involve them completing the Btec march to the title. It has been a real pleasure to work with these talented youngsters and Exciting project for Girls in P.E! Results as follows: Diploma in Sport Level 3, NVQ Diploma Achieving see them fl ourish. They play the game in the spirit it is intended, with great sportsmanship Excellence in Sports Performance, Level 2 FA coaching and most importantly with a smile on their face. We have joined up with the Youth Sports Trust to deliver an exciting project to get girls TCOLC 10 – English Martyrs 8 active. TCOLC 14 – Castle Rock 6 qualifi cation and Level 2 Functional Skills if required. They will also train full time at the club as part of their On Wednesday 19th November they travelled to Moat on a bitterly cold blustery evening TCOLC 25 – Stonehill 4 for what the press and pundits were calling a ‘tricky fi xture’. Girls Active recognises that girls' needs differ and change as they mature and that girls TCOLC 17 – Belvoir High School 2 U18 Youth team. themselves are uniquely positioned to 'sell' PE and sport to other girls. Girls Active offers Semi Final – TCOLC 22 – Welland Park 2 Layton is now regularly playing for the LCFC U18 team The boys struggled to adapt to the hard, sand based astro turf pitch, the ball zipped off the a simple fl exible action planning framework to help teachers and girls work together to Final – TCOLC 16 – Gartree 2 and has received another call-up. surface and made it diffi cult for City to play their neat, intricate one touch football. But in address their particular issues. It is based on the Youth Sport Trust-developed principles the second half Moat had no answer to the wave upon wave of City attacks. Nykah and of student engagement, such as student voice and leadership, alongside innovative As well as being crowned champions, there was an additional trophy to win. This is called He will be involved in the European Championship the dependable defence were spectators enjoying the glorious pass and move football. approaches to marketing. the School Games Spirit Award. Qualifying tournament at St Georges Park in Burton from the 15th – 26th March. If the team do well at Jack was the star of the show, skill, power, vision in abundance it was a joy to watch. He The award is voted for by the organisers of Leicestershire and Rutland Sport and the this tournament they will progress to the European scored a hat-trick from the centre of midfi eld including 2 world class 30 yard free kicks! offi cials on the day. The award is based on the school that shows the most spirit, their Why do we need to get girls active? Championships in Bulgaria in May. Khalid chipped in with 2 expertly taken fi nishes to round off his all action performance. attitude toward each other and also other schools, their sportsmanship throughout the fi nals Engaging and retaining girls in physical activity is a challenge and something that the and the ability to be competitive but fair. Inia again ran the opposition defence ragged with his electrifying pace, intelligent Youth Sport Trust has been committed to for over 10 years. The 2010 PE and School Sport movement and predator instinct, if you add to this his deadly fi nishing, 12 goals in 6 Survey of schools in England showed an alarming drop in participation as girls become I am very proud the TCOLC won the Spirit games, he is the complete package. teenagers: only 15 per cent of girls aged 17-18 took part in at least three hours of PE and Award. Both trophies are on display in the Blue Leicester City Football Club school sport each week compared to 68 per cent of girls aged 10-11. IWA. Please come and have a look. Final Score: Moat 0 – The City of Leicester College 7! Scorers: Jack x3, Inia x2, Khalid x2. The City of Leicester College in partnership with Leicester City Football Club has been We now enter the National League at the working with a selected group of year 11s. The students have been working on a healthy Thursday 5th December saw the boys travel [walk!] the short distance to fi erce local rivals regional round. lifestyle project. The project involves students being mentored into developing leadership Judgemeadow. An excellent all round team performance saw them victorious, a solid Youth Sport Trust pilot study qualities, leading each other in developing self-confi dence, planning and leading activities defensive display in particular from Rohan and Adil laid the foundations for the win. Well done to the following students: They worked with schools on a 12-month pilot aimed to tackle the negative attitude that for year 5/6 students at Whitehall Primary School and through this completing their Junior Jagjeet was the hero scoring 2 goals, both one on one’s with the keeper, which he girls have towards their body image, improve their attitude towards PE, and to work with Football Leadership Award (JFL). Kareem Queeley (captain) 9SIG, Abdullahi nonchalantly tucked away under the most severe pressure. Most impressive was his work schools to make sport more relevant to girls' lives. Mohamed Yusef 9SIG, Sabian Smith 9JRS, Kareem The students gave up their own time over February half term to complete the course which ethic for the team, as the lone striker he worked his socks off, holding the ball up with Abouraia 9PJW, Sukhpal Heran 9KK, Zain Safdar was intense led by specialist tutors from Leicester City. considerable strength and bringing others in to the game with accurate passing. 9KK, Kwanza Deacon 7CIP, Corey Regisford 7CIP. The Next Steps Mick King, Community Director at LCFC said: “Excellent work to both the delivery team Judge scored a late goal to make the last few minutes more tense than they needed to be, and the young participants – a superb example of effective partnership work making a but the boys stood fi rm as the fi nal whistle blew. 3 Measuring days will take place involving 80 Girls from KS3, randomly chosen, who will receive a £5 gift voucher. The results anonymous and confi dential. Basketball Trip positive impact on the lives of young people.” Final Score: Judgemeadow 1 – The City of Leicester College 2! Scorers: Jagjeet x2. We will fi nd out if we are a Pilot School in the Summer Term. If we are the School will Well done to all students involved: The boys now go automatically in to the County Cup Quarter Finals. On Sunday 10th January 2015, we had the pleasure of taking a delightful group of immediately receive funding, which the students will decide how to spend. youngsters to the Barclaycard Arena in Birmingham to watch the British Basketball Cup Final. Louise Ralton 11CEB, Tabasum Khan 11DJT, Year 8 Squad: Courtney Fowell 11DJT, Ashis Karavadra The students had a great day watching professional basketball and were a credit to the 11KST, Azhurudin Rahatwilkar 11NR, Nykah Liburd-Hines 8LMS, Ageel college. Anthony Brookes 11CEB, Franchini 8PES, Adil Nimbona 8PES, A huge thank you to Mr Grego, Mr Dudson, Miss Brighton, Mr Middleton, Mr Mistry – Joe Venables 11SES, Ayuub Moallim Danyaal Rafi q 8LMS, Inia Herbert School Governor and Ms Cox for all their support ensuring the trip was successful and for 11SES, Bhagyesh Patel 11DJT, Muhammad 8OM. Khalid Oday 8STC, Mudathir looking after me. Zain Bulbulia 11NR, Mayambora 8ZE, Kian Fowell 8SYD, Milad Abduwahab Shariif 11SES, Tamar Clayton Yadzani 8RLH, Michel Bauret 8PES, Jagjeet Mr Ruparelia Naute 11SES, Callum Hart 11DJT, Singh 8RLH, Rohan Ram 8SYD, Assem Muhammad Allarakha 11SES. Shariff 8SYD, Jaidyn Brown 8ZE, Jack Many congratulations to Mr Ruparelia who has passed his Level 2 Basketball Coaching Lingard 8SYD, Uday Modhwadia 8SYD Award. Mr Ruparelia & Ms Chapman Mr Darcy

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Be happy, be ambitious, make a diff erence SPRING N e w s 2 015 Enrichment achivement Enrichment achivement SPRING N e w s 2 015 Chelsea’s Swimming Success Science Club Chelsea McKay (8OM) continues her dream towards one day swimming in the Olympics. During the last weekend of the Leicestershire County Science club members are very lucky to have had Championships, Chelsea swam the 200m Butterfl y in a huge personal best two special visits from Animals in Hands. Students and under the 12 year old National Age Group qualifying time for the fi rst were able to have a hands on experience of time, so she has qualifi ed for the National Championships. We wish her touching and handling animals whilst learning the very best of luck. about how they are classifi ed into groups. Students thoroughly enjoyed the experience especially meeting the stars of the show "Dora" the Racoon and "Shah Rukh" the Python!

Science club are also looking forward to their Stardome planetarium experience on Nia Nisbett the 16th April, in which they will learn about Nia Nisbett is marking her mark in the world of girls’ the wonders of the universe using a 360 degree basketball. She represented Leicester and the cinema experience provided by the National at the National Under 14s Girls competition at Lilleshall on July Space Centre. Science Club runs every Thursday at 13 and 14 2014. Playing in the position of point guard, she 3:15 in room F15 with Mrs Vaghela. Students from helped the East Midlands Team place third. years 7 and 8 are welcome to join.

Nia also played a key role in helping the Leicester Warriors take second place under 13 National Champions. This year Nia continues to be one of two girls from Leicester continuing to train with the Regional Performance Centre for East Midlands under 15s Girls. She also plays as number 5 in the position of point guard for Leicester Warriors Girls. Asad Jalal Sameer Gets Gold! Asad continues his boxing success with a knock-out win at the beginning of March. Sameer Chenia (7CIP) is a double medal winner. In a Badminton England U13 Gold event, Sameer knocked out “I boxed a soldier from the royal artillery region, we a number of seeded players to reach the fi nal where he went over to Winchester and fought him in his own took the silver medal! backyard. He came out really strong and intimating as expected. I was given instructions to box cleverly, Sameer then followed up this success by teaming up with have a fi ght and capitalize on my opportunities. After I Rowan Clark to play in the doubles tournament. After landed a hefty straight right hand, I looked into his playing some incredible badminton the pair won 21-16 eyes and saw that his concentration had been broken; in the fi nal, winning gold medals! We look forward to I knew he was hurt and his next punch would be out of following Sameer’s future success. desperation. I countered with a strong and accurate left hook, it sent him to the canvas the moment the punch landed. The referee counted to 10, then called the fi ght off knowing he was hurt. I won by a fi rst round KO. I usually get trophies when I win fi ghts, but this time I was awarded a gold medal. It was an honour to box in front of so many generals. I wish all the best to my opponent, he came mentally and physically prepared. Thank you everyone for your support, Miss Khan, Mr Wilby, Mr Kelly, Mr Slater and the rest of the college. When you want to succeed as bad as you want to breathe, then you will be successful. This can be related to anything.” 16 17

Be happy, be ambitious, make a diff erence Be happy, be ambitious, make a diff erence SPRING N e w s 2 015 Enrichment achivement Community achivement SPRING N e w s 2 015

Y9 Bowling Trip Bollywood Night Childsmile are hosting a 'Bollywood Night' at The City Of Year 9 enjoyed a well deserved rewards trip to the Leicester College to raise money for The Blessed Home bowling alley at the end of the autumn term. Orphanage, The Child Street to School Organisation in Kathmandu and The Childsmile Microfi nance Group in Barabise.

Our Bollywood Bonanza evening will be taking place on Thursday 19th March at 7-9pm. The evening includes a Show, Vocal and Dance Performances. We are really excited about our event and hope that you can all attend this colourful and culturally rich experience. Three Peaks Challenge Childsmile Launches ‘imadeyourbed.com’ After the success of last year’s Childsmile Skydive Challenge, Childsmile are attempting a new event this year known as ‘The National Three Peaks Challenge’. This challenge is Last year Childsmile donated mattresses along with sports equipment to the Street Children well-known amongst the more adventurous and involves climbing the highest mountains in Organisation in Kathmandu. When we visited the Street Children’s Night Shelter Unit we Scotland, England and Wales all within 24 hours. The diffi culty of the challenge should witnessed the extreme conditions the children were sleeping in and often without any not be underestimated. It is physically very demanding and it is easy to get lost particularly form of basic bedding. The number of children using the facilities of The Night Shelter is as the mountains need to be climbed in the dark and often in poor weather. increasing every week, Childsmile wants to continue providing mattresses and suitable bedding to the unit so more and more children can sleep peacefully and in more hygienic The Challenge Team is 13 people age ranged from 14-49 and the challenge will be conditions. attempted between March 31st and April 1st 2015 to raise funds for Childsmile. This term Childsmile has proposed a challenge for all KS4 Childsmile helps orphans in Nepal to afford to go to school, have enough money for students. The idea is that each form raises a minimum of clothes and food and gives them Christmas presents every year. Without donations this £20, the money raised will be directly going towards would not be possible. We have set up a funding page so all of you are able to support buying basic mattresses and bedding for The Street us by donating any amount of money, helping us to make our 3 Peaks Challenge a fund Children’s Organisation and our children at The raising reality. Here is the link to our donation page: http://gogetfunding.com/project/ Blessed Home Orphanage. Once the money has Taiko Drumming Project childsmile-s-three-peak-challenge-2015 been raised, each form will then be registered on our imadeyourbed.com webpage and will thus This project was kick started with a day of Kagemusha Taiko in October 2014 We are hoping to raise a total of £4000. If you would like to know more about where be able to view the name and photo of the child who over the course of the 10-minute break and hour lunch managed to impress we are going with ‘Childsmile’ or why please feel free to contact either Adam or A’isha they have donated a mattress or bedding to. nearly all the school with their amazing performance in the amphitheatre and by email: [email protected] or follow us on twitter #Childsmile_1 or visit our Facebook run step up to the drum workshop for 42 students. This sowed the Taiko seed page ‘Childsmile’. and thus students were keen to join our Taiko group. We thank you for all your support! Please donate anything you can to ‘Childsmile’ and Hassnain Safdar During the Autumn term Bullfrog worked with a group of 8 young people. help a child smile this year. Weekly Taiko sessions were held in the Music Room where students over the The Childsmile Team Ex-student Hassnain Safdar, who is now at Aston University, was specially invited to an course of the term learnt a performance piece which was performed on stage event at the Morrocan Embassy in London, to mark the 69th anniversary of the United in front of Y7s and carers and parents. Nations, where he mixed with political dignitaries, parliamentarians and international The sessions were carefully planned to meet the individual needs of our students statesmen, including the French Ambassador to the UK and the Chairman of the United and focused particularly around improving self-effi cacy, impact on learning, Nations Association UK (UNA-UK), Sir Jeremy Greenstock. communication, team building and relationships.The sessions were supported Hassnain, the Captain of Aston’s Model United Nations (MUN) Society by Ivylin Chouhan and Rebecca Tuitt from the virtual school team and co- and Committee Member for the Central Region UNA-UK, said: “It ordinated by Daren Amoo, Lead Learning Mentor, who also performed in the was an honour to be invited to the reception and to learn more roup. For students to observe the adults in the school learning something new about the workings of the UN. It was a real thrill to have met such and doing what they were doing was a powerful way of engaging students. distinguished political fi gures and engage with them in discussions We hope that all students who took part in the Taiko project will continue to play on topics such as healthcare and sustainable development.” Taiko and will be able to perform in other schools. Massive congratulations to: In November, Hassnain led Aston delegations to separate Model Kevin Monteiro, Evrinn Rawlinson, Shania Allen-Thomas, Umar Malik, Baseer United Nations conferences at the University of Oxford and Omarkhil, Salsabilla Amdouni, Ahmedraza Patel, Harry Evans. Cambridge University, where the issue of equality was raised and a prominent part of discussions. 18 19

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our £25,000 website fi ltering system, which only allows connection to approved sites. Childsmile Christmas Gifts TCOLC 1-to-1 iPad This fi ltering remains in place both in school and at home. Out of school hours we apply a more relaxed fi ltering policy, allowing students access to games and social media that Every year Childsmile is dedicated to sending Christmas gifts to our children at The Blessed Scheme Update & they wouldn’t be allowed to view in school for productivity reasons. The combination of Home Orphanage in Kathmandu. The idea is for our students to fi ll up a shoebox of any MDM and web fi ltering in place makes these iPads one of the most comprehensively existing items they no longer need or simply buy a few new items in order to fi ll up their e-safe devices you can give to your child – straight out of the box. shoebox. Ordinarily, our children at Blessed Home wouldn’t receive gifts during Christmas e-Safety Advice due to their on-going fi nancial struggles. Good Parenting The TCOLC 1-to-1 Scheme continues to rollout across the college. This term, Y7s were the Whist robust fi ltering and device management policies help a great deal, there is no The fi lled shoeboxes are then couriered over to The Blessed Home Orphanage in time second year group to join the scheme, and over 240 students now have their own devices substitute for good parenting, and it is important for both College and Parents to have for Christmas to make a child ‘smile’. This year Childsmile proposed ‘The Childsmile in school. This number will continue to grow as we open the scheme to more year groups. clear boundaries in place to ensure devices are used safely. Christmas Shoebox Operation 2014’ to Years 7 and 8. Each form class was given the Barbed Wire for Kisses name, age, likes and hobbies of one of our children from The Blessed Home Orphanage; Year Group Timeline Parents are advised to be involved in their child’s online life. Young people use the internet the idea was that each form class was responsible for fi lling up a shoebox full of gifts, to socialise and grow and, as we have seen in the news recently, social media is an area written message and class photos to their designated orphan to open on Christmas Day. A Village at War 1914–18 Current Year 9s Autumn 2014 where young people can easily be subject to negative and extreme infl uences. Just as Current Year 7s Spring 2015 you guide and support your child offl ine, you should be there for them online too. Talk to Our Childsmile Shoebox Operation was an incredible success, all 18 forms across Years your child about what they’re doing. If they know you understand they are more likely to In collaboration with the Evington Community group as part of their WW1 commemorations, Current Year 8s Autumn 2015 7 and 8 fi lled a shoebox for each of our children at Blessed Home. You can see from the The City of Leicester College will be hosting a community performance of Barbed Wire approach you if they need support. photos how happy the children were on receiving the boxes. for Kisses; a spellbinding performance of storytelling and music, in which the narratives of Current Year 6s Spring 2016 Setting clear boundaries Childsmile want to take this opportunity to express our gratitude to all Y7 and 8 students families in one small community tell the bigger story of the First World War. Current Year 5s Autumn 2016 No two children are the same and some are more mature and sensible than others. and tutors for being so generous, driven and proactive with this year’s Childsmile Shoebox In a powerfully moving performance, acclaimed storytellers Hugh Lupton and Nick Students from Y7 and Y9 who have not joined the scheme yet, will next be able to join in However, you may want to consider setting some of the following rules for your child: Operation. We want to specifi cally thank the Y7 and 8 tutors for continuing to instil Hennessey and musicians John Dipper and James Patterson tell the story of the ‘the war to compassion and a sense of social responsibility within our youngsters. It’s such a pleasure Autumn 2015, when we roll out to our current Y8 students. end all wars’ through the stories of the families in one small Lincolnshire village. Personal • Set a limit on screen-time – advice varies but 1 hour a day would seem to witness so many of our students ‘making a difference’ to the lives of others and feeling accounts of life and death and the memories of families at home open a deeply human E-Safety – Guidance for Parents sensible. such pride when contributing towards our school’s on going charity work in Nepal. window onto the trauma that shaped the 20th Century. E-Safety is a concern for many parents. As your child grows and becomes more • Set a curfew – playing on gadgets late at night has been shown to Thanks and regards, Team Childsmile In addition to the evening performance, Hugh Lupton, one of Britain’s leading storytellers, independent, it is only natural that they take this independence online. In our teenage affect our readiness for sleep, so it is advisable to avoid using an LCD will lead two storytelling workshops, one for students in the Evington area and one for years we explore, try new things and sometimes push boundaries and take risks, this is an screen in the hour before bedtime. adults in the local community. essential part of growing up. • Keep internet-enabled devices downstairs – restrict use of phones and Most parents are not ICT technicians, and are often playing catch-up with the technology tablets to communal areas like the living room. Notifi cations can disturb Friday 20th March 2.00 pm – 4.00 pm – Student workshop their children are regularly using. Tablets in particular can be very diffi cult to apply sleep and tempt students to play on after lights out. Friday 20th March 8.00 pm – 10.00 pm – Performance Barbed Wire appropriate fi ltering to keep young people safe. • Encourage an open culture – ask you child to share their lock screen for Kisses The TCOLC 1-to-1 iPad Scheme has been designed with this in mind and every device password with you. Saturday 21st March 9.30 – 12.30 pm – Adult workshop issued through the scheme includes a range of important safe-guards that would be • If your child has a social media account on Facebook, Twitter etc, Tickets are available from TCOLC reception. beyond the scope of most parents to set up for themselves. ask them to invite you as a “friend”. Age appropriate Apps and content Further information iPad-minis purchased through More information and guidance on e-safety is the scheme are supervised available from CEOP (The Child Exploitation and The Nepal Childsmile Expedition 2015 using Mobile Device Online Protection Centre) Mangement (MDM) Software. https://www.thinkuknow.co.uk/parents/Secondary/ In the summer term this year eight students from Years 10 –13 will embark on an Expedition This means that the devices will to Nepal where they stay in the Blessed Home orphanage in Kathmandu. Childsmile has only install age appropriate If you have any concerns over iPad use at school or at home and would like to discuss supported this orphanage for many years and the students will help in the Home and also apps – currently set at 12+ these, please contact me at [email protected] in the local school that the children attend. The students will visit a Street Children Rescue for our KS3 Students. There Centre in the capital and undertake road trips to visit a number of conservation and are also age related content Anthony Tompkins, College Leader – New Technology Microfi nance projects that the College is involved with. restrictions in place so that material viewed on sites such The main purpose of the Expedition is as Youtube is age appropriate. for our students to evaluate the impact of the enterprising initiatives that our Additionally, all internet traffi c fund raising in College has allowed us from the iPads passes through to fi nance in Nepal and also to get to know the children in the orphanage in Kathmandu in order to better understand 20 their needs and aspirations. 21

Be happy, be ambitious, make a diff erence SPRING N e w s 2 015 Parent and Community information Parent and Community information SPRING N e w s 2 015 How can you support What else can parents do to help? Important Information Mobile Phones • Reward your child’s efforts to revise. Please note, if students need, or choose, to bring a phone into college they do so at their your child to do their best • Make sure that time is built in for exercise and recreation. for Parents and Carers own risk. • Reduce the number of chores that they have to do when exams start. in their exams? • Respect your child’s growing independence. Uniform and equipment Holidays • Make sure that the whole family keeps disturbances to a minimum Top 10 tips for parents Please ensure your child comes to college in full uniform every day and with all their Holidays should not be taken during term time. Permission will only be considered in • Allow your child to study in the library if there is not a quiet place to equipment, including their organiser. Students who are not in uniform will be required to exceptional circumstances, at the Headteacher’s discretion, and only if: Help your child to start preparing for their exams now! Over the next few weeks: study at home. go home and change or work in the Behaviour Support Unit for the day. • Ask them how you can best support them. 1. Your child’s attendance is above 95% 1. Make sure that your child attends school every day and on time. Hair, make-up and jewellery should be appropriate for college. If students are wearing • Have a copy of the exam timetable at home so that you can provide 2. Your fl ight tickets are made available on request 2. Help your child to make a revision timetable which includes all their anything deemed inappropriate e.g. large hoops, dangling earrings, prominent piercings, encouragement for each exam. 3. Your child is up to date with coursework and homework subjects and ensure that they stick to the plan. large belts etc. they will be asked to remove it. Students are NOT allowed to wear • Be sensitive to the pressure and stress that 4. Holiday forms must be submitted at least 2 weeks 3. Have the timetable displayed in your child’s room. hooded tops to school. If they do, these will be confi scated. your child may be experiencing. before proposed holiday. 4. Encourage your child to attend revision sessions offered at college. • Help them to keep things in perspective. Unauthorised holidays may result in the issue of a penalty notice by the educational 5. Ask to see your child’s revision notes and check that they are Studies show that high parental interest is linked with Uniform Direct welfare service. complete. better exam results than for children whose parents show Please note you can uniform for students at The City of Leicester College from Uniform 6. Make sure that they have all the books they need to hand so they no interest. What will you do to give your child the best Direct’s shop in the centre of Leicester, on Humberstone Gate next to Sainsbury’s. The shop don’t waste time. chance of achieving success? offers good access for parents as it is on a bus route from Evington and is also very close Contact information 7. Make sure that revision is spread out evenly so that your son/ to the Clock Tower and other shops in the centre of Leicester. Please ensure that the contact information we hold for you is up to date. We increasingly daughter is not planning to do too much. contact parents/carers through phone, text and email, so please make sure that if you 8. You can buy revision guides to help with study. Uniform can also be purchased on line at www.uniform-direct.com or by telephoning change mobile numbers or email addresses that you let the offi ce know. Uniform Direct on 01522 510016. 9. Ask them to explain something they have just revised. 10. Encourage the use of different memory aids e.g. writing notes on Inspire a generation cards or putting post-it notes around the house with key facts. Punctuality Counselling Service in College If you are not yet aware, we do have a counselling service available for students in Top 10 revision tips for and become a teacher Please support your child’s learning by ensuring they attend college regularly and arrive at college. If you think your child would benefi t from receiving counselling, please contact college, and into lessons, on time. Students who arrive late cause signifi cant disruption to Karena on: [email protected] students The City of Leicester College is delighted to announce that we have been allocated six their own, and others’, learning. The bell goes at 8.25am – if students are late to college teacher training places through School Direct for 2015–16, in Mathematics, Physics and twice in a week, they are required to do a 40 minute detention after college with their Please see our website: www.cityleicester.leicester.sch.uk for all up to date information. You can support your son/daughter by helping Biology. Achievement Co-ordinator. them to follow these tips:

1. Do not revise for more than one hour without taking a 5-10 minute break. What is School Direct? 2. Cover each subject several times and revisit each one near to the School Direct is a way of training new teachers, which is school-led. The School Direct THE CITY OF LEICESTER COLLEGE exams. initial teacher training route combines one placement in each of two of the partnership schools, with University based training from our partner, the . 3. Revise specific topics in each subject, not everything at once. Tackle TERM DATES 2015 the most difficult topics first. Successful completion of the programme will lead to the award of qualifi ed teacher status 4. Revise one or two subjects in the evenings after school. (QTS) and also includes a postgraduate certifi cate in education (PGCE) with Masters Spring Term Summer Term credits. 5. Turn off the TV, radio or any loud music. Quiet background music may help some students The fi ve schools in the partnership are, our own as the Lead School, Babington Community College opens for students: Monday 23rd February College opens for students: Monday 13th April 6. Stay focused. Don’t waste time on social networks and mobile College, Crown Hills Community College, and Welland Park Y9 Option Evening Wednesday 4th March Half term: Monday 25th – Friday 29th May phones. . Student Review Day Thursday 12th March College opens for students: Monday 1st June 7. Reading is not enough. Making brief notes in either words or pictures If you would like to fi nd out more, please contact Mrs Searle, Professional Tutor at the will help. College. Y8 Subject Evening Tuesday 24th March Y10 Subject Evening Thursday 11th June 8. Answer questions from past papers, sometimes under exam For more information see the College website Y8 options interviews Friday 27th March Activities week Mon 6th July conditions, to test learning. www.cityleicester.co.uk or email: [email protected] College closes: Friday 27th March College closes: Friday 10th July 9. Don’t leave revision to the last minute. 10. Get lots of sleep and drink lots of water. 22 23

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