March Newsletter.Pub
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Newsletter March 2020 Reaching for the heights Key Change Students to get longer time with broader curriculum A three year Key Stage 3 will enable students to enjoy the breadth of subjects offered at school for an extra year, as changes are made in school this autumn. In recent months we have taken another look at how the school delivers the curriculum at The Radclyffe School. Students undertake a five year ’Learning Journey up to Year 11, and it is our priority to discover how we can best support them to achieve their full potential as they reach their examinations at the end of that time. Senior leaders, working with faculty and subject leaders and other staff have looked at national advice and guidance on best practice so we can provide the best education for your children. As a result, we have decided to extend the Key Stage 3 curriculum for an extra year, from two years to a three-year model. From September this year our students will follow the Key Stage 3 curriculum for Years 7 to 9. They will then follow Key Stage 4 (involving GCSE and other equivalent qualifications) through Year 10 and 11. The change will not affect current students in Key Stage 4. Our current Year 8 will gain an extra year in Key Stage 3, studying a broader range of subjects. All students study the three Core Subjects of English, Maths and Science throughout school. Nine ‘Foundation subjects make up the National Curriculum in Years 7 to 9; Art, Citizenship, Computing, Design & Technology, a foreign language, Geography, History, Music and PE. The change also means that Year 8 students will not need to choose their KS4 options this year - this will become part of the Spring term in Year 9. Headteacher Mr Cregg said, “We understand that this will be an unexpected change for them, but please be assured that we have reached this decision following very careful consideration, and the best interest of all our learners.” 2 Students discover many ways to find their career Careers advice in School Whether our students will enter the world of work at 16, 18, 21 or beyond, it’s never too early to start to get an understanding of what is needed. Our students have been busy this term, across all year groups, discovering what they need to succeed, and developing the skills that will empower them to reach their potential. Apprenticeships Facebook HQ National Apprenticeships Week Jobs in the digital market will be a gave us the perfect opportunity major area of growth for years to for students to explore this exciting come. Who better to inspire our option for their future careers. students than Facebook, a global business worth more than $250bn. A visit to the UK Apprenticeship Fair enabled students to speak to Students visited their UK apprenticeship providers alongside headquarters in London universities and colleges - showing to investigate the careers the high quality of training on offer. available and the skills and qualifications they Listening to the speakers, events like would need. this give students the information they need to make informed Learn to Earn choices about their future. For 90 Year 9 students, Learn to Back at Earn, organised by charity Young school, a Enterprise, encouraged them to lunchtime consider financial plans for the drop-in future. They also set goals and showed started to think about future students study options. the great The session offered a clearer range of understanding of the routes to apprenticeship routes into careers jobs and careers that they will in the National Health Service. find engaging and rewarding. Miss Parkinson said, “Many of our students have ambitions to work Through hands on practical activities, in medicine, and this session the students explored personal offered a strong focus on just skills and talents, career choices, how many different roles there recruitment, job interviews, tax are they could enter.” and earnings, the cost of living, financial planning and budgeting. 3 Putting the wind in their sales! Company team programme It is one thing to learn in a classroom, but something totally different to get real-world experience in running a business. This is exactly what’s on offer to students through the Company Team programme, organised by Young Enterprise. ‘Team Green’ is our entry this year. The five students have worked with a local businessman, learning about marketing, customers and brand identity. The team researched, manufactured and launched their own product, reusable produce bags aimed at cutting down plastic use. The students demonstrated their entrepreneurial talents, selling to the public at the Trafford Centre, and even gaining customer feedback to help them improve their product further. Inspired by great local employers Raising Aspirations Programme Another opportunity to escape the classroom inspired students from Year 9 as they visited the National Logistics Centre and Ultimate Products, both based in Oldham. Seeing how a real workplace operates is helping to develop the students’ awareness of health and safety, work development, team working and customer service. 4 Year 10s to discover the world of work Work experience At the end of June many students in Year 10 will begin a week of work experience at companies across Oldham. The students themselves take responsibility for finding their placement, contacting local companies to make the necessary arrangements in a broad range of job sectors. We would like to thank all parents and carers who attended the ‘Get to Know Work Experience’ evening, which sought to explain all that this involves in planning and preparing. We are also grateful to local companies and organisations who make the commitment to provide the students with worthwhile placements. Amongst the employers who have got involved already this year are Heathcote pre school, Tesco, Burnley Brow primary school, and Stonefield St surgery. In previous years our students have gained from broad choice of work experiences. These have included farming, child care, hairdressing, roles with Oldham Council, estate agency, and hotel work. Former students share their personal career paths Future First We had the pleasure of welcoming former students Denver Cooper and Leah Dunn into school, where they spoke to students about gaining key employability skills. The opportunity to hear from young people who have been in the same situation as our students helped them to relate to what they were hearing. If you are a past student of The Radclyffe School and would like to be a member of our alumni project, please sign up at: https://futurefirst.org.uk 5 Art & Photography Creative talent on show For some students, GCSE exams get underway as early as this term. Our art and photography students have been busy with their practical work, and soon after the half term holiday, drama will also perform their final exam pieces. Much as we would love to show off our Year 11 students’ creativity, we have to let the work be marked first. We do of course have a great deal of talent throughout the school. So we would like to show off just some of the artwork that students have created. 6 A lesson from Jesmin Better road safety needed on Broadway On the first day of the new school year in 2010 a student from The Radclyffe School was involved in a serious accident as she crossed Broadway. Thankfully Jesmin Begum, a Year 10 student at the time, recovered after spending 13 weeks in a coma. Sadly there are many current students who need to learn a lesson from this incident and make sure they cross roads safely. Deputy Headteacher Mrs Wernick said, “We regularly receive complaints from drivers who note how students from the school are failing to cross the busy dual carriageway safely. As a result we are urging parents to speak to their children and remind them of the risks. There are safe crossing places at all of the major junctions around school, there really is no excuse to not cross these roads safely.” By the time children reach secondary school they are likely to be becoming much more independent as road users and, as such, are exposed to increased road risks. This makes it all the more important to remind them of what they need to do to stay safe. As Spring approaches we would encourage students to travel to school either on foot or by bicycle. We know there are lots of benefits for health, the environment and spending time with friends by doing so. At the same time we know there are barriers that sometimes prevent people from walking or cycling, and hazards that pedestrians and cyclists may be exposed to. During year group assemblies students will be reminded of the risks on the roads. We would be very grateful if you as parents and carers can reinforce these messages too. 7 Keeping students healthy in School Always carry your inhaler An important ingredient of success at school is to stay healthy. For many of our students this is helped by the use of inhalers to assist with asthma and other breathing conditions. During school time we advise students to always carry their inhaler with them, but also to keep a spare in school if required. It is parents’ responsibility to ensure that this spare inhaler is in school - we do not provide them - and to ensure that the spare does not go beyond its expiry date. For many of our students, it is the blue ‘reliever’ inhaler that they need to have in school. The brown ‘preventer’ is designed to be used at home in the morning and evening. Injuries at home We have wonderful first aid and health support facilities in school but none of our team are health care professionals.