AMVC SIXTH FORM SCOOP October 2017 Hello and welcome to the first edition of the new Sixth Form Newsletter. The start of a new school year is always really busy with homework, new teachers, new classes, more homework, new people and yet more homework, so for the Sixth Form Scoop team to put this together to such a high standard is a real achievement. Thanks to everyone on the team: Alisha, Ben, Clark, Eleanor, Esme, George, Joe, Kim, Lewis, Lucy, Luis, Maria, Matthew, Sophie and Tara. We hope you enjoy this edition and, with the variety of articles on offer, find something that interests you . As always, please let us know about any feed-back or features you want to see. This would be really helpful — it only makes future issues better. Happy Reading! C 1. Teacher Q and A O 2. Agony Aunt N 3. News/Topical 4. Film Review T 5. Book Review E 6. Music Review N 7. Politics Page 8. AMVC Geographical T 9. Photography and Amazon Deals S Q&A with Mr Holland (THO) and Miss Edwards (CED) Where were you born/raised? THO: Tyldesley in Manchester. CED: Born in York, raised in Market Harborough. Where did you get your teaching qualifications? THO: Liverpool John Moores University. I did my undergraduate there too. CED: Through the University of Leicester. How did you get into teaching? THO: After my degree finished, I did two weeks of work experience in a school in Liverpool. I decided that I liked it and applied for a PGCE. S CED: My mum. I didn't want to teach, but I did work experience with mum, and really enjoyed it. From there it naturally happened. What is your pet hate? THO: People being late. CED: People who don't indicate when going around roundabouts. If you won the lottery, what would be the first thing you would buy? THO: A good holiday, a really good one, somewhere in the Caribbean. CED: A red Ferrari. Then a country estate. If you were stuck on a desert island, which three things would you take? THO: My phone, or any other access to music. Hot sauce, I put that on everything, and a few books. CED: Spud (my dog), books (crime thrillers), and music. What is the best place you've ever visited? THO: Jamaica. I went there on my honeymoon. CED: I'm obsessed with the South of France; a place called Uzès. If you could learn any new skill, what would it be? THO: I'd love to play an instrument. CED: To speak another language. I really want to learn French. Name 3 attributes that will help students succeed in A-Level biology/ psychology. THO: Hard work, perseverance and asking for help when you don't understand. CED: Organisation, determination and resilience. Is there any advice you can give sixth form students in general? THO: Try and enjoy it. CED: Sleep and eat good food. Piano Tiles Score: THO: 34 1 CED: 218 By Alisha Higgins Agony Aunt Hello! It’s your resident Agony Aunt, here to help solve your troubling queries and qualms about a range of different subjects. In this edition, I will be answering questions about the various new changes that come with joining the Sixth Form. I hope you enjoy reading this and I hope I help to wash those worries away! I am new to the college and am struggling to make friends. I am feeling like everyone has someone to hang out with and although I have said hello to a few S people in lessons, I still don’t have anyone to sit with at break and lunch. Please help. This big change in your school life can be very hard to handle alone. Luckily, many of our students are friendly, accepting, and more than happy to become friends with others. Making acquaintances within class is a good first step, maybe you could even ask your form tutor to introduce you to the members of your form: you're almost guaranteed to make a connection being in the same form for the next 2 years! At break and lunchtimes, try spending time in the Sixth Form canteen and get involved with some of the friendship groups there. It's important to remember that you aren't the only one having trouble making friends; previous and other new AMVC students may feel just as lost, so you aren't alone in your worries! I feel so overwhelmed with all the work being set in lessons; I didn’t think the jump from GCSE to A-level would be this hard. Worry not! It's very common to be overwhelmed over the first few weeks, the change is daunting and the workload much larger for everyone. Firstly, use your silent studies wisely. You'll have heard this from teachers too, but trust me, using these designated times to catch up on classwork or starting on homework early can really help when it comes to staying calm and organised. Chipping away at the work bit by bit allows you to manage your workload more efficiently. Obviously, silent studies alone may not provide enough time to do everything. When studying at home however, try to avoid working for long hours late into the night on essays and work sheets. Instead, try to limit yourself to 2 hours of work. And remember: look after yourself. Eat properly, stay hydrated, rest and relax! At this point in the year, you need to focus on taking notes in class, getting homework in on time and making revision resources for future exams. Everyone seem to know what they want to do next year but I don’t. I don’t know whether I want to go to university, do an apprenticeship or just work! I don’t think I will ever know and everyone keeps asking me to make decisions. I'll do my best to assist! First things first, not everyone has a plan. You certainly aren't expected to know exactly what you want to do by now, and even the most thought out plans for the future may not work out perfectly. Try making a list of subjects you enjoy and jobs or university courses that sound interesting to you. With this in mind, try asking your subject teachers, form tutor, or the heads of Sixth Form about options for the future that could be right for you. Do a bit of research at home or in silent studies about what options are available and the grades you should aim for, but keep in mind that none of your decisions are set in stone! Try not to worry too much about the future or other people’s expectations- no matter how much parents and other 2 people may nag. A Crash Course Guide to Arthur Mellows Sixth Form A new chapter of your academic life is opening; GCSE's are so last summer. It's time to forget about the exam season breakdowns and tearful result days, by stepping into a new, exciting and more mature schooling period. Yes. Sixth form. Long have you wondered about the glamourous lifestyle of the higher years, trotting in and out of school as they please, clothed in designer office wear and clutching their pristine folders, filled with the secrets to their academic success. Whether you're new to AMVC or you've spent previous years here, it's easy to see that Year 12 is completely different to any previous educational experience. However, the huge gap that lies between the seemingly bland Year 11 and the glitzy high- life of sixth form appears extremely daunting. Especially, if you've decided to leave behind your GCSE years at another school and walk into a completely new academic life at Arthur Mellows. But, let's leave the stress for exam period, and allow myself- a fellow sixth former and member of AMVC since year 7- to guide S you through a quick crash course, teaching you the basics of survival here at AMVC. Firstly, I want to begin with addressing, what I like to call, the crossroads of chaos. If you've spent any time at all at AMVC, you know exactly what I'm talking about; those double doors of terror at the end of the main corridor that become flooded with a mass of green and black after every beep of the bell. In order to avoid being trampled by this stampede, I advise you to avoid this area at peak rush hour. This includes the beginning and end of break periods as well as the split seconds of chaos between lessons. However, if you do find yourself in the unfortunate situation of being imprisoned by fellow students in a waterfall of suffocation: STAY CALM. Take a deep breath and shuffle along with the herd for ease. Oh, and in your panic, please refrain from joining in with the act of pushing, it is wholly unhelpful and entirely unnecessary. At the end of the day, try to minimise your panic… unless you are seriously claustrophobic then, unfortunately, I am unable to offer you any helpful advice. Secondly, I would like to offer some advice regarding the number of canteens and circumstances surrounding each of these spaces. AMVC has three separate canteens, two of which are available to sixth form. These are the sixth form coffee lounge/canteen and the main canteen, the one sandwiched between the science and English blocks. The favoured canteen among the higher years, tends to be the coffee lounge, as spending lunch and breaks here means no risk of cross contamination with younger years.