Year 9 Update - Autumn 2
In Year 9 we pride ourselves on offering a balance between a pursuit for academic excellence alongside personalised pastoral care, ensuring that our students take all opportunities to support their happiness and wellbeing. Year 9 is a very special year for students. With skills and understanding in place from year 7 and 8, this is the year when choice and independence become increasingly important in their learning journey. The continuation of developing their intellectual character from experiences both inside and outside the classroom is vital, and as such a variety of opportunities are made available to the students. We are so very proud of Year 9s who are a fantastic calibre of students that are intrinsically motivated, charismatic and superb leaders. They epitomise what the character and culture of school really is, demonstrating our CORE values every day.
Christmas Hamper Appeal
As part of the lead up to Christmas, tutor groups have taken part in the Community Christmas Hamper initiative. It is times like these that makes me realise what a generous and selfless cohort of students we have in year 9. Chloe and Daniel P deserve to be recognised for their incredible contributions. These hampers have been distributed to vulnerable people and organisations in our community, including local care homes. Students were also invited to wear their Christmas Jumpers on Friday 15 December and it was fantastic to see so many students joining in and raising money for Save the Children.
Remembrance Day
All Year 9 students were given the task of designing a poppy out of card and including a message of gratitude to all those people that have sacrificed their lives in WW1, WW2, the Falklands War, the Gulf War and conflicts in Afghanistan, Iraq, Ukraine. Students produced some lovely poppies with very heart-felt messages and we decided to make a wreath that will be displayed by our school memorial.
Tutor Curriculum
This half term we have held a series of tutor group competitions, including our annual noticeboard competition, literacy and activities and discussions as part of Anti Bullying Week. We had some superb notice board entries, making it considerably difficult for the Marketing Leaders to choose a winner. The criteria groups were assessed on were tutor group identity, creativity, general aesthetic appeal. The Year 9 winning notice board was awarded to 9CT01. Miss Davis was incredibly proud to receive the tub of chocolates for her tutor group.
Our Tutor Curriculum has also focused on Digital Literacy, International Schools and Finance. It is always exciting for students to spend time within the College which encourages a sense of pride, belonging and healthy competition. It was wonderful to see all students engage with our first College Fortnight of the year this half term. Students in all year groups attended a College assembly with their College Leader and Year 12 College Leaders; this presented an opportunity to reflect and celebrate the successes of the College so far and to look forward to the fortnight where there would be a range of opportunities to engage in College activities.
Rewards
A fantastic number of positive rewards have been achieved across the year group and it is always lovely to recognise achievements in our assemblies. When reviewing the data it is noticeable a number of consequences have also accumulated related to punctuality and your support in ensuring your child leaves home with enough time to arrive to school in good time to start lessons at 8.45am is appreciated.
A reminder as parents / carers you can you view the homelearning your child has received and the date it is due via Go4Schools. If your child struggles to complete a particular piece of work they should be provided with enough time to speak to their teacher to gain a better understanding. If they do need some additional support, our school library is open until 5pm each day (apart from Friday) and they are able to access books, a computer but importantly a Teaching Assistant is there to help. This is a fantastic resource that will allow your child to complete their homelearning in a calm and supportive learning environment.
Top 10 Students with the highest reward points
The battle for first place in achieving the highest number of reward points between Nadia K and Amber B has been ongoing since the start of term. However, Nadia has managed to hold the title for the past 4 weeks, which is a real accomplishment. This term’s top 10 students are listed below. These students have been relentless in demonstrating their dedication and commitment to all aspects of school life. Well done!
Achievement
Academic achievement describes academic outcomes that indicate the extent to which a student has achieved their learning goals and therefore exceeding their target grades. This demonstrates the capabilities and potential these students have to exceed their target grades.
Hall Of Fame
The Year 9 Basketball team got their league campaign underway against a strong Southam School but with a well-balanced attack, they ran out with a fantastic 51 -32 win.
Zac Brazier took part in a skills bout that gave him the opportunity to showcase his talent in front of a crowd in a non-competitive exhibition. Well don Zac.
Year 9 Revision Evening
I would like to invite you to our Year 9 Revision and Support Evening on Thursday 25 January. The purpose of the evening is to inform you of the whole school revision plan as well as offering advice and guidance on how you can help support your child at home with their revision.
There will be the opportunity to attend one of the two sessions, with the first session between 16.30 and 17.30 and the second session at 17.45-18.45. This is to ensure that we have capacity for all students and parents to attend. You can choose which session you would like to attend by completing the MS Forms here.
On arrival you will be given a pack of resources, our Student Leaders will direct you to the theatre where you will enjoy a 10 minute presentation from the Year 9 SLT Link, Miss Jephcote. This will be followed by a series of interactive revision activities.
I just want to take this opportunity to thank you all for your support this academic term. I hope that you feel your child has been given the guidance and support to achieve, but more importantly, to enjoy school life. I look forward to catching up with you all at the various school events next term. Have a fantastic Christmas.
Kind regards,
Mr Royle