PRAYER FOR THE PENTECOST

Lord Jesus, we thank you for the gift of

Pentecost and for new life in the Holy

Spirit. Fill us with your Holy Spirit and set

ours hearts ablaze with the fire of your

love that we may serve you in joy and

freedom. We ask this through Christ Our

Lord.

Amen

Friday 22 May 2015 All Hallows Catholic College Newsletter Whitsun Term

COLLEGE PRAYER

SPECIALISM SUCCESS

YEAR 5 PARENT OPEN MORNING

It’s that time of year again! As students prepare to

leave All Hallows, we are mindful that many of them

will have balances on their school meal accounts.

Please be aware that any balances below £5.00 will

not be refunded. With this in mind, can you ask your

children to run down their account balance as they

get towards the end of the school year? Any

balances over £5.00 can either be refunded or

transferred to another sibling staying at All Hallows.

Unfortunately, no money can be transferred to trips

as the school meals money goes directly to our

outside caterer. If you have any questions, please

contact the Finance Office

finance@allhallows.org.uk or 01625 426138. Thank

you for your continued support.

DINNER MONEY FOR LEAVERS

All Hallows is part of the Ensemble project and we are pleased that the project has been awarded funding by the Department for Education for a second year. In the first year we focused on primary languages teaching. In the second year we will look at easing transition from primary to secondary school in languages.

SUPPORTING YOUR CHILD IN EXAMS

Supporting your child through their GCSE's can be difficult. One top

tip is how to cope when your child falls behind with work. The

solution would be to help them prioritise their work load

and create a plan that helps get the balance right with college

work and social time. To help with this all Year 11 students have

been given a revision pack, that includes a revision timetable,

which students are completing this week. Please ask to see the

revision timetable your child will bring home and have a

conversation around it. Future Link Publishing have also produced

a useful guide for parents that contains 101 top tips to help. This

can be accessed using the following link:

http://www.futurelinkpublishing.co.uk/publish/publications/

GCSE.html.

Year 10 mock results

Saturday 16th May 2015 9:00am

EXAM RESULTS

PARENTS AS PARTNERS—BANNED ITEMS

Parents are reminded that there are certain items which are banned from the College site. One of these items is aerosols of

any type. Aerosols are banned to ensure the safety and well-being of all students and all who work within the All Hallows

College community. We welcome the support of parents in ensuring that this aspect of the College behaviour policy is

adhered to. A full version of the policy, which includes all banned items, is available on the Parent Zone section of the College

website.

GOODBYE TO OUR YEAR 13’S

This week we say a fond farewell to our year 13 students as they

commence their study leave. We offer them our prayers and best

wishes as they complete their final assessments, and look forward to

celebrating their successes in August. Following a reflective Mass

which the students prepared they celebrated their final day with an

Awards Ceremony, BBQ and by letting off steam on the inflatables!

Year Group Dates Type

7,8,9 Monday 15 June 2015—Friday 19 June 2015 End of Year Exam

10 Monday 15 June 2015—Friday 26 June 2015 Assessment

COLLEGE EXAMS / ASSESSMENTS Friday 22 May 2015

YEAR 12 EXAMINATIONS

Year 12 have now commenced their study leave until the 8 June. Subject teachers will be available throughout this

time should students wish to come in to College for extra support, and arrangements have been made for all BTEC

students. Students are expected to check the website to confirm examination venues and start times; they should

also arrive promptly to all examinations in full Business Dress, with all appropriate equipment (including a black ball

point pen). We wish Year 12 the best of luck in their forthcoming examinations.

EXAM COUNTDOWN

THE YEAR 11, 12 AND 13 SUMMER EXAMINATIONS HAVE NOW STARTED. GOOD LUCK TO ALL STUDENTS

RESULT DAY DATES All students have now been provided with a paper copy of

their timetables for the forthcoming GCE A Levels and GCSE

exams. Parents can view their child's timetable via the

Parental Gateway under the "Assessments" heading.

STUDENT TIMETABLES

EXAM EQUIPMENT

Please ensure that your child has the appropriate equipment for their

exams: Clear plastic pencil case, black ink pen, pencil, ruler, eraser,

protractor, compass and a calculator (for Maths, Science& Business

exams)

YEAR 7,8 & 9 SUMMER 2015 MOCK EXAM TIMETABLE—WEEK COMMENCING 15 JUNE

Students are now able to use our fantastic new Fitness Suite.

Those students who have completed a Fitness Suite. Induction and wish to use the facilities must sign up on the

day using the sign up sheet on the notice board in the Sports Hall. Places will be allocated on a first come, first

served basis, up to a maximum of 28 students for each session.

The following sessions are available:

Monday - Y7/8 (mixed) until 4.30p.m.

Tuesday - Y7/8 (girls only) until 4.30p.m.

Wednesday - Y9/10/11 (girls only) until 4.00p.m.

Thursday - Y11/Sixth form (mixed) until 4.30p.m.

Friday - Y9/10 (mixed) until 4.30p.m.

FITNESS SUITE

The Fitness Suite is also open at lunch (second

break).

Any queries please contact Mr Lawson or a

member of the PE staff for more information.

Please make sure students are bringing appropriate clothing to their PE lessons if they are on an outdoor lesson. Also, a

reminder that all girls should now own football boots/astro-turf trainers for use on the new 3G Astro-turf pitch.

TO ALL PARENTS

UPCOMING SPORTING FIXTURES

Year 7 Minor Cricket Year 7 Wednesday 27 May Away

SUMMER EXTRA-CURRICULAR PE TIMETABLE

Italy Trip

Saturday 23 May - 28 May 2015

History trip - London

Sunday 7 June – 8 June 2015

Normandy Trip

Friday 12 June - 15 June 2015

Rome Trip

Sunday 5 July - 8 July 2015

College Production

Wednesday 1 July 2015

KS4/5 students 3:30p.m.- 4:30p.m.

TRIPS AND UPCOMING EVENTS

DAY SUBJECT

Monday Science/History/Languages/Hospitality

Tuesday Maths

Thursday Music/Geography

Other ICT any break/lunch Business – by arrangement Art – by arrangement

DUKE OF EDINBURGH’S AWARD

Congratulations to those students who have made a

commitment to work towards their Duke of Edinburgh

award. Currently we have 35 students working

on their bronze award, 21 on silver and 5 on gold.

Thank you to those who attended the drop in last

week with Steve Wilson and Nicky Young who are

supporting the College with DofE.

If any students are unsure, need help or want more detail please see Mrs Connor.

Well done to all those who are uploading their evidence for each of the areas on eDofE. If you have not started

to do this yet can you please have a go.You will need to have completed two of the three sections before the

expedition. Again if you need help with this come and see Mrs Connor

Thursday 14 May 1:15pm - 2:00pm - DofE drop in, in Mrs Connor Office

Silver DoE practice expedition Friday 26 to Sunday 28 June 2015

Silver DoE assessed expedition Friday 10 to Sunday 12 July 2015

Bronze DoE practice expedition Saturday 12 and Sunday 13 September 2015

Bronze DoE assessed expedition Saturday 10 and Sunday 11 October 2015

Gold DoE practice expedition Thursday 24 to Monday 28 September 2015

Gold DoE assessed expedition Thursday 22 to Monday 26 October 2015

Good luck and well done so far.

DUKE OF EDINBURGH FUTURE IMPORTANT DATES

DROP IN SESSIONS

Friday 22 May 2015

Parents / Carers are invited to attend a Principal's Surgery to discuss

any concerns or ask questions, on the following dates

Wednesday 13 May '15, 9am - 10am

Tuesday 19 May '15, 3.45pm - 4.45pm

There is no appointment system so please be prepared to wait

PRINCIPAL’S SURGERIES

Whilst the College requires parents to contact us on each day of absence , school policy now requires that any student who accumulates 7 or more days of absence during the course of the academic year will be asked to provide medical confirmation of the need to be absent before any further absences are authorised for medical reasons. This is a necessary measure as we closely monitor absence due to illness / medical reasons in order that we can ensure students are supported where needed. For your information medical confirmation does not have to be a doctor's note but can also take the form of a medical appointment card, a copy of a relevant dated prescription or evidence of medication being taken

If no medical evidence is provided then the absence will be coded as unauthorised. Ten or more unauthorised absences may result in you receiving a Fixed Penalty Notice. This incurs a penalty of £60 per parent / carer to be paid within 21 days, otherwise the penalty will rise to £120 per parent / carer to be paid within 28 days. If the penalty remains unpaid then the matter will proceed to the Magistrates Court where you will receive a criminal record if you are found guilty.

The link between attendance and achievement is well researched and documented and students should be aiming for an attendance rate of no less than 97% over the year. Thank you for your continued support with this importance issue.

MEDICAL ABSENCE FROM COLLEGE

Term College Opens to Students College Closes to Students

Whitsun Monday 20 April 2015 Thursday 21 May 2015

Trinity Monday 1 June 2015 Tuesday 21 July 2015

ATTENDANCE MATTERS

Holidays have not been authorised since 1st September 2013 under new legislation on all English schools. Requests for holidays

must still be made in writing to the appropriate Key Stage leader (Mrs Garvey KS5, Mr Blades KS4/KS3), but in the vast majority

of cases they will be unauthorised. A Fixed Penalty Notice may be issued of £60 per parent / carer per student, to be paid within

21 days, otherwise the penalty will rise to £120 per parent / carer to be paid within 28 days. If the penalty remains unpaid then

the matter will proceed to the Magistrates Court where you will receive a criminal record if you are found guilty. Please can all

holiday requests be made well in advance of the holiday being taken if not before the holiday is booked.

HOLIDAY ABSENCE FROM COLLEGE

COLLEGE TERM DATES

Over the last week of College attendance was as follows:

Year 7 - 95.9% (down 1% from last week) Year 8 - 93.1% (down 1.6%) Year 9 - 94.4% (down 2.1%) Year 10 - 94.0% (up 1.6%, well done Year 10) Year 11 - 95.1% (down 1%) Year 12 - on study leave

Year 13 - on study leave

Last week was a better week for attendance after a fall last week.

Attendance between Year 7 and Year 11 last week was 94.4% (a decrease from 95.3% during the previous week and 0.5% down on the same week last year). Our overall attendance since 2 September is still at 95.1%.We aim for 97%.

Last week GIRLS attendance (Years 7-11) was 93.7% (down 1.4% on the previous week), BOYS attendance (Year 7-11) was 95.2% (down 0.4%).The overall girls attendance since 2 September is 94.7% whilst boys is 95.5%.

Friday 22 May 2015

91.00%

92.00%

93.00%

94.00%

95.00%

96.00%

97.00%

YEAR7

YEAR8

YEAR9

YEAR10

YEAR11

Most students appreciate the importance of being in College on time. Children who are regularly late do miss out on their education and form bad habits that will not be tolerated in the workplace. As a result of the change to the College day we need to inform parents that students must be in the registration form class for the register to be taken at 8.45a.m. This means students should arrive 5-10 minutes earlier in College to be on time. Any student who arrives after 8.45a.m. will receive a L code. Two L codes within a week will result in a whole college detention (which started on Thursday 6 November). This is a recent change in procedures and moves the detention away from the form tutor and it will now be seen as a whole college issue. Any student who arrives after 9.05a.m. will receive a U code. This means they will be classed as absent for the whole morning and this may have consequences for overall attendance. We are aware that College buses are sometimes late and we can confirm these students are not negatively marked in the register when this happens. Thank you for your co-operation in this matter. From 20 April - gates will be manned and students names will be taken if they are late.

CAREERS ADVICE FOR STUDENTS

BEING PUNCTUAL AT ALL HALLOWS

Year 7: held on 3 June (11.00a.m. – 11.45a.m.) Year 8: held on 8 July (1.15p.m. – 2.15p.m.) Year 9: held on 1 June (9.00a.m. – 9.45a.m.) and 13 July (9.00a.m. – 9.45a.m.) Year 10: held on 22 May (1.15p.m. – 2.00p.m) and 17 July (1.15p.m. – 2.00p.m)

These are for parents who would like to discuss any concerns relating to their child. No appointment is necessary but please be prepared to wait. Please contact our Pastoral Assistant (Pastoral@allhallows.org.uk 01625 410285 x215), should you require an appointment with a Year Learning Leader at any other time.

YEAR LEARNING LEADER “DROP IN SURGERIES”

NAME JOB MON TUES WED THUR FRI VENUE

Mrs J Pilling Careers Advisor Student Support Office

Mrs L Nolan Visyon Counsellor Student Support Office

Mrs J Jones College Nurse Student Support Office

Mrs P Shatwell Family Support Office next to rooms A9 and A10

Mrs J Beard and Mrs P Prince Education Welfare

Pastoral Office (ground floor of Fisher Building)

bullying@allhallowslearning.org.uk emails will be read by a Senior Teacher beingme@allhallowslearning.org.uk

esafety@allhallowslearning.org.uk

= Staff Present

MEDICAL APPOINTMENTS DURING THE COLLEGE DAY

Students must sign out at the Attendance Office before leaving College to attend a medical appointment. When they return to College the student must sign back in. This ensures registers will be accurate and we know the student is off site should we have a fire alarm. The Attendance Office is located in the office along the RE corridor. We thank parents for making medical appointments, where possible, that do not take up a whole day of schooling. This often allows a student to have their legal registration mark for both morning and afternoon sessions and so their overall attendance does not fall.

STUDENT SUPPORT ACROSS THE COLLEGE Friday 22 May 2015

If any parent would like their son or daughter to have a careers interview with Mrs Pilling, our Careers Advisor, this year then please notify the relevant Year Learning Leader who can ensure names are added to the list. Mrs Pilling has seen 461 stu-dents this year for impartial careers advice. Priority is now with small groups of Year 11 and 12 students with any remaining Year 10 students being seen shortly. Students in Year 7, Year 8 and Year 9 are welcome to attend her lunch time drop in. She uses the Student Support Office based next door to Music.

LIBRARY NEWS

This is how the Carnegie site describes the book:

When her mother dies from a snake bite, Comity's life in the Australian Outback changes for ever. With her

father lost in his grief, Comity makes friends with Fred, the Aboriginal yard boy. But then the evil Quartz Hogg

arrives, who delights in playing cruel games. And when he sets his murderous sights on Fred, it's up to Comity to

stop him.

The judges said:

Geraldine McCaughrean's powerful storytelling evokes a sense of place, isolation and spiralling chaos in this

novel. The isolation and loneliness of the Australian Outback is reflected in the inner thoughts and behaviour of

the characters, especially Comity, who is left on her own for much of the story. The portrayal of Aboriginal

culture, racism and segregation comes alive on the page and is handled with sensitivity. This novel provides a

real and immersive read with plenty of drama.

OUR PICK OF THE WEEK IS IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE BY GERALDINE MCCAUGHREAN

BOOK AMNESTY

A big thank you to all those students who have returned their overdue books. A polite request for you to

continue to search for any school library books and return them - no questions asked. The library catalogue

is slowly being updated but we still have a lot of missing stock that readers want to borrow.

If you want to view our catalogue click on the Library Search tab under the For Students tab on the AHCC

website. That takes you to the Eclipse homepage and then click on the Search icon

Friday 22 May 2015

THE REVIEW CREW

Students who would like to read and review any of our new books should sign up in the library with Ms

Sinclair. Advice will be provided and all reviews will earn rewards.

More information about our new books in next week’s letter

CARNEGIE/GREENAWAY BOOK AWARDS

It is definitely book award season at the moment and we are following (shadowing) the judging process for the

most prestigious children's award.

Log onto: http://www.carnegiegreenaway.org.uk/carnegie/current_shortlist.php

Students (and staff) can read the shortlisted titles and post reviews on our group page : http://

www.carnegiegreenaway.org.uk/shadowingsite/index.php To find our page, click on Reading Groups and the

AHCC group, A New Chapter, is under A.

The shadowing group will be meeting weekly in the Library, Tuesdays break 2. All are welcome.

We also have a large and varied selection of previous Carnegie winners from across the decade if students want

to see what was considered 'outstanding' in past years!

We also have a number of students reading and reviewing the shortlisted books for The Greenaway Awards -

this is for the most outstanding picture book. Log onto the site to find out more.