GOOD SHEPHERD SUNDAY

Lord Jesus, you are the Good

Shepherd. In you I place all my

hope and I entrust myself to you

completely. In your plan for our

salvation you provide shepherds

for your people. Fill your Church

with the spirit of courage and love

and raise up worthy ministers

who are passionate but gentle

servants of the gospel. Amen.

Friday 25 April 2015 All Hallows Catholic College Newsletter Easter Term

Congratulations to the April students who have been named linguist of the month. We

celebrate linguists of the month who are students who seize the opportunity to use the

language they are learning as the natural means of communication. They are not afraid

of making mistakes and use all the resources available to them to express themselves

in the foreign language.

COLLEGE PRAYER SPECIALISM OF SUCCESS

Wednesday 13 May 2015

Year 7 Attend College

Activity Day

Students to wear full PE kit

Year 8 CONSULTATION DAY

Reading Blog at home when not in for

appointment

Year 9 Work Related Learning

Reading Blog from home(Careers Theme)

Year 10 CONSULTATION DAY

Reading Blog at home when not in for

appointment

Year 11 Home Study—Science Revision Study in

College/Exams

Sixth

Form

Revision Day/ Private Study

In College or at home

ARRANGEMENTS FOR PARENTS CONSULTATION DAY

PRINCIPAL’S SURGERIES

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

SOCIAL MEDIA

• The largest lake in the Britain could be filled with rubbish

from the UK in 8 months.

• On average, 16% of the money you spend on a product

pays for the packaging, which ultimately ends up as rubbish.

• Up to 80% of a vehicle can be recycled.

ECO FACTS

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

Athletics Competition All Years Thursday 30 April Away

Year 7 Minor Cricket Year 7 Wednesday 27 May Away

SUMMER EXTRA-CURRICULAR PE TIMETABLE

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

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.

Exam and examiners are out to get you? - Wrong! Exams are not trying to catch you out with sneaky questions

and examiners are not looking for ways to take away marks—they look for ways of giving you marks!

SUPPORTING YOUR CHILD IN EXAMS

Parents are asked if they could work with their children about the importance of punctuality. A good starting point

would be how important being on time is, not only for college, but for their future work places. To support this

important life skill, college has introduced a 'Late Gate'. Any student arriving late will be met by a member of the

Senior Leadership Team and their names, together with reasons, will be recorded. This Late mark will appear on

your child's register. College policy of two late marks in a week will result in an after college detention. Many

thanks for your support with this important area.

PARENTS AND PARTNERS

There are 15 days left until the start of the Year 11, 12 & 13 exams.

EXAM TIP

EXAM COUNTDOWN

RE revision morning for all Year 11 students on Saturday 09 May from 10:00 a.m -12.00 p.m. This will be a final push

before both exams the following week.

Please encourage your son/daughter to attend

RE REVISION CLASSES

Congratulations to Izzie Hughes 11M who won the recent full attendance competition for students in Years 9-11.

Izzie was one of nearly 400 students who had 100% attendance in the last two weeks of term and her name was

picked at random by Mr Nickson, Deputy Principal. Izzie won a gift voucher worth £25. Well done to all students in

these year groups for having full attendance during this time.

ATTENDANCE COMPETITION

Friday 25 April 2015

Year 8 Retreat

Wednesday 6 May - Friday 8 May 2015

Italy Trip

Saturday 23 May - 28 May 2015

Physics trip to CERN & Geneva

Friday 5 June 2015 - 7 June 2015

History trip - London

Sunday 7 June 2015 – 8 June 2015

Normandy Trip

Friday 12 June - 15 June 2015

Rome

Sunday 5 July - 8 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.

The next official drop in will be on Thursday 21 April at 1:15 - 2:00. More details to follow

If in the meantime 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

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 25 April 2015

Whilst the College requires parents to contact us on each day of absence , school policy now requires that any student who accumu-lates 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 confirma-tion 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 prescrip-tion 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 important 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

The following are the remaining dates for training days in 2014-15. Students are not required to attend on Friday

22 May 2015 unless taking an external exam.

Please note the College will be closed on Bank Holiday Monday 4 May 2015

Please click on the link for Term dates 2015/16.

COLLEGE TERM DATES

Over the last week of College attendance was as follows:

Year 7 - 97.5% (up 0.1%, well done Year 7) Year 8 - 95.7% (up 0.6%, well done Year 8) Year 9 - 98.0% (up 2.7%, well done Year 9) Year 10 - 94.0% (up 3.7%, well done Year 10) Year 11 - 96.6% (up 2.2%, well done Year 11) Year 12 - 96.0% (up 4.2%, well done Year 12)

Year 13 - 97.0% (up 3.0%, well done Year 13)

Last week was a very good week for attendance with all year groups showing an improvement.

Attendance between Year 7 and Year 11 last week was 96.3% (an increase from 94.6% during the previous week). Our overall attendance since 2 September is still at 95.1%.We aim for 97%.

Last week GIRLS attendance (Years 7-11) was 95.9% (up 1.6% on the previous week), BOYS attendance (Year 7-11) was 96.8% (up 2.0%).The overall girls attendance since 2 September is 94.7% whilst boys is 95.5%.

92.00%

93.00%

94.00%

95.00%

96.00%

97.00%

98.00%

99.00%

YEAR7

YEAR8

YEAR9

YEAR10

YEAR11

YEAR12

YEAR13

Friday 25 April 2015

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.

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. Priority is now with Year 10 students (now Year 11 have all been seen) and also with sixth form students. 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.

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 20 May (1.15p.m. – 2.15p.m.) and 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.) Year 11: held on 27 April (2.15.p.m – 3.15.p.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 25 April 2015

LIBRARY NEWS

Once again, a polite reminder to students who have very overdue books. Please look for them and let Ms

Sinclair know their whereabouts. All books returned are gratefully received!

Students who have borrowed books more recently should be noting the due date in their planners and/or on a

calendar at home to make sure that all loans are returned on time.

Your support in this matter is much appreciated.

BOOK AMNESTY AND OVERDUE BOOKS

What's it about?

When Apple's mother returns after eleven years of absence, Apple feels whole again. She will have an answer to

her burning question - why did you go? And she will have someone who understands what it means to be a

teenager - unlike Nana. But just like the stormy Christmas Eve when she left, her mother's homecoming is bitter

sweet, and Apple wonders who is really looking after whom. It's only when Apple meets someone more lost than

she is, that she begins to see things as they really are.

What the judges said:

'This cleverly plotted story - ultimately about the meaning of family and love - draws a moving portrayal of a

teenage girl's emotional upheaval as she needs to reassess all her previous assumptions. The writing is simple,

but lyrical, dialogues are sharp and realistic, and the subtle use of poetry, woven throughout the book, adds

emotional depth. All the characters are well-developed and the relationships between them are particularly well

drawn. This is a powerful and poignant story with the perfect ending.'

We have one of Sarah's other books in the library, the award winning The Weight of Water, which is a really

interesting read.

This is how it is described on Sarah's website:

'Armed with a suitcase and an old laundry bag filled with clothes, Kasienka and her mother head for England. Life

OUR PICK OF THE WEEK IS 'APPLE AND RAIN' BY SARAH CROSSAN

CARNEGIE/KATE GREENAWAY SHADOWING GROUP

The Carnegie Book Awards

More detail: http://www.carnegiegreenaway.org.uk/carnegie/current_shortlist.php

This annual award is for the outstanding children's book of the year and is the one authors want to win. We will

be following the judging process in school with a shadowing group. 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 fortnightly in the library, Tuesdays break 2 and the next meeting is May

5th. All are welcome.

Friday 25 April 2015