Be happy, be ambitious, make a difference

SpringNewsletter2014

achievementCOLLEGE

THE ROYAL SHAKESPEARE COMPANY ON TOURAT TCOLC!We were delighted to host the RSC topsy-turvy production of the feistyTaming of the Shrew on 4th and 5th March. More than 1,000 studentsfrom TCOLC and local primary and secondary schools had theopportunity to experience theatre of the highest order on their doorstep.In addition to the three performances in school-time, we also hosted asell-out community performance in the evening for more than 300people. For many of them, it was their first opportunity to see aShakespeare play live.

The production had a novel twist with the men with beards playing thefemale roles and the women playing men. In the words of DirectorMichael Fentiman: "Our production embraced a spirit of mash-up andconfusion. Feminine and masculine are thrown around so that theaudience can focus on a story about two extraordinary people, who findeach other in the midst of madness, fighting like cat and dog, but, indoing so, fall madly in love."

The 70-minute First Encounter production was aimed at eight to 13-year-olds and was followed by question-and-answer and workshopssessions with the cast. It was an incredible experience to have renowned,award-winning, RSC actors such as Katy Stephens and Forbes Massonperforming in our theatre!

Year seven pupil Robert Cockerill said: "I never thought Shakespearewould be like that. It was great."

Mrs Khatija Panchbhaya, one of our Hub Administrators, said: "That wasthe first Shakespeare play I've seen and I didn't think I would understandit. But after 10 minutes I found that I could. I'm hooked and now wantto see more."

Music teacher Mrs Searle said: "It was an incredible opportunity for ourstudents to witness in such close proximity the performance of actorsthat are held in such high esteem."

The RSC production came to us as part of the first year of our three yearpartnership with the RSC and Curve to help transform children's firstexperiences of Shakespeare, and improve the teaching of Shakespearein local schools. This production has set the groundwork for the nexttwo years of Shakespeare performances within college and, incollaboration with Curve, within the local community.

We invited 5 of our partner local schools to attend the performance.The children Abbey Primary School gave us this feedback:

‘I had a great time at the performance, it was really enjoyable. It wasobvious that a great deal of hard work had gone into the performanceand I appreciated that.’

‘The play was difficult to understand but with the drama workshops wedid in class I could understand it better and I am beginning tounderstand the meaning of some of the difficult words.’

’I thought the play was spectacular and I thought it was reallycreative the way they used suitcases to hide props.’

’I enjoyed the play and the actor’s expressions brought the play alive.’

‘When I found out we were going to be watching one of Shakespeare’splays I felt nervous and excited. But after the drama sessions inschool and felt confident and could understand the play.’

‘The characters were believable and how I imagined them eventhough the men played women and the women played men.’

‘The soundscape at the end was really fun. It made the scene comealive and everyone was included.’

Meeting the actors before and after the show was brilliant! The actorswere really approachable and friendly.

‘It was great to be able to ask questions at the end, I enjoyed hearingwhat the actors had to say.’

A note to thanks and praise everyone at City of Leicester for the terrificarrangements for the visit by the RSC in 'The Taming of the Shrew'. Fromthe fine welcome in the foyer, and the great nibbles, to the seatingarrangements and general mood of the event it was a delight. What asmart and sassy group of students you have in your impressive newcollege! And the RSC actors weren't bad either were they!? Thanks andbest wishes to all involved.

Simon Doran, local resident

2

Be happy, be ambitious, make a difference

THE TAMING OF THE SHREW- A STUDENT’SPERSPECTIVE:A devilish glare and a twinkle in her eye as cast member Claire Brownslowly, painfully slowly, switched the cast clothes- male was female,female was male. But what does it really mean to be either?

The audience, myself happily included, soon found out as all thecrew members rushed on, a minimally decorated yet shockinglyeffective, thrust stage- the men in giant medieval gowns , (ratherflattering if it must be said,) and the women in suits displaying well,typical macho-ness. By way of the women’s graceful sway and themen’s pompous flaunt, it was clear The Taming Of The Shrew,written by William Shakespeare, is mocking genderstereotypes...although this expectation of women to be obedientand passive appeared to be utterly unobserved by Katherine- Kate(she must have missed the memo,) - a rather ego-centric, ungracefulbeing that seems to take great pleasure in feeding her clothes andher beard.

In fact, it was Kate’s entrance into one of the scenes, a slow steadytrot accompanied by an aggressive squeezing fist cracking herpeanuts within eye-poking-distance of the audience, (-breakingdown the fourth wall anyone?) that really struck me. It was in thismoment, watching the sheer defiance in Kate’s face, hernonchalance stance, that I truly saw a woman. If we were as beastlyas she, even the sky wouldn’t dare rain.

The performance saw restless mother Baptista hurrying about to gether eldest daughter Kate married- the mighty task was eventuallyundertaken by the blunt and modest Petruchio, his unconventionaland long suffering right-hand-man Grumio taking a hit (or 30) inthe process. (The slap-stick comedy between the two wasphenomenal- I’m not one for The Simpsons, but I certainly wouldn’tmind an hour of ‘Grumio In The Kitchen’! In fact, props to KatyStephens -playing Petruchio- and Claire Brown -playing Grumio -for

retaining such strong characterisation- even when out of thespotlight, I saw them exchange glimpses or winks or nods ofassurance that were so subtly implemented and so real to thecharacters- it was naturalism at its best.) As the play progressesKate’s younger sister, ever-so-graceful Bianca, finds herself beingsought after by two fine men- both of which try and deceive her ina bid to win her love...

In amidst what appears to be some typical (exceptionally performed)love stories, is some very heavy thinking stuff. Why did men get tobe the tough ones? The ones who never had to worry about facialhair or delicates stances? When did man get to be The Tamer andwoman the subservient? And who really is the shrew? As one castmember pointed out, during question and answer time,(aka flirt-with-the-cast time) a shrew is a mouse, with a flurrying heart, thatattacks when fearful- women with ‘attitudes’ were labelled such-and men? Well I suppose the name ‘man’ is pretty self explanatory....

Many thanks to the Royal Shakespeare Company for putting on sucha splendid, hilarious performance and for bringing passion and lifeto some ordinary ‘class texts’,- not to mention showing me how thereal acting’s done. Props to you guys- no pun intended.

Ammaarah Adam 11ASL

THE TAMING OF THE SHREW SHOW On Tuesday 4th March I went to see the Shakespeare show with my form. I saw loads of boxes that made the stage setting and thought“This is going to be rubbish!” I thought it was just going to be a one person show with no real acting and so boring.

As soon as they came out onto stage, the stage girl was swapping the clothes into the wrong suitcases which meant that the men would bewearing the girl’s clothes and the women would be wearing the boys. This made me realise that it could actually be quite a funny show.

Next the two sisters, called Katherine and Bianca, came onto the stage fighting and arguing and wearing girl’s clothes. This was funnybecause the male actors both had beards, moustaches and short hair whichlooked ridiculous when wearing a dress! I knew then that this would be agood show.

My favourite part was when Petruchio and Grumio were fighting andleaping about the stage.

At the end of the play the actors got us all the make percussion sounds withour mouths to add effect to the acting. They got us to go louder and quieterand different groups had to make different sounds or say different words.It was interesting to see how this works.

I enjoyed it when the actors explained how one of them hid in a box for 7minutes but they told us the secret that there are hidden breathing holesin the box! I thought this show was amazing and would like to see anotherproduction if they ever came to The City of Leicester College again.

Tishion Mansell 8AEF

3

achievementCOLLEGE

TO SHAKESP EARE FOR ANYONE

AGED 8TO SHAKESP EARE FOR ANYONE

THE P ER F E CT INTRODUCT IONF IRST ENCOUNTER

AND OVERTO SHAKESP EARE FOR ANYONE

THE P ER F E CT INTRODUCT IONF IRST ENCOUNTER

I 'd givebrillian'It was

watchI wantto descrmany wThere's 10 out I d give

The Comedy of First EncounterJoshua, 10, wat

watch

Part of

with The PrinIn collaborat

PHOTO BY LINDA NYLIND

0116 2413984Tickets £5, Ages 18 & Under £3

4 March, 7pmThe City of Leicester College

and the Artsfor ChildrenFoundation

Tickets £5, Ages 18 & Under £3

The City of Leicester College

Tickets £5, Ages 18 & Under £3

The City of Leicester College

PHOTO BY LINDA NYLIND

4

achievementCOLLEGE

MARTIN LUTHER KING DAYOn 20th January, Year 8 took part in our annual celebration of MartinLuther King’s life and achievements. They had a memorable day beinginvolved in a range of enjoyable activities to raise their awareness of thelife, times and culture of Dr King. It was a really well organised eventand the students were fully stimulated and moved by the experience.Ms Kastoryano and Ms Nisbett, supported by the Y8 team, werephenomenal throughout. Here are some of the students’ responses tothe day:

MLK Day was great. I liked the part where we had assembly in themorning and a person did poems about MLK and Nelson Mandela. Wejoined in because he told us to click, clap and stamp our feet on theground. Later, when I was watching the MLK film I learnt that he wentthrough a lot of struggle, so that Black people could also vote. He wentto jail a few times and I learnt different words such as segregation,harmony and prejudice. I learnt who the Ku Klux Klan were.

My favourite activity was the last part of the day where we all weresinging. We sang songs that the MLK followers sang in those days.Everyone joined in and sang together which was really fun and great.

Adil Lorgat 8ARK

I had a good day yesterday first with the assembly which taught usabout the street pastors and what they did at night. Later we watcheda movie about Martin Luther King but from a girl’s point of view. Myfavourite activity was the movie part because it told us everything.

Amandeep Singh 8ARK

I learnt from that day that Martin Luther King was very kind with otherpeople and he wanted to make a difference like helping the whitepeople and the black people to be together. My favourite activity wasmusic because I like the songs that we sang. I had a lot fun.

Monica Vasile 8ARK

I learnt about the story behind MLK what happened and how it startedand that he used to be a doctor and a Christian priest. My favouriteactivity was watching the movie because I learnt that MLK was trying toget black people and white people to live in harmony. He was trying tomake everyone equal. He tried to get the black people a chance to vote.

Gurjas Bains 8ARK

I learnt that DrMartin Luther King foughtfor black people and helpedhis country a lot to succeedand carry on life without whitepeople bossing them around. Iliked when we watched theMartin Luther King's movie,learning that even children showrespect and fight for rights andcan even change the world. Also,that we learnt how bad life was backthen. I'm really glad that wecelebrated this special day.

Bhavini Quessou 8ARK

Some comments from 8ABT:

The MLK day was amazing and Ireally liked the stepping - Ahmad

It was really educational - Harry

MLK day was amazing and thefilm was really emotional -Nasra

I think MLK day was awesomebecause I enjoyed the protestsongs and I enjoyed themovie...If this had neverhappened we wouldn't havebeen in the country today as wespeak - Enrique

MLK day was very good and veryinformative about whathappened to Martin Luther king Ihad a lot of fun and enjoyed everymoment of it - Helen

Martin Luther King day was fun andreally helped us to think about how

he helped us in many ways. IfMartin Luther king didn't dowhat he did then we wouldn'tbe here :) - Adeelah

5

COLLEGE

I HAVE A DREAMFollowing on from Martin Luther King Day, Y8 students have recently been studying the faith and actions of Martin Luther King in R.S. lessons.Having been inspired by his famous “I have a dream” speech, they went on to create speeches about their own dreams for life in Leicester inthe 21st century. Here are two examples:

achievement

Be happy, be ambitious, make a difference

We need a dream. We need a dream that empowers us.

We need a dream that inspires us and drives us on. We

must face our apathy.

Although we have gotten rid of much prejudice, so much

remains.

I have a dream.

Together we must face the fact that we measure people by

their age. An example- children cannot vote at 16.

We need a dream.

A dream where we do not measure people by age; but by

character and actions. Somehow a person at 18 is

supposed to be more intelligent than one at 16. Yet I have

seen, we have seen, adults at thirty five with less sense

than a twelve year old.

We cannot, should not measure people by age.

Jesus said:

'Blessed are the children who come unto me,' and

'I tell you the truth, unless you turn around and

become like little children...'

We need a dream.

I hope that, pray that; one day we can stand together as

brothers and sisters and say:

'We found our dream.'

Naomi Ettrick 8SBM

I believe we must face the fact that bullying, in anyshape or form, is a problem.I say to you today, my friends, that bullying willbe banished.And with your help we can conquer bullying!I believe that one day everyone will join handstogether and declare friendship.

I believe that we will find that heart full of friendshipthat is hidden away.I believe that we will defeat bullying in a peacefulbattle.I believe that everyone will join hands and declarefriendship.This will be the day when we find that key tofriendship and open that door.We will join hands together and say we’ve closed ondoor, another must open.I believe that people will become friends rather thanbullies.I believe that children should come to school withoutfear of being bullied.I believe as people say ‘a problem shared is a problemhalved’ so don’t be afraid to speak up.This, is what I believe.

Jasmina Musiqi 8SBM

6

achievementCOLLEGE

DEVELOPING A LOVE OF READINGA fantastic group of Pupil Literacy Leaders, under the guidance of MsPermal, have taken on the challenge of promoting reading for pleasure thisyear. One of their first tasks was to produce a series of book trailers whichwere shown in assemblies, in registration time and on screens aroundcollege to promote TCOLC Book Chart.

In order to create a whole college reading community, in February each Hubpromoted their chosen book:

• The Help by Katheryn Stockett• Life of Pi by Yann Martell• The Book Thief by Markus Zusak• The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins• The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon

The use of the library and students taking out copies of these books soaredduring February. There are further events to continue the reading focus including publication of firstedition of the new school newspaper which will be distributed in all of the Hub independent work areas, a tripto see author Alan Gibbons and visits from our local librarian. On 28th March we will be celebrating WorldBook Day when we will see the Hubs once again in competition with each other as they dress up as charactersfrom their favourite books. We also have a group of students working with local arts company Soft Touchto create our own TCOLC books and a Book Bag project to encourage Y7 students to read with parents athome.

Reading BuddiesSince September, Y9 students have been doing a fantastic job as ReadingBuddies to our Y7 students. The results have been fantastic, with the Y7 studentsshowing significant gains in their reading. In addition to this, it was lovely towitness some good friendships being formed with their Y9 Buddies and I believe,with this confidence, came the brilliant results. A big thank you to all of the Y9students involved and to Ms Penfold for her organisation of the programme.

BASKETBALL CONTINUES TO SHINE AT TCOLCBasketball at The City of Leicester Collegecontinues to go from strength to strength.

Year 8 National LeagueFor the first time ever here at TCOLC, theyear 8 basketball team have entered theNational League. The competition ismuch tougher and schools competeagainst one another across various parts

of the country. TCOLC have been on fire sofar being unbeaten in the competition with victories over:

Weavers Academy (Wellingborough) 22 - TCOLC 72Northampton School for Boys 52 – TCOLC 63TCOLC 83 – Lancaster Boys School 16

Having come first in our group, the team have now progressed to thenext rounds which are now straight knockouts. On Wednesday 5thMarch 2014 we had the pleasure of hosting Dronfield School inDerbyshire. As ever the team continued to shine and progress with thegame finishing –

TCOLC 58 – Dronfield School 13.

Leicestershire School LeagueThe team continue to make outstanding progress in the City Leaguestaying undefeated so far this season. We finished top of the table beingcrowned league winners for 2013-2014. We now enter the play offs tohopefully become cup winners of 2013/2014 at Rushey Mead Schoolon Sunday 23rd March.

Results this season -

TCOLC 41 Rushey Mead 10Fullhurst 13 TCOLC 42Twycross 25 TCOLC 81TCOLC 71 Lancaster 18TCOLC 86 Samworth Academy 10

Well done to the following students -

Congratulations also to the year 9 and year 12 basketball teams whohave already qualified for the cup final day on Sunday 23rd March 2014at Rushey Mead School.

Year 9TCOLC v Lancaster

Year 12TCOLC V Beauchamp.

A special mention must go to KareemQueeley in Y8 who is now in theEngland under 14 squad. He has beentraining in Nottingham over the half termperiod at the Regional Performance Centre. This is a tremendousachievement.

Kareem Queeley 8SIGAbdullahi Mohamed Yusuf 8SIGKareem Abouraia 8PJWKean Yates 8SIGTaran Thind 8SBM

Sabian Smith 8ARKTishion Mansell 8AEFSukhpal Heran 8AEFNia Nisbett 8SBMZain Safdar 8AEF

Be happy, be ambitious, make a difference

FLUENT FUTURESLanguages are coming toyou!Just before half term some of our Y9 students had the chanceto watch a performance given by actors from LeicesterUniversity. In the first part, using drama based activities, theperformers explained and stressed the importance of studyinglanguages at GCSE and A Level. The second part used role playsto show our youngsters what a good and bad interview is.

The students' behaviour was outstanding, they showedcomplete respect and interest to our guests, engaged withthem and applauded at the end of the performance.

I really hope that students have now realised the impactlanguages have and that this performance has supported themin the choice of their subject. I look forward to seeing you inGCSE classes next September!

Ms Guillemin

MUSIC DEPARTMENT NEWSIt has been a busy term rehearsing and performing in the MusicDepartment for all our KS4/5 students so far. There have been lotsof events in the blue hub at lunchtimes. Some of you may haveseen some of the lunchtime concerts and CD releases from theyear 10 BTEC students. They have done a great job and come sofar already. Keep checking the posters around the college for moreinformation as there are plenty more events happening!

O2 Academy ConcertIt’s time for TCOLC to go on touragain! We will be doing a gig atThe O2 academy in the Scholarsbar at Leicester University onWednesday 19th March. This willbe a tense time for a lot of thestudents in KS4/5 as for many itis their main performance ontheir course and an importantassessment. A great deal ofpreparation has gone into thegig and should be an eveningof really high qualityperformances. There will beyear 10 BTEC students, someyear 11’s, our two year 12bands performing half an hoursets each and a performancefrom the school band – judgingby the quality in some of therehearsals this is not an event tobe missed!

Extra CurricularWe are now offering more extra curricular clubs than ever beforeso there is no reason for people of any musical tastes not to getinvolved. One recent addition, that we are pleased to have, areIndian music lessons provided by two specialist teachers on aTuesday night. We now also have the welcome addition of MrMiddleton teaching the horn section in the school band. Have alook at the poster for all the information.

Instrumental lessonsIf you would like to have individual music lessons on drums, bass,guitar, keyboard, piano, vocals, violin, sax and a range of Indianinstruments – please ask Mrs Panchbhaya in the blue hub for aletter. Lessons still cost only £10 for half an hour.

DRAMA NEWSY13 performanceOn Tuesday 11thFebruary the Y13drama students werethe first to perform in our new state of the artdrama studio when they presented their superb courseworkpiece ‘ID’. Having been given three stimuli, Raeesah Bhad,Kiren Pardbuck, Kamal Kaur and Cameron Manning createdthe work which asked the audience whether we asindividuals actually have a choice in who we become.Taking inspiration from theatre practitioners Bertolt Brechtand Antonin Artaud the work was a challenging piece thatpresented the stories of four fictional characters and howthey each dealt with the difficulties that arose in theirlives. Dealing with some difficult themes and contentthe piece was delicately and maturely conceived. Usinga wonderful variety of theatrical techniques andmultimedia the students should be very pleased withcreating such a professional piece of contemporarytheatre for their coursework.

Thanks to all those who supported the process andattended the performance, with special thanks to AaronRai and India Clayton-Naute for taking on the roles ofsound and lighting technicians for the performance.

Y10 showcase eveningOn Thursday 13th February almost 60 year 10 dramastudents took part in a devising showcase evening.Having created their own devised work from a variety ofstimulus, the scheme of learning replicates the demands of their‘Drama in the Making’ unit which they will undertake next year.

The evening was a great success with an audience of approximately 80crammed into our new drama studio space. For many of the students this wasthe first experience of performing to an audience larger than their teachinggroup. There were some stunning individual performances and someoutstanding examples of ensemble work demonstrated. This was a first chancefor many of the students to combine the elements of devising, designing theirset, lighting and sound, directing one another and performing.

The atmosphere was one that all of the students should be especially proud ofwith wonderful support and appreciation being shown for each other.

Well done to all involved.

COMING SOON …

Y12 DRAMA & THEATRE STUDIES STUDENTS PRESENT ‘pool (no water)’ by Mark Ravenhill

A visceral and shocking new play about the fragility offriendship and the jealousy and resentment inspired bysuccess.

A famous artist invites her old friends to her luxurious newhome. For one night only, the group is back together. But celebrationscome to an abrupt end when the host suffers an horrific accident.

As the victim lies in a coma, an almost unthinkable plan starts to take shape:could her suffering be their next work of art?

The group is ecstatic in its new found project until things slip out of their control.To the surprise of all, the patient awakes... If you'd been in that hospital with usthen maybe, maybe you'd have felt the same.

Tuesday 6th May 7.00 p.m. Drama StudioSuitable for KS4 and above. Tickets £1.50. Availbale from Mrs Panchbhaya in the Blue Hub

achievementACADEMIC

7

achievementACADEMIC

BASE COMPETITION“I didn’t realise accountancywas so interesting”. This wasone of the commentsoverheard by Mr Kelly whenhe took a group of 12 Year12 enrichment students toa regional Business,Accounting and SkillsEducation (BASE)competition run by theInstitute of CharteredAccountants in England andWales (ICAEW).

At the beginning of MarchY12 students had a fantasticopportunity to be involved ina ICAEW (top accountancybody) competitiondeveloping

There were 11 teamscompeting in Leicester, torepresent the EastMidlands at the nationalevent in Birmingham.Teams came from as far away asNottingham and Peterborough, and from the state andindependent sector. Each team was given a huge amount of informationon a fictitious catering business and in the space of a couple of highlypressured hours had to produce a four minute presentation addressinga number of issues that faced the business.

There were many business, economic and accounting concepts to lookat and students had to organise their time effectively. They had to workin a team, communicate and listen to each other, solve a number ofproblems, consider many issues and make some highly technical,detailed and relevant decisions. There was a mentor with each teamfrom a local business but they were left very much on their own. Theythen had to do the presentation to four judges who were accountantsfrom local businesses, and the other groups.

The students were fantastic and one of our two groups got to the finalfour, although unfortunately they did not win.

It was a fantastic opportunity for the students to develop their enterpriseand employability skills, and also gave them an opportunity to networkwith some local top accountancy firms:

• BDO• Rowleys• Newby Castleman• Grant Thornton• Mattioli Woods (one of Mr Kelly’s previous A level accountants!!)

They learnt about being an accountant and the possible progressionroutes into the profession.

The students involved were: Suhail Mahomed, Mohan Singh Gill, RamOdedra, Mohammad Omar, Bhavisha Khunti, Mehul Jethwa, YassenRavat, Jaimin Mistry, Aseel Qassim, Abu-bakr Razzaque, Ishayat Rahman,Sejal Parsotomo (one judge giving particular praise to Mr Kelly for hercontribution).

Much was experienced, confidence was developed and a good timewas had by all…maybe accountancy is interesting..?!

TELESCOPE PROJECTHaving secured funding fromLeicester University for atelescope, Mr Harbour and theScience department are running a fantastic telescopeproject, in conjunction with the university. Throughout March andApril, over 100 students from Y10 – Y13 will be attending lectures atLeicester University, building telescopes and enjoying night time stargazing. The students will also be visiting the Leicester UniversityObservatory and working with younger children to share theirknowledge of astronomy and how telescopes work.

8

HOUR OF CODE COMPETITION WINNERS!At the end of last term we celebrated Computer Science Education Week,which is all about learning how computers work and what we can do tounderstand them better. To mark this occasion, we offered all ourstudents the opportunity to enter the Hour of Code Competition, anInternational event sponsored by some of the biggest names inComputing. The competition involved learning the basic concepts ofcomputer programming, and using them to solve a series of fun problemsinvolving familiar characters from Angry Birds and Plants vs. Zombies,whilst following instructions from famous faces such as Bill Gates andMark Zuckerberg.

Our students are already familiar with programming environments suchas “Scratch” from their Maths and ICT lessons. The competition madeuse of a similar coding structure called “Blockly”. Nathaniel Patel (10VP)said he found it really easy to transfer his programming skills to this newenvironment, and made rapid progress through the increasingly complextasks.

We had many excellent entries, and the best from each year group willeach receive a Raspberry Pi, a credit-card sized single board computer,kindly donated by the Raspberry Pi Foundation. Enrique Baptista (8ABT)was the overall winner and received an additional prize of a £15 MicrosoftPoints Voucher. Enrique is part of the trial tutor group who have eachbeen given their own tablet to use both in school and at home. He saidhe had done so well in the competition because after the lesson ended,he was able to carry on with the activity during break and lunch using hisiPad mini.

Winner: Enrique Baptista 8ABT

Best in year group:

Abinaiyha Rajasingam 9NJApirthan Rajasingam 7LMSNathaniel Patel10VP

Winner Enrique shows off his new RasPiand the http://code.org website

An early task in the Competition

Runner-up Nathanial wins aRaspberry Pi

Be happy, be ambitious, make a difference

achievementACADEMIC

9

8ABT GIVEN IPAD-MINI’S IN OUR “BRINGYOUR OWN DEVICE” TRIALOur new school has been designed around spacious independent workareas, equipped with the latest technology and a first-rate wifi network.We are looking to build on these strengths with the introduction of awhole school Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) model based around theiPad-mini. In preparation for this, we have purchased 200 ipad-minisfor use across the College, so that every Hub has the opportunity todevelop resources, learning activities and build skills and confidenceusing these devices.

Additionally, one tutor group, 8ABT, have been selected to trial the iPad-mini as a personal learning tool. The devices for the trial group werepurchased through a successful bid to the Leicester City Council’s BSFICT Innovation Fund. 8ABT were selected after winning their owncompetitive bidding process against other tutor groups in the school,and they have now each been given an iPad-mini to use both in classand at home for the duration of the trial.

Students bring the device in every day for school to help them in theclassroom. We have installed some useful educational and productivityapps to help them learn, communicate and express themselves. At theend of the day, they take their device home again. Once they havecompleted their homework, they are free to use their devices for fun.

So far the pilot project has been a real success. 8ABT have really enjoyedthe experience and the project has already had a significantly positiveeffect on both behaviour and attendance within the group. They areallowed to personalise their device with their own backgrounds andapps, and feel a strong sense of ownership over their device.Consequently, they have looked after them really well, and so far therehave been no breakages, losses or any real issues with inappropriateuse. In fact students from 8ABT have been applauded for their creativeuse of the devices both in lessons and working independently and haveregularly impressed their teachers with what they can do. We willcontinue to monitor the group closely and expect to see an equallysignificant improvement in their academic progress by the end of theyear.

We are currently looking at ways we can extend the success of thisproject across the whole College. One model under discussion involvesa small contribution from parents via a subsidised leasing scheme, whereparents would pay around £10 per month for a number of months,with the device becoming the property of the student at the end of thelease.

You can find out much more about 8ABT’s ipad mini project at theirblog http://madaboutipads.wordpress.com

Tony Tompkins

College Leader – New Technology

Quotes from 8ABT students:

"The project is going welland it is helping us withour learning in differentways. I hope everyonegets one next year" –Taylan Inan

“I think that the iPadproject was a greatidea and it hashelped me a lot withmy schoolwork.” –Parminder Singh

“Since the start ofthe project, therehas always beensomething different about ourclass. The iPads havehelped us with ourlearning in and out ofschool. At home, wecommunicate with ourpeers using FaceTimeand iMessage for helpwith homework orwhen working togetheron a project. I think thatwidening the projectacross the whole schoolwould be a great idea aswe would become thefirst to do so in Leicesterand our learning will beone step ahead!” –Dilraj Sangha

STUDENT INVESTOR CHALLENGE……..'YOU WIN SOME AND YOU LOSE SOME'As part of their enrichment activities 6 teams of sixth form stock market investor were given £100,000 of money (thanksto Mr Kelly) to invest on the London Stock Market.

Over a period of 3 months these 25 investors had their ups and downs. The ups came from the likes of Lloyds bank, EasyJet (at times), Domino's Pizza group, Unilever, GlaxoSmithKline, Next and Randgold Resources…..But Mr Kelly, on behalfof the students, would like to say that this is not investment advice particularly as there were many downs!!!!!

Most groups made a small amount of profit in a difficult trading period, much was learnt, many enterprise skills developed and muchfun was had……..Mr Kelly never got his money back!

The exercise book-sized iPad mini isvery portable and just as powerful asits big brother

Using the Geogebra iOS App to explore reflections

Students use iPad Minis in Maths to furtherunderstanding of Transformations

Dilraj, Parminder and Taylan from 8ABT are allreally positive about the project and hope itwill spread across the school soon

achievementENRICHMENT

10

WISPA SPORTS CONFERENCEWISPA (Women in Sport & Physical Activity) has beenorganised for the past 10 years by Leicester CitySchool Sport Partnership and once again we werelucky enough to be one of 14 schools to take part.

Pardeep Kaur 9REM, Nimco Ashur 9TJG, Nadia Bapu9MJN and Fatma Bawa 9TJG were selected to attend theconference this year at Braunstone Leisure Centre. The aimof this event is to encourage girls to take part in sportsand to realise that there is a whole range offun sports that you can take up. All four ofour fantastic girls took part in sporting eventssuch as Street Dancing, Yoga, Kick Boxing,Fitness, Cheerleading, Team Building andBollywood Dancing which they all reallyenjoyed. Our student’s loved every minuteof the day and did us PROUD.

Karina Bryant from Great Britain, who won thebronze medal in Judo in 2012 Olympics, wasalso there and we were very fortunate topersonally speak and have a picture with her.Her story was very inspirational on how shegave up her sporting career and went back

into it and became a winner. The whole day wasfantastic and energising and it’s a day that will neverbe forgotten by us because it was just AWESOME!

The WISPA day was amazing because we did lots ofactivities that were full of fun. I really enjoyed myself

because it made me realise how fun P.E. is. Wewouldn’t have had fun if it wasn’t for Miss Maan andMiss Pratt because they made us do all the activities andmade it fun for us. From that day my confidence wentup so much and I am really glad I did it…It was anamazing experience and it was really funny when MissMaan did Bollywood Dancing!!!

TAKE 2Take 2 is a fantastic opportunityfor years 9,10,11 and 12 to getinvolved in a filming projectcreated by the TCOLCPerforming Arts A Level team.Giving you the chance to workwith talented mediaprofessionals, alongsidepeople from local schools,you will be creating an urbanrendition of a fairytale andtake part in a series ofworkshops.

It takes place on the 5th and 6th Aprilat The City of Leicester College for asmall charge of £10; limited places areavailable so make sure you pick up yourletters from the Expressive Arts hub oryour drama teacher.

LAYTON NDUKWULayton made his debut forthe England U-17 teamagainst Wales in theVictory Shield on the 4thOctober. Since then, hehas been playing all overthe world: he playedagainst Scotland on 29thNovember in the VictoryShield; against Brazil on 9thDecember in Nike Cup; inthe USA on 11th Decemberin the Nike Cup and thenagainst Portugal which wasalso in the Nike Cup onDecember 13th.

The Nike Cup was againstU17s but England entered asan U16s team.

Victory Shield: England 1-0 WalesScotland 1-0 England

Nike Cup: Brazil 2-1 EnglandEngland 1-5 USAEngland 4-3 Portugal

ASAD JALALAsad Jalal 12PAK isundefeated boxerfrom LinfordBoxing Academyand holds theMidlands title. Hespars with RendallMunroe everyweek and isLeicester's nextprospect in the superbantamweight division for Olympic Gold. "I'm too positive to be doubtful, too optimistic to befearful and too determined to be defeated."

MRS BARRELL’SACHIEVEMENTSMrs Barrell completed her 12 half marathons in 12 monthschallenge and raised a total of £2,025 for The Multiple SclerosisSociety. In total she ran 157.2miles in a year along withwearing out 3 pairs of trainers!!She would like to thank allteachers and students for theirsupport and theirencouragement. Unfortunatelyshe did not reach her goal of2.15hrs but came close to it inthe Nottingham halfmarathon at 2.21! We are allvery proud of her and lookforward to hearing about hernext challenge!

11

achievementCOMMUNITY

NEPAL UPDATEI am sure you will be pleased to hear that theChildsmile Christmas Shoeboxes arrived at theorphanage in Nepal and that ‘Blessed Home’have been able to send back some smilepictures they have taken of the children withyour gift boxes. Thanks again to everyonewho contributed in any way.

CHILDSMILE GLASSWALK!Last year, Childsmile hosted an incredibly ambitious ‘Firewalk’fundraising event. Over 100 people took part and felt a huge senseof satisfaction in successfully completing the walk.

The ‘Firewalk’ event consisted of a seminar, in which the organiserscover history, techniques and understanding fear. The walk itself wasover a bed of coals approximately 5 meters long which were as hotas 1200 degrees Fahrenheit. The ‘heat’ of the coals didn’t deteranyone but rather made those that participated in the event evenmore determined to successfully walk across. Firewalking is richlyrewarding in terms of one’s personal self-development and theactivation of one’s potential.

This year Childsmile are hoping to repeat their feat by offeringanother opportunity to take part in a ‘Firewalk’ but this time alongwith an additional ‘Glasswalk’ event.

The Glasswalk is again not for the faint hearted as it involveswalking over broken glass pieces and will challenge even thestrongest of minds. Full training is given prior to both walks andall is carefully risk managed and hosted by professional andexperienced event organisers.

If you think you can ‘Walk the Walk’ and would like to be partof the challenge this year then registration and sponsorshippacks are available from Mr Wilby and Miss Khan. You cancollect sponsorship and register with £20 for either the Fire orGlass walk or £25 for both!

The event is open to everyone not just school members. Forfurther information please contact us directly at the College(0116 241 3984) or on twitter; @Childsmile_1.

All of the money raised during the event will be going towards‘The Nepal Expedition 2014’.

Be happy, be ambitious, make a difference

12

achievementCOMMUNITY

HEARTSAFEThe City of Leicester College andLeicestershire Secondary Schools HeartsafeProgrammeOn February 28th Mr Rowe, Mr Wilby and two Year 10student ambassadors (Taku Zembe and Rhianna Boon)attended the launch of the Leicestershire SecondarySchools Heartsafe Programme at the Leicester TigersRugby Ground.

They joined Year 10 student ambassadors fromsecondary schools across the city and county for a morning ofpresentations and workshops organised by the University Hospitalsof Leicester and The Joe Humphries Memorial Trust.

Whilst cardiac arrest is most common outside the schoolenvironment, tragically it can occur in the young due tounrecognised inheritable heart conditions. The loss last year of JoeHumphries, a young life, at the De Lisle School locally illustrates thissad possibility. The establishment of the Joe Humphries MemorialTrust (JHMT) to promote awareness about this topic has leadnaturally to collaboration with the other agencies on thisresuscitation project. The aim is to ensure all teenagers in theCity and County are given this cardiac arrest rescue training.There are literally thousands of lives that could be saved if bystanderswho witness a cardiac arrest took the right immediate action.

• In the UK 30,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests per year areattended by the emergency services

• Over half are witnessed by bystanders or family members

• Survival = 10.7% this equates to 27,000 deaths per year

• compare this with 12,000 breast cancer deaths and 3,000 roadtraffic accident deaths

At the Heartsafe launch on completion ofthe mornings events, which included ourambassadors being trained in emergencycardiac rescue and the use of anAutomated External Defibrillator (AED)unit, one very positive outcome of theevent was for our school to be presentedwith our own AED. This device is now inCollege and would be instrumental in theimmediate treatment action if a cardiacarrest occurred in our own schoolenvironment.

The plan is now for more staff andstudent ambassadors at The City ofLeicester College to be trained andfor the programme to be rolled outto all of Year 10 and then the entirecollege staff and student community.The same will occur in all localsecondary schools and the aim is fora generation of young people in Leicestershire to be competent indelivering Emergency Life Saving (ELS) treatment.

Leicestershire schools along with the JHMT are leading the way inwhat is hoped will eventually become a nation-wide programme.

One look at the chart below shows how worthwhile this could bewhen we consider the success of bystanders delivering ELS treatmentin the UK compared to countries that have had widespread publicAED access and training programmes for a number of years.

13Be happy, be ambitious, make a difference

achievementPARENT AND COMMUNITY

How can you support your child to do their best in their GCSE exams?GCSEs are the most important examinations taken by 15-16 year olds. They are the first step in allowing your child to move on to further education or to a career. Your child will need your support to give them the best chance of achieving success in these exams.

What can parents do to help?Help your child to start preparing for their GCSE exams now!The summer exams will cover all the work studied during Years 10 and 11. Most exams will take place in May or June. Your child will be given a timetable.Over the next few months:• Make sure that your child attends school every

day and on time.• Make sure that they are keeping up with

homework.

• Be aware that students need to get at least a grade C in Maths and English or they will have to continue studying these subjects.

• Encourage your child to begin revising now.

Top 10 revision tips for parents1. Help your child to make a revision timetable which

includes all their subjects.2. Have the timetable displayed in your child’s room

and ensure that they stick to the plan.3. Ask to see your child’s revision notes and check that

they are complete.4. Make sure that revision is spread out evenly so that

your son/daughter is not planning to do too much at once.

5. Ask them to explain something they have just revised.

6. Encourage your son/daughter to ask for help at school on any work that they do not understand.

7. Encourage your child to attend revision sessions offered by the school.

8. Make sure that they have all the books they need to hand so they don’t waste time.

9. You can buy revision guides to help with study. Make sure that your child knows which Exam board and syllabus have been followed.

10. Encourage the use of different memory aids e.g. writing notes on cards or putting post-it notes around the house with key facts.

Top 10 revision tips for studentsYou can support your son/daughter by helping them to follow these tips:1. Do not revise for more than one hour without taking

a 5-10 minute break. Have a glass of water or something similar to drink.

2. Stay focused. Don’t waste time on social networks and mobile phones.

3. Revise one or two subjects in the evenings after school.

4. Revise specific topics in each subject, not everything at once.

5. Tackle the most difficult topics first.

6. Cover each subject several times and revisit each one near to the exams.

7. Turn off the TV, radio or any loud music. Quiet background music may help some students.

8. Reading is not enough. Making brief notes in either words or pictures will help.

9. Answer questions from past papers, sometimes under exam conditions, to test learning.

10. Don’t leave revision to the last minute.

14

informationPARENT AND COMMUNITY

What else can parents do to help?• Reward your child’s efforts to revise.• Reduce the number of chores that they have to do

when exams start.• Make sure that the whole family keeps disturbances

to a minimum.• Allow your child to study in the library if there is not a

quiet place to study at home.• Be sensitive to the pressure and stress that your child

may be experiencing.

• Make sure that time is built in for exercise and recreation.

• Respect your child’s growing independence. Ask them how you can best support them.

• Help them to keep things in perspective. • Have a copy of the exam timetable at home so that

you can provide encouragement for each exam.

Useful websites for past papers and revision:

bbc.co.uk/schools/parents

bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize

gcseguide.co.uk

gcse.com

gcsepod.co.uk

s-cool.co.uk

aqa.org.uk

edexcel.org.uk

ocr.org.uk

wjec.co.uk

Also, have a look at the revision materials in bookshops - there are some useful revision guides on sale.

Get in touch with your child’s school if you would like more help or advice.

Did you know...?Students with 5 GCSEs at grades A-C including English and Maths are likely to earn £250,000 more in their career than students without the qualifications.

Before exams, try to ensure that:• Your son/daughter gets enough sleep, especially the night before

exams.

• He/she is eating sensibly - especially breakfast on exam days.

• He/she has all the equipment required e.g. - pens and sharp pencils, eraser, a ruler and a watch (mobile phones are not allowed in the exams) - A calculator and protractor

• Your son/daughter knows what day the exam is on and what time it starts

• He/she knows how long the exam is

• He/she knows what is being tested in each exam.

Studies show that high parental interest is linked with better exam results than for children whose parents show no interest. What will you do to give your child the best chance of achieving success?

For more information visit www.leicester.gov.uk/gcserevision

Attendance at mock exams and controlled assessments is also very important.

15Be happy, be ambitious, make a difference

achievementPARENT AND COMMUNITY

A SHORT HISTORY OF THE CITY OF LEICESTER COLLEGEWe are pleased to announce that the book, A Short History of The City of Leicester College 1956-2013 by Bob Childs, is now in print. Those who have pre-ordered a copy will be contacted by phone or email to arrange collection or delivery and in some cases payment. The book provides a story in outline of thedevelopment of the school through City Boys, Spencefield School and the City of Leicester with some images and photographs related to the text throughout.

If you would like to order a copy please complete the order form below or contact Ruth Clewlow at rclewlow@cityleicester.leicester.sch.uk, or 0116 241 3984.

The book costs £5.00 and proceeds are being donated to the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign and the Myotubular Trust.

TO: Mrs Ruth ClewlowThe City of Leicester College, Downing Drive, Evington, Leicester LE5 6LN

I would like ………. copies of

A Short History of The City Of Leicester College 1956–2013

published in February 2014, at a cost of £5.00 each.

Name .............................................................................................................................................................................................................

Address .........................................................................................................................................................................................................

Email .................................................................................................................. Tel/Mobile ........................................................................

A SHORT HISTORY OF THE CITY OF LEICESTER COLLEGE 1956 – 2013by Bob Childs

DYSLEXIA FRIENDLY SCHOOL STATUSThe City of Leicester College is pleased to announce that weare currently working towards gaining Dyslexia Friendly Schoolstatus.

The Aim of the Dyslexia Friendly Schools Quality Mark is topromote excellent practice by the school as it carries out itsrole of supporting and challenging its staff to improveaccessibility for more learners. The quality mark is verifiedthrough Leicester City’s Special Needs Teaching Service, andthe British Dyslexia Association (BDA).

Nicola Trolley is leading the process, with our Teaching andLearning Leaders, to ensure all staff are skilled and confidentin supporting students with dyslexia and other literacy needsin their classrooms. The DFS working party has alreadyimplemented some changes including:

• all information for students is printed on cream, rather thanwhite, paper

• reading rulers are available in all Hub areas

• information sessions for parents on Student Review Day

• awareness raising and skill sessions for students in afternoonregistration

• displays of famous, successful dyslexics

• dyslexia friendlybookshelf withadditional resourcesin the library.

We offer a range ofwell-founded literacyand numeracy catchup groups for years 7,8 and 9. Theseinclude reading,spelling, handwriting, language and inference lessons. Wealso provide catch-up Numeracy and Numicon.

Dyslexic students now have the opportunity to learn touchtyping skills and we have a range of resources to aid theDyslexic pupils in their lessons, including the use of ipads. Weare currently trialling effective apps for Dyslexic students.

Please see our website for regular updates and links to howyou can support your child at home. We also have a range ofinformation you can pick up at reception, and we hold regularDyslexia training for parents during our parent review daysand open evenings.

For more information please contactntrolley@cityleicester.leicester.sch.uk

16

informationPARENT AND COMMUNITY

Please see our website: www.cityleicester.leicester.sch.ukfor all up to date information.

IMPORTANT INFORMATIONUniform and equipmentPlease ensure your child comes to college in full uniform every dayand with all their equipment, including their organiser. Students whoare not in uniform will be required to go home and change or workin the Behaviour Support Unit for the day.

Hair, make-up and jewellery should be appropriate for college. Ifstudents are wearing anything deemed inappropriate e.g. largehoops, dangling earrings, prominent piercings, large belts etc. theywill be asked to remove it. Students are NOT allowed to wearhooded tops to school. If they do, these will be confiscated.

Uniform DirectPlease note you are now be able to buy uniform for students atThe City of Leicester College from Uniform Direct’s new shop inthe centre of Leicester, on Humberstone Gate next to Sainsbury’s.The shop offers good access for parents as it is on a bus routefrom Evington and is also very close to the Clock Tower and othershops in the centre of Leicester.

Uniform can still be purchased on line at www.uniform-direct.com or by telephoning Uniform Direct on 01522 510016.

Mobile PhonesPlease note, if students need, or choose, to bring a phone intocollege they do so at their own risk.

PunctualityPlease support your child’s learning by ensuring they attend collegeregularly and arrive at college, and into lessons, on time. Studentswho arrive late cause significant disruption to their own, and others’,learning. The bell goes at 8.25am – if students are late to collegetwice in a week, they are required to do a 40 minute detention aftercollege with their Achievement Co-ordinator.

HolidaysHolidays should not be taken during term time. Permission will onlybe considered in exceptional circumstances, at the Headteacher’sdiscretion, and only if:

1. Your child’s attendance is above 95%

2. Your flight tickets are made available on request

3. Your child is up to date with coursework and homework

4. Holiday forms must be submitted at least 2 weeks beforeproposed holiday.

Unauthorised holidays may result in the issue of a penalty notice bythe educational welfare service.

Counselling Service in College If you are not yet aware, we do have a counselling serviceavailable for students in college. If you think your child wouldbenefit from receiving counselling, please contact Karena on:kanderson@cityleicester.leicester.sch.uk.

TERM DATES 2013/14SPRING TERM 2014College closes: Friday 11th April

SUMMER TERM 2014College opens for students: Monday 28th April

Bank Holiday: Monday 5th May

Half Term: Monday 26th to Friday 30th Mayinclusive

College opens students: Monday 2nd June

College closes: Friday 11th July