SACRED HEART C A T H O L I C S C H O O L

Summer Term —Issue 21 Friday, 23rd June 2017

Dear Parents, Guardians and Pupils,

Uncertainty is playing an increasingly greater role in our society. With the economic and political changes on the horizon, guiding our pupils towards their future may seem a challenging prospect. In order to prepare our pupils for the rapid changes occurring in higher education and employment markets, Sacred Heart organised Futures Week from 12th -16th June 2017 for the Year 10 and 12 pupils. The week involved visits to universities, a careers aspira-tions afternoon with over 70 companies, a CV and inter-view workshop and a number of ex-pupils returning to Sacred Heart to inspire the next generation. Many of our pupils began the week feeling uncertain with regards to what they want to do in their future. Through-out the week it became clear to the pupils that feeling

uncertain is something that everyone experiences and that it’s rare for someone to actually know every step of what they want. Futures Week provided the pupils with direction to research opportunities available in university and employment; prepare for these opportunities through work experience, university summer schools and extracurricular activities; and to be open mind-ed in their outlook for the future. I wish the pupils every success embracing these next steps.

“Don’t call it uncertainty—call it wonder. Don’t call it inse-curity—call it freedom.”- Osho

“When you become comfortable with uncertainty, infinite possibilities open up in your life.”- Eckhart Tolle Mrs A. Sparkes Assistant Headteacher

IMPORTANT DATES FOR THE WEEK (Commencing Monday 26 June 2016 )

Monday, 26th June

Y7 Assembly

Bronze D o E Exams

Table Tennis Isle of Wight Trip

Tues, 27th June

Y10 Assembly

Y10 Silver D o E Trip Bronze D o E

Exams

Bronze D o E Exams

Table Tennis Isle of Wight Trip

Weds, 28th June

Y8 Assembly

Y10 Silver Duke of Edinburgh

Y8/Y9 French Trip

Table Tennis Isle of Wight Trip

Y7/8/9 Rugby Sevens Tournament

(4pm)

DEAR Time (P6)

Thurs, 29th June

Y9 Assembly

8 Mass (P1) Feast of St Peter & St

Paul

Y10 Silver Duke of Edinburgh

Y8/Y9 French Trip

Table Tennis Isle of Wight Trip

7PBC Hampton Court Trip

Y12 Oxbridge Trip

House of Parliament Award Evening

Y9 Options (P1)

Y6 Induction Evening

Y8 SRE (B1)

Fri, 30th June

Y12 Assembly

Y8/Y9 French Trip

Table Tennis Isle of Wight Trip

Y12/Y13 New York Trip

NOTICES ...

HONESTY AWARDS ...

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE FOLLOWING PUPILS WHO FOUND THE FOLLOWING ITEMS:-

Erdine Matonga -8B: found a phone

Curtis Ewah 10C – found a comb in the playground.

Charles Ibudialo – 9C: found a lower school tie

Maylene Ogbebor – 8M: found a set of keys

Victoria Natufe – 10P2: found a set of keys

Shanie Mowatt – 9M: found a set of keys

Dolce Binda – 9C: found an upper school tie & a pen-cil case

Emmanuel Mansaray – 7B—found an oyster card containing £5

Jan Pirecki – 12BD: found a bank card

Sean Eba – 9T: found an oyster card

Jahsanne McIntosh Blake – 8P: found a lower school tie

Estelle Darko – 12JG: found a ten pound note

PLEASE EMPTY YOUR LOCKERS!!

All pupils must empty their lockers before the last day of

term as maintenance work will take place during the

holidays. Anything left in the lockers will thrown away.

FOOD TECH GCSE PILOT SCHEME OPPORTUNITY FOR Y8

Ms Hibbett is looking for a small group of pupils who are currently in Year 8 to take part in a pilot

scheme starting in September 2017 for the new GCSE.

Pupils would be expected to give up time after school at least one day a week for a half term.

Pupils should also be motivated, self-disciplined, able to work independently, have an inquisitive

mind and a keen interest in Food Tech at a higher level. More information is available on request.

Interested pupils should leave their name on the sign-up sheet on the door of A5 by Thursday

23rd June. Successful pupils will be informed by Thursday 29th June with a taster session taking

place after school on Tuesday 4th July.

Ms Hibbett

Food Technology Dept.

How many school weeks away ?

Year-group

Exams

RESULTS Year 9 Results of Y9 end-of KS3 exams will be sent home in the post before the end of the summer term

RESULTS Year 8 Results of Y8 end-of-year exams will be sent home in the post before the end of the summer term

RESULTS Years 12 & 13

GCE results will be availa-ble for collection from school on Thursday 17

th

August RESULTS Year 11 GCSE results will be avail-

able for collection from school on Thursday 24

th

August RESULTS Year 10 GCSE R.E. results will be

given to Year 10 when they return for the new academic year

FUTURES WEEK

“I really enjoyed my

visit . I liked how the

atmosphere at Sacred

Heart managed to feel

simultaneously relaxed

and purposeful, and I

was really impressed

by the warm welcome I

got from your students

and by the kinds of

questions they were

asking”

- Alasdair, Unifrog

Day 1 University Applications Year 12 Futures Week started off in the hall with a university re-

search and personal statement writing workshop from Unifrog. Stu-

dents were shown how to research universities and courses using

the site and how to filter their course to create short lists. This was

followed by a personal statement writing session, informing the stu-

dents about what should be included in their personal statement in

order to improve their university application.

With many students unsure about their future; the Unifrog session

has given them the opportunity to work on their own university

shortlists in the computer suites, based on the ranking of the univer-

sity, the number of candidates applying per place, the entry require-

ments, the number of graduates securing employment after gradua-

tion.

By starting the personal statement in June, the students have an ad-

vantage in terms of preparation for their university application. This

will allow them to reflect on what they should do over the summer to

strengthen their application in terms of additional reading, summer

schools and work experience.

Sacred Heart Catholic School 12th-16th June 2017

Day 1 UCL In the afternoon the students visited UCL one of the world’s very best universities, consist-ently placed in the global top 20 in a wide range of world rankings. As a world-leader in re-search, home to centres of teaching excellence in subjects from medicine to languages, law to engineering and history to astrophysics, many of our students have aspirations to apply here. The students toured around the Bloomsbury campus viewing the North Cloisters where the fresher's fair is held each year to the library which contains more than two million books.

Student Comments

I found Unifrog very useful because there were examples of what to write in the personal statement.

Veronica

We had previously had a Unifrog presentation but there was more detail in this one and I had a

better understanding. Also the personal statement questions got me thinking about why I want

to study my chosen subject and what interests me about the sector. Oghomwen

I found today useful as it has broken down the task of writing a personal statement into bite size chunks that are easier to tackle. The steps were easy to follow and a lot of good advice was given. I could tell how much planning, effort and organisation went into it. Hilary

It was interesting looking at different courses offered by different universities. I found out how different universities make you more employable. Ik

Student Comments

I found the CV workshop very

useful as it gave me an under-

standing of what employers are

looking for when choosing poten-

tial candidates. Looking back on

my old CV, I’ve noticed that I

made silly mistakes and the CV

workshop will rectify this.

Rayanne

The CV writing was very helpful. I

know the do’s and don’ts in order

to produce a perfect CV.

Andreia

It gave me an insight on how to prevent my CV being discarded. The presentation of my CV is

very crucial to an employer in order to captivate them. Joshua The CV workshop was good and

I personally found it beneficial. I

learnt not to write a personal pro-

file in your CV.

Clyde

The workshop today was very useful. As well as being interac-tive they presented the main points of a CV very clearly. Sabrina

Day 2 Careers The second day started off with a CV workshop from Ra-

re a company who work with candidates and businesses

to support diverse talent.

The interactive workshop focused on the key compo-

nents of the perfect CV and a critique of sample CVs.

The students then had the opportunity to work on their

own CVs in preparation for the Careers Aspiration after-

noon.

Before lunch, two ex-students Joe Lydon and Audrey

Aidoo-Davies returned to offer advice for those consider-

ing school leaver programmes and apprenticeships. Joe

is a apprentice at Allsop and is in his second year of a

five year degree in Real Estate at Reading University.

Audrey is on a 16 month apprenticeship at The Barbican

working in the community outreach department. Both ex-

students provided information on the benefits of entering

the workforce post 18 and answered a range of ques-

tions from the current students.

The Careers Aspiration afternoon was attended by over

70 companies. The speed networking event allowed

students to speak to employers from a range of indus-

tries including property, medicine, creative, legal, finan-

cial, leisure and the public sector. The hall was a hive of

activity with a third of key stage 4 students returning to

speak to employers at the end of the event and a num-

ber key stage 5 students securing work experience.

Student Comments

It was an amazing opportunity. I was able to gain work experience and talk to people in different careers. I

learnt about industries and jobs that I hadn’t heard of before. I got some advice about editing my CV and

worked on my communication skills, keeping eye contact when talking to the employers. Hilary

I spoke with many employers who offered me work experience. Adrian

Networking with different industries was very helpful and helped me to determine what potential career

paths I would take. Learning about the advantages and disadvantages of different industries has really

benefitted me. Ife

Talking to the employers especially the ones in my chosen industry has given me information on what I should fo-

cus on in the future. Myles

It was really cool meeting people in different sectors. Seeing a range of career paths was very helpful.

Azenosa

The networking event was extremely useful. I learnt about different options that I could take post sixth form. One

thing that stood out to me were the creative industries. I love to get creative and design. Onyi

It was a really good opportunity to find out about different fields of work within various sectors in the work-

ing world. It was really insightful and the event gave me the chance to not only ask questions about their

work but to discover more potential career paths. I hope that there are more events like these for us as

they help me to open up my options. They were all really friendly and open to answering any questions and

clearing up misconceptions about their work/industry which was really nice. Jennifer

Yesterday showed me that it is OK to keep your options open and not be very sure about your future, so long as

you are still trying to do something you enjoy and just see where it takes you. Peter

I was able to learn about careers that I didn’t know about. It was highly helpful. Keziah

I found the event very helpful by talking to many different employees and receiving advice on apprenticeships in-

stead of going to university. I also received really useful feedback on my CV. Daniel

I found the session really helpful. It built up my confidence and passion in wanting to study medicine. They

really made me realise that 5 years isn’t as long as I perceived. I think it is something that the school

should run as often as possible. Danielle

The careers session was very useful as I was able to gain an insight on how professional job roles are performed

and the steps required to make it to that level of hierarchy. I managed to engage with Sue Robinson who has gifted

me a week’s work experience in a leisure centre nearby. Shakirra

Being somebody who would like to pursue a careers in property, I found my encounter with Joe enlighten-ing. It felt like a privilege to ask somebody about the industry I am interested in and receive an honest in-sight. At the end of his talk, Joe gave me his business card, which means not only did I learn something interesting I have had the opportunity to expand my network. Oghenyerho

Employer Comments

We were very impressed with the Year 12 students at Sacred Heart. They had a good understanding of what employers were looking for and made insightful comments about the example CVs. The students were clearly committed to presenting themselves in the best possible way - both in person and through their CVs - and so we are confident that they will go on to achieve their goals. Naomi, Rare It was really great, we all enjoyed it. Henna, Amazon Audible It was a great pleasure to meet the students and thank you for the opportunity as well. We currently have two students from the school scheduled with work experience at two of our centres in Brixton and Clap-ham next month. Sue, GLL Thank you for inviting me to the Careers fair. It was a great afternoon and left me buzzing from all the energy and talking we did. The students were all very receptive and engaging and very well mannered. Nataska, Electric Theatre Collective Both myself and my colleague were very impressed with your pupils, I'm sure those that I spoke to will

have success in their chosen paths.

Gavin, London and Southern Railway

Thanks very much for such an interesting afternoon - your students were really excellent. Anood, Liberal Democrat Councillor It was lovely to meet you yesterday. I really enjoyed the event and you have such inspiring students at-tending your school! I loved the way event was organised and thought that pupils were genuinely interest-ed in what it is that we do. Justine, Group M

We thought that it was a really good day, it was ran well from our point of view, we were well informed before the date and knew what was happening. Emma, Hollywood Bowl

Day 3 Student Life After two busy days in Futures Week, the third day did not disappoint. The students started

the day with a reflection of all the university application and employer information that they

had received. This was followed by an assembly from four ex-students both graduates and

undergraduates giving their account of a typical day in the life of a university student. The

students were motivated by all the speakers and asked a number of questions surrounding

how they chose their colleges to what the tutorials and lectures were like. Michael will grad-

uate from the University of Sussex this year, and he spoke about the workload in the third

year and his decision to undertake a Masters next year. Agatha will graduate from Oxford

University this year, and she spoke about the difference in being taught Economics at A-

Level compared to the degree course, and how this developed her interest in Politics and

Philosophy on her PPE course. Agatha also advised the students about scholarship bursa-

ries available from companies in the City, such as Credit Suisse, where she will begin her

graduate job this year. Our younger undergraduate students to join the panel were Christie

and Tyrone. Christie has just completed his first year at Portsmouth University, and he

gave some top tips about budgeting in the first semester and taking all the opportunities

available such as joining new societies. Tyrone has just completed his first year at Bristol,

and he gave advice about visiting the universities on the open days and speaking to cur-

rent students to ensure the course that you are considering is the right one for you.

Day 3 Interview Skills In the afternoon, Pathway CTM, a company whose mission

it is to improve the employability, career prospects and lives

of school leavers; provided the students with information

about the difficulties facing young people when entering

Post 18 employment. In order to prepare the students for

the interview process at graduate and school leaver level, a

mock interview task was set. The students were divided in-

to groups of eight and challenged to rebrand, finance and

market a product, Lyon Coffee bags. The students were

fully engaged with the challenge and they demonstrated

their competitive nature in the presentations, which will be

crucial when they find themselves in the real situation in the

future.

“Your students seemed to be very engaged in the task and some of the ideas were great. It is always nice to see the different approaches to the prob-lem. There we some excel-lent presentations bringing in humour and creativity whilst still being profes-sional.” - Mark, CTM

Student Comments

I and many others learnt the relevant qualities needed for an assessment day. I thank Pathway CTM for

making us more employable.

Jan

From the coffee bag project with CTM, it allowed me to see the different skills and tactics required

to be efficient in a task. I also learnt ways of ensuring a project is more achievable.

Daniella

The Pathway CTM challenge was extremely amusing although a serious task. We experienced real life

business planning and pitching which will help prepare me for future interview tasks.

Adrian

I feel that the ex-students coming back acted as a motivation for me and my fellow peers as it

shows with hard work you can achieve.

Ik

Student Comments

The University of Sussex gave me an insight as to what university is going to be like. My favour-

ite part of it was finding out about student finance. Initially I was unhappy about paying £9250

fees and had concerns about the huge debt, but left thinking this debt will be manageable. Clyde

The Sussex trip provided me with a further insight into a campus university. The trip

helped me to decide that I want to apply to a campus university later this year. Joshua

I found it interesting hearing and seeing what university life looks like at a campus university.

Emanuella

The trip to Sussex was sublime. The scenery was outstanding, student ambassadors very informative and the facilities were exceptional. The talk about student finance was clear and has reassured me that the debt I am due to incur is not going to be as daunting as I imagined. Stephanie

Day 4 Sussex University It was an early start for the students, departing school at 8.15am for the coach down to the

University of Sussex. The University of Sussex is a leading higher education and research

institution near Brighton, in the south of England which is ranked 20th in the UK by The

Guardian University League Tables.

With the glorious weather, the students were excited to be heading out of London through the

South Downs to catch a glimpse of student life at a campus university.

Once seated in the lecture theatre the students heard about student life from Will, a graduate.

The students were surprised to find out how different an undergraduate timetable can be and

the clear emphasis on independent study at university. During the campus tour, the students

learnt about the architectural design of the buildings on campus. The library was designed to

resemble an open book and the students union building, a camera. After lunch the students

had a lecture from Craig, a recruitment officer, regarding university applications and student

finance. The students gained a lot of information about maintenance loans and the repay-

ment calculation formula. For many this offered relief as they realized that their repayments

would be affordable on graduating from university.

Day 5 Extended Project Qualification Twenty Year 12 students were invited, based on their consistent high achievement and attain-

ment to undertake an Extended Project Qualification (EPQ). These students will be the first co-

hort to undertake this qualification at Sacred Heart. This is an additional AS Level where stu-

dents have the opportunity to work inde-

pendently and either complete a dissertation,

organize a performance or create an artefact.

Dr Professor Emma Thompson, from the Uni-

versity of Southampton, delivered a lecture to

the students regarding the qualification and

the types of projects that students may con-

sider, from creating an architectural model, to

composing a piece of music to researching

the issues surrounding poverty in modern so-

ciety. The qualification is favoured by a num-

ber of universities and could see entry re-

quirements dropped provided the students

achieve an A or A* in the AS Level. The students have embraced the opportunity to experience

the university-style study and expand their knowledge in an area that they are interested. The

skills that they will develop in preparation for university or employment includes researching,

reference writing, time management and forward planning. A number of students are so moti-

vated by this qualification that they have already organised external mentors from their network

of university lecturers and work experience, which is very impressive.

Sacred Catholic School, Camberwell New Road, London SE5 0RP

Student Comments

I thought it was a lovely opportunity to hear about how useful the EPQ would be for our growth and

future. Dr Emma was very clear and did a really good job of explaining how the EPQ works. Hear-

ing from her made me feel more motivated and determined to successfully complete the qualifica-

tion, as I was able to learn how it will allow me to emulate a university environment and how I will

complete work independently. Jennifer

Bringing in Dr Emma was super useful. I knew very little before she came in but now I feel like I really understand what the program contains. She also helped me think of what subject to base my EPQ on. Myles

“I have been overwhelmed with the support from teachers, employers, universities and the lo-cal community in providing our students with advice and information on the options available to our students in the future. Thank you to everyone that has played a part in Futures Week. Our students have gained an invaluable insight into a range of careers and are aware of the ac-tions that they need to take over the summer in order to improve their skills for future employ-ment and prepare personal statements for university of the highest quality.” Mrs A Sparkes, Assistant Headteacher, Sacred Heart Catholic School.

As part of our partnership with UCL, we have scientist coming to do work-shops with our students. Here is a report written by Grace Makiese in 7M about her experience creating a prototype for a Hydro generator…enjoy!

Ms Vasquez