January 2015 - John Colet School

“Through hard work, inspiration, mutual
respect and enjoyment, we will achieve
success together.”
JANUARY 2015
Contents:
Message from Headteacher
School Production News
Quote of the Month
Unplanned School Closure
Senior Leadership Team 2015
Changes to School Uniform
Year 11 –Ace Your Exams
Special Treat for Effort Year 10
Holiday Dates
Maths Quiz
MESSAGE FROM THE HEADTEACHER
Cyberbullying
During January, our School Police Liaison Officer, PC Graham Briggenshaw, has
been in all year groups’ assemblies talking to the students about cyberbullying and
online safety.
The Department for Education has recently published guidance for schools as well
as a leaflet on advice for parents on cyberbullying. I would urge all parents/carers to
find a few minutes to read the leaflet. The link to it is:-
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/preventing-and-tacklingbullying
Up-date of recent staff changes:Lucy Fleming has been appointed Acting Head of Year 9 to cover Mrs Froggatt’s
maternity leave.
Acting Head of Year 8 - Miss K Miller
Form Tutor for 7B - Mrs A Collins and Mrs C Maynard
Form Tutor for 7S - Mr A Smythe
Form Tutor for 9D - Ms A Hill
HAPPY NEW
YEAR TO ALL
OUR READERS
COMING SOON - SCHOOL PRODUCTION - LOSERVILLE
Thursday 12 and Friday 13 March 2015 - Performance starts at 7:30pm
Loserville follows the story of Michael Dork, a computer geek with a
dream! He is determined to send the first email! The new girl, Holly, who
wants a fresh start and to be recognised for her brain and not her beauty,
quickly becomes the object of Michael’s affections. Michael and his gang,
Lucas, Marvin and Francis, are working together to change the future for
geeks worldwide but will Eddie Arch, the school bully and son of the
richest man in town, be able to stop them?
Book, Music & Lyrics by Elliot Davis and James Bourne
Originally produced on the West End stage by T C Beech. This amateur
production is presented by arrangement with:-
UNPLANNED SCHOOL
JOSEF WEINBERGER LTD.
CLOSURE
In the event of extreme
weather conditions please
check school closures on
www.buckscc.gov.uk
homepage
QUOTE OF THE MONTH
“We can’t help everyone, but everyone
can help someone”
Up to date information is also
given out on Mix 96
Ronald Reagan (1911—2004)
The Colet Chronicle
Page 2
Senior Leadership Team (SLT) Responsibilities from January 2015
With Mrs Absolm joining us, the revised SLT is in now in place and we have reorganised some of the areas of
responsibility as a result.
Mrs McLintock - Headteacher
Strategic lead for Leadership and Management, link with the Governing Body, Academy Trust, Bucks Learning
Trust and other external stakeholders
Action Plan section responsible for: Leadership and Management
Miss Palmer– Deputy Headteacher
Strategic lead for school improvement, curriculum, equalities and narrowing the gaps
Action Plan section responsible for: Science
Mr Phillips– Assistant Headteacher
Strategic lead for teaching and learning, professional tutor, trainee teachers and newly qualified teachers (NQTs).
Action Plan sections responsible for: Quality of teaching
Mrs Gould - Assistant Headteacher
Strategic lead for attitudes to learning, inclusion and behaviour, designated teacher for students in care, School
Council
Action Plan section responsible for: Attitudes to Learning
Mrs Absolm– Assistant Headteacher
Strategic lead for student achievement, pupil premium, gifted and talented
Action Plan section responsible for: Achievement
Mrs Adair– Head of Resources and Designated Person for Safeguarding
Strategic lead for personnel, safeguarding, CPD, School Counsellor and administration
Mrs Hart – Head of Finance and Business and Academy Trust Company Secretary
Strategic lead for finance, facilities, health and safety (including EVOLVE), data protection, ICT and Governing
Body agendas
All members of the Senior Leadership Team are responsible for community liaison.
CHANGES TO JOHN COLET SCHOOL UNIFORM
The uniform changes will be introduced from September 2015 with it being compulsory for all new Year 7
students. There will be a phased introduction for Years 8-11 for 2015/16 with it being optional but then compulsory
for all from September 2016. During 2015-16, it will not be possible to buy any of the old regulation uniform.
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A regulation maroon blazer from an official supplier will replace the sweatshirt for boys and girls.
The white Polo shirt to be replaced by a white shirt and clip on tie for boys and girls.
Girls to have the option to wear a regulation pleated black skirt from an official supplier from Easter 2015.
Girls and boys to wear black trousers; these will not be regulation trousers but will need to be purchased
from a range of preferred outlets (for example supermarkets and department stores) from a list compiled by
a parent consultation group.
Girls and boys to have the option to wear a plain black v-neck jumper (suggested purchase list will be supplied with options from local stores and websites) in addition to (but not in place of) the blazer.
Girls to wear sports polo and jersey to the colours of the boys PE kit both from an official supplier; names to
be embroidered on tops.
PE shorts to be non-regulation black shorts (suggested purchase list will be supplied with options from local
stores and websites).
Black football PE socks for boys and girls.
The changes are not expected or intended to create higher uniform cost for parents/carers. The uniform supplier
will be selected for best value for money and non-regulated items will be able to be purchased from a variety of
local sources at a range of prices, selected by a parent consultation group.
The Colet Chronicle
Page 3
YOGA FOR TEENS
Mon 7 to 7.45 pm
St Anne’s Hall, Wendover
Come & try out vinyasa flow yoga set to
rockin’ music
01296 623543
[email protected]
www.sarahyoga.co.uk
Year 11 – Ace Your Exams Seminar
To support our Year 11 students with their preparation for the forthcoming GCSE exams, the school arranged a
seminar on 20 January 2015 run by Elevate Education, a company which specialises in educational
programmes using young presenters who have recently completed their final years of education and can
engage students on a level they are able to relate to. In an entertaining hour the presenter explained critical
exam skills such as allocation of time, whilst also demonstrating that through thorough preparation additional
exam marks are obtained.
The feedback from the students was extremely positive with comments such as:
‘It was very useful and made it less stressful when planning how to revise’
‘I learnt different things about how to best manage my time and organise myself’
‘It’s helped me out and motivated me’
‘I need to do practice papers and have a specific goal’
‘I learnt how to deal with stress and how to plan and prepare for the exam’
‘It was fun’
‘It was interesting and helpful’
‘Useful tips and relevant information’
We are looking forward to the next seminar on 23 March which will cover memory techniques.
Mr Wilson
Head of Year 11
Page 4
The Colet Chronicle
QUIZ NIGHT FOR ARTHRITIS RESEARCH
There is a team quiz night in support of
Arthritis Research UK on Saturday 7th
March at Weston Turville Village Hall.
Arthritis Research UK is the charity for which
Weston Turville's Paralympic Gold Medalist
Pam Relph is an Ambassador and Pam will
be in attendance on the evening to sign
autographs, have pictures taken and present
raffle prizes, which include Olympic and
Paralympic Memorabilia.
There is a paid bar and doors open at 7.00
with the quiz starting at 7.30pm. Tickets are
£5 per person and are available from
Julie Relph - 07774 259120 or
email: [email protected]
The Colet Chronicle
Page 5
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The Colet Chronicle
SPECIAL TREAT for EFFORT
On the 10 of December eight pupils
from 10B, including myself, were
invited for a complimentary lunch.
This was a reward for our efforts during the
term. Mr McComb took us all to Costa Coffee
where we could choose whatever we fancied
with no expense spared! We all had a great
time and enjoyed the food.
Ben H 10B
HOLIDAY DATES 2014 - 2015
SPRING TERM 2015
February 1/2 term: School closes at end of afternoon
on Friday 13 February and re-opens morning of
Monday 23 February.
Easter Holiday: School closes at end of afternoon on
Friday 27 March.
SUMMER TERM 2015
School re-opens on morning of Tuesday 14 April.
Bank Holiday: 4 May 2015
May 1/2 term: School closes at end of afternoon on
Friday 22 May and re-opens on morning of Monday 1
June.
Summer Holiday: School closes at 12.15p.m. on
Wednesday 22 July.
INSET DAYS: Monday 5 January 2015 and Monday
13 April 2015.
CAN YOU DO MATHS UNDER PRESSURE?
This is great fun!
A really simple idea, well executed, this online game asks you
a simple maths question and offers two possible solutions. All
you have to do is click on the right answer to get the next
question and start progressing up the levels.
Get a question wrong, and its game over.
But, to make matters more “interesting,” you only have a finite
amount of time to answer each question and a repetitive (and
slightly annoying) sound track plays, ramping up the pressure.
As the levels get harder, it encourages pupils to develop strategies for swift mental arithmetic and
processing – often you don’t need to work out the exact answer, but just which one could be the
answer. The time questions are a great example of this, looking for shortcuts to a solution: that’s being
mathematical – and doing it under pressure, too!
Visit the site (link below), play the game yourself, try it with your friends and family and you could even
share your results with your Maths teacher.
http://games.usvsth3m.com/maths/
The school would like to thank all the advertisers, although John Colet School cannot endorse or accept liability for goods
or services advertised.
The Colet Chronicle
Page 7
2 + 3 x 4 Does it equal 20 or does it equal
14?
We can’t have two answers to one question –
that would cause all sorts of confusion! So,
back in the day, mathematicians got together
and agreed to BODMAS – the order in which
we do operations.
The B is for brackets – we do them first. The O
is the confusing one, it stands for “Order”
which means squared, or cubed or to the
power 7 etc. 52 is an example of an order, and
means 5 squared, or 5×5 = 25. Some people
use the term Indices instead of Order and so
talk of BIDMAS, not BODMAS, but it all means
the same.
As we are talking Maths, you have probably
guessed that the other letters stand for
D – Division
M – Multiply
A – Addition
S – Subtraction
So to continue with our question from above:
2 + 3 x 4 there are no brackets, orders or
divisions, so the first thing we do is multiply
2 + 3 x 4 becomes …
answer is 14.
2 + 12. So the correct
Remember – BODMAS tells us the order in
which we do a sum.
So now you know all about BODMAS, here is
a little puzzle for you to try. Can you arrange
all of the digits from 1 to 9 in each of the
empty boxes below? You can only use each
number once.
Remember the rules of BODMAS!
If you have a business or an event you would like to
advertise in the John Colet Newsletter we would be
delighted to help. We ask for a small fee of £5.00 per
advertisement for each month which is paid into the John
Colet School Fund and used to help purchase much
needed equipment for the school. If you are interested in
this facility please contact the school office on
01296 623348 or E Mail: admin@john colet.co.uk