Friday 21st May 2021
Year 13 students have now finished their final assessments and are all busy in class with teachers adding the final touches to prepare for their next stage in life, whether that’s university, an apprenticeship or employment. This will continue in the run up to the half term holiday when year 13 students will be leaving us, on Friday 28th May.
Teachers are very busy collaborating and moderating work both internally and externally as we prepare to start reporting TAG grades in the later half of June. Further moderation will take place across the trust next week to ensure consistency and fairness in the process. If you’d like to know more detail please contact our Exams Officer, Lisa Lucas via office@salisbury6c.ac.uk
The weather may be poor at present and the forecast not great, but we can now meet socially in small groups and our students have enjoyed not having to wear masks in classes which has allowed lessons to feel more like they did before Covid and college life is getting back to normal.
Best wishes,
Craig
Assistant Principal
Pastoral – Nicola Miller, Designated Safeguarding Lead and SEND
Congratulations on completing the assessment period and I hope you are enjoying your lessons for your remaining time at S6C. There are many decisions to make now that you are leaving college and for many it will involve choosing where to study next. It is likely that you will want your exam access arrangements to continue wherever you choose to go. Every university will have their own policy on what they will accept as evidence for access arrangements and for many it will involve you being reassessed which is part of the DSA application process.
It is a good idea to look at the student services section of their website and if necessary contact the student services department to see what they recommend. Students that have a special educational need may be entitled to additional support at university. This may include things such as mentoring or help with costs for assistive technology. To find out more about this you should look at the Disabaled Student Allowance (DSA). The requirements and process for applying is on the link below. https://www.gov.uk/disabled-students-allowance-dsa
If you are thinking of starting an apprenticeship you may also need access arrangements for any timed assessments. Any student that would have had extra time in their exams will have access arrangement paperwork. Please check your college email accounts for the access arrangement paperwork that was sent on Wednesday 19th May as this may help with your application for DSA or for your access arrangements at university. I hope that you are looking forward to the next steps in your future careers.
STEM Faculty – Kirsty White, Faculty Lead
Following the end of a tough assessment fortnight, students in Psychology are experiencing elements of Forensic Psychology. A significant number of students are going on to study subjects such as Psychology, Criminology and Sociology at university, and so this will expose them to content they might encounter there (as well as critical thinking and research skills). In lessons this week, students looked at the atavistic form, and the theory that criminals have common physical features such as a large jaw, large ears, a sloping forehead and long arms. Students replicated Lombroso’s ideas using playdough.
Some classes also looked at psychopathy, including the Psychopathy Checklist – a measure of psychopathic traits (students even had a go for themselves!). We also spent some time looking at offender profiling and how Forensic Psychologists might construct a profile to help with a police investigation. This involves identifying features of the crime scene and the likely characteristics of the offender. Students then applied this to a murderer that they chose to research. This is all in preparation for a crime scene investigation on the 28th May for our final lesson!
Creative Faculty – Rich Eno, Faculty Lead for Creative
“What would you like to teach us but isn’t in the Specification?” Asked Richard Eno’s Film Studies students as they came to the end of the formal assessments. “There is a 3-hour black-and-white Russian film called, Hard To Be A God, I’ve always wanted to teach. Shall we do it?”. And so this week they’ll be exploring the renowned masterpiece which some reviewers have called, ‘A slo-mo kaleidoscope of medieval squalor, fear and pandemonium…’ and ‘…profoundly, wilfully destabilising experience…’, and ‘…An epic lurch through the circle of the Inferno Dante left out…’. One thing is certain, it’s going to be emotional.
The Creative Faculty have also appointed their new teacher for the Extended Diploma in Esports which is due to start in September. Nathan David will be joining the team to deliver the exciting new course.