Friday 19th November 2021
This week we have had our year 12 and 13 students sitting internal practice exam papers for Health and Social Care units, in preparation for external exams in January. Many papers have already been marked and reviewed in class with students. Some performances were exceptional and significantly above the mark boundary to achieve Distinction grades. We are incredibly proud of how well all the students have prepared and have acted on the advice of our staff to develop high quality answers. This should give our students real confidence ready for the January papers.
I am also incredibly proud to talk to staff about improvements Year 12 students have made in their second data capture this month. Many students that were supported on action plans to improve their performance after data capture 1 have shown that development in these test papers, so there is clearly an impact in the work they have been focusing on as they continue to make the transition from GCSE to Level 3 courses. Some of this support has come from direct interventions from our Learning Mentor, who is always available to advise any students in the Study Centre where she is based.
Year 13 Mock Exams will take place from Monday 29th November to Friday 3rd December, and this information and timetable has been shared with students and parents. If you need any further information please speak to our exams officer, Lisa lucas at exams@s6c.mlp.college. A copy of these timetables can be found in the student Information Classroom. Talking to many Year 13 students this week, it is clear that nerves are increasing about sitting these papers. My advice to them is that they must see this as a learning opportunity to experience an exam series, and use the time wisely now to prepare as best as they can. That way their strengths and areas for improvement will be more accurate to identify and action.
We have our second Open Evening next Tuesday and we are very pleased that tickets have all sold out, with a lot of interest across the community. If this affects you and you have missed the chance to attend for younger siblings, we are booking family tours for December and January dates. Please get in touch with our admissions team on admissions@s6c.mlp.college and we will accommodate you.
I hope you have a great weekend
Best wishes
Louise
Student Union
Lily Jackson & Thomas Booth on behalf of the Student Union:
Hello everyone! Every year the college takes up the festive spirit and selects a charity operating locally to support.
This year we have selected to support ‘The Pantry’ a food bank type charity which is open to anyone who goes through the day hungry, offering both cooked and pre-packaged food. The Student Union would be very grateful if students could bring in dried/ tinned or packaged foods to go into the box for the Salisbury Pantry, located at Reception, as they are urgently in need of donations.
We are keen to help our community by supporting the Salisbury Pantry – they really need these items right now so please bring in donations as soon as possible. It is an extremely worthy cause which would massively benefit from our food donations whilst aligning with our pledge to make sure that every member of the S6C community is valued, respected and heard.
Our donations will allow members to be able to choose from a selection of food, meaning that local vulnerable people, who are struggling to pay bills, still have choice, something many take for granted. The Pantry are asking for:
- Canned and tinned foods (baked beans, soup etc.)
- Foods with long shelf lives (non-perishables, UHT milk etc.)
- Foods which can be served as large helpings (pasta, rice etc)
S6C/ WSE TeachMeet
S6C and Wyvern St Edmund’s are proud to host our first ever joint TeachMeet for the teachers of Salisbury on Thursday 25th November!
Our theme is, ‘Innovation In The Classroom’, so we are welcoming presentations from teachers which will inspire and challenge us. There are two presentation options:
- 7 minute presentation
- 2 minute micro presentation
We would like to encourage you as a parent to attend as an audience member if you are in the teaching profession, the evening will be suitable for teachers from any of the teaching phases.
Some of the presentations already confirmed include:
- Literacy in Maths
- Disruption in Art
- Promoting a Gameful Mindset
- Adapting to Technology
- And many more!
We are delighted to have the highly acclaimed Adam Boxer and Mary Myatt presenting. Mary is an educational adviser, writer and speaker and is passionate about curriculum design. Adam is a highly sought after teacher trainer with a passion for evidence based practice and is heavily involved with researchEd.
There will be a free raffle at the end of the evening with a variety of prizes, and refreshments will be available.
For more details to book a ticket:
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/salisbury-teachmeet-2021-tickets-186589031817
Protect Student Choice
Katheryn Clarkson, Business Manager
Monday 15th November was a big day for Education and for the #ProtectStudentChoice campaign as the Skills Bill was debated in the Commons for the first time. It was the first opportunity the new ministerial team had to officially chart a different course on BTEC/CTECs and hopefully the momentum generated by the campaign will persuade them to take it.
So why is this important and why should we be asking for your support to back the campaign?
Nationally a high proportion of students in post 16 study course combinations of vocational BTEC/CTEC courses as a programme either alongside or instead of sitting A Levels. These courses provide a fantastic stepping stone to university pathways, apprenticeships or employment. At S6C many of our alumni have gone on to get first class honours degrees in many specialist areas including audiology and computer programming after taking a vocational route of BTEC/CTEC courses.
The Government has stalled on the plans to remove these larger BTEC/CTEC qualifications for now, as they continue to develop an alternative pathway of T levels which will reduce the breadth of choices available. We believe that removing these Level 3 BTEC/CTEC courses is taking away student choice and we strongly believe they provide an outstanding curriculum alongside A Level courses. If you want to support this campaign, the link can be found here.
https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/592642
Creative Media – working with the local community
Rich Eno, Faculty Lead for Creative
Year 13 students on the BTEC Creative Media Practice Diploma have recently been working with local independent businesses in Salisbury on a new unit designed to produce promotional videos and social media content.
The class have been allocated three separate businesses to work with: Maul’s Wine And Cheese Bar, The Vintage Corner and The Rocketship Bookshop.
Each group has had to deliver professional pitches to each business owner on what they can produce for the company and then work in collaboration with the owner on producing a promotional video, social media posts as well as a 360 degree virtual tour of each company location.
Teacher and Faculty Leader Richard Eno said, “These students have had limited real world experience because of COVID so I felt obligated to make sure they finish college with some professional work experience. They have had to pitch to real business owners in a professional environment and for some of them this was incredibly intimidating. But I knew they’d pull this off because I truly believe in them and have been training them for 12 month. I’m especially proud of one individual who has struggled with confidence and social anxiety throughout his first year with us and here he is now in the city centre delivering a professional business pitch in a real world professional environment.”
The BTEC Creative Media Practice Diploma course is a two year course where students spend their first year learning a variety of media related techniques and then focus on a major project in their second year. There are no exams but there is a huge amount of work which they have to produce. Richard Eno is a huge fan of the course for the following reasons, “The course is very industry focused and allows for a holistic approach to delivery and assessment. It means that students are able to develop a huge range of practical and technical skills which they can apply to a variety of situations within the creative industries and beyond”.
Baking Club
Dr Sally Tye, Faculty Lead for Humanities
This week we have been making Coffee Cake – a wonderful sweet treat. Below are some photos of Maddy Wood’s coffee cake creation.
