Friday 10 February 2023
This week we have been taking part in National Apprenticeship Week. Students and parents were invited to attend a virtual broadcast of an Apprenticeship Showcase held by the Swindon and Wiltshire Careers Hub and Amazing Apprenticeships provided a series of short films covering 12 school subjects and the many apprenticeship roles they link with. Our students have been accessing and discussing these films in their lessons.
https://amazingapprenticeships.com/think-apprenticeships-films/
https://amazingapprenticeships.com/resource/school-subject-posters/
Our students continue to work hard in their studies, both at S6C and beyond the classroom, and we are focusing on attendance and punctuality to help our students understand that being on time is also an important part of their college experience. We know that being late is sometimes unavoidable but we would like our students to understand how being prompt shows respect and instils discipline and we feel it is a life skill that can be of huge benefit. Please encourage your young people to plan ahead, set their alarms and take an earlier bus so we can emphasise the message.
Dates for your diary: half term runs from Monday 13 to Friday 17 February; Year 13 mock exams take place in the week commencing 27 February; parents coffee morning on Friday 10 March.
Please have a restful half term holiday and I look forward to seeing our students on Monday 20 February.
Regards
Ben
MLP Parent Survey
Dear Parents and Carers
You will have been asked to complete the parent survey which has been issued to parents in all ten of our academies this month. A similar survey has been issued to staff and pupils. This is an essential part of our work as Trustees of Magna Learning Partnership. The results of the survey will help us determine where the strengths and the areas for improvement are in all our academies so, whilst it may seem a bit of a cliché, your views really are important to us. We would like as many parents as possible to complete the survey, which closes on 10 February (at the half term break). The link to complete it for your child’s academy can be found here:
MLP Parent Survey – January 2023
We will ensure that we provide you with feedback from the surveys before the Easter break.
Thank you for your support.
Neil Owen
Chair of Trustees
WANTED – Parent Governors to join our Governance Committee
Salisbury Sixth Form is looking for a parent governor to join its Academy Governance Committee. The Committee’s role is to provide focused governance for the college at a local level. It does this by supporting, challenging and encouraging in two principal areas: vision, ethos and strategic direction and educational performance. Your role will be to work with the other governors, using your own professional or community expertise, to benefit the school and enhance the experience and opportunities for our pupils.
If you are interested, please contact rjackson@magnalearningpartnership.org.uk for further information and an application form.
Kind regards
Ben Hillier
Head of College
Trip to Tate Modern
Sophie Bellars – Teacher of Fine Art and Photography
Year 13 students visited Tate Modern on Wednesday. It was a great opportunity to engage with a huge array of artworks and to take photographs that could be used in exam preparation. The classes recently completed a major part of their A Level studies and handed their Personal Investigations in for assessment. We will be looking forward to exhibiting their work in the summer.
Art Exhibition
Sophie Bellars – Teacher of Fine Art and Photography
Year 12 students are exhibiting their work at the Young Gallery as part of the Salisbury Schools Exhibition, with a private view on 10 February from 6.00pm. The work will be available to view over the next two weeks at the Young Gallery Salisbury, Market Place, Salisbury, SP1 1BL.
Football Team Update
Luke Muchmore – Teacher of Sport
The college football team played a well-contested fixture vs Bishops this week and drew 2-2. The S6C goals came from Alex Crowe and Dan Hassan-Zadeh. Player of the match went to centre-back Joe Gainey! We also debuted our new football shirts sponsored by Edwards Ford in Salisbury.
SPITFIRES BEGIN SPRING SEASON IN FINE FORM
Nathan David – Teacher of Esports
Our Salisbury Spitfires Esports teams came firing out the blocks in 2023 with some strong displays. Our newly-founded League of Legends roster started their Division 2 campaign in imperious form, comfortably beating Guildford College in rapid fashion. Spitfires Rocket League was up next, both continuing their good form with 3-0 victories. RL2 are looking for another mid-table finish in Division 1 with RL1 flexing their muscles in the National Division. RL1 are pitting themselves against the best in the UK and Ireland, with this match being played ‘across the pond’ against North West Regional College from the Republic of Ireland. The evening finished in a humbling fashion for our Overwatch team with a 0-3 loss vs close geographical neighbours Andover College. We now take an immediate competitive break for the Nations ‘half terms’ and we’ll be back in March.
Fine Art and Photography
Sophie Bellars – Teacher of Fine Art and Photography
Year 13 Fine Art and Photography students have started their externally set assignment. They now have 13 weeks (including holidays) to complete a wide range of experiments and development of ideas that will lead towards their 15 hour exam. The dates are:
PHOTOGRAPHY
19 April, 20 April, 24 April
FINE ART
25 April, 26 April, 27 April
Photography
Craig Chambers – Assistant Head
Over the next few weeks, year 12 photography students will be looking at analogue black and white film photography and we would like to show a variety of film cameras to them. Please can we appeal to you to donate any old film cameras you might still have to this cause?
Life Skills
Rebecca Anderson – Pastoral Lead
In Life Skills Year 12 and Year 13 are moving on to the next section of their pathways. Year 12 will be looking at Community and Citizenship with discussion on topics including British values, radicalisation, politics and government, and the influence of Influencers. Year 13 will be Looking Ahead with a number of sessions on managing and planning personal finance; how to support yourself or those around you with issues such as mental health, domestic violence and bereavement, when you have less pastoral support available; and what to look out for when getting your own place (and at what point young adults should consider paying rent at home!) As ever, if you’d like to know more about the information and resources we share with our young people, or how we can support them, please do get in touch with Rebecca Anderson, Pastoral Lead.
Aspire to Excellence
Rebecca Anderson – Pastoral Lead
Don’t forget our S6C Aspire to Excellence programme, which is open to all. We have identified opportunities which are free or under £10 to boost applications to university, employment and apprenticeships. Everyone should be doing something in the programme so please encourage your young person to talk to their tutor about what they would like to do.
Careers
Rebecca Anderson – Pastoral Lead
A reminder that we can arrange additional careers appointments with our external careers advisor as well as with a range of staff. Any student needing to do an interview for apprenticeship, employment or university can come and see Rebecca to arrange some guidance and practice. And any student needing advice on volunteering, work experience, or wider engagement, to prepare for strong applications, should talk to their teachers, tutor or Rebecca as soon as they know what area they may be interested in.
