Weekly information - Thursday 20th January 2022

I am often told by the bus drivers that our students are a pleasure to transport to and from school. However, there have been a few behaviours creeping onto the buses in recent weeks that need to be stopped. It is essential that our students conduct themselves in an exemplary manner on the buses. Under no circumstances should the conduct of our students distract the drivers from their difficult job. We would remind students that the following is important for bus transport:

• Remain seated, where possible, during the journey.
• Litter must not be left on the bus.
• Respect the bus, the driver and each other.
• Passes/tickets must be presented at the start of each journey.
• Act with integrity and tell a teacher if you have any concerns about the conduct of others on the bus.

If our students do not meet these minimum expectations, the school will act to address this. In the first instance I will speak to the students for minor issues. I will contact parents if there are more significant concerns. Sanctions can include short or longer-term removal of access to the transport for persistent issues, seating plans on certain routes or, as a last resort, permanent bans on the transport. This will always be discussed with County Council School Transport as they are the organisation through which bus contracts are arranged.

Kindness, respect and integrity are three of our core values that are essential for our students to demonstrate when taking school transport. I thank you in advance for your support with this.

James Twynham

Deputy Headteacher

We would like to remind parents that the properties adjacent to school are private property and should not be used as drop-off or pick-up points. We would also like to ask that parents do not use the front of school as a turning point and students should use the side gates to access the school. Parents may arrange to drop their child directly on school site, but this must be with the specific agreement of a member of the Leadership Team. The school and surrounding roads are extremely busy at the start and end of the day and your co-operation with this will be very much appreciated.

During the darker evenings, many sports fixtures are taking place during the school day. We are unable to allow parents onto the school site during the day due to our safeguarding requirements, and so you will not be able to watch during these fixtures. Once they start to take place after the students have left the site, you will be allowed onsite after 4pm to watch. This is usually after February half term. Thank you for your understanding.

Please be advised that Year 7 Parents Evening is due to be held on Tuesday 1st March 2022. It will be held remotely using a system called Schoolcloud.

Full instructions for how to book appointments and how to attend the video calls on the night will be sent out in due course.

Due to half term falling just before the Parents Evening, booking will open slightly earlier than normal on Thursday 10th February at 6pm and close on Thursday 17th February at 6pm.

A reminder that Year 10 Parents Evening has been re-scheduled to Thursday February 10th. Booking will open on Wednesday 2nd February at 6pm and close on Wednesday 9th February at 6pm. Please could we remind parents that only one parent should book appointments, there is a facility to add an additional guest to bookings if needed.

For those students currently involved with the D of E scheme, there is the opportunity to book an appointment with Mr Simmons on a first come first served basis.

Instructions for how to book and how to attend video calls will be sent out next week.

On Wednesday 16^th February we will be holding Year 13 Parents’ Evening. This will be a virtual event with all appointments taking place via video call. We will be using an electronic system called ‘SchoolCloud’.

Appointments will be set at 7 minutes and will finish when this time has elapsed. This will sit in a time slot of 8 minutes which is designed to allow teachers to quickly prepare for their next appointment. If you feel that you need a longer discussion with either the sixth form team or a subject teacher, this should be arranged by contacting school directly. The 7-minute slot will give enough time for a brief discussion around progress for all subjects. Video calls will automatically end at 7 minutes, this is part of the system and please do not think that the teacher has ended it abruptly if this happens, they have no control over this. Please ensure that you have logged in at least 10 minutes prior to your first appointment to take into account the time required to check sound and your camera. You will also need to ensure that you have a good WiFi connection to avoid any technical issues.

Please use the e-mail address that you have provided to school, otherwise the system will not recognise you when you login. Instructions on how to use the system are included on the following links:

Parent guide to booking appointments

Parent guide to video appointments

The system will be open for parental bookings on Friday 21^st January at 6pm until Sunday 13^th February at 6pm.

Whilst we do not envisage you having any problems making appointments, if you do experience difficulties please contact the sixth form team on the following email. If after reading the guide to video calls you believe this may be problematic, you may also use this email: [email protected]

If you wish to report an absence due to illness, please ring the dedicated absence line on 01283 890772. 

If you wish to inform us of a Planned Absence (medical appointments, driving lessons, driving tests etc), please click the link below and complete the form. Please upload evidence of all appointments.

John Taylor High School (schoolzineplus.co.uk)

Thank you

The Sixth Form Team

The 16–19 Bursary Fund is a government-provided, means-tested fund available to support students who have difficulty in meeting costs relating to their studies. To qualify, you must be under 19 years of age on 31st August in the academic year in which you start your programme of study, and you will be expected to provide evidence of personal and/or financial hardship. Each case will be assessed individually, however, usually this would be based on a household income of £25,000 or less, plus any benefits you are in receipt of at this point in time.  

For further information, please see the guidance and application form using the following link John Taylor High School (jths.co.uk).

If you have queries please do not hesitate to get in touch [email protected]

Thank you

The Sixth Form Team

We are excited to announce that the largest free national work experience programme for aspiring medical, dental and veterinary students has returned. This was developed last year in partnership with Birmingham Universities Hospitals Trust and it is free for students from Y10-13 to participate in. We took a small break from the virtual work experience programme in November to convert the LIVE teaching into E-learning courses that students can now complete in their own time. Students have 1 month to complete each session, and once they have completed the programme they will receive a certificate from Medic Mentor and UHB as evidence of their participation. Medical Schools are accepting virtual work experience as an alternative to in-person work experience in light of the pandemic and reduced access to placements.

Participation in the virtual work experience will also provide students (and their parents) with several opportunities to speak to doctors, dentists and vets continuously throughout the academic year. They will be able to do this on Tuesday evenings and most weekends, for free. They can also call the Mentor Helpline number 01530 417 299 from 10am-5pm Mon-Fri if they would like to advice on careers or applying to medical, dental, vet school. Mostly this number is manned by Doctors. Medic Mentor is a non-profit social enterprise and all of our proceeds are reinvested in supporting students to make informed career decisions.

Registering for these programmes could not be easier, all they need to do is complete the free online application form for:
Medicine: https://medicmentor.co.uk/university-hospitals-birmingham-trust-virtual-work-experience/
Dentistry: https://medicmentor.co.uk/dental-live-virtual-work-experience/
Veterinary: https://medicmentor.co.uk/veterinary-virtual-live-work-experience/

The RAF have organised an immersive, virtual event with an opportunity to discover information on key roles, as well as chat live with a specialist RAF recruiter. All from the comfort of your own home.

For more information and to book a free ticket to become part of this fabulous opportunity please see the poster below:

RAF_AAA_flyer_10_Feb_22.pdf

Here at BT, we’re really excited to let you know our apprenticeships are now open for applications to join us in 2022. We’re looking for people who want to make a difference. People who want to pitch in. People who want to go places in their career. 

Join us as an apprentice and you’ll get hands-on experience in one of the world’s leading tech companies. Our apprentices don’t just make coffee; they learn skills and win awards. Maybe you’ll test the infrastructure behind the BT Sport App, like Zain. Or work on automated processes to make them more efficient, like Grace. 

Whatever it is you want to do, we can help you do it. Our apprentices build brilliant careers. And they do amazing things along the way.

Our Apprenticeships

We offer apprenticeships from Level 2 through to Level 6, meaning we really have something for everything. Perhaps you want to get into Customer Service – great, we have an apprenticeship for that. IT & Technical Support? Yes, that too. Software Development, Sales, Electronics, Data Analysis, Network Design...we could go on. You don’t need to be technical either; see what Charlotte has to say about getting into Technology. As long as you meet the entry requirements for the role, we can teach the rest. 

If you want to find out more, the best place to start is our website. And there are always our social channels on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.   You could also listen to what more of our Early Careers employees have to say on the BT Early Careers Podcast on Spotify.