Weekly Information - Friday 23rd February 2024

Hot Chocolate with the Head

Friday 23rd Feb 2024

It’s great to be back after half-term and to see lots of enthusiasm and learning across the school. Mrs Cochrane met with five deserving pupils this morning to enjoy a chat and of course a delicious hot chocolate.

First to tell the group about their achievement was Fatima (Y7) who has become our 1^st triple Accelerated Reader Word Millionaire this year. Fatima shared with the group her love for books and is currently reading Legendary which takes the characters on thrilling adventures; her favourite genre. Mrs Cochrane was really proud of Fatima’s achievements and wishes her passion for reading continues into the future.

Maria (Y10) was next to tell the group about being selected to cook in The Rotary Club district final. Maria cooked a delicious menu including beef wellington and dauphinoise potatoes for main, and a trio of choux buns with chocolate orange sauce for dessert. Maria worked extremely well under pressure and produced a spectacular dish. Mrs Cochrane was excited to hear about the next round of cluster finals which takes place in Loughborough!

Erica (Y9) and Juppnie (Y8) were congratulated on being selected for taking part in our first United Kingdom Linguistics Olympiad which saw the group take on several language challenges against other schools. Working as a team, they had to de-code certain languages, use problem solving skills and find patterns within the languages to help give them the answers. Erica and Juppnie explained how they enjoyed the challenge and feel like they have a natural flair for languages. What a fantastic achievement, well done to all those involved.

Finally, it was a pleasure to speak to Amelie (Y9) who has been accepted onto Staffordshire County Netball Team. It was clear to see that Amelie had a passion for netball and is so excited to be involved in upcoming tournaments playing Goal Defence. Amelie explained that she trains 2 hours every Sunday which shows her dedication and perseverance, which is one of our core values. We wish Amelie all the success as a budding netball player.

If you’d like to nominate a student who has demonstrated one of our core values or has gone above and beyond at home or in school, please contact [email protected].

We are pleased to release the latest installment in our revision series, Geog to Success. Students should follow the link on Go4Schools and watch this weeks video about Coastal Management strategies. Students will then be completing a Geog Your Memory starter in class, followed by an exam question homework. If there are any issues then students should contact their class teacher. 

The following students celebrated their achievements with Mrs Cochrane this week, congratulations to them all! 

Wellbeing Week

As part of Children’s Mental Health Week, Miss Senior organised a number of activities to raise awareness of the importance of speaking about mental health and wellbeing.

Along with sessions in registrations around the theme of ‘Express Yourself’, the students have had the opportunity to attend a self-defence class which promotes teamwork and confidence building. The session was led by an external coach who uses Boxing to help build resilience and promote wellbeing.  The students got the chance to work in pairs to try and retrieve pegs from each other and then worked up to use the boxing gloves and pads. Thank you to the PE Staff for getting involved too. It was great to see the energy and excitement amongst the students.

The next event that took place was a Tea & Talk in the hall which included a bake sale and mindful activities on table for the students to complete. The event was a huge success and £78 was raised from the sale of cakes for Place2be, a charity dedicated to improving children’s mental health.

Thank you to all those involved. If students or parents would like to speak to anyone regarding Mental Health support, please speak to your child’s Head of Year or visit the Wellbeing page on the School website.

On Wednesday 21^st February Danny Mondesir, Managing Director and founder of Street Whyze Project, was invited back to talk to 240 Year 9 students to raise the awareness of youth violence, knife crime and community intervention.

Street Whyze Project was founded in December 2021 to campaign against knife crime in Burton-on-Trent and districts within the Midlands, which has grown into Danny using his real-life experiences to project a powerful message to young people in several sectors. His positive and aspirational approach was tailored to the sensitivity of the age group meaning the students were fully engaged throughout the session.

Danny’s insightful presentation highlighted several topics including prison, why people carry a knife, what young people can do to better themselves and ended with a thought-provoking video, based on a real-life stabbing in a school setting. The video really captivated the students and it was clear to see that they understood the message Danny was conveying.

Edward, a Year 9 Head Student said ‘"The session with Danny was really good. He was able to prove his point about the dangers and consequences of knife crime. He did this in a way that was relatable and allowed us to understand the importance of making good choices." 

As part of the presentation Danny went into depth about the importance of having aspirations, achieving goals, making wise decisions, understanding consequences and showing courage and integrity- which is one of John Taylor’s core values.

We’d like to thank Danny for his invaluable session and can’t recommend him enough for delivering such a compelling presentation. We encourage all Year 9 parents to talk to your children about the presentation and the learnings they took from it.

To find out more about Street Whyze Project visit  www.streetwhyzeproject.wixsite.com

Good morning,

Please see attached the letter that was emailed to parents before half term regarding the compulsory fieldwork element of your son/daughter’s Geography A-Level course. This is known as the Non-Examined Assessment (NEA) and is worth 20% of the overall A-Level grade. This aspect of the course will be a focus in our Geography lessons after the Easter holidays. As a school we have a duty to ensure that all of our students have taken part in a 4-day fieldwork experience at some point during their Y12 or Y13 studies. This is a compulsory element of the Geography A-Level as it allows students to practice the skills and to collect the necessary data for their NEA.

Please read the letter attached regarding all the information in relation to the residential fieldtrip.

Kind regards,

Miss K Barker

Polite request to parents regarding Palmer Close:

Please ensure you are not blocking access to Palmer close at the end of the school day.  The majority of residents who live down there are the elderly and often have carers visiting and at times emergency vehicles need to get through.  We have had reports of situations where parents are collecting their children and blocking the road, restricting access.

Thank you

JTHS

Please read the attached leaflet for more information about Measles and the MMR vaccine.

Tutor2u have produced student workbooks for each topic area, and they are a fantastic resource to support you with your learning in A Level Sociology.

In addition to the course textbook for Year One of this course, I have placed the details of each workbook linked to your Year 12 topic areas on ParentPay.  They are £5.95 each and can be purchased through the school at any time.  I would highly recommend purchasing these workbooks as they will be very useful for organising your revision notes and give useful tips for answering the different types of exam questions.

Thanks,

Miss Broderick

As you are likely aware, the UCAT is a crucial component of the medical school admissions process, and half the battle is knowing where to start.

We want to support you and your students the best we can through this process, which is why I strongly recommend attending the upcoming virtual UCAT Conference on Sunday 3rd March, 11am - 2pm. These conferences are led by expert Chief Mentors who specialise in UCAT exam preparation. During the conference, we'll equip you with everything you need to approach the exam with confidence.

Sign up for our FREE UCAT conference on Sunday 3rd March here:
https://airtable.com/apppUzIPHCCss5TVr/shrFhrt8Q6y9uc4YV

During this session, we will cover:
- An Introduction to UCAT
- Different sections of the UCAT: Example questions and how to answer them
- Common mistakes and pitfalls
- Ways of improving/practising speed reading and decision making elements
- When to book in your UCAT exams

To find out more about the UCAT exam, please visit our complete UCAT guide here:
https://medicmentor.org/complete-guide-to-ucat/ for more information.

Among the most crucial conferences we offer are the Get Into Medicine and Get Into Dentistry events, ideal for students aspiring to pursue careers in medicine or dentistry.

If you believe there are more students who haven't yet taken advantage of the free virtual LIVE Get Into conferences, I kindly ask you to share the details with them. Simply forward the following information to your students and colleagues:

For aspiring Doctors: FREE LIVE VIRTUAL Get Into Medicine conference dates:
Sunday 25th February, 9:30am - 3:30pm
Saturday 2nd March, 9:30am - 3:30pm
Sunday 3rd March, 9:30am - 3:30pm

For aspiring Dentists: FREE LIVE VIRTUAL Get Into Dentistry conference dates:
Saturday 24th February, 9:30am - 3:30pm

Students and parents can register for free at this link:
Medicine: https://medicmentor.org/get-into-medicine-university-conference/
Dentistry: https://dental-mentor.org/get-into-dentistry-university-conference/

All aspiring doctors and dentists in years 10-12 / S3-S5 / NI11-13 are invited to register.

These conferences offer tailored advice for medicine and dentistry, covering a range of crucial topics including:
- Tactically choosing universities
- Personal statements
- UCAT
- Medical & Dental school interview skills
- Medical Leadership Programmes
- Awards Programmes
- Extracurricular activities
- Work experience
- Building a CV
- Applying for scholarships

Medical Registration Link: https://airtable.com/appgXnyzN5ZD9Iwk6/shry7MZYtt3MGPjvO
Dental Registration Link: https://airtable.com/appgXnyzN5ZD9Iwk6/shrBuiR7SBAcC19kE

The 16–19 Discretinary 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 £27,000 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