Yr 13 Newsletter 28.04.20
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Calculated Grades and Year 13 Reports
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Student Communication
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Students who have applied to University
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Preparing for University
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Support for students: Apprenticeships
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Year 13 Ball
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Road Safety Online Resources for Covid 19 Time
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Speakers for Schools- Virtual Talks programme for the week commencing 27th April.
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Covid-19: Advice and support
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Wellbeing Support Booklet
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NSPCC Guide for Parents
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Letters to the Community
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Ramadan
Calculated Grades:
Students will have grades on their minds. As a school, we have reviewed the process set out for us by Ofqual, the government organisation tasked with co-ordinating the process with schools and exam boards, and teachers are busy reviewing all assessment data for each student. We would kindly request that students and parents do not e-mail teachers about grades, as such correspondence will not factor into the process, in fact, it will detract from the time they need to get on with the job.
Year 13 Reports:
Following the guidance from the Department for Education with regards to awarding qualification grades in 2020, we have made the decision to cancel the publication of the Year 13 reports that were due. This is to avoid confusion to students and parents, as they were written just before the announcement that all exams in 2020 were to be cancelled, and to ensure that we are fully compliant with the guidance about not discussing grades with students or parents.
For further clarity, please see the information that has been published previously from Ofqual below:
Video to students by Ofqual - click here
Letter to students from Ofqual - click here
Students, this week (W/C 27th April) your tutors will be sending you a link to a Student Survey to complete. This will be set on Go4Schools as a 5-10 minute task. It is really important that you complete this survey by 4pm on Thursday 30th April. Please keep checking your school emails regularly as they are being used by tutors, teachers and Heads of Year/Pastoral staff to make contact with you.
Parents, we request that at this time you ensure your son/daughter logs on to their school emails, checks Go4Schools and encourage them to reply to staff.
The following advice has been taken from UCAS. UCAS is the organisation that coordinates all university applications in the UK.
The Government has asked universities and colleges across the UK to stop making unconditional offers or amending existing offers until 4 May. This is because they’re worried that students feel pressured to accept these offers over others that they might be better suited to.
Our advice to students who have received an unconditional offer is always to consider whether this is the right provider and course for them before they make any decision.
During this time, it’s important to remember that places are not decided on grades alone. Information in students' personal statements and references are part of the decision-making process along with their interview, portfolio, audition, and any other information that’s relevant to their potential to succeed on an undergraduate course.
Deadlines to reply to offers:
The Government has confirmed that results for A levels in the UK will be released on Thursday 13 August.
To support students, UCAS will be giving all students more time to make decisions on their offers:
- If students receive their last decision on or before 4 June 2020, their reply date is 18 June 2020 (except if they're using Extra to find a place).
- If students receive their last decision on or before 13 July 2020, their reply date is 20 July 2020 (including Extra choices)
UCAS Question and Answers:
UCAS has provided the answers to students' queries for everyone to access. Please click here to access the web page.
UCAS Buddy Service:
UCAS also provides a 'buddy' service. Students are able to chat online with current students about life at university, how best to prepare for a course, and answer any other questions specific to the university that they have applied to. We would advise students to use this service to ask about how to prepare for their first year so that they can spend their time productively during the lockdown. Please remind them not to share any personal details with their chosen 'buddy' and to keep all communication through UCAS. To access this service, please visit https://www.ucas.com/chat-to-students
MOOCS (free online courses)
Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) are free online courses that absolutely anyone can do. Students can search for MOOCs using their Unifrog accounts or by loading www.futurelearn.com.
We know the recent news about final exams may have left some of our students uncertain about their transition into university. The Preparing for University MOOC is designed to ease any uncertainties by equipping our students with the skills for university learning before they get there. It's relevant for anyone moving from level 3 study to university, whichever university they're planning to go to. This course lasts for six weeks and requires a 3 hour a week commitment.
https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/preparing-for-uni
Skills Toolkit
The Government also recognises the importance of developing employability skills. 82% of all job vacancies require digital skills. These are still relevant to our students who are applying to University. It is very likely that they will be applying for part-time employment, internships, or building an online presence for the future.
There are courses that will give students an introduction to getting confident online to more advanced digital skills for use in the workplace. These are all short courses that can be completed at home, in your own time, at your own pace.
Please visit the link below to view the courses available.
https://nationalcareers.service.gov.uk/find-a-course/the-skills-toolkit
Skills Toolkit:
The Government also recognises the importance of developing employability skills. 82% of all job vacancies require digital skills. These are still relevant to our students who are applying to University. It is very likely that they will be applying for part-time employment, internships, or building an online presence for the future.
There are courses that will give students an introduction to getting confident online to more advanced digital skills for use in the workplace. These are all short courses that can be completed at home, in your own time, at your own pace.
Please visit the link below to view the courses available.
https://nationalcareers.service.gov.uk/find-a-course/the-skills-toolkit
Other sources of support:
- National Apprenticeships website at www.apprenticeships.org.uk
- Student Guides to Apprenticeships 2020 https://amazingapprenticeships.com
- Lots of apprenticeships are advertised at commercial job sites such as www.indeed.co.uk
- Also Check out www.findapprenticeships.co.uk
- To check distance from home to a work location via www.careermap.co.uk
- The Apprenticeships Guide can be found at http://www.apprenticeshipguide.co.uk
Due to the amount of uncertainly around public gatherings in the future, we have had to make the difficult decision to cancel the Sixth Form Ball that was due to take place in July. The Sixth Form team will review how we celebrate the end of an era with Year 13 when there is further clarity about public/mass gatherings in the future.
Road safety education is particularly important for those starting their driving life and the passengers who will be traveling with them. Year 12 & 13 were all able to receive a Road Safety tutorial from Kevin Cox (Road Safety Officer from Staffordshire County Council) earlier in the year. We would normally follow up on the session with further support and advice. As face to face sessions are unable to take place, Kevin has asked me to share with you the following resources. As Year 12s & 13s will have reduced experience of driving due to the current restrictions, I would encourage all students to complete the FirstCar Academy. For parents, there is a valuable resource to support you when you are mentoring new drivers.
- The Honest Truth is a national road safety campaign delivered through collaboration with the emergency services, road safety organisations and driving instructors across the UK. Our mission is to deliver no-nonsense, straight-talking road safety education, hence "The Honest Truth". Access the site here
- FirstCar Academy is a free online course consisting of 14 short video-based modules aimed at making you a smarter driver. Taking around 60 minutes, everyone who completes it will automatically be entered into a monthly prize draw to win £100 worth of Amazon vouchers. Access the site here
- The most important information for mentors of new drivers, all in one place. Mentoring New Drivers provides information for parents, grandparents, siblings, friends or guardians, who want to support a young driver through their time learning to drive. Plus lots of other useful information for those commencing their deriving life. Access the site here
Please be aware that the Honest Truth session can be quite emotional for some students depending on their personal experiences of this topic. Therefore, we would advise parents to access the resources prior to sharing them with students.
The complete schedule for students is here. Our students will be able to hear from today’s leading figures, such as:
Tuesday 28th April, 10am: Marco Bertozzi, Vice President for Europe, Spotify
Marco will be interviewed by SFS and answer questions submitted by students on topics ranging from creating your CV, getting your foot in the door for work experience or a job, developing your personal brand and practical tips on how to get started with preparing your social channels for career success.
Thursday 30th April, 10am: Penguin Talks in Collaboration with SFS - How to boss your mood
Chloe Brotheridge (Clinical Hypnotherapist and author of The Anxiety Solution) and Sara Milne Rowe (Performance Coach, founder of Coaching Impact and author of The SHED Method)
Chloe and Sara will kick-off the Virtual Penguin Talks series by sharing their expertise and practical tips for managing anxiety and taking control of your mood during these uncertain times. Students will have the opportunity to ask questions and receive a free audiobook download of The Anxiety Solution and The SHED Method.
No logins are required and all attendees can stream the talks without downloading Microsoft Teams.
Links should be opened in a browser that is not Internet Explorer. Students can view by clicking WATCH TALK LIVE HERE and then clicking ‘Watch on web instead’ and sign in anonymously. The speakers will appear at the set times e.g. 10am and 2pm.
Please see below for some useful links from DWP contacts, some you may already have seen some of them, but just in case I hope you don’t mind me sharing them with you, particularly the bottom link from Young Minds with advice for Young people about managing their own wellbeing at this time.
- Covid-19 advice and tips for healthy relationships from Relate
- Advice on how to handle arguments from Relate
- A reminder of the resources from OnePlusOne (see it differently videos and click relationships pages in particular)
- For sector-related information and tips for professionals: OnePlusOne.org.uk
- For relationship support and to use our forums: ClickRelationships.org
- Facebook: ClickRelationshipsUK
- Twitter: OnePlusOne_
- Social distancing and self-isolation advice from Young Minds (for young people and parents of teenagers).
Action for Children have shared a Wellbeing Support booklet to help children and young people during the Coronavirus outbreak.
Staffordshire Safeguarding Children's Board have shared with us a guide from the NSPCC which includes support with talking to your child about Coronavirus to reliveing stress and supporting mental health.
There is a scheme being run in conjunction with the Barton Volunteer Network, asking children to write a letter to a local isolated person to brighten their day. If you would like to take part, it would be great to get some more letters out! Please use the following guidelines.
- Just address to “friend” in the 1st instance.
- Consider including a return name and address in case they would like to contact you in return. You should use the school address for this purpose which we have added below
- Post into the labelled box located in the porch of the Catholic Church in Wales Lane.
IMPORTANT—Please post your letter as part of your daily exercise or essential journey and while obeying social distancing and hand hygiene
School address:
John Taylor High School,
Dunstall Road,
Barton under Needwood,
Burton Upon Trent.
DE13 8AZ
The Islamic holy month of Ramadan began last Thursday night.
Ramadan is a very important time in the Islamic calendar, and Muslims all over the world will be preparing to take part.
This year's Ramadan will be a bit different, as the coronavirus outbreak means that many people will not be able to visit friends and family, or their local mosque. We hope that this time brings opportunities for our Islamic community to engage with each other in different ways and we wish you a blessed time of fasting and prayer.
Ramadan Mubarak.