Welcome to this weeks’ newsletter.
This half term is definitely flying by. Tutors have been working with their tutor groups to create Aspire & Achieve boards. I think you would agree that they are impressive. Our core values are built around ASPIRE which are Ambition, Success, Progress, Inspirations, Respect and Equality. These are now integral in our rewards system.
Assemblies in school this week have been supporting Black History month. The theme for this year’s Black History month is “Time for Change: Actions Not Words”. The purpose of this theme is not just to educate people on Black History but to inform and empower people to be true allies in the anti-racism movement.
Some of our Year 7 students have been learning about Shakespeare’s ‘The Tempest’ as part of our ‘Literacy week’ activity. They had a trip to the beach, which I had the pleasure of attending with them, and working with a resident artist. They have been creating artwork, musical responses and physical performances based on The Tempest. This way of learning, we hope, will have helped them enjoy and appreciate the text. They attended a performance of The Tempest at The Globe Theatre in London yesterday which they were buzzing about this morning.
Next week, on Monday, Wednesday and Friday morning, our Year 7 students will be sitting CATs (Cognitive Abilities Tests). No revision or prior learning is required. This involves three tests over the three days. Results from the tests help us to understand learning styles and highlight potential difficulties that students may be facing.
As the college continues to improve, we continue to raise our expectations on our students getting the basics right. Our focus currently is on piercings, rings, make-up, nails and false eyelashes. Can I please remind parents of our uniform policy around these and have attached a link https://iwef.org.uk/carisbrooke-college/uniform/.
Attendance is really important and there have been some assemblies on the impact of student outcomes that can be linked to attendance. Can I remind you on the process to report absence from school – https://iwef.org.uk/carisbrooke-college/attendance/
Year 7 Tutor Evening is taking place next Wednesday. If you haven’t already booked your appointment and would like to, please use this link https://carisbrooke.schoolcloud.co.uk. This appointment will give parents/carers the opportunity to discuss how their child is settling into secondary school life. We are looking forward to meeting our new parents.
As a reminder, half term is approaching, which is w/c 24 October. We have a staff development day on Monday 31 October, meaning we are closed to students (except for those students sitting an exam at The Island VI Form). This is one of our five days that all schools allocate at some point throughout. We will be expecting students to return on time, in full uniform and ready to learn on Tuesday 1 November.
Have a lovely weekend.