Holmer Green Senior School A Specialist Business and Enterprise School

Transcription

1 Holmer Green Senior School A Specialist Business and Enterprise School NEWSLETTER JULY 2017 Headteacher s Message CALENDAR EVENTS. Friday 21 July school closes for Summer 16 August GCE Results Day 24 August GCSE Results Day 4 & 5 Sept Inset Days Wed 6 Sept School opens for students Yr 7: 8.40am Yrs 8-11: 10.15am Sixth Form: 10.15am in the Lecture Theatre Dear Parents and Carers Welcome to the final newsletter of this academic year as we all look forward to the summer holiday ahead. I do hope you enjoy the articles inside that celebrate the wide range of exciting activities and opportunities in which our students have been involved. In spite of our having been through an intensive examination period for all year groups this term I am delighted to see that so many students have taken full advantage of all the extra-curricular opportunities that staff make available at HGSS. Aside from the many features on our enterprising students as well as the fond farewells paid to our outgoing Year 11s and Year 13s I would like to draw your attention to an article below about seven colleagues who have been recognised for their work by being accredited as Specialist Leaders of Education. This is a significant recognition of the outstanding teaching practice at Holmer Green and the work our staff do to support the education of young people across Buckinghamshire. Whatever you and your family are up to this summer I wish you all a safe yet enjoyable time and look forward to welcoming you all back for the start of the new academic year in September. Have a great holiday Michael Jones Big Bang at Bucks On Tuesday 20 June, six Year 12 students helped out at the Big Bang at Bucks, the students were Toby Myles, Charlie Thorogood, Joe Eales, Jonathan Seamus, Scott Dunsire and Matt Eteen. Over 450 primary school students visited the Big Bang at Bucks that day and the HGSS students engaged with them while building molecules from Molymod, using plastic bottles and small balls of paper to help explain the Bernoulli principle and supporting Science Oxford with building K'Nex cars. It was an extremely hot and very busy day, the students were fantastic ambassadors for both STEM and the school and they will be receiving Learning Ambassador certificates to thank them for their involvement. Charlie Thorogood and Toby Myles were also selected to receive a Schools Physicist of the Year Award from the Open University and the Ogden Trust. Shelley Hancock Science Teacher

2 Year 6 Transition Days We were delighted to welcome a whole host of students from local primary schools due to join us in in the next academic year over the course of two induction days, an induction morning and an induction evening. Students arrived from a range of schools eager to discover their new place of education, sample a variety of lessons including Science, Music, Drama, and MFL, and get to know their new classmates and Form Tutors. Our current Year 7 students were on hand to guide them around the school building and answer questions - the most popular being 'how much homework will I get?' and 'what if I get lost?. After completing their CATs tests the students were able to enjoy their lunch and the sunny weather on the field. A good time was had by all, with many children leaving with the contact details of their new friends keen to keep in touch over the long summer holiday break. A big thank you must go to Mr Coward for organising such a big and important event children is our biggest cohort yet and seeing so many happy students leave at the end of the transition days with big, bright smiles is a testament to the effort that gets put into the days. Thank you also the teachers who took time out of their days to deliver such amazing lessons to the Year 6's and to the LSAs for their encouragement and support during both days. We received so many positive comments about the activities offered that it would be impossible to include them all, however the Harry Potter themed 'potions' lesson was certainly a big hit. A final thank you must go to the Year 7 guides who were well presented, articulate and incredibly helpful and informative to the newcomers, making them feel welcome and excited about the transition to 'big school'. Charlotte Eames Head of Year 7 Lockers Please remind students to empty their locker before leaving school at the end of term. All contents must be taken home or, if not required, put in the rubbish bin. If they have rebooked the same locker for next year they may keep their locker key. If they have not rebooked the same locker for next year they must put the key in the green box in the foyer before leaving school on Friday 21 July. All lockers will be opened and cleaned over the summer holiday and anything found in the lockers not booked for next year will be disposed of. PE Dinner On Thursday 29 June the annual Sports Dinner was hosted at Adams Park. The evening was one that celebrated the success of individual and team achievement of Holmer Green Senior School. The guest speaker was Rossi Eames, manager of Barnet Football club and a great evening was had by both student, staff and parents. District League Winners: Year 11 Netball Team Year 9, 10 and 11 Football Bucks Football County Cup: Year 7, 9 and 10 semi-finalists County Netball Tournament: Year 9/10 semi-finalists District Rounders Tournament: Year 7/8/9 semi-finalists Single Wicket Cricket Winner: Connor Stables Nominees for Sports Person of the Year: Dyelle Diamond, Cara Duggan, Amber Restall, Daisy Kennedy, Carly Johns, Jack Shakespeare and Elliot Britton Sports Person of the Year: Cara Duggan Team of the Year: Year 9 Boys Football Team Outstanding Contribution to PE and Sport: Dan Allington and Rob Ayres Miss K Stratton Second in PE

3 Art Department We are delighted with the turnout at the recent 2017 Art Exhibition. Over 400 people attended our prestigious event and it was visited by students, parents, and the wider community. It was incredibly difficult to choose winners however the following students were awarded prizes- Winnie Vickery- GCSE Photography Naomh Doherty- GCSE Photography Mia Festorazzi-GCSE Art and Design Alicia Dawson- GCSE Art and Design Jack Shakespere- GCSE Art and Design Charlotte Keen- GCSE Art and Design Lauren Holt- A level Photography Alice Holmes- A level Art and Design Abigail Swallow received a special award for excellence and endeavour, which is a new award this year and which commends a student who has gone above and beyond and who has made every day count. Abigail has gained a place at London College of Fashion to study costume design, and she is likely to be one of the top scorers for Art Textiles this year. and dedication leading up to the event. We are extremely proud of ALL the students and want to say thank you to all the art staff for their hard work The Magnificent Seven Seven members of staff from Holmer Green Senior School have been designated as Specialist Leaders of Education, or SLEs. There are currently 8000 SLE s nationwide. SLEs are experienced middle or senior leaders who have at least two year s leadership experience. They must offer an area of expertise from Ofsted s Common Inspection Framework (2016), with their new role affording them the opportunity to utilise this experience through a programme of school-to school support. Each of our new SLE cohort were selected because of their outstanding track record within the area of expertise they are offering. They are Mrs Douglas (Maths), Mr Golding (Behaviour and Attendance), Mrs Hawkins (Special Educational Needs), Mrs Hearne (Leadership), Ms Joynson (Science), Mrs Shannon (Modern Foreign Languages) and Mr Wooller (Teaching and Learning). Over the coming academic year, the SLEs will be deployed to provide school-to-school leadership to colleagues in other schools, further strengthening the reputation of HGSS within the local community. Forgotten Work and Unnamed Kit Please take a few minutes over the holiday to check your child s PE kit and uniform. We are getting more and more lost property that we are unable to return to the owner as it is unnamed. EVERYTHING, whether it is clothing, kit or equipment that is brought into school should be clearly named, not just initialled. Could we also make a plea that you ensure your child checks each morning that they are fully equipped for their day at school. Do they need books, lunch or money, food tech ingredients, homework, PE kit or locker keys? We are unable to leave Reception unmanned to deliver items to students; we cannot continually allow phone calls home and they risk having their phone confiscated if they are seen using it in school. Not to mention how inconvenient it is for you to have to bring things into school. Mrs Purslow and Mrs Graham Reception

4 Music Celebration Dinner The second annual Holmer Green Music Awards took place on Wednesday 12 July The students have worked so hard this year and it was great to see everyone enjoying their evening. The list of winners are: Musicians Musician Best Performance Best Classical Best Pop Best Composer Best KS3 Best KS4 Best KS5 Best Group Break Through Act Special Appreciation Award Most improved musician Singer Drummer Piano Woodwind Classical Guitar Strings Joe Eales Winner Katie Cherry Runner up School Band Emily Bustin Lauren Medway Gemma Mengel Leo Salem Rachel Heffron Emily Mason Carla Werrell Melissa Brodie Katie Cherry Mike Salem Josh McEvoy Joe Eales Sixth Form Musicians George Roscoe Joe Eales Nathan Holt Lauren Joyce Katie Cherry Tom Baldwin George Roscoe Emily Butterworth Carla Werrell Mike Salem Miss Emma Baddeley Head of Music

5 Year 11 Prom This year s Year 11 prom was held in the Carrington Suite at Missenden Abbey which included a wonderful walled garden where students and staff were able to socialise. It was a fairly warm evening and only started to drizzle when it grew dark and by then most of the students were shaking it on down on the dance floor so it didn t spoil the evening for anyone! It is always lovely to see students arrive in their finery, looking smart and gorgeous. The highlight of the arrivals was seeing Maggie Walker and friends arrive on the back of her brother s tractor! The photographer was on hand all evening to take photographs and I hope that many will take advantage of the opportunity to buy a memory of their evening. It looked like everyone enjoyed their evening and students were good natured in receiving their various awards, showing they had a good sense of humour. It was very difficult choosing a Belle of the Ball and Best Dressed Male as all the girls were glamorous and all the boys were smart. However, it was unanimously agreed that Winnie Vickery was Belle of the Ball in a beautiful, classy red gown and Jonathan Kelly was Best Dressed Male in a checked suit that Mr Wooller wouldn t have minded wearing. Thank you to all the staff and members of the PTA who attended. A fantastic evening and our students did us proud! Mrs J Scately Head of Year 11

6 Year 9 Assessment Show The Year 9 Drama students had their drama assessment on Tuesday 27 June 2017 in the Drama studio. This was an opportunity to expose the students to their first live audience, and also an opportunity for the parents to witness what the finished product of practical work in drama looks like. Considering this is the first year that the GCSE has been offered to Year 9, the students rose to the challenge of mature stimuli and produced pieces of drama that held exceptional promise for students so young. I am so impressed with all of the students especially since they have a further two years to improve both their practical skill and accompanying written work. Particular work which held exceptional promise was Starload by Lexy Simmons, Katie Swain and Jacob Lewis. Fenton Engle, Archer White and Jamie Cooley worked with Andrew Richmond to produce a very dramatic tale of three friends who were as close as brothers, and Laura How battled with her conscience in a well written piece. The Tech students had an immediate challenge since the lighting rig malfunctioned about three minutes before the start time of the exam, so while the tech was not what it should have been, the boys worked hard to still support the actors on stage. These same Year 9 students will have a further opportunity to complete some more devising work in the Autumn term which will culminate in a show in the hall in October. Tickets will be available for purchase next term. This performance on the stage will give members of the Tech Crew an opportunity to truly show off their skills and practical range with full scale equipment hired in. Miss E Lidbury Head of Dance and Drama Year 10 Drama Year 10 Drama students from HGSS had a fantastic opportunity to perform in the local community. They performed some immersive theatre to members of the public in the site specific location of The Hell Fire Caves in West Wycombe. Work from these two Drama groups was, as usual, at an exceptional level. Some enthusiastic performances from Destiny's group sent chills down the public's spines, Oliver Swatton's group performed a very thought provoking performance while Harrison's group left everyone in fits of laughter. Both 10A and 10B Drama groups were given a set stimuli based on research that Sixth Former Lucy Weddell had produced. Lucy, in fact, achieved her Silver Arts Award from her preparation and leadership of the students for this performance event. The stimuli ranged from images of the working class to the legend of the White Lady but all starting points stemmed from the notorious Hell Fire Club run by Lord Dashwood. The students work was an excellent example of how HGSS students always rise to whatever challenge is set. I am so pleased with this lovely group of Year 10s and I am looking forward to seeing how they grow and develop in Year 11 in time for their final exams. Miss E Lidbury Head of Dance and Drama

7 Auditions for The Addams Family In November the school will be putting on a performance of The Addams Family by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice, music and lyrics by Andrew Lupa. Auditions have been underway this term with the standard being exceptional. I have always admired HGSS students who never fail to impress when put under pressure! We are pleased to have cast this show and all students involved have been sent home a hefty rehearsal pack as rehearsals will start in September. Please can all parents support children involved, encourage and remind them to turn up to rehearsals on time and fully prepared with lines learnt where appropriate. Tickets will be on sale next term and there will be a trip in September to see The Addams family performed by a professional company. Performance dates: 22, 23, and 24 November. Miss E Lidbury Head of Dance and Drama Year 9 and 10 Dance GCSE This year the Dance and Drama Department made it possible for eleven Year 9 and 10 girls to complete a Dance GCSE in one year. The girls were incredibly dedicated turning up to their afterschool lessons twice a week since September. This term saw them complete their GCSE with some girls achieving highly in the practical part: Yasmine Pearce achieved full marks in 2 out of the 3 practical units and Sophie Cowley-Jenns achieved 39/40 for the hardest and most heavily weighted unit. Miss Lewin and I wish all the girls luck with their results in the summer and want to thank the girls for working so hard over the past year. Miss E Lidbury Head of Dance and Drama Tech Club In Tech Club this term pupils have been building a laser harp. They designed the circuit using breadboards. They have used a 555 timer to create the sound through an amplifier circuit and an LDR as the input for the circuit. They have designed the housing for the circuits and are in the process of building a circuit board for each note. As this has been a challenging task it hasn't been completed so it will continue in Tech Club in Sept. Next year Tech Club will also be building a robot to compete at a Beetle Weight robot combat competition at the end of the next academic year. This is a lighter weight version of Robot Wars which is shown on TV. Mrs V Nicholls

8 Duke of Edinburgh Awards Bronze : For them, the school year ended with an award ceremony that will be forever in the minds of their parents, thanks to a short horror movie made by one of the teams during the qualifying expedition. The Bronze cohort, for the first time in HGSS, was made of Year 9 students. From the very first weekend (training in Green Park), it was obvious that they were on top of it. For a vast majority of these pupils, neither the Practice nor the Qualifying expedition seemed to be a real challenge! Impressive on the campsite, efficient during the walks, more than two thirds have already confirmed their places for the silver awards next year. The New Forest and the Forest of Dean (their two destinations) will surely prove to be much more of a challenge! Snowdonia seem far away! Better teamwork, better mental preparation, better use of everyone s key skill, the first Holmer Green Senior School Gold Team has come a long way but it now seems certain to their assessor that they will pass what they will certainly remember as an ordeal! As a school who have run all three levels of the award for the first time, this year has been incredibly challenging, not only because it was my first year supervising and leading all these young people but also because they made it so that I couldn t really betray their enthusiasm. The year 9, 10 and 12 students who participated in the Silver : Too easy? Yes but not for everyone. The Silver groups impressed the Outsparks instructors and assessors during the expeditions and I quote: This was the smoothest Qualifying Expedition I have been on this year!. These words, were said by Jake, one of the two Outparks assessors and believe me, this man has been on dozens of them! Every single one of the students was focused and decided to get to that end point. On top of that, a little bonus «happened» both nights on the campsite of the Qualifying Expedition. After a hard day s walk and setting up their tents, the groups had the pleasure of witnessing a improvised concert each night. The performance by Alistair Lamming will, indeed, be in their hearts (?!) for a very long time! Gold: The Gold Qualifying Expedition is happening in Dartmoor as I am writing this line. The boys will have their final day tomorrow and they really started on a high. The mistakes made during the first days of the practice expedition in award made it important for me to do this properly as they were taking it so seriously. Congratulations to all the Bronze applicants who passed but also to all the Silver applicants who are going to pass as soon as they finish their remaining section. Look forward to your award ceremony around the end of the Autumn Term! As for the Gold, it should be in London towards the end of the next school year! Duke of Edinburgh is not only the work of the Leader. None of the expeditions would have been possible without people hard at work behind the scene. As I like to say, I am more the face of the award in Holmer Green Senior School. That is why I would like to thank Outsparks for their hard work during expedition and their excellent team of instructors and assessors but also Annabelle Atkinson and Lynda Jackson who do most of the admin and last but not least Ali Angus, who accompanies me on each expedition, making it slightly more entertaining for me! Salomon Ifrah DofE Leader

9 Year 9 MFL Visits to Holmer Green Junior School French and Spanish Taster Lessons Six small groups of students from Year 9 recently volunteered to plan and deliver a French or Spanish lesson for Year 6, at the local Junior School. They did this with energy and maturity, interacting well with the Year 6s and working superbly as a team. We are so proud of them! You can read their own comments on the experience, below. French: Our experience at the junior school made me wish that I was in the lesson. We made it fun and engaging for the children and they seemed to learn a lot!! I really enjoyed the experience and it made me think about what I might want to do for my career. Gracie Brodie I think that the experience was great. To see the Year 6's learning about the topic was great to watch. They were all really engaged in the lesson that we taught them, and I think that they really enjoyed it. Cara Duggan It was a great experience and it was amazing to see the skill and excitement of the year 6s. They were really polite and were really engaged in the lesson. Sean Underwood The teaching at the junior school was a very good experience for me and helped me a lot with my confidence. The kids also knew a lot in French and were very polite. Archer White The French market was a great experience and developed my confidence a lot. The children were very kind and respectful to my peers and loved learning French. Zak Saganowski J Spanish: I really enjoyed working with the little kids as they interacted with us really well and they enjoyed themselves so much!!! Cameron Kennelly It was a good experience and teaching younger children inspired me! Molly Ashwin I enjoyed the experience of teaching younger children and using the whiteboard. Sanja Gliguroski I enjoyed producing all the resources for the lesson and it was so much fun teaching younger children some basic Spanish, great experience! Alex O Regan

10 French Market! All of our Year 9 French students spent half a day working at the ever popular French Market at the Junior School on 10 July. Working in pairs at stalls including a café, a shop, Twister, badge making, Boules, the ICT suite, word games, Lotto and a library, they showed excellent professionalism and were a real hit with both staff and students! A great day was had by all involved.was a wide range of activities to cover many topics. Emily Hespe Student Comments: It was good, I enjoyed running the badge making session. Emily Bustin I really enjoyed the experience and there was a wide range of activities to cover many topics. Emily Hespe It was a very fun experience, and I enjoyed helping the children to speak French, and they really enjoyed all of the activities. Peter Russell I enjoyed the French Market because we got to work at different stations. It was a good experience for the children and us. Harvey Ali I enjoyed it very much, the children were very good at speaking French and very polite. Laura How It was a fun experience and I enjoyed teaching the children useful French phrases, such as how to buy something in a shop. Carla Werrell

11 Library and Literacy News Accelerated Reader Reading Success and Word Millionaires Years 7 and 8 follow the Accelerated Reader (AR) programme, which is a computerized reading programme to support and monitor students reading progress. This includes quizzing on books which the students have read to earn points towards a personalized target. AR also counts up the number of words which a student has read in a year, based on the quizzes they successfully complete. The following students have all read over 1 million words this school year, which is a fabulous achievement. Y7 students: Molly Lewis, Ellie Gallagher, Keira Nyoni, Eve Burton, Liam Arkinson, Madeline Garvey, Amy Taylor, Billy Soldi, Freddie Mushing, James Garrett, Jessica Nathanielsz, Sara Yasin, Anna Harbour, Harry McCloud, Eden Bennett, Aryan Tanikella, James White, Lily Smith, Emily Mason and Joe Ball. Y8 students: Cara Nunnington, Parth Prajapati, Rebekah Garrett, Aleena Yasin, Madeline Medway, Daniel Hatfield, Evelyn Goodchild, and Erin Brodelle. Femi Olawale and Joshua Holroyd have read over 2 million words, Bekah Boughton and Jessica Holroyd over 3 million words, and a special congratulations to Y8 student Ruby Killick, who had read 4 million words this year, which could well be a school record for years to come. World Millionaire Y7 students Freddie Mushing, Harry McCloud, Molly Lewis, Joe Ball and Emily Mason Mrs V Law Librarian School Aid unwanted books and text books to schools in Africa We were very pleased to be able to donate our out of date text books (following curriculum changes) to an organisation called School Aid, who send school books and other educational resources direct to schools in Africa who desperately need them. ( Mrs Law Librarian Medical and Attendance Please remember to telephone in the morning on the first day of absence if your child will not be attending school for any reason. If students need to leave school during the day for an appointment or are arriving late they should have a note in their planner, a hand written letter or an appointment card explaining the reason for absence. Students will not be allowed to leave the site during the school day without prior authority from a parent or carer. We rarely see any cases of headlice in the school, however two cases have been reported. Could you please check your child's hair and treat if necessary. Thank you.

12 Updates Informa on Achievements SIXTH sense Welcome Once again we find ourselves at the end of the Summer Term, and it is my chance to look back and reflect, and once again it seems like we have packed even more in than usual! Just before Half Term we sadly said Goodbye to our wonderful Year 13s, and as with most of the things they have organised over the last 2 years, they really set a precedent. They marked the end of their education at Holmer Green Senior School Sixth Form with a wonderful celebration of their time with us that included fun on two of the biggest inflatable I have ever seen. I will miss them, read more about their japes in our article. This half term we sent our Year 12 students off into the big wide world to experience the world of work for themselves, we welcomed our new Sixth Form students through our Induction Days, we held a UCAS DAY and evening for parents to go through the intricacies of the UCAS Application process and Student Finance, we have held personal Statement workshops, learned about how to feed ourselves healthily on a budget, appointed a Student Management team, held numerous charity events, we were inspired by a Lecture given by Marco Bertozzi, CEO of Spotify Europe; I could go on. We have now ploughed through the first Linear A Level courses and lived to tell the tale, and through it all, we have learned a lot about information retention techniques, how to interpret examination questions and respond to them in order to maximise marks. Our students have worked really hard as always, and achieved some great things, and as you will read in our following articles, they have approached everything with a Community spirit which is a credit to themselves and our Sixth Form. So yes, we have achieved a lot, and now we all deserve a bit of a rest and the chance to replenish our energies for the new academic year and the further challenges ahead. I would like to take this opportunity to thank everybody who has contributed to the wonderful things that happen in the Sixth Form, and wish you all a restful and happy holiday. To our students, Good Luck for your results, and I look forward to seeing you all on the results and enrolment days. Mrs R Golding Learning Area Director of Sixth Form New Head Boy & Head Girl Blog It s a pleasure to have been chosen as Head Boy and Girl for the next academic year at Holmer Green Senior School, and we are both very excited about the upcoming year and what we can achieve together. We are surrounded by a strong management team, who we look forward to working with in order to improve the Sixth Form and give students a voice. Our first few weeks in the role have been very busy, organising and running activities for the new Year 12s on induction day. We held a break time social event with homemade cakes, led a study skills session and took part in teambuilding events. Last week we also welcomed Marco Bertozzi, Vice President of Spotify, to Holmer Green for an inspirational speech. He loved the idea of our management team and was full of praise for the idea. We would like to wish everyone a relaxing summer break, before returning in September, ready to start work once again. Matthew Hobbs and Lucy Weddell

13 Induction Days July 13 and 14 we once more held our Induction Days, designed to give our prospective Sixth Formers a clear impression of what Sixth Form life involves. The first day was the more traditional Curriculum Day, where all Year 11s into 12s experienced lessons in the subjects that they have opted to take. At break time our existing Sixth Form students welcomed their future peers by baking cakes and introducing themselves socially in the Study Room. Students were asked to complete a research task during their first Private Study lesson, carrying out a Spartan test on the SACU website which helped them map out possible careers and link them to Universities and courses offered. It is important, even at this stage that we encourage all of our students to be pro-active in looking at what they want to do and where they could go, post Sixth Form. We will use this information as a starting point when supporting them through their quest to find the best destination for them. The second day was all about the wider experiences of the Sixth Form student, and the majority of our current Year 12 students used the skills and knowledge they have acquired this year to help our new students prepare, and settle in. Lesson 2 was organised by students for students, with the Student Management team and volunteer Subject Mentors presenting workshops and drop-in sessions which were designed to help our new students prepare for and be successful in their subjects next year.

14 Induction Days continued The lesson 3 workshops introduced the EPQ and other enrichment opportunities offered to our Sixth Form students including Work Experience, Community Service, ABC Mentoring, D of E Gold, World Challenge, NCS, Sports leaders and various different roles of responsibility in the Sixth Form and the wider school. It is vital that our students get involved in a wide range of activities beyond the classroom to prove themselves to be well rounded, enthusiastic and ambitious individuals in future applications. In our final lesson, led by our PE Department and our loyal band of Sports Leaders from this Years Year 13, we held a teambuilding session, enjoyed by everybody; it was very gratifying to see our new students and our existing students working so closely together, to work out and meet mental and physical challenges while having so much fun. The feedback from students was all very positive. I wish all our students the best of luck for their forthcoming results, and look forward to seeing them at enrolment on Thursday, 17 August (AS and A Level and Year 13 enrolment) and for GCSE results and Year 12 enrolment at 10:00 on Thursday, 24 August. Have a wonderful Summer! Rachel Golding LAD Sixth Form The new Sixth Form Management Team Once again we invited applicants from our Year 12 to apply for the appointments of: Head Boy and Girl, Deputy Head Boy and Girl, Events Manager, Enterprise Manager and PR Manager. Key to the life of the Sixth Form, all roles are of great responsibility and are held in very high esteem by staff and students alike. For the roles of Head Boy and Head Girl, students were asked to prepare a speech which they would ultimately present on Sixth Form Induction day to welcome new Sixth Formers and give them a sense of what life in the Sixth Form involves. They were also asked to put together a CV which itemised all the contributions they have made to school life since they started. All candidates were an absolute credit to the Sixth Form. Confident, professional, they had good ideas and communicated very clearly their loyalty for the school. The decision was an incredibly tough one, but in the end Head Boy went to Matt Hobbs, Head Girl went to Lucy Weddell, Deputy Head Boy went to Joe Eales and Deputy Head Girl went to Phoebe Lamb. The other three management roles with specific responsibilities are designed to enable students to demonstrate key skills linked with their future career aspirations, and once again we are lucky enough to have been able to appoint 3 very worthy individuals. Tanya Salopal, Katrina Geen and Kaylie Baker Costi share the responsibilities of Enterprise, Public Relations Manager, and Events Manager. It was really gratifying to see more students than ever put themselves forward for the roles of Subject Mentor, to support their younger peers starting Sixth Form. Subject Mentors will be there to guide students in Year 12 where needed, and to share strategies that they have learned which have helped them manage the step up to A Level and Level 3 BTEC courses. Congratulations to all who were appointed; you all have a great deal that you can contribute to the work of the Sixth Form Management team and the life of the Sixth Form as a whole. Mrs R Golding

15 Work Experience, 3-7 July Once again we sent our Year 12 students out into industry to experience the world of work for themselves and to gain employability skills which will make them strong candidates for roles within a competitive market. Year 12 Work Experience isn t the same as the old Year 10 experience. In Year 12 we expect them to find placements in professions where they aspire to progress to. Many ventured into teaching, accountancy, engineering, designing, law etc. Mrs R Golding Zak Kemp: CAD draughtsman / designer for Hunts Office Furniture. During his experience Zak was trained how to use different CAD Software in order to produce designs for clients. He also used his acquired skills to produce designs for our Study-room. Zak wants to go into a career in this industry, and the experience that he gained in the workplace, and the work that he did to add to his portfolio, will put him in a really strong position. His employers have even spoken about possible employment in the future. Ray Carter: Graphic Designer at the Bucks Learning Trust creating desktop backgrounds, Twitter headers, leaflets and blogs. Ray wants to pursue a career in design and to have work that will be used in the real world will stand him in very good stead. His professional reference is also a glowing indictment of his professionalism and flexibility in the workplace, including the quote He is an asset to Holmer Green Senior School. These are just two examples which illustrate the value of higher level Work experience. All students gained valuable employability skills, and will have plenty of relevant topics to talk about in any interviews whether that be for University, Apprenticeships or employment. If you own your own business, or work in a large organisation who could offer our students professional placements in July next year, please do contact our Work experience co-ordinator Mrs. Panayiotou at PanayiotouE@holmer.org.uk, who will put you on our list of employees. Mrs R Golding

16 Year 13 s Last Day On 26 May, the Year 13s celebrated their last official day in Sixth Form. The Management Team had organised a variety of events for the day, including an inflatable agility course and giant inflatable version of the game Hungry Hippos. Both of these activities were extremely popular and even some teachers took part in the fun (i.e. Mrs Randhwa). Students also had the opportunity to dress up in groups with the majority embracing a theme of prisoners and guards. Later on in the day, Mrs Golding presented our Leavers' Assembly, containing her thank yous, special mentions and some memorable photos of our journey at Holmer Green how time flies! The Management Team had also arranged a couple of awards which were gratefully received by all the students. Although it was said on the day, we would like to stress again how appreciative we are for Mrs Golding's support on the day and all throughout the year these events would not have been possible without her trust in students and the management team.

17 Marco Bertozzi Lecture Monday July 10th 2017 The Sixth Form were privileged to welcome Marco Bertozzi to the Lecture Theatre this term, to present to us an inspirational lecture on his life and success. Six months ago Marco Bertozzi was appointed as Vice President of Spotify Europe, and previous to that appointment had a very distinguished 20 year career determination, seizing every opportunity along the way and taking a few risks. Our young people must now raise the bar on what they currently think is possible for them to achieve the possibilities are in fact, without limit! Rachel Golding, Learning Area Director of Sixth Form working in various global companies such as Publicis Media, Performics, Starcom Mediavest Group and Vivaki. He was named the fourth most influential person working in digital media in The Drum s top 100 ranking of UK digital professionals. HGSS on Marco s Twitter page One of the messages that resonated most to our students who had just returned from a week s Work Experience, were the 5 characteristics that make a valuable employee: Do your research, before the interview know exactly what the company do and what it has achieved. Be curious, ask your own questions, show you are interested and have prepared well. Be a team player. In business you never work in isolation, so make sure you listen and communicate with those around you. Volunteer for the extras, take up every opportunity, it will broaden your skills and experience, and make you ready for promotion. Work hard, go the extra mile; it will be noticed by the people who matter. Don t be fearful of change. Change means opportunity, whether it be that you move for another role elsewhere or upwards in your own organisation, good people do rise to the top. All the students agreed that the lecture was not only informative and interesting, but inspirational as well. Here in front of them was a wealthy, highly travelled, extremely successful head of a massive organisation, who got where he is today through hard work,

18 Enterprise Days Throughout the years at Holmer Green, we have always had interesting and informative enterprise days, however todays was especially fun and really beneficial for our futures! The day was divided up into two sections- with half the Sixth Form in the food tech room at a time, to make sure we had plenty of space to get involved. We were given a selection of ingredients, including an array of vegetables, chicken and a selection of spices. We were then briefed to make a stir fry type meal, using whichever ingredients we wanted, this resulted in many different dishes, which were then tried by the In the other half of the day, we were split into groups depending on whether we were applying to University or looking at other options. I attended the Apprenticeship workshop, which secured my choice in what I wanted to do after Sixth Form, by giving me the basic information on apprenticeships and also alternatives like a gap year or distance learning. We were then given the opportunity to research options that were specific to us and had Mr Wilson and Mr Deller available for any help we needed. The University Workshop focussed on the UCAS application process, and how to write a personal statement a crucial part of the application. From today s workshop I have taken away lots of useful life skills, which will be valuable for both those at University and those considering other options, as well as being given the chance to research what we will be doing after Sixth Form, with teachers around to guide us and be able to answer any questions that we had. Kaylie Baker Costi Enterprise, Events and Public Relations Manager teachers. We were judged on the presentation of the dishes and the taste, and winners were then voted for. The overall winners of the day were Sophie Lane, Rosa Shaw, Lily Hughes and Kim Rickards. The idea of this was to be able to cook a quick and easy meal on a budget, which I feel was very successful!

19 Year 13 Prom To celebrate the end of Year 13s final exams, the Management Team organised a Leavers Ball on the 6th July at Taplow House Hotel. The evening entailed photo opportunities, a photo booth, buffet and of course a disco. We also organised several awards, voted for by students, separate to those presented on Year 13s Last Day, each of which were gratefully received by all. It was amazing to see so many familiar faces join us again for the event, including former students and teachers. After all the preparation that went into the event, we couldn t have asked for a smoother running or enjoyable night.

20 World Challenge With World Challenge fast approaching the Sixth Form s team of challengers are frantically preparing ourselves to set off for our two week expedition to Thailand, departing on the Friday 21 July. Taking on a World Challenge expedition without doubt has been challenging already, as before we even set off as we have all already had to raise our own finances to take part in the trip. We have undertaken numerous fundraising activities (from organising Quiz Nights to packing shopping in local supermarkets) and now we have been tasked with preparing ourselves for the upcoming trip by buying all the kit and equipment to best deal with the unusual climate and insects that will meet us in Thailand. Prior to departure we will be completing a build-up day, which is where the team meets for the final time to ensure that we have all the necessary kit and equipment for the expedition and to make sure that each of us is fully prepared for the exciting adventure ahead. Working as part of a harmonious team is a huge part of World Challenge and in order to build our togetherness we all went for a meal at a local Thai restaurant on Thursday 13 July. Fortunately, our team is already very close having spent time together within Sixth Form, but this team building activity will begin to give us a taste of the Thailand s food culture, which we will be exploring during the expedition, to engross ourselves fully into Thailand s unique and vibrant ways of life. Excitement is definitely building throughout the team and we cannot wait for the unbelievable adventure that awaits us this summer which will open our eyes to an entirely new culture and part of the world. Harry Myall Year 13 Together we strive to improve, together we will achieve Chi Fung Lau Sixth Form Calendar for Autumn 1 Thursday 17 August: AS / A2 Exam results and enrolment Thursday 24 August: GCSE Results and Year 12 Enrolment Wednesday 6 September: Sixth Form Enrolment for external and additional Students from 9:00am 10:15am in Lecture Theatre Wednesday 6 September: School starts for Sixth Form, 10:15am in Lecture Theatre Friday 15 September: NCS Assembly for Year 12 Monday 18 September: Oxplore: Taster Session for Oxbridge candidates Thursday 28 September: Year 12 Parents Meet and Greet Evening Friday 21 September: NCS Lunchtime Workshop 2 6 October: Autumn 1 Sixth Form Assessment week Wednesday 18 October: Mental Health Awareness Seminar 9:00am 10:20am Thursday 19 October : Year 12 Elevate Study Sensei Workshop 11:40am 12:40pm Useful websites Who to speak to If you have any concerns, your son s or daughter s tutor is your first point of contact. If it is about a specific subject then please contact the subject teacher. In the event that both teachers are unavailable then please contact Mrs R Golding, Learning Area Director of Sixth Form. The Sixth Form Team 2017/2018 Mrs Rachel Golding - Learning Area Director for Sixth Form Ms K Harrison - Second in Sixth Form Mrs E Panayiotou Sixth Form Administrator Ms K Harrison - Form Tutor, 6.1 Mr R Bateman - Form Tutor, 6.2 Mrs V Nicholls/Miss E Lidbury- Form Tutor, 6.3 Mrs A Knight/Dr S Cockbill - Form Tutor, 6.4 Mrs K Randhawa - Form Tutor, 6.5