UTC Oxfordshire
Newsletter - 25th March 2022 - UPDATED
Dear all,
This week has given us all a taste of summer with the sun shining and assessments taking place on site. Students have embraced their exams with positivity (despite a relaxation in dress code by some). Progress consultation meetings and feedback on assessments give an opportunity to identify the gaps in knowledge and where students need to focus their attention in the coming weeks and months
Daylight saving time 2022 in United Kingdom will begin at 01:00 on Sunday, 27 March
British Summer Time (BST) begins once again at 1.00am on Sunday 27 March, when you are obliged to put your clock forward by an hour to 2.00am. Not only do you lose an hour’s sleep, you also get to spend thirty minutes once you are awake on a Sunday morning trying to work out how to change the clock on the microwave and the washing machine!
The ritual owes its origins in the UK to the first world war. The annual hourly changing of the clock was first established in the UK more than 100 years ago under the Summer Time Act 1916, with the thought that lighter evenings might preserve fuel for the war effort. In the debate in parliament about introducing it at the time, Henry Petty-FitzMaurice, the Marquess of Lansdowne, referred to Benjamin Franklin, who had, half-jokingly, proposed a type of daylight-saving time while living in Paris. There, in 1784, Franklin observed that the sun had risen much earlier than his Parisienne acquaintances. He argued they would save money on candles if they opted for earlier mornings rather than continue to enjoy their later nightlife.
It would have been impossible to introduce daylight saving time on this side of the channel that early though, as the UK didn’t even have legal standardised time until 1880. Before then people calculated when noon was locally, and worked from that, but the introduction of railways and their timetables made ultra-local time zones confusing.
The UK currently seems slightly isolated on the issue, in that there are no plans afoot to abolish the practice.
Employer engagement
Westmill Wind Farm
On Wednesday 23rd March, Year 13 Engineering students went to Westmill Wind and Solar farm to find out about alternative energy sources for their BTEC Unit 58: Energy Management. They were treated to a tour by three volunteers, who explained about the planning and installation of the wind turbines and solar panels and how they are managed in different weather conditions. Cost and government policies and incentives have a large part to play in energy sources and supply. This is one of the few cooperative wind and solar energy farms in the UK. The students had to consider some of the engineering complexities with installing alternative energies and were encouraged to think about careers in the energy industry. Thank you to the guides; Alan Barlow, Jonathan Puddifoot Robert Tapsfield and Tom Lowe from WeSet for organising this visit and giving up their afternoon to talk to the students. This will help them with their assignment!
Royal Navy Challenge Day
UTC Oxfordshire welcomed the Royal Navy Talent Attract Team to work with the whole of Year 10 on teamwork, communication and leadership.
The Challenge Day, which took place on Tuesday March 22, consisted of a talk about life within the Royal Navy and Royal Marines before the students worked in small teams on two different activities – one to play a military sport (a mix of, cricket, rounders and dodgeball) while the other group worked in small teams to build a signalling tower from giant Meccano, before swapping over. The day ended with a talk and discussion around the importance of leadership and the types of leaders.
The Royal Navy enjoyed their visit and would like to thank all staff and Year 10’s for their engagement and hospitality. A special mention to Year 10 student Lydia, who impressed the team with her leadership skills after she changed groups away from her friendship group. It was great day out in the sunshine, and we thank the team for leading this enriching activity.
Viridor
This week we also welcomed Jessica from Viridor, based at Ardley Energy Recovery Facility near Bicester, to talk to Year 13 BTEC Engineering students about Energy Management and how Ardley ERF processes waste and generates electricity. Jessica brought samples of the materials they work with and produce in their sites. Her colleague Camilla joined the talk via TEAMS to explain how Energy Audits are conducted to help students with their Unit 58 assignment. We discussed how the waste is sorted and managed to generate limestone blocks using lime and carbon, and ash is turned into materials to build roads with. We also learnt about the energy that is recovered from processing waste and how auditing the organisation is important and has an impact on improving efficiency.Parent Consultation
Opportunities
Our Opportunities section of the website is regularly updated with new apprenticeships and work experience .
There are some tight deadlines on some of the vacancies and a lot of the roles are closing soon. Please do have a look at the posts available and encourage your students to check the pages regularly. The password is UTCOpps2022.
Elements Café
Data Checking
Dates for the diary
- Year 13 Progress consultation Evening Wednesday 6th April, school will finish at 15.00
- English trip to Macbeth year 11 Wednesday 6th April
- Year 11 Progress consultation Evening Wednesday 27th April
- Our Red Nose Day fundraising has been postponed to Friday 1st April. It will be celebrated with a dress down, day (wearing red, blue and yellow), plus fund-raising events throughout the day.
- 16th May to 28th June – GCSE/A level/Level 3 exam period - please note that BTEC Level 3 coursework may still be required after this end date. Please note students will not be able to finish school until after 28th June
- The Year 13 Leavers Celebration is on 27th June at The Garden House Venue. Tickets can be purchased via ParentPay by 31st March.
- The Year 11 prom is on June 30th, 2022, at Milton Mill House. Dinner and disco included! More details to follow soon.
- New York Science, Engineering and Business Trip Monday 11th July 2022 to Friday 15th July
- Thursday 18th August – A level results day
- Thursday 25th August - GCSE results day.
Remaining Term dates for 2022
- 25th and 26th April INSET, no school for students
- Wednesday 27th April - start of Term 5
- Monday 2nd May is a Bank Holiday
- Half term is 30th May to 3rd June 2022
- Monday 6th June - start of Term 6
- The last day of term is Wednesday 20th July 2022.
Term dates for 2022 to 2023
- Autumn Term 1: Friday 2 September 2022 (Years 10 and 12 only) to Wednesday 19 October 2022. Whole school in attendance from Monday 5 September 2022
- Autumn Term 2: Monday 31 October 2022 – Friday 16 December 2022
- Spring Term 3: Thursday 5 January 2023 – Friday 10 February 2023
- Spring Term 4: Monday 20 February 2023 – Friday 31 March 2023
- Summer Term 5: Wednesday 19 April 2023 – Friday 26 May 2023
- Summer Term 6: Monday 5 June 2023 – Friday 21 July 2023.
We still have some vacancies for exam invigilators please visit our website for more information: Join Our Team.
Have a fabulous weekend
Stay safe
With good wishes
Sam