UTC Oxfordshire
Newsletter – 9th December 2022
Dear all,
We have just two and a half more days of PPEs next week and then the festive celebrations can start. A reminder that next Friday is the last day of term and we will finish at 13.00. Students are welcome to come to school that day in their Christmas jumpers and we would be grateful for a donation to the foodbank, see details below.
With the festive season fast approaching we think about our decorations. It’s a simple icon of holiday cheer, but the Christmas bauble comes with an obscure history. Thought to have originated in 16th century Germany, the first ornaments were nothing like what we know today. The ‘modern’ Christmas tree tradition is thought to have originated in 16th century Germany, where small evergreen trees were decorated with the likes of candles, apples, nuts, and berries as “Paradise trees” in church plays. Over time, devout Christians integrated these decorated trees into their homes during the holiday season. The tradition, which became a Christian ritual, began to spread across Europe.
But what about the engineering behind the manufacture of the intricate Christmas baubles?
Chemistree 2022
Our Year 12 Chemists have helped create our 2022 Chemistree, a festive tradition using laboratory glassware and equipment to build a Christmas Tree.
We have adorned our tree with baubles of famous Chemists and Christmas related molecules made from molymods:
- Beta-Pinene – because the smell of pine is pretty Christmassy
- Cinnamaldehyde – because it wouldn’t be Christmas without a cinnamon roll
- Dopamine – for joy
- Serotonin – for wellbeing and happiness
- Ethanol – to enjoy a little Christmas spirit
Topping our tree are the winners of the 2022 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Carolyn R. Bertozzi, Morten Meldal and K. Barry Sharpless
Creative Destruction Labs
Earlier this week 12 female students had a visit from Margot representing the high school girls program with Creative Destruction Labs (CDL). Margot presented an opportunity to our students to visit and shadow a business mentor supporting start-up companies in Science and Engineering
CDL is a non-profit organization that delivers an objectives-based program for massively scalable, seed-stage, science- and technology-based companies. They are the link between new Technologies and Business experts to allow the ideas and start ups to have a good chance of success to make a difference to lives.
Students are being given the chance to attend a mentoring workshop and shadow top business entrepreneurs mentor and support new start up businesses.
Find out more using the QR code opposite.
12 Questions of Christmas (answers in January)
We thought some of you might enjoy this STEM-based quiz, answers will be shared in January.
- Add the atomic number of Chromium to the number of legs on half a dozen drosophila and divide by the number of volts in an AAA battery.
- Multiple the number of colours in a rainbow by the number of planets in the solar system. Add the square route of 144 and divide by a quarter.
- What small instrument are we looking for here: CEPS, CEPS, CEPS, CEPS?
- Starting with the degrees at southeast, multiply by the number of atoms in water and then subtract four cubed. Total the individual numbers to get to your answer.
- Take the number of seconds in a day and divide by the number of legs on ten arachnoids. Half this amount and divide by the degrees in a right angle.
- A snappy semiaquatic fastener (9,4) – what component am I?
- Take the sum of the internal angles of a triangle and divide by the voltage of a PP3 battery. Multiply by the roman numeral V and add the atomic number of the metal that Marie Curie discovered.
- Rearranged, this study covers a “big roomy coli” (12)
- A more sustainable way to have pure water. What am I: SISOMSO?
- Start with the year MCMLXXVI and deduct the number of sheets in a ream of paper. Divide by the sides of a dodecagon and subtract the number of pairs of chromosomes in the human body. What are you left with expressed back as a roman numeral?
- Small wave on an armoured vehicle (6,4) - What am I better known as?
- According to the song “The twelve days of Christmas” in total, how many individual presents had my truelove sent to me after the twelve days?
Attendance – week ending 2nd December
Here are the attendance figures for each tutor group last week. We are seeing a high level of absence due to illness and whilst we appreciate that as we move towards winter there will be more seasonal infections, we would like your support to enable students to manage their symptoms by using paracetamol (which can be carried in their bag) and other over the counter medicines. It is well known that symptoms are worse first thing in the morning and in the evening, so please encourage your student to attend – if they are too unwell to stay, we will contact you.
We also notice a high level of stomach upsets and sickness bugs – if your student is suffering from this frequently, please seek medical advice to rule out an underlying condition.
Your student’s Head of Year, tutor or I will be in touch with you about frequent absence due to illness. A referral to the School Health Nurse may be considered. Thank you for your support - Paula Ramsbottom, Attendance Officer
Extra-Curricular Opportunities
Is your student interested in a career with the Ambulance Service?
If so, we are very excited to announce that South Central Ambulance Service are offering a series of virtual live chats in the new year:
- Wednesday 11th January at 6pm: Apprentice Emergency Care Assistant
- Wednesday 25th January at 6pm: How to become a Paramedic
- Wednesday 8th February at 6pm: A career in our call centres
- Wednesday 22nd February at 6pm: How to become a Paramedic
These live chats are a great way for participants to learn about key roles available across the Trust and to hear from the teams who are out there doing these roles day in, day out!
On the call they will offer hints and tips on starting a career with the SCAS and allow all attendees to ask any questions to the experts!
Please register for these sessions, further details can be found on their website: www.scasjobs.co.uk or on the following poster: South Central Ambulance Service Virtual Live EventsFree webinar on “How To Get Into Medical & Dental School for 2024 entry”
This is a free webinar for Year 11 and Year 12 students at UTC Oxfordshire thinking of applying to medicine or dentistry next year.
Topics such as the UCAT, BMAT, Personal Statement, Work Experience and Interviews will be covered by Dr. Akash Gandhi, a GP Registrar working in London and top university medicine admissions consultant with over 10 years of experience guiding pupils through this process.
The webinar will be held next Monday 12th December at 7-8pm and is completely free to attend, though places are limited!
You can register for the webinar here: How To Get Into Medical & Dental School for 2024 entry
Mathematics Masterclass Series
These Royal Institution masterclasses are hands-on interactive extracurricular sessions for Year 12 students interested in studying Maths at university, led by top experts from academia and industry. The series runs over six Saturdays from 10:00-12:30, starting on 18th February. Find out more here
Football News
Well done to our Y10/11 for kick starting our football fixtures against our neighbours, Aureus. We had a fast start with two quick goals, Aureus showed their quality and unfortunately, we couldn't quite keep up with their pace, ending with a score of 6-2 to them. Overall, a well spirited and well contested game, we look forward to a rematch soon! Well done Ben A, Ayo, Rhys, Ben B (player of the match), Tristan, Charley, Adrian, Max, Brendan, and Henry.
Mince Pie Meet Up / Certificate Collection
We will be hosting a Mince Pie Meet Up / Certificate Collection for last year’s Year 11 and Year 13 on Thursday 15th December, from 16:00 to 17:30. Email communication has been sent out, please encourage students to RSVP.
Christmas Jumper day
The last day of term is Friday 16th December and school will finish at 13.00. Students are encouraged to wear Christmas jumpers and we will be running a collection for the food bank. We will be collecting donations all that week so that we can build a Christmas tree tower before delivering the items on the Friday morning.
Examples of what to bring include:
Information for Schools and Parents regarding Scarlet Fever
Please find the link below to a fact sheet for schools and parents about Group A Streptococcus (GAS)/Scarlet Fever.
Living Well with Neurodiversity
A new support service has been launched with Oxfordshire CAMHS in collaboration with Autism Oxford. Further details can be found here: Living Well with Neurodiversity
Elements Café
We have recently partnered with a new catering company to provide the hot and cold offering in our Elements Café. They took over the service on Monday so students may notice some differences over the course of the next few weeks but the team delivering the catering on a daily basis will be the same. We are confident that the choices and quality will remain of the standard we are used to.
The Bounce Park
The Bounce Park now has a new long-term home at Willowbrook Leisure Centre in Didcot. They will be open every weekend, school & bank holiday and provide a range of activities from open bounce tickets to birthday parties.
They are currently running a Xmas special next weekend (17th & 18th December) at a reduced price of just £10.00 per person, to help provide extra ‘cheer’ before Christmas!
More details can be found here: The Bounce Park
Dates for the diary
- Thursday 15th December – Mince Pie Meet Up / Certificate Collection - class of 2021/22
- Friday 16th December – Last day of term, 13.00hrs finish. Christmas jumper day and collection for the food bank.
Term dates for 2022 to 2023
- Winter break is 19th December 2022 to Wednesday 4 January 2023
- Monday 2nd January is a Bank Holiday
- Tuesday 3rd and Wednesday 4th January 2023 are INSET days
- Spring Term starts on Thursday 5th January 2023
- Half Term is 13 February - 17 February 2023
Further details can be found on our website: https://www.utcoxfordshire.org.uk/term-dates/
Have a good weekend
Stay safe
Best wishes
Emma