UTC Oxfordshire
Newsletter – 19th November 2021
Dear all,
What a fabulous Open Event we had last night! The attendance was amazing and the opportunity to show off our facilities is always exciting. If you were a year 11 parent attending, we hope you enjoyed the evening. Our thanks go out, as always, to the staff who stayed to showcase their subject areas and of course to the event organisers. We had excellent involvement from our employer partners supporting the careers aspect of the evening.
Following some adjustments to our Employer-Led Projects this term, students will work each Wednesday afternoon for two intensive 45-minute sessions with a small break in between. This has improved the quality and impact of the multiple projects on offer, and we are excited to see how the work develops.
As a result of this change, students can leave school at 3:45pm on Wednesdays and make their way home. The minibuses will run to reflect this. Please do not hesitate to contact the school if you have any questions around this.
The Great Sleep Out
We are asking our sixth form students to swap their bed for a night in a sleeping bag on the school gym floor, to raise vital funds to help homeless young people. Our hope is to raise enough money to sponsor a room for at least 15 vulnerable young people who are currently experiencing homelessness. It won't be the most comfortable night's sleep for those taking part, but it will be the most meaningful!
Please click the link below to donate if you would like to support this.
Engineering Excellence
UTC workshops are of industry standard and we appreciate that parents and carers have spent money on Personal Protective Equipment. All students must wear their PPE in workshop lessons; failure to do so will result in students working in the reflection room instead. Practical work is a vital aspect of the engineering course, so please do contact us if there is an issue with equipment for your student.
Celebrating Science
A CHEMICAL CHALLENGE - THE RESULTS
Last week we asked you to answer each question below. Then once you had the answer, you needed to spell it out with the symbols of chemical elements. Answers in bold:
Example: Pyramid City – CAIRO Calcium, Iridium, Oxygen
1. 3D shape used to reflect light (5)
Praseodymium, Iodine, Samarium (Pr I Sm - prism)
2. Principality state on the French Riviera (6)
Molybdenum, Sodium, Cobalt (Mo Na Co - Monaco)
3. Surname of EastEnders star, presenter of “The Wall” (4)
Dysprosium, erbium (Dy Er - Dyer)
4. Winner of Best Film Oscar 2019 (8)
Protactinium, Radium, Silcon, Tellurium (Pa Ra Si Te - Parasite)
5. Brand, famous for condensed milk (9)
Calcium, Roentgen, Astatine, Iodine, Oxygen, Nitrogen (Ca Rn At I O N - Carnation)
6. Capital of Switzerland (4)
Boron, Erbium, Nitrogen (B Er N - Bern)
7. Animals native to China whose staple diet is bamboo (6)
Protactinium, Neodymium, Arsenic (Pa Nd As - pandas)
8. Secret Agent 007 (4)
Boron Oxygen Neodymium (B O Nd - Bond)
9. Luxurious stretch car driven by a chauffeur (9)
Lithium, Molybdenum, Uranium, Silicone, Neon (Li Mo U Si Ne - Limousine)
10. Former top American tennis player, married to Steffi Graf. (6)
Silver, Arsenic, Silicon (Ag As Si - Agassi)
Support for Mental Health
Supporting your young person with anxiety - Thursday 25th November 6-7pm (with time for questions afterwards)
This presentation will explore the presentation of anxiety in adolescence and how to talk with young people about this. It highlights the difference between appropriate levels of anxiety and when additional help might be needed. It explores what might keep anxiety going and provides an overview of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (an evidence-based treatment for anxiety) as well as a number of useful techniques which parents can use to support their child.
Your facilitator for the session is Emma Hyde from CAMHS (Child Adolescent and Mental Health) School In-Reach team.
This training is suitable for all parents and carers.
Mental Health Awareness - Tuesday 7th December, 17:30 – 19:00
Please click on the link below for details of a free workshop available for parents and carers of children and young people. It's an hour and a half on zoom session on the 7th December.
Opportunities
A message from STFC:
We hope that you are all keeping safe and well. We are really excited about the events we, and our sister labs, are planning in the run up to Christmas and beyond: we’re getting more and more excited about the launch of the James Webb Space Telescope, we’re going to be running some tests on space rovers at our underground lab, and our Glow Your Own project is finishing with a grand finale this week! You can find details of all of Rutherford Appleton Laboratory’s events (including our events aimed at schools) on our main Eventbrite page: https://stfc-ral.eventbrite.co.uk
Science vs Plastics – A panel discussion; Wednesday 24 November 18:30
One of the most pressing global crises currently is the large-scale global production of plastic and its build-up as waste in the environment. The Centre for Enzyme Innovation (CEI), is trying to address this problem using enzymes: substances found within living things that speed up chemical reactions. The CEI and focusses on research to combat plastics and deliver transformative enzyme-enabled solutions for the circular recycling of plastics.
To register, please visit https://scio-plastics.eventbrite.co.uk
Engineering
Special Pop-up Food Event
On Wednesday 1st December we have a Chicken Shack pop-up food event - this will be cooked outside as a street food feature. Students will go through the Elements Café and pay for their meals using their swipe cards as usual.
Elements Café
Covid testing
Please continue to test twice weekly using the lateral flow kits. If you have run out please ask your student to collect some more from reception.
Please record the results on the school form and the government website.
Dates for the diary
- Friday 26th November ''The Big Sleep Out''- and PPD drop down day. More information to follow on both of these events
- Wednesday 1st December Chicken Shack pop-up food event
- W/b 6th December year 11 and year 13 PPE's (pre public exams (mocks))
- Thursday 16th December certificate collection Mince Pie Meet Up for year 11 and year 13 class of 2021 16:00 to 17:30hrs
- Thursday 16th December Christmas end of term event for students 16:00 hrs to 18:30hrs more information to follow
- Friday 17th December end of term
Term dates for 2021 to 2022
- Winter break is 20th December to 31st December 2021
Monday 3rd January is a Bank Holiday
Tuesday 4th and Wednesday 5th January 2022 are INSET days
- Spring Term 3 starts on Thursday 6th January
Half Term is 21st to 25th February 2022
Further information can be found our website here: www.utcoxfordshire.org.uk/term-dates/
Have a great weekend
Stay safe
With good wishes
Sam