UTC Oxfordshire
Newsletter – 8th October 2021
Dear all,
We have had a great week here at UTC Oxfordshire. Thank you to all parents, carers, staff and students from our student leadership board who attended the supporting Success Evening for our year 11's. We have had some really positive feedback. If you missed the evening, please don't hesitate to contact Vicki for more information. We have our sixth form Open event and Careers Fair taking place on Thursday 18th November onsite, which is worth noting.
Other events in the coming weeks are our parents' consultation evenings. These will be taking place virtually across teams and appointments start at 16:15hrs. We encourage students to take part in these events and to allow for this school will finish at 15:00hrs each Wednesday for the next 4 weeks. Two before half term and two after.
- Wednesday 13th October year 12
- Wednesday 20th October year 10
- Wednesday 3rd November year 11
- Wednesday 10th November year 13
Bookings open a week before each event and you will be contacted with more details in due course.
The minibus will run earlier to accommodate this so will leave school at 15:00hrs instead of 16:00hrs
Marketing Update
We are delighted to unveil our new signage that has been put up on the top road, we hope you’ll agree that it really does highlight our passion for science and engineering.
Young Enterprise
Our Young Enterprise team needed to create a short video explaining their reasons for signing up for Young Enterprise and post it on their business Twitter account. The video was all filmed, edited and scripted by themselves including the background music which was fully self-produced.
If successful in the competition, they can win £100 of capital transferred into their HSBC Business Account for the Business. This is being run by Tom Griffin, Head of Business as part of the employability programme.
You can watch the video below:
Opportunities
Aspiring Medics
If any students are interested in Medicine as a career or any related professions then South Central Ambulance Service are proud to support the Resuscitation Council (UK) who run the campaign ‘World Restart a Heart Day’. This is a global initiative to raise awareness and education of CPR and AEDs in the community and takes place each year on 16th October
Last year they ran a series of live Facebook events with live demonstrations and Q&A’s. You can see the videos here on the SCAS Youth website.
Starting on Monday 11th October they will be running more virtual sessions throughout the week! Everyday there will be a Facebook live event at 10am, including sessions on Basic Life Support and how to use an AED.
Keep an eye on their Facebook page for more details and how you can join in: facebook.com/SCAS999
Don’t forget you can also follow them on Twitter for further updates from 999 Ted (@999Ted) and on SCAS Kids and SCAS Youth
If you have any questions or feedback, please do get in touch by email getinvolved@scas.nhs.uk
Year 12 Mathematicians
The Year 12 Regular Problem Solving Workshops begin on Monday 18th October.
These regular classes offer students the opportunity to develop mathematical problem-solving skills through discussion and collaboration. They are designed to help students to develop strategies and confidence when tackling unfamiliar problems in maths and will help with preparations for taking advanced papers such as the MAT, TMUA and STEP examinations.
At the same time, the problems used in the course are fun and rewarding. Attending the sessions will greatly enrich students’ mathematical experience and help them to develop a better understanding of A level Mathematics. Please see the following link: https://amsp.org.uk/events/details/8760 for more details and to apply.
Places are filling fast, so please apply as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.
#HelloYellow
Today, on Friday 8 October, thousands of schools, offices and communities across the UK will be taking part in #HelloYellow and raising vital funds to support their work. https://www.youngminds.org.uk/support-us/fundraising/helloyellow/
Dress code
Thank you to the majority of students who look really smart in board room dress and work in a business manner. We are noticing that as the colder weather approaches, hoodies are beginning to creep in as an extra layer of warmth. Hoodies are not permitted as part of our board room dress and if students do wear them into UTC they will be asked to remove them. Thank you for your continued support with this, those first impressions for our visitors meeting the students is so important.
Covid update
We are still battling the winter colds as we all gather back together. Thank you for being vigilant as to whether these colds are Covid or colds. Please continue to have students take their Lateral Flow Tests twice per week and please record the results on the school form and the government website. If the lateral flow test is positive, then a PCR test must be taken. Please do not come to school if there is positive test or students have covid symptoms:
- a high temperature – this means you feel hot to touch on your chest or back (you do not need to measure your temperature)
- a new, continuous cough – this means coughing a lot for more than an hour, or 3 or more coughing episodes in 24 hours (if you usually have a cough, it may be worse than usual)
- a loss or change to your sense of smell or taste – this means you've noticed you cannot smell or taste anything, or things smell or taste different to normal
Ofqual updates for exams in 2022
Following the uncertainty over exams for final assessment over the last two years the latest information for our year 11 and year 13 is that final exams will be going ahead in 2022. As in previous years, we will continue to work on this basis. We do know the following one-off arrangements:
Formulae sheets
Students will be given a formulae sheet in GCSE Maths and a revised equations sheet in GCSE Physics and GCSE Combined Science covering all the equations required in the subject content. As well as being provided to students in exams, exam boards will make these sheets available to schools beforehand for use in teaching and so students can familiarise themselves with them.
Optionality
Schools and colleges will be given some choice about the topics or content that students will be assessed on in the following qualifications only:
GCSE English Literature
GCSE History
GCSE Geography
We are already aware of these and have adjusted accordingly
Advance information
To help students revise, exam boards will provide advance information about the focus of exams for all subjects at GCSE, AS and A-level – with the exception of:
GCSE English Literature
GCSE History
GCSE Geography
GCSE and A-level Art and Design
Ofqual and the DfE have decided that exam boards will publish advance information by 7 February 2022 – or earlier if the impact of the pandemic worsens. As always, we will keep you informed as information becomes available
Elements Café
Term dates for 2021 to 2022
- Last day of term Friday 22nd October 2021
- Half Term is 25th to 29th October 2021
- Term 2 is Monday 1st November to Friday 17th December 2021
- Christmas break is 20th December to 31st December 2021
- Spring Term starts on Thursday 6th January
Further information can be found our website here: www.utcoxfordshire.org.uk/term-dates/
Please follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook and if you haven't joined our parents Facebook then please do so.
Have a wonderful weekend.
Stay safe
With good wishes
Sam