UTC Oxfordshire
Newsletter - 25th June 2021
Dear all,
We hope you have had a fabulous week. We had a very successful Sixth Form Open Event, despite the Covid restrictions and at last, were able to open our doors for visitors to see our amazing facilities. We had student support from year 10 and year 12 in all areas of the school and were able to demonstrate our engineering machinery, the scanning electron microscope and at long last our cryogenics lab was in action. The photos below are courtesy of Ed Bennett who is part of our thriving Student Leadership board.
National Barcode Day
National Barcode Day commemorates more than 40 years of efficiency and accuracy that began on June 26, 1974, when a clerk scanned a 10-pack of Wrigley’s Juicy Fruit gum at a Marsh supermarket in Troy, OH. On that day, the barcode system invented by George Lauer, an IBM engineer, began to change the world.
Since then, barcodes have been revolutionizing industries all over the world. Barcodes, also known as UPC, 1 Dimensional (1D) codes, contain data that help businesses and organizations do their jobs more easily. A more modern version of the barcode is called a QR code, or a 2-dimensional (2D) code. The QR code contains even more data than the 1D code.
Look and see where this one takes you (hover your camera from your cell phone over the image).
Barcodes contain a wealth of information, including pricing, product, dates, manufacturer, and shipping. They are ideal for tracking inventory and sales, but they do so much more than that. Almost every industry uses barcodes, and they likely make your life easier without you even knowing it.
Where can you find barcodes besides retail products?
VINs – Tracking a car’s history became easier when a barcode was added to the VIN.
Libraries – Barcodes track books, videos, periodicals, resources in and out of the library.
Logistics – Every major shipper uses barcodes to track shipments and deliver your orders.
Healthcare – Barcodes help keep patient care more streamlined and records at the provider’s fingertips.
Agriculture – Farmers use barcodes to track harvests and livestock.
Imagine how different our lives would be without these unobtrusive black and white bars and that satisfying beep every time we scan a product, delivery, or file. It is certainly a technology that will be around for a long time, simplifying our lives. That’s another reason to celebrate National Barcode Day!
Assessments
Staff have worked hard this week to provide the work requested by the exam boards for the Teacher assessed grades. Results will be available on August 10th for year 13 and August 12th for year 11. We will send further details about these events in due course.
We will be holding our end of year examinations, also called Pre-Public Examinations (PPEs) from Monday 28th June to Tuesday 6th July inclusive. These exams are for Y10 GCSE and Y12 A level students, including Core Maths. Students will be off timetable and will only need to be in for their exams. Time at home should be spent revising for the next exam.
Lateral flow tests Covid 19
Face coverings are still required around the buildings and the use of hand sanitiser in and out of classrooms is still continuing. Your support is appreciated.
Please continue to register your test results on the Government Website and also log them for our school records Covid Test Result Log.
Elements Café
Opportunities
The Sun- A star at the centre of our solar system: Thursday 1 July 10:30-11:30, Key Stage 4-5 / Age 14-18
We are really excited to be working with UKAEA Culham Centre for Fusion Energy on this online event, linked to the GCSE curriculum, all about how stars work! As well as ‘visiting’ Culham, we will be hearing from our solar physicists at RAL Space, as well as well as finding out how our Central Laser Facility uses super-powerful lasers to create miniature stars – and supernovae! – in the lab.
For more information and to register please visit https://thesun-jul2021.eventbrite.co.uk
Secondary School Health Team Newsletter Term 6 June 2021
Oxford Mail News
Dates for the diary
Monday 28th June - Year 10 and Year 12 end of year assessments
Monday 19th July - welcome event for new year 10's joining us
Last week of Term - ABC Week for year 10 and 12 (Alternative Based Curriculum) including the Race for Life on Tuesday 20th July
Wednesday 21st July - Summer break (finish lunchtime)
Tuesday 10th August - A-level results (onsite)
Thursday 12th August - GCSE Results (onsite)
Looking further ahead:
- Friday 3rd September - Year 10 and 12 first day of Autumn Term
- Monday 6th September - Whole school start of term
Have a great weekend
Stay safe
With good wishes
Sam