Woodlands Newsletter 27/11/15

@Woodlands_CC

Upcoming Diary Dates

At Woodlands we aim to become an outstanding school by INSPIRING and CHALLENGING

our pupils so that they ACHIEVE well and are able to enjoy successful and happy futures

Woodlands has social networking accounts on

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December

7th KS4 Mock Exams Start Dec 7th to Dec 18th

December

9th Half Day INSET

School finishes at 12.10pm

Inspiring

Challenging

Achieving

December

3rd GCSE Presentation Evening 6.30pm to 8.45pm

December

10th Year 7 Curriculum Evening

5.00pm to 7.30pm

“Your child's education is your child's future.

Don't let them waste it.”

ISSUE 11

Christmas Jumper Day

Christmas jumper day is coming back! On Friday, 18th December, for 50p, students and staff are invited to wear Christmas jumpers to raise money for children’s charities.

A Message from our Head Teacher… Dear Parents/Carers,

We are rapidly approaching the mock examination period for Years 10 and 11. It is crucial that KS4 students are revising for these in a structured way. As parents, it is useful to make sure the exam timetable is on the fridge or somewhere prominent in the house so that you are all aware of when the dates are. A copy of the exam timetable is in this newsletter to help you know this information. Making sure a good night’s sleep is had before each exam is also very important. Thank you in advance for your support with this.

For those of you with children in Year 11, a priority along with revision for the exams, is applying for a college place. Many of our Year 11 students have already secured places. Your child’s mentor should be supporting them with this process. If you are concerned that your child has not yet applied, or have some questions about the process, please do contact Mrs Lance at the school who will be happy to advise.

On Saturday, 21st November some of our students (pictured right) had the opportunity to watch the Saints versus Stoke match at St Mary’s. They were treated to a meal and seats in an executive box. A great time was had by all. These students were chosen because of their commitment to after school sports sessions. We are extremely lucky to be working with the Saints Foundation and Ben Keens, our new Community Champion, is able to provide extensive sporting opportunities for our young people. Please do speak to Ben or any of the PE team about these opportunities.

Best wishes,

Toni Sambrook

December

18th End of Autumn Term

School finishes at 12noon

Artwork of the Week

Student: Chaya Brown

Year: 10

Media: Oil pastels

**ATTENTION YEAR 7 PARENTS**

COMING SOON! Year 7 Curriculum Evening,

Thursday, 10th December, 2015 from 5.00pm to 7.30pm

Accelerated Reading

NEW! ** BOOK OF THE WEEK **

Our students are very lucky to have access to probably the best stocked school Library in the area. Mrs Littlecott, our LRC manager, reviews all the latest publications and buys or loans new books on a regular basis. We are aware though that a big range of books, though exciting, can be daunting for even the keenest readers to select authors and styles that they will enjoy. We are now going to promote one book each week to share ideas and entice students to try something different; so if your child has discovered an exciting new book ask them to tell us about it and we can spread the word!

Our 1st Book of the Week is:

“Pig Heart Boy” by Malorie Blackman was first published in 1997. It was shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal and adapted into a television series. This is the poignant story of thirteen-year-old, Cameron Kelsey, waiting for a heart transplant. The issues raised are always topical and thought provoking. Book level 4.3 (green).

It is just over a week now until our fun Christmas tombola, tickets will be ONLY 20p, they will be sold before school and during breaks all week (commencing 7th December). The money raised will go towards the cost of a visiting author on Authors’ Day 2016.

Well done to all our students who are taking quizzes regularly. 74% of students passed at least

1 quiz in the past 30 days. Many have passed several! Accuracy is also increasing; all Houses have maintained or improved their percentage pass rate this week.

ARMSTRONG is tantalisingly close to the 85% target, on 84.8%.

Oliver

Beadle

Daniel

Brimson

Ciaran

Chapman

Caitlin

Hickman

Melody

Islam

Ruby

Kill

Jannath

Miah

Kally

Reed

Brandon

Rosamond

Amy

Shearing

Our Reading Stars this week, selected for their effort and achievement...

DASH

DASH are offering free educational presentations around the subject of child sexual exploitation. Child sexual exploitation can ruin children’s lives, but it doesn’t just impact on the victims, it affects their parents, siblings and the entire family.

Child sexual exploitation is a hugely distressing, but fairly rare form of sexual, emotional and physical abuse of children. Knowing the signs and being aware of the support available can help to equip parents and carers with the knowledge and tools to act.

If you want to know more about the 7 stages of grooming and spotting the signs that a child or young person may be being groomed to be exploited then please come along to our presentation on Thursday, 3rd December from 2.45pm to 3.45pm, at Woodlands Community College.

For more information or to register your interest in attending this presentation please contact Mrs Vadher at the school on priti.vadher@woodlands.southampton.sch.uk

Saints Foundation Trip

On Saturday, 21st November six selected students went to St. Mary’s Stadium to watch the Southampton vs Stoke game. Although Saints lost the

game 0-1 to Stoke, it was still a day to remember. The students spent the day in an executive box provided to the school by the Premier League where they were waited on with free food and drink throughout the day. After the game they were offered the chance to meet Southampton’s centre back Virgil van Dijk, who kindly signed all their programmes and posed for pictures. All this excitement was not quite over! Whilst leaving to return home they were also lucky enough to get a group photo with

Southampton midfielder Dušan Tadić (pictured left) and add another signature to their collection. Even though the students seemed in shock during points of the day they were fantastic throughout.

Numeracy Across the Curriculum

Two weeks ago pupils were shown how the Scoville Scale is used to measure the hotness of chillies. Pupils were challenged to create their own scale for measuring a particular property of food. The winning entry was submitted by Jannath Miah. This Friday, pupils spent 20 minutes learning about the importance of measurement in the construction industry.

This week’s competition is to investigate any unusual units of measurement. Pupils need to submit details of their chosen unit ensuring that this includes a description of what the unit is used to measure. This should be handed or emailed to Mr Caplen by Thursday, 3rd December. A prize will be awarded to the best entry.

Eco Zone

In a study of 40 schools

engaged in environmental

education, 92% of the cases studied saw

better mastery of math skills.

By Brandon Budd,

Eco Squad

**Parents’ Information Notice**

A reminder that students are not allowed energy drinks in school. If a student has one, it will unfortunately have to be confiscated and thrown away. As I am sure you are aware they have a very high sugar content which is extremely bad for a young person’s health. High levels of sugar also affect behaviour. Thank you as always for your support.

We are very proud of the students at Woodlands and regularly receive compliments regarding their positive behaviour and attitude inside and outside of school. However, there are unfortunately a handful of pupils who are currently letting down our community outside of school. We have therefore had to remind students in assembly this week about how they conduct themselves outside of school. We would appreciate it if you could encourage your child to work as a community and report any poor behaviour that they see outside of school so that we address this.

Guitar and Drum Lessons

Woodlands contracts specialist instrumental and

vocal teachers in order to offer additional, affordable, dedicated

music tuition to our students outside of their classroom Music

lessons. The cost of these lessons is significantly subsidised by the

school.

We currently have space to take new

students in the following instruments:

guitar, bass guitar and drums.

Lessons are held at the end of the school day in our dedicated

suite of music practice rooms.

For further information, please speak to Mrs. Allen, Subject

Leader for Performing Arts, either by telephoning the school on

(023) 8046 3303 or email to:-

rebecca.allen@woodlands.southampton.sch.uk

Next PD Day – 3rd DecemberWhat is your child learning?

Year Topic

7Relationships - Friendship and Internet safety

- Family valuesThe British Values of mutual respect

8

Healthy Choices - What makes a healthy diet- What makes a healthy mind

The British Values of individual liberty All Year 8 pupils need to bring in their full P.E. kit and a bottle of water

9Careers - Looking towards a bright futureThe British Values of democracy

10Relationships - Making healthy choices and understanding consequences The British Values of the rule of law

11Keeping Safe - Sexual Health and awareness of alcohol consequences The British Values of tolerance of different faiths and beliefs.

Science News, Clubs & Activities

Has your child got their study and revision guide yet? Science study and revision guides for Years 10 and 11 are on sale at a reduced cost of £4.00 per copy. Year 11 students taking Triple Science with Mrs Wilcox and Mr Doulton can purchase a revision guide for £2.75. We are also offering a student study guide for Year 7 students for the reduced price of £5.50. Students can pay at the front office and bring their receipt to the Science Prep room to collect a copy.

YEAR 11

10 Days

Science Mock Exam

MONDAY, DECEMBER 7th

YEAR 10

14 Days

Science Mock Exam

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 11th

Out of Hours Study and Revision Timetable

for KS4 students

Effective from: Monday, 30th November, 2015

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday

Year 11 Week A

Maths English Science Option Y Art – invite only Photography – invite only PE Catering Textiles Computer Science Travel & Tourism Drama iMedia

Year 11 Week B

Maths Option W Construction Geography History Art – Year 2

Option X Spanish French Catering (2yr) Resistant Materials ICT Cambridge Nationals

Option Y Art – invite only Photography – invite only PE Catering Textiles Computer Science Travel & Tourism Drama iMedia

Year 10 Week A

Computer Science ICT Cambridge Nationals

Option Y Art – invite only Photography – invite only PE Catering Textiles Computer Science Travel & Tourism Drama iMedia

Year 10 Week B

Computer Science ICT Cambridge Nationals

Science Option Y Art – invite only Photography – invite only PE Catering Textiles Computer Science Travel & Tourism Drama iMedia

Mock Exams December 2015

Date Subject Time/Length Location

Tues 1st

Dec Art Practical Year 11W Group Periods 1 to 5 Art Rooms

Fri 4th

Dec Art/Photography Practical Periods 1 to 5 Art Rooms

Mon 7th

Dec

Science – Year 11 1 Year Options: Textiles, Further Add Science, Travel & Tourism, PE, Computer Science Music, Art, Photography, iMedia, Drama and Dance

9am

1pm

Periods 4 & 5

Sports Hall

Sports Hall

Regular classrooms

Tues 8th

Dec Maths (Paper 1) Option W: History, Geography, Construction Art

9am

1pm

Periods 4 & 5

Sports Hall

Sports Hall

Regular classrooms

Wed 9th

Dec Option X: Resistant Materials, Childcare, Catering, Computer Science French and Spanish Reading

9am

9am

Sports Hall

Gym

Thurs 10th

Dec English EAL – Year 10

9am

Periods 4 & 5

Sports Hall

Gym

Fri 11th

Dec Maths (Paper 2) Science – Year 10

9am

1pm

Sports Hall

Sports Hall

Mon 14th

Dec Drama Practical Periods 1 to 5 Drama Studio

Tues 15th

Dec PE Practical Periods 1 to 5 PE Department

Fri 18th

Dec Year 11 Science Coursework (only if advised by Mr Weston) Periods 1 & 2 Classroom