NEWSLETTER Caroline Chisholm School

October 2007

Inside: • School Homework Policy • Parents Evenings and Open Evenings • School Nurse • Assessment and Reporting Cycles • Remote Access to Files and

Resources • Sixth Form Rocks • Exam Invigilators • Sports News • Extra-Curricular Clubs

Great Start To VI Form At CCS

Over one hundred students have joined the very first Year 12 at CCS, choosing from over

twenty five different subject as diverse as

Chinese and Child Care as well as the more traditional such as Economics and Maths. The

students are creating and enjoying a friendly and studious atmosphere within their Post 16

Common Room. This is what just a few of

them think of it so far:

“6th is a constant buzz” - Sian-Blue Rogers

“Social and academic heaven”,

“ New knowledge, new friends.

A new experience”,

“More freedom, brilliant teachers, amazing

facilities”,

“5 star!” - Jordan Redshaw

Students Scoop Cash prizes in GCSE

Financial Studies Six students from Year 11 have received cash prizes from the

IFS School of Finance to recognise their UK-topping

performance in the GCSE Financial Studies course in summer 2007.

This is an excellent achievement considering that over one

thousand students completed the GCSE course and this class was the first cohort from CCS to complete the course.

Students learnt about the sources and uses of money

(including the legal and practical constraints); the methods of organising their money through personal budgeting; the

use of appropriate banks and building society accounts and the concepts and consequence of foreign exchange.

A number of the students have continued their studies at

Post16 level and are following the Year 12 AS Level Financial Studies course, where similar prizes are also awarded for top

performance.

Well done to all the students involved and we look forward to reporting on future success from the Financial Studies

courses.

Mrs Rose / Miss Luxton Overall top scores

Danny Shanahan 2nd highest overall in the UK £50

Bhanu Prabhakar 3rd highest overall in the UK £25

Prizes for Unit 1

Navi Atwal and Bhanu Prabhakar - joint 2nd £20 each

Prizes for Unit 2 Danny Shanahan 1st £30

Hassan Valji joint 2nd £20

Prizes for Unit 3 Ashley Doggett and Shaun Barnett - joint 2nd £20 each

A Big Thank you to all the students who

have been auditioning for ‘Oliver.’ We have had more than 350 students auditioning

from year 3 – 12 and casting has been a difficult job for the performing arts team with so many talented students to chose

from. We have grown so much since our production of ‘Caroline’

back in 2005. The production will be running from Thursday 14th February to Saturday 16th February and the final cast list is to be

finalised next week with rehearsals beginning week after. We are still looking for musicians and any students who have

recently joined and still hiding their instrumental talents are urged to contact Mrs Readman or Miss Kerby as soon as

possible. We look forward to seeing you all on the performance

evenings. Mrs Kavanagh

Oliver!

School Homework Policy

Homework is an important part of our work at Caroline Chisholm School. The key elements of our homework

policy are as follows:

⇒ Meaningful homework will be set regularly wherever

it is appropriate. For most subjects the majority of

the time this will mean one homework per week.

⇒ On many occasions, this will mean written tasks

which support or extend work done in lessons, but

may also be more practical activities such as web-based research, preparation of IT-based

presentations or materials for practical lessons, or watching news programmes of events related to

current lesson topics.

⇒ Where possible, students will be given more than

evening to complete and submit homework,

although this may not always be the case where lessons take place on consecutive days.

⇒ For older students, homework will often take the

form of assessed coursework assignments, which may take place over weeks or even months. This

will usually be split up into components with interim deadlines, but may not appear as regular weekly

entries in student planners.

⇒ All students are given a planner in which to record

homework assignments. Planners should be checked

each week and signed by parents. If there are any issues with homework, parents should contact their

child’s form tutor in the first instance.

In previous years, we have produced a formal weekly

homework timetable for each year group. However, the complexity of the pattern of homework and the

commitment to students that they should be given more

than one working day to complete it means that we have chosen not to publish such a timetable this year. Instead,

parents should use the planner to check that their child is recording homework commitments. All students have a

formal lesson timetable which is kept in the planner so that parents can see what lessons are taught each day.

School Nurse We now have a School Nurse who is here to help you. The school nurse is the first person you may wish to speak to for confidential advice

and information about your health. She has 2 main roles: * To give you confidential advice, care and treatment * To look after and protect your physical and emotional health

She is also looking after PSHE in the curriculum What can I go and see the school nurse for?

To refer you to somebody else who can help you, e.g. a doctor If you have long-term health problems

To talk about your health To de-stress and get emotional support e.g. if you have problems at home or with your friends

To talk about your weight and healthy eating To receive information and leaflets e.g. on how to give up smoking or for information about sex

To learn how to examine yourself e.g. for breast cancer or testicular cancer

Her drop-in times for emotional wellbeing issues are Tuesdays and Fridays from 12.00 - 13.30. For medical issues, please continue to go to the medical room.

Parents Evenings and Open Evenings – Key dates

for 2007-8 Year Parents' Evening Dates

Prospective Year

7 [Present Year 6]

Thurs 11.10.2007 Open Evening

7 Thurs 1.11.2007 Tutor Evening

All Tutor Groups

7 Thurs 01.05.2008

Year 7 Subject Evening 7MS, 7ARL, 7JR, 7JF

7

Thurs 08.05.2008

Year 7 Subject Evening 7LWT, 7DJ, 7DH, 7CWS

8 Thurs 05.06.2008

Year 8 Subject Evening 8GD, 8JHN, 8HL

8 Thurs 12.06.2008

Year 8 Subject Evening 8MK, 8AP, 8CT, 8MRE

9 Tues 12.02.2008

Year 9 Options Evening All Tutor Groups

9 Thurs 06.03.2008

Year 9 Subject Evening 9CC, 9LMK, 9BB

9 Thurs 13.03.2008

Year 9 Subject Evening 9APS, 9LR, 9JBW, 9SMR

10 Thurs 13.12.2007

Subject Evening All Tutor Groups

11 Thurs 17.01.2008

Post-16 Open Evening

11 Thurs 07.02.2008

Year 11 Subject Evening All Tutor Groups

12 Tutor evening

Thurs 1.11.2007 All Tutor Groups

12 Thurs 27.03.2008

Year 12 Subject Evening All Groups

On Thursday 20th September, myself

and two other students organised

a charity gig in the drama studio to

raise money for the Ugandan

schools project. We took on the

responsibility of booking the drama

studio, organizing bands to come in,

selling tickets, organizing refreshments, publicising, setting up and carrying out the event. After a lot of hard work and preparation,

setting up the electrical equipment and venue we were ready to go. The doors opened at 7.30 and shortly after you could feel the

buzz of anticipation for the first band to come on. The first act, Six

Minutes Till Morning, opened the evening in style with the whole crowd on the dance floor soaking up the atmosphere of the act's

debut gig, it couldn't have gone better. The next band, Lost in December, put on another excellent performance, with excitement

mounting amongst the crowd. The last band, Where on Earth, fresh back from a UK tour with the LP out, executed an energetic,

passionate and flawless performance. The crowd interaction along with charismatic and at times mental dancing saw the perfect end

to a great night. The night raised a total of £514.10, which is very appreciated by all. Josh Knight Y12

Sixth Form Rocks!

Assessment and Reporting Cycle - Key dates for 2007-8

Dates Year

Group

Thurs

18.10.2007

Wed

12.12.2007

Wed

06.02.2008

Wed

26.03.2008

Thurs

20.05.2008 Mon 14.07.2008

7 Interim Report Interim Report Interim Report Main Report Interim Report Main Report

8 Interim Report Interim Report Interim Report Interim Report Main Report Interim Report

9 Interim Report Interim Report Main Report Interim Report Interim Report Interim Report

10 Interim Report Interim Report Interim Report Main Report Interim Report Interim Report

11 Interim Report Main Report Interim Report Interim Report Students In Exams - No Report

Year 11 on post exam leave - no

report

12 Interim Report Interim Report Interim Report Main Report Students in Exams - No Report

Interim Report

Exam Invigilators

NJC Scale 2 point 11 £7.18 per hour (pay award pending)

Caroline Chisholm School is looking to recruit a team of invigilators to help oversee internal and external

examinations.

Examination Invigilators are employed to ensure the fair and proper conduct of examinations in an environment that

enables exam candidates to perform at their best. Duties include assisting with setting up examination venues,

enforcing exam procedures, and supervising candidates.

If you are a reliable, confident, conscientious individual

looking for work on a flexible basis throughout the year, but

especially in the months of January, March, May-June and November, we would like to hear from you.

Full training will be provided to the successful applicants.

To request an application pack please telephone the school on 01604 669200.

Remote Access to Files and Resources The school web address is www.ccs.northants.sch.uk, from this point pupils can use a range of resources, pick up e-mail and drop files into their user area when connected to the internet. Most of the key shortcuts can be linked from this section of the site.

WEBMAIL: Login to e-mail from the "webmail" link, send and recieve mail to staff and pupils from this point. Use the “Check Names” icon to check the e-mail address of the sender.

MY FILES: View files in their user area. Pupils can copy files from their home computer and paste into their

school user area to pick up at school.

INTRANET: The School Intranet serves as an internal resource for which pupils can view resources and upload assignments as directed by their subject teacher. It is under development but will work

well as a central communication point within the school network.

REMOTE ACCESS: Pupils can download to their desktop the CCS Remote Desktop

tool. This enables them to login to their user area and work with applications that would not normally be available outside of the school network. Follow the

instructions closely and use the CCS Remote Desktop shortcut (which will appear on your desktop) to login. The “Full Screen Windows Curriculum” will enable pupils to use the Start menu and access programs and other tools. Ctrl Esc to

flip back to your usual Windows desktop.

A few dates for your diary:

CCSF AGM – Tuesday 9th October, 7.30

room E13 Christmas Fayre: Sunday 2nd December, 2 –

4 pm

Bag 2 School Collection – 28th January 2008

At the end of every school year, one male and one female student from Years 7, 8, 9 and 10 is chosen by the PE Department to

receive the “Outstanding Contribution to Physical Education”

award. This award is given to those who have shown great sportsmanship, ability, attitude and commitment to

sports both at CCS and also with any extra curricular sports they may do.

Many congratulations to the winners from the school year 2006 – 2007. Year 7 – Jake Roberts and

Louisa Burgham, Year 8 – George Herbert and

Danielle Warren, Year 9 – Sam Heavey and Ellis Johnson and in Year 10 – Matt Vine and Natasha Chamberlain. This is a fantastic achievement by these students. Well done!

Casuals Rugby Football Club

The PE department has established a school – club rugby link with Casuals Rugby Football Club. Four of

the Casuals RFC youth coaches took a session on Tuesday 18th Sept at school. This has the aim of developing player’s skills and experience. They are specifically looking for players in the U13 (Year 8) age

group, but all players are welcome. They train on Sundays at 10:30am and there is a club house with a full licensed bar for mum and dad. Phone Philip Staniford on 07867 762255 or visit www.ncrfc.com

Please see PE notice board for team sheets and info

regarding forthcoming fixtures.

Extra-Curricular Clubs At CCS we have a large number of extra-curricular clubs which

students are encouraged to attend. These run before school, at lunchtimes and after school. Everyone welcome!

Sporting Clubs

Mon Art Club for Y7,8,9 from 3.20 – 4.00 in E2 with Miss

Saunders Craft Club from 3.30 – 4.15 in D3 with Miss Smith

Maths Puzzle Club for Y7 from 3.30 in C4 with Mrs Tiller

Tue Media Club for Y7,8 & 9 3:30 – 4:30pm in C8 with Mrs

Elms Film Club for all years 3:30 – 4:30pm in the Lecture

Theatre with Mr Rowe Engineering Club for all years 3:30 – 4:30pm in D2

with Mr Jousiffe GCSE Product Design Support - Practical and design

folio from 3.15-4.00pm in D2 or D7 with Miss Horton

Wed Year 11 Art Club from 3:20 – 4:30pm in E1 with Mrs

Wilkie GCSE Art sessions from 3:20 – 4:30pm in E2 with Miss

Saunders Creative Writing from 3:30 – 4:30pm Years 7 & 8 in

C18 with Miss L Wright Creative Writing from 3:30 – 4:30pm Years 9, 10 & 12

in C22 with Miss Patel

Thu Debating & Public Speaking Society 3:30 – 4:30pm for

all years in the Lecture Theatre with Miss Patel & Miss J Wright

Before School Clubs

Tue – strings group 8.30 in the drama studio Fri – brass band 8.30 – 9 in the drama studio

Lunchtime Clubs

GCSE Textiles Club lesson 4B with Mrs Porter

GCSE Product Design Support - Folio & ICT support 1:00 – 1:30pm in D7.

After School Clubs

Girls Extra-Curricular Clubs

Day Lunch Time After School

3.30-4.30pm

Mon Y7 Interform

competitions

Twilight Year 10, 11

Tue Netball & Hockey

Cobblers football sessions for Y7,8 & 9

Wed Y8 Interform

competitions

Rugby & Football Y7,8 & 9

X-Country all years

Thu Fitness Workouts

Boys Extra-Curricular Clubs

Day Lunch Time After School

3.30-4.30pm

Mon Y7 Interform

Competitions

Twilight Year 10, 11

Tue Rugby Y7,8,9 & 10

Wed Y8 Interform

competitions

Football Y7,8,9 & 10

X-country all years 6th form Football

Trampolining Y9 & 10

Lost Valuables We have a large selection of mobile phones, jewellery, watches and glasses in Student Services.

Many are from the past 3 years. Please come and

claim these by half term or they will be donated to charity.