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All Pupils

Open Evening and Early Finish - Thursday, 19 September 2024

Reminder that our Open Evening is taking place on Thursday, 19 September 2024 from 5.30 pm - 8 pm. The college will close early for all pupils, at 12.40 pm on this date. Transport operators have been notified of this. Please note that any pupils who travel on the 649 Stagecoach service will need to make alternative arrangements for getting home early as Stagecoach are unable to amend the collection time from 3.00 pm to 12.40 pm.

Extra-Curricular Clubs

Please see attached details of all the PE clubs and fixtures that are taking place this week. Please note that all after-college clubs on Thursday, 19 September 2024 are cancelled due to the Open Evening and early finish.

PAPAYA "Let's talk about our kids and their tech"

PAPAYA promotes wellness and improved mental health in adolescents by helping young people achieve a healthy balance with technology.

They conduct workshops with the goal of educating parents and students on the connection between smartphones and the mental well-being of adolescents. They offer practical solutions to help students and families achieve a healthier relationship with their devices through either delaying the smartphone or establishing good tech boundaries.

They aim to support parents to consider:

1. Delaying the introduction of smartphones.
2. Delaying the introduction of social media.
3. Establishing good tech boundaries and promoting safe internet use.

They are running a free Teams meeting on Wednesday 18 September 2024 at 7pm, which anyone is welcome to join. Please use the link on their website to join this event: Papaya Parents

Food Technology Aprons and Containers

All pupils need to bring their own apron and suitable container for practical Food lessons.  Aprons are part of their required equipment and must be brought to each lesson. We have purchased some new plastic containers which are available to buy for 50p and can be re-used.  If you have any spare containers (empty sweet or takeaway containers) that you would be willing to donate, we would be very grateful, please ask your child to drop them to N block, or they can be dropped off at Visitor Reception.

Year 7 & 8

As you may have noticed, "Listory" is a new subject this year.  This subject is a Literacy lesson based within the context of History.  Within these lessons, pupils will be reading books together as a class that have a narrative of the topic they are currently studying in their History lessons. Pupils and staff will read the book while completing linked activities. These tasks might be comprehension questions, descriptive writing or analysing language techniques while also discussing the historical accuracy of the text. The texts have all been chosen to complement the History curriculum and further pupils' understanding of the topic.

The decision to introduce this subject has been made to allow pupils the opportunity to develop their literacy skills outside of their English lessons in another heavy literacy subject of History.

This term's books are:

Year 7 - Peter Frankopan, The Silk Roads

Year 8 - Dominic Sandbrook, Fury of the Vikings

Year 9

The new Unifrog lessons have started, and all Year 9 pupils have had their first introduction to this exciting new tool - we have attached a 'Spotlight on…' Unifrog in case you have missed it. The feedback we have had from pupils and teachers has been very positive and the parent logins will be rolling out very soon.

Next week, a round of assessments will be taking place that require computer suites and chrome books, so Unifrog lessons will be suspended.  This means that during the next 3 Unifrog slots on your child's timetable, your child will be completing some additional History content to support their learning in this curriculum area. If you have any queries or concerns, do let us know by emailing: unifrog-help@swanmore-sec.hants.sch.uk

Year 10 & 11

Richard Taunton Sixth Form College are hosting an OPEN EVENING on Thursday 19 September from 6pm - 8pm. Places can be booked in advance via their website or this link: https://bit.ly/4ebhB1y

This is a great opportunity for pupils to look around the college, find out more about the courses on offer and to meet staff and students. Richard Taunton Sixth Form College | Southampton