The Colet Chronicle

“Through hard work, inspiration, mutual respect and enjoyment, we will achieve success together.”

Headteacher's Welcome

This six week half term has flown by - probably as it has been so busy with trips, visits and events as well as Year 13 mock exams, industrial action taken by some teachers and the continuation of the building work.

Students in Years 11 and 13 will return after the break for their last full half term before GCSE and A Level exams begin. They should be completely focussed on making the most of the half term and every lesson remaining to ensure they secure the very best grades, which in turn widen their opportunities in the future. Year 10 students will also have exams next half term and the guidance on what to revise as well as the timetable is already on the school website.

The six weeks of next half term are packed with more events which you can see on the school calendar. Please note also the addition of the additional Bank Holiday on Monday 8 May resulting from the coronation of King Charles III.

You can see some of the latest photos of the construction sites below. The first of the three shows the scaffolding around the walls being erected for the Sixth Form Centre, which is now due to be completed during the summer holidays. The second and third images are of the Fitness Studio (ground floor) and the base of the first floor Dance Studio (due to finish in June). There is a large hole at the front of the school where the Science /IT Block will be constructed and this work will carry on to the end of the calendar year.

Well done to all students and staff for their hard work this half term. I hope you have a good break next week.

Mobile Phone Policy - 'no see, no hear'

At John Colet we have a 'no see, no hear' policy for mobile phones while students are on school site.

During school hours, should you need to contact your child please telephone the School Office and we will get a message to them. Alternatively if a student needs to contact their parent/carer they should go to student support office where they will be allowed to ring home.

Unfortunately, at times parents try to contact students directly which causes their phone to go off during lessons - this results in the student having their phone confiscated as per our school policy and it will be a parent/carer that will have to pick the mobile phone up from the School Office.

School Attendance

I have noticed an increase in the number of students arriving late for school. I remind parents that students should be on site by 8.27am and in their form rooms ready for registration at 8.30am. The gates are closed at 8.27am and students should ensure they are in school before this time to avoid any sanctions for lateness. If a student is late to school twice in a week, they will receive a C3 after school detention and the simplest way to avoid this is by being on time. We do know that the traffic in the local area can often be challenging and ask that you allow plenty of time for your journey.

As we approach the mid point of the school year, we are also seeing attendance for a number of students drop below 90%. We know that students are likely to reduce their attainment by a whole grade at GCSE for every 10% of school they miss so it is so important they strive to attend every day. There is no reason for students to be absent for minor illnesses such as headaches and tummy aches, please do send them in to school and we will contact you should there condition worsen and they need to go home during the day. Please also return students to school as soon as they are well enough. We also remind you that students should not miss school to go on holiday, go shopping or have family days out and ask that you make arrangements for these activities during the holidays.

If your child is anxious about coming in to school, for whatever reason, we encourage you to send them in to school and contact their form tutor or head of year as soon as possible so we can offer support. We often see parents keeping their children at home when they are worried about coming in to school, and this can lead to longer periods of absence. Parents can access support from the Family Centre Plus in Aylesbury, who offer a drop in service every weekday between 9am - 5pm. They will be open during half term and Family Support Workers will be available and can provide a wealth of support. Please do also sign up to Tooled Up for great advice on how to support your child in attending more regularly.

We will contact you to arrange a meeting to discuss how we can support you in improving your child's attendance if we are concerned about their absence. Low attendance is often a sign of other worries, and our aim is always to try and understand any concerns and put support in place so a student can attend more regularly. Please don't hesitate to get in touch if you have any concerns, or we can help in any way.

With kind regards

Mrs Di Bull

Attendance Improvement Officer

Year 2 multiskills Festival Tuesday 24th January 2023 at Halton School

Please see a reply from the Year 2 Class Teacher:

Hi Hayley,

I just wanted to send an email to say thank you for the multiskills festival on Tuesday. I have had amazing feedback from my headteacher, teaching support staff and the children. Everyone was extremely impressed with the quality of the festival and how brilliant your young leaders were. They were a credit to you and the school. My headteacher commented on how each and every child was competent in the skill/ activity they were sharing and I know that doesn't happen by accident.

The children had an excellent time and wanted to share their thoughts with you too. This was their first multiskills festival since starting school due to Covid etc and they all really enjoyed themselves.

'All of the games were really, really fun'

'One of my favourite times ever'

'The best sports ever'

'We couldn't have done it without the sports leaders'

'I thought it was nice and lovely that we all got to go together'

Thank you once again, we look forward to the next one!

Jen Lambie

Second hand school uniform

We now have a designated space for second hand uniform donations. The school has sufficient supplies currently. More details to follow in due course.

Psychology Trip to Conway Hall

On Wednesday 23rd November 2022, years 12 and 13 went via coach to Conway hall, London for a ‘Psychology Interest Day’ hosted by Hodder education.

As we got there we were introduced to a lecture about ‘eyewitness testimony’ held by professor Kimberly Wade, who is a professor of cognitive psychology at the University of Warwick. Professor Wade mostly focused on eyewitnesses’ recall of different crime scenes. She presented a film clip of a dangerous situation and showed us how different people may recall the occurrences differently, mentioning also how stimuli can alter the information we recall after an incident has occurred.

Professor Chris French

Next up was professor Chris French talking about the psychology of the paranormal. Chris French is the head of the Anomalistic Psychological Research Unit at Goldsmiths, University of London. Chris explained how people interpret paranormal activity by asking us questions and using our responses as illustrations. This intrigued everyone as we were shocked that he could ‘read our minds’. He continued to talk about aliens and explained the strange theory that some people have proposed which is that aliens can ‘kidnap us during our sleep’. Actually it's more likely to be sleep paralysis.

(Prof Chris French)

Helen Kitching

Talking to us next was Helen J. Kitching about the science and psychology behind revision. Helen is a chartered psychologist and fellow of the British psychological society. She presented several types of revision techniques to help us to understand the different techniques that work for different people.

Last up was professor Stephen Reicher speaking to us about ‘why do riots spread between cities?’. He is one of the main researchers of crowd behaviours and social action. He talked to us about how crowd behaviour can be controlled and how behaviour may progress up to riots, including how psychologists look into how we can stop this extreme reaction.

By Matt Marsz and Verity Chapman

Graphics Tournament 6th February 2023

Information about the Graphics tournament

Year 7

Year 8

Year 9

Year 10

Winner Intermediate Stage

Beanstack summary

This year we launched Beanstack to our year 7s. This is a fun, interactive way for students to log and build their reading habits with a little healthy competition, progress reports and prize incentives along the way. The January reading challenge has finally drawn to a close and we are delighted to announce that the following students completed the Bingo challenge! The objective of the challenge was to log as many minutes of reading as they could manage over the course of the month, and complete activities such as reviews along the way. Each time students hit new milestones they would unlock a digital badge on their bingo board (see example below).

Congratulations to the following 13 students for successfully completing a row of their Beanstack reading bingo earning themselves an R2 and chocolate prize!

Lois David 7A

Alexis Sutherland 7G

Haydan Millins 7G

Hashim Mustapha-Ali 7G

Alice Miles 7G

Chloe Jenkins 7G

Isobel Watson 7G

Arthur Barnett 7J

Lily Blake 7T

Hope Tattersall

Alice Cockroft 7Z

Jessica Turner 7Z

Phoenix Darko 7Z

Congratulations to these 14 students who completed the entire bingo grid earning themselves an R4 and £10 Amazon voucher!

Jessica Burman 7C

William Toothill 7G

Tilly Britton 7G

Freddie Houghton 7G

Morgan Ryan 7G

Matilda Bissett 7G

Maddison Wheals-Brown 7J

Faith McInnes 7T

Emily Brown 7T

Molly Farr 7T

Hannah Jaggers 7Z

Cameron James 7Z

Emma Hird 7Z

Catherine Smythe 7Z

New reading challenges will be rolling out monthly. Keep reading and keep an ear out for the next opportunity to win exciting prizes!

Buckinghamshire Family Information Service

Della, an Early Help Information and Outreach Officer from the Family Support Service, will be at our school with Mrs Pearcey our Family Liaison Offer on 20th March between 9-10am for a parent drop in session. Della provides information to families which children and young people aged 0-19 years (up to 25 with a disability/additional need) on family matters, childcare and things to do locally. If you think this would be of benefit to you please drop in anytime between 9-10am. There is no need to book.

Christmas Concert

The Christmas Concert is always a well-attended event and always full of holiday cheer; this year’s event was no different. There was a mix of holiday songs, both traditional and modern, as well as a range of pop and rock songs. Our alumni have said that the Christmas concerts at John Colet School are some of their favourite memories, and it was really great to have a couple of them back to join in the music making.

Team Apollo

Team Apollo from Aylesbury Cheerleading Academy have won a place at The Summit ‘All Star World Championships’ in Florida, April 2023. The team appeared on the local radio on 16th January. We wish them luck.

Article by Tia.

My journey began at Aylesbury Cheer Leading Academy 5 years ago after deciding that gymnastics wasn’t for me and hearing about the fast paced, exciting environment of cheerleading.

I joined in the recreational team Peacocks (all teams are named after butterflies at ACA) and soon found out that cheerleading wasn’t all about yelling at the side of a football game and waving pom-poms despite what many people think or what you see on the television, it takes hard work, commitment, dedication and physical fitness to define sharp acrobatic routines, including synchronised dancing, stunting, tumbling and jumps. I loved that the Academy made it feel like a second family and I loved making new friends and feeling like I was part of something special.

Try outs for a team are every year and I was keen to be part of a team competing across the country. I therefore tried out to become a Ringlet and was successful! I remember my first completion in London. It was electric! The atmosphere and sense of team spirit was addictive and I knew then this was what I wanted to do. Watching the older athletes as they mastered complicated routines to the sounds of the crowds and other teams cheering and clapping to the music. I wanted to be like them and although I knew it was going to take a lot of time and commitment I was prepared to do what it took to be one of the best.

The next year I tried out again and made Team Graylings but sadly after only 2 competitions the pandemic hit and the whole sporting world froze. We were told we could not go out or be in contact with anyone other than immediate family. The novelty of no school soon wore off and it become sadder and sadder that I couldn’t even see my Nan, grandad, auntie and cousins let alone all my lovely cheer friends and team mates that I had made.

Aylesbury cheerleading academy were very supportive though and were determined not to let covid completely shatter all our dreams. We all worked tirelessly in our front rooms on zoom calls perfecting our skills, conditioning and stretching our bodies to keep up our fitness. My mum even bought me a tumble mat that we laid out in the living room practising handsprings and tumbles! It was weird but we didn’t give up.

3 years later and 3 further team placements, I am now an athlete of 2 teams, ACA Apollo and ACA Painted Ladies. Team Apollo have won an international bid to compete in Summit world championships in Florida this year and we have not only been focusing on a routine worthy to take to the states but fundraising for the money to be able to get there. So far we have raised just over half of the 30,000 needed by making and selling cakes at bakes sales, bingo and quiz evenings, Christmas fayres, raffles and supermarket bag packing. We have been fortunate that some local organisations have donated funds and sponsored us but we still have a long way to go and time is ticking. We are still looking for any help or support by donations of raffle prizes or anyway that people can. Please help us achieve our dreams!

Next week we are taking part in our annual showcase in Aylesbury to show everyone what we have been working hard on so far. It’s a build up to the start of our competitive year where we will be entering competitions not only in Florida but also across the UK. I am excited for what the future in cheerleading holds for me and loving making very special memories along the way.

Recognition points

Recognition points are awarded for our character values; ready, respectful and responsible and for characteristics that promote academic progress; resourceful, resilient and readers. We continue to strive for a rewards based culture where students receive far more recognition points than consequence points. The current ratio is 5.5:1. Recognition points: Consequence points. Congratulations to the tutor groups with the most recognition points at the time of writing 3/2/22.

The average R points per student is 63.73 and the average C points is 11.54

Congratulations to the following students who have the most recognition points in the school; an achievement they should be proud of.

Congratulations to 7Z; 8TA; 9T; 10Z; 11C and 6N for currently topping the tutor group R points tables.

Year 7

Well done to the year 7 students who took part in the Year Council project: ‘Christmas cards of Kindness’ there were over 121 entries to this. This half term 7G have worked together as part of their Make a Difference Week to raise awareness of Lindengate which is a nature based health and wellbeing charity based in Wendover.

Year 9

Twelve students represented the school in the second of three daily events for the Model United Nations - they performed incredibly well and confidently during the mock conference and really did Mr Devine and the school proud. The final conference is on the 3rd March at Wycombe Council Chambers.

Two of our Year 9 students have got roles in theatre productions at Aylesbury Waterside - Hayden Carey has got the lead role in a production of ‘We Will Rock You’, and Cara Jones a role in ‘Grease’, both to be performed later this Spring.

Faith Trustram, Cara Jones, Willow Wiseman, Lexi White, Esther Cann and Isla Cruse (along with other KS4 and KS5 students in other years) all did some great work in a workshop with a professional director from the Coram Shakespeare for Schools festival, in advance of a production scheduled for March.

Year 10

The first week back after the Christmas break was 10T's MAD week. They collected items for the Chiltern Foodbank facilitated by the Wendover Free Church.

Year 11

Katy Hubbard in 11J has been working with her cheerleading squad to help create a more inclusive club, helping to run sessions for young adults who have learning difficulties. Miss Smith has been working with the Year 11 student council on their yearbook. All pupils have been working incredibly hard by organising new school photos and editing the yearbook themselves.Year book

Tooled Up

If you haven’t signed up to ‘tooled up’ yet I urge you to. We subscribe to a library of resources for parents designed to boost children’s resilience, self-esteem and mental health to help them thrive throughout their educational journey and beyond.

Go to www.tooledupeducation.com/register.
Fill in your name, email address and chosen password.
Add your unique school PIN. Our PIN is JCS2206

If you already have an account, simply log in here using your email address and password. If you forget your details, use the reset password function to reset your account.

If you ever need assistance, contact the Tooled Up team, who will be happy to help: support@tooledupeducation.com.

Once you are logged in, click on the Resources button in the top left corner to discover the vast library of evidence-based support at your fingertips

Modern Foreign Language Department

This year the MFL department have launched a new initiative to celebrate some of our students and highlight, both in school and at home, how hard they are working. Our language stars aren't necessarily the students who are getting full marks on their tests or homework but they are the students who are standing out to us as working hard, trying their very best, engaging in their lessons, persevering to better their understanding and perhaps going that extra mile.

We have a celebratory board in the MFL corridor where the names are displayed each week and a postcard is sent home to the student for them to share their success. They also receive an R2 from their teacher.

So far this January our language stars have been:

Archie Babbington
Amie Macwhirter
Ajay Jatheeson
Philippa Hare,
Lillian Aryal
Bobby Dormer
Poppy Wells
Evie Moore
Riah Fox
Alex Louis
Ella Eden
Umair Haque

We look forward to celebrating more language stars over the rest of the year.

England Judo Squad

I would like to share with you some news of recent judo success achieved by one of your students.

As you may be aware Jessica and her sister Sophie both do judo at our family club rushjudo.

Both were selected for the England Judo Squad following medal success at the English championships in Sept.

However just over a week ago Jessica competed at the Great Britain championships in Sheffield and won a bronze medal.

In judo terms this is the highest level in the UK and for her to get the medal is amazing. I know she hasn’t told the school so as a proud coach (and dad) I wanted to let you know!

Car Parking

Please can all visitors, staff, parents and students who drive to school be considerate when parking nearby. Please do not block our neighbours driveways, park directly opposite them or endanger lives by parking on the yellow lines.

Whilst parked and waiting would you kindly turn off your engine so this does not pollute the atmosphere or have future health implications for your child or the public.

Also, please be aware that the Memorial Hall Car Park and the Wendover Health Centre are not to be used for dropping off and collecting students to and from school.

Sausage Pasta Bake

Valentine's Biscuits

Campus Safety

Remember that vehicles should not be driven onto campus unless you are authorised to do so by the school office. Please park and walk. Unauthorised drivers are increasing the risk of accident by significantly adding to the volume of traffic.

If authorised to do so, parents should drop-off directly in front of reception. Please do not use the parking bays for drop-off. The car-park directly in front of school is for staff vehicles only.

Job Vacancies

We are currently looking for Key workers, Teacher of Computer Science and IT, Classroom/Learning Support Assistants, Food Technician and Caretaker - Key holder.

Full Job descriptions can be found on the John Colet School website, under 'about', then 'vacancies'.

Free School Meals

If your circumstances have changed recently and you think you are eligible for free school meals please get in touch via pupilpremium@johncolet.co.uk and we can complete a simple check for you.

Lost Property

We have numerous items of lost property including coats , odd shoes, trainers and water bottles. If you are missing any items, please ask your child to visit Student Welfare Officer's office. All unclaimed items will be donated to charity at the end of term.

Please can I ask that your child's name is put on everything. Thank you

This is a quick and easy way to help with fundraising for
John Colet School.

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