Term 6 Update from the Heads of School

Dear Parents/Carers

We hope this update finds you all well as the summer term comes towards a close. In this update:

Term 6 update

• Exam series for Year 11 and 13 students
• Year 10 Statistics Exam
• Events in Term 6
• Attendance
• Attendance ahead of end of Year exams
• Uniform in Term 6
• What’s coming up in PSHE

Exams for Year 11 and 13 students have finished!

We are delighted to say that our Year 11 and Year 13 students have been an absolute credit to their families and the school. We’ve seen excellent attendance, punctuality and work ethic throughout Terms 5 and 6. We look forward to welcoming many of our Year 11s back to study at our Sixth Form Centre and attending our Year 12 Induction Week which is between Monday 4^th July and Friday 8^th July.

If you have any questions about course availability or late applications to our Sixth Form, please direct them to Mrs Hooper, Head of Sixth Form: hp@kingdown.wilts.sch.uk

Year 10 Statistics Exam

On Friday 24^th June, over 150 Year 10 students sat their Statistics GCSE. Our Exams Team would like to pass on their thanks for exemplary attendance and behaviour before, during and after the exam. Remember to keep these habits through to your other GCSE exams in Year 11.

Events in Term 6

It really is nice to approach Term 6 and look ahead to the great range of trips and events in the term ahead. A reminder of some of these are below:

• A Level Art Trip to London, 30^th June to 2^nd July
• Year 9 Duke of Edinburgh Bronze Expedition, Friday 1^st July to Saturday 2^nd July
• Year 10 Duke of Edinburgh Bronze Expedition, Sunday 10^th July to Monday 11^th July
• KS3 Harry Potter Trip, Monday 11^th July
• A Level Geography Field Trip, Tuesday 12^th July
• Year 12 Geography Field Trip, Thursday 14^th to Friday 15^th July
• Year 10 Art Trip to Bristol, Friday 15^th July
• Matilda Jr - our School Production, Wednesday 20th & Thursday 21st July
• Two Land and Wave Water Sports Activity Weeks, Summer holiday

Attendance

Term 6 is the ideal opportunity for students to maximise their attendance and get in to place the correct attitude ahead of the new school year in September. As a school, we can see the direct link between high attendance and students maximising their potential. We continue to seek the support of our families by the following:

• If your child has a slight sniffle or cold, please do send them in. We are extremely fortunate to have a school nurse on site all day, every day. We will contact you if your child needs picking up
• Continue to plan holidays during the school holiday period and not during term time
• Plan medical appointments that do not impact on your child gaining their AM or PM registration mark. We take the AM mark at 8.30am and the PM mark at 1.50pm. Booking appointments after or in between these times is preferred to allow your child to gain both marks for the day

Remember, Go4Schools is our key tool for parents to track, monitor and support our drive to boost attendance. The platform gives parents an excellent insight into patterns and attendance percentages.

If you need support in increasing your child’s attendance, then please do not hesitate to contact the school. We have a wide range of support available right from encouragement and support from Tutors and Teachers through to extended discussion via mentors or counsellors about current barriers. We can also help support parents / carers to boost attendance too by being clear and consistent in our expectations.

Attendance ahead of end of year exams

One of the reasons why Year 11 and Year 13 students have felt prepared for their summer exams series has been the attention we place as a school on our end of year exams and, at Key Stage 4, our mock exams. The process of preparing for an end of year exam gives our students the opportunity to rehearse the act of revising – of planning revision over a series of weeks. In class, key topics will be covered along with tips for answering questions. It is essential that students attend school each and every day to ensure they do not miss out on these lessons in order to give a grade that is wholly reflective of their current level of learning. Please check Go4Schools for revision materials and speak to your child about the tests in Term 6 and support in every way you can.

Uniform in Term 6

Please rest assured that we take a very measured approach to our decisions over uniform in summer months. When temperatures spike, we will communicate with parents and students if we know a particularly warm day is ahead. We are also flexible within the school day and often allow ties to be removed too. We are acutely aware of the challenges a warm day may bring and ask families to make sure students bring water to school too. A refillable bottle is ideal and students can fill these from our water taps or from the canteen at break or lunch time.

In PSHE

• Year 7 students will be exploring the world of work and completing their exciting year-long journey of The Edge, to develop the key skills of leadership, organisation, resilience, initiative and communication.
• Year 8 students will be exploring money management and looking at budgeting, banking and the risks of online apps, paid games and gambling. They’ve also explored how money matters around the world, through organisations like Fairtrade.
• Year 9 students are looking at what it means to be enterprising by designing and pitching ideas of products, in the style of Dragon’s Den!
• Year 10 finish the year by exploring the British Value of Democracy as well as how it works, what the challenges might be, and how we replicate democracy through models and measures in school.

The tutor theme

The tutor theme is a whole-school look at world issues, bringing together our vertical tutor groups to discuss varied views on topical and timely ideas. This term, our theme has been ‘Brilliant Brits!’, and tutor groups have been looking at notable figures throughout history who help to make Britain great!

Please do ask your child about these themes and discuss them at home too.

Anti-bullying work

Our work on Anti-Bullying, started by Mr Bindon and our sixth form Anti-Bullying Ambassadors earlier this year, has continued through our corridor campaign. Look around the site to see the clear message See it? Experience it? Report it! alongside a reminder of how a student can report anything on their mind. Students can use the Worry Box on our school website to report bullying at any time.

The Kingdown Equalities Team

This term, our fantastic Kingdown School Equalities Team chose to meet and recognise Pride month. We looked at the history of LGBTQ+ rights in the UK and around the world, as well as how we can continue to make Kingdown School a welcoming and inclusive place.

For any further information on Personal Development, PSHE or the pastoral curriculum at Kingdown, please contact Mr Richardson, Assistant Headteacher, ri@kingdown.wilts.sch.uk

We wish you and your families all the very best for a lovely summer break and thank you for your support.

Yours sincerely

Helen Carpenter, Toby Holman

Heads of School