INSIDE THIS ISSUE:
Helping the Environment
Trip to France
Skill for the Future
The British School of Alicante Monthly Update
Newsletter SECONDARY NUMBER 14 FEBRUARY 2010
Message from the Head of Secondary Change and Progress
Attendance
This term our senior pupils will begin, in earnest, the drive towards final examination preparation. Some exams, eg Language Orals and Coursework Elements will be completed within the next 6 weeks.
As well as monitoring Academic progress and Effort, the school also monitors and reports on pupil attendance. It is widely acknowledged in education that an average attendance rate of less than 95% can have a significant negative impact on pupil progress and attainment. An average attendance of 90% over five years means a total of half a year of schooling will have been missed. If it is as low as 80%, then the child will have missed a whole academic year.
It is vital that they plan, prepare and manage their study time effectively in advance and allow themselves rest periods and relaxation time. Mr Wicks and Ms Collingwood are monitoring very closely the weekly effort and progress of our senior pupils and other staff are helping to mentor and support pupils with their preparations. It is also essential that you, as parents, recognize that this time necessitates a period of intense academic activity and that behaviour patterns may change. You will need to provide your son/ daughter with a voice of reason and encouragement as well as gentle but firm prompting when energy levels run low. Our Y9 pupils have to deal with the prospect of progressing from a National Curriculum in Key Stage 3 to the rigours and choices for GCSE courses after the summer. This change starts now with option meetings and careers advice from Mrs Fisher. Our younger pupils will continue to make rapid progress this term as their confidence, knowledge and skills increase. It is also important to remember that as young adolescents, our pupils in Y7 and Y8 will go through many physiological as well as psychological changes in the coming weeks and months. This can cause changes in behaviour and friendships which we need to recognize and help them to manage. Change comes to us all. It is something we have to plan for as best we can through experience, communication and understanding. All progress requires change, but change itself does not always result in progress. We need to work together to help all our young people to cope with change in ways which results in progress and success.
Derek Laidlaw Head of Secondary School
Excellent attendance to school is essential in order to maximise academic achievement, and therefore we would appreciate your support in ensuring that absences are kept to an absolute minimum. Whilst we acknowledge that most pupils will suffer from illness at times, at BSA, we aim to establish a positive ethos in which excellence in attendance is celebrated and rewarded; those students with outstanding attendance will be recognised.