Careers Update:- Page 12

NEWS FROM OUR CAREERS DEPT

By Mr Davis & Mrs Dale

1:1 Meetings

Jason Davis, our school Careers Adviser, has continued his 1:1 meeting with students making sure they are prepared for the future (careers and options).

Members of the Senior Leadership Team have carried out over 200 individual support and guidance meetings with every student who applied for Cherwell sixth form

Upcoming Events

Year 7 (Term 6) Learn Career Stories from Local Employers. Local employers come to school to talk to students about their careers

Year 8 (Term 5) Human Library Employers come into school and (using a carousel format) talk to the students about their career area

Year 9 (Term 6)

1 Day work experience (to be confirmed)

Year 10 (Term 6) Mock Interview Day. Local employers come to school to hold mock interviews with our students, in their chosen career area

Year 11 (Term1)

One week Work Experience. 10 to 14 October

We want to hear back from you?

 If you watched the Your fabulous Future in Oxfordshire video, what did you think?

 Were you surprised with how many great companies/ organisation are in Oxfordshire?

 If you looked on our Careers Page on the Cherwell School website, what are you feeling towards our Futures Programme?

 And finally can you offer support and give your time to help with some of these employer engagement activities or maybe give your time to talk to students about your career?

 We need your help – We are looking for someone who has Business Start-up experience (entrepreneur).

Contact Jason Davis, Careers Adviser jdavis@cherwellschool.org

The Cherwell School’s Sustainability and Climate Change Strategy 2022-2025

By Mr Cappleman

Over the past decade our school has taken a number of positive steps towards sustainability with the help and support of many students, staff, governors and community partners. During this year we have been really pleased to be able to restart plans for a coordinated and comprehensive sustainability development strategy after the delays caused by Covid. Our new three year strategy aims to help us form a clear vision with achievable but ambitious targets that will enable us to tackle our contributions to climate change and meet our responsibilities to help halt biodiversity loss. We hope this strategy will ultimately move our school towards the goal of being fully sustainable over the next ten years.

The historic context of our sustainability work

Over the past twelve years with the huge support of CTAG (Cherwell Travel Action Group) we have been able to pursue a sustainable transport strategy that has had a transformative impact on the way students travel to and from school. Through the winning of grants and inward investment we have been able to install numerous bike sheds across the site, host safe cycling initiatives and work with the council to ensure cycle lanes are well maintained and clear in the immediate approaches to the school. This means we have become a national leader in sustainable travel with the highest number of students (58.4% and rising) who regularly come to school by bike. Our cycling rate is 20 times the national average and along with 15.7% travelling by bus and 14.8% walking that adds up to a total of 88.9% who use sustainable means of travel, and just 11.1% who come by car. Over the past decade we have also been working to lower our carbon footprint through various actions. In 2012 and 2014 the financial support of the local charity ‘Low Carbon Oxford North’ enabled us to install substantial arrays of solar PV panels firstly on our North and then South Sites. The green electricity produced has been used by the school ever since or been uploaded to the grid making the school a micro generating station. Most recently we have been undergoing a gradual replacement program of our old single glazed windows in order to prevent energy loss and we were incredibly happy to win a grant to install LED lights across the school ready for the autumn term last year, a measure that we hope will have a significant impact on our carbon footprint. To support biodiversity we have installed a whole new garden, various flower beds and a massive bug house that supports pollinators and other insects, alongside the benefits to student and staff wellbeing. Our parent and student garden volunteers have also been active in the enrichment of those gardens along with the ongoing restoration of the Humanities Garden on North Site. In education, we have developed strong learning opportunities across the curriculum and support that with increasing extra-curricular provision through programs such as Beyond Cherwell and Social Wellbeing. In 2018 we were awarded Eco-Schools Green Flag status in recognition of the work we have done.

How we are evolving our strategy:

To push forward our work further we have brought together a central working group led by our headteacher Mr Price with four sub-groups. The groups are co-led by key staff and four Sixth Form students to ensure student concerns and priorities are fed into the process. Each group has been tasked with developing targets and delivery plans in the following areas:

• The development of our sustainability education provision (knowledge and skills for a sustainable world and green economy);

• The development of sustainable buildings (prevention of energy loss, new methods of heating and mitigation of the effects of climate change);

• The development of external areas and enhancement of their biodiversity (mapping the nature on our site, developing its better use and embedding biodiversity into any developments by forming plans for tree planting, hedgerow growth etc)

• The development sustainable day to day operations (effective recycling, sustainable supply chains and energy supplies etc)

If you have skill in any of these areas that you could offer to support the school in this work we would be very grateful to hear from you, email: sbeauchamp@cherwellschool.org

NATIONAL TUTORING PROGRAMME

By Miss Overbeck

There have been some very hard working Year 11’s taking part in the National Tutoring Programme provided by Pearson on the Bramble Platform. We successfully secured 43 blocks which comprised of three students a block. The week beginning 1 March 2022 welcomed the students with a starter pack of headphones, notebooks, folders and an eagerness to take on the Maths and Science help being offered. We’ve braved the 8 am starts and later ends after school, fuelled with biscuits and juice. Maths are tackling Essential Number and Algebra and Essential Geometry and Measure, whereas Science are taking on Bonding and Metals for Chemistry, Drug development, Plant and Animal Systems for Biology and Newton, Momentum and Waves for Physics. When supervising the sessions I have been so impressed by the level of engagement and questioning of the students. I am so proud of how they have taken on the opportunity!

Miss Overbeck

There have been some wonderful comments/feedback already about the programme:

“It's going very well to help me to build on weak areas and stabilise those areas with key knowledge.” ~ Chris

“Very helpful so far, I think it will prove to be good preparation for the real exam.” ~ William

“It's been going good my tutor’s been really nice :)” ~ Poppy

“I wanted to take the opportunity to let you know that I am hugely impressed with your students! They are enthusiastic, engaged and excellent at applying their knowledge in new contexts. I am really enjoying teaching them and it's great to hear them thinking aloud as we work through the tasks together. They really are a credit to you and your School” ~ Science Tutor

RECORD OFFERS FOR CHERWELL STUDENTS AT OXFORD AND CAMBRIDGE

Twenty two Cherwell students have received offers from Oxford and Cambridge in a diverse and eclectic range of subjects, from Engineering and Natural Sciences to Japanese and Music.

Students in the sixth form are encouraged to participate in our academic enrichment ‘Beyond Cherwell’ programme, a bespoke programme designed to develop students’ thinking beyond the curriculum, introduce new ideas and provide a supportive environment for structured reflections, debate and personal development. Students take part in masterclasses, talks, team projects, forums and trips. Students are guided by a team of supporters including staff, former students and visitors from the local universities and community. The ‘Beyond Cherwell’ programme is led by a team of specialist teachers with years of experience guiding students through applications and we are privileged to make use of our location in Oxford to draw on academics to deliver masterclasses and talks. Whether students go on to university, apprenticeships or gap years, we are proud that they leave the school suited to the demands of their future environments.

22 students have received offers to study at Oxford and Cambridge:

Asian and Middle Eastern Studies (Chinese) Cambridge

Biology - Oxford

Economics and Management - Oxford

Engineering - Cambridge

Geography - Cambridge

Geography - Oxford

History - Cambridge Human, Social and Political Science - Cambridge

Japanese - Oxford

Law - Oxford

Mathematics - Cambridge

Modern Languages - Cambridge

Music - Oxford

Music - Cambridge