NEWSLETTER www.cowesec.org info@cowesec.org
Friday 29th March
Dear parents and carers, It is with great pleasure that I am able to share with you more fantastic news this week. We have been awarded a significant grant to fill skill gaps in the maritime industry here on the Island. This funding, which in total comes to over £150,000, will enable us to develop a cutting-edge curriculum here to promote STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) subjects and employability within these areas. Our curriculum will launch for Year 7 in September 2019 and roll through each year and will blend theory in the classroom, embedded in key curriculum subjects, with practical learning linked to the maritime industry. Excitingly, the curriculum is due to include boat-building, including design and specifications; navigation electronics; celestial navigation; tides; admiralty chart conventions; shipping forecasts; practical boat-handling skills; and the holding of a CEC Regatta to celebrate and sail the boats built by students. The Maritime Skills Alliance and CECAMM, part of the Isle of Wight College, are among the partners who will support on curriculum development. This is an exciting project for Cowes Enterprise College, and we look forward to developing and then delivering a high-quality curriculum that integrates practical learning with the regional economy. We will work in close partnership with local employers and further education providers to ensure we are providing our pupils with not only a breadth of choice at 14, but the kind of skills that will last for a lifetime. Thank you to all parents of Year 8 students for attending our Year 8 parents’ evening. It was great to see, again, such a good turnout and I hope that you found the evening both useful and informative. If you were unable to attend, the year team will be in touch to ensure that we still manage to share with you key information from the evening in a separate appointment as we intend every student to benefit from parents’ evening. It is with regret that I inform you that Mr Sampler is leaving us at the end of this term. Mr Sampler has enjoyed working at Cowes Enterprise College and we have valued his input. Following a difficult family circumstance, he and his family have decided to relocate in September. He feels he needs to support and spend time with his family in the interim therefore we have consented to him leaving on April 30th. He would like the school community to know that he is grateful for this consideration and support, that he has really enjoyed his time at Cowes Enterprise College and thinks very highly of the staff and students and wishes you all well. He looks forward to seeing some of you around the island before he relocates and wishes you all the very best. We are currently putting arrangements in place for music lessons in the summer term and aim to communicate this next week. A reminder that at the end of term on Friday 5th April we finish at 2.45pm as per the normal school day. With best wishes, Rachel Kitley