NEWSLETTER Friday 31st January Dear Parents and Carers, We have had another full and productive week. On Tuesday we were proud to host the Most Serious Violence Reduction Conference, hosted by PC Pringle and attended by professionals and partner agencies from across the Isle of Wight. We were also excited to welcome Pride of Britain Winner and inspirational speaker, Omar Sharif, to the Academy where he spoke to our students about gun and knife crime. On Thursday, we held our Year 9 Parents’ Evening and we are grateful to all parents who attended and hope that you found the evening helpful in providing feedback to help you support your child. Next week we look forward to the fantastic Noël Turner Science Festival on February 6th and 7th. This year, the festival is run by Winchester Science Museum and promises to be bigger and better than previous years. We are excited to welcome students from across the island and all students in Years 7 to 10 at Cowes Enterprise College will be able to take part in the event which focuses practical and dynamic learning about Science with STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) career support on offer. Please be aware that this year, to ensure that our students can fully experience the Festival, we have no early closures. Additionally, all students in Year 7 will be travelling to Cineworld on Thursday to watch a National Theatre Live performance of ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ as part of their English Mastery Lessons. Next week is also Children’s Mental Health Week, and we are proud to continue our focus on mental health and wellbeing in the Academy in the coming week especially through assemblies and E1M (Everyone Matters) lessons.
A reminder that my parent surgeries continue this term on Tuesday afternoons. Please either email dharrison@cowesec.org or phone the school on 01983 203103 asking for Donna Harrison to book a pre-booked slot. With best wishes, Rachel Kitley Click the arrows or swipe to turn pages
UPCOMING EVENTS
TERM DATES FOR CURRENT ACADEMIC YEAR Fri 14th February
Last Day of Half Term
Thurs 6th and Fri 7th Noel Turner Science Festival (both days are full days for CEC students) Feb
17th February—21st February Half Term Holiday
Mon 24th February
Start of second half of Spring Term
Fri 14th Feb
Friday 3rd April
Last Day of Spring Term
6th April—17th April
Easter Holiday
Mon 20th April
Start of Summer Term
Fri 8th May
Early May bank holiday (VE day)
Fri 22nd May
Last Day of Half Term
25th May—29th May
Half Term Holiday
Mon 1st June
Start of second half of Spring Term
Mon 15th June TBC
Staff Development Day
Fri 17th July
Last Day of Summer Term
Sat 18th July
Summer Holidays Start
Last Day of Half Term
CAR PARK SAFETY Drop off and collections should be made on Crossfield Avenue remembering that that no parking is permitted on the white ZigZag lines surrounding the pedestrian crossing outside the Academy. Please do not use the Academy car park to drop off and collect students without prior agreement from the Academy for you to do so.
Please could we also remind parents that TERM DATES FOR 2020/2021 ACADEMIC YEAR the disabled bay spaces are for holders of 1st September 2020 Staff Development Day valid Blue Badges only.
LETTERS Recent letters can be found on our website, under the ‘Communication’ heading and then selecting ‘letters and communication’. Click here to view recent letters.
Recently added: • Cineworld Trip for ALL Year 7 Students • Globe Theatre Trip for Year 11 Students • Winter PE Hoodie Letter
ROAD CROSSING PATROL PARK ROAD Please be aware that there will be no road crossing patrol on Park Road until 3rd February.
2nd October 2020
Staff Development Day
26th October to 30th October 2020
Half Term Holiday
18th December 2020
Last Day of Autumn Term
21st December 2020 to 1st January 2021
Christmas Holiday
4th January 2021
Staff Development Day
5th January 2021
Start of Spring Term
15th February to 19th February 2021
Half Term Holiday
26th March 2021
Last Day of Spring Term
29th March to 9th April 2021
Easter Holiday
12th April 2021
Start of Summer Term
3rd May 2021
Bank Holiday
31st May 2021 to 4th June 2021
Half Term Holiday
14th June 2021 (to be confirmed)
Staff Development Day
16th July 2021
Last Day of Summer Term
Both full days for Cowes Enterprise College students.
UNIFORM REMINDERS Please could we remind all parents and carers of our uniform expectations, as stated in the Academy Uniform Requirements, available on the website. Please ensure that trousers are loose fitting and about the same width from knee to ankle. Black jumpers should be completely black, V-neck with no visible logos. They should not be round necked sweatshirts. Skirts should not be rolled up and should be fitted to knee length or below. Jewellery and facial piercings of any description are NOT allowed. This includes nose piercings. The only jewellery allowed in school are one simple stud or sleeper in the lobe of each ear and a wristwatch. Any additional jewellery will be confiscated and securely stored to be collected by students at the end of the day.
If a student is absent, parents and carers should telephone the academy on 01983 203103 and select Option 1 before 8.30am on each day of absence, informing of the reason of absence and when their child will be returning to the academy.
Phone calls need to be made every day of the student's absence. Parents are required to send a letter of explanation of absence when their child returns to school. This should be handed into reception. This letter should detail the duration and reason for absence.
SEN PARENT SURGERIES
SEN Parent Surgeries will be held on Thursdays 3pm—5pm. If you Make up must please be non-visible. This would like to book please email means that no students should be EDowner@cowesec.org wearing false eyelashes. Any student wearing these will be asked to remove them, they will be confiscated and stored securely to be collected by students at the end of the day.
Any student in need of sanitary products can see Mrs Harding, visit any of the Year Offices, The English Office or see Mr Carey in First Aid who will all be able to assist.
MARITIME FUTUES WORK IN SCIENCE In Science, Year 7 on the Physics rotation have been learning about forces acting on boats as part of the KS3 Maritime Curriculum. Students planned their own experiment to investigate if the size of a sail affects the speed of a boat. Students have developed their scientific skills, increased their scientific knowledge, and used their oracy skills to present their findings in a scientific poster. Hear what two students had to say below! “Over
the past few weeks in Science Year 7 have been busy on a boat project derived from our new Maritime Curriculum. Using out STEM skills we had to construct small boats in groups using only a limited amount of cardboard, lollypop sticks and plastic. We could use the materials in any way we pleased to create an end product we recorded and tied. Overall most of the boats made it across the line, with only a few sinking! It was a very fun project to work on and plan” - William Steedman and James Heng
YEAR 8 LEARN WITH US TRIP We were met by our student ambassador Hannah who was a 3rd year Economics student and was our personal tour guide for the day. We are able to explore the academic, social and personal benefits of progressing to higher education. We were taught about how to Identify personal skills that you will need to be developed to achieve further aspirations. We experienced the ways in which university students learn and were supported in increasing confidence in your capacity to progress to higher education. Our day included: •
Taster lecture and taster seminar – experiencing two important ways in which students learn at university
•
Accommodation workshop – Chance to think about where students live and what they will need to bring with them
•
SUSU tour – Look more closely at the students union to see and hear about what students do in their spare time
All students behaved very well, provided us with some fantastic feedback and hopefully experienced a positive and informative day.
On Tuesday we were delighted to welcome Pride of Britain Winner, Omar Sharif, to the Academy! Omar A reminder that we have some very useful joins us to talk to our students about knife crime. information regarding some on the most popular social media platforms that our students are using. Growing up in an area of London These can be found on our website or via this link: where gun and knife crime were a way of life, Omar became involved in https://www.cowesec.org/our-academy/letters-anda gang when he was 16 years old. With communication help from The Prince’s Trust, he has You can also find information on keeping children turned his life around to help deter other youngsters from following the safe while online gaming, top tips for managing same destructive path. screen time and online safety tips for parents of We are very grateful to Omar for teenagers. joining us. Creative Media Production external assessment The external assessment of this course has a duration of 9 hours. These 9 hours will be during timetabled IT lessons so will not impact upon other subjects and lessons. This assessment will take place in all IT lessons between 20th April to 22nd May for year 11 IT students and from 9th March to 22nd May for ALL year 10 students . It is therefore vital that no students miss any lessons during this assessment window. Any absences will result in lost assessment time. Please do not hesitate to contact me should you have any queries about the course or this assessment. jgibson@cowesec.org
Tuesday’s E1M Session saw Mrs Harding running a 10minute work out session as part of our focus on mental and physical health and well -being!
There are lots of websites who offer CHILDREN’S MENTAL self-help for young people, and we HEALTH WEEK have included a list of some of these below. Click the information to be Next week is National Children’s taken to the organisation’s website. Mental Health week Kooth - Free online support for young people Young Minds - The UK's leading charity committed to improving the emotional wellbeing and mental health of children and young people ChildLine - The UK's free helpline for children an young people, providing a confidential counselling service for any child or young person with a problem The Mix - Free, confidential telephone helpline finding young people the best help whatever the problem Samaritans—Volunteers who listen in confidence to anyone in any type of emotional distress without judgement or telling people what to do
#findyourbrave. The academy works tirelessly to support children and staff mental health and well-being and will be running assemblies and activities next week around the national theme. We will be publishing via our media some of the things we do next week. If you do have any concerns regarding your child’s mental health, please do contact Mrs Harding as our Mental Health Champion who will be able to sign post further support.
FRANK - Confidential information and advice for anyone concerned about their own or someone else's drug or solvent misuse B-EAT Youth Helpline - online community information, help and support for anyone affected by eating disorders Kidscape - the first charity in the UK established specifically to prevent bullying and sexual abuse It Gets Better Project - created to inspire hope for young people facing harassment. Brook Advisory Service - The UK's leading provide of sexual health services and advice for young people under 25. Winston's Wish - The helpline offers support, information and guidance to all those caring for a bereaved child or young person
Head to: http:// childrensmentalhealthweek.org.uk for
top tips for parents/carers, children and young people on how to ‘find your brave'
ACADEMY CLUBS Club Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Time
Location
Cowes Combined Cadet Force (ages 12-18)
5-7pm
Capstan House
Chess Club
Lunch
BT11
Homework Support
2.50—3.30pm
DE10
Oasis Board Games
2.50—3.30pm
Oasis
Ukulele Club
2.45—3.30pm
MU02
Film Club
2.45pm for duration of film CA13
BTEC Business Coursework Booster Sessions
2.45—4.30pm
BU11
Homework Support
2.50—3.30pm
DE10
Oasis Board Games
2.50—3.30pm
Oasis
Science Club
2.45-3.30pm
Science IZ
Book and Biscuit Club
2.45-4pm
Oasis
Warhammer and Model Club
2.45—4.00pm
DE06
Drama Club
2.45—3.45pm
CA09
Social Media and Communication Club
2.45—3.30pm
Reception
Chess Club
Lunch
BT11
BTEC Business Revision
2.45—3.30pm
BU11
Homework Support
2.50-3.30pm
DE10
Oasis Board Games
2.50-3.30pm
Oasis
CEC Glee Club
2.45—3.30pm
MU02
SPORTS CLUBS Club
Time
Meeting Point
Monday
CCF
5—7pm
Capstan House
Tuesday
Netball (Year 7 and South of England teams)
3-4pm
Sports Hall
Indoor Cricket (All Years)
3-4pm
Old Sports Hall
3-4pm
ED11 and SC14
Sports Hall Athletics (Years 7 and 8)
3-4pm
SC14
Girls Football (All Years)
3-4pm
Changing Rooms
Military Skills (Year 7)
3—3.30pm
ED11
Ski Fit
3-4pm
Sports Hall
Rugby
3-4pm
Field
Basketball
3-4pm
Sports Hall
Wednesday PE Intervention (GCSE and BTEC, Years 9—Sixth Form)
Sports Leavers (to start as advertised)
Thursday
Friday