Regents Review Spring 2024

REGENTS PARK COMMUNITY COLLEGE NEWSLETTER

SPRING 2024

Year 9 PSHE Day

Matilda Jr.

RPCC in Paris

Year 8 Food Tech

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The Regents Review Spring 2024

WELCOME

Headteacher’s Welcome

Dear Parents As we begin to observe the first signs of sunshine and the students have been able to get outside more, it has been wonderful to see the students make full use of our new PE surface area. At lunchtime, it is full of aspiring footballers and in PE, the students have experienced new sports including hockey (which is being taught for the first time in many many years at the school). Our annual swimming gala always reminds us that the school is entering a new season with the sounds of swimming pool splashes and children’s laughter echoing around the school. One thing that has been a highlight this term, has been the ongoing development of our student leaders at the school. Our visitors to the school, always comment on the ‘real student leadership opportunities’: student librarians, creative art ambassadors, cyber ambassadors, prefects, PE champions and cultural ambassadors, to name a few. During the recent visit by our school improvement partner, Brian Lightman, he noted: “ Student Leadership is another strength of the school. The option to apply for these and progress into different levels of responsibility and skills, as they move up through the school is appreciated by the students. As well as, being led by teachers some of the older students take on more of that role for example by interviewing younger students for those roles. They all spoke enthusiastically about the impact they are having, for example in enhancing enjoyment of sports, giving feedback on subject lessons and influencing decisions on catering, opportunities for girls and sports facilities. They know they are genuinely listened to. ” The summer term also marks the start of the final exam season and over the last few weeks, I have been spending time with the

Year 11 students to ask them how we can support them over the coming months. The conversations have been enlightening and have ended with a personal postcard and a lucky £1, to wish them luck as they complete their Regents journey. It has also given me time to discuss end of year events and of course, their plans for the future, which are wide and varied: joining the army, starting an apprenticeship, going to college and for some, they are looking for the opportunity to start making their millions, as they plan to start up their own business. As you will see from our Regents Review Spring 2024 edition, the staff at the school continue to offer not only great learning in the classroom, but they continue to be a very creative bunch out of the classroom with something for everyone. Look out for the World Book Day photos, the photography competition, the PSHE inputs and all the wonderful creative work in DT, as well as our first ever science show. And finally, some staff updates. Mrs Ballard will be leaving us at the end of this term to go on to a new exciting position. She has worked at the school since 2003 and over the years, she has supported hundreds of students in dance and creative lessons. We wish her well and we know she will continue to support many more children in her new school. Next term will also see Mrs Mouland leave to have her baby and we look forward to hearing about the arrival of her new little bundle. Whilst she is away, we will ensure that the pastoral team support the year group, until she returns later on in the year. As always thank you for your support. Mrs Barnes Headteacher

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GENERAL NEWS

Breakfast Club It’s been a whole year since we launched RPCC breakfast club. Mrs

Calling all ex students! We would love to hear from our ex students to see what you have all been up to! Please contact us if you would like to be part of our growing alumni community at info@ regentspark.southampton.sch.uk

Simmons now has two student assistants, who have offered to help each day - Karanjeet in Year 11 and John in Year 9. Both students have been a great help and are also using this time towards their Duke of Edinburgh award.

We are so proud to be able to offer this service to our students. It has become a huge success and we have roughly 120 students coming for breakfast each morning. RPCC Achieves 360 Online Safety Mark RPCC is proud to announce that we have recently been successful in obtaining the 360 Online Safety Mark.

Attendance Workshops This term, Mr Wilson has been running special attendance workshops on improving student’s attendance. #everydaycounts

SIMS Parent App Sims Parent App enables you to access real time information. • Achievement points

• Behaviour points • Student timetable • Attendance • Calendar

• Update student data information • School reports (when available)

If you wish to register for SIMS Parent App, please contact us via telephone or email.

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The Regents Review Spring 2024

GENERAL NEWS

Year 7

We continue to reward students when they are getting it right in various ways including trips, achievements points and ethos badges, for all the effort they are putting into their time at Regents Park. On the right, is our current top 10 students, but I want to say a massive well done to the whole year group, as we have collectively had over 29,000 achievement points given across the year group! I would like to say a massive thank you to all tutors in Year 7 for their constant hard work and effort they put into their tutees. Without them, this year group would not be as successful as

it currently is. I wish Year 7 a wonderful break and we will see you for the summer term!

I would like to start by saying a massive congratulations to all of our Year 7 students for what they have achieved in the first 2/3s of the year. How crazy is it that we only have one term left! It has been wonderful watching them get stuck into secondary school life, including after school clubs and the Hot 50 (which, by the time this comes out, we would have enjoyed again). It has been a pleasure watching you make new friendships and learn new topics, I have had some wonderful conversations with some of you telling me all about what you are learning.

Wisdom 357 Poppy 343 Tia 311 Leon 282 Zander 279 James 267 Ophelia 266 Amalia 263 Miley 263 Bella 259

Miss Harrison Head of Year 7

Year 8

Year 8 have had an amazing start to 2024. They have achieved 31,302 achievement points - that’s an average of 174 per student. A massive well done from me for each achievement point, it means a lot. Working hard in lessons is the key to success here. As you can see from the table, Mrs Blake’s tutor group has overtaken Mr Branford’s, congratulations! A big shout out to these students for being in the top of our conduct league. Attendance is of such importance, and we work hard every day to ensure students enjoy school and see the value in attending. Year 8’s attendance so far this year is 90.15%. Let’s work together to increase this by the end of the school year. Well done to NKH, who are the tutor group with the highest attendance. As many of you are aware, I am off on maternity leave shortly after the Easter holidays. I know the students will be looked after well in my absence, but I want to remind them of my high standards and encourage them to remain positive and be as amazing as they can be. We are a fantastic year

group and I look forward to returning and being updated on how they are getting on. Thank you for all your support, it makes our lives a lot easier and ultimately will have the best outcome for the students.

Tutor

Total 4339 3582 5154 4263 5525 4385 4052

Average Per Student

BBR

166 143 198 163 212 175 168

JFI

KBL KGR MBR NKH PWE

Top 15 Students

Holly Zuzia Junior Hastiin Keven

323 322 297 293 292

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The Regents Review Spring 2024

GENERAL NEWS

George

291 283 277 268 267 266

Tilly

263 261 260

Dwen

Yonis Jireh

Ace Olaf Ash

Mrs Mouland Head of Year 8

Czarina

Year 9 We are now two thirds of our way through Year 9 and my first term as Head of Year 9. I would like to say a huge thank you to the students and parents in the welcome that they have given me. Also, to my tutors and year group team, who work tirelessly in supporting me, the year group and their tutees. It has been brilliant walking around the school, into lessons and seeing the Year 9s getting stuck in to their subjects and excited about developing a deeper understanding to further their progress. It was also good to see so many parents and students at the options evening and recent parents evening. We were able to have good

conversations about what lies ahead for Year 10 and what the best options are for their GCSEs. We continue to reward our students as the table shows our top 20 students, who have the most reward points this year, to date. A big well done to the whole year group, as over an amazing 25,000 reward points have been issued so far this year. I would like to wish all of Year 9 and their families a wonderful break and look forward to seeing you back for our last term as Year 9. Top 20 Students Ellen TMA 264 Kinti TMA 257

Zaine

TMA 254

Cliff Mya

TMA BMO

249

248 Magdalana TMA 239 Eliza TMA 236 Georgia BMO 228 Umberto BMO 227 Alicja BMO 227 Ianis JWA 226 Jasmina BMO 225 Ben TMA 222 Jacob PRE 221 Ethan BMO 218 Harry GDO 215 Tate TMA 213 Saran BMO 212 Mr McIntyre Head of Year 9

Year 10 As we approach the Easter holidays, it is a reminder that Year 10 have only one full academic year with us. This time next year, students will be conducting their final preparations for the summer exams. Current Year 11s will shortly be leaving us in the summer term, where I will be expecting Year 10 to ‘step up’ and lead by example to the lower years, with what it means to be a student at RPCC. Leadership is a common theme at RPCC, especially within the PE department, where there are numerous opportunities to demonstrate qualities:

lessons, clubs, PE champions and the ‘This Girls Can’ initiative. I am really looking forward to Year 10 students ‘stepping up’ and applying for the Student Leadership Team in the summer term, where they can have a greater influence in shaping the school. I would like to thank Mrs Jarvis for her continued support with Year 10, as well as all the tutors, Mrs Cosford, Miss Robinson, Mr Barron, Mr Brightman, Mr Selfe, Mrs O’Brien & Mrs Ballard.

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GENERAL NEWS

I would like to thank Mrs Ballard for all the support she has given her tutor group and wish her all the best, as she moves on to her next adventure. I am proud to share that so many students have been recognised for their efforts in school through our ethos badges: Respect, Pride, Creativity and Challenge , as well as in assembly each week with chocolate. Ethos Badge Winners Alejandro Kyle Andrei Leighland Beau Logan Brooke Miqdad Bryony Mya Camsy Nelly Daisy Priya Gayathri Rebeka Hikmet Resham Hrishi Samuel Izzy Sayema Jackson Simran Jawad Sofia Jess Wiktor Amazing conduct point chocolate winners: Abi Jack Mohammad

Alana Alana

Jasveer Jawad Jayden

Omar Orin Priya Ravi

Alejandro

Andrei A'Ron

Jelan

Jessica Joseph

Rayyan Rebeka Resham

Ava

Borys

Julija Kiera

Bryony Camsy

Saahil

Kingsley

Savannah

Daisy

Kyle

Sienna Simran Sophie Sophie Sophie

Devatharsan

Laura

Eleanor

Leighland

Ema

Leo

Emma

Lewis

Fin

Luca Mae

Umar

George Hikmet

Waleed Wiktor

Mahlet

Hollie

Max Mya Nelly

Yasin

Izzy

Jackson

I wish you all a lovely easter holiday and I look forward to welcoming Year 10 to their final full summer term at RPCC on Monday 15th April, on time and in full uniform. Mr Sinclair Head of Year 10

Aiden

Jassi

Olivia

Year 11

Well! What a busy term for Year 11. Another round of mock exams proved a stressful time for our year group… however we rose to the challenge! This was our last practice before the real exams and I could not be prouder of their resilience, their openness to feedback and their desire to perform well. In order to support students’ progress in core subjects and humanities, we’ve had a change of tutor groups and tutor team. We have English and maths Curriculum Leaders and Assistant Curriculum Leaders delivering bespoke intervention every

morning to selected groups. We have also had Miss Reed delivering bespoke exam technique revision sessions, to aid our students’ at home revision – as well as History and Geography resources too! These will have another shuffle around after Easter, in order to provide the best support we can. Prom plans are well under way and our prom committee are keen to raise as many funds as possible. We announced the winners of our spring raffle, which included lots of chocolate eggs and a chocolate bunny - congratulations if that was

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GENERAL NEWS

you! We have donated prom dresses available for students to use if required – please contact me if you would like to use this offer. Year 11 have started meeting with Mrs Barnes in small groups, to reflect on their time at RPCC and the feedback I’ve had has been wonderfully positive. It’s not long to go now… I wish you all a restful, but productive break.

Haydn Isabella Julia Lilla Lilly Maja Milosz Oksana Ruby Sophia William

200+ Achievement Points Amelia Dylan

Mrs Board Head of Year 11

Eren Ezra

PSHE Year 9 PSHE Day

Year 9 had a r eal good opportunity to engage in relevant sessions, as part of our PSHE Day back in January. They rotated around the following 6 sessions during the day. • Developing their person branding skills led by staff from Solent University • Investigating their potential pathways for Post 16 and what GCSE’s may help them access courses they are interested in, ready to support their options choices • Session with Solent Mind covering mental health and wellbeing • Session with Yellow Door covering the topic of dangerous relationships and consent • Sex Education content from staff at No limits • A very engaging drugs & alcohol session with staff from No Limits

Year 8 PSHE Day Year 8’s PSHE day took place in March, Mrs Mouland was able to go around each of the sessions to see the great questions that students were asking. The 6 topics covered were: • Information from Richard Taunton Sixth Form College, about the different pathways that can be taken post 16 including: A Levels, vocational qualifications & apprenticeships • A brilliant session led by our safeguarding trained staff covering the topic of child on child

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GENERAL NEWS

External providers and content We have many external providers that support our school and its curriculum and these include: • Yellow door - yellowdoor.org.uk/ • Solent Mind - solentmind.org.uk/ • No Limits - nolimitshelp.org.uk/ • Hampshire Fire & Rescue Service - hantsfire.gov. uk/ • Hampshire Police & Crime Commissioner - hampshire-pcc.gov.uk/ • Solent University - solent.ac.uk/ • Richard Taunton Sixth Form College - richardtaunton.ac.uk/ • Into University - intouniversity.org/centre/ intouniversity-southampton-west/ And for resources as part of tutor time • PSHE Association - pshe-association.org.uk/ • EC Resources - ecpublishing.co.uk/ • Barclays Life Skills – barclayslifeskills.com/

sexual abuse • Session with Solent Mind covering mental health and wellbeing • Session with Yellow Door introducing the concept of what makes a dangerous relationship • Session to develop their understanding of what forced marriage and honour-based violence are • An amazing smoking & alcohol session led by Mr McIntyre from our science department The DfE have created a parent and carers guide to the statutory changes to RSE here which you may wish to read: https://tinyurl.com/46xfsdz5. We deliver PSHE content in a range of ways at Regents Park, this includes: tutor time sessions, PSHE days, targeted sessions and assemblies. Content is also made available through student’s Google Classrooms for them to use. All the details of our PSHE curriculum can be found on our website here: regentsparkcollege.org.uk/home/curriculum/pshe/

Business Manager’s Update

the website so that you can follow the school news or Spencer, our Therapy Dog – use the ‘bird’ icon on the right of the homepage. twitter.com/RegentsParkCC You can also follow us on our Facebook page for up to date news and information facebook.com/RegentsParkcc Access to the SCOpay online payment system for school meals, trips etc is also available from the website using the ‘£’ icon on the right of the homepage: regentsparkcollege.org.uk/home/ parents/online-payments/

for information regarding the current school meals menu regentsparkcollege.org.uk/home/ school-details/school-meals/. We would like to encourage students to pre-order food as this will allow the students to avoid the queues and ensure they can order their favorite items without being disappointed if we run out. Please visit this link to use our preorder system: regentspark.swift-order. co.uk/. More exciting news regarding our catering to follow. Access to our Parents Evening Booking System is also available from the website using the ‘family’ icon on the right of the homepage. regentsparkcommunitycollege.

Welcome to the Spring edition of the Business Manager’s update. The school is continuing to improve its streamlined communication system. Our website is the hub of all information where daily school news can be found. All general letters will be emailed, they are also available to view under the parent section on the website. regentsparkcollege.org. uk/home/parents/letters/

Catering - Please visit the catering page on our website

Access to Twitter is available from

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GENERAL NEWS

schoolcloud.co.uk/

School Street – we currently have a road closure on Richville Road at the start and end of the day to allow safe arrival and exit by the students. Please can parents ensure that they are parking appropriately on King Edward Avenue and Oakley Road. Please avoid blocking driveways, double parking or parking on yellow lines. Alumni – if you are, or you have a child who is, an ex-student, we would love to hear what you/they have been doing since leaving Regents Park. Please get in contact by emailing us at info@ regentspark.southampton.sch.uk Clubs & Classes – We have a range of different clubs & classes that run after school. For a full list of these, please visit: regentsparkcollege.org.uk/home/ parents/clubs-and-classes/ Breakfast Club – Students have the opportunity to start their day with breakfast and a drink at Breakfast Club, which Mrs Simmons, Welfare Officer,

continues to run every morning from 8:00am – 8:25am. The school is working with Edulettings to provide clubs and classes in the evening for both young people and adults. To see a list of these clubs, please visit our website at: regentsparkcollege. org.uk/community-lettings/hirers timetable/ We welcome feedback from you and this can done in several ways: Email: info@regentspark. southampton.sch.uk Contact Form via the website regentsparkcollege.org.uk/home/ school-details/contact-us/ Phone: 023 8032 5444 If you wish to speak to the Headteacher, Mrs Barnes, please contact Fiona Hayward, Headteacher’s PA, on 023 8072 5711 Carlene Amos Business Manager

Calendar – This is updated on a regular basis, with additional events: regentsparkcollege.org.uk/home/ school-details/calendar/. Skoolkit / KoolSkools - Please visit the dress code page on our website for up to date information on our uniform: regentsparkcollege.org.uk/home/ parents/dress-code/ Lanyards/Cards – please ensure your child remembers to wear their lanyard and School Card as this is part of the school uniform. Not only is this used to purchase lunch, as part of the fast track service, but it is also needed if your child needs to use a laptop in the library FSM – is your child entitled to a Free Hot Meal at school? Please complete the online form to see if you are eligible. cloudforedu.org. uk/ofsm/southampton/

Atmosphere Photographic Competition

We are extremely proud to announce that, James in Year 11 has been selected for the Atmosphere photographic competition exhibition for his photography piece on Canary Wharf. The judging panel had to choose from over 1200 individual entries and James was chosen for their final exhibition of 50 images. A big well done to James for this achievement.

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Mathematics DEPARTMENTAL NEWS Maths Pupil Resource Of the Month (PRoM) GCSE: corbettmaths.com/100-days/ We’ve only just become aware of this new section on the excellent Corbett maths website. There are a 100 resources for foundation and higher, working on one topic each time, to help with revision for GCSE Maths. Videos last about 15 minutes and you can pause these to work on the questions shown for yourself, before worked solutions are provided. Alternate Resource: mathigon.org/applications Mathigon is such an interesting website with loads of fascinating and useful resources. This particular section answers the age old question “when am I ever going to use this in real life?”. Look through according to topic, or by industry, to understand what maths might be used in your future career. Y11 Maths Revision Day This half term, twenty-five Year 11 students had the opportunity to take part in a Twenty Twenty Learning GCSE maths revision day, to help prepare them for their GCSE exams in the summer. This day was organised and delivered by SUN (Southern Universities Network). The topics covered were: • Transformations • Percentages • Ratio and Proportion • Algebra - substitution • Algebra - solving equations Students found this experience very helpful. They said “The booklet filled with exam questions was really useful.” and “Working in small groups, focused on specific topics, made things much clearer.”

Modelling In maths, we put great emphasis on students showing clear and precise workings when calculating an answer. All teachers demonstrate the required steps clearly before students can then replicate the method. Please see below some fantastic modelling of Pythagoras’ theorem from students in 11BY:

Maths Puzzles You must follow these rules - you cant use the same number twice in a square and the numbers must add up to the same number in each row, column and diagonal line. Good luck!

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DEPARTMENTAL NEWS

MathsWatch Masters

8 are using it for their homework. This will be extended to Year 9 in the 2024/25 academic year. The following students are being recognised for their efforts using MyMaths this half term:

Top Year 10 Students Nelly Gayathri Yasin Top Year 11 Students Eren Gabe Mia

MathsWatch is the main app we use for setting homework in KS4 maths. Homework is set weekly, based on the topics the students are studying in class. Students completing homework, benefit from being able to practice the skills they have learned in class, which is all part of the retrieval practice skills they are mastering.

Ace Bruce George Julia Luisa Tilly Tofunmi Wisdom Zahrah

Daniel Nengi

Top Year 9 Students Fatimah Kundai

MyMaths Masters This year, we have introduced MyMaths as the main homework app for KS3. Currently Year 7 and

Chidinma Umberto

English

RPCC Celebrates World Book Day! On Friday 8th March, Regents Park promoted reading by celebrating World Book Day! Teachers across the school, dressed up as famous literary characters, which sparked students to really get involved and ask us about the characters we had chosen to come as. Teachers also shared a selection of their favourite books on their doors, and all classes enjoyed listening to a story in five parts – this year it was The Sword in the Stone. As well as this, students received book tokens that they can put towards their next favourite read!

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DEPARTMENTAL NEWS

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The Regents Review Spring 2024

DEPARTMENTAL NEWS

Regents Reads This term our ‘Read Aloud’ programme has gone to the next level, as we now have exciting new texts being read to tutor groups in Years 7 through to 10, with Year 11 focusing on key interventions during tutor times. As you can see below, we have just purchased a range of wonderful new titles for students in Years 9 and 10, meaning tutor time will support the reading progress they make in their English lessons and across the school. Book Stairs In the previous issue of the Regents Review, we told you about the amazing book stairs that we have installed up the main staircase. Well now, we can announce that the back stairs to English, the science stairs and the stairs up to humanities, will all shortly be turned into giant bookcases to celebrate the fact that, Regents Park truly is, a reading school! Debate Club Debate club have been discussing everything from uniform in schools, to the question of whether children are exposed to too much too young. We have also discussed various climate issues and even the existence of ghosts! Fatimah in Year 9 said: “ It is interesting to hear other people’s opinions and perspectives on a range of issues and it is also nice to have my opinion heard. ” Our chair person, Georgia-Rose has been doing an excellent job at bringing a huge range of topics to our meetings! We are in need of new members, so if you like to debate, please come along to room 14 after school on Thursdays! The club runs until 3.30pm.

Reading Intervention At Regents Park, we quickly identify students who require additional help to make progress with their reading and robust interventions are put in place. This term we have employed our specialist phonics teacher, who delivers our phonics programme to students in Year 7 and Year 8, who require additional support. These tailored, individualised lessons are delivered in six-week blocks, designed to help these students strengthen their reading skills. This programme also includes support for comprehension, spelling and grammar. Reading age data is available to all teachers to inform their layered planning. Through on-going teacher assessment, we identify students in Years 8 to 11, who also require additional help to make progress with their reading. As of this term, these students have access to Bedrock Learning to drive up their standards of literacy. Bedrock provides lessons in 5 ‘blocks’, which roughly equate to one for each year group. Each student takes an initial test, which determines which ‘block’ they study. Each student takes two 15-20 minute ‘lessons’ each week. The lessons are engaging, with a mixture of audio and video. The main focus of these lessons are vocabulary and grammar – perfect in supporting those students who are struggling most with reading and literacy. Bedrock also supports our students’ disciplinary literacy. Each student will get support to learn Tier 3 vocabulary from three different subjects – providing a significant level of support for whole-school literacy.

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DEPARTMENTAL NEWS

Media & Film Media Studies Year 11 media studies students have completed their coursework this term. We’ve made DVD covers, theatrical posters, and magazine front covers with inside articles. We’ve been very impressed with their efforts and outcomes here. Students have also sat their final mock exam paper, so now we’re ready and raring to go for the final sprint! If any students need help with revision, Mrs Fisher on YouTube is the way to go! Also, there are lots and lots of resources on Google Classroom, if required.

Film Studies Year 10 students have completed Tsotsi and District 9 this term. Both of these films are inspired by the events of the apartheid and District 6 in South Africa. Tsotsi explores gang culture and crime, and follows a redemption story, whereas District 9 follows Wikus van de Merwe, who we follow through the painful process of him becoming a ‘prawn’ and his friendship with Christopher Johnson, an alien. Year 11s have completed their coursework: screenplays inspired by a genre of their choice. These are in the process of being marked and look wonderful so far. Year 11 have many revision resources available to them – first and foremost, they need to complete their Cornell notes books using the resources booklet.

Science Welcome to the science department news and updates for the spring term 2024. The department has been excited to launch some changes to our curriculum, together with some exciting events, all aiming to improve the enjoyment of science and ultimately the outcomes of our students at GCSE.

educational program, backed by the latest research in cognitive science. Curriculum design in Ark Curriculum Plus is informed by four key design principles. Our curricula is as follows: 1. Knowledge-rich 2. Academically ambitious 3. Logically sequenced 4. Designed to support memory We are very excited to be working together with your child at developing their scientific knowledge over time and have them question “what would happen if?” and “why?”.

Key Stage 3 Science

Year 7 and 8 students have been enjoying the lessons of our new curriculum in science ‘ARK Mastery’. This new curriculum not only delivers amazing resources for students and teachers alike, but also provides a unique opportunity to study with an up to date

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DEPARTMENTAL NEWS

Key Stage 4 Science

British Science Week The week of 4th March, saw Mr Grainey delivering British Science Week assemblies to all year groups. This year’s theme was time and it was well spent, engaging in informative, interesting and thought-provoking discussions around how to control the rate at which you age. Please ask your child about how to age at the rate you wish for.

Those who choose not to pursue this option, are not limited as to college courses, science, medical, engineering etc. careers in the future. They too will study all three sciences, just ‘less broad’ and have their results combined together, to come out with two GCSEs in science. Science Show Fellow science enthusiasts! The Royal Institution brought a captivating world of science right to our doorstep on Friday 22nd March, with an explosive and educational show titled, “Explosive Food.” Students & their families embarked on a thrilling journey into the realm of food and its often surprising and explosive nature.

Our current Year 10 and 11 are well underway with their GCSE studies and revision with just over 20 lessons left until Year 11 science exams begin! A reminder that physics revision is at 2:30pm in room S4 on a Friday afternoon and Biology in room S1 at 3:00pm. Make sure you are there and keep up the final push towards exams. At options evening, our new pathway routes through science were launched, with separate science being given as an option to allow all who take this option, the extra time to study the extra science, practice recall, application and evaluation of ideas.

Creative Arts & DT

‘Matilda Jr’ Although the production has been postponed, the performance of Matilda Jr, will go ahead after Easter. Please keep an eye on the website for updates.

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DEPARTMENTAL NEWS

BTEC Performing Arts Year 10s are working on their second piece of coursework. Exploring the play, ‘Hard to Swallow’ written by a local playwright. They will conclude their work in the next half term. Year 11 students are working hard on their exam, creating and rehearsing an improvisation and writing about their skills and creativity. Some amazing work so far Year 11 – keep it up. Mrs Freeman Curriculum Leader of Creative Arts

Key Stage 3 Drama Year 7 have been writing and exploring the theme of ‘Ghost Stories’ and using their creativity and imagination to complete a story, creating characters from different eras and using their problem-solving skills to solve the mystery of the ‘Darkwood’ family. Year 8 have been devising their own performance this term. They have not only studied naturalistic and non-naturalistic acting skills, but have also experimented with lighting, sound and projection. Year 9 have been exploring the play, ‘Blood Brother’ looking at the themes and characters and experimenting with different accents. They have learnt their lines, added costume, set and props and performed their pieces in lessons. Year 7 Art Students have been exploring the continent of Africa, through it’s amazing tribal masks, patterns and clay work. The students have been creating some excellent patterns based on symbols, which represent personal traits they see in themselves, for example: kindness, humour and leadership.

Year 8 Art Students have been busy creating a final piece based on the artist Jasper Johns. Students have been looking at colour theory in conjunction with layering new materials.

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DEPARTMENTAL NEWS

Year 9 Art Students have been travelling across the globe in a cross-curricula study of Mexico and Mexican Culture. Looking at artists such as Frida Kahlo and Jose Posada, students have been learning Spanish and understanding Mexican music whilst drawing, painting and creating work from the country of Mexico. Muy Buena!

Year 11 Art The exam is well underway and the Year 11 GCSE Art cohort are making Miss Brookes and the department incredibly proud. Some beautiful final outcomes will be produced in the two-day exam.

Year 10 Art Students are currently exploring their longest project to date “I, Me, Mine”, as part of their GCSE coursework. Students are in the process of designing their final outcomes after researching, creating and presenting beautiful works of art. Keep up the good work, Miss Brookes is very proud of your hard work and dedication to GCSE Art. Year 9 Photography Year 9 students are currently taking part i n a 10 week photography rotation, as part of design & technology. Students are looking at portraiture and several portrait photographers researching and annotating the photographers work. Students have also began to take photographs in the style of the photographer. They have tried different editing techniques such as: glitch, double exposure and colour select. To finish their photography rotation, Year 9s are given a self-study to take their own portraiture images, inspired by the artists and work they have been doing in lesson, to create a final piece.

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DEPARTMENTAL NEWS

Year 10 Photography Students are currently exploring their longest project to date, which is a part of their GCSE coursework. Students are in the process of designing their final outcomes after researching, creating and presenting beautiful works of art. Keep up the good work Miss Cole is very proud of your continuous hard work! Year 7 Graphics Year 7 have had an introduction into graphic design and what it involves. They have been exploring different fonts and how they relate to the theme of the media they are used in. They will begin to create their own fonts, based on the theme ‘about myself’. They will go on to create a 3D letter of their theme. Year 8 Graphics Year 8 have just started their new rotation into graphics. They have been researching and completing an artist study on Ben Eine and making a replica of some of his work. Students have begun to create their own typography using Ben Eine as inspiration. Next, they will study both digital and hand drawn film posters and begin to create their own.

Year 11 Photography The exam is well underway and the Year 11 GCSE photography cohort are making Miss Cole, Miss Brookes, and the department incredibly proud. Some beautiful final outcomes will be produced in the two-day exam.

Year 7 Resistant Materials

Year 7 have been designing and building bird boxes. They have been learning how to be safe in a woodwork room, learning all about health and safety and understanding how to use the tools safely. Their birdbox designs have been beautiful and we, as a department, can’t wait to see the pictures of them in your gardens!

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Year 8 Resistant Materials

Year 8 are developing their skills they learned in Year 7 by doing research on the computer about pinball machines, and designing their own. Some of the outcomes being produced are wonderfully fun, imaginative and creative. Year 9 In Year 9, students are learning all about the mechanics of a clock, understanding how to cut circular shapes using the woodwork tools safely and researching about the mass production of clocks in a commercial space. Student’s have been busy designing their own clocks with excellent precision and pride.

Year 7 Textiles In Year 7 textiles, students learn about health and safety and in particular, how to use a sewing machine. They have an introduction to different stitching methods, such as running stitch, back stitch and blanket stitch. With these skills, students get to create their own ‘junk monster’ design inspired by the work of Jon Burgerman, which they then can create their own plushie from their designs.

Year 8 Textiles In Year 8 textiles, students recap on

the sewing skills they learned in Year 7, developing their running, back and blanket stitch technique. Students then implement these skills in making their own wall hanging, inspired by the four seasons (winter, spring, summer and autumn). Students get to learn a new skill when creating their wall hanging, looking at painting fabric to implement their own designs and using a sewing machine to hem their finished piece.

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Year 9 Textiles In Year 9 textiles, students get to design and create their own graffiti tote bag, looking at the artist Mr. Brainwash for inspiration. Students will design four different graffiti ideas for their tote bag, narrowing down their final favourite, they will paint onto their bag. Students will then learn a new skill of using dye on fabric to add a pop of colour to their bags. Lastly, students will recap their sewing machine skills in Year 9, by using the machines to attach their handles on to their tote bags and hemming the bags. Year 11 Textiles The exam is well underway and the Year 11 GCSE textile students are making Miss Cole, and the department incredibly proud. Some beautiful final outcomes will be produced in the two-day exam. Year 10 Product Design Students have been busy researching, planning and creating mock ups and models for their design brief in product design. Using 3D paint to create digital models, looking at paper folding to create mini mock ups and are now into the final building stages of their coursework project. Students have been working really hard and Miss Brookes, Mr Needs and Mr Ramshaw are proud of their progress, resilience and outcomes. Year 8 Food Tech Students in Year 8, have been developing their skills in the kitchen by understanding seasonal eating, food waste and healthy swaps. This is then reinforced with some tasty practicals, which include: focaccia bread, veggie noodles and veg mac and cheese.

KS3 Art Club Every Wednesday after school, students from Years 7 – Year 9, have been attending Miss Brookes’ art club. Students get the opportunity to use new materials, receive help with creative arts homework and have fun being creative! Year 7 Food Tech The students have been learning how to safely work in the kitchen and cooking some delicious healthy and environmentally friendly dishes. Such dishes include: banana oat cookies, fruit salad and seasonal cous cous.

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Year 9 Food Tech Year 9 have been deepening their understanding of healthy, low cost and food waste conscious recipes. Students have been learning how to budget for a weekly food shop, looking at vegetarian meals and learning how to multi-task in the kitchen. Year 10 The BTEC hospitality and catering cohort, are deep into their coursework this term. Students have been creating some mouth watering recipes such as homemade sausage rolls with pastry from scratch, beef burgers and lentil bolognese.

Year 11 A BIG congratulations to Year 11 hospitality and catering students, for their excellent behaviour during their practical exam. Ms Harvey, Mrs Cooper and the department are extremely proud of your resilience and hard work this term.

Computing & Business Studies

Computer Science – KS4 Year 11 have completed their second mock exams, having sat both papers. Special congratulations go to Hong for scoring grade 9, Ezra - grade 8 and James - grade 7. Students are now revising both units using the Smart Revise platform, to achieve greater understanding and in-depth knowledge, through retrieval practise. Revision materials are available on Smart Revise, Seneca, Tassomai, Python and our own resources available on Google Classroom. There will also be additional papers with mark schemes for students to practise exam style questions. This will help to develop core knowledge to support with final exams. Paper 1 will be on Wednesday 15th May and paper 2 on Tuesday 21st May.

Year 10 started the programming unit and students are enjoying coding in Python and learning new skills, such as selection and iteration. We will also be practising exam style questions, in preparation for their first mock exam in July, which will cover paper 1 topics. Special mention to Andrei, Hikmet and Luca, for always maintaining being above their progress measure and participating in class discussions. Creative iMedia – KS4 Year 11 sat their mock exam for creative iMedia back in January and we would like to congratulate all students in general for their performance. Students are now working on improving their second and final coursework, ready for submission this summer. Special mention goes to

Daniel, Sophie and Salvo, for their excellent progress with current coursework. Year 10 are in the closing stages of completing their first controlled assessment, covering making visual identities and digital graphics about a historical game. These will be sent off this summer, to the exam board. After that, we will be looking at exam skills and making preparation for their next assessment, which will involve creating interactive websites. Special mention goes to Wiktor, Alana and Rayyan for the amazing progress with the first coursework. Computing – KS3 Year 7 have been practicing their computer science skills, by solving algorithms and developing their

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for retrieval practise. Special mention to Afsar and Owen, for scoring the highest grades in their class. The final exams for paper 1 will be on Tuesday 14th May and paper 2 on Wednesday 5th June. Year 10 enterprise and marketing students are in the closing stages of completing their first controlled assessment, covering designing a new product - Ali’s Ice-cream. These will be sent off this summer to the exam board. After that, we will be looking at exam skills in preparation for mocks and making a start for their next assessment, which will involve pitching for their new ice-cream. Special mention to Shoeey, Henry and Lily, for always coming back to improve their coursework in their own time. Year 10 business studies students have been studying influences on business, concentrating on ethical and technological influences. Students have been issued with their log in details to join the Smart Revise Platform and are

for the Digital Leaders program running in collaboration with Childnet. We have a new list of Digital Leaders and well done to our new recruits: Year 11 - Stanley, Daniel, Salvo & Hong. Year 10 - Mya, Sam, Taisia, Wiktor, Hikmet. Year 9 - Max, Zain, Umberto, John. Year 8 - Alfie.

ability to code. Students have been applying these skills to solve coding problems on the Hour of Code website. Year 8 have been taking part in our “Apps for Good” programme, where they have been investigating how computer science is used in a range of industries that affect our lives. They have been practising their app creations skills through a series of small challenges culminating in their creating a functional app, that solves a problem they have identified. Year 9 have started learning programming skills using Python. Students are enjoying the coding process and they will be starting the independent tasks on iDEA for the summer term. iDEA is an international award-winning programme that helps students to develop digital, enterprise and employability skills through series of online challenges. Cyber Ambassadors Our cyber ambassadors have been very busy during the week beginning 29th January, as they prepared and delivered a presentation in assemblies to all year groups, as part of Safer Internet Day. We have also appeared on the Safer Internet Day website, showing RPCC taking part to celebrate National Safer Internet Day.

Business Studies

Year 11 enterprise and marketing students, have been working hard on their second coursework to pitch their Baslow bag business proposal for their new product. They have just completed their oral pitch exam. We are finalising the coursework ready for submission by the first week in May. They have also sat their second mock exam in January, which was the first paper written for the current Year 11 cohort by the exam board. Special mention to Robert and Jayden for achieving the top grades in their class, as well as Sophie and Louie for excellent progress. Finally, Lilly for progress, as well as being one of the highest grades achieved. The final GCSE exam is on Tuesday 21st May. Year 11 business studies students are using this time after completing their mock, to revise for all topics studied using Smart Revise with short and long quizzes

enjoying using it for low stake quizzes and mini assessments, to

prepare them for their first mock towards the end of the summer term. Special mention to Hikmet and Andrei, for their detailed contributions in class.

We are introducing a new scheme for our current ambassadors and new recruits. We have signed up

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Physical Education Social Sciences It has been a busy term for the social sciences team! Students have shown some amazing skills across the subjects and there has been a huge number of achievement points issued to celebrate the hard work of the students. Year 11 geographers did well with their revision over the half term break – it was really well attended and showed a real dedication to their studies and exams. The geography team was thrilled to receive some Ordnance Survey skills books from the Governors. These will be incorporated into our map skills unit of study – a big thank you to the Governors for these. The history team was proud to also take receipt of some special memorabilia from a friend of Miss Amos. We have had some war medals donated to the department, as well as a very special framed letter from Winston Churchill – the students have all shown great enthusiasm and interest in these items and we will explore them further in our World War Two studies after easter. Mrs O’Brien led the assemblies on Holocaust Memorial Day this year. As always, the students of RPCC, displayed respect and sensitivity around this

topic. Year 8 will look at this poignant moment in history in more depth in the summer term. Well done to all students for their hard work and resilience this term! Sum of Achievement Points Geography 2692 History 22269 Travel & Tourism 202 Total 25163

Sports Awards This year, we are really excited to host our very first Sports Awards at Regents Park, where selected students will be invited to an awards evening based on their achievements and contributions within sports clubs, teams and PE lessons. Over 2023/24, we have seen incredible talent, development and achievements made by our students at RPCC and want to celebrate these formally. We have many exciting awards to celebrate student successes, including manager,

players player, most improvement in clubs, sports girl and boy of the year, plus many more. In addition to this, we are excited to announce that we will have a special guest speaker attending the evening to inspire the next generation of sporting individuals. Student Leadership Charity Update We are approaching that time of the year, that the PE Champions and This Girl Can Ambassadors

will be working hard to set up fundraising activities for their chosen charities and hosting the swimming gala. This year, the selected charities are Abby’s Heroes and MacMillan Cancer support. There will be events at the Sports Awards, focussing on raising money for these charities. Here is a little about each of the charities: Abby’s Heroes exists because when a child is diagnosed with cancer, we know it has a devastating impact on the physical, financial and emotional

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health and wellbeing of the whole family, both during and after treatment and beyond. Abby’s Heroes supports families with a range of practical measures and programmes to help families going through the harsh reality of childhood cancer. Macmillan Cancer Support is set up to help everyone with cancer, live life as fully as they can, by providing physical, financial and emotional support. We’ll do whatever it takes, no matter what a person’s needs are, we will listen and support them however they need us to - big or small.

the season so far. Miss Robinson and Miss Fitzsimmons have seen some great leadership skills displayed throughout the season, which has promoted respect, pride, creativity and challenge within the team. Training sessions continue to help our girls develop their skills and unity as a team! Boys Football

other schools about the attitude of the boys and the teamwork they show on the pitch. Well done all! Dates for the Diary: 25th April 2024 – Sports Award Evening 8th May 2024 – Southampton Schools Swimming Gala 19th June 2024 – Southampton Schools Athletics Championships 12th July 2024 – RPCC Sports Day Please can we remind students that they should be wearing RPCC PE kit for practical core, Sports Leaders and BTEC Sport lessons. Please can you ensure students are not wearing hooded jumpers, as this can cause harm to themselves and other students. They are permitted to wear the RPCC PE jumper or a plain blue or black jumper, which doesn’t have a hood. If a student is unable to take part in PE, please ensure they have a note and their PE kit (they won’t take part practically but will engage in other roles throughout their lesson). If a student is unable to change, please get in touch with their PE teacher. Please check your child’s timetable and our uniform policy on the website to ensure they are adhering to school rules. Many thanks for your support. The PE team wish you a restful and safe easter period. We are really looking forward to welcoming you back for an action packed summer term.

The Year 7 football team have had a great season, which has consisted of some fantastic wins and some really intense competition against other schools. We are very proud of the team, as they have always upheld the values and ethos of RPCC through positive sportsmanship and respect. Every player has represented the school through each game with integrity, to which we could not be prouder and they currently sit second in the league. Our Year 9 and 10 teams have continued their Southampton Schools League campaign. We have consistently had over 25 boys to each year groups training sessions weekly. The boys have shown a real sense of the RPCC ethos and have represented the school brilliantly. We have had nothing but compliments from

Girls Football As our Year 7 and 8 girls continue within the Southampton Schools League, we have seen great development in individual skill development and character development, with an increased level of team cohesion, where our girls have been celebrating the small gains as a team throughout

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