Regents Review Winter 2020

REGENTS PARK COMMUNITY COLLEGE NEWSLETTER

WINTER 2020

Armistice Day

Día de los Muertos

Year 11 Plate Off

Food Boxes

Page 19

Page 11

Page 25

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The Regents Review Winter 2020

WELCOME Headteacher’s Welcome

Dear Parents and Carers Winter is officially upon us, and the festive season is getting into its stride. These past couple of weeks have seen bauble-clad trees spring into front room windows all over town and families across the globe have relished the shared experience of trying to unravel the fairy lights that were stored in a box at the end of last year. At Regents Park, our classrooms have also enjoyed a sprinkle of Christmas with tutor groups opening the daily advent calendar treat, Christmas bunting and the occasional sparkly tree. Special cookies are on sale this week and we are preparing for our Christmas jumper day. We are excited to have the opportunity to do our Christmas assembly in a new format with music and readings being recorded in advance for all the students to enjoy. It is with great pride that we will also be arranging to deliver some special Christmas treats to some of our families from our Christmas trolley appeal, thank you for all the generous donations from the staff and community members. This term has been a new challenge, but Regents Park has not lost its warmth and in fact we have only grown in our support for each other to overcome the challenges and to become stronger. This is evident in this edition of our Regents Review, which captures many highlights from autumn term 2020. As you will see, we have certainly been busy updating the school with new science labs, catering systems, exciting rewards, remote learning opportunities, new ICT and much more. With almost 850 students now attending Regents Park, it is always a pleasure to celebrate our ethos and to talk with students about their achievements, giving out our ethos badges, making positive calls and enjoying looking at their work. However, a real highlight is my Friday morning when I have the joy of hot chocolate with our ‘caught you being good’ raffle winners. Not only do they enjoy dipping marshmallows in their hot chocolate but they also nominate members of staff for a Friday treat writing them a wonderful thank you message. As they sip on their hot chocolate, we also share our thoughts on how to make Regents Park even better and these comments have driven many of our new initiative and improvements over this term.

Keeping each other safe has never been so important and wearing masks has been a huge challenge for staff and students, but due to the commitment of our community, we have minimised the impact of COVID - well done and thank you Regents Park. We have also increased our safety at lunchtimes and breaktimes as we joined the School Street project. We now close Richville Road to allow students to cross safely to the playground. We are officially the first school to successfully put this scheme in place during the school day and the very first secondary school to get involved. Our new assessment systems are gathering momentum and last week, students in every Year group took time to reflect on their progress and set targets for the rest of the year. Year 11 students were presented with their mock exam results during a specially prepared IAG morning. At the risk of diluting the Christmas wishes, I would be grateful if some essential reminders are adhered to before we return in 2020. Reading is an essential past-time for all young people. It can be a superb tool for enhancing their mental health and sense of well-being. There is a wealth of research which shows the correlation between adult educational and employment success and their childhood vocabulary levels. It is never too late to improve this. Please encourage your child to read. Christmas may bring many new mobile phones, please remember the importance of regularly checking your child’s phone and use these conversations as a way of educating you and your family about online safety. The NSPCC website is an excellent starting point for parents to understand the risks and the new platforms that are out there. Also to understand how to set up parental controls: nspcc.org.uk/ preventing-abuse/ keeping-children-safe/online- safety . Remember during term time, mobile phones must be switched off and put in the bottom of bags before students enter the school gates. Mobile phones and headphones will be confiscated if they are visible at any point inside school hours. Finally, thank you to our wonderful students, our dedicated staff and to our parents for their support during 2020. On behalf of the Governors and staff at RPCC, I would like to wish you a very happy and peaceful Christmas and New Year. Mrs Barnes Headteacher

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The Regents Review Winter 2020

GENERAL NEWS

Virtual Parents’ Evening Instructions For instructions on how to attend parents evening appointments over video call, please follow this link: https://www.regentsparkcollege.org.uk/parents/ news/virtual-parents-evening-video-instructions/ Installing Google Classroom on iOS We are aware that a few of our students have been having difficulties installing Google Classroom on their iOS devices. Please follow this link for detailed instructions on how to set up Google Classroom on Apple devices. regentsparkcollege.org.uk/parents/news/ installing-google-classroom-on-ios/ The Golden Rules for Crossing the Road Safely: 1. Find a safe place to cross where you can see easily, ideally at a crossing or away from parked cars. 2. Stop at the kerb or edge of the street, look and listen. Don’t take risks and avoid using your mobile phone when crossing the road. 2. Look left, right, left and behind you and in front of you for traffic. 3. Wait until no traffic is coming and begin crossing. 4. Keep looking for traffic until you have finished crossing. 5. Walk, don’t run across the street. Crossing the Road Safely

Hot Chocolate with Mrs Barnes All students have an opportunity to be invited to ‘Hot Chocolate with Mrs Barnes’ if they are ‘caught being good’ within school. Students are given raffle tickets, which are posted into a box outside Mrs Barnes office. This gives the student a chance at being picked for hot chocolate! The more raffle tickets that are collected - the higher chance for hot chocolate! Food Boxes On Friday 23rd October, we organised food boxes to be delivered to support some members of our community.

Virtual Open Evening Our Virtual Open Evening video can be found on this link: https://www.regentsparkcollege.org. uk/parents/news/virtual-open-evening/

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The Regents Review Winter 2020

GENERAL NEWS PSHE & Careers Careers

Year 7 PSHE Day Year 7 had the first taste of a full day of PSHE in November. They really embraced the challenges and sessions delivered during the day. • Team building challenge with Mr Sinclair. • Examining anti-social behaviour and the causes / prevention with Miss Fison. • Virtual session with Solent Mind covering mental health and exam stress. • Virtual session with Yellow Door covering what makes up healthy relationships. • Virtual session with Hampshire Fire & Rescue Service covering safety in the home and escape plans. • Developing their Leadership, Organisation, Resilience, Initiative & Communication (LORIC) skills with Mr Pine & Miss Reed.

Our students have been opened up to a variety of virtual opportunities in the world of work this term! These include: virtual college events and chances to apply for virtual work experience, particularly for Year 11. Students should keep an eye out for more external career events coming their way by regularly logging into their Year group Google Classroom.

In school, the Year 11 students have been keenly taking part in their career appointments with the Level 6 careers advisor via telephone in the library, whilst independently researching and applying for college and apprenticeship places.

Next term we have the most exciting careers events upcoming for all Year groups including our annual Regents Park Careers Festival, whereby all students are off-timetable and participating in activities related to their careers personal development. Spring dates for the diary: • Year 11s to have applied for at least one college by Christmas. (Students are encouraged to apply for as many as they are interested in so they can make their final choice in August once exam results are received.) • Careers Festival - Friday 12th February 2021 • Solomon Theatre - Year 10 & 11 ‘Choices’ Performance: Monday 15th March • Year 9 Lionheart Challenge - March (TBC)

All resources from these sessions have also been loaded onto the Year group’s Google Classroom.

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The Regents Review Winter 2020

GENERAL NEWS

Year 11 PSHE Day Year 11 had a real good opportunity to engage in relevant sessions as part of our PSHE day on 19th October. They rotated around the following 6 sessions during the day. • Recap of college / apprenticeship pathways with Mr Gates. • Time to research their possible pathways, investigate / apply to colleges. • Virtual session with Solent Mind covering mental health and exam stress. • Virtual session with Yellow Door covering the dangers of pornography. • Virtual session with Alcohol Education Trust covering the dangers associated with alcohol. • The dangers of smoking and its effects led by Mr Grainey from science. Year 7 Year 7 have had a fantastic first term at Regents Park, which I am extremely proud of. We know Regents Park, like many other schools could not offer the induction package to support the transition from primary to secondary education due to the pandemic. It is no secret whist preparing for this term with so many unknowns, I was very concerned about how Year 7 would cope with starting a new school given the circumstances, however Year 7 has surprised me with their excitement and passion. It is clear Year 7 were ready to get back to some sense of normality and routine. Each week we have an achievement challenge, where we celebrate the top students for each week. It has been great to have different students winning each week which demonstrates the number students in Year 7 who are applying themselves in all their subjects. All resources from the day have been loaded onto the Year group’s Google Classroom.

PSHE From 2020 PSHE has now become a statutory subject meaning that all students should be taking part in activities. At Regents Park we are in a very good place, as all of our students already cover a lot of the compulsory content through their subjects, tutor time, assemblies and on PSHE days. There was a parental consultation about this change that happened during the 3 weeks around the autumn half term holiday. I would like to thank the parents that responded with their views, overwhelmingly supporting the work and content that we already cover. As part of changes this year, every student has been invited to a Year group class on Google Classroom, so that content we cover as part of PSHE days and in school can be shared for those absent or for parents who wish to see what we are covering. This was something that parents asked for from the survey we conducted. Our external providers that would normally come into school for our PSHE sessions have been successfully using virtual platforms to deliver content, supported by our staff in school who are able to field questions from students. Congratulations to: Alana, Henry, Abi, Archie, Nikola, Elliot, Tyla, Nelly, Nikola, Jawad, Ryan, Ashleigh, Emma, Joshua, Rebeka, Tori, Ed, Krishanth, Gracie-Ava, Joseph & Olivia Attendance is monitored closely, we know students who have high attendance maximise their opportunities of academic progress. To have 100% attendance in the first term is amazing. Congratulations to: Wahdaan, Jelan, Ema, Alfie, Simran, Alfie, Andrei, Joshua, Kaidyn, Kiera, Harv, Borys, Rebeka, Tyler, Max, Aditya, Ashleigh, Nikola, Jessica, Hannah, Henry, Che, Kyle, Haydan, Reuben, Jessica, James, Joseph, Julija, Cherice, Mae, Eleftheria, Jasveer, Joshua, Jawad, Izzy, Julia,

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The Regents Review Winter 2020

GENERAL NEWS

Resham, Beau, Daisy, Olivia, Alana, Uma, Ryan, Mikey, Lewis, Amelia, Eleanor, Taisia, Mya, Luca, Umar, Carla, Yasin, Hrishi, Krishanth, Victoria, Lily, Elliot, Bryony, Leo, Tori, Mahlet, Yasin, Sophie, Kacper & Eliza

Barron, Mrs O’Brien, Mr Selfe, Mr Russell, Mr Timmis, Mrs Mouland Mrs Stanness-Witcher and Mrs Blakely for their support for Year 7. I really wish all Year 7s and their families have a wonderful Christmas holiday. I look forward

to continuing our Regents Park journey in January 2021.

Happy Christmas

Mr Sinclair Head of Year 7

I wish to thank all the tutors: Mr

Year 8

As we move towards the end of term, I am so proud of what Year 8 have achieved within a short space of time in such different circumstances. Year 8 have come back so positive and proactive towards their learning and I am so proud of all they have achieved. This year we have been embedding our capital culture - flying around the world, watching musicals, visiting museums, all from the comfort of our tutor rooms. Students have been talking about where they have been and learning new things about the world. As we move into 2021, we will continue to build upon this and we are looking to add in some capital culture badges as well. Year 8 have been choosing their options and students have now ‘pledged’ their choices they are currently thinking of choosing, we will be sending out more information in the new year as to our next steps.

We have to make a special announcement to all those students who are zero heroes this year. Well done everyone. Zero Heroes

Lilla Liwia Lola Lottie Mahdi Manjeet Marcus Millie Milosz Mina Nadia Natalia-Mai Oscar Oscar Oskar Robert Ruby Taylor Ryan Lee

Alysha Ayisha Belle Connie Daisy Daniel Eren Eve Gabe Grace Harry Haydn India Isabella Jack

Sajal Sean

Shayne Sophia Sophie Stanley Sylvia Tyler Whitlee

James Jamie Julia Layla Leah Lewis Lewis

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The Regents Review Winter 2020

GENERAL NEWS

William Willow Zahira

Grace Grace Hanna Harry Harvey Heera Jack Jack James Jasmine Joshua Julia Kacper Leo Lilla Liwia Lola Lucy Maja Marcus Martyna Matt Maya

Milosz Mina Oscar Oskar Owen

We have had 64 students with 100% attendance this term, well done to all. 100% Attendance

Robert Sophia Sophie Stanley Suheera Tom Tyler William Willow

Ben Ben Benjamin Casey Charan

Daniel Daniel Darcey Dastan Erin Eve Freddie Gabe Georgia

Year 8 have been really enjoying their new area for lunch time and have even had Mrs Barnes practicing her skills with them I wish you all a happy and healthy holiday and look forward to 2021!

Mrs Bishop Head of Year 8

Year 9

Year 9 has had an amazing start to this half term and continues to make a positive impact on the school. In the last few weeks of half term, the school has been celebrating and promoting anti- bullying week, where tutor groups designed a poster to promote anti-bullying. Some of the posters have now been put up around the school to celebrate the fantastic work they have done.

a surge of positivity when talking about their GCSE option subjects and continue to work incredibly hard with these. Keep up the good work!

Robbie Oliwia Julia Charlie Rosie

Mr Stone Head of Year 9

100% Attendance

Top 10 Highest Achievement Points

Ades Alfie

Amelia Amelie

Mitchell Mya

Students in Year 9 have expressed

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The Regents Review Winter 2020

GENERAL NEWS

Anastazja Carly

Indiana Isaiah Jakub Jess Julia Julia Katie Lavante Lewis Lily Lucy Lunlana Mani Mariella

Mia Michael Millie Misha Molly Oliwia Olly Omar Oscar Robbie Victoria William Zuzia

Charlie Daniel Dawid Emily Erin Ethan Felix Grace Harry Holly Holly Humza

Year 10

Miss Grassie Head of Year 10 100% Attendance

As you can see for the extensive lists in this Year 10 section, as a Year group, we have had a really positive start to the 2020 - 2021 academic year. Regardless of the out of the ordinary situation we find ourselves in, the majority of Year 10 have shown maturity and resilience in getting back in to the swing of learning. As we find ourselves on the ‘wind-down’ to Christmas, our BTEC sport students have been working extremely hard in preparation for their Unit 1 exam, with many going to the extra support sessions available to them. Wishing them the best of the luck, I have every confidence they will smash it! I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate a variety of students, including those listed here, but also the students that may not have made it in to the Regents Review this time around, however we have seen huge improvements since last year – it doesn’t go unnoticed! Congratulations to all of Year 10 and keep up the hard work. Wishing you all a very safe, happy and extra festive Christmas holidays and I look forward to seeing you all in the New Year, ready for what will hopefully feel a bit more back to ‘normal’.

Matus Samid Adrian Abigail Caitlin

Finnian

Simone

Josh

Kayla

Poppy

Ben

William

Bradley

Ani

Jake

Jack

Alisa

Sophie

Mackenzie

Joshua

Vernessa

Alex

Molly

Daniel

Emily Natan Jessica Holly Diego

Martin

Ali

Kira Erin

Callum Bethan Sophia Mariana Michael

Dimitar

Vivian

Annalise

Allia

Finley

Joy

Jack Luke Maya Chloe Dylan

Josh Lisa

Daniel

Liam

Samuel Nathan

George Eashan

Toby

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The Regents Review Winter 2020

GENERAL NEWS

Zero Heroes

Ani

Hayden Annalise

Anna

Megan Megan Callum

Joseph

Eashan Dylan Matus

Ella

Martin

Raaed

Kayla

Alisa

Ellie Erin

Faith

Ben

Andrea

Mariana

Lisa

Leyla

Harry

Bradley Ibrahim

Nathan

Rio

Top Conduct Points

Craig Josh

Carl Jan Yussuf Caitlin Mikolaj James Rihana

Allia Alex Holly

Matus Denisa Nathan Kareena Eashan

Charlie

Tamim Cassie

Kirk

Callum Abigail

Cassie

Vernessa William

Ani

Chloe

George

Denisa Jamie Joshua Simone

Sarah Yanni

Joseph

Alex

Diego

Jack

Wanessa

Samuel

Kimi Tom

Maddison Wanessa

Josh Kimi

Jack

Erin

Molly

Katie

Year 11 We are now nearing the end of the first term as Year 11 and it has been excellent to see the students back in school continuing their GCSE courses in a mature and purposeful way. It has been a pleasure to see the student’s resilience and the effort they are putting in to their studies in such a difficult year. Year 11 students have rose to the challenge of virtual learning, live lessons, live revision sessions and supporting their own learning in a variety of innovative ways. The students have also completed college applications, received interviews and some have already been offered places to continue their personal journey after leaving Regents Park.

The Student Senior Leadership Team have arranged meetings and some excellent ideas to support the school, local community and fundraising for the prom. The students have been amazing at thinking outside of the box to create some fantastic ideas, which I look forward to seeing the inevitable positive results from. The Year group have proven themselves to have a wide range of talents and I have greatly enjoyed continuing our journey together into Year 11 at Regents Park. It is very sad to think this is the last Christmas we will all spend together as a Year 11 community, but I cannot wait to see them excel before starting the next step of their journey.

I wish you all a brilliant Christmas and look forward to seeing you refreshed and recharged for Term 2, where we have lots to look forward to and work towards.

Mr D Gates Head of Year 11

Special shout out to the following people who have received 0 behaviour points this year: Zero Heroes

Abbie Adrian Aiela Aimee Alex Amy Analisa

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The Regents Review Winter 2020

GENERAL NEWS

Ashleigh Bartosz Caitlin Calum Chloe Eleanor Elliot Emma Erin Gemma George George

Robert Ronald Sahanaj Samuel Samuel Sophie Tabbi Tasmin

Alex Ammar Analisa Ashleigh Calum Davide Dawid Dawid Dominic Elliot Faheem George Huong Jack Jamie Jay Jebin

Special shout out to the students who are at the top of the Year 11 conduct league: Conduct Points League

Grace Henry Jack Jacob Jamie Jay Jebin Jenson Jess Jonny Joshua Julia Kacper

Adrian Aimee Joshua Minshal Aiela Jebin Jacob Caitlin Hassan Jay Kidest Patrick Karolina Rajveer Norbert Owen Kayleigh Ammar Amy

Joshua Kacper Kenzie Khadijatou Kidest Manzoor Matthew Minshal Nadia Oskar Owen Phoebe Robert Sabir Sahanaj Sophie Stewart Szymon Tasmin Lena Luke

Karolina Kayleigh Kelly-Ann Lena Luke Lydia Lydia Maja Maria Matthew Nikola Norbert Oliver Phoebe Rachel

Special shout out to the students who have received 100% attendance this year: 100% Attendance Abbie Adnaan

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GENERAL NEWS

Christmas Trolley Once again, Regents Park promoted the Christmas trolley. We would like to thank everyone who has helped support this.

Armistice Day On the eleventh hour of Wednesday 11th November, staff and students observed a two minute silence. Once again, Mr Barron played the ‘Last Post’ to mark the occasion. A group of students came to school dressed in their Cadet uniforms and took on the role of selling poppies throughout the day to support ‘The Royal British Legion’.

EU Settlement Scheme & You When the Brexit transition period ends on 31 December this year, the Government will start to roll out a new immigration system. This means that EU citizens and their family members (who right now exercise rights to live and work in the UK under EU law) need to obtain permission to stay in the UK. If you or any of your family are EU, EEA or Swiss nationals you will need to apply to the EU Settlement Scheme. Any person who misses the deadline on 30 June 2021 and stays in the UK will be here unlawfully, with no right to work or access public funds. If in doubt – check it out: https://www.gov.uk/settled- status-eu-citizens-families

Library Book requests

We will leave the requested books in reception for collection. All RPCC students are also able to access 1,088 free digital books from home by going to: southamptonsls.wheelers.co myon.co.uk is a website for all Year 7 & 8 students. Please ask the librarians or your English teacher for your login and password details. • Choose an Avatar, build your interests profile and show us how much you’ve been reading at home. • Use the Bingo card to the left to challenge yourself to read a variety of books.

If you wish to borrow any books from our library, please use this email address to place your order: libraryclickandcollect@ regentspark.southampton.sch.uk This is for use by students/ parents to request books for students who are ill or isolating.

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The Regents Review Winter 2020

Mathematics DEPARTMENTAL NEWS

Year 11 Revision Sessions

Times Table Rockstars This year we started times table rockstars with our current Year 7 cohort to give them the opportunity to practice their mental numeracy and calculation fluency. When it comes to time tables, speed and accuracy is important – the more facts you remember the easier it is for your brain to do harder calculations. How it works… • We started with a baseline test for 5 minutes to see how good our Year 7s are at the moment. • We will then practise times tables to rock music for 3 minutes each lesson. • After 100 lessons, we will take the baseline test again to see the progress and improvements made throughout the year. • We will then collate all results and organise a celebration assembly later in the academic year, where selected students will be rewarded for their improvements in their times tables. • All Year 7 students will need to practise their times tables at home using online games and using their log-on details given to them by their teacher. • There are six main game types at the heart of TT Rock Stars: single player or multiplayer. • Frequency of practice is key with learning. It’s more effective to practice three minutes a day, at least four times a week than practising for the same total duration once a week. • Game Types: Single Player Games - Garage/Gig (Auto or teacher-set questions, best for practice and earning coins), Studio (Questions up to 12 × 12, Earn rock speed and status), Soundcheck (25 Questions, 6 second limit per question) • Game Types: Multi-Player Games - Festival (Questions up to 12 × 12, Take on the world), Arena (Auto or teacher-set questions, Compete against your class mates), RockSlam (Questions up to 12 × 12, Head to head against another member of the school)

This year we will start our Year 11 revision session on a targeted, invitation only, GCSE maths intervention programme, with the aim of encouraging every child to achieve their target grades. This will be a valuable opportunity for invited students to gain additional GCSE maths support and guided revision prior to their final

exams. We will then roll it out to the rest of Year 11 cohort in January 2021. The selection process is based on careful monitoring and evaluation of students’ expected GCSE grades and the likelihood of achieving these.

We are aiming to hold the sessions once a week on Wednesdays, straight after school, for an hour and for an initial period of 8 weeks. However, given the restrictions of COVID, sessions may have to take place online from 3.30pm for an initial period of time until we can resume face-to-face meetings.

Throughout the intervention process, we would regularly seek students’ feedback to make them feel more involved in the process and help to keep them engaged. There will be no charge for these sessions,

but students will be expected to attend classes once they have accepted the place, as this will be to their benefit. Please see below some pointers for planning and undertaking home revision sessions. • Short focused revision sessions are much more effective than longer less focused ones. • Spend most of your time testing yourself and show full workings-out. • Learning will be slow at first, but the more you learn, the faster you learn in future, so start now! • You will forget material if you don’t go over it after a day/ week/ month. Try to start each session by briefly looking back. • When you are revising, record what you have done – it will reassure you how hard you are working.

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DEPARTMENTAL NEWS

KS3 - Top Performers Year 7 Gayathri Eleanor Jelan Eliza Kiera

A special congratulations to Gayathri in Year 7 who is number 3 in the school for MathsWatch! KS4 - Top Performers Year 9 Puja Ades Anastazja

Amandeep Ani Ella

Year 11

Owen Ashleigh Kacper Eleanor Justin

Year 8

Holly Katie

Belle Charan Adrian-James Layla Stanley

Year 10

Vernessa Leyla

Revision Tips As we look forward to 2021, Year 11 will be busy revising for their PPEs and summer exams, so here are some useful tips to support maths revision:

Perfect Examples Regents Park students give you a demonstration of how to complete your arithmetic sums perfectly:

Top 10 Maths Revision Tips 1. Start revising early. 2. Plan your revision using a timetable. 3. Attend ‘live’ revision sessions. 4. Set up a nice, tidy study space.

5. Vary your revision with different activities. 6. Stick revision notes all around your house. 7. Do lots of practice papers and questions. 8. Set aside time to do fun things — don’t turn into a revision robot. 9. Keep your phone and other distractions away. 10. Sleep well and eat properly.

Thank you to Gayathri, Archie, Joshua and Nelly for your hard work!

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DEPARTMENTAL NEWS

Maths Puzzle See if you can try and solve this maths puzzle!

Science

to the old labs, which makes practical work easier than before. ” Felix, Year 9 . The Science department at Regents Park would like to send a big thank you to Ford, as a result of the brilliant work of Mrs O’Donoghue in the prep room, we have been awarded a grant from The Ford Trust. This grant will be used to inspire the students to consider a future career in engineering. We have used the money to purchase a new Rubens’ tube, also known as a standing wave flame tube, or flame tube. The tube is an antique physics apparatus for demonstrating acoustic standing waves in a tube. Invented by German physicist Heinrich Rubens in 1905, it graphically shows the relationship between sound waves and sound pressure. This year, Mr Grainey is launching an exciting new project, Eco- Bricks! Eco-bricks are an innovate way to reuse plastic waste,

The new labs are officially OPEN! It felt for a long time that this would never happen. The science block here at Regents Park Community College was first opened in 1985. It was four years ago now that I originally met with the builders, architects and Southampton City Council to discuss what science teaching looks like at Regents Park and what our young people needed from their science laboratories. The rooms were in desperate need of repair and refurbishment. The labs were worn out, the desks were wobbly and the windows did nothing to keep the heat in. Fast forward to October 2020 and we are officially in with seven fully refurbished, state of the art science labs and a new bespoke designed preparation room with chemical store. Staff and students alike are super excited about all the possibilities these new classrooms give us. But don’t just take my word for it, this is what our students had to say about their new rooms:

“ They are more organised and that is more helpful, I like that everything is stored in the cupboards. ” Misha, Year 9 . “ They are so much tidier than before and that makes using them for practical so much easier .” Charlie, Year 9 . “ The gas and electric points are easier to get to now compared

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DEPARTMENTAL NEWS

whilst improving our school environment. They are a simple, low-tech solution to our plastic problems without the need for machines or special skills. Eco- bricks enable us to take personal responsibility for the plastic that we’ve consumed by keeping it out of industrial systems, securing it out of the environment and putting it to good use to build new things around school - like seating areas. Keep a look out on the school website for future eco-bricks developments and remember to save that plastic over the Christmas break. This half term we have had to say a temporary goodbye to Mrs Cooper. She left us in the middle of November to start her maternity leave, now with the birth of her daughter she is very busy at home being a new mum. Many congratulations to Mrs Cooper and her family on the arrival of their baby from the science team, we wish you all well and can’t wait to meet the newest member of team science when lock down rules allow. We are very lucky to have some new teachers joining us this year. I would like to extend a huge Regents Park welcome to Mr

Muller who will be taking over Mrs Cooper’s classes whilst she is on leave. Also joining the team this year are Miss Rendall and Mrs Wagner. Miss Rendall will be working and team teaching with myself (Mr Moth) and Mr Grainey. Mrs Wagner is a science consultant who is working with the team this year. She is supporting lots of our students in multiple lessons - please say hello should you see her around school. This year we have been encouraging all students and staff to count down to the festive

season using the compoundchem. com advent calendar. That leaves me to say, the science department and I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

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DEPARTMENTAL NEWS

English

Year 9 media studies students have endeavoured to demonstrate all of the foundation skills and media language knowledge in their first go at some practical work. They are creating a theatrical poster and DVD front and back cover for a thriller film of their creation.

English & Media Our Year 7 students were #greenandproud to receive their certificates and green pens for passing their peer assessment exams. Happy faces!

Rewards in English and Media To start this academic year properly, we thought

Live Lessons This autumn the English department have mastered a mind-boggling array of new skills and embraced a wide range of new technologies in order to support the learning of students who have been at home isolating. During the week beginning 7th December alone, the team delivered no fewer than 39 live lessons in a variety of formats! English teachers have used Loom videos, Google Meets for live lessons, PowerPoint presentations with sound and video recordings, and an assortment of methods to engage students with quizzes and interactive content. Our aim has been to make sure that any students who are isolating can continue their educational progress in line with their classmates in school – and even though they are at home, not feel as if they are on their own! The feedback from students accessing lessons from home has so far been overwhelmingly positive. We look forward to a time when students isolating is a thing of the past – but know that the new skills and knowledge we have developed will help to improve the way English is taught to all students at Regents Park.

we ought to be making a bigger deal out of our students! This term, we have pushed our ‘Student of the Fortnight’ certificates and posters in both English and Media. The student names are tweeted and displayed on posters on their teacher’s

door. They are then given a big round of applause, a raffle ticket and a certificate. The raffle ticket then goes into the draw. The first ticket was awarded on 17th December and we’ve got three massive boxes of Lindor to give away! Miss Fison and Miss Smith have also been trying out other ways to reward students. Both teachers have a ‘Superstars’ board in their room, and are encouraging students to earn more raffle tickets for their own class draw! Both Miss Fison and Miss Smith are becoming quite competitive about how many tickets their classes can earn…

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DEPARTMENTAL NEWS

Y11 Exam Skills Revision Masterclasses This term the English department have been busy making a series of ‘masterclass’ videos to support the exam preparation of Year 11 students. Miss Fison has led the way with her three wonderful masterclasses on analysing fiction, analysing non- fiction and producing imaginative writing. The team have recorded masterclasses to cover all of the key GCSE English Language skills, as well as videos to support the knowledge and understanding of each GCSE English Literature text. Released weekly, these videos form a key weapon in Year 11s revision arsenal. The beauty of this form of revision is that it can be viewed anywhere and

Year 11 Revision Advice anytime a student has access to a device, and they can be viewed multiple times until the skills are mastered. Keep going Year 11 – you can do it!

Creative Arts & DT Good News from Music

remotely. All this can be a drain but the promise of what is around the corner can be based on what we have achieved before. Due to the school’s commitment to music making both within school and within the wider community, Regents Park are now the proud owners of a Music Mark. This has been awarded in celebration of our commitment to encouraging musical talent through a wealth of opportunities such as the yearly musical, GCSE recitals, our own X Factor contest and of course extra-curricular band rehearsals. All of these are a normal part of our usual calendar and are sorely being missed, but will return in one form soon. In addition to our own in-house programme of events, Regents Park students have also been involved in a wealth of

wider community music events. Most recently, the school was involved in an Art Asia project introducing students to aspects of Indian classical music. Perhaps the largest community music project we were involved in was ironically just days before the first lock down, when students from Regents Park sang on the Mayflower Theatre stage in huge mass choir of voices from schools all over Southampton in a musical extravaganza celebrating the 400th anniversary of the Mayflower sailing. Watch out for future events as they become possible. Stay safe.

We all know how hard this year has been. Everybody has felt it. Even now the restrictions are still in place and this makes everything just a little bit trickier. We all have our guidelines to follow and in music and the creative arts department this has meant having to restrict a number of activities including large inter Year group performances, the musical, even certain classroom activities involving air flow, like large group singing and instruments that are required to be blown. Even peripatetic lessons have been difficult to accommodate in school due to room sizes, but these are now being accessed

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The Regents Review Winter 2020

DEPARTMENTAL NEWS

Year 7 Cooking Adventure This half term many Year 7s have tried their hand at cooking independently for the first time. It has been a joy seeing their confidence grow and their practical skills improved as they safely demonstrate the bridge hold and claw grip. They have made fruit salads, seasonal cous cous, scones and fruit crumbles. Lots of smiles, lots of learning and lots of washing up!

Year 8 Healthy Cooking This half term our Year 8s have been developing their practical skills and working on multitasking independently whilst cooking. They have made rainbow salads, cakes and a DIY pot noodle. They

absolutely loved the pot noodle and what a fantastic and healthy after school snack this is. Perfect for using up leftovers and adding lots of vegetables to improve our vitamin intake over these cold winter months. They have been brilliant, well done Year 8.

Year 9 Italian Investigation This half term, our Year 9 hospitality & catering class have been carrying out an Italian investigation. They researched the flavours and signature dishes of various regions in Italy and creatively presented their findings in some beautifully designed booklets. They then made their first batch of fresh pasta, using our pasta machines and were surprised by the quantity made from just one egg and a handful of flour. Bella Pasta!

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The Regents Review Winter 2020

DEPARTMENTAL NEWS

Year 11 Plate Off During The Great British Bake Off season we have been practicing our plate presentation skills. Using minimal ingredients to create a big visual impact. The humble teacake proved the perfect centre piece to practice with and what a delight it was to see the proud look on their faces after creating such professional looking plates. Well done Year 11, you’re nearly ready to do that practical food exam!

Year 10 Breakfast Quesadilla Look at these speedy yet nutritious breakfast quesadillas our Year 10s made in their hospitality & catering lesson. They are getting much more efficient in their cooking preparation and they enjoyed eating these snacks. They are perfect for growing teens and a great way to use up leftovers with the added bonus of some extra protein.

Photography We have been busy this term again in Photography creating new incredible pieces of work. As always, we are so proud of our students work here at Regents Park and we have been given the most amount of Deputy Headteacher awards this term. Look at these brilliant photos, I hope you like their work as well.

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The Regents Review Winter 2020

DEPARTMENTAL NEWS

Drama Year 7 have been exploring what it was like being an evacuee in World War Two, creating some very emotional scenes of children leaving their homes for the duration of the war. Stars of the half term: Izzy, Nikola, Lola, Rebeka and Ashleigh

Year 9 have started their BTEC performing arts course and have explored the theatre practitioner Constantin Stanislavski and naturalistic acting. They have performed several pieces of script including a monologue and have just completed a small group improvisation based on real events. Some outstanding work from the group – well done. Stars of the half term: Mariella Year 11 have now completed their coursework for BTEC performing arts and they will begin their exam in January. They worked so hard on the day of their mock exam and should be commended. Stars of the half term: Kacper and Keeley-Mae

Year 8 looked at segregation and created some outstanding work about racism throughout history. They researched Martin Luther King, re-enacted the story of Rosa Parks and explored the rules of apartheid in South Africa. Stars of the half term: Malakai, Stanley and Leo

some banners, completed some creative writing and recorded some music. Their work, along with other residents of Southampton was displayed in an art installation from 17th December to 20th December in West Quay Shopping Centre.

Year 7, 8, 9 and 10 have taken part in the Art Asia Mayflower 400 project looking at ‘Belonging’. They have spent a few weeks exploring the topic of ‘Belonging’ and relating it to their lives and the lives of the pilgrims 400 years ago. They have created

Mrs Freeman Head of Creative Arts

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The Regents Review Winter 2020

DEPARTMENTAL NEWS

Textiles There has been some incredible work completed in textiles this year already! Year 7 textiles, have been exploring The Mexican Day of the Dead and showing this through colour and pattern. Below is some of their best work:

Graphics Art students have been busy working their way through their projects. Year 7 students have been creating imaginative bugs using mark making and tone and getting inspiration from the artist Lynnette Shelley. Year 8 have explored colour theory and are studying the artist Jasper Johns. Students are currently creating designs inspired by his work. In graphics, we have just completed the first rotation. Year 7 have been introduced to typography, designing their own letters and creating them using paper mache. In Year 8, they have studied Ben Eine and have created some imaginative calligrams.

The Year 8s have been looking at a range of artists and using them to create their own designs. They have been conquering hand embroidery and using the sewing machine.

Year 9 students have just started their GCSEs in this subject and have already created some beautiful work. After a difficult time in Year 10, with the effects of COVID and lockdown, the Year 11 textiles group has produced some incredible work:

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The Regents Review Winter 2020

DEPARTMENTAL NEWS

ICT Computer Science – KS4 Year 11 have just completed their mock exams, after school revision is ongoing on Thursdays and is open for any student that would like extra support in practising exam style questions. This will help to develop core knowledge to support with final exams in May / June. Year 10 started practising their skills in programming using Python, the NEA project is no longer required to be submitted to the exam board, but students still need to make up 20 hours of coding and we have already been working towards completing this. Year 9 have had a good start to their GCSES and have been looking at system architecture and algorithms. After school intervention for Year 11 will take place on Thursdays after school in room 6.

were taught the importance of e-safety and how to be safe online. Year 7 produced informative presentations, while Year 8 created interactive websites. Year 7 moved on to festival celebration, with themes like Christmas grotto or other themes as required, they are now using a range of skills with software creating different Office-based tasks. Year 8 have developed their knowledge from last year about the hardware in a computer and making decisions about how to construct an appropriate computer, e.g. how much ram, what processor speed etc. Cyber Ambassadors Recruiting Now! Open for all Year 8, 9 and 10 IT/ Computer Science students

Year 11 students have now started their third and final

controlled assessment, which is creating a website for a travel blogger. After school sessions are taking place for those needing to improve their previous piece of work. Year 10 have started the second controlled assessment, which was to produce an interactive website about the city of Southampton to tourists and visitors. Students have been encouraged to use their own devices to capture images or videos around the city. Year 9 have focussed on key skills and exam topics to prepare them for the assessment process. They have just started their first controlled assessment on book covers. After school intervention for Year 11 takes place on Tuesday and Thursday after school in room 5. IT – KS3 Due to the lockdown and students already having spent a longer time using electronic devices, we have changed the order of our topics for Year 7 and 8 students. Both Year groups

iMedia – KS4 As part of iMedia, students undertake 3 controlled assessments covering different topics within IT.

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The Regents Review Winter 2020

DEPARTMENTAL NEWS Humanities RE During innovative teaching week, religious education students explored a range of beliefs and traditions from other cultures. Dia de los Muertos (The Day of the Dead) activities encouraged students to reflect on how we consider the subject of death in a light-hearted and artistic way. Through sand-painting activities, students explored ideas of mindfulness and the infinite nature of reality in Buddhist philosophy and practices. The students really embraced a fresh approach to learning about these complex ideas in a way that felt personal and relatable to them.

History & Geography This term has been a strange one for many reasons, but that has not stopped the students in humanities from excelling in class and with their homework! Year 7 have embraced the topics in history and have created some amazing homework! As part of their pick and mix tasks, they have selected a baking task and produced some excellent tudor desserts! In geography we have had some fantastic efforts with the tourism topic. We have been very pleased and proud of Year 11, as they completed their mock exams - some real maturity and commitment shown by them as they completed these exams. We have been so pleased with the attitude and effort of all the humanities students throughout this autumn Term.

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The Regents Review Winter 2020

Physical Education DEPARTMENTAL NEWS

I hope when reading this you and your families are in good health. We continue to adapt to the ever-changing challenges we face with real determination and resilience in the PE department! Before we broke up for summer, we held our first ever ‘Virtual Sports Day’. The vision was that this event would once again, prove a unifying event for the whole school community, albeit from approximately 300 domestic settings that took part, and once again prove just how effectively sport can bring people together. From the feedback students and their families gave, it sounds like many thoroughly enjoyed this personal (and household) challenge and the learning community competition was certainly a close-run event with Parks victorious by just 50 points in our first ever Virtual Sports Day. Thank you and well done to all those that took part.

Our new team of PE Champions have been instrumental in gathering student voice to help shape and support our return to school. They will host their first event of the year, week beginning 7th December, which will see all students compete for their tutor group, PE class, learning community and Year group in a number of fitness challenges. We wish all the competitors the very best of luck! We look forward to bringing you the results.

During the month of December, we invited our students and their families to take part in our ’12 days of Christmas’ fitness challenge. Please follow this link to find out all about it and help maintain a healthy and active lifestyle. https://www.loom.com/ b774f109d5135f3dd97221b We have 50 students taking their BTEC Sport external exam on Wednesday 9th December 2020. It has been so great to see so many are engaging in additional revision opportunities available to them. We wish them all the best! Please can we remind students that they should only be wearing Regents Park PE kit on days they have core PE lessons or practical 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 Regents Park PE jumper or a plain blue or black jumper that does not have a hood. Please check your child’s timetable to ensure they are adhering to school rules. Many thanks for your support. The PE team wish you a restful and safe Christmas. We are really looking forward to welcoming you back to after school clubs and fixtures, when the situation allows us to.

Our PE Champions have also chosen 3 charities they would like to support this year. They are National Autistic Society, Cystic Fibrosis Trust and Alzheimer’s Society. This year they have chosen to set up an auction to raise money for the charities. We will bring you more information soon! They also hope to bring some additional events throughout the year, when we are able to. Felix, Millie, Lucy, Mollie, Ridley, Amelia, Ana, Carly, Amelie & Lunlana

Results: 1st - Parks - 3757 2nd - Branson - 3707 3rd - Rowling – 2300

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