Parent and pupil newsletter 8 Feb 2019

Homework diary

All students in years 7-11 at Bales College have a homework diary. This should be used to help them organise their work for the week and as a means of communication between school and home. Students have written their timetable and their homework timetable in their diary so they know which equipment to bring each day. When they are given home-work they should write the details in their diary and the date when the work is due and again this will allow them to plan their work through the week.

Homework diaries should be checked and signed by the form teacher each week and parents should also be asked to sign to show they have checked students are doing their work. This is especially important when the school has assessment tests or exams be-cause students will only be successful if they plan a revision programme for their time at home.

Mr Corcut and Mr Yearsley will be checking home-work diaries on a regular basis to ensure they are used properly.

Assessment tests w/c 11 Feb

All students will be having assessment tests next week during lesson times. Students will have been told when their assessments will take place so they should be planning revision appropriately. Students in years 11,12 and 13 will have assessments based on exam paper questions whilst those in other years will have a variety of tasks based on the work they have been doing. The results of these tests will be reported to parents in our grade letter during half term.

Year 7 girls netball tournament

Year 7 girls will be taking part in the Westminster inter-schools girls netball tournament on Monday 11th February. The tournament takes place in the afternoon at Paddington Rec and it is fantastic that our girls will be representing the school. This will be the first time we have played in this type of tournament so I’m sure it will be a steep learning curve for those involved. However we also have some very sporting students so I’m sure it will be an enjoyable and highly competitive event.

Year 13 UCAS applications

All our year 13 students have submitted their UCAS applications which is the mechanism for applying to study at university when they have completed their A levels. They are required to apply for five different universities and to similar courses at each. The university admissions tutors then assess each application which is supported by a personal statement from the student of around 4000 words, explaining why they wish to study their chosen course. The school also has to write a supporting reference and to give predicted grades for A level exams.

The hope is that students will receive five offers which will usually be conditional on them achieving their predicted grades. Students must then select one firm choice, one reserve choice and reject the other three offers. It’s a tense time for our sixth formers because these decisions will affect their future!