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Weekly bulletin 03/03/2023

Please see the latest bulletin below....

Dear UCC Families

This week there has been a lot going on at UCC! At the start of the week we welcomed back students and staff from a fabulous Ski Trip to Austria. The trip was a huge success and I am very grateful to the colleagues who gave up their half-term to provide students with such a superb opportunity. 

Industrial Action
On Wednesday the second of four days of industrial action by the NEU took place. We were able to open the school to all year groups apart from Year 9 and this meant we were able to run all the timetabled class for Years 7, 8, 10 and 11 as normal. We will assess our staffing capacity at the start of the week beginning March 13th and make a decision about our provision for the final two strike days (March 15th and 16th). As things stand, we are planning the following arrangements:

  • Wednesday March 15th - Year 8 studying at home, with all other students in school.
  • Thursday March 16th - Year 7 studying at home, with all other students in school.

ACE Day 2
Today we are hosting our second ACE Day (Additional Curriculum Enhancement Day) of 2022-23. These take an enormous amount of planning and preparation. ACE days form an important part of our wider curriculum offer and particularly contribute to the overall Personal Development and Careers programme. ACE Day 2 has a focus on Careers and Enterprise, with students across all year groups being involved in following the themes:

Year 7 - Growth Mindset - workshops and activities focussed on how young people can cultivate a healthy approach to learning, failure and continual growth

Year 8 - The Real Game - fun activities that help support students' understanding of the real world, careers, finances and how to plan their futures

Year 9 - Enterprise Day - working in teams to create a business idea for a product or service, before pitching their project to community members in the afternoon

Year 10 - What Career? at the NEC in Birmingham - a national careers event for 14-19 year olds with workshops, talks and stalls on university, college and apprenticeship options

Year 11 - Preparing for Success - workshops on exam preparation, how to build a successful CV, sessions on emotional wellbeing and mental health 

(Please see a selection of photos in the newsletter below)

Improving Teaching Programme
On Tuesday we welcomed back Tom Sherrington and John Tomsett, who are former headteachers and now very successful education consultants and authors. They have worked with us on an exciting project called the Improving Teaching Programme. We are fortunate enough to be one of only six schools in the country to be chosen for this inaugural project. The focus of our work has been on every teacher deliberately working on refining their teaching practices to maximise learning opportunities for your children. They have provided us with a superb level of insight, wisdom and professional challenge. Now they have completed their final day with us, we will be taking what we have learned and using it to shape our training provision for teachers over the next year. 

Your child's curriculum offer
I would like to remind you about the location on our website, where you can view the details about the curriculum your child/children is/are studying. Subject Areas - Uppingham Community College (uppinghamcollege.org.uk) Also, you can view the Key Stage 3 plans in a different format here

Podcast recommendations
A few weeks ago, I included links to a number of podcasts concerning young people's mental health and wellbeing compiled by the Anna Freud Centre, a highly respected organisation in this field. I had quite a few messages from parents letting me know how useful these were, so I thought it would be wise to include them again this week, for anyone that might have missed them. The podcasts cover a number of relevant topics, for example childhood anxiety, self-harm, eating disorders and the adolescent brain. You will find the link to the podcasts here

Uniform update
Finally, I want to update you on an adaptation to our uniform expectations that has been brought to me by the Student Council. Students have asked for nose piercings to be allowed and also coloured socks. I have agreed that one nose piercing per person (1 small stud, no hoops or bars) will be permitted, and that students can choose to wear socks that are different colours (other than black/grey). Whilst I've been prepared to adapt our policy regarding nose studs to take a more modern approach, we still do not allow earrings that are hooped or dangle in any way - this is for safety reasons, so please can you support us by reminding your child/children of this. I will send students a message later today explaining that any items being worn that are not permitted will be confiscated and treated in the same way as mobile phones, with items being handed into Student Services. 

Please take the time to read through the rest of the newsletter.

I hope you have a great weekend.
Mr B Solly