Parents’ Newsletter

29th September 2016

From the Principal Welcome to the new look Ely College Newsletter. We hope that it will be a valuable source of communication and information for our parents, but also for all those interested in our work and progress. The first few weeks of term have been an exciting time for us all, with many new systems to embed and relationships to build. It has been particularly pleasing to see the new houses and vertical tutor groups taking shape so well. Parents and visitors have been complimentary of the changes to our uniform and the improvements we’ve secured to the site, and we are pleased that students have responded so positively to the challenges we have set them. I am asking for more from everybody involved with the College, and we are seeing a great response to that message, many examples of which you can read about below. Our new and returning teachers are benefiting from the support and networks, they are now able to draw on from our partner schools in the area, and I’ve been very proud of the calm, purposeful and engaged atmosphere I’m seeing in classrooms. It has been a real pleasure to visit our partner primary schools and meet so many prospective parents, as well as welcome many of them to the College for daytime tours. We have now unveiled our exciting plans for ‘Bishop Laney Sixth Form’. Working in close collaboration with Soham Village College, we are confident that these plans will secure the long term future of excellent academic and vocational 16-19 provision at Ely College. Over the coming few weeks we will be building on the strong start we’ve made to this term with further site improvements, a really impactful Open Evening on 13th October, and a strong focus on ensuring that we identify where students require deeper challenge and support to secure the progress they should be making. The wide

Year 6 Families Between now and the application deadline for Year 7 places in 2017 (31st October 2016), Mr Spencer is happy to meet with families to provide a tour of Ely College and answer questions. Mr Spencer has set aside Friday mornings for this. If you would like a tour with Mr Spencer, then please contact the school office so that an appointment can be made.

Uniform Donations Don’t forget you can donate any old, unwanted Ely College polo shirts or other uniform items into the collection bins positioned in our main reception. In conjunction with Re-Imagine, Witchford, all items will then be donated to African school children.

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Ely College, Downham Road, Ely, CB6 2SH T: 01353 667763 E: [email protected]

range of ‘Session 6’ and other extra-curricular opportunities on offer are attached with this newsletter, and we will be seeking to add to this as we roll out our ‘PLEDGES’ programme. This will challenge students to take full advantage of all that is on offer, as well as contribute to charitable and community events. We are also seeking to sharpen our website, adding more detail and information through the term. Please don’t hesitate to contact us with feedback, ideas and suggestions. We have a number of new leaders and colleagues who are settling into their roles, and we welcome your input. Points of contact are listed on our website, and the house offices will always be happy to direct any query you have. With the support of CMAT, we are building a team and delivering on a clear plan for the College that we can already see is bringing benefits and change for students. We look forward to serving you over the coming years! Richard Spencer – Principal

Student Absence As the winter months approach, please may we remind all parents and carers that if your child is absent from College due to sickness and/or diarrhoea they should not return to College for a clear 48 hours following the last episode of sickness/diarrhoea. This is to prevent spread of bugs to other students and staff.

Student Appointments If your child has an appointment during the school day and needs to sign out, please may we ask you to put a note in their planner. Please also write the name of who will be collecting your child. Thank you.

Post-16 Event – 5th Oct Ely College leadership: Jayne Brown (Vice Principal), Lee Mawby (Vice Principal), Richard Spencer (Principal) and Lisa Tomlinson (Business Director).

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Our Post-16 Information Evening will take place in the Assembly Hall and Dining Hall from 7pm onwards. This is for Year 11 students/families. Parents can find out more about the courses and options available to them upon completion of their GCSEs.

Ely College, Downham Road, Ely, CB6 2SH T: 01353 667763 E: [email protected]

Reporting We know that clear communication and reporting is very important to you. We will be sending home progress reports to all parents three times a year with information about your child’s progress and achievements, attendance, behaviour and attitude to learning. These reports will be followed up with an academic mentoring meeting with tutors and contact with home from the tutor. The first reporting dates for the year are as follows:     

Year 8 – Week commencing 10th October Year 10 – Week commencing 31st October Year 7 – Week commencing 14th November Year 9 – Week commencing 28th November Year 11 – Week commencing 9th January

Head Boy and Head Girl “As Head Boy and Girl, we believed it was time to introduce ourselves. My name is Ellie Staines and I work alongside Bartek Szalla. We were elected by students and staff of Ely College in April after weeks of poster designing, assemblies and general campaigning. Since then we have established a successful council system, worked on house names and contributed to positive change regarding behaviour and reward policies. We have also attended several evenings for catchment primary schools in the area which received fantastic feedback and enthusiasm. Having come back to College after so many changes were undertaken over the summer, we are very excited to see what is to come and work closely with CMAT, staff, parents and students to ensure a great future for the College.”

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Student Librarians Students are being given the opportunity to become Student Librarians whereby they can issue and return books, serve in the school shop, organise the shelves and help their peers. Students who have embarked on this scheme are being taught the importance of teamwork and are proudly wearing their new librarian badges! Some student librarians have gone on to work in the local public library and further afield, including Cambridge University Library.

Accessing Music Tuition Music lessons are available at the College on most musical instruments and are provided by a team of experienced tutors. Students wishing to study an instrument should make enquiries direct with Mr I Mann, Music Subject Leader, either in person or via email [email protected]

Ely College, Downham Road, Ely, CB6 2SH T: 01353 667763 E: [email protected]

Debate Mate Trip As we enter uncertain times, the only thing we can be certain of is a good argument! The ‘Debate Mate’ charity is one which helps students from all walks of life come together in order to improve their debating abilities. Through the endeavours of Lucy Frazer, Nikisha Burke, Kieran Burke and three students (Nicola Emery, Sophie Adams and Ellie Staines) were able to take part in a training course on debating. The students worked with others from schools all over Cambridgeshire, beginning the process of creating new links between our schools. Our students thoroughly enjoyed their time, and look forward to the next event.

Duke of Edinburgh Scheme We are running a D of E Expedition on the weekend of the 15th/16th October in Little Gidding, Huntingdonshire. The expedition is assessed and will go towards students completing their Bronze award. Students will take part in an overnight camp and will cook their own meals and hike along the route card they have created.

Fixture results for Ely!

The Reading Group meets every Monday morning break in the LRC. All students from all years are welcome.

Congratulations to Yr 8 and Yr 10 students who represented Ely College in the recent netball and rugby matches against Witchford Village College.

Every Wednesday lunchtime staff read aloud in the LRC. Our first novel is ‘A Tale of Two Cities’ by Charles Dickens.

Ely won four out of the five matches played.

The LRC is open 8.00am until 4.30pm every day. Students are encouraged to stay after school to complete homework and coursework. There is a free after-school minibus available, leaving College at 4.30pm, travelling to Pymoor, Little Downham and

Yr 7 and Yr 9 won both their Rugby matches against Neale Wade and one of the netball matches.

Reading Group

This is a tremendous start, keep up the good work!

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Ely College, Downham Road, Ely, CB6 2SH T: 01353 667763 E: [email protected]

Littleport. Students wanting to use this service need to sign up in the LRC on the day they are going to use it. There are only 14 seats available, so students need to sign up early in the day.

House of Lords Visit

Shakespeare School Festival 2016

We are very proud of one of our newest students in Year 7, Harvey Caley.

We are delighted to announce that Key Stage 3 students from Ely College will be participating in the Shakespeare School Festival 2016. Mr Agboke will be directing the students in an abridged version of ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ at the Mumford Theatre, Cambridge on 16th November. Tickets can be booked by contacting the theatre directly on 01223 352932.

Harvey visited the House of Lords last week as part of a project and performed a rap song he’d written to a selected group. They were really impressed with Harvey’s performance and talent. Well done Harvey!

Year 9 Battlefields Trip As part of Year 9’s history course, some students will be taking part in a trip to the Battlefields of Northern France and Belgium to enhance their knowledge and understanding of the First World War. The trip will take place 17th to 19th November 2016. In conjunction with the trip, Mrs Mustill will be running some 'Session 6' meetings for students that will take place on Mondays in D2 until 4.15pm from 19th September. These meetings are really beneficial to students in terms of their understanding of the places they will visit on the trip. They will also form part of the College PLEDGES programme, details of which can be found on our website. Mrs Mustill is holding a parents’ meeting on Tuesday 18th October 2016 in the hall at 6.00pm which will provide parents with all the finer details of the trip, we hope you can come along to this.

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Ely College, Downham Road, Ely, CB6 2SH T: 01353 667763 E: [email protected]

Meet your SSAs! Over the coming weeks we will introduce you to our wonderful team of dedicated SSAs (Student Support Assistants). We would like to start with Scott House and introduce Ms Nikki Pritchett. “I’ve been a member of the support team here at Ely College for 14 years, so your children are in very safe hands! My role is to ensure all students in Scott House are settled, happy, engaged and have everything they need during the day. I’m on hand to offer help and support to parents and carers, please give me a call if you have any queries, no matter how small. The Scott House office is located within the Downham block (opposite the Music department) if your child is unsure where to find me.”

Lost Property We already have a growing pile of lost property….and it’s only week four! Please may we remind you to label all of your child’s belongings so that items can be returned to the correct child.

Term Dates 2017-18 Please make a note of next year’s term dates when thinking about booking holidays to avoid taking children out of school.

Kenya Trip – October 2017 The third African Adventures trip will take place in October 2017. Ely will return to the Nakuru slums and work with two schools: Jubilee and Ungana Academies. On our previous visits we built and restored classrooms, painted, delivered care packages to slum homes and taught lessons to classes for 40+ students from the age of 3 to 15.

Autumn Term 2017 Training Monday 4th September Days Thursday 5th October Term Starts Tuesday 5th September Half Term 23rd – 27th October End of Term Tuesday 19th December Spring Term 2018 Training Day Wednesday 3rd January Term Starts Thursday 4th January Half Term 12th – 16th February End of Term Thursday 29th March Summer Term 2018 Training Monday 23rd July Days Tuesday 24th July Term Starts Monday 16th April Bank Holiday Monday 7th May Half Term 28th May – 1st June End of Term Friday 20th July

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Ely College, Downham Road, Ely, CB6 2SH T: 01353 667763 E: [email protected]

The schools have no running water or electricity. For most pupils the only meal they receive each day is the meal in school. Currently, Miss Watkins is recruiting students, 20 are already signed up! It is an expensive trip, so we are open to fundraising support, ideas and donations – so that students on low incomes in Ely can take part in this ‘once in a lifetime opportunity’ to make a difference to the under-privileged in Kenya. We have worked with Habitat for Humanity and African Adventures successfully for the last 10 years, travelling to Romania, Malawi, and other deprived areas. If your child is interested then please contact Miss Watkins directly via email – [email protected] ________________________________________________________

College Open Evening Our annual Open Evening for Year 6 families will take place here in College on Thursday 13th October 2016 – 5.30pm to 8.00pm. We look forward to welcoming you to Ely College.

Year 11 Presentation Evening We have pleasure in announcing a Presentation Evening for (past) Year 11 students that left Ely College in July 2016. This evening will take place on 30th November 2016 - 5.30pm to 6.30pm in our main hall and dining room. Students will be presented with their GCSE certificates during a formal ceremony and then have the opportunity to catch up with friends and staff over drinks and nibbles. Letters will be sent home shortly with further details about this evening. Page 7

Ely College, Downham Road, Ely, CB6 2SH T: 01353 667763 E: [email protected]

Extra-Curricular Activities Included, as a separate attachment, you will see a copy of our after school (Session 6) and lunch time activities timetable for this half term. Please take time to have a look at this and encourage your son/daughter to attend. The activities on offer may help boost your child’s confidence and attainment, or provide a new hobby or interest. The more students put into College life, they more they get out of it!

Bishop Laney Sixth Form We are very excited to announce the launch of ‘Bishop Laney Sixth Form’ which will officially open in September 2017, although applications are being accepted now. Bishop Laney Sixth Form has been set up by CMAT and the Staploe Education Trust (trustees of Soham Village College). Both Trusts will work together to provide a centre of academic and vocational 16-19 excellence for students in the Ely, Soham and wider areas. The Sixth Form will start small and focused in the first year and will continue to grow year on year. Bishop Laney Sixth Form will be mainly based on the Ely College site, with some classes taking place at Soham Village College too.

Bishop Laney Sixth Form Open Evening We are delighted to invite you to the Bishop Laney Sixth Form Open Evening which will take place on Wednesday 2nd November 2016. This evening event will provide students and parents with valuable information when making Post 16 choices. Not only will you find out what’s on offer, you will have the opportunity to speak with key staff, look at the provision we can provide and talk to current students. We really hope to see you then.

We hope to welcome many families to our Sixth Form open evening on Wednesday 2nd November where you will be able to find out more information about this new and exciting provision. ________________________________________________________

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Ely College, Downham Road, Ely, CB6 2SH T: 01353 667763 E: [email protected]

Ely in Action! Year 8 students participating in a recent STEM day (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) hosted by Smallpeice Trust, an educational charity, at the school. Students had to complete the “Smart Building Challenge” in which they had to design and build a system that filters, collects, detects and pumps collected rainwater. This challenge involved using design technology, maths, science and engineering skills in order to stimulate the students’ learning.

Year 13 students running coaching sessions with Year 7 and 8 students during lunch break.

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Ely College, Downham Road, Ely, CB6 2SH T: 01353 667763 E: [email protected]