Welcome
Dear Parents, Carers, Students and Friends,
Dear Parents and Families
So we find ourselves at the end of the Autumn term. It has been a busy term and not without its challenges in so many ways for the whole school community. Despite this, the vast majority of our students continue to embody The RESPECT Standards and have showed huge amounts of resilience.
We have had a fantastic last week of term. In our achievement assemblies we have reflected on the past few months and celebrated the positive attitudes of our students towards all aspects of school life. Form tutors, pastoral managers and subject teachers nominated their “superstars” and I had the privilege of choosing my “Students of the term”. My winners; Jorja (Y7), Elise (Y8) and Liam (Y9) are true ambassadors for our college. They represent our college values and ethos everyday and make me very proud to be their Headteacher.
On Wednesday the whole school enjoyed Christmas lunch together. It got everyone into the festive spirit and myself, Mr Mason and Ms Scott enjoyed serving up Mrs Woodward and her team’s delicious roast turkey and all the trimmings! It was wonderful to see our students enjoying lunch with their tutors and their feedback was overwhelmingly positive. A highlight for me was listening to Y7 singing Wham’s “Last Christmas” in harmony– a little bit of Christmas Joy!
As we start the Christmas break, I would like to thank you all for your continued support, particularly around our Covid – 19 mitigation restrictions. We have managed to keep the number of cases very low over the past half term, and although the latest information isn’t the most positive, please be reassured that we will do everything we can to keep our students in school, learning and above all safe. In the meantime, please check our website for updates regarding the return to school.
For now, from all the staff and students at Ibstock Community College, we wish you a very Merry Christmas and a healthy and peaceful New Year.
With best wishes
Mrs Williams
Headteacher
Year 7 Pop Art
Year 7 students have been creating work inspired by artist Roy Lichtenstein over the course of this term. Students have been exploring working large scale, using techniques including paper mache and exploring using acrylic paints. Here are some examples of the brilliant work in progress so far!
Year 8 Clay Work
Year 8 have been sculpting using clay to create some surreal insect creatures. How amazing do these look? Such fantastic character and attention to detail! These little creatures will be going home in January!
Paired Reading
At the beginning of this half term we launched our paired reading initiative. A number of students have kindly given their time to become reading ambassadors and support some of our students who find reading particularly challenging. The commitment, effort and focus of all students involved has been exemplary and it is wonderful to watch them all so actively involved, whether reading or supporting. Some students have already felt that their confidence in reading has improved. Tuesday tutor time we were able to get together with hot chocolate to celebrate their efforts and progress so far. We look forward to watching their continued progress over the rest of the academic year.
Reading for Pleasure
On our website we have recently added a new tab under curriculum titled Reading for Pleasure. Here you will be able to find a range of subject specific reading lists, therefore if a student is particularly interested in a certain subject, there are books listed which focus on this subject. In addition, we have added a recommended reading list which covers a wide range of genres and topics of interest. Please have a look, with Christmas coming up this could be handy for gift ideas! This list is a work in progress and will be updated regularly.
Have a restful Christmas
Mrs Hayles and Mrs Barber
Remembrance Day at Ibstock – written by Lilly 8JM
Remembrance Day is the time of year where we show our appreciation for the soldiers who gave their lives in order to make us as liberated as possible. Traditionally, we use a poppy to symbolise this- because it is the flower that littered Flanders fields after the horrors of World War one, and it represents peace. Remembrance Day is celebrated on the eleventh day of the eleventh month in the eleventh hour, because that was the exact time that the First world war ended, after four long years of fighting.
An astonishing 9.7 million soldiers were killed during the first world war; however, Remembrance Day also shows our recognition to all soldiers, even those who fought in recent wars: such as Vietnam and Iraq. They had to go through brutal conditions, and often starved, froze and caught diseases before they even made it to the battle field. Millions of mothers all around the world have lost their sons and daughter due to fighting, so it is only fair that we give something back.
Alongside assemblies led by Miss Woolnough, here at Ibstock Community College, we showed our recognition to the bravery and sacrifice of millions of soldiers around the world by reading poetry and having two minutes of silence next to the Ibstock memorial. We read famous war poetry, such as For the Fallen, Laurence Binyon and In Flanders Field, John McCrae, and a very talented student played the famous piece The Last Post. Although soldiers should be remembered all year round, I think that everyone should make a special effort to give their thanks on the 11th of November.
History Club November & December
In November History Club marked Remembrance by learning about the figures of WW1 such as how many British soldiers killed on the first day of the Somme 1916 and how many baby names were related to WW1 – Verdun came out top with 901 out of 1,634! We also spent some time thinking about what Remembrance means to us as individuals.
On the 14th of December we also had our first after school History Club where students had a go at making Victorian decorations, which was much harder than it looked! We mastered making Victorian crackers, attempted some paper flowers and some cards were made during the session.
History Club Next Term
Following the success of our first after school session, we are looking forward to having more after Christmas in February for LGBTQ+ History Month and March for Women’s History Month; keep an eye out for more details and permission letters in January!
To honour the life and legacy of Leon Greenman, the UCL Centre for Holocaust Education will once more be launching a competition inviting students to reflect on the power of his story. In January we will take part in the Leon 111 Art Competition to mark Holocaust Memorial Day on 27th January. This year, UCL would like students to respond with original artwork based on a single day in Leon’s life, to tie in with this years’ Holocaust Memorial Day theme “One Day”. This theme talks to the idea of a single day as a turning point in an individual’s life, often tragically, as we reflect on the upheaval and destruction that can happen to victims of genocides in a single day. For more information, please follow this link:
https://holocausteducation.org.uk/2021/12/02/leon111/
From all of us in Humanities, have a restful Christmas break!
Miss Woolnough
Sporting Achievements
A huge congratulations to the year 8 netball team who won their county cup knock out match against West Leicester league winners Castle Mead 17-2 on 8 December 2021.
They now Progress onto the next round against Priory Belvoir Academy.
Well done to all of the team!
Gymnastics
Year 8 student Albert.H-P (left on picture) and his Acrobatic Gymnastic partner won GOLD on Sunday 14th November at the National Development Plan Acrobatic Finals in Stoke. They won with their personal best score of 26.9, making them Grade 4 Mens Pair GB champions.
A fantastic achievement Albert, you should be very proud of yourself - your PE Department most certainly!
Kart Racing
Joel (Yr 9) took park in Fulbeck Independent Kart Racing Championship on the weekend of the 20th and 21st November. The race consisted of competitors from England, America, France and Spain.
In the first race, Joel started 1st on the grid and finished in 2nd place. In the second race Joel started 14th and managed to chase down many other drivers to finish 5th. This meant that Joel had qualified for the final. Joel qualified 3rd on the grid and manged to finish in 2nd position.
Joel will be attending Silverstone UTC to complete his GCSE's, a purpose built centre of excellence for young people wanting to break into the specialist fields of High Performance Engineering and Business with Events Management.
This is an amazing achievement, one to keep an eye out for in the future!
Well done Joel, keep up the hard work!
Children in Need
On Friday 19 November we had a non-uniform day to raise money for Children in Need. With all of your kind donations we raised a huge £512.20. Our PE department really got in to the spirit of things and continued their tradition of dressing up. This years theme was 'Where's Wally'.
Christmas Tree Festival
Some of our students made Christmas decorations in Art, Food Tech and Textiles classes and used them to decorate our tree at St Deny's Church Christmas tree festival.
Christmas Dinner
Wednesdays Christmas dinner was a fun filled festive event! Students' came into the hall and ate together in their form groups. Mrs Williams, Ms Scott and Mr Mason served the students their Christmas dinner. Thank you to our catering team for the fabulous food.
Christmas Food Bank
Thank you to everyone for your generous donations to our Christmas Foodbank collection. We received a fantastic amount of food! We have been able to box this up and deliver to the Coalville Foodbank in time for Christmas.
Covid 19 testing in January 2022
Further to my letter to you on Monday 13 December we have now been asked to plan for a staggered return to school in January 2022.
In order for us to prepare as fully as possible please can you complete this short survey which will help us understand expected numbers at our on-site testing centre.
https://forms.office.com/r/X1KHY78k0w
If your child has had Covid-19 the recommendation is they do not complete a Lateral Flow test for the following 90 days.
The table below details the testing date and the return to school date for each year group. Along with the opening times of the on-site testing centre.
There is no booking system in place, you can arrive at a time to suit you and your child within the times indicated in the timetable. You may be required to wait outside for a brief period until called through, please ensure you wear weather appropriate clothing.
If your child has any symptoms of Covid-19 they should not attend the site for a test – you will need to book them for a PCR test.
Our testing centre is located in our community centre on the school grounds. There will be signage directing you were to go.
• You can accompany your child to school and wait outside the testing centre but you are not permitted to enter the testing centre.
• When your child has completed their test they should return home immediately and resume their remote learning. We must avoid groups congregating together.
• When onsite please observe social distancing.
• We request that children wear a face mask as they enter the testing centre.
If your child cannot attend the testing centre for their test you can complete a lateral flow test at home and forward the NHS confirmation to principalspa@ibstockcollege.co.uk
After the initial test students should complete an LFD self-test at home 3-4 days after their on-site test.
They should then continue to test in line with government guidelines (twice a week). We will be sending LFD’s home via students before the end of term.
Remote Learning
Remote learning will be available for all year groups from 4 January until their return to school
Y9 – Remote learning Tuesday 4 January
Y8 – Remote learning Tuesday 4 and Wednesday 5 January
Y7 – Remote learning Tuesday 4, Wednesday 5 and Thursday 6 January
Please keep checking our website
Should these arrangements change following further guidance from the Department of Education, before or during the Christmas break, we will update you as soon as possible via our website.
Thank you for your continued support.
Parent Lite
Please ensure you have activated your Parent Lite account and keep your child's information upto date. If you have not received an activation email or are experiencing any issues please contact icc.admin@ibstockcollege.co.uk
Please take time to look through each tab and update information as required. It is especially important to ensure contact details are up to date, consent information is correct and any medical details or dietary needs are recorded accurately.
Contacting the college
Email: icc.admin@ibstockcollege.co.uk
Website: www.ibstockcollege.co.uk
Upcoming Dates
Wednesday 5 January 2022 - Year 9 return to school
Thursday 6 January 2022 - Year 8 return to school
Friday 7 January 2022 - Year 7 return to school