Loading

Huxlow Science College Friday 12th February 2021

We may have spent all of 2021 so far learning in lockdown, but what a successful term it has been! So much has been achieved by our students, parents and staff and I am confident that when we can fully open our doors again we will quickly make up any missed ground. All students have lost learning time over the past months but have demonstrated increased resilience and independent learning skills. These are traits that will be hugely beneficial as students move through life at Huxlow and beyond.

After half term keep your eyes peeled for the launch of our weekly non-screen time afternoon. There will be a wealth of activities planned to give students a break from technology and an opportunity to look after their wellbeing whilst having fun trying something new.

Next term will start with announcements from the government about plans to fully reopen schools and I will be in touch as soon as information is released. I wanted to take this opportunity to reiterate that whatever those plans look like, our priority, as always, will be ensuring the safety and wellbeing of our students and staff. We have been working hard this past few weeks to review our risk assessments to ensure Huxlow remains as covid-safe as possible, and I thank you in advance for your support as we navigate life through the next stage of this pandemic.

Please enjoy this edition of our newsletter and have a safe and restful half term week

Free School Meals Information

For those families entitled to Free School Meals we have sent vouchers via email. Any queries please contact head@huxlow.northants-ecl.gov.uk

Critical Worker Provision

A gentle reminder that government guidance sets out that parents and carers who are critical workers should keep their children at home if they can. Schools are being encouraged to keep their critical worker provision numbers as low as possible in order to minimise the mixing of individuals. Thank you for your support with this.

Attendance

Our attendance procedures have slightly changed. In order to try to support parents who might not be at home, our Learning Mentor Team will text parents if their child has not logged in Period 1.

If your child is unable to access their online lessons, could you please email the school using student-absence@huxlow.northants.sch.uk with your child’s name, their year group and a clear reason for their absence. Please send us an email in the morning of each day of their absence.

Parents & Carers - You are amazing!

Parents and carers, show yourselves some love this week - you're doing an amazing job! 💪

Practical advice and support can always be found in our Parents' Toolkit if you need it 👉

Invitation for Parents - Success Beyond School

A special series of free-of-charge events just for parents, to help you supercharge your child's career potential.

Simply click below to register now.

Remote Learning

Students have continued to follow their timetables remotely on Teams this week and so far we have been really impressed with their attendance and engagement. Thank you for all your support with this. We appreciate that this is a very difficult time for our students and their families, but we want to ensure that students keep on top of their learning and follow a routine as they would in school.

Below is a link to a reminder of the guidelines. Please note that lessons are now 45 minutes to allow students to have a break from the screen and a stretch!

With most of our students currently learning from home over the internet, we recommend that parents and carers review the safety settings for their home internet.

If you have any concerns regarding online safety or safeguarding in general, please email us at l.gauvrit@huxlow.northants.sch.uk and we will support as much as we can.

We are here to support you.

Below is a link with further information on accessing Teams.

The link below provides information on how to access and submit assignments.

If you need further support, please contact your child's form tutor or head of year.

Another excellent week with 78% attendance to all our remote learning provisions

Remote learning has never been more fun!!!

Join all your lessons and you can receive up to 10 points per subject area per week. All these points accumulated will materialise into vouchers and prizes.

What should you do to win these points ?

Follow our Attitude For Learning Guide to win the most amount of points…

  1. Be on time to lessons and make sure you greet your teacher.
  2. Complete assignments or any work set on time.
  3. Participate in your lessons when invited to.
  4. Communicate efficiently and promptly with your teachers via Team chat or emails.
Student of the week is selected at random following the criteria of 90-100% remote attendance, 9-10 average engagement to lesson score and completion of wellbeing form

After 4 weeks of sending e-raffle tickets to students having achieved at least 90% on their weekly attendance, a virtual raffle draw will be organised on the 22/02 to pick the winner in each year group of a Samsung Galaxy Tablet. All the winners will be receiving a congratulations email.

Good luck to everyone!

Student of the week - Week commencing 1st February 2021

Remote Winners:

  • Year 7 - Paige S
  • Year 8 - Freddie W
  • Year 9 - Jakub B
  • Year 10 - Bethany E
  • Year 11 - Lily H

Keyworker Winners:

  • Year 7 - Anesu G
  • Year 8 - Henry W
  • KS4 - Mercedes C

Student of the week - Week commencing 8th February 2021

Remote Winners:

  • Year 7 - Katie S
  • Year 8 - Aliya W
  • Year 9 - Oliver K
  • Year 10 - Ralph S
  • Year 11 - Sanyukta S

Keyworker Winners

  • Year 7 - Adam M
  • Year 8 - Takudzwa G
  • KS4 - Junior W

There has been a definite increase in the number of students completing their weekly well-being form. We would like even more students to let us know how they are doing! So please check in your group email and complete the form. If you are not sure how to find your group email, please ask your tutors in LORIC time.

History

"A big well done from Mr Davies, Miss Samples and Mrs Holmes - we have been so impressed with your hard work in History."

The History Department were amazed by this find from EB in Year 8.

EB was digging up some roots and found this cannonball. After some research we think it may be from the English Civil War.

History is all around us!

If you have a piece of History that you would like to share - email your History teacher.

We would love to see objects from the past.

SCIENCE

Miss Jones asked her Year 9 students to carry out an experiment at home. Daniel chose to do the "Orange Fizz". Unfortunately, it didn't work with the orange, but Daniel showed great initiative and swapped the orange for a lemon and got great success!

I did the orange fizz and it didn’t work and just tasted like salt, however we tried it with a lemon and then it all fizzed! It reacted like this because the lemon is very acidic.
Y7 have been looking at acids and alkalis - Super poster Gabriela!
Home made indicators to test PH - Great work Finan!

Religious Education

Miss Dewdney’s year 7 RS class have been learning about miracles that Jesus performed and have re-written one of these stories in the form of a newspaper atricle or diary entry! There were so many amazing pieces of writing Miss Dewdney was very impressed!

PE

Have you been joining in with the PE Challenges?

Log your results on the link below;

Year 12 Triple handed in some really high quality assignments in their new unit.

Year 11 BTEC Sport have been really engaged with the physical activity sessions we’ve been doing and I hope they have recovered after our pyramid training session!

Virtual Pan-Disability Course

Northampton Town Community Foundation are pleased to announce the dates and details of our FREE Virtual Pan-Disability Soccer Schools coming this February Half Term from Tuesday 16th February to Friday 19th February 2021 at 10:00-14:00.

The sessions are children and young people with a disability from age 6-18 years and there will be two Zoom sessions each day, one in the morning from 10:00-11:00 and one in the afternoon from 13:30-14:00. These Virtual Pan-Disability Soccer Schools have been designed to help participants develop their individual football skills as well as providing a platform for the participants to socially engage with each other safely during the lockdown.

Over the four day’s participants will be given a bespoke activity work book containing 10 days’ worth of football related themes and activities based around attacking, defending, goal keeping and individual ball work to improve coordination.

There will also be classroom based activities and challenges to complete during lunchtimes and everyday there will be a Northampton Town FC daily Skill challenge for participants to showcase their talents and submit their entries on twitter

To register please visit

Maths

Well done to all students keeping up with their maths lessons. Most lessons involve part of of the time using mathswatch website to practise questions. Teachers are using this to assess students' understanding of topics and engagement in their learning. There are also short video clips on there to help students with further explanations. To access Mathswatch:

  • login: firstinitialsurnname1@huxlow (for example: hpotter1@huxlow)
  • password: huxlow123

Any issues with accessing maths work, please email me (r.king@huxlow.northants.sch.uk) or your child's maths teacher.

Music

Year seven have been discovering how you can make music when you don’t have any musical instruments to hand! Copying the ideas of well-known junk groups STOMP and Weapons of Sound, they have raided their kitchens (hopefully with permission!) to find all number of random objects to create their own music.

Chloe R is a member of the County Youth Choir and was interviewed by Radio Northampton to talk about the choir during the COVID-19 pandemic. Take a listen;

Literacy

Word of the Week - PREDOMINANT

Tutors have put a Frayer model on to their LORIC Team Channel. Students have been exploring what the word means and using it in their lessons! Great work everyone.

ENGLISH

Bedrock Reading Champions this week in Year 7/8: Ava G, Maddie H, Oskar K, Thomas M, Jake M, Connie S, Harry K, Harry B, Daniel B, Biranisha J, Leo R, Megan S, Amelia T, Freddie W, Melissa W-S, Rhys W

Year 10 - excellent effort in assignments and beautiful creative writing: Darcey B, Jess A, Lily B, Tegan B, Harry K, Poppy C, Lily H, Ralph S, Zheka L, Emily L, Daniel R, Bradley S, Tino M, Chloe W, Gracie W, Adowa Y.

Year 11 - Mrs Peverell's entire English group have been amazing -attending lessons, completing assignments and assessments to a high level and attending after-school intervention - their dedication and commitment is incredible! They deserve a massive well done and rest over the half-term break!

Shout out to Austin L in Year 7 who has completed 7 sessions of Bedrock in one week and has improved his pre-test score by a whopping 355%!

Miss Dudley is very proud of you Austin!

A beautiful piece of work from Ellie Mae in Year 8.

Check out this amazing piece of writing by Christopher K in year 7:

Sean S Year 7 has been practicing using his superlatives and has done really well.

Using the same picture for inspiration, Amy M (Year 7) has created a piece of wonderful writing.

.

Captain Sir Tom Moore - Eulogy

Mrs Catling would like to praise her Year 9 students who wrote the opening of a eulogy for Captain Sir Tom Moore.

I am saddened by the passing of Sir Captain Tom, uplifted by his efforts to do good and heartfelt at his passion to help others. Sir Captain Tom was: considerate, reliable and kind-hearted. His name will be remembered and spoken of with the upmost respect. May he rest easy and fly high.

Art

Kyra has been working extremely hard at her art whilst being at home.

Art

Year 7 have been creating zentangled animals.

Textiles

Year 7 have been designing outfits using recycled materials.

Textiles

Year 10 Textiles have started looking at the Craftivism movement with an aim to highlight and support mental health during COVID within our community. Their work so far has been inspired and they all need a special #welldone from Mrs Lane!

Huxlow Recommends

If you enjoyed reading books written by David Walliams, such as The Boy in the Dress and Gangsta Granny, then Mrs Porter has some suggestions of other titles that you may enjoy...

A brilliantly funny, gripping novel from a born storyteller, The Parent Agency is an epic wish-fulfilment adventure for every child – and for the child in everyone.

The year is 3020. Pip@256X#YY.3_7 is lonely and bored: she goes to virtual school on her G-Glasses, she only has a talking cat and parrot to hang out with, and she can’t even leave her LivingSpace due to the extreme heat and floods outside. Until the day that Pip explores a glowing ring in a lab and finds herself in a warehouse, in 2019.

Stanley Yelnats' family has a history of bad luck, so when a miscarriage of justice sends him to Camp Green Lake Juvenile Detention Centre (which isn't green and doesn't have a lake) he is not surprised. Every day he and the other inmates are told to dig a hole, five foot wide by five foot deep, reporting anything they find. Why? The evil warden claims that it's character building, but this is a lie. It's up to Stanley to dig up the truth.

Armpit and X-Ray are living in Austin, Texas. It is three years since they left the confines of Camp Green Lake Detention Centre and Armpit is taking small steps to turn his life around. He is working for a landscape gardener because he is good at digging holes, he is going to school and he is enjoying his first proper romance, but is he going to be able to stay out of trouble when there is so much building up against him?

Critical Worker Provision - Einsteins Takeaway Menu

Einsteins have launched a takeaway service for those families who have children attending school as part of our critical worker provision.

All meals are served ready to cook with instructions and allergen information. Smaller portions are available on request.

Students are able to order at Einsteins and collect at the end of the school day.

Payment is made via your child's WisePay account - please ensure there are sufficient funds.

Click on menu to view.
Click on menu to view.

Safeguarding

CEOP have a video that parents may find useful. It is less than 4 minutes in length and explains what in-game chat is, which can be useful opening up conversations with children and young people.

National Online Safety Mobile App

It's time to get #OnlineSafetySavvy. Children are spending more time than ever online. As adults, we need to do everything we can to keep them safe in the digital world. But with new apps, games and platforms emerging every day, how can you stay in the know?

Say hello to the new National Online Safety mobile application. Created by experts, developed by us. With all online safety knowledge available at your fingertips, the NOS app empowers parents and teachers to understand and address online safeguarding risks – any time, anywhere.

The world’s most comprehensive online safety app, it’s packed with insightful courses, explainer videos, webinars and guides on topics that will help you protect the kids you care about when they’re online.

Wellbeing

Free webinar on how to support anxious online learners

After huge demand for this webinar, Creative Education have made this 60 minute webinar available to download for free. It is aimed at parents and teachers. To access the webinar please visit Creative Education

Youth Works - parent and young person workshops

Over the next ten weeks Youth Works Northamptonshire will be offering a series of zoom workshops for parents and young people. Please see details below for the link to book places. This is open to anyone not just those living in Kettering.

Supporting Parents Helpfinder (Young Minds)

Times are tough for many people right now. Parents find themselves pulled in many different direction and children may be struggling being in the house for so much longer than usual.

A mixture of concern about covid, work from home and children at home, along with a possible financial impact make for a stressful household.

Young Minds have created a useful 'Supporting Parents Helpfinder'. By answering six questions, parents can find out how to support their child's mental health during the pandemic (and beyond).

Find the help finder here:

LGBTQ History Month

February is LGBTQ history month. An annual event to teach the history of the gay rights movement and promote inclusivity.

LGBT History Month was founded by Schools Out, who have been campaigning for LGBT inclusive education for 47 years

COVID 19

The government has asked schools to arrange to start onsite COVID-19 testing.

The purpose of the tests is to identify asymptomatic staff and students, as these people can spread the virus.

Further details and consent forms have been sent out via MyED. A copy of the letter is available below.

'If your son/daughter has attended the critical worker/vulnerable provision during the last week of term and tests positive for COVID-19 during half term please contact Huxlow on 07790 869 504. We have a duty over the holidays to inform any other students who may need to isolate as a result of close contact.'

Cancellation of GCSEs, AS and A levels for 2021 - update

Following the cancellation of GCSEs, AS and A levels for 2021, the government is consulting on how grades will be awarded.

Grades will be awarded by teacher assessment called TAGs (Teacher Assessed Grades), based on tests, assessments and coursework completed by students, which may include remote tests.

This announcement has come much earlier in the academic year than last time, with students less than halfway through their examination year. It is important that all students continue to work hard, and there will be ongoing assessments for Y11 and Y13 over the next few months to build an evidence base for grades.

We will keep you updated when we hear how teachers should award grades and what evidence will be used, the grades should be a fair reflection of the most likely outcome had exams been taken in the summer and that no students are disadvantaged by this process.

Careers

STEAM Northants is going to be an inspiring week of online activities 28th June – 2nd July 2021. STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and maths) subjects are all around us! The week is going to be virtual, with workshops, videos, activities to do at home and lots of information to help encourage, inspire and enthuse young people to learn more about these subjects and understand careers relating to these areas.

The week will host to a range of activities for year 6 through to post 16 age groups. See the University’s short animation on STEAM subjects to whet your appetite!

More details to be published in the coming weeks. Enquiries to schoolsengagement@northampton.ac.uk

In this video you will hear from Dr Joe Organ from Brasenose College, Oxford University who will help students to aspire to their top choice and to dispel the myths that surround top universities such as Oxford and Cambridge.

Spring Term Work Experience

Our programmes give students aged 12-18 an immersive experience of their dream career. You will work alongside top professionals through a series of role-plays, seminars, simulations and networking sessions.

Places are limited so book soon!

University offers coming in for our 6th form students!

  • Psychology - Cambridge
  • Medicine - Glasgow and Kings College London
  • Sociology (Unconditional) - Birmingham City
  • Education Secondary and English Literature - Bath Spa
  • Criminology - University of Nottingham
  • Primary Education (5-11) - York St Jon
  • Geography - Loughborough, Leicester and Nottingham
  • Architecture - Nottingham Trent, Portsmouth and Nottingham Trent
  • Nursing (child) - York
  • Biomedical Science - University of Northampton
  • Fashion, business and management - Manchester Met University
  • Chemistry - Loughborough
  • Politics and Economics - Newcastle
  • Primary education QTS - University of Northampton

Well done!!!

Credits:

Created with images by freephotocc - "pencils clips colour pencils" • geralt - "board up-to-date updates" • geralt - "learn student laptop" • Walkerssk - "stonehenge architecture history" • Unknown - "Free vector graphic: Chemical Laboratory, Tubes - Free ..." • Tama66 - "monastery cloister abbey" • Tumisu - "mathematics math pythagoras" • Nietjuh - "music notes music melody" • Unknown - "Free illustration: School, Board, Literature - Free Image ..." • Pexels - "blur blurred book" • Unknown - "School Black Green May Refer · Free image on Pixabay" • DariuszSankowski - "paper heart symbol" • Unknown - "Close-up of Food · Free Stock Photo" • Unknown - "Free stock photo of different, education, lockers" • chezbeate - "heart wood love" • Unknown - "Δωρεάν στοκ φωτογραφιών με Gay Pride, intersex, lgbt" • Alexas_Fotos - "call at home stay" • F1Digitals - "omr sheet fill" • geralt - "business the next step next" • Myriams-Fotos - "sparkler light bulb injection candle"