Published May 19, 2023
Finally, a 5-day week! And the 5 days have been dominated by GCSE exams.
We’re delighted with the manner in which Year 11 are rising to the challenge of the exams – there’s a very positive vibe and buzz around the exam hall and long may that continue! We must also recognise the efforts of the other year groups in school who also have an important role to play in this as they move around the school quietly and calmly so as not to disturb those in their exams.
Theatre & Performing Arts
You may have seen from previous updates that we’re hosting our second performance of the year in the final term of the summer. Mrs Blake and Mr Corson have been working hard with a group of budding actors from across a number of year groups each Tuesday and Thursday after school. We’re very much looking forward to seeing the fruit of their labour in July when we’ll all get a chance to see 12 Angry Jurors performed in the school hall.
For those of you who have had older children pass through our school, you may remember the ‘Rock Challenge’ – a dance competition that the school entered and competed against other schools in the Southern Area. It has not run since before the pandemic but has now resurrected and we’ve put ourselves forward for next year’s competition – we’re eagerly awaiting to hear if we’ve been accepted and are keeping everything crossed! It’s a brilliant competition for the school and creates a real buzz and plenty of opportunities for our pupils – not just on the performance side of things but also the production and backstage elements; lighting, set design, costumes etc.
Continuing on the performing arts focus, this week Miss McFarlane organised for over 40 Year 10 pupils to see a performance of ‘An Inspector Calls’ at the Royal Theatre in Bath – a great opportunity to see this GCSE text being performed and a nice afternoon trip for all involved too!
End of Year Exams
Years 7-9
The Revision Booklets for Years 7 – 9 are now live and on Satchel One, they have also been shared on our website here.
The booklets contain lots of very useful information including:
- why we do end of year exams
- revision techniques and tips
- weekly revision planners to help the pupils organise their revision
- subject specific pages to guide the pupils to revise specific topics that will be assessed in the exams.
The two-week exam window for Years 7-9 will begin on Monday 19th June. All exams will take place in classrooms and your child’s teachers will inform them of which lesson they will use for the exams.
Year 10
Year 10 will have end of year assessments also based in classrooms for the two-week period beginning Monday 12th June. Teachers will inform their classes which lessons will be used and also which topics to revise.
Year 10 will have two experiences of the exam hall before they go on work experience. Both of these exams will be science exams and will take place on Tuesday 6th June & Tuesday 20th June.
Year 10 will be taking a set of traditional mock exams in September, giving them the summer months to prepare and revise. The mock exam timetable will be released prior to the summer holidays. We will shortly be releasing the Year 10 revision booklet which will guide and help Year 10 prepare for their September mock exams. On the back of these exams, there will be a mock result reveal evening where parents and Year 11 pupils will receive their mock results and hear vital information about the Year 11 programme.
I will also be sharing revision techniques and tips assembly virtually with all Year 7 -10 pupils next week.
Local Authority Visit
We had a visit from the Local Authority this week who conducted learning walks with us and held meetings with various heads of department. They’re very pleased with the progress we are making as a school and were very complimentary about the conduct of our children and also the positive relationships that are forged between staff and pupils.
Year 5 Taster Day
Our Year 5 Taster Day is happening on Wednesday 28th June and is a fantastic opportunity for any Year 5 pupils interested in coming to St Joseph’s to have a look around and experience a day in the life of a St Joseph’s pupil. If you know of anyone who would be interested, please encourage them to register a space by visiting the transition page of our website. https://sjcs.org.uk/transition/
Op Sceptre
Wiltshire Police have been in touch with all secondary schools in Wiltshire regarding Op Sceptre.
They are promoting surrender bins across Wiltshire & Swindon to help tackle knife crime collectively and ensure that young people know of safe locations to dispose of such items. Please remember that you can access a wealth of Safeguarding information and resources via our website: https://sjcs.org.uk/safeguarding-information/
Family Fun Day
Community First are hosting a pop-up youth event on Wednesday 31st May at 2pm at Hampton Park Pavilion during half term – please see the image below for more details.
Coming Up Next Week
Virtual Assemblies led by Directors of learning on Justice and The Good Samaritan
Monday:
- Yr 11 Intervention: History / Geography
Tuesday:
- Barcelona Trip departs (41 Year 9 & 10 pupils with RRO, HMI, CBA, JHO)
- HW Club cancelled
- Y10 Revision club, R22 lunch
- Environmental Club Rm22 Lunch – with cake!
- Drama production rehearsal every Tuesday and Thursday after-school until 4.30pm
- Project Rejuvenate with LRO & CCL and selected Yr9 pupils
- Intervention: English / Food Tech
- After School: Y10 Art intervention and open studio
Wednesday:
- HW Club cancelled
- Athletics Club after school
- Abernant Trip Parents meeting 6pm DBA in the Hall
- Intervention: ICT
Thursday:
- HW Club cancelled
- Drama production rehearsal every Tuesday and Thursday after-school until 4.30pm
- Intervention: PD/Music
Friday:
- Pentecost Liturgy – OBL
- End of half term!
- Barcelona Trip returns
Achievement Points Race
- 1st place: Margaret House with 30,521 points
- 2nd place: Vincent House with 28,812 points
- 3rd place: Teresa House with 27,825 points
- 4th place: Francis House with 26,604 points
Have a lovely weekend!
Mr Rooney