Year 7

Year 7 took part in their first focus day; they were very excited to be able to use their Chromebooks which were issued last week. Part of the focus of the day was linked to their transition to secondary school and they looked at issues around what makes a good friend and how to manage their emotions. With more independence travelling to and from school, they had a session on road safety which allowed them to consider the danger points close to school; most notably using the bridge to cross the London Road, knowing where it is safe to cross Buckland Hill and remembering to think of other pedestrians when walking along the pavements around the school. There were also sessions on E-Safety and cyberbullying which considered how to behave responsibly online and where to go for help and support.

Year 8

This week Year 8 students took part in a Focus day related to core values and politics. The first half of the day was dedicated to looking at British values, democracy and rights, responsibilities and laws. Throughout these sessions the students gained lots of information about how the political system works in this country and why it is important to live in a democracy. There were also some very lively debates and discussions. In the afternoon the students were tasked with creating a campaign relating to different topics around schools and the wider community. They researched their topics and then presented them to the rest of the class with the aim of persuading them that their campaign was the best. As in any democracy, the winners were decided by a vote. All of the form tutors were very impressed with how mature the students were when presenting their campaigns and also how passionate they were about their cause!

Year 9
Year 9 students on focus day learned, developed and demonstrated their knowledge in a variety of areas. The key foci were Managing Conflict, Substance Use, E-Safety and Gangs. 

Students were able to understand how to overcome differences through discussion and examples from TV shows, which hopefully they will put into practice. Students were able to grow their knowledge through group tasks of what substances there are and the classification and the consequences. Additionally, they applied their new understanding of gangs and disregarded the stereotyped norms. Finally they were also able to demonstrate their knowledge of E-Safety through creative tasks.

Year 10

Year 10 began their focus day considering their vision for future careers and considering how to put plans in place to achieve their long term goals. They went on to explore what makes a healthy relationship by being able to recognise signs of abuse and how stereotypes can have an impact on individual relationships and in the wider world. Students then went on to discuss and learn about consent, peer pressure and how to stay safe online. 

Year 11

Year 11 spent half of the day working with an outside company, Learning Performance, looking at effective revision strategies to help them prepare for their exams in the future. Students felt that these sessions were very beneficial and gave them some useful tips about how to revise. The other half of the day focused on Post 16 options, allowing the students to look at colleges, sixth forms and apprenticeships to help them prepare for the application process. The students also had the opportunity to spend some time using Unifrog which gives them information about University courses and Careers. They also spent a session looking at employability and discrimation within the workplace, students found this very interesting and informative.