Welcome
Dear Parents, Carers, Students and Friends,
Dear Families
I can’t quite believe that we already find ourselves at the end of the first half term of the academic year. The last seven weeks have been extremely busy. We have welcomed some new staff members to the team as well as our new year 7s who on the whole have had a really positive start and already feel settled into Ibstock life. There have been lots of sporting fixtures, workshops in school and our extra curriculum is now in full flow. The year 9 trip to the Belgium Battlefields is on the return leg of the journey after a jam-packed couple of days and there is a real buzz in the air around the year 7 and GCSE French Paris trip, the upcoming ski trip and expressions of interests have been sent regarding the new cohort for the Duke of Edinburgh Award.
In lessons, the senior leadership team along with our Faculty Leaders have been completing lesson visits across all curriculum areas. It has been lovely to see some real engagement and curiosity, from our students along with plenty of focused learning, participation and positive relationships. Our quality assurance has been based around the implementation of our 10 Teaching and Learning Principles launched by Ms Nelson – Assistant Headteacher and Mrs Wideman our Lead Practitioner.
This is our main focus for continuous professional learning for staff this academic year and will ensure that there is equity for all students with regards to lessons across the curriculum areas.
As you know we have launched the Power Up Expectations – our enhanced behaviour system, this has had a huge positive impact particularly around mobile phones and I would like you to thank you for your continuing support with this when we return after the break. Mr Modi – Assistant Headteacher for Culture and Expectations, shares my vision to ensure that Ibstock is a calm, safe space conducive to learning and achieving success. We are now looking at Rewards to ensure that the vast majority of our students feel understood and appreciated for reaching and often surpassing our expectations of behaviour, attendance and uniform every day.
Lots of after school events have taken place this half term and it has been lovely to see so many of you in school. From the Open Evening, Power 2 Perform, year 7 and year 10 Settling in evenings and GCSE information evening, all have been well attended and we have received such positive feedback whether it be around organisation, content or our wonderful student helpers. We really appreciate taking the time to share your opinions and we always use this as part of our drive for continuous school improvement. Thank you also to all those who have completed the LiFE MAT parent survey, again this is invaluable to us.
Wishing you all a relaxing half term.
With best wishes
Mrs Williams
Headteacher
Literacy
It has been a busy half-term. We have had students spending time in the library exploring the variety of books we have available and taking out books ready to read at the beginning of their English lessons. Our library resources continue to expand thanks to the work of our fabulous librarian, Ms Davies. In addition, we have launched the tutor reading programme for this academic year. This follows a slightly different format to last year: year 7, 8 and 9 have started their novels, while year 10 and 11 have different extracts to explore each week ranging from fiction and non-fiction, recent and pre 19th Century texts. Earlier in the term we held a year 7 parent session on supporting reading at home which is always well received. Two classes are currently helping me to trial an online reading platform designed to develop reading skills. Trials in other schools have shown the programme can have a significant impact on raising student’s reading ages. We are about half way through the trial, feedback from students is very positive and engagement levels are good.
Next half-term we will be introducing our paired reading scheme for this year which can only run with the support of our fantastic students whose patience and commitment is vital for the scheme’s success. Our library is also preparing a space for our year 11s to revise at break, lunch and after-school. It will be stocked with revision guides and other resources to support their revision. Year 10s will focus on developing their oracy skills in preparation for the speaking and listening assessment (a component of their GCSE English qualification). Through Creative Learning Services we have a number of literacy sessions to organise. We held these sessions last year and they were well received by students.
If you have any question regarding reading, or any area of literacy, please email me: m.hayles@ibstockcollege.co.uk
Have a lovely half-term.
Textiles
We held a ‘felt making workshop’ with year 10 textile students on Monday 9 October.
Students worked hard and were focused throughout. We learnt a little about the history of felting and then had a go at the art of felting, linking it to our coursework themes. Lots of students chose landscapes and floral designs.
We plan to then work into the samples by beading, embroidery and other embellishment. The end results will look incredible but here is a sneak peak of the work so far.
Art
In preparation for Remembrance day this year, students in year 7 and year 9 have been making their own ceramic poppies. Poppies were carefully sculpted with clay before going into the kiln and being painted. The poppies will be displayed on garden stakes around the school reception area in the lead up to Remembrance Day. Miss Moore can’t wait to see the students’ hard work on display. What a fantastic effort!
Modern Foreign Languages at Ibstock Community College
The start of the new school year brought with it lots of exciting changes within the MFL department here at Ibstock Community College. Firstly, we welcomed Mrs. Rojas to the team and the introduction of Spanish to our curriculum. The students are already making great progress and it has been lovely for me to see them holding short conversations in Spanish this week within their lessons! We are also extremely lucky to have our very own French assistante working with us for this academic year. Lisa, from Avignon in France, will be working with our students within lessons and supporting students with their French. This is already proving to be a fantastic resource, especially with our key stage four students, who are preparing for their French speaking assessment. In other exciting news, we have just launched our year 7 and year 10 trip to Paris which will take place in June 2024. We can’t wait!
European Day of Languages 2023
This year’s European Day of Languages was celebrated in school on Tuesday 26 September. Students took part in a tutor-time quiz which tested their knowledge of global (not just European) languages. It was also great to see many of our students taking part in the EDL Treasure hunt. 20 flags were hidden around school and students had to find them to find out how to say hello and goodbye in the language of that country. Well done to all who took part – prizes have been given out to the students who found the most.
Our European Day of Languages celebrations continued into the evening as it coincided with our year 6 Open Evening. It was lovely to see so many year 6's trying out French and Spanish – ordering snacks at our ‘French café’ and designing masks for the Dia de los Muertos. It was great to see so many future linguists!
Mrs. E Wideman
SEND Updates
As some of you may be aware, The Hive has relocated into the main school building, and although the space is physically smaller, the welcome is still warm for all and we are still working with our students to meet their individual needs. It has been lovely to see some familiar faces that come to see us on a regular basis, and the new year 7s are finding the space as somewhere safe and secure for their breaks and lunch. If your child would like to take advantage of the space but they are not sure where to go or who to speak to, please ask them to speak to their tutor so they can be pointed in the right direction.
Mrs Deacon is working incredibly hard with our groups of students in years 8 and 9 who are following the AQA Unit Award Scheme, and with other students who need more 1:1 nurturing or interventions - the students are enjoying the opportunity to work on areas of interest independently, knowing that there will be a certificate at the end of each unit. She has also led our team of Teaching Assistants in writing Pupil Passports with our students - because of their hard work we are slightly ahead of schedule; all of our students will have their own, personalised Passport within the next 3-4 weeks. These will be available to all staff, who can then use them to adapt their teaching to enable our students to achieve the best they can. If any parent / carer of a student with SEND would like to see their child's Passport, please let me know - I am in the process of sending these out to parents who have already been in touch.
Following on from the success of the Coffee Morning and Afternoon Tea events last year, we are looking at organising a 'festive' event for our parents / carers - details to follow.
Please remember that we have a number of communication methods with parents - there is the newsletter (of course), our Padlet SITE https://padlet.com/ICCHive/the-hive-at-ibstock-community-college-ot6gbx6zawu9gpqu and our dedicated account on X (formerly Twitter) @ibstockCCSEND where we share news, events and success stories, and email. Remember, we also have our dedicated email account SEND@ibstockcollege.co.uk - the account is monitored by a number of staff members so your messages will be picked up quickly. We are always open to suggestions, so if there is ever anything that you feel would be good to share, please do let one of us know and we will get posting!
We hope you all have a restful half-term break - it is much needed to prepare us for the run up to Christmas which will be full of fun, laughter and decoration.
Tracey Roden
Hello Yellow!
Tuesday 10th October was World Mental Health Day. We celebrated this in school by asking students to wear a yellow accessory with their uniform and bringing in donations for Young Minds who work with young people who are struggling with their mental health; they also provide support for parents and schools. It was fabulous to see how many students and staff managed to wear yellow in some way. We also decorated the school with tissue paper sunflowers, posters and even turned the website yellow for the day! In the week running up to our celebrations, we held assemblies about the importance of talking about our mental health as openly as we would talk about our physical health. There is lots of information on the website about supporting young people with their mental health: https://www.ibstockcollege.co.uk/mental-health-and-wellbeing
Sporting Achievement
Over the summer Harriet in year 8 competed in two cycling events under the British Schools Cycling Association where she competed in her age category. Harriet ended the day as U13 Girls West Midlands Hill Climb Champion 2023 representing Ibstock Community College. She is also U13 Girls National Grass Track Champion 2023. A feat that is even more impressive given that she is a 1st year in her age category. Historically the National Grass track title has been won by some impressive names who became or are still professionals in the sport; Victoria Pendleton, Nicole Cooke, Laura Trott (nee Kenny) to name a few.
Congratulations Harriet we are all proud of you and wish you luck during the cyclocross season!
Year 8 Office Work Experience
As part of our academic and character enrichment curriculum we are giving year 8 students the opportunity to gain some further office work experience this academic year.
During this work experience they will carry out duties such as; taking messages, assisting students in need of first aid, directing students and visitors around the building, filing and other administrative duties.
Participating in these tasks helps build a sense of responsibility, team working, improves communication and organisation skills, as well as developing important employability skills and understanding the wider workings of a school.
We will place all year 8 students on a rota from Tuesday 24 October where they will work with another member of their year group for the day. If you do not want your child to take part in this, please email f.pennington@ibstockcollege.co.uk.
Annual Seasonal Flu Vaccination
All children and young people from reception to year 11 are being offered the flu vaccination in school as part of the national vaccination programme.
The NHS immunisation team will be at Ibstock Community College on Friday 17 November 2023.
Please click the link below to view the letter from the NHS, which contains the link to the online consent form. Please complete the consent form by Wednesday 15 November 2023.
Annual seasonal flu vaccination - Letter and online consent
Important change about the consent process: the young person can now consent for the vaccine. If we do not receive a parental or carer consent decision for the vaccination, using the below process, we may allow the young person to self-consent to the vaccination on the day. We will only offer this opportunity to young people in year 8 and above, who have read the appropriate vaccination information and who are assessed by a health professional as having enough understanding and competence to fully appreciate what's involved. Only those who are clearly comfortable in receiving the immunisation will have it. If parents or carers have responded and refused consent, the decision cannot be overruled by a young person and therefore, we will not vaccinate. More information can be found on: www.leicspart.nhs.uk/service/schoolagedimms
A Guide to Parking Safely at Our School
Inconsiderate and dangerous parking around our school can put the safety of students and others at risk. We all want to keep our students safe, so here’s some top tips on how you can make a difference.
- Keep your speed down
- Do not park on zig zag lines or in areas that will block access for other vehicles, particularly the school buses
- Make sure your child leaves and enters your vehicle safely onto the pavement
- Check for pedestrians and cyclists before opening a car door
- Leave enough room on pavements for pedestrians, pushchairs & wheelchairs to get past
- Take care when reversing
Please keep restricted areas clear...
- Zig Zags and school entrances
- Dropped kerbs
- Resident’s driveways
- Opposite or within 10 meters of a junction- so that students can see cars and cars can see students
Arbor Parent Portal
Please ensure you have activated your Arbor Parent Portal account and keep your child's information up to 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
Friday 13 October 2023 - End of term
Monday 23 October 2023 - Start of Term
Monday 30 October 2023- Friday 10 November 2023 - Year 11 Trial Exams
Friday 10 November 2023 - Whole School Remembrance
Monday 13 November 2023 - Odd Socks Day
Monday 13 November 2023 - Friday 17 November 2023 - Make a NOISE for anti-bullying week
Friday 17 November 2023 - Seasonal Flu Vaccination for all years
Thursday 23 November 2023 - Further education evening, Year 10 & Year 11
Friday 1 December 2023 - Advance notice - School closed to staff and students