Dear Families,
As the new term begins, we would like to take this opportunity to remind all people droppping off or picking up students, to please park considerately. Please refrain from blocking driveways or private roads, and be mindful of our neighbours and the safety of all members of the Baylis Court community.
Thank you for your support in this matter
Last month saw the return of the Dynamic showcase
We enjoyed performances choreographed and devised by the students themselves, including; contemporary dance, Gothic novels, Art work and singing from Les Miserable.
We also launched Baylis Productions, our Media production team who took charge of our photography, Lighting designer, PowerPoint, Front of House and Backstage crew.
Thank you to all the students and staff involved in organising, creating and supporting the show!
We look forward to seeing you all at the Summer showcase Ignite.
The Dynamic Team
Settling into Baylis Court School as a new Year 7 pupil
An article by Erykah Bennett
Settling into a new school can be hard; especially secondary. But luckily, this article is here to help with any struggles, giving advice and answering commonly asked questions to benefit you and being a better leader of tomorrow!
As you may be aware, Baylis Court is an all-girls school. It is specifically an art school, and can enhance your creativity! Setting in can take a while; even weeks! Fortunately, we are here to help. Baylis Court is a lively, energetic school for girls like us up to the age of 19 in Slough. There are approximately 940 students currently, including 140 sixth formers.
There is a variety of years from year 7-11, Key Stages 3 and 4. People around the school are happy to help with most problems you have, inside and/or outside school.
We have a Student Leadership Team, made up of four topics to represent the school: Community Engagement, Well-being, Environment and Literacy. Each year will have a Deputy Head or Head Student. Head Student means you are the leader of the whole team. This will change every year, and we have applications!
Daily School Routine & Induction Day
Close to the end of the year, in Year 6, you will have an induction day. That means you will transfer to your chosen secondary school for a day. At Baylis Court, we have fun activities, an assembly with the Head of Learning and chosen form groups. Your Head of Learning is the head of a year group. Year 7 Head of Learning is Miss Rosales, a Spanish teacher. You can talk to her about any problems about any problems with lockers or fitting in, etc!
You will get given a timetable similar to this. We have 5 periods every day, each an hour, with break and lunch, week A and B. When we finish both weeks, we go back to week A, and so on! The lessons are abbreviated to make it easier, for example: “Ma’’ is Maths. You are also given a planner, which is expected to be kept all year round. You will hopefully be finished with it by July!
Since we are in secondary, it is our responsibility to get to lessons on time, bring our books and improvise. if you misbehave, expect a sanction. It is better to just do what you are told. A bell will ring after every lesson, and you are expected to be in class after the second.
Commonly Asked Questions
What if I come into school late?
Sign in with the receptionist at the front office so your form tutor knows you are in. The office is located on the side when walking out of the parking lot at the front of the school!
What pay system does this school use?
Like in primary school, we still use ParentPay! We use this to buy items and school resources. Your parents will get a letter for the password to log in.
Are there feminine hygiene products if I get my period?
Yes. We have them in the office and sometimes your form group teacher will have them stored somewhere in your form class. We have stuff like pads for beginners and tampons for older girls. You can change your pad at break or lunch!
How do I get my own locker?
Your parents will have to pay for a locker before secondary school begins, and you will get a letter of your code. They can be located in different blocks around the school, and if there is a problem with your code, talk to your Head of Learning.
Is there going to be lots of homework?
For the first year, teachers give a moderate amount of homework, so it doesn’t stress out the students. In addition, you will be expected to do things like Bedrock and Accelerated Reader. (You will get more information about this later in the year!)
What time does school end?
School ends here at 3:00PM. The last bell will go off and you are free to go after your teacher has dismissed you!
This brings us to an end. I hope this information has helped you get an idea of what secondary school is going to be like at Baylis Court. Our values are kind, inquisitive and resilience, and it would be great if you showed that to represent our school! We are glad to help you be in a more comfortable environment at school to be the best you can be. Remember, inspiring leaders of tomorrow!
On Friday 1st December the year 11 geography classes undertook an exciting trip to Epping Forest to the Fieldwork Studies Council site. The site has a small river called Loughton Brook running through it. As part of their GCSE course the students were investigating this river at various point to answer the question “Do the characteristics of Loughton Brook change with distance downstream?”
Our trip was much colder than previous years, as we left the school the temperature was only -1° and the temperature remained brisk all day long! However, we were in for a surprise when we arrived on location, we all got off our coach, gathered in a field to do register and were surprised by the first snowfall we had seen all year. What a lovely start!
The students had some classroom activities to refresh our rivers knowledge but also had about three kilometers of hiking as we travelled between the locations on the river. The students really got into the spirit of things, using a variety of equipment to measure the river’s depth, width and velocity. They also got useful experience diagramming the locations and examining the smoothness/angularity and size of the river pebbles. Students commented that it was a great experience to be learning geography out of the classroom and it helped bring rivers to life.
Although it was a great trip, by the end we all felt a bit tired and hungry. We washed up our wellies, returning them in a clean state to the Fieldwork Studies Council centre and were all a bit pleased to get back on the coach and return to Slough.
Mr W Hartley
Teacher of geography
Internal Assessments
Assessments enable teachers to gauge the progress of all students. They identify students’ strengths and gaps in knowledge and skills that then inform staff planning, and student foci, to enable all students to make progress. You can help your child to prepare for their assessments by:
- knowing that their exam weeks are as follows:
- enabling them to have a quiet space to learn. For some students this may be a local library or the school library (open until 4.30 after school every day)
- asking your child to re-cap their learning to you.
- encouraging your child to use flashcards, mindmaps and past papers to support their revision.
The exams may cover anything learned in the current school year and sometimes the year before, where this is relevant to courses.
General topic lists for KS3 can be found on the school website [School Curriculum section, Assessment Criteria file]. KS4 and 5 students should refer to their GCSE or A-Level specification within each subject area of the School Curriculum section of the website.
Alumni Day: 12 December 2023
On 12 December, Baylis Court School welcomed back four of its previous students who studied with us from Year 7 through Year 13. Manisha Gill (St Barts, Medicine), Fatima Irfan (Politics and International Relations, LSE), Sana Mahmood (Psychology, King College London), and Thalia Arundell (English Literature, Cambridge) left us at the end of Year 13 and have since gone on to study at top universities.
They first spoke to Year 11 and shared some of their experiences, along with the ups and downs of university life. They also shared their reflections on their time in Year 11 and reminded our students that while GCSE grades do not define you, they are important and are a crucial stepping stone towards your dream next step in education, training, or employment. They also told our students that a poor mock result can still be turned around with hard work and that they still have time to make a difference. Finally, they spoke about why they chose Baylis sixth form; one of the most important reasons mentioned by all was that they decided to stay as their teachers already knew them, their strengths and weaknesses, and how to push them in the right direction.
Our alumni then spoke to Years 12 and 13 and elaborated in further detail about university choices, life, and advice they wish they had known before applying and starting. They also spoke about how challenging A-Levels were and that the biggest source of strength that everyone can draw upon is their friends and peers around them.
We hope to see more of our alumni in the future, as the event was a real success and allowed students in Years 11, 12, and 13 to see role models the Baylis community is incredibly proud of.
Mr R. Brown
Head of Sixth Form
Criminiology Conference
Article by Zara Khan
On the 29th of November, 30 Year 13 students of both sociology and law A level went on a trip to Friends House in Euston, London for a Criminology conference. The goal of this conference was to widen our knowledge on the use of criminal law and the shift in social attitudes towards crimes in England before the 21st century. We learned about the Criminal Justice System (CJS), its role and how it worked, the role of the police and how criminals’ surface to crime. This was further featured alongside two guest speakers, Merisa Merico, and Justin Rollins, who were extremely influential and interesting people, both showing their ‘life of crime’ and how they managed to change their behaviour and life around for good.
Opening talks came from Dr Lyndsey Harris, an immaculate presenter giving us an insight into Domestic Violence and a small case study about a woman called Susan. Dr Harris was able to test our knowledge on this subject with a game of ‘truth or lie’ in which we had to hold cards up giving our answers. The end of her talk was about an ex-police officer called Susan, who had suffered assault on duty and leading to her being with a manipulative partner, ultimately making her suffer horrific abuse and her ‘partner’ being found not guilty in court.
The second talk came from Dr Anthony Ellis, who gave us an insight into the ‘Hard Lads’. Based in Lincolnshire, Dr Ellis, was able to provide his methodology and findings into his ethnographic study about the masculinisation of crime and how socialisation of young boys often leads them to set a standard in violent crimes as they were told to ‘toughen up’ growing up.
The third talk was an interview with a daughter of an ex-mafia boss from the ‘Milan ‘Ndrangheta’, named Marisa Merico. We able to learn about the difference between the real-life version of being in the mafia versus what is televised to us in shows and movies. Merico was able to turn her life around after serving a lengthy sentence, and graduated with a criminology degree, ultimately giving us an insight into the crimes she committed and how her life as a ‘mafia princess’ was like of a fantasy.
The fourth talk came from Professor Zoe Walkington, who gave us a psychological insight into crime. Our first task involved being able to tell a truth or a lie, and we were shown multiple clips about lies or truths people were telling us. Our second task involved being split into two halves in the hall, and had watched a video, in which one side were told that police believed the crime scene was a robbery, and the other side were told that no theories were put forward and had to guess what the crime was. Finally, we were told about ‘confirmation bias' in policing, and we studied the Yorkshire Ripper, and how the individual who committed the crime was interviewed multiple times without being caught or suspected of the crimes he had done.
Finally, our last talk came from Justin Rollins, and was our favourite talk of the day. It was a personal presentation about how a head trauma injury from childhood had developed into mildly aggressive and incoherent behaviour which led to graffiti wars. Rollins had explained that though he was incarcerated multiple times, he was able to learn from his mistakes by REM therapy and CBT, which has helped him to become a better person than he was in his youth. Though Rollins is still receiving treatment , he explained that youth crimes from his childhood still affect him to this day.
It is really important that the pupils at Baylis Court School have participated in The Big Ambition survey and had their say.
We want to ensure that the voices of the children in Slough are fairly represented in the findings so that their views can be shared with the most senior members of the country.
Diary Dates
- Tuesday 16 January: Catch up immunisation session
- Tuesday 16 January: Year 7&8 Choir Young Voices performance at the O2 Arena
- Wednesday 17 January: Year 11 Blood Brothers Theatre Visit
- Thursday 18 January: Year 11 University of Oxford Visit
- Thursday 18 January: Year 7 Consultation Evening
- Monday 22 January: Year 12 Exams start
- Monday 29 January: Year 8 Science Visit to Reading Baylab
- Thursday 8 February: Year 9 GCSE Options Evening
- Friday 9 February: Last day of term.
The British Film Institute Educational visit
Last week the Media Studies department took our A level students to the British Film Institute to enjoy a day of Key Theorist seminars.
“Attending the British Film institute was an exceptional experience for me at this point in year 13. It was a brilliant opportunity for me to aid my current knowledge on the theoretical framework we have been studying in class, this time an approach taken by media professors which was the highlight of the experience, which will allow me to master my theory in my written work in preparation for my A-levels. Overall it was amazing!
Have you ever thought about pursuing a career in Art & Design?
Did you know more people work in the creative industries than the finance industry!
The creative industries generate £84.1 billion to the United Kingdom (UK) economy each year and employ over 2.8 million people. Unlike many industries, the creative industries have continued to grow, despite the recent financial crisis.
At Baylis we offer AQA GSCE Art & Design course. This is an unendorsed subject where you can study a range of artistic skills from drawing, painting, textiles, print, clay and photography.
How does art help me develop my skills in the wider world?
Art helps you develop creative skills and the ability to visualise new ideas which can be useful in many career pathways.
Take a look at the careers you could go into.
What skills do I need to go GCSE Art & Design?
- Be organised
- Come to every lesson with a ‘can do’ positive attitude!
- Willing to take risks and learn from your creative mistakes
- Work hard to improve your skills
- 100% commitment to the subject
How will it fit in with your other subjects?
Studying art and design helps to create a broad and balanced curriculum, which is an excellent foundation for whatever you want to do afterwards. The transferable skills you’ll gain, such as creativity, analysis and problem solving, complement a range of other subjects and careers.
Where will a GCSE Art and Design take me in the future?
You can continue your art and design studies at AS and A-level, where the same titles are available. You’ll also be able to choose areas of study to specialise in within a particular title. If you don’t want to take your art and design studies any further, the transferable skills you gain will still be valuable. You’ll develop problem solving, creative thinking, investigation, research, communication and teamwork skills, and gain the ability to develop, refine and present ideas. Employers and universities regard all of these highly.
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Between January and May 2024, students in Year 10 and 11 will be able to sign up to bespoke taster sessions on campus, aimed at helping them to make informed decisions about their next steps.
Each session will be completely tailored to a Career Pathway and provide students with the opportunity to sample an activity related to the course, view the facilities, and ask the tutors questions about studying with Activate Learning.
Support for young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND)
Young people are largely shaped by their experiences.
At Together As One, we want to make this experience as positive as possible, especially for those with additional needs
The SEND Youth Focus Group creates a space where young people can meaningfully discuss their experience, socialise, eat and play games in a fun and inclusive environment. The group takes place monthly in Slough and is open to 11-25 year olds with SEND.
For more information please contact the SEND Engagement and Participation Officer Jovi on 07709525687 or jovi@togetherasone.org.uk
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