003_Year9_16Jul2021_ECI

Parent/Carer Bulletin

Friday 16th July 2021

Year 9

Dear Parents and Carers,

In this penultimate week of term, when our eyes become firmly fixed on the pending summer holiday, it is
tempting to say to oneself ‘Thank goodness that year is over’. However, even though there have been
challenges due to Covid this year I would urge you to look beyond this to see that there is much to celebrate
and so much that I am looking forward to celebrating in our end of year assembly on Monday. The Year 9
journey has been both academically and personally developmental. Many, many students have embraced
the opportunities offered by getting involved in extracurricular activities and student leadership; by
demonstrating amazing learning in and out of the classroom; and by forging positive and meaningful
relationships that have supported them to become more independent, confident and resilient young people.

This week has been Curriculum Enhancement Week - a week of special sessions designed to be fun,
challenging and stimulating, as well as helping the students to learn even more.
Monday was Deep Learning Day where students either worked on their science practicals or studied some
‘big ideas’ with the Life, Religion and Ethics teachers.
Tuesday was an outdoor activity day at Hove Lagoon, Blacklands Farm or in college - and all the students
who anticipated had a great time.
The rest of the week was devoted to sessions in English, maths and science and students took part in a
variety of activities ranging from investigating the bounce of squash balls, to developing financial
understanding in mathematics to studying gothic novels in English.
Mr Bradley tells me that the atmosphere at college was wonderful with a great variety of active, stimulating,
culturally rich activities happening.

I have been on a residential trip this week in the Peak District with a number of year 9 students. They have
been busy gorge walking, abseiling, caving and hiking. The students have been a credit to the school and to
you as parents. The Camp staff have commented on their politeness, describing what a pleasure it has been
to have them this week and wish they could stay longer!

Our social media pages are filling up with photographs of the huge range of activities that have happened
this week - please take a look https://www.facebook.com/uckfieldcollege/

Thank you for your continued support during this year.
I hope you have a restful weekend,

Eoin Mitchell and Jo Ogden
Director of Year and Pastoral Lead Y9.

Dear Parents/Carers,
Due to the sharp rise in cases nationally and the many examples of schools in East and West
Sussex, Brighton & Hove and Kent where there are very large numbers of students and staff
testing positive and / or self-isolating, we have decided that we will keep all our current covid
protocols in place, including mask wearing indoors (corridors, hall, theatre, studio and
classrooms) until the end of term.

We are doing this to:
- avoid having to send lots of students home to self-isolate not just next week but also self-isolating in their
summer holidays
- avoid having lots of cover lessons
- enabling students and families who may be planning holidays abroad to be able to go.

Thank you for your understanding and patience.
Yours sincerely,

Mr Hennebry
Principal

NOTICES AND PREVIOUSLY SHARED INFORMATION:

Students attending college must bring/wear a clean face mask to college every day.
Masks must be worn in classrooms and in corridors until further notice.

Students must wear masks at all times when travelling on the buses.

Masks are now being sold at Student Services:-
➢ Disposable medical type masks - 30p each
➢ Reusable, washable cloth masks with a filter - £3.50 each

Please bring correct change where possible.

Covid information - Delta variant
Please see the attached information from the College regarding moving forward.

It is VERY important, especially in the hot weather, that all students
carry a water bottle with them so they can refill them from the water

refilling stations that are situated all around the college.

A number of students have ended up in first aid with headaches and

feeling faint as they had not had enough water to drink and were dehydrated.

PTA News - Our Summer Raffle Winners are as follows:
Pamper Hamper: Beatrix Fairweather
Staycation Hamper: Louise Morris
BBQ Hamper: Cheryl Trott
Consolation Pamper Hamper: Jemma Whalin
Consolation Drinks Hamper: Charlotte Whitestone

Thanks to the overwhelming generosity of parents and friends, we have
managed to raise £1630 which will benefit students at Uckfield College.

Thanks to Lucy Glyn who has given up her time to put all the hampers together and to the office staff at Uckfield
College for helping us to advertise and organise the raffle online.

A huge thank you also to Carvills https://www.carvills.co.uk/ , Stavertons
http://www.stavertonnursery.co.uk/ and the Fishlock Family of Black Pig Orchard who
sponsored us by providing gifts for our hampers.

Have a wonderful summer and please watch out for our Christmas Raffle and festive fundraising events in the new
academic year.

Reading Roundup - Uckfield College Summer Readathon!
We are running a sponsored “Readathon” over the summer. This will be open to all
year groups. Students will be asking friends and family to sponsor them for each
book they read, with all proceeds going to Blueprint for All (formerly known as the
Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust) which promotes equality by working with
disadvantaged young people and communities in the UK.
Information can be found here. Your child can collect a sponsorship form from the
Reading Room or use this digital copy. Our Reading Ambassadors will be providing more information to students
in the final week of term.

Recommended Read
This reading recommendation comes from our honorary Year 8 Reading Ambassador, Charlotte M.
Charlotte M recommends ‘Murder Most Unladylike’ by Robin Stevens for KS3 readers: “This book shows that girls
and boys can do anything, even if you are told you can’t. I love this book and would recommend this to all [KS3]
children in the college!”. Thanks Charlotte!

Talking Point - Interested in volunteering?
Over the summer, East Sussex County Council libraries are running a volunteering programme for people over
the age of 13. There are a number of roles available and the training will be provided by the library. If you’d be
interested in volunteering at Uckfield library, you can find out more here. It would be a great opportunity to help
your local community and gain valuable experience.

Want to learn more about self harm in young people?

The self harm learning network (East Sussex) is running a parent information session on Thursday 7th October
(6pm-8pm)

Please follow the link to register
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/self-harm-parents-and-carers-network-east-sussex-tickets-161785772601

Covid testing at home for the students - We are pleased to confirm that an
additional supply of lateral flow tests have now been delivered to the students. Students
should use this new supply of tests to continue testing twice a week at home (all those
who are able to) and report results online as positive, negative or void. This information
is critical in helping to understand the prevalence of the virus across the country. Please
space the tests so that students are able to test, either the night before, or the Monday
morning before college, to find and isolate any positive cases. We suggest testing on Wednesday and Sunday
evenings if possible.

● Report each test result to us using Uckfield College home test confirmation form

● and to the NHS site online as positive, negative or void. This information is critical in helping us to
understand the prevalence of the virus across the country

Department for Education coronavirus (COVID-19) helpline

The Department for Education coronavirus (COVID-19) helpline is available to answer questions about coronavirus
(COVID-19) relating to education and children’s social care. Staff, parents and young people can contact this
helpline by calling:
Phone: 0800 046 8687
Opening hours:
Monday to Friday from 8am to 6pm
Saturday and Sunday from 10am to 4pm

Covid-19 related student absence - A quick reference guide for parents

Job Vacancies - see link below for current vacancies page for both Support staff and Teachers
https://www.uckfield.college/vacancies

Uckfield College Life - Spring Edition

Uckfield College Life will be published once a month. We have attached the Newsletter to the title above - if you wish
you can click on the title to see the newsletter. Please e-mail details to Toni Fletcher, [email protected].

Term dates for the Academic years 20/21 and 21/22 - http://www.uckfield.college/termdates

Reporting Absences - See link to information on Website

Uckfield College Facebook - Uckfield College Facebook page
Uckfield College TWITTER- Follow us on Twitter @UckfieldCollege