Parent/Carer Bulletin
Friday 26th November 2021
Year 8
Dear Parents and Carers,
This week students in Year 8 have been particularly persuasive in their arguments for Deep Learning Day.
Set up through the English department, all classes had to research a chosen charity and write a speech that
they then presented to their class. The winners of the class vote then presented in front of the whole year
group in the Theatre. The standard of the presentations was excellent. Well done to Olivia N, Ruby M, Erin E,
and Ellie G our winners. The £1 donations will be going to their chosen charity - Burning Nights, Complex
Regional Pain Syndrome Support.
A huge thank you to everyone who donated items or sent in boxes for our Gift of Love Project. Our target
was to send 100+ boxes to the children of Croatia this year after sending a staggering 89 last year. The Year
7 and 8 Form Reps did an amazing job in their Form Groups to get the boxes ready. Mick from the Living Life
charity based in Eastbourne, came in to collect the boxes last week and as the Form Reps loaded them into
his car we counted 112 boxes! This is an amazing achievement. From 12th December onwards you can
follow Mick and his team on Facebook distributing the boxes live to the children of Croatia, it makes for a
wonderful Christmas story.
The first set of data for Year 8 will be going home shortly, it will appear on Edulink under 'reports'. A
reminder that the 'threshold' is an end of KS3 target and 'progress' indicates where your child is currently in
relation to that threshold. The teacher's 'subject improvement strategies’ are the most important gauge to
understanding what areas to focus on to continue to improve progress. Please spend time discussing these
with your child alongside the PIN feedback that can be viewed online in their learning organiser.
Wishing you all a lovely weekend
Kind regards,
Ms Sarah Shipley - Director of Year 8
NOTICES
Parent Forums
We are always keen to know what parents and carers think about your children’s education and your views
on the college. We are going to put on a series of Parent Forum meetings on the first Monday of each month
(5-6pm) and we will have two types of Parent Voice meetings:
1. A one to one appointment with Hugh Hennebry and you can raise any issue you wish. These will be
called Parent Surgeries. There will be an invitation sent out in the two preceding Parent Bulletins
inviting you to make an appointment for the next Parent Surgery. We invite parents / carers to raise
whatever issues you choose. These issues will influence what topics we discuss in the Parent Forums
(see below). The first meeting will be Monday 6th December 5pm - 6pm.
2. Group Parent Forums that will discuss different aspects of school e.g. Learning Organisers, reports,
parents’ evenings, combatting discrimination (sexism, racism, homophobia, transphobia etc),
homework, PIN feedback, My Ace, college facilities, rewards / celebration and sanction systems etc.
Parents can write at any time to Toni Fletcher ([email protected]) to suggest topics. We will
propose certain topics for each Parent Forum meeting based on parental suggestions and also
suggestions from leaders at the college who wish to consult parents on developments /
improvements. We will send out an invitation in the two preceding Fridays along with the suggested
topics. The length of the meeting will be up to an hour but may finish sooner.
December 2021 Parent Surgery - Monday 6th December 5pm - 6pm
If you wish to have a video meeting appointment with the Principal, Mr Hennebry, please sign
up here: December 2021 Parent Surgery - Monday 6th December 5pm - 6pm
Levels of COVID-19 infections in school aged children in East Sussex
Please see attached a letter from Alison Jeffery, Director of Children’s Services and Darrell Gale, Director of
Public Health about the levels of COVID-19 infections in school aged children in East Sussex. The letter sets
out some key actions that schools can take to help reduce the impact of COVID-19.
Tickets for the Uckfield College Carol Service at Holy Cross Church Uckfield
7.00pm on Tuesday 14th December 2021.
It is with great pleasure that we announce the return of the College’s annual Carol
Service - please see attached information.
Uckfield College Football Tour - FC Porto - Portugal July 2022
I am delighted to announce that we will be running another football tour this academic year. After the success
of our last football tour to PSV Eindhoven we are running another tour, but this time to FC Porto in Portugal. It
will be a week-long tour and will take place between the 11th and 16th of July 2022 (this is our school
enrichment week) The tour is open to all students at Uckfield College. We will be running a Zoom information
evening starting at 7pm on Tuesday 7th December. If you are unable to attend the zoom meeting a recording
of the meeting / presentation will be available. When we know how many students are interested in attending
we will be able to send out further details of the tour, such as exact price and flight times.
The zoom link will be sent out in the next parent bulletin, if you have any questions in the meantime please
contact Chris Topping on [email protected] - Curriculum Leader for PE
Levels of COVID-19 infections in school aged children in East Sussex
Please see attached a letter from Alison Jeffery, Director of Children’s Services and Darrell Gale, Director of
Public Health about the levels of COVID-19 infections in school aged children in East Sussex. The letter sets
out some key actions that schools can take to help reduce the impact of COVID-19.
Reading Roundup
The deadline for year 7 Reading Ambassador applications is today (Friday 26th
November). Thank you to those who have applied. You will hear from me (Miss Buckland)
regarding the next stage of the application process - you will be asked to present a 2 minute
presentation on “A book that has changed my life”.
Recommended Read
Miss Buckland recommends ‘The Nest’ by Kenneth Oppel for KS3-4 readers: “A delightfully
creepy and gripping tale about an anxious boy who befriends a mysterious wasp queen who
claims to have the solution to all his problems. A sensitive exploration of difficult themes including anxiety,
responsibility and long-term illness”.
Talking Point - Planning for World Book Day 2022
Our World Book Day planning committee is already busy making plans for World Book Day 2022 (3rd March).
It’s the 25th anniversary of the event, and we want to make it the biggest and best one yet here at Uckfield
College! We are currently researching authors to run talks and workshops for the occasion. If you happen to
have an author in the family, or a connection to one, please do get in touch with Miss Buckland at
[email protected] or Mrs Izzard at [email protected]
Please do not send your child into college until you have seen the result of their LFD
test. We have had some students come in and parents then phone to say the test
shows positive. Please make sure you do the test early enough to see the result and
get them to college on time.
Kind regards
PREVIOUSLY SHARED INFORMATION:
Students attending college must bring a clean face mask to college every day - just in case they
are required to wear one.
They are required to wear a mask when they visit Student Services
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.
PTA Christmas Fundraisers 2021
Our Christmas Fundraising activities and raffles are all are now live on ParentPay.
Draws for raffles will take place at Uckfield College on Saturday 11th December 2021.
Winners will be contacted by the college on Monday 13th December and prizes can be
collected from the college by arrangement.
Wreaths will also be made this weekend. See attached for more information.
Communication of Covid vaccinations at other sites
Parents are now also able to book a Covid Vaccination for their 12-15 year old child at a local site through the
National Booking Service hence, we would like to request you to send some communication out to parents
asking them to inform the Sussex Immunisation Team on 01293227797 if they have consented via the form we
sent out and then subsequently had the child vaccinated at another site. This will ensure our lists are updated.
Thank you.
Covid Immunisation Team
Police Youth Officers
The College is very lucky to have two wonderful Youth Officers named PC Codling and PC Bishop. Both of these
officers have lots of experience in working with young people and their role in the College is to educate and
support rather than criminalise students.
This academic year, following on from discussions with students PC Codling and PC Bishop will be in school
fortnightly on Wednesdays (Dates for this term 22nd Sep 6th Oct & 20th Oct).
They will be based in Learning+ and will be doing the following;
Time Action
10:00-11:00 Working 1-2-1 with students when required
11:00-11:20 Walking school site speaking to students
11:20-13:20 Completing education workshops with students
13:20-14:00 Drop in service
If students wish to book 1-2-1 appointments with the Police Youth Officers they should email
[email protected] or speak to a member of the pastoral team.
If you have any questions about the Police Youth Officers and their work in the College please speak to your
child's pastoral leader.
Covid protocols - an update:
Following Public Health England advice, we are updating our covid protocols with a slight change.
99% of our staff have been vaccinated. We have had a good number of Sixth Formers being vaccinated since
they had the option back in the summer. We trust that there will be good take up of the optional covid
vaccinations for 12-15 year old students too.
What remains the same:
● We expect all students and staff to take a lateral flow test twice a week.
● Students who either have symptoms or have tested positive with a PCR, should stay at home.
Slight change:
If a student is in a household where someone else tests positive but the student does not have symptoms
themselves and they have not tested positive (LFD or PCR), they should:
1. Take a Lateral Flow test every day that someone in the household is self-isolating (10 days)
2. Be in school
3. Wear a mask in lessons as they have an increased risk of being exposed to the virus at home
We are no longer offering the option of staying off for a few days and lateral testing themselves each day.
Thank you for your ongoing support.
Please follow this link to see how we are managing the pandemic this term: Covid protocols Sep 2021.
Please note that students do not need to self-isolate if they are in close contact with a positive case, which will
mean that there should be much less disruption to learning this year. However, there still will be disruption if there
is an outbreak, so students must keep doing all the steps in the presentation above. In particular, it is vitally
important that all students lateral flow test themselves twice a week.
We require students to collect them from their Year Office or Student Services. Please remind your
children to collect a kit when your supply at home is running low. We are also happy for parents and carers to
collect the kits for their children from Visitor Reception during the College day.
● 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
Below is the guidance on face coverings on School coaches/public buses:
COVID-19 spreads through the air by droplets and aerosols that are
exhaled from the nose and mouth of an infected person. The
requirement to wear face coverings in law has been lifted.
However, the government expects and recommends that
people wear face coverings in crowded areas such as public
transport.
Uckfield College Life - Term 1 2021
Uckfield College Life will be published once a term. 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].
Job Vacancies - see link below for current vacancies page for both Support staff and Teachers
https://www.uckfield.college/vacancies
Uckfield College Facebook - Uckfield College Facebook page
UCTC TWITTER- Follow us on Twitter @UckfieldCollege
Term dates for the Academic years 20/21 & 21/22 - http://www.uckfield.college/termdates
Reporting Absences - See link to information on Website