Dear Parents and Students Welcome to the Summer 2015 issue of the North Bristol Post 16 newsletter and a very warm welcome to our potential new Year 12 parents and students. We are fast approaching the end of another busy year at the Centre and preparations are in place for the start of the new academic year. In the final few weeks of term the Centre has been busy offering transition sessions for our incoming new Year 12 students. We are also in the process of offering taster days to our Year 10 partner secondary school students, who will no doubt be starting to think about their Post 16 options, as they move into Year 11 in the next academic year. Our current Year 12 students have just completed their Future 18s week, covering topics to do with the university application process, student finance, gap year choices and alternatives to higher education. During this week we had a number of universities and local employers who came into the Centre to talk to students at both learning communities. These ranged from Cardiff and Bristol University, as well as Year-in-Industry representatives. All of our students enjoyed this week and were able to discover the opportunities that are available after Post 16 study. Students also used this week to hold a well-being day. Our students practiced mindfulness, learnt about keeping safe as well as issues raised from the Prevent guidance for young people. Finally, we would like to wish our Year 12 and Year 13 Redland Green students well as they begin their True Adventures trip to India this summer. The students have held a number of fundraising activities and we wish them well in their community projects. We would also like to say thank you to our student ambassadors who have played a key role in supporting both learning communities during our taster and experience days. Feedback from the days have highlighted that our students are friendly, helpful and supportive of potential new students. More importantly, ambassadors were a model of our ethos at the Centre. Staff at both learning communities have worked hard again this year to ensure that students have been fully prepared for the external examinations. There have been a plethora of additional activities that have been organised, from Saturday morning revision, holiday revision sessions and revision sessions during study leave. We know that our students have worked hard to achieve their potential and we now wait for their results. Results day will be on Thursday, 13 August where we will be giving out results to A2 students from 9.00am, and AS students from 1.30pm. Centre staff will be around after the examination results to give further advice and support if needed, but more importantly to celebrate our students’ success. This has been another big year for the North Bristol Post 16 Centre, which has included some good AS and A2 results, as well as the ongoing commitment to providing the best possible education for our students. Next year we will continue with this aim and will achieve by continuous self-evaluation, high expectations and investment in our students.

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At the end of the summer we sadly say goodbye to a number of staff from Cotham and Redland Green School. From the Cotham learning community:

• Dr Malcolm Willis, Headteacher at Cotham School is leaving at the end of the academic year. We look forward to welcoming the new Headteacher, Ms Joanne Butler.

• John O’Connor is retiring. • Ashley Amos, Teacher of English. • Victoria Hobbs is going travelling. • Sam Collins is going travelling. • Candida Gould is moving to Bridgewater College. • Geraldine Hill-Male, Head of Performing Arts at Cotham, is moving to Bath Spa. • Dave Martin is retiring. • David Stewart is moving to Oasis Brightstowe.

From the Redland Green learning community:

• Paul Norris, Teacher of MFL, is moving to Brimsham Green School. • Charlotte Spurway, Teacher of Geography, is moving to St Katherines School. • Alex Baker, Teacher of History, is moving to Clifton College. • Adam Littleboy, Teacher of Science, is going to Sir Bernard Lovell School. • Anna Bryant, Teacher of Science, is going to study farming. • Emily Tiplady, Teacher of MFL, is having a change of career. • Victoria Beable, Teacher of MFL, is going travelling and then relocating. • Joseph Williams, Teacher of ADT, is moving to Marlwood School. • Anne Clare, Leader of PSHE, is moving to the PSHE Association. • Adele Fletcher, Teacher of History, is having a change of career. • Nina Russell, Teacher of English, is going to teach abroad. • Jenny Lee, Teacher of Psychology, is moving to Weston College.

We wish all the staff that are leaving us good luck in their new posts and a happy retirement to others.

The Centre wishes you a restful summer break, and looks forward to welcoming our new students as well as our Year 13 students back in September 2015. Enjoy the summer. Marian Curran

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Key Dates

17th July 2015: End of Term 6 for Students 20th July 2015: INSET Day (Both Learning Communities) 13th August 2015 09:00 to 13:00: A Level Results 13th August 2015 13:30 to 15:00: AS Results 14th August 2015 09:00 to 12:00: UCAS Surgery 19th August 2015 09:30 to 12:00: AS Surgery 20th August 2015 10:00 to 16:00: GCSE Results and Enrolment 21st August 2015 10:00 to 14:00: Year 12 Enrolment 27th August 2015 10:00 to 14:00: Year 12 Enrolment 1st September 2015 13:00 to 15:00: INSET/Year 12 clinic 2nd September 2015: RGS INSET 2nd September 2015 09.00 to 13:00: Cotham Year 12 Induction 2nd September 2015 13:30 to 15:00: Cotham Year 13 Enrolment/Year 13 Clinic 3rd September 2015 09.00 to 12.00: Year 12 Induction (RGS/Cotham) 3rd September 2015 13.30 to 15:00: Year 12/Year 13 Clinic 4th September 2015 09:00 to 12.00: Year 13 Induction 7th September 2015: Lessons start

Green Youth Day in Bristol As Bristol is the winner of the 2015 European Green Capital, The Colston Hall held a Green Youth Day to celebrate this and teach the young people of Bristol what does “going green” mean. Hosted by the comedian Marcus Brigstocke, the day included talks from key environmentalists and activists such as Arthur Kay on the "Bio Bean" - using waste coffee grounds for biofuel - and Laurens de Groot, the co-founder of Skycap, an organisation that designs and uses drones to aid safari workers in preventing poachers and protecting endangered animals. Workshops were also running throughout the day, including upgrading old clothes with Bristol Textile Recycling/Creative Youth Workshop and a chance to hold a giant stick insect and shake "hands" with a tarantula with an exhibition from Bristol Zoo. We also had the chance to vote in the Digital Challenge, in which multiple new apps were presented to the audience and the winning group would receive £10,000 in order to develop it. The day ended with a performance from Emmanuel Jal, a South Sudanese musician, who described his childhood as a child soldier and his aims as a political activist. Lara Andreski Year 13 student

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Rotary Youth Leadership Awards Congratulations to Mirai Smith (Year 12), who has been successful in her application to the Rotary Youth Leadership Award scheme (RYLA). Every year, the Rotary Club sponsors a student to attend its summer leadership programme, where they enjoy a range of activities intended to improve their leadership and employability skills. On a five night residential in the Forest of Dean, participants take part in outdoor activities and team building exercises, increasing their potential as leaders of tomorrow. Mirai performed very well at interview, as did Josh Guest (Year 12), who will be first reserve. NBP16C has a long-standing relationship with the Rotary Club and we wish Mirai every success on this course, which has benefited many of our learners in the past. Ms Webb-Dickin Year 12 Academic Mentor North Bristol Post 16 Football Final

Wednesday 6th May vs Ashton Park School NBP16C 6 – 1 Ashton Park Goals scored by: Raed, Luke, Dom, Frank, Dom & Jack

North Bristol were crowned Bristol & South Glos Schools’ Football champions for the 2014/15 season. In very tough, windy conditions North Bristol played some outstanding football against a competitive Ashton Park side. We took an early lead from Raed’s left footed shot and doubled our lead shortly before half time through Luke. We continued to pressurise Ashton in the second half and again got an early goal after

Dom pressured the keeper into a mistake and coolly slotted home for a 3-0 lead. Great work down the left from Frank saw him beat two defenders before placing the ball in the far corner. A contender for goal of the season followed. Dom had only been on the pitch a few minutes before he was allowed time and space to pick his spot and fired home a superb strike from 30 yards. Ashton pulled one goal back from the penalty spot to make the score 5-1, but we managed to attack again. Jack picked up the ball in midfield and went on a fantastic run, beating three players to put him through on goal only to be brought down just outside the area. Jack took the resultant free kick and curled it above the wall and beyond the keeper into the top corner. This rounded off a fantastic display from North Bristol. Congratulations to all involved. Squad: James, Harry, Mike, Aidan, Olly, Atef, Luke, Jack, Raed, Zach, Frank, Dom, Josh, Jake, Dom. Mr Spence Teacher of PE

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EcoFreeko: Post 16 Young Enterprise Team

Well done to EcoFeeko, the Post 16 Young Enterprise team who were recently successful in winning a place in the West of England Area Finals. The Team: James Loffler Jess Ritchings Louis Tyler Afiya Mudada Ellis Schippers Ahmed Yusuf Abdullah Mukarram Lauren Wyatt Hassan Ali

They did a fantastic and very confident pitch of their mobile phone cases to 3 'dragons' and dealt with an additional group of 3 judges that questioned them on their product and trade stand. The final was held at Kingsweston House in May. While the team did well in the finals, unfortunately they didn't win an award this year. Although, Louis and James won a Samsung Tablet for entering and winning a competition to produce a film of the journey taken through the Young Enterprise process. Jess, James and Louis did the final presentation and were commended by several judges. EcoFreeko has now been closed and the dividends paid out. Interestingly, the shareholders received almost 3 times their initial investment back! Well done to the whole Post 16 Young Enterprise Team. Ms Williams

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Post 16 Enrichment: Envision As part of Post 16 enrichment this year, 3 teams have taken part in the ‘Community-Apprentice’ programme with Envision, a youth education and empowerment charity who work with 16-19 year olds to help them realise their own capacity to make a difference. Below are some summaries telling you about each team’s project:

The Tree Huggers (Emily George, Haleema Bibi, Iona Mchlachlan and Cesca Redpath) The Tree Huggers goal was to educate others about the ways in which our everyday actions can be harmful to the environment. They chose to educate young children, believing that they are the future generation facing issues such as climate change and also that if they learn better habits earlier on this will enable greater change. They pitched to the ‘Envision Dragons’ in December and were successful in gaining £300 to support purchasing materials. They designed fun and interactive workshops, which were delivered to 30 infants, all of whom got their quiz questions correct at the end showing they had learnt lots about the environment and that the Tree Huggers had reached their goal. Pictures: 1. Cress heads the Tree Huggers created with infants to highlight the environmental benefits of growing your own food or sourcing it locally. 2. Tree Huggers pitching to the ‘Dragons’ to win money for their project.

Stand Up (Martha Murdoch, Tallulah Clark, Maya Fernandes-Long, Skye Whiteman, Elliott Russell and Hayden Williams)

Team Stand Up focused on reducing the stigma surrounding young people with mental health issues and encouraging students to open up conversations about mental health with their peers to support one another. They delivered a peer-education workshop and took over a Year 9 class to explore myths and facts surrounding mental health issues, supporting peers in different scenarios and where to go for help.

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Sans Abbri (Marya Kadir, Vicky Voong, Nellie Ravina, Chloe England, Nina Buxton-Madgin, Hevy Khalil, Asmaa Jama) This team felt passionate about helping to tackle and prevent homelessness in Bristol. They decided to fundraise for a local charity and to make the most impact they went to investigate the work done by The Julian Trust Night Shelter in St. Pauls. They decided to fundraise for the shelter as it is entirely run by volunteers and their money will go directly to providing food, shelter, clothes and toiletries for homeless people in the community.

Pictures: 1. Cake sale to raise funds 2. Sans Abbri with Jo (volunteer) at The Julian Trust Night Shelter in St. Pauls Maths Students Visit Bristol University A group of mathematics students visited Bristol University at the start of July to take part in some enrichment days. Some students took part in a mathematical modelling day where they found out about the research going out in the Department of Engineering and Mathematics. They looked at diverse applications of mathematics, such as how the Fibonacci sequence can be used to model inter-generational reproduction of bumblebees. Another group visited the Department of Mathematics and looked at recurring series and complex and imaginary numbers, which relates to their further maths course. Mr Pearson

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NBP16C at Debating Matters National Final

A team of NBP16C students travelled to London for three days of debating at the end of June. They were taking part in the Institute of Ideas "Debating Matters" national final, as one of the top 12 teams from an original field of 288. The team took on the other regional champions at the British Library, as well as having a private tour of the Magna Carta exhibition and listening to leading thinkers debate matters of science and morality. Despite winning their first debate on the topic of physician assisted suicide, the team were narrowly beaten when discussing compulsory voting. Nevertheless Euan, Arnold, Alex, James and Peter had a great weekend and showed that the spirit of debate is alive and well at the Centre. Special congratulations go to Peter who received a honourable mention for his contribution across the weekend. Mr Tiplady Student Council President Update Congratulations to Caitlin Steele who has been appointed as President of the Student Council and to Lizzie Hartree who has been appointed Vice President.

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Meningitis Research Update July 2015 Thanks to all the students who took part in our recent throat swabbing study looking for meningitis bugs. A total of 1815 students from 26 schools in and around Bristol had a swab taken and of them 920 went on to have further swabs through the winter. We are in the middle of analysing all the swabs in the lab and we already have some results. We could detect DNA from the meningitis bug in about 8% of students and you can see from the graph that some of those who had the bug had a lot more of them than others! We are glad to confirm that, despite having these bugs, nobody got sick! More results soon.

This graph shows information about the students (about 8% - a little less than one in 10) who had meningitis bugs found in their throat swabs at visit 1 (blue) and visit 2 (red). The bars on the left are those with small numbers of bugs and on the right with lots of bugs (more than 1000 times more than the ones on the left). It looks like some people who have this bug are a lot more infectious than others! A few years ago students took part in another similar study and the results were recently published in a medical journal. You can find the abstract of the paper at this URL: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25709085 Any of you who would like to read the full paper should email us at: Helen.Barr@bristol.ac.ak and we will send you a pdf. From August this year, students in Year 13 and entering universities will be offered a new meningitis vaccine called MenACWY and Year 9 and 10 students will also be offered the same vaccine from later this year and through this winter. This vaccine replaces the previous vaccine called MenC. The reason is that we are seeing a lot more cases of group W meningitis that used to be very rare. So it is very important to make sure you do not miss any appointment to get the vaccine when they come through. More details here: http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/vaccinations/Pages/men-acwy-vaccine.aspx We expect to be doing some more studies in the near future and look forward to visiting the school soon to give you more details of the results of the recent swabbing study. Bristol Children's Vaccine Centre

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Futures 18 Week

Futures 18 is an annual tradition at the Centre and launched on Monday 29th June with a conference of over 30 speakers from higher education, gap year organisations, apprenticeship providers and employability consultants. Students were prepared for life after post 16 through sessions ranging from the importance of first impressions, planning a gap year, study abroad, to choosing the right university or course, foundation degrees and how to writing a winning personal statement to

name but a few. We welcomed back ex-Centre students Amy Baker, David Haynes and Leo McGlynn - all current undergraduates - who delivered a popular session on the realities of student life. Tuesday 30th June saw the first ever Centre wide well-being /resilience day. Students had the opportunity to benefit from interactive workshops, from an introduction to being mindful, healthy relationships - the good, the bad and the ugly of TV relationships, to LGBTQ - an equal perspective. Off the Record delivered three of their resilience lab sessions on ‘tackling negative thoughts’, ‘Super me’, and ‘Pressure proof’, in addition to awareness sessions on how to be resilient and anti-stigma - talking about mental health. “Our team were very impressed by the students and so was I with their knowledge, self-awareness and ability to talk about mental health in general. I am sure that this has a good impact on student wellbeing, so thanks again.” Lin Ren, Off the Record, Resilience Lab Coordinator “The Futures 18 conference provided me with a clear view of all the options open to me after Year 13. It also gave me more information about applying to universities and what I need to do to write a winning personal statement.” Tia, Year 12 Student “The well-being day gave me the tools to stay healthy, safe, protected and manage my stress levels. Attending sessions on sexting and the law, sexual health and LGBTQ provided me with the awareness and knowledge that all young people should have.” Kelsie, Year 12 Student The remainder of the week saw students registering on UCAS, drafting personal statements, the launch of the Extended Project Qualification and working towards completing a module on Future Learn (www.futurelearn.com). We were also lucky to be visited by representatives from National Citizen Service who promoted their amazing programme. NCS is a way for 15-17 years olds to make

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extraordinary friendships, build skills for work and life and take on new challenges. The summer project is the last opportunity Year 12 students will have to take part. www.ncsyes.co.uk/ Sweeney Todd

Congratulations to all students who were involved in the recent smash hit production of Sweeney Todd. On the 18th, 19th and 20th of March, the students who made up the talented cast, choir, orchestra and dedicated crew, played to packed audiences in the main hall. With the generosity of FORGS the Drama and Music departments were able to put on this ambitious production. Huge thanks must also go to ADT, support staff and the catering and premises teams.

Here are just some of the “rave reviews” that came pouring in for the students: “A huge congratulations on such a fantastic performance! I was so impressed with the actors, musicians, singers and crew, all of who worked so successfully together to produce such a high quality show. It was a really enjoyable evening and I was gripped throughout, especially by the moving end.” “We thoroughly enjoyed watching the play and thought it was brilliant. All the students did so well “ “I came to see Sweeney Todd last night and was overwhelmed at the quality of the show. The whole thing was amazing from the live music, choral interludes, back stage crew, amazing piano playing to the outstanding performances from all the cast. Particularly Mrs Lovett and Sweeney himself, they were top class...” Some of our other Student Highlights this Year !

Democracy Week – In the run up to the mock elections, students took part in a week of democracy events including a talk on “Why Vote?” by Green Party leader Natalie Bennett, a hustings Q&A event with the local parliamentary candidates and a mock student election.

Saynab represented the NBP16C at the national climate change and sustainable futures

conference in Copenhagen. This was a fully sponsored trip and she won through tough competition.

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Several candidates went through a rigorous application and interview process to win fully funded places on the Rotary Youth Leadership summer residential programme. Mirai and Flo were selected from a group of commendable candidates.

The Year 7 mentoring programme has been an on-going success. Approximately 40 students

from Year 12 have paired up with a Year 7 student for weekly support sessions.

Chlo was declared “Young Person of the Year” at the Brook Sexual Health national awards for her “Speak Out” campaign. She has extended this campaigning to extensive public speaking and Westminster-based advocacy around the issue of young people and relationship abuse.

Oli represented the centre in the regional Gabblers after-dinner speaking competition. He received marked praise from judges for his original tackling of challenging topics.

Sporting Success: The NBP16C boys’ football team are Bristol and South Glos champions. The girls’ netball team are local champions.

Suzana (Y13) selected to spend a day shadowing MP Stephen Williams at Westminster. An important step in her plan to one day find employment within the political arena, or in a role within a NGO, campaigning for important global issues such as environmental and human rights legislation.

Another successful World Food Day was organised by the International Group. Students set up stalls selling food from all around the world (over 20 countries represented!) and raised money for our partner school in Bhuj, India.

Expedition to Peru. A group of NBP16C students travelled to Peru on a “True Adventures” expedition. They spent time taking part in community projects, as well as trekking in the mountains and experiencing local life and culture.

A large number of students took part in “Access to Bristol”. This scheme is open to students from backgrounds, which are not typically well represented in university applications. They have the chance to attend lectures, and completion of the course can lead to a discounted offer from Bristol University.

Partnership with Bristol University and BRACE has led to a unique collaboration using the schools’ 3D printer. Models of patient’s brains were produced on our printer, and Year 13 science students attended talks from university academics about research into dementia.

Maia (Y13) has been fundraising for her gap year expedition to Honduras where she will be teaching English to young people.

A team of mathematicians from the Centre recently won a regional competition for further mathematics students for the second year running. The students - Fraser, Basil, Peter and Fred in Year 13 faced stiff competition from other local schools, eventually finishing in first place ahead of QEH and Backwell.

Summer Newsletter Cotham Learning Community: Redland Green Learning Community: www.nbp16c.org Charnwood House, 30 Cotham Park, Bristol BS6 6BU Redland Court Road, Bristol BS6 7EH Tel: 0117 919 8100 Email: post16@cotham.bristol.sch.uk Tel: 0117 353 3433 Email: post16@redlandgreen.bristol.sch.uk