Principal’s Message We always encourage high levels of engagement with parents and carers in our Atrium community and we are building a good foundation of trust - which is crucial for students to become confident learners. Part of this process is for parents to talk through their child’s learning with them every week. We require you to sign their Planners weekly, which lets us know that you are having learning conversations with them on a regular basis. This also helps us communicate messages that we may have for you, as we work towards a culture of ‘no surprises’. We really appreciate those of you who have taken the time recently to email us your views on how we are doing. Ofsted look to ‘Parent View’ to assess parents’ opinions, so if you are able to do this it would be very much appreciated (see feature on back page). One of our unique selling points at the Atrium is our commitment to give students real and meaningful work experiences. Staff have been busy this week visiting our Year 10 students at their first work placements. It has been exciting for them and us as we see them learn about the ‘world of work’ for the first time. They are developing positive links with possible future employers, and businesses have been very complimentary about their confidence to tackle all tasks. Please see the feature on the penultimate page of this Newsletter. I hope that you all enjoy quality family time together during the half term holiday. Please continue to encourage your child to read extensively, as all the research proves that this is vital to making strong progress at school. Perhaps choose a book from the list in this Newsletter and buy one for your child’s Christmas stocking! Matt Messias Principal ATRIUM STUDIO Balland Lane Ashburton Devon TQ13 7EW 14th October 2016 Issue 14 ATRIUM STUDIO SCHOOL NEWSLETTER Designing the future together Tel: 01364 655399 Website: www.atrium-studio.co.uk Email: [email protected]Principal: Matt Messias Endeavour Award LOL (Love our Learning) Frame It Moment RIBA Visit English ECDL Qualification Work Experience CONTENTS 17th - 28th October: Half Term. 20th December: Last day of Autumn Term. Term Dates
Transcript
Principal’s Message
We always encourage high levels of engagement with parents and carers in our Atrium community and we are building a good foundation of trust - which is crucial for students to become confident learners. Part of this process is for parents to talk through their child’s learning with them every week. We require you to sign their Planners weekly, which lets us know that you are having learning conversations with them on a regular basis. This also helps us communicate messages that we may have for you, as we work towards a culture of ‘no surprises’. We really appreciate those of you who have taken the time recently to email us your views on how we are doing. Ofsted look to ‘Parent View’
to assess parents’ opinions, so if you are able to do this it would be very much appreciated (see feature on back page). One of our unique selling points at the Atrium is our commitment to give students real and meaningful work experiences. Staff have been busy this week visiting our Year 10 students at their first work placements. It has been exciting for them and us as we see them learn about the ‘world of work’ for the first time. They are developing positive links with possible future employers, and businesses have been very complimentary about their confidence to tackle all tasks. Please see the feature on the penultimate page of this Newsletter. I hope that you all enjoy quality family time together during the half term holiday. Please continue to encourage your child to read extensively, as all the research proves that this is vital to making strong progress at school. Perhaps choose a book from the list in this Newsletter and buy one for your child’s Christmas stocking! Matt Messias Principal
ATRIUM STUDIO Balland Lane Ashburton Devon TQ13 7EW
“IT skills should be treated as being as important as numeracy and literacy in British schools”
This headline, published in The Guardian in 2015, was in response to a study by the House of Lords Digital Skills Committee. It called for a radical rethink of education, and urged that digital literacy should be treated as a third core subject. The report showed that an estimated 9.5 million people currently lack a minimum level of digital skills, which should be a wake-up call to educators: 35% of UK jobs are likely to be automated over the next 20 years.
Here at Atrium Studio, Year 10 students are just starting their ECDL (European Computer Driving Licence) course. This takes them a year to complete and will then be proof of their digital literacy.
ECDL is a high quality, internationally-recognised qualification. Not only is it validated and approved by academic and global experts, but also valued by employers around the world.
The course teaches students how to use a computer confidently and effectively, and encourages problem-solving, creativity and communication. It also provides
them with the necessary skills to improve productivity through IT, and enables them to review and adapt their ongoing use of tools and systems to ensure that activities are successful.
They will gain an in-depth understanding of key software applications commonly used in many international
organisations, as well as the ability to use them efficiently.
The students have enjoyed the course so far and appreciate how much it is already adding to their education, as well as standing them in good stead for future work opportunities. For further information, please visit:
Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) at Atrium
We were delighted to welcome over twenty-five Architects here during the evening of 5th October, when we hosted the RIBA Annual Open Meeting. As we like to give our students as many opportunities as possible to engage with industry professionals, we invited several Year 10s to act as stewards. They responded with great enthusiasm! Some directed cars from Balland Lane and showed delegates where to park. Others greeted arriving delegates and brought them into the building.
We were pleased (but not at all surprised) to hear our visitors say how impressed they were: Atrium students were professional, engaging, polite and showed great teamwork. Presentations were given by Sam Morcumb, our Assistant Principal, and also Louise – who received a round of spontaneous applause from the audience. Many of those present expressed interest in supporting Atrium in a variety of exciting ways. We look forward to developing these relationships, which will continue to be of enormous benefit to our students.
English at Atrium
GCSE English Literature is the study of how writers communicate their ideas about the world, and how readers might respond to these ideas. It aims to develop a critical understanding of the ways in which literary texts are a reflection of, and exploration of, the human condition, the study of which develops empathic understanding of human nature. High quality English literature is writing which displays recognisable qualities and, although shaped by particular contexts, transcends them and speaks about the universality of the human condition. GCSE English Literature aims to enable students to appreciate these qualities; developing and presenting informed, critical responses to the ideas in literary texts and the ways writers present these ideas. It aims to enable students to make links between a variety of written texts and between the text and the context in which it was shaped. (AQA, English Literature Statement of Importance) To appreciate good literature, it is vital that pupils read as widely as possible. Here at Atrium, we want to encourage pupils to read as much as they can in order to enlighten their GCSE studies. It is also proven that reading widely helps to develop writing skills. This reading list is not intended to prevent pupils choosing their own reading material, but rather to introduce them to a range of books that have been celebrated and enjoyed by people of their age over the years. The books on this list are also designed to challenge our pupils. GCSE suggested reading list: 1984 - George Orwell The Old Man and the Sea –
Ernest Hemingway The Hound of the Baskervilles –
Arthur Conan Doyle
Anita and Me – Meera Syal
Atonement – Ian McEwen Birdsong – Sebastian Faulks The Book Thief – Markus Zusak Brighton Rock – Graham Greene Catch 22 – Joseph Heller The Catcher in the Rye – J.D.
Salinger The Color Purple – Alice Walker The Curious Incident of the Dog in
the Night-time – Mark Haddon Great Expectations – Charles
Dickens The Da Vinci Code – Dan Brown Dracula – Bram Stoker Enigma – Robert Harris Fever Pitch – Nick Hornby Frankenstein – Mary Shelley The Great Gatsby – F Scott
Fitzgerald
Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy – Douglas Adams
Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell – Susanna Clarke
Jane Eyre – Charlotte Bronte Wuthering Heights – Emily Bronte Les Miserables – Victor Hugo The Count of Monte Cristo -
Alexandre Dumas Junk – Melvin Burgess Life of Pi – Yann Martel Lord of the Flies – William Golding Noughts and Crosses – Malorie
Blackman Notes on a Scandal – Zoe Heller Notes from a Small Island – Bill
Bryson Of Mice and Men – John
Steinbeck The Picture of Dorian Grey –
Oscar Wilde Rebecca – Daphne Du Maurier Refugee Boy – Benjamin
Zephania The Road – Cormac McArthy The Remains of the Day - Kazuo
Ishiguro Shadow of the Wind – Carlos Ruiz
Zafón The Shining – Stephen King The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and
Mr Hyde – Robert Louis Stevenson
To Kill a Mockingbird – Harper Lee
Touching the Void – Joe Simpson The Turn of the Screw – Henry
James The War of the Worlds – H.G.
Wells The Wasp Factory – Ian Banks White Teeth – Zadie Smith Woman in Black – Susan Hill The Woman in White – Wilkie
Collins Never Let Me Go – Kazuo
Ishiguro Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen Blood Brothers – Willy Russell The History Boys – Alan Bennett Journey’s End – R C Sheriff Any Shakespeare play (although
pupils will study either Much Ado About Nothing or Romeo and Juliet at GCSE) or collection of sonnets
Poetry [Lord Byron, Percy Bysshe Shelly, Robert Browning, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Thomas Hardy, Robert Bridges, Charlotte Mew, C Day Lewis, Charles Causley, Seamus Heaney, Simon Armitage, Carol Ann Duffy, Owen Sheers, Daljit Nagra, Andrew Waterhouse, William Blake, William Wordsworth, Alfred Lord Tennyson, Wilfred Owen, Ted Hughes, Jane Weir, Imtiaz Dharker, Carol Rumens, Beatrice Garland, John Agard]
Pupils MUST study three texts for GCSE Language and Literature. Below is an outline of the texts we will select for GCSE study from AQA’s prescribed list. The highlighted texts are the ones we will study for the examination, but pupils are encouraged to read additional texts from the list too: Claudette Williams - ‘The Invisible
Mass of the Back Row’ Penelope Lively - ‘The Darkness
Out There’
Atrium English continues...
Support Your Child’s Learning By…
We have given our students Planners in which to organise their learning. These also serve as an essential communication tool between home and school. We would like to encourage all parents/carers to take time to look at the work their child has recorded in their Planner, and ask them about it. We suggest this is done weekly, perhaps on a Friday evening. Students have access to school email, and complete a large amount of work using our IT facilities, so they can email you ‘samples’ of what they have been doing. It would be great if you could encourage them to do this, so that they can share their learning with you! In the meantime, happy Planner checking!
Sam Morcumb - Assistant Principal
AQA GCSE English Literature Shakespeare plays: Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth, Much
Ado About Nothing, Julius Cae-sar, The Merchant of Venice, The Tempest
19th Century novels: Charles Dickens - Great Expecta-
tions Charles Dickens - A Christmas
Carol Robert Louis Stevenson - The
Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
Mary Shelley - Frankenstein Jane Austen - Pride and Prejudice Charlotte Bronte - Jane Eyre Sir Arthur Conan Doyle - The Sign
of Four Post-1914 drama and prose JB Priestley - An Inspector Calls
Alan Bennett - The History Boys Willy Russell - Blood Brothers Dennis Kelly - DNA Shelagh Delaney - A Taste of
Honey Simon Stephens - The Curious
Incident of the Dog in the Night Time (drama adaptation)
William Golding - The Lord of the
Flies George Orwell - Animal Farm Kazuo Ishiguro - Never Let Me Go Meera Syal - Anita and Me Stephen Kelman - Pigeon English
AQA Modern Prose Anthologies: Graham Swift - ‘Chemistry’ DH Lawrence - ‘Odour of Chry-
santhemums’ Helen Dunmore - ‘My Polish
Teacher’s Tie’ John McGahern -‘Korea’ Kazuo Ishiguro - ‘A Family Sup-
per’ Marie O’Shaughnessy, Teacher of English
FRAME IT
MOMENT
Tom working on his sound project, sponsored by
TClarke and working in collaboration with
Ten87 Music Studios and KVIST
Architects.
Work Placement success!
As this Newsletter goes to press, our Year 10 students are on the last day of their work placements. Needless to say, this would not have been possible without the support of the following employers:
to learning and supporting others, for always going above expectations and consistently showing outstanding professional attributes.
We believe it’s important to celebrate achievements. Every fortnight, a member of staff will nominate a student who has shown impressive levels of commitment, progress, willingness and consideration for others. This week Mr Westaway, our Personal Coach, has nominated Jess from Year 9.
Atrium Studio Endeavour Award
for
“Student of the Fortnight”
Jess
“
Students share fragments of their learning
- aka “Love Our Learning” (LOL):
LOVE OUR LEARNING (LOL)
“I really enjoyed doing the barn project because
we were able to show everyone our creativity
and imagination.”
Iona (Year 9)
Parent View gives
you the chance to
tell Ofsted what
you think about
your child’s school: from the quality
of teaching to dealing with bullying
and poor behaviour. The survey
can be completed at any time. You
don’t have to wait until the school is being
inspected.
The information you provide helps Ofsted make
decisions about which schools to inspect and when.
Visit https://parentview.ofsted.gov.uk/
Click on ‘Give your views now’ to register and
complete a survey.
It’s easy to register. Just enter your email address and
indicate if you are a carer or parent. It then allows you
to find the school and asks you a series of questions.
The information is in complete confidence.
“So don't delay and do it today!”
Contact Us We hope you’ll always feel free to contact us with any queries, concerns or
feedback. Our Reception office is open from 8am until 6pm (4pm on
Fridays). Mary Hodge, Mary de Vere Chamberlain (Mary 2) and
