Busy Bees! Look After Yourself on the Inside

7th May 2018Mrs L Johnston

Hello Busy Bees – as you juggle all the balls of revision/work/life/family/friends etc etc… here are some tips to help you not just survive, but perhaps even to thrive! These simple ‘BEES’ practices will make all the difference…we promise!

Breathe

We breathe all of the time (obviously!) – but when did you last actually think about your breathing? Try this exercise, and focus on the oxygen flowing inside and around you to make you strong and give you energy. Breathe in for 5 counts…hold for 5 counts…breathe out for 5 counts. Do this 5 times and notice your heart rate slowing, your brain clearing & your focus returning. Do it at your desk, before the exam, even in the exam between questions.

Also try putting a ‘breath’ into your day – go for a walk, have a bath, sit outside…take time to be with the people who really care about the answer to the question ‘how are you?’

Eat

Just in the same way as we wouldn’t drive a car without fuel, or use our phones without charging them, we need to give our bodies the energy they need to work at their peak performance – especially in intense times. Eat regularly – plenty of protein (meat, beans…), slow-release carbohydrates (oats, nuts, brown rice), vegetables and fruit. Drink PLENTY of water (caffeinated drinks don’t help you here!) and steer well clear of ‘energy’ drinks – all the evidence points to them as causing loss of concentration and sleep – not what you need!

Exercise

Believe it or not your human body is a finely tuned piece of engineering – and it needs to be ‘worked’ in the right way. We are programmed to have a fight or flight response to everything – a hangover from when we were competing with Sabre-toothed tigers for prey!! As we respond to the stresses we face in this day & age (eg. exams rather than tigers!), biochemicals are released, which if not ‘burned off’ can cause anxiety, knots in our stomachs etc. Exercise helps our bodies to stay calm and handle stress better – taking a walk, going for a jog, swimming a few lengths or a half hour gym session will really help. Try and get 30 mins a day if you can.

Sleep

Quite simply you need to sleep! If possible, your bedroom should be your space to sleep and relax – and nothing else. Turning off your screens an hour before you sleep, keeping your phone in another room will MASSIVELY enhance your sleep. You might want to think about agreeing with others in whatsapp/messenger groups that you won’t contact each other after a certain time – and stick to it! If you find your brain ‘whirring’ when you lie down, write a list of what you want to remember for the next day. Aim to get a minimum of 8 hours a sleep each night – it will do wonders for what you will be doing the next day.

You can do this – and if you hit a tough day, remember BEES – Breathe, Eat, Exercise & Sleep. Don’t forget the support available to you in school – we are always here to help!

Contributors: Fiona Long (Post 16 Mentor) and Beth Rookwood (Sixth Form Chaplain)

Exam Information for Students and Parents/Carers

3rd May 2018Mrs L Johnston

External Examinations

Information for 6th Form Students, Parents and Carers 2019

Exam timetable

Once students have been issued with their candidate timetable they should read through this carefully to check that all entries have been made and are correct. If there are any problems, students should speak to their subject teacher as soon as possible.

On the day of the exam

Students should:
● report to the venue printed on their exam timetable 15 minutes before the start of the exam. ● be in Sixth Form dress code
● bring all required stationery in a transparent plastic bag or pencil case
● wait quietly outside the venue until they are called into the exam room by the invigilator. Students will be called into the room in candidate number order.
● follow the instructions of the invigilators at all times
● be silent at all times when in the exam room. If students have a query they should raise their hand and wait for an invigilator to come over
● ensure mobile phones and all internet enabled devices (including smart watches) are turned off and are in their bags
● remove their wrist watch and place it on their desk

 

Frequently asked questions

What happens if a student has more than one exam at the same time?
All students with a clash will have a cover sheet on their exam timetable detailing the arrangements. Usually one of the papers will be taken at a different time on the same day. The student will have to remain under supervision between the two papers. In rare cases it may be necessary for a paper to be done the next day and it is a requirement that the student is supervised overnight. This is essential to avoid compromising the integrity of the examination and would be organised well in advance.

If an exam is delayed from a morning to an afternoon session the student will be supervised over lunchtime. They should bring some revision or reading material, their lunch and a drink, as they will not be allowed to leave the room and buy lunch in the school canteen. They will not be able to use a mobile phone or communicate with any other students.

Where are exams held?
The main locations for written papers are the Lower School Hall, rooms X1 and X2, and the Gym. Venues and seat numbers are printed on students timetables so that they know well in advance of an exam where they should go. Students sit in candidate number order, as required by examination boards.

What time do exams start and finish?
Exam start times and durations are printed on students’ exam timetables. Students should report no later than 9.00am for morning examinations and 1.15pm for afternoon examinations. The length of examination papers varies and on some occasions may not finish until after 3.25 pm. Students and parent/carers should be aware of this and make appropriate arrangements for getting home. Students will not be allowed out of an exam early for any reason.

What happens if a student cannot find his/her place in the exam room?
The student should wait at the side of the exam room until an invigilator is available to help.

What should students bring to the examinations?
Students should bring at least 2 black biros, 2 writing pencils, a ruler, coloured pencils, eraser, any mathematical equipment etc. in a transparent plastic bag or pencil case. Non-transparent pencil cases will not be permitted in the examination room.

For exams where a calculator is permitted, students are responsible for making sure that their calculator meets regulations. Calculators must not:
• be designed or adapted to offer any of these facilities: language translators; symbolic algebra manipulation; symbolic differentiation or integration; communication with other machines or the internet
• be borrowed from another candidate during an examination for any reason
• have retrievable information stored in them – this includes: databanks; dictionaries; mathematical formulas; text.

Students are responsible for ensuring that they bring everything they need to the exam.

What should students not bring with them?
● Mobile phones, MP3/4 players, iwatches/smart watches and any internet enabled devices.
Possession of such items could lead to disqualification from the exam even if they are turned off.
● Tippex or correction pens. Students should cross through any work they do not wish to be marked. ● Notes, textbooks etc.
● Food or chewing gum

May students bring a drink?
Yes, however no more that 750 ml of still water may be brought in a screw top clear plastic bottle with all labels removed. No fizzy drinks, cans or pouches.

What standards of behaviour are expected during examinations?
All students are given a copy of a ‘notice to candidates’ produced by the examining bodies, which gives general guidelines for conduct, which must be observed. A copy is also available here: written exams

The school and the examination boards regard breaches of examination regulations very seriously. Parents / carers should please impress on your son/daughter the importance of good behaviour in an examination, as any activities that may disturb or upset other students will not be tolerated. The head of centre and exams officer have the power to remove disruptive students.

Students who try to communicate with other students inside the venue, or who create a disturbance in the examination room will be removed from the examination venue, and the circumstances will be reported to the examination board. This may result in the student not receiving a grade for the whole of that examination.

Furthermore students should not ‘doodle’ or write any additional/inappropriate comments on their exam paper. Exam papers that contain any ‘doodles’ or additional/inappropriate comments may not be marked by the exam board.

What if my son/daughter misses an exam?
Parents / carers may be asked to pay the entry fee where a student fails to attend an exam without good reason.

What do I do if my son/daughter is unwell at the time of one of the examinations?
Please telephone the school if your son/daughter will not be attending an examination or if he/she will be present but is unwell. It is often helpful for the invigilator to be aware that a candidate is not feeling well. For Lower School absence, please phone Mr Rose on 01670 515415 Option 1. For Sixth Form absence, please phone the Advanced Study Centre answer phone 01670 501520.

If the student will not be attending the exam they should go to the doctors, and get a letter to prove that they were unfit to sit the exam. If the student is unable, through illness, to sit a paper the board may, after examining the doctor’s letter and any evidence of performance on other papers, decide to award a grade. It is essential that you see your doctor on the day of the examination or previously. Retrospective information is not accepted by the examination boards and any doctors’ letters must be forwarded to the exams officer without delay, as there is a tight deadline.

If a student did sit an exam, but was unwell it is possible to request special consideration from the exam board on the grounds of illness. To do so we would need a letter from your doctor as evidence, this should be forwarded to the exams office as soon as possible after the exam.

What should I do if my son/daughter is going to be late?
A parent/carer, or the student themselves should phone the school immediately on realising that they may be late for an exam and ask for a message to be given to the exams officer. Parents/carers should take students mobile phone off them and ensure that they do not have any access to the internet or communicate with any other students sitting the exam. Parents/carers should supervise students until they report to a member of staff in the appropriate exam venue. Depending on the time the student arrives at the exam we may need a statement from the parent / carer to confirm that this procedure has been followed to send to the exam board.

Depending on how long the exam has been in progress, it may be possible for the student to be admitted. However, we are bound by examination board regulations on this matter. Normally students with a genuine reason and who are brought straight to the centre may be admitted within the first 30 minutes of the start time and will receive the full time allocation, after this time the board will decide whether to accept any paper sat.

Students who arrive after 10am for morning exams or 2:30pm for afternoon exams, or who arrive after the end of the exam will not be admitted.

What do students do if they finish early?
Students should use all of the available time on their exams and spend any time at the end carefully checking their answers. Students are not permitted to leave before the end of the exam. They must sit quietly at their desk so as not to disturb other candidates.

What do I need to do if a student has problems that may affect his/her examination performance? Any illness, or family circumstances, which may affect examination performance, arising shortly before or during the exams, should be notified as soon as possible to the exams officer so that an application for special consideration can be made to the exam boards.

When will the results be available?
AS and A Level results will be available on Thursday 16 August.
GCSE results will be available on Thursday 23 August.
Arrangements for collecting results will be given to students in due course. If a student is unable to collect their exam results they will be posted home. Any students who wish to have their results emailed to them should contact the exams office to request this. Results can only be emailed to students school email address and this will not be done until after 10am on results day.

What can I do if results are substantially different from what is anticipated?
There will be staff available in school on results days to advise students and inform them of the options available. If you are unhappy with a result it is possible to request a student’s exam paper back to look at their answers, or to request a remark of an exam paper. An outline of services available are shown below. Full details of this, and the associated costs, will be available to students on results day and on the school website.

 

When will I get my certificates?
Certificates are posted to students home address in December / January if students have paid for postage. It is the students responsibility to inform school of any change to their address. If students do not pay for postage then they must collect their certificates in person, bringing with them some photo ID. A note will be posted on the school website to notify students when certificates are available to collect.

If you have any other questions please feel free to contact the exams office by telephone on 01670 501522.

On exams days it is best to contact the main school reception on 01670 515415 and leave a message, with the nature of your query, since the main priority will be the starting of exam sessions on time.

National Careers Week/National Apprenticeship Week

2nd March 2018Mrs L Johnston

 This coming week sees the return of these hugely successful annual events. In school we are supporting them in a n

umber of ways. Assemblies for the next week will be ‘futures’ focused and there are a wealth of resources for students and parents on the KEVI Careers site, do make sure you explore these.

Over the course of the week there are a number of exciting opportunities which have been arranged for students: visits, workshops and talks. The full programme can be viewed on the KEVI Careers site, via the National Careers Week 2018 page. This information has been shared with all students and they have been asked to sign up for the various events. As places are limited, students will be notified whether they have gained a place the day before. Places for events will be allocated on a first come first served basis.  

You can also follow us on social media or search twitter using #NCW2018 and #NAW2018 to gain further insight into the breadth of events during the week.

New Senior Students Elected for 2018-19

28th February 2018Mrs L Johnston

It has been almost a week since our traditional Senior Student Elections took place. The nomination and election process was excellent and we would like to congratulate all candidates for the effort, contribution and humility demonstrated throughout the election process. The candidates really did approach the elections as a team and had an excellent camaraderie, we hope that all of the candidates will continue to contribute to our vibrant Sixth Form community.

For the elected Senior Students, their success is beginning to sink in, and they are beginning to reflect on their election victory.      

Claudia, elected Head Girl said “I was absolutely thrilled to find that I’d gained the position, and look forward to bringing our ideas together to benefit the school, it’s a lovely feeling to be a Senior Student among some of my closest friends.”

Luke, elected Head Boy said “I’m hugely looking forward to the next year working to improve the school and am excited to get started.”

Lewis, elected Deputy Head Boy commented  that he is “So incredibly delighted to have been awarded the role. I feel immensely proud to have the opportunity to gain an invaluable experience working to improve our school with staff, as well as the vastly talented team I am now part of.”

Newly elected Deputy Head Girl, Pheobe, also commented  “I’m really excited about the role and can’t wait to start working with the other senior students on new tasks. I think the whole process has been really interesting and I’m so pleased with my position.”

The Head of Year 12, Ms Familton will work closely with the team over the coming year, as well as echoing the comments about all of the candidates in the quality field of nominees, she said ‘The Sixth Form team are very excited to work with the four new Senior Students and see them put their ideas into action.  We will work closely as a team to develop their thoughts about improvements to the student experience in Sixth Form and King Edward’s as a whole.’

Thank you to all of Year 11 and 12 students and staff who voted, election turn out was very high!

A Level Poet Visit

22nd February 2018Mrs K Shutler

Sinéad Morrissey, poet of ‘Genetics’ visited Year 12 and 13 English Literature students and led a fascinating and detailed discussion of her poem and other poems in the anthology.

A Level students benefited from developing their understanding of the poem in greater depth by discovering the influences behind the poem and hidden meanings and purposes of Morrissey’s villanelle.

Senior Student Elections

20th February 2018Mrs L Johnston

Sixth Form at The King Edward VI School has a long and proud tradition of appointing Senior Students (Head/Deputy Boy/Girl). The roles of Senior Student are very prestigious and carry a great esteem; with them the roles require and engender a deep-rooted passion, pride and commitment in our school.

This week in Sixth Form, we see the launch of campaigns to be the new Senior Students, to represent the school and the student body. The roles of Senior Student develop candidates public speaking, leadership, facilitation, time management and problem solving skills. The roles themselves are ambassadorial roles and the Senior Students are asked to represent the school and student body at a number of events.

This year, we are delighted to have a strong field of candidates that are supportive of one another and passionate about the roles and the difference they can make.

Discussing why they applied for the roles, the students are clear in their vision and all want a more active role within the school community. The group see the roles as an opportunity to ‘give back’ and further enhance the positive experience The King Edward VI School provides. What is refreshing is the camaraderie and team spirit of the candidates, who genuinely seem to get on and have a shared vision and ethos of what the role of Senior Student means. One thing they are all looking forward to doing is working together to achieve positive change.

All students in Year 11 and 12, as well as all Staff, have the opportunity to vote for our next Senior Students on Friday. The vote will close at 9:15 on Friday morning and the current Senior Students will announce who will take up the reins during Friday morning once the vote has been counted.

The Sixth Form Team wish all of the candidates the very best of luck!

 

Head Girl Candidates L to R: Claudia, Millie, Bobbie, Maddie, Phoebe

Head Boy Candidates L to R (front): Luke, Lewis, James Rhys L to R (back): Dylan, Brodie

Sixth Form Honour Morpeth Suffragette

2nd February 2018Mrs K Shutler

Some of our Sixth Form girls got the amazing opportunity to honour Morpeth heroine Emily Wilding Davison and reflect on the legacy of the suffrage movement in an extensive interview with Sky News.

Over the course of the interview the students reflected on what the vote means to them, the strides made by the pioneering suffragettes as well as current issues affecting women such as the #MeTo campaign.

We were absolutely delighted Sky News approach our Sixth Form for this piece and the students spoke articulately and with passion about the issue.

The piece is due to air on Sky News on Tuesday 6 February.

Sixth Form at King Edward’s – Best in Northumberland!

30th January 2018Mrs K Shutler

Last week saw the release of the National Performance Data for 2017 results and it is safe to say we are absolutely delighted with our Post 16 performance.

For the third time in the last five years Sixth Form at King Edward’s is ranked first in Northumberland for progress at A Level. Out Value Added score of +0.21 means that students at our Sixth Form make more progress (attain higher grades) than would be expected based on their GCSE results. This demonstrates our commitment, vision and ethos of ‘Inclusive Sixth Form, Exclusive Experience’.

The amazing progress made by our students is down to their ambition and hard work as well as the support and guidance they receive from our Sixth Form team, as well as the challenge imposed on them by our expert Post 16 teaching staff. What is more, the data is drawn from all exam entries, so that means each and every student needs to perform in every exam paper they sit. In terms of entries, Sixth Form at King Edward’s had double the amount of entries than the school ranked second for Value Added.

Attainment at A Level was also strong with almost a fifth of students attaining AAB in two or more facilitating subjects. From the 2017 cohort of A Level students 25% of them attained A* or A grades, with just over 50% attaining A*, A and B grades. When considering the GCSE profile of our students, where entry into our Sixth Form requires the attainment of five C grades (grade 4 in 2018), this is particularly impressive and we want to congratulate all of our students.

Our Value Added score of +0.21 puts Sixth Form at King Edward’s twelfth in the North East region, but our Sixth Form has the highest number of students. To put that into context 256 more than the school ranked first in the region.

Every student, every subject and every grade counts. We are passionate and relentless in our drive and commitment to ensure Post 16 success at our Sixth Form. Our application window for September 2018 is open until 5 February, apply via our website and give yourself the best chance of Post 16 success in Northumberland (applications after 5 February can be made direct via our Sixth Form Office).