Dear Families,
I hope this email finds you and those closest to you in good health. I have a number of updates this week detailing some of the in-school changes alongside some past and upcoming events.
Covid 19 and Face Coverings
You will be aware that we have re-introduced face coverings in communal areas this week as a preventative measure. Thank you for your support with this. The majority of our students came to school prepared with their own covering and have adapted to the new routine well. This is a mark of the agility of our whole community to respond collectively when necessary. There is no need for concern within school and our situation has not changed significantly but there has been a small increase in the number of cases we are seeing in our student population and in the catchment we serve. As such, acting quickly to maintain the continuity of our provision and the safety of our whole community is the right thing to do.
Year 11 Mock examination results and Parents Evening
Alongside the re-introduction of face coverings, we have also reviewed our arrangements for the Year 11 Parents Evening. We will now move the event online as per last year with meetings taking place on our SchoolCloud software. I am disappointed that we will not be able to see our families face to face on this occasion and we will have to adjust the distribution of mock examination grades but, again, the safety of our whole community comes first. There will be further communication to Year 11 families about how the parents evening will work on Wednesday.
We will now distribute the mock examination grades to Year 11 on Wednesday afternoon. Our intention is to replicate the ‘results day’ experience as closely as we can alongside some reflection time for our students to plan their next steps. Please do ask your child how they have done ahead of the parents evening on Wednesday.
Anti-Bullying Week
Student leaders worked hard to raise awareness about Anti-Bullying week last week. Year 13 Student leaders delivered assemblies across the school to explain what bullying is, why and how to report it and inspired students to be kind when interacting with others. This theme was followed through by a range of form activities which included: marking ‘safe spots’ on a school map, writing ‘one kind word’ on a leaf to help create a display, decorating biscuits (some of which you can see on our website) and each form created a flag to represent an anti-bullying culture at Derby Moor. All in all, it was a great way to raise awareness and to allow students to reflect on how every word matters- everyday.
Careers Update
Last Tuesday our Year 12 students had an assembly led by the Social Mobility Foundation. The Foundation offer fantastic opportunities for eligible students to apply for one of two programmes, both of which provide tremendous careers support from a range of employers. You can find further information on the links below:
APP Employer Insight Programmes: Open to students in Accountancy, Banking & Finance, Business, Digital, Engineering, Law, Medicine, Politics or our No Preference sector and the APP Reach Program.
Eligibility Criteria and Information, Student Guidance Notes, Sector specific requirements
Our Year 11 students continue to meet with one of our Careers advisers Kat Garland or Jessica Townsend from Luminate Careers either as part of a group workshop on college, apprenticeships or sixth form or a 1:1 session. They will have seen all of our Year 11 students at least once by the end of this term as students start to make decisions about their future. If your child is in Year 11, please do ask them how their careers session has gone and what their aspirations for the future are. Over the last few weeks many of our Year 10 students have also met with one of our Careers advisers and we will be focussing on Year 9 and 10 even more in the spring term. Luminate also have an excellent website with a wealth of useful information. Please have a look at the link: https://luminatecareersandcoaching.co.uk/
Top jobs for the Future: The link below is an interesting article about future jobs and uses the Office for National Statistics data to prepare a summary of the 21 jobs predicted for growth over the next 15 years:
https://www.parentalguidance.org.uk/labour-market-information/top-jobs-of-the-future
Goldman Sachs Opportunity
Linked to our careers update we have managed to secure 10 places for students on a residential trip to influential investment bankers, Goldman Sachs. Students who attend the residential will learn about careers available to them in the finance industry and the wider corporate sector. They will participate in activities and training led by industry experts that will build awareness and skills for their careers. By taking part, students will make memories, gain confidence and build skills whilst exploring what a career can look like in the city of London. More information on this exciting opportunity will follow in due course.
Positivity Week
Next week is positivity week at Derby Moor and our theme is Aspiration. Students will be challenged to take risks with their learning, make mistakes and aim high. There are a host of activities taking place including our golden tickets (to nominate student and staff stars), a circus skills workshop, tug o’ war, speed eating competition and the tyre flip activity – I did say in a previous update that there was rarely a ‘normal’ week at Derby Moor! Please do ask your child about the week, the mistakes they have made and what they have learned from trying out new activities.
Derby Moor’s Got Talent
It is with a heavy heart that we have made the decision to postpone Derby Moor’s Got Talent. Given the move to virtual parents evening and our discussions with local health directors about the current rates across the city it is the correct thing to do at this stage. Our apologies for any inconvenience this causes to families. We were very much looking forward to the event and excited to see those who made it to the final perform. I’m reliable informed that the standard is incredibly high. Once a new date is confirmed we will update families and students.
Best wishes for what looks to be a somewhat wintery weekend,
Scott Doyle
Principal
