Futures’ students aim higher

Six year 11 students at Futures Community College hosted a presentation evening for the Aimhigher initiative. The evening, held at the Southend college on Thursday 5th November 2009, was attended by Year 9 students and their parents, who learned how the programme benefits students with the most potential to go onto higher education. Twenty students from each year group are selected.

The year 9 students who have been selected for the programme, learned, along with their parents, how the government funded Aimhigher initiative provides students with a three year programme of activities designed to provide support and encouragement. Activities include summer schools that provide a taster of university life, master classes and one-to-one mentoring, whilst motivational activities such as trips to outward bound centres are also included. All these elements combine to inspire and motivate students through the various transition milestones between year 9 and year 11.

As Mr Hillier learning mentor, who is heavily involved in Aimhigher at Futures said “This is a fabulous programme that is of great value to the students who participate. As our year 11 students have demonstrated this evening, it is a very worthwhile programme which benefits each student in ways schooling alone cannot”.

Photo: Year 11 students present Aimhigher initiative
left to right: back row:
Mr Hillier (learning mentor), Scott Faulkener (deputy head boy),
Lewis Bourne (head boy)
front row: Jocelyn and Bridget Bentum, Rebecca Smart (deputy head girl) and Sacha Carrol"

Business studies can be fun

Fifty five year 9 business studies students from Futures Community College took part in an educational programme at Surrey based Thorpe Park earlier this month to learn how the theme park is marketed.

The students are studying the OCR national business studies course where assessment is based entirely on course work. The Thorpe Park visit is an excellent case study as the base for this course, as it provides a good combination of fun with learning. Whilst students have the opportunity to enjoy the theme park, the day is packed with educational projects and a seminar by Thorpe Park’s marketing team, who explain the development of the theme park, over the last 30 years, into a leading enterprise in the leisure and tourism industry.

The Futures’ students explored the core marketing principles and research methods used by Thorpe Park and learned how visitors are attracted from across the UK. Additionally, the students discovered how different marketing techniques are used to identify the park’s customers and to make sure their needs and expectations are met, and the marketing and promotional incentives used.

As Mrs Winn, Futures’ vice principal explained “We take students to Thorpe Park every year because it provides an excellent model for the OCR national business studies course, and has just the right mix of education and fun to keep students engaged”."

Futures’ students receive free reading books

For the third consecutive year, Futures Community College has given new entrants the opportunity to receive a free book. Every Year 7 student can choose one free book from a list of twelve specially selected titles and having read the book of their choice, pupils are encouraged to complete a review, which they can share with other readers on-line at www.bookheads.org.uk.

The initiative, which is run by Booktrust an independent charity dedicated to encourage engagement with books and the written word, and backed by the Department for children, schools and families (Dcsf), is designed to encourage and support Year 7 students to read books for pleasure.

This year’s titles include Glen Murphy’s ‘How Loud Can You Burp?’ a funny and fact filled book which helps take a fresh look at the world (and universe) we live in, ‘An Urgent Matter Of Wowness’ a novel by Karen McCombie dealing with the break-up of parents, and ‘Blood Hunter’ by Steven Voake which is a thriller about how an investigation into the world’s deepest underwater cave goes horribly wrong!"

Topping Out Ceremony marks milestone for our new upper college

Head boy Lewis Bourne and Head Girl Florence Symes helped Futures’ principal Mrs Alder celebrate the ‘topping out’ for Future’s new Upper College. Due to open in September 2010, work on the stunning £ multi-million teaching centre at Futures’ took a big step forward on October 2nd when staff and local dignitaries gathered for the official ‘topping out’ ceremony.

Mr Clark, Chair of Governors at the College, slotted a final window panel into place at the striking new Upper College centre as part of the symbolic ceremony. More than 50 people have been employed at times on the project, which will provide a 7,000 sqm Upper College for students aged 14 to 19.

The two-storey centre has a beautifully designed curved end section and boasts an eye-catching multi-coloured glass panel exterior wall, made of special cladding and rain screens.

Two miles of underground piping have been installed as part of an eco-friendly heating system that draws heat from the ground and then pumps it round the building. The system is among several in place to make the centre as green and energy efficient as possible.

The new upper college building is equipped with the very latest specialist vocational training facilities. There is a fully operational hair and beauty salon which will be open to the public, a fashion and design area, a modern construction craft workshop covering the key trades of painting & decorating, carpentry, plumbing and bricklaying and an engineering design centre. Constructor, Rok has taken on a number of apprentices from the college to learn first hand about life on a building site."

Futures raise money for charity

Students and staff at Futures Community College raised £385.62 when they ran a series of events for the annual Jeans for Genes Day on Friday 2nd October.

Many students and staff at the Southend-based school swopped their usual school attire for jeans, donating £1 for the privilege. A staff-v-student basketball match was played with the students winning 26-20, whilst a sponsored silence and cake sale were just some of the other activities which took place to raise cash for the charity, that helps children with genetic disorders.

Jeans for Genes aims to change the world for children living with genetic disorders. The money raised on Jeans for Genes Day funds care and support for children and families affected by genetic disorders, as well as research into the causes and cures of these conditions."

New entrants at Futures host a tea party

Over one hundred Year 7 pupils at Futures Community College hosted a tea party for their primary school teachers on Thursday 30th September 2009. Nearly 40 teachers from nine schools around South East Essex attended the party, to be reunited with their ex-pupils and meet with the teaching team at Futures.

The tea party is an annual event held within the first few weeks of the start of the school year for Year 7 students, and is one of the many ways in which Futures make the introduction to secondary education more welcoming. Year 7 students write their own invitations to the primary school teachers, and serve them tea and cakes on the day, whilst Year 11 students from the college ‘meet and greet’ the primary school teachers.

Mrs S Overall, Lead LSA at Hamstel Junior School summed up the primary school teachers’ feelings by saying “It is lovely to receive an invitation to attend the tea party from the pupils themselves, and great to see how well they are doing at Futures. The school has really turned around, all students are very polite and well turned out,” Ms S O’Shea, Year 6 teacher from Thorpedene Primary School added “It is a really good idea to hold the tea party, and gives us an opportunity to see how the students’ are settling into secondary education”

133 students joined Futures at the start of the 2009 academic year. The college, which is undergoing extensive renovation and building works will continue to take new admissions throughout the renovation and works. Parents and students are invited to meet the staff and tour the facilities at the school’s Open Evening between 6 and 8pm on Thursday 8th October."

An Evening of Performance