Post-16 students at Minsthorpe Community College continue to achieve excellent results, opening the door to higher education, employment and training for young people in south-east Wakefield.

The proportion of students achieving pass grades has increased significantly over the past five years and represents the strongest performance ever in this measure at 98.2%. Over the same period, the College has also seen an upward trend in the proportion of A*-C grades, with two thirds of entries now achieving these tremendous grades at A-Level.

These results mean that a record 96% of students are able to attend their first choice of university, with 75% of these being the first in their immediate family (first generation) to go on to higher education. A significant number of students have also successfully secured higher level apprenticeships with local companies.

There were numerous individual student successes but in particular special mention goes to Molly Hoskins (A*AB), Naomi Cadman (ABC) and Kurt French (B, Distinction, Merit). Both Caitlin Kirkham and Kendall Neville achieved Distinction*, Distinction*, Distinction, Owen Cheung achieved Distinction, Distinction, Distinction; which is an excellent set of results in vocational subjects.

The strength of ‘A’ level teaching at the Minsthorpe Community College was recognised by the national organisation Oxford Analytics earlier this year, who described the College as having ‘the highest average student progress’ in A Level English Language in the country; an excellent accolade for the English Curriculum Team.

The individual success stories at Minsthorpe Community College continue unabated as we are witnessing an ongoing improvement in sixth form outcomes, giving our students the opportunity to continue with their education or to enter the world of work. Joint Principals, Mrs Merritt and Mr Gilmore commented, “these results are due to a massive team effort and everyone playing their part in terms of the motivation and commitment from all our students, parents and staff. We are delighted with these outcomes and proud of the students’ achievements”.

To see our headline figures please click here.

As many of you are aware, we have installed additional CCTV cameras across the College site. Student safety is an important priority for us at Minsthorpe Community College and having cameras in key locations allows us to reduce anti-social behaviour, particularly at social times. Whilst the vast majority of students behave well and show respect for each other and our environment, we want all students to ‘Be Safe Feel Safe’ at all times.

Parents and students have expressed concerns that the additional CCTV cameras are located in student toilets. We have of course considered students’ privacy and you can be assured that the cameras are only focused in the public areas of the student toilets and not in the cubicles.

We use the camera footage in College when we have occasional incidents of criminal damage, bullying or other anti-social behaviour. The images are viewed by College staff and, if necessary, the Governing Body and the police. Footage needed as evidence of poor behaviour is safely stored according to GDPR guidance. Other footage is deleted after 28 days.

We have liaised with West Yorkshire Police regarding the installation of the new CCTV cameras. Police officers have visited the site and have confirmed that the positioning of the cameras is lawful. The new cameras will be in operation from September and we will put up signs indicating when cameras are operational. We had not expected the cameras to be installed until the summer holidays and we apologise for any concern caused by their earlier than expected installation.

We thank you for your ongoing support in safeguarding our students.

Yours sincerely

As Chair and Vice Chair of Governors at MCC we would like to thank the college, and in particular Mrs Merritt and Mr Gilmore for allowing us to spend a day visiting the college.

We very much enjoyed spending some time in various areas, meeting pupils and staff and engaging in some of the lunch time routines.

This is a brief report of our findings:

We visited the MID Room provision and the Step Back provision. In both areas we found staff engaged with pupils and thriving to make a positive difference to the most vulnerable of pupils. In the MID Room, we were pleased to see some restorative practice was taking place for pupils who have, at times, made wrong choices. In both settings the support, care and mutual respect was evident. Thank you to the members of staff and the pupils who were very accommodating, it really emphasizes the fact that no child is left behind!

We visited the library and were blown away by the quality of the learning environment and the wonderful reading taking place.

We had lunch in the Year 10/11 dining area and were very impressed by how welcoming and friendly pupils were. The lunch time session was settled, pleasant and well managed.

We then had a tour of the clubs and facilities on offer at lunch. It was heart-warming to see so many pupils engaged in sporting activities!

In the afternoon we visited 4 English lessons and 4 Maths lessons. We would like to thank Katie, Luke and Simon and all their staff for allowing us into their classes and giving us this great opportunity. In all lessons we were blown away by the "Learning the Minsthorpe Way". Pupils were settled, engaged, ready to learn, enthusiastic, willing to share their learning, cooperative and polite.

The consistency of the curriculum coverage transpired in all lessons and differentiation was evident. Though working on the same topic, it was clear teachers were tailoring the teaching to the needs of the children and, through their content and approach, were able to get the best out of the pupils. In both subject areas it was clear the rigorous and standardised planning was having a positive impact on the achievement of the pupils. The Mastery approach in Maths was allowing pupils to investigate and peer learn rather than just practice.

Finally, once again, we would like to thank all staff for making this visit possible, but most of all we would like to thank all the pupils for their genuine welcome, their heart-warming comments, their maturity, their respect and their hard work.

We are, as Governors, very proud of them all and we are looking forward to visiting again soon.

Kind regards,

Dear Parents and Carers,

I am delighted that your child’s school has recently been re-awarded a Quality Mark Award.

This national accreditation is awarded to schools which meet the Quality Mark Standard and will last for three years, after which a renewal assessment is required.

The Quality Mark promotes, supports and celebrates progress and improvements made by a school in English and mathematics. Without these ‘basic skills’ of good communication, English and mathematical skills, individuals are disadvantaged throughout their lives – as learners, in the workplace and as parents, consumers and citizens and so they form the ‘bedrock’ of a good education.

To achieve a Quality Mark, schools have to undergo an assessment, carried out by an external accredited assessor, against the 10 ‘Elements’ of the Quality Mark framework. These cover key aspects of the school’s improvement agenda, including the identification and analysis of the school’s needs; strategic planning; target setting for improvement; intervention and support for pupils under-achieving or under-attaining; provision of quality in both teaching and in resources; staff development; and active engagement with families. Effective monitoring and evaluation are also required – particularly to achieve renewal when continuing development by the school and evidence of impact of actions must be demonstrated.

I hope you will share in the pride of the school and its pupils in achieving this award.

Yours faithfully,

Nicola Morris
Quality Mark National Director

As we come to the end of our first half term in post we would like to take this opportunity to say thank you for the huge amount of support we have received from students, staff, parents and governors. We have enjoyed meeting with students to share our vision for the college and staff who have talked openly about the great place Minsthorpe is and how we can make it even better.

There have been times this half term when we have seen ‘Minsthorpe’ in action and the commitment and dedication our students have shown has blown us away. We will be putting a newsletter together next half term to celebrate the vast amount of good things that go on every day here. It has been an amazing few weeks and we look forward to an even better time to come.

Thank you to all staff who are taking trips and visits over half term or spending time in College revising with Year 11 students.

Have a good break and we will see you again on Monday 3rd June.

More than five million people in the UK today have asthma – so the odds are that you live, work, travel or study with at least one of them. There is currently no cure for asthma, and around three people a day die from an asthma attack.

There are a number of practical things we can do to support people with asthma. In College there have been a number of instances where the use of aerosols and pump action sprays have triggered asthma attacks in students. After careful consideration we have taken the decision to ban aerosols and pump action sprays from the College site from Monday 3rd June 2019.

This change will only apply to aerosols and pump action sprays – students can continue to use roll on deodorants. We are pleased that the vast majority of students meet their responsibilities and ‘Behave the Minsthorpe Way’ day in and day out and will adhere to this new consideration of others.

Unfortunately, a small number of students may choose not to meet these clear responsibilities on repeated occasions. If students are seen using aerosols or pump actions sprays on the College site after half term, we will follow the existing confiscation rules currently in place for jewellery and mobile phones. A reminder of these are below:

• The first occasion when a student’s aerosol is confiscated, it will be kept securely in the Finance Office and may be collected by the student at the end of the day. Students will be expected to show their planner as identification.
• The second (or future) occasion when a student’s aerosol is confiscated, it will be taken to the Finance Office and must be collected by a parent/carer (who needs to be a contact on our records – in order to protect your child’s item). A text will be sent to alert you.

Students have been made aware of this change in P&A time this week.

Thank you in anticipation of your support and ask that you discuss the importance of ‘Behaving the Minsthorpe Way’ with your child.

Yours sincerely,

With just one half term remaining before the end of this academic year we are highlighting some key messages for you to be aware of:

For Level 2 students (Pre-Apprenticeship course) need to ensure:

• They are up-to-date with all coursework.
• They are engaging with work experience opportunities.
• That they have communicated their future plans to Mr Dowey (are they staying to do another course next year, or leaving to study elsewhere? Please feel free to contact Mr Dowey if you want to discuss options).

For Level 3 students (BTEC/A Level):

• Ensure students are aware of the details (time and location) of their Mock Exams (Start Monday 17th June – Friday 26th June).
• Be aware that failure to achieve an acceptable pass (based on each student’s personal subject target grade) in the mock exams will result in having to attend college to resit exams on WEDNESDAY 28TH AUGUST. A letter will be sent home in the first week of the summer holidays in addition to subject staff informing students if they need to return to college for a summer resit exam.
• Failure to achieve an acceptable pass in the resits will result in a meeting with student, parent(s) and Head of Post 16 to discuss the way forward.

How to help students study:

1. Emphasise through discussion the significance and importance of the Mock Exams (whilst not being external, significant underperformance could result in them having to change courses).
2. Help students to plan their weeks study habits in the form of a timetable so social time and study time is clearly mapped – and the importance of adhering to this as much as possible and carrying forward tasks that were not completed.
3. Provide a suitable place at home where focused study can take place and push for there to be ‘gadget free’ time during the planned study times to improve focus.
4. Regular testing is proven to be one of the most successful ways to embed knowledge so offering this as a way to support their learning is invaluable.

Forthcoming events/messages:

• Mock Results Day and Report Collection Session on TUESDAY 16TH JULY, 8.30am – 10.25am in the Common Room. Attendance is compulsory for all Level 3 students.
• UCAS Application – Students involved in this cohort have a timetable of sessions and two events they need to attend, one on Thursday 20th June – UCAS Convention in Leeds, and Wednesday 3rd July to visit Leeds Trinity for a tour and fact finding experience.
• Study Leave – Year 12 do not get study leave, Thursday 18th July is when the school year ends.

We would both like to thank you for your continued support. If you have any queries or questions regarding any of the points raised above please don’t hesitate to e-mail either of us slewis@minsthorpe.cc/dlloyd@minsthorpe.cc

Yours sincerely

We have been asked by Network Rail to share a new educational video with students as they are aware that a number of young people are trespassing on the tracks. They have asked that we "urgently share this engaging video with young people before more young people are seriously injured or lives are lost."

The session is led by a Safety Manager from Network Rail and explains in less than 15 minutes why it is really important to stay safe near the track.

Due to the sensitive nature of the material we are asking that all of our Parents/Carers view this input and then plan a time to watch this with your child(ren) so that you are able to offer any support and answer any questions that they may have.

If you do not have access to digital technology and are unable to watch the video with your child, please contact the College and we will offer you a time for this to take place.

Kind regards

Mrs J Collins

This year Minsthorpe Community College followed in the footsteps of Honley High School and hosted its first ever Shakespeare Festival on 3rd April 2019. A staggering 223 students, ranging from Year 4 to Year 9, have joined forces to perform scenes from this year’s magical play, ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream.’

Last year, local Primary Schools were invited to watch Minsthorpe Shakespeare Ensemble’s very own production of ‘Macbeth’ in The Training and Conference Centre, and were offered the opportunity to don their fairy wings, be blinded by love potions and contribute to this year’s performance. We were proud to collaborate with hard working pupils and staff from Carlton Junior and Infant School, Moorthorpe Primary School, Northfield Primary School, Upton Primary School and Ash Grove Primary Academy.

Minsthorpe’s Shakesepeare Ensemble showcased exceptional teamwork, dedication and creativity, rehearsing lines at lunchtimes and after school. They practised a range of different drama techniques – from choral speaking to choreographed movements. Having performed a range of Shakespeare’s oeuvre over the past four years including: ‘Hamlet’, ‘Henry V’, ‘The Tempest’ and ‘Macbeth’, Minsthorpe students were excited to sink their teeth into ‘A Midsummer’s Night Dream’ – ‘A story of order and disorder, reality and appearance and love and marriage.’

The audience of parents, carers and staff were wowed by the students’ polished and professional performances – doing the Bard himself proud! The Hall was really brought to life with magical music provided by Mrs Keith and green foliage to replicate the enchanted forest. The behaviour of students was exemplary and it was a very proud day for all the schools involved.

Mrs Sally Thompson, who invited the primary schools to participate in this year’s performance, was overjoyed with the students’ success, and enjoyed visiting each school to develop their rehearsals. "I am delighted with the outstanding performances from all of the contributing parties. It was superb to witness all of the pupils working together to perform a full play, and amazing to hear students as young as eight reciting Shakespeare’s wonderful language!"

As always, thank you to Miss Ficken, Mrs Keith and Miss Wildman for their support in the months leading up to the final show. It appears with all hands on deck, the course of true theatre really did run smooth.

Year 11 Parents Information Evening (held 2nd April) was a very positive evening event where parents were given information about the exam season, study leave and practical revision tips. This is a critical time for students and parents were given advice on how they can support their child at home.

Thank you to the parents who have said how useful they found the session and we thank them for supporting the event. If you were not able to attend then please refer to the presentation which was shown on the evening.