Scarborough UTC News Flash Friday 30th April 2021

Scarborough UTC News Flash
                                  Friday 30th April 2021
                                         INTRODUCTION

Dear Parent/Carer

We are three weeks into the first summer half term and I am delighted with our students’
attendance at college, currently at over 92% overall which is above the North Yorkshire
average. With so much learning time missed due to the impact of COVID 19, regular
attendance is so important with each individual child aiming for at least 96.5%, which is the
benchmark for good attendance. Thank you for your support with good attendance thus far
and through the rest of this half term.

In these COVID times one element of helping to ensure good attendance is our adherence to
the COVID health and safety guidelines. Twice weekly testing using the Lateral Flow Tests
from home is also important, as is reporting the results through to NHS Test and Trace and
also to the college. Your support in using these tests is a vital part of ensuring our continued
return to normality not just in college but in our wider society.

Good attendance is especially important for year 11 and 13 as they continue to work on the
assessments which are contributing to their overall grades for each subject. Generally,
attitudes and effort have been very good and we thank you for your continued support in
ensuring the students continue to stay focused through to the end of these defining and
important assessments. One part of the assessment process this year is the need for each
centre to submit a policy on how they are managing the awarding of grades for this summer
series.

Our policy is now submitted and you can read it here:
https://www.scarboroughutc.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Centre-Policy-for-
teacher-assessed-grades-summer-2021-FINAL.pdf

As restrictions for COVID 19 are beginning to be lifted it is really pleasing to see that our
employer partners are now much more able to engage with us and provide the exciting and
engaging opportunities that are such a unique part of our curriculum here at the UTC.

Scarborough UTC is rooted in the industrial, economic and demographic environment of this
region and it is employers from this region that commit to supporting the learning and skills
development of our students. Our evidence is that our curriculum and the engagement
provided by our employer partners ensures that our students are well equipped for high-
quality, rewarding careers with many of our students having progressed into work with our
employer partners. Employers tell Baker Dearing Trust https://www.utcolleges.org/our-
mission/about-us/ that, compared with standard schools, UTC’s save around three years of
training and education for young people recruited from a UTC. As we move through the
government’s road map we are excited to begin to get back this particular aspect of our
UTCness.

If everyone is moving forward together, then success takes care of itself.

Henry Ford

Great things in business are never done by one person; they’re done by a team of people.

Steve Jobs

Thank you for your support

Mr. Kilgour
Principal
                                           T&L@SUTC

Employer engagement has been continuing to enhance teaching and learning at Scarborough
UTC this week through Career Development Programme and Project Based Learning
activities. Those students accepted to work with GCHQ during their time at Scarborough UTC
have begun their mentoring sessions, and our Y13 Engineering Diploma students made
further progress with their Project Based Learning activity; presenting to a Severfield design
engineer to gain feedback and development on their bridge designs. Final project
presentations will be taking place on 25/5, with further product development involving the
use of the plasma cutter to manufacture the final product. Many thanks to GCHQ for their
valuable feedback to students regarding interview technique, and to Severfield for their PBL
support that offers our students a unique insight into the world of structural engineering.

TECHNICAL EXCELLENCE

Systems Control Engineering

Our Year 10 students have made fantastic progress creating working Operational Amplifier
comparator circuits using computer aided design (CAD) to show a higher or lower resistance
in relation to moisture being present. To demonstrate the progression from a simple
transistor circuit, students made a simple transistor switch printed circuit board which
activated when water was detected. There is a degree of complexity which an amplifier circuit
brings - giving all students the opportunity to excel.

Students have started their coursework properly now and I've been impressed by their work
ethic. Also, the quality of annotation added next to their circuit work in R114 progress record
is outstanding (I.M, B.M, X.P. worth a mention here). Teacher feedback is available in google
classroom, and I'd encourage your child to respond to feedback in their Systems Classroom -
either to recognise that there's some development work, or that a task is completed.

Periodically there is a reflect on learning lesson - and this week it was for year 10 to act on
some general feedback so that they understand the two CAD software tasks. Next week - both
live and virtual testing- we have soil samples with multimeters to measure resistance in real
life, and CAD circuits to virtually test and demonstrate proof of the circuit working.

Year 11 students have had a week with both a coursework completion task and exam practice,
specifically taking in Learning outcome 1 of the examination unit - Ohm's Law, the Power Law
and Energy calculations, alongside resistors in series and parallel were the practice areas.

There's the full range of past paper questions and answers - for students to be supported in
their preparation for their Systems in class examination on the week commencing 17th May
- these are available in our R113 document share google classroom.

Following on from their practice, it was wonderful to see students developing their
microcontroller programming skills - as they developed a control system for an automated
level crossing. I was pleased to see the warning lights and alarm sounds to indicate barriers
closing - this live programming and testing can be unforgiving - you get instant feedback when
the program runs - it either works or it doesn't - and for many, this is where resilience stands
out - both in dialogue between students, and with learners exploring different ways to obtain
their desired outcome.

At key stage 5, students are currently working on Distinction level tasks, creating and
analysing the operation of 3 specific semi-conductor circuits - this is ongoing as for the highest
level of demand, both virtual (CAD simulation) and physical (components on a prototype
board) will support the analysis - in this case of logic data storage devices - flip flops, logic
gate combinations & extending the KS4 knowledge of Operational amplifiers. It is fantastic to
have the workshop busy with students soldering and making practical examples that
demonstrate their journey to being technically excellent, employable graduates at the UTC.

It made me pause for reflection in terms of how much they appear to be enjoying learning in
College -and that if you like learning like this, you can just thrive. Have a great weekend! Mr
Brown

                                      ENGLISH LITERATURE

Reading Scholar-

Louie Blackburn for completing a book, recommending it to a friend and choosing his new
book -"War Horse" with such care!

English Scholar-

Rory Burchmore- always giving 100% to his independent work and always collaborates during
class discussion. Well done!

                                       BUSINESS SUPPORT

Water - reminder to please bring sufficient bottled water to college with the improving
weather. We sell a variety of drinks at break and lunchtime in addition to what your child
brings. Current guidance is still not to use shared drinking fountains.

Covid home testing - please remember to upload test results through the NHS test and trace
app and also to report to us via google forms https://forms.gle/H3GJqvDCyKQ71fod6

For further information on self-testing kits please see the link from the DfE on how to
support your child to undertake the
test https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9XR8RZxKNo&list=PLvaBZskxS7tzQYlVg7lwH5uxA
D9UrSzGJ&index=2 We will also be showing this to students in college prior to them taking
their kits home. Any queries please don't hesitate to contact us on
enquiries@scarboroughutc.co.uk or ring 01723 821621.

For further information on twice-weekly home testing please see the link from North
Yorkshire County Council https://www.scarboroughutc.co.uk/wp-
content/uploads/2021/03/LFD-Testing_Back-to-school-letter-for-North-Yorkshire-
families_11-March-2021.pdf

                                ASSESSMENT AND CURRICULUM

Pastoral and Attainment:

The week commencing Tuesday 4th May 2021 is week A.

It is important to continue the highest standards of business dress policy and ensure that
equipment, stationary and scientific calculators are checked regularly.

Maintaining 100% attendance is important to ensure we can continue to support progress
effectively. Students are supported through tutor time with attendance challenges.

Attendance will be an important focus for all students to ensure we can support attainment
throughout the summer term.

Water

Due to Covid 19 guidance we are unable to provide access to water fountains in college,
therefore it is important that students bring enough drinking water to ensure they are
hydrated throughout the day.

Attendance Rewards

Attendance rewards in the period before Easter were very successful. A significant number of
students retained 100% attendance for this period on the return to college after lock down.
The attendance focus for all students is now a 100 day challenge, throughout this half term.

All Years

Student information on attendance, attainment and behaviour in College is accessible
through My Child at School (MCAS). Reports issued are on this format and information on
professional value points, communications and attendance are updated live, so if you have
still to sign up to the App please do so. You will receive an email which will invite you to the
link where you can set up your personal account.

                                           SIXTH FORM

Congratulations to our year 13 engineers who presented their initial draft of their bridge
project to a local engineer. Their models looked excellent.

Congratulations also to Charlotte, Harvey, Ryan and Ryan in Year 12 who have all completed
their aeronautical engineering projects for The Brilliant Club. They will graduate next week
with a live link to The University of York.

This week we have had the third session of our employability skills for life with M and G
Investments. The focus has been on interview skills. Students can send in their CV’s to get
feedback from the M and G team.

Year 12 had an introduction to UCAS and applying to the university on Wednesday.

All of Year 12 have been informed of a sixth form speaking competition – Speak Up for Net
Zero. Further details are here: https://form.jotform.com/211083003349344

All of Year 12 have been encourage to sign up to the online UCAS Discovery Day on May 5th if
they are thinking of university for their future.

Please remind your child to check their college emails and the Sixth Form google classroom
regularly.

Year 13 students finance application deadline is May 30th. This is for Year 13’s intending on
going to university. Details from https://studentfinance.campaign.gov.uk/.

ETHOS AND CAREERS

The theme of the week has been Shakespeare. Our thought of the week has been “To thy
own self be true”. It is important to us at the UTC that students are honest and learn self-
confidence. Mr Kilgour has led assemblies on Black Shakespeare and how Shakespeare’s
language was used to humanise those who were persecuted in his day. Students heard
extracts from The Merchant of Venice and Maya Angelou’s poem equality.

We encourage our students in Year 11 and 12 to participate in The National Citizenship Service
this summer for their personal development.

Details for the programme can be found at https://wearencs.com/summer

Students of the week

Year 10: Sam Reynolds

Year 11: Rocco Anderson and Charles Andrews

                                         DATES FOR YOUR DIARY

Bank holiday:                                   Monday 3rd May 2021

Summer Half term:                               Monday 31st May 2021 to Friday 4th June 2021

Term ends:                                      Friday 23rd July 2021

                                  ACADEMIC YEAR 2021/22

                                         DATES FOR YOUR DIARY

Professional development training day:          Monday 6th September 2021

Term starts:                                    Tuesday 7th September 2021

Professional development training day:          Friday 8th October 2021

Autumn half term:                               Monday 25th October to Friday 29th October
                                                2021

Professional development training day:          Friday 3th December 2021

Christmas holiday:                              Monday 20th December 2021 to Monday 3rd
                                                January 2022

Professional development training day:          Tuesday 4th January 2022

First day of spring term for students:          Wednesday 5th January 2022

Spring Half term:                        Monday 21st February to Friday 25th February
                                         2022

Easter holiday:                          Monday 11th April to Friday 22nd April 2022

Professional development training day:   Monday 25th April 2022

First day of summer term for students:   Tuesday 26th April 2022

Bank holiday:                            Monday 2nd May 2022

Summer Half term:                        Monday 30th May to Friday 3th June 2022

Term ends:                               Tuesday 26th July 2022