Our Science Club are looking after a dozen living eggs which will hatch into chicks over the next few days. They will keep a diary recording what happens and when, and have to keep the incubator at a certain temperature, and humidity for the eggs to hatch successfully. When the chicks are moved into the brooder box, the students will be feeding them, keeping them clean, and making sure they have enough water. If anyone would like to come along and look at the chicks, please do so at lunch times from Monday 24th March in S21. The exciting part is that the College is then keeping the chicks in our nature area under the watchful eye of Mrs Salter and her team of experienced students involved.

 

Mrs Shorter and Mr Whetton

Brand New Tenor Saxophone needs someone to play it!

 

Thanks to a successful bid to EMI Music for funding, the college has recently acquired a brand new tenor saxophone (worth more than £800) and we would like to find someone to play it, hopefully to join our jazz band in the near future.

We are asking for applications to be made to find the right person to have the opportunity to learn to play this lovely new instrument. Here are the points to bear in mind:

1. We are looking for someone who enjoys performing music and can preferably read music already.
2. The person who receives the saxophone would need to commit to having a weekly individual instrumental lesson. The lesson could be through a private teacher or through the college’s instrumental peripatetic service.
3. The saxophone would also need to be maintained and serviced. The college would charge £15 a term to put towards this essential cost.
4. We are looking for someone who understands the importance of practising their instrument in order to make progress. We recommend half an hour’s practice every day.
5. We would expect the person who receives the saxophone to have the commitment to come to band practice (currently on Monday evenings 3.15 – 4.00) as soon as they are able to play the music (after 6 -9 months).

 

 

If you wish to be considered for the instrument, please bear these points in mind. Send your application to Mr Carter (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) Applications need to be in by Friday the 28th of March. Please indicate that you have the support of your parent/carer in this project.

Teams of sixth form students descended on Honiton College on Wednesday to compete in badminton, netball and football tournaments. Over 100 students from Woodroffe, Axe Valley, Exmouth, Kings, Clyst Vale and Honiton competed in good spirited competitions as the spectators basked in the warmest day of the year so far. Students then stayed for food and drinks in our canteen before the much anticipated results were announced. Woodroffe took first place in the mixed badminton and girls netball, while Exmouth won the boys football.   Well done to all who competed.     {2jtoolbox gallery id:20}

Many strengths but College still needs to improve

 

Ofsted’s inspection of HCC highlighted many strengths, but it recognised the dip in the performance of some subjects in 2013, and therefore, under the new inspection framework the College was judged to require improvement.  The College was significantly affected by changes in grade boundaries.   This ‘grade turbulence’ impacted on a high number of schools, on a national as well as a local level.  Whilst all staff and governors are committed to bringing about further success to add to that previously enjoyed and
standards are rising, they are not yet consistently good in all aspects
of the college; this was, and still is, the focus for us.  Inspectors did
acknowledge that attainment of current Year Groups was improving.

The report actually highlights and celebrates many positives.  Probably the most significant was the behaviour of students; they demonstrated positive attitudes towards their learning, being eager, enthusiastic and hard working in lessons. The inspectors also noted that our students, including those in the sixth form, take great pride in their College and are good ambassadors who take an active role in the many changes that have been implemented.  The caring and welcoming ethos is reflected in the positive relationships
between students and staff, who know the students as individuals,
and this contributes to the typically friendly and purposeful atmosphere in lessons.

Also, teaching in the sixth form is good and as a consequence students make good progress.
The students are very positive about the quality of teaching they receive in the sixth form being particularly appreciative of the considerable extra help and support they have from staff.  Ultimately, they were very well prepared for their next steps in higher education, training or employment.  Numbers post-16 continue to rise in-line with standards and outcomes.

The curriculum is innovative and caters for the needs of all students and their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is of high quality.  There are a wide range of extra-curricular opportunities that are provided for them that develop clear, personal values and make an
impact on College life, and students make exceptionally good use of them.

The governing body was judged to be strong, demonstrating a good
grasp of current College performance, including the quality of teaching and students’ rate of progress and achievement.  It challenges and holds the College to account in positive ways.

Significantly, the College Executive Leadership Team was deemed to have a secure capacity to bring about further improvement.  The inspectors recognized that the Principal has ensured all staff, leaders and governors now have a thorough understanding of how well the College is doing and what needs to be done to improve.