Academic

Important BYOD Set Up Information For Parents Of Year 10 to Upper Sixth - Reminder

I would like to update you on the Bring Your Own Device programme that will be in place for Year 10 to Upper Sixth beginning this September, to help ensure that both you and your children are ready and prepared for this.

Firstly, a reminder that the main learning platform within the college is Microsoft Teams, and the associated Microsoft 365 apps such as Word, PowerPoint and OneNote. As previously advised, our recommended specification is a Windows 10 device with at least 4GB RAM and a 128GB SSD hard drive, but any device that can run Teams and Office 365, ideally via the apps or via the browser will be suitable.

We have setup a system of supporting the management of these BYOD devices, making it easy for parents and pupils to ensure that the device is setup and ready to use in school, called Microsoft Intune.

Microsoft Intune works through installing an app on the device called Company Portal and signing in with your child's Princethorpe email address and password. This will then push the correct security certificate to the device, ensuring that the device will work correctly on our Wi-Fi and internet filtering, and will download the relevant apps required for school directly to the device.

The aim of this is to ensure that correct setup for use in school is as easy and simple as possible. This does require certain access to the device by the Foundation, but will only be used for the specific reasons mentioned above, namely, to install the correct security certificate and to allow easy access to apps and links. Please note that you can also unenroll the device from the Intune Company Portal at any time.

Please see the links for the guides for setup of the Company Portal app on Widows devices, Macs and iPads. These are also available on My School Portal, on the IT support pages here.

If a Chromebook will be used as the BYOD device, or you would prefer not to use Intune and the Company Portal app to provide this device management, then alternative instructions for installation of the security certificate are available on the My School Portal page linked above, and Office apps can be installed by signing in at www.office.com and clicking on "Install Office" in the top right corner. 

Tutors will be covering this information with pupils and supporting the children to ensure devices are ready to be used. IT Services will also be visiting tutor groups to provide further support where needed over the course of next week, to ensure pupils are setup and able to use the device as intended.

While the BYOD programme starts from the beginning of term, please be assured that teachers will ensure pupils have sufficient time to ensure devices are setup and working. Therefore, BYOD use will be available to pupils but will not form key parts of the lessons for the first week of term.

If you have any further questions regarding the BYOD program, please do contact me at andycompton@princethorpe.co.uk

Andy Compton

Assistant Head (Director of Digital Strategy)

Explore, Discover, Learn With Britannica School - A Quality Alternative To Google

Princethorpe College is pleased to offer this digital resource which is designed for all ages and all abilities. It can be accessed via:

MySchoolPortal, selecting School information - Princethorpe, and then clicking onto the Library tab. The log in password is: pcstudent

The resource contains a wealth of information for all to support homework, projects and independent learning.

Why use it?

  • Accurate, trusted and up-to-date curriculum support

The information in Britannica School is aligned to the curriculum and is updated daily with new articles and multimedia elements curated by the world’s leading content and editorial experts.

  • Cross-Curricular

Supports curriculum expectations and objectives in all subject areas. Enables pupils to increase their fluency in English language, an essential foundation for their success, while improving ability to collect, analyse and communicate with a range of data to prepare them for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of later life.

  • Three reading levels

Three content levels tailored to literacy ability support the least able to most able – pupils can navigate to the level that is suitable for them without changing the age-appropriate visual appearance.  

The Intermediate and Advanced levels offer more challenging content and greater discoverability. Browse by subject, look for biographies, explore the World Atlas, compare statistical information between countries and discover interactive resources.  All of these functions help pupils improve their research skills.

Articles are illustrated with photos, videos, diagrams and maps to help bring the information to life.

Forget Google and make this your first port of call for homework support!

For further information see the link here for an overview of the resource.

Celia Scott
College Librarian

Examinations And Assessments - Autumn Exam Series

Students who would like to improve on their GCSE grades from the June 2020 Exam series are able to sit exams in the Autumn Exam Series.  Any improvement in their grade will replace the grade awarded in August 2020.  Should any students wish to apply to sit an exam, please email examinations@princethorpe.co.uk

The deadline is: Thursday 17 September 2020

GCSE exams will take place in November, starting on Monday 2 November and finishing on Monday 23 November 2020. Results will be published on Thursday 11 February 2021.

The normal exam entry fees will be charged.

Shellagh Dodds
Examination and Assessment Manager

 

Lower Sixth And Upper Sixth September Tests - Reminder

An initial set of tests for Upper Sixth will take place from Wednesday 16 September through to Friday 18 September and for Lower Sixth will take place from Monday 21 September through to lunchtime on Wednesday 23 September.

Timetables have been emailed to both parents and students and we are pleased to have been able to include Wednesday afternoon Games for Lower Sixth on Wednesday 16 September and both Lower and Upper Sixth on Wednesday 23 September.

Dr Michael Reddish
Deputy Head - Academic

Upper Sixth Study Leave For September Tests - Reminder

Upper Sixth will be on study leave on Monday 14 September and Tuesday 15 September to allow preparation time for their tests which commence on Wednesday 16 September through to Friday 18 September.

Students ordinarily study at home during Study Leave but if there are particular reasons why they would like to study in College, please get in touch with Mr Collie so individual arrangements can be made.

Dr Michael Reddish
Deputy Head - Academic

Upper Sixth Progress Reports

Progress Reports for Upper Sixth will be published on Friday 25 September 2020, and will be available to view on My School Portal.

Dr Michael Reddish
Deputy Head - Academic 

Lower Sixth Progress Reports

Progress Reports for Lower Sixth will be published on Friday 2 October 2020, and will be available to view on My School Portal.

Dr Michael Reddish
Deputy Head - Academic 

Upper Sixth Parents' Evening - Thursday 1 October 2020

To confirm further details of the forthcoming Upper Sixth Parents’ Evening which will follow the September tests taking place next week.

The current government guidelines preclude us from being able to run the Parents’ Evening in the usual way so it will instead be undertaken over the phone in the week commencing Monday 28 September.

You will receive one phone call for each subject your son/daughter studies. Your child’s teachers will be in touch to set up a mutually convenient time. If your son/daughter is taught by more than one teacher for a subject, then colleagues will have collaborated before the phone call in order to give you a comprehensive picture.

Teachers will use mobile numbers which are registered in the contact information held by the school. The phone conversation will last between 5-10 mins and will include the same information as if the meeting was happening face-to-face. It would obviously be useful if your son/daughter could be with you so that any issues can be discussed collectively. You may want to use ‘speaker phone’.

Thank you for your support in this matter. If you have any further queries, please do not hesitate to contact your son/daughter’s tutor or our Head of Sixth Form, Mr Ben Collie at bencollie@princethorpe.co.uk.

Dr Michael Reddish, Deputy Head (Academic)
Ben Collie, Head of Sixth Form

 

Dr Liz Pyne
Assistant Head – Teaching and Learning