Dear Parents and Carers,

I can’t believe how fast this half-term has passed! And another eventful one too…Thank you again for your patience and support during the recent school closure due to the need to replace the main gas pipe leaving us without heat or hot water for a week. I would never want to disrupt learning, however this was an emergency and completely unavoidable. Thank you for your kind messages of support. I have highlighted just one of the many below:

“We just wanted to thank all your staff for the extra effort of home schooling recently when the gas works were being carried out. All staff whom my daughter/ourselves engaged with online were amazing. There was so much support and encouragement during the online lessons.  It is always a challenging time and not what anyone wants to have to do, so please pass on our thanks.”

Pastoral staff and SLT made phone calls home during this time to our more vulnerable families.  Food parcels were also prepared and delivered.

Ruth Stoller

We were deeply saddened to announce the death of Ruth Stoller, who passed away last month, aged 101.  Miss Stoller was Headteacher of the school for 21 years, from 1966 to 1987, when it was known first as Delahays Girls' School, and then Green Lane High School. She recalled her time at the school fondly and said, "the school was about caring and providing for young people and this was reflected in our motto at the time, which was, 'through learning and caring to life."

Miss Stoller turned 100 years old in 2022 and was honoured with a congratulatory birthday card from Queen Elizabeth II, just one month before her majesty's death.

Ruth always maintained a keen interest in our school, especially the performing arts. An award in Miss Stoller's name has been presented for the past two years at our Summer Presentation Evening and will continue to be presented every year as we honour her memory. 

In Ruth’s memory, we will be naming the newly refurbished Drama Studio after her.

Inclusive:

AC Culture and Diversity Day 2024

Date for your diary:  We look forward to celebrating our second ‘Culture and Diversity Day’ on Tuesday 5th March. 

Last year’s event was a great success and raised over £500 for the Turkey-Syria earthquake appeal.

There will be a wide range of exciting events for students to enjoy such as cultural food and snacks, catwalk shows and performances!

AC Islamic Society

Congratulations to Year 7 student Hana and her friends who have started Altrincham College’s first Islamic Society (AC ISOC).

Their aim is to create a community where Muslim students at our school can deepen their spiritual journey, share experiences and collectively strengthen their faith.  The group will promote inclusivity and embody the principles of compassion and generosity, which are emphasised in the Muslim religion.

ACISOC have an Instagram account, which you can find here: @ac.isoc

Ambition:

WORK EXPERIENCE 2024 – Years 10 & 12

• Year 12 dates: Monday 15th & Tuesday 16th April
• Year 10 dates: Monday 13th & Tuesday 14th May

Students in these year groups have the opportunity to take place in a two-day work experience programme next year.  They are encouraged to organise their own placements with businesses that match their career ambitions or interests. 

If your workplace can provide a placement for any of our students, please complete this form: https://forms.office.com/e/rzzxzSuUaR 

Thank you to everyone who has responded so far!

Any queries can be addressed to workexperience@altrinchamcollege.com

National Apprenticeship Week 2024

This week we have been celebrating National Apprenticeship Week in school.  We are proud to inform our students about all of their options when they leave AC, and apprenticeships are an excellent choice.

Parents/carers of students in Years 11 & 13 should be aware that this is the week when many companies start to advertise their vacancies, which you can search for here: www.gov.uk/apply-apprenticeship

You'll also find more information and guidance about apprenticeships on our school website: www.altrinchamcollege.com/careers/apprenticeships

Meet Ria!

Ria is an alumna of Altrincham College Sixth Form who studied A Level Biology, Business and Creative Digital Media. Despite securing offers from her chosen universities, Ria decided to go down the degree apprenticeship route in project management with Jacobs. 

Ria tells us, “this was a great opportunity to gain both my degree and skills in the industry I wanted to work in.  Being a student and a full-time employee can be difficult to juggle, but if you are determined and organised, I would highly recommend it, as it is very rewarding. I would recommend this route to anyone!’

Students in Years 11 and 13 may be interested in opportunities at Jacobs, which you can apply for up to 18th February: https://careers.jacobs.com/job-search-results/?keyword=%23ApprenticeJob2024

Year 9 Options Evening

The Year 9 options evening took place on Thursday 1^st February.  Miss Duffy, Head of Year 9, would like to thank all parents/carers and students who attended: “It was great to have such a fantastic turnout and see so many students speaking with Heads of Department and staff members about the variety of subjects that we offer.”

A reminder that the deadline for choosing options is Friday 23rd February. If you have any questions about course choices, please do not hesitate to contact your child/ward’s subject teacher.

Intermediate Maths Challenge

This week saw the return of the annual ‘Intermediate Maths Challenge.’  Mrs Oates, who has hosted the event every year, was particularly impressed with the preparation and determination of students who completed the challenge.

Approximately 180 students from Altrincham College across Years 9, 10 and 11 took part in this national event.  The aim of the competition is to promote maths learning and develop key problem-solving skills.  The challenge also encourages mathematical reasoning, precision of thought and fluency to make students think.  

Students are given 60 minutes to answer the multiple-choice questions.  The problems are accessible to all, yet still challenge those with more experience.

Fingers crossed to all students who took part and we look forward to welcoming what are likely to be fantastic results! – Mr Mohammed.

 

 

 

Aspiration:

University of Oxford Visit

On Tuesday 11^th January, we were delighted to welcome Dr Leal, a lecturer in philosophy at Brasenose College at the University of Oxford.  Dr Leal worked with students from Years 10-12, talking to them about higher education, the Oxbridge application process and what studying at Oxford is like.

Dr Leal observed the students’ debating skills – a key skill for higher education - as it teaches students critical thinking and how to formulate a logical argument.  Year 10s debated a wide range of topics, such as ‘should zoos be banned’ and ‘is Barbie a symbol of female empowerment’, whereas the Year 12 ‘Aspire 6’ students took part in a well-researched debate about the ethics of euthanasia and assisted suicide.

Well done to everyone involved!

Preparing the way for a STEM future: brand-new GCSE courses!

We are delighted to launch GCSE Design and Technology for 2024, focusing on modern design and manufacturing techniques including 3D printing and 3D CAD (Computer Aided Design); electronics programming will also be introduced. This course links closely with mathematics/science and students will use their skills and knowledge from those subjects in real life applications. In September 2025, GCSE Engineering will be added to the school offer. This subject will further develop students who wish to pursue further studies or careers in the engineering sector.

Belief:

Sporting success stories

We love to hear news of our students’ sporting success stories, both in and out of school.  Congratulations to the following students:

William H, Y7: British Championships - Bronze U12 Black Belt league

• Lilly B, Y11: Thai Boxing British title
• Daisy W, Y7:  National Cheer competitor
• Rian M, Y7: Cheshire district cricketer
• Edward H, Y8: Manchester Storm Ice Hockey
• Carys A, Y10: North Wales Girls Football Academy U16
• Eva A, Y8: Welsh indoor double gold  medalist 60m sprint, 60m hurdles Welsh outdoor championships double gold, 100m and 70m hurdles UK number one. 
• Matthew H, Y7: Cheshire County signed cricketer.  Matthew also represented AC in the next round of the English Schools’ Athletics Association individual cross-country event, finishing 17^th in a very high standard race.
• 

Netball

The Year 7A Netball team played their second league night of the year and had a very successful event, beating North Cestrian 9-0. POTM: Cyrus.  They also beat Stretford High 4-1. POTM: Jasmine. Due to their success over the two events, this means they have won the league and should gain promotion into the higher group!  

The Year 7B netball team played their second league night of the year. They beat Sale High School and drew against Stretford Grammar, who they lost against last time! POTM: Cyrus for both games, it was his first time playing competitive netball. 

Huge well done to everyone involved!

Girls’ football

Eight students from our Y8 Girls football team spent the day at Altrincham Football Club recently to complete the FA Leadership. As part of the course, they learnt the skills and qualities involved in coaching and refereeing.

For the next part of their course they will organise and lead a number of events across school promoting football and equality in sport! Well done to Chloe M, Eva A, Katie, Lily R, Flo R, Chloe G, Jasmyn and Briony.

The Y7 girls team travelled to Flixton School yesterday and were all amazing ambassadors for AC with their behaviour, effort and performance levels.  Well done to all: Mia W, Hollie, Natasha, Lucy S, Hanah, Anzil, Seanna, Grace T, Aahana, Samaraa, Carrie and Haya.

Basketball

It has been a busy time for our year 8/9 basketball teams who have played against St Ambrose, Alty Grammar School for Boys & North Cestrian. 

AC 18 - 49 St Ambrose

A strong and physical Ambrose side made it hard work for AC throughout the game. Theo was our leading scorer, alongside Skye, but AC struggled to make an impact on the game. Great to see Aniket make his debut for the basketball team.  POTM: Renars

AC 32 - 46 AGSB

AC made a bright start to the game and led the match going into half-time. Theo once again shined as our leading scorer but AC tired in the 2nd half and were undone by a fitter/stronger side. Ryan made some great 3 pointers in the 2nd half but it wasn't enough to bring AC back into the game.  Well done to Alfie for making his debut.

tired in the 2nd half and were undone by a fitter/stronger side. Ryan made some great 3 pointers in the 2nd half but it wasn't enough to bring AC back into the game.  Well done to Alfie for making his debut.  POTM: Theo

AC 49 - 33 North Cestrian 

After a couple of defeats AC weren't going to make it 3 in a row as they put in a dominant performance away to North Cestrian. They led for the majority of the game thanks to some great team play and made sure to put North Cestrian to the sword in the 2nd half with Luke, Skye & Theo leading by example throughout.  POTM - Lewis

Rugby

Performing Arts News 

Year 10 students who are participating in the National Theatre Writers Programme were delighted to meet professional writer Becky Prestwich earlier this week.

Becky is a regular writer on Doctors and Casualty, as well as having written multiple episodes for Holby City.

As part of the programme, students had a 1:1 with Becky where she discussed the plays that the students are writing, and ideas for how to develop them. This was a fantastic opportunity for all students who have been involved in this programme since September. They now have to write, write, write to be able to meet the entry deadline in April 2024! – Mrs Mrozinski.

Our next school production, School of Rock, takes place on Wednesday 20^th & Thursday 21^st March at 6.30pm.  Show tickets will be made available early next term via this link: https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/altrincham-college 

LAMDA examinations for our current cohort of students will take place on 19th March.  

Hamilton the Musical: 

40 students enjoyed a trip to the Palace Theatre last month to watch the award-winning musical Hamilton. Behaviour was exemplary, and the trip was thoroughly enjoyed by all!

Enrichment

A new enrichment timetable will be distributed to students during the first week back.

Please note that the new clubs will start from the second week back, w/c Monday 26^th February (with the exception of rehearsals for School of Rock).

Late buses will be available from the first week back.

 The PE enrichment timetable for February and March can be found on our school website: https://www.altrinchamcollege.com/enrichment/clubs

Live Lounge 2024 

An evening of musical performances by Key Stage 4 students, Live Lounge is a special occasion for students in Years 10 and 11 to showcase their musical talents before a supportive audience of family, friends and teachers. You will hear a range of solo, duo and small-combo performances, many of them prepared by students as part of their examination coursework.

Live Lounge takes place on Tuesday 5^th March in the school hall, starting at 6pm. Admission is free, and we expect it to finish around 8pm. The date of this event has been carefully chosen to avoid conflicting either with mock examinations, or the school production School of Rock.

Art Exhibition

The Art Department is holding an art exhibition for Key Stage 3 & 4 students (Years 7-10) on Tuesday 12th March 4.30-6.30pm, in the school art gallery.  There will be a presentation and awards at 5.30pm.

We hope many of you can join us to celebrate the fantastic art work of our talented students! 

ACTV

  The ACTV team have been busy again this term; this time reporting on the wide variety of extra-curricular clubs that students can get involved with.  Watch their latest video here

You’ll find all ACTV videos on our school website – enjoy! www.altrinchamcollege.com/news-and-calendar/actv

Chinese New Year 

The LRC was very busy today as Mrs Turner and Mrs Dawson held an event to celebrate Chinese New Year!  Students enjoyed origami, quizzes and having a try at Chinese writing,all whilst listening to traditional Chinese music.

 

 

 

 

 

 

What I have learned this term:

Sixth Form: Elliot C, Year 12

I am currently working on my EPQ (Extended Project Qualification), which is an additional qualification to my A Level courses, and it can be worth up to 28 UCAS points.  One of the main reasons I chose to do the EPQ was to gain some of the skills required by universities, such as research, academic writing and referencing, which will help me to prepare for the demands of university work.

The title of my EPQ is, “How has the manufacturing of lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles affected China’s economy and environment in the past 10 years.” So far, my EPQ is going great, but finding valid research and academic papers on the topic can be hard sometimes as it’s quite a new and specific subject.   We recently had an EPQ session with the University of Huddersfield, which was great, as they taught us different research methods and how to reference properly, something which I didn’t know before.

Year 7: Hasan J

This week, we were visited by a Queen’s nurse called Heather, from the charity Breathchamps, who taught us about the symptoms of asthma and how to help someone who is having an asthma attack.  We listened to the sound that someone makes when having an attack, and what you should do to help them.  We also learnt that asthma affects people of all ages, and what the different coloured inhalers do.

I had an asthma attack when I was younger, which caused me to collapse and be taken to hospital.  If I was with someone who was having an asthma attack, I feel more confident that I would be able to help them.

Staff:

Congratulations to:

-Mr Moroney for passing his NPQH (National Professional Qualification for Headship)

-Mrs Casey for passing her NPQLL (NPQ Leading Literacy)

-Mr Jones and Mrs South for passing their NPQLT (NPQ Leading Teaching)

Student Stars of the Month

Student Star of the Month nominations were for going over and above (for which their ‘reward’ was a hot chocolate with me!), chosen by members of staff. This half term they were:

• Year 7: Lorenz D (student panel) and Hana A (ISOC)
• Year 8: Amaia A (student panel)
• Year 9: Phoebe B and Tom D (student panel)
•  Year 10: Layla D (effort)
•  Year 11: Sohail S (ISOC)
•  Year 12: Dylan S (effort)
•  Year 13: Juri S (Cultural Diversity Awareness)

And finally… a reminder of the staff inset day, Monday 19th February

Dates for your diary

• Start of term:                                               Tuesday 20^th February
• Sixth Form Trip to Parliament                   Friday 23^rd February
• Year 11 & Year 13 Photos                           Monday 26^th February
• Year 9 RE Dropdown Day                           Tuesday 27th February
• Cultural and Diversity Day                         Tuesday 5th March
• Live Lounge Music Concert (6pm)             Tuesday 5^th March
• Art Exhibition (4.30-6.30pm)                     Tuesday 12^th March
• School Production – School of Rock          Wednesday 20^th & Thursday 21^st March
• End of Term (12.30pm finish)                     Friday 22^nd March                                            

Ms K Earle

Headteacher and CEO of the South Manchester Learning Trust