Monday 16 May 2016

Christian Aid Week this week

Christian Aid is a Christian organisation that insists the world can and must be swiftly changed to one where everyone can live a full life, free from poverty. This year, they are calling us to love every neighbour as Jesus called us to love our neighbour as ourselves and not just the ones next door or at the end of the street. 
At Townsend, our aim is to get involved with supporting this charity over the next two weeks to raise as much money as possible. Students will be encouraged to organise fund raising activities which will culminate with a whole school event in the Discovery Centre at lunchtime on Friday May 27th. Please do chat with your child about how they could support Christian Aid Week. 
Please follow the link to know how to donate or participate in the activities around school to support the cause.http://www.caweek.org/christian-aid-week/index.html 

Year 11 exams start today!

The Year 11 GCSE exams begin today.  We would like to wish all of our year 11 students good luck and make sure you spend lots of time revising for each one to achieve your best results!

Art GCSE went very smoothly at the start of the week so a good start to the GCSE examinations! As we approach the full GCSE timetable starting with RE Monday morning, can we ask that you go through the Revision and Preparation Schedule that was issued through parentmail at the end of last term with your children. (We have attached another copy with today’s parentmail) All students have their own hard copy. Students are expected in school to attend normal lessons or revision sessions over the next two weeks. Staff will continue to support students with GCSE preparation before and after examinations. 

Monday 9 May 2016

WORSHIP AT TOWNSEND

Our value focus for May is Courage 
Courage will be a particularly important value to consider at this point in our school year for much of our school embarking on external examinations. Courage requires us to show bravery in the face of adversity, stand up for others and not be scared to take chances and experience new things. Courage takes many forms: it may mean facing up to opposition or personal danger; it may mean overcoming your personal fears or phobias; it could mean taking a stand for the right course of action. 

Friday 6 May 2016

Guest speaker Manoj Raithatha visits Townsend

On Thursday sixth form students were treated to a visit from BAFTA award winning writer Manoj Raithatha.  Manoj has experienced lots of careers, from a businessman, to award winning sitcom writer.  His business was unfortunately devastated by the 2008 financial crisis, as well as an illness within the family.  Manoj then found himself turning to God, building his life again with different foundations.

The students were so intrigued by Manoj's story, listening intently, with lots of questions asked at the end of the talk.  Manoj also promoted his book "Filthy Rich" which is available to buy now, and promises to be a great read.



BBC Microbit for year 7

ICT 
As you are aware all year 7 students were issued with a BBC Miocrobit devioce last Monday. We hope you have had the chance to look at this with your child. A reminder that the website you need to find out more is www.microbit.co.uk. 

Please share your work with us and let us know how you are doing with the microbit. 
Happy coding! 
Mrs King


Thursday 5 May 2016

Ascension day Abbey Service 2pm today

Today in the afternoon all students will be attending the Ascension day Abbey service in St Albans Cathedral, starting at 2pm.

Please ensure your child gets picked up at 3:00pm after the service from St Albans town, or has made arrangements on how to get hoe after the service.

Year 10 Work Experience

We looked forward to seeing all our year 10 students again this week, after a week of work experience placements has now been completed.  Lots of students have now been offered part time jobs from their placements, with great feedback being passed on from employers to our staff members who visited.  A big well done to all year 10 - you did yourselves proud!

Tuesday 3 May 2016

Parent / carer volunteers wanted!

PARENT/CARER VOLUNTEERS 
We are again looking for volunteers who may like to support us in different areas of the school; support with supervision in the Discovery Centre; helping with Lost and Found; clearing and cleaning in the Food Technology room and helping with student reading. If you have an additional skill or area of support you would like to offer not covered by this list feel free to still contact us. Any interest in volunteering please leave a message for Mr Pugh or Miss Lingwood by ringing the school office (01727 853047) 

WORSHIP AT TOWNSEND - April's value was....

Our value focus for April is Compassion This means showing kindness and respect to each other. It is reflected in the ways in which members of our community support each other through difficult times, such as bereavement. God Himself is the perfect example of community—the three persons of the Trinity are bound together in the ultimate closeness which makes them one. In the Gospels we find many stories of Jesus showing compassion to the sick and the downtrodden of society. Christians believe that their attitudes and actions must reflect the kindness, mercy and compassion of Jesus and the love of God for everyone.

CHELSEA’S CHOICE last week

CHELSEA’S CHOICE 
This Theatre in Education production took place with year 9 on Wednesday of this week. It was a hard hitting story about child sexual exploitation and gave out a number of very important safety messages to the students. These included; if students are using social media or online gaming sites their privacy setting on the computer they are using should be at the highest point possible; at no point should any child send any explicit photograph of themselves to anyone else for any reason; online no one really knows who they are talking to; people are very skilled and clever with regards to grooming young people particularly those who are vulnerable (making children feel special and presenting them with gifts or allegedly treating them like adults). Do talk to your child about what they heard and get them to give you the important messages they learned! 
Finally, all students were given a leaflet about the production and on the back were several helplines and websites children could access if they felt they were worried about anything or wanted to talk to someone about what they had seen or what was going on in their lives. They were also encouraged to talk to parents/carers and teachers if they were anxious.