Sixth Form leaver's photos now available to order

The photos taken last Friday before the Sixth Form Leaver's Assembly are now uploaded and available to order!  

MAKE SURE YOU ORDER BEFORE THE CLOSING DATE OF NEXT MONDAY 4th JUNE!!!!

To view the images, visit the link below, following instructions of how to submit your orders via email:

http://doubleexposed.co.uk/townsendsixthform2018.html

Thank you! Mrs Rice

How to get on the career ladder with no industry experience

How to get on the career ladder with no industry experience

Kick starting your career and jumping on the ladder can be an exciting time. You’ve finished your time in education and you’re ready to make your mark on the working world. Not to mention the prospect of earning your own money. But where do you begin? And what do you do if you have no industry experience?
Below, we’ll talk you through some helpful advice on how you can get on the career ladder with no industry experience.

Show your passion
Some employers are more than willing to give new workers a chance, regardless of whether you have relevant experience or not. If you show that you have a great attitude and a passion for your chosen line of work, you’ll easily make a great impression and prove that you’re worth investing in. This should come across in your CV, cover letter, online profiles and in your mannerisms when you speak with or meet potential employers.

Tailor your CV
In order to showcase your passion and abilities, you’ll need to have a winning CV up your sleeve. If you are lacking in relevant industry experience, your CV should focus on your key transferable skills. For example, most companies want employees that are great communicators, are highly organised and that can use their initiative. Therefore, focus on explaining how you’re proficient in these key areas as well as any others that they’ve outlined in the job description.

Build up, or tap into, your network
Once you’ve finalised your CV, or perhaps before you even start it, consider the line of work you’re hoping to get into and whether you have any contacts that could help
you out. After all, it’s not always what you know, but who you know too. Having a strong network ensures that you’re quickly able to identify opportunities to gain relevant work experience.
For example, does one of your mum’s friends work in the industry you’d like to get into? Could your cousin get you work experience in their office? Consider what’s going to help you out and be proactive. It might seem nerve-wracking but it will look great on your CV and will be a good talking point during interviews.

Do an internship or gain work experience
Gaining work experience or taking part in an internship can help to bulk out the experience section of your CV. Especially if it’s seriously lacking. Keep an eye out for relevant opportunities and look to find short gigs for yourself. This could be as simple as emailing local companies and asking if you can shadow a member of the team for a few days.
The more relevant the experience, the better. For example, if you’re looking to work in communications or PR, why not write guest articles for free on a certain blog, or even set-up your own one. If you want to become a teaching assistant, gain experience in child mining or supporting young people attending youth clubs.

Volunteer
As well as work experience, volunteering can help you to get on the career ladder. Whether that’s in a charity shop dealing with transactions and customers, or helping out with an after-school sports club, employers will recognise your commitment to building upon your skillset.
Many charities and other organisations are regularly looking for volunteers to support them on a day-to-day basis and in most cases, you can fit this around your existing schedule. It may even be one night a week, but it all helps towards building upon your experience.

Attend a careers fair
Careers fairs offer a great opportunity for you to meet and talk to, potential employers. There are plenty of events across the country so have a look to see what’s happening near you. You can also make a list of the employers that will be exhibiting and note down the ones that you’d like to talk to. Don’t forget to dress smart and take along a copy of your CV – you never know what opportunities may arise!

Final thoughts
There are plenty of ways to get on the career ladder with no experience, so don’t beat yourself up if you’re worried that you don’t have what it takes. Take our advice on board and you’ll soon be able to build upon your skillset and find a suitable job in no time.

Art, Fashion & Design Exhibition & Show for Schools - Friday 22nd June. 1.30 - 2.45 pm

ACI Coding for Girls Camp coming to Watford!

 ACI Worldwide delivers electronic banking and payment solutions for more than 5000 financial institutions, merchants, billers and processors around the world.  We have offices worldwide, with three in the UK, one of which is in Clarendon Road, Watford, housing around 150 employees.

ACI in Watford is planning a Coding for Girls Camp to take place on Saturday 9 June 2018 from 9am to 1pm at West Herts College in Watford. If the program is successful, we may also run it in September/October 2018.

The camp has been very successful in our US offices and so we are bringing it to the UK.  It is a high-energy program, designed to introduce 11-14 year old girls to the world of technology and careers in the high-tech world.

It is a free, one-day event designed for girls in year 7 through to year 9.  All camp supplies, including computers and lunch, will be provided by ACI.

It will be a fun environment for attendees to make new friends, build real-world skills and get a crash course in computer programming, including HTML, CSS and Java.

If you are interested please see Mrs Maguire as soon as possible.

Careers Opportunities 6th May from Target Careers

All Apprentices at Fidelity International are Valued, Developed & Rewarded.

Our apprentices start their career as part of a global company with a long history, renowned for integrity, innovation and excellence where everyone who joins is valued as a person first and an employee second. 

They will receive world class training and development that will enable them to exceed their potential and enjoy outstanding career success. The starting package will grow as they progress through their apprenticeship to reflect their personal and professional growth.

We have a final few roles remaining in the following areas:
Client Services - managing the strongest possible relationships with our wide range of clients.
Compliance - Providing consultancy, advisory and monitoring services to our UK, European and Asia Pacific businesses.
Retirement Services - Connecting with people as they plan for their or their family’s future.
Technology - Provide the technology services that underpin every area of the global Fidelity business

We look for keen learners, with good communication skills and the ability to work well in team.

All training is fully funded and provided on top of a minimum starting salary of £17,500 (as part of a wider package). Roles will be based at either our London or Kingswood offices.

Apprentices, Interns & Graduates may only be 10% of our employee population but they are 100% of our future.

The deadline for applications is Sunday 6th of May so please apply ASAP.

Careers News

If you are in year 10, 11 or 12 and interested in a career as a Doctor, Vet or Dentist, please see the information here in this flyer, which is also on display in the Discovery Centre on the careers noticeboard.

Mrs Maguire

Term ends this Thursday

A reminder that we finish the Spring Term on Thursday March 29^th at 12.30pm.The dedicated school buses will be here for 1230 but if your child catches a public bus he/she will need to check the departure times for their own buses.

Term begins again on Monday April 16^th

As well as having a deserved break - there will be an expectation that year 11 and 13 students will be completing practice papers and revision tasks over the Easter holidays. Other year groups may be set holiday tasks by teachers and this will be on Show My Homework

CREATIVE AND PERFORMING ARTS DISPLAY 2018

CREATIVE AND PERFORMING ARTS DISPLAY 2018

Congratulations to all those students who took part last Thursday. It was a fabulous evening, showcasing a diverse range of talent, skill, expertise, flair and team work. To see so many students from so many year groups all working together and sharing the stage for many items was a privilege. Well done to everyone! A special thank you too for all the staff who masterminded the event- thank you. A very proud evening for Townsend! 

YEAR 10 AND 12 FIELD TRIP TO SWANAGE

Parent's information evening

Just a reminder that there will be a compulsory parent/carer information evening on Tuesday 20th March 2018 at 6pm in the school lecture theatre where you will gain information about what we will be doing whilst in Swanage and Health and Safety information for the trip. Also the final payment for this trip is due March 31st 2018.

Many thanks.   Miss Reynolds

CAREERS

On Wednesday last week 48 students went to a careers event run by the NHS. The students found it to be informative, interesting and valuable in helping them find out more information about careers and career pathways in the area of health. We will now continue to support students with follow up sessions at school.

If your child is interested in any particular career (not just the NHS) and would like more information, please ask them to see Mrs Maguire or their form tutor.

There are a number of displays around the school to give your child a visual representation of the link between studying particular subjects and jobs. These are displayed in the Foyer, the Discovery Centre, in pupils Record of Achievement Books and in most of the classrooms for a particular subject. Please encourage your child to study these displays and discuss possible career/ jobs that they find interesting. It’s never too early!

Mrs Maguire

CREATIVE AND PERFORMING ARTS DISPLAY AT ALBAN ARENA

22^nd March 2018 start time 7.00pm

All students involved have taken home letters which they need to return the permission slip from the bottom.  Tickets are being sold every break time outside the large canteen. Adults £6 Children £4.  Previous shows have been extremely popular and the students work really hard to perfect their performances. Do come along and support all their hard work.

Commonwealth Service

Commonwealth Service

The students of Townsend have been invited to take part in the Commonwealth Service on Sunday 18th March 2018 starting at 11:15. This service will be taking place at the Abbey and Cathedral Church of St Alban and we invite all of you our parents and careers to attend to support your children.

This is an exciting opportunity for the school and the students to participate in great reflection for the community.

We would like your assistance with encouraging your child/children to see Ms Sheppard if they would like to participate and remind all those with consent forms to return them on Monday.

Ms Sheppard

YEAR 8 GCSE OPTIONS EVENING - THURSDAY 15TH MARCH 7PM

Please remember this essential evening is this coming week. The evening will consist of a talk about the options process and a subject fair where you can gather all information about the subjects and what they offer. Form tutors and members of the inclusion team will be available to offer guidance. Nicky Honeywell our YCHertfordshire Advisor (formerly Youth Connexions advisor) will also be available to provide guidance about potential careers and qualifications. Within school time, students have started to experience "typical" GCSE lessons to give them an insight into the changes from Key Stage 3 to GCSE as well as listening to talks about new subjects available to them. All students and parents/carers are required to attend this important evening and students should be in full school uniform. We look forward to seeing you Thursday

Miss Reynolds

World Book day activities and winners part 2!

Congratulations to the winners of the character competition for World Book day, there were some fabulous entries for the competition!

 

World Book Day activities and winners!

 The World Book Day quiz took place this lunchtime, with prizes for first second and third places!  Well done to all three winners, who received a huge pile of World Book day books each, and thank you to all who took part in the quiz, we hope you had fun!

World Book Day

Today we celebrate World Book Day, with a number of activities happening in school.  

Students have all been given their £1 WBD voucher, to spend in any high street store and supermarket selling the special World Book Day book titles.

The English department are joining in with the WBD competition of producing a representation of students' favourite characters from their favourite books.  Judging of this will take place tomorrow in school.

The Discovery Centre are also hosting an interactive World Book Day quiz at lunchtime, where prizes will be awarded for first, second and third places!

Make sure you join in with these great activities to celebrate!

Enrichment day - Year 10 Careers Carousel

 Yesterday the Year 10 students at Townsend took part in a Careers Day carousel, where representatives from various institutions came to speak to students about their careers and paths into their particular companies or employment.  Speakers from a wide variety of companies included Aecom, Roche, Microsoft, Herts Highways, County Council, Santander, Youth Connexions, The Cat Hotel, Spiral Junior School, Blue Arrow, Amey, Fujitsu, Leonardo, Office for Science and the local Fire Stations were all in attendance.  Year 10 students learnt a valuable amount from our guests, and were engaged throughout the day with the insightful information being delivered to them.  Townsend school would like to thank all of our speakers for giving up their time, and commend our year 10 students for a fantastic and successful day!

Mrs Maguire and Mr Still

PSYCHOLOGY

PSYCHOLOGY

Our year 13 Psychologists had a trip to the Freud museum in North London last week and had a lecture by a Psychologist in the museum.  We were given a guided tour of the museum, were fortunate enough to see some rare home video footage of Freud and his family in black and white and also had the rare opportunity to hear a voice recording of Freud himself speaking about Psychoanalysis.  Our tour enriched the students understanding to Psychoanalysis and as Freud appears on two of the three exam papers, this was an invaluable opportunity for the students to have an enhanced understanding of Psychology.  A great day was had by all!

Mrs Wilmari Kleynhans, Head of Psychology

English news

Year 12

The year 12 English A-level students were fortunate enough to go on a trip to London to visit the Globe Theatre Museum.  As we are studying Othello, it was really helpful for our students to meet with the tour guide and have detailed feedback on our tour of the Globe Museum. We had a guided tour of the Globe Theatre Museum, watched some rehearsals for an upcoming performance and were allowed to take pictures in front of the stage.  The detailed displays in the Museum was also of interest to us and we spent a lot of time reading through all the historical facts published with the artefacts.  It was an absolute pleasure to take the year 12's on this trip! Mrs Wilmari Kleynhans, Deputy Head of English

LENT SERVICE AT ST ALBANS CATHEDRAL FRIDAY 9TH FEBRUARY AT 2PM

As Ash Wednesday falls through half term our service (Lent Service) this year is on Friday February 9^th at 2pm. Students will be transported to the Cathedral from school but will need to make alternative travel arrangements home from the Cathedral at approximately 3.00pm.  We do ask that you are clear with your child about a meeting point after the service (the West Gate is where students leave the Cathedral at the end of the service). Parents/carers are most welcome to join us for this service.

DUKE OF EDINBURGH

Years 10 and 12

There is an expedition information evening for parents/carers and students on Wednesday 7^th February at 6.30pm in the hall (letters have been sent home). Students do not need to be in school uniform for this meeting.

Years 11 and 13

Please encourage your son/daughter who have already done their expedition to upload their online evidence. We would like to present them with their certificate and badge at their leavers assembly but this cannot be done until they have completed  all assessor reports and submitted them.

Congratulations to all those students that have already completed their bronze and silver awards.    Mrs Liddington/Mr Armitage

SAFER INTERNET DAY

As a school we are both mindful and proactive in ensuring all our students remain safe on-line. Clearly at school IT use is filtered and monitored but we recognise and are aware that the increased use of mobile phones and the out of school use of technology can lead to unsafe situations and temptations for young people to make risky decisions.

We revisit ‘internet safety’ again and again in all year groups. We remind students about dangers in the virtual world and the need to be safe and responsible on-line. We return regularly to remind students to think about their digital footprints, the sending of communications that are inappropriate or that could be misinterpreted. We talk to young people about the pressures of society and friends that can easily influence what is posted or sent on-line and then bitterly regretted the next day. We warn our students about creating virtual relationships that are not real and that can lead to distress, alarm and danger. We remain concerned that so many young people feel the need to close their doors at home and play games in front of a screen and in some cases play games against strangers who can become so easily their ‘good friends’. We know that cyberbullying remains the most common and harmful form of unkindness and hurt to children.

Safer Internet Day 2018 will be recognised and celebrated here and globally on Tuesday 6th February 2018 with the slogan “Create, Connect and Share Respect: A better internet starts with you”.

For resources for parents/carers to join in use with your children

https://www.saferinternet.org.uk/safer-internet-day/2018/sid2018-education-packs/education-pack-parents-and-carers