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