Headteacher's Blog
Headteacher's Blog
Headteacher's Blog
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Year 12 Aspirations Evening
Earlier this week, our Year 12 students and their parents were invited to attend a Raising Aspirations Evening. During the evening, the Director of Careers, Headteacher and Head of Sixth Form talked to students and their parents about aiming high, university applications and higher level apprenticeships. One of our Senior Students, Finn Morgan also talked about his experiences of Sixth Form life and delivered some sound advice about researching and making applications early in the year.
Our Y12 Raising Aspirations Evening also saw students and parents drop into a series of sessions which shed light on the journey ahead as our Sixth Formers move into Higher Apprenticeships and university places.
The guest speakers – sessions included:
Applying to Oxbridge & Russell Group Universities – University of Sheffield
Higher Level Apprenticeships – Jessica Pieri from NGTU
Student Finance – Loughborough University
How to Start Your Own Business – Chamber of Commerce and Caitlyn Atkins (former student and business owner)
Carrie Cain, Assistant Headteacher, said: “Our Raising Aspirations Programme is not only about aiming high but also showing students how to get there. We worked hard to get a good range of speakers and every student has taken away things they can use moving forward.”
News
Year 12 Employability Workshops
This week saw the second set of employability workshops we have held this term as part of our ongoing commitment to raising aspirations across the school. This time, it was the turn of our Year 12 students.
During the morning, students were given advice and guidance about performing in interviews, creating great first impressions and communicating effectively. Experienced professionals worked alongside our students giving them a valuable insight into their industries, what they look for when employing young people and the importance of having strong employability skills.
Students also took part in individual mock interviews with a team of 16 professionals. Each interview helped to build confidence and give students valuable experience and exposure to how interviews are conducted.
We were thrilled to receive superb feedback from both the students and employers about the morning’s activities.
Carrie Cain, Assistant Headteacher, said: “Today’s Employability workshop has given students much to consider as well as a newly acquired skillset to use in future interview situations. We are so proud of all the students who took part and very grateful to those employers who gave up their time today.”
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Sixth Form Pupils meet with PWC
CTA 6th Form pupils, Mr Giles Head of 6th Form and Director of Careers Mrs Poppleton were all delighted to be joined today with an Ambassador, Avraj Bansal from PWC to speak about some fantastic pupil and graduate leaver opportunities including ‘Flying start Degrees’. Pupils had an overview of the wide range of roles, sectors and global locations which are available for their ‘ Flying start degree apprenticeships’. Avraj also gave a valued insight into making successful future applications and what to expect on assessment days. Pupils were given details for the Employability Hub with free and useful virtual tools to support developing students key employability skills. This afternoon was a launch ahead of preparing our 6th Form pupils for some upcoming events including a parent/student Aspirations Evening and an employability morning. The employability morning will include guest speakers, employer mock interviews and taking part in mock assessments for pupils who are interested in applying for degree apprenticeships
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Year 10 Employability Workshops
This week our Year 10 students participated in employability workshops and interviews as part of our Raising Aspirations Programme.
The workshop included information from Pete Thorpe, Head of Education at Youth employment UK, who visited the school to talk about employability skills and to ensure students are better prepared and ready to go when it comes to university, apprenticeships, college or job interviews.
Students used the skills gained in this workshop to take part in individual mock interviews with a team of over 50 professionals visiting the school that day. Each interview was designed to ensure every student is prepped and ready to go when it comes to jobs. These sessions gave valuable experience and exposure to what interviews are really like and helped build students’ confidence.
Once again, we are thrilled to receive high praise in relation to the students and the school from the volunteers about these sessions:
One volunteer said: “All your students have been an absolute credit to you and have all tried their best. A testament to how much hard work goes into planning this day.”
A second volunteer added: “I have been really impressed with how polite, confident and engaged the students have been.”
Carrie Cain, Assistant Headteacher, said: “The employability sessions our students have taken part in have given them a unique opportunity to prepare for future workplace interviews. The volunteers were superb, quickly earned the respect of students and passed on their expertise swiftly. All in all, a fantastic session.”
We look forward to the next employability workshops on the 24th November with Year 12.
Carrie Cain
Assistant Headteacher
News
Year 10 Raising Aspirations Evening
Our commitment to raising aspirations and opening our students’ eyes to the post-16 education and career routes is a high priority for our school and this particular evening very much followed our mind-set.
The evening was very well attended as parents and students took the opportunity to gather specific guidance and information from a range of speakers on post-Year 11 options.
The event began with a presentation from the Headteacher, Head of Sixth Form and Careers Lead and was followed by a series of optional workshops from which each family opted for their preferred two.
There was an apprenticeships talk delivered by Jessica Pieri from NGTU, information about starting your own business from Eleanor Campion, Caitlyn Atkins and the Chambers of Commerce and Newman University spoke about student finance. Elsewhere, the English Department gave further guidance about English at GCSE and jobs and university applications.
Mrs Cain, Assistant Headteacher, said: “The key to making a successful choice is to familiarise yourself with the options early and to make sure you hit the necessary milestones to reach your destination. It is important to remember that competition is high so every grade you can grab puts you a step ahead. It is crucial to realise that there is a direct link between the classroom and the world of work.”
Ms Mason, Headteacher, added: “It was fantastic to see such an excellent turnout. This evening certainly got the ball rolling on discussions at home and continues to flag up to Year 10s that their performance this year is critical in forming a successful application at the end of Year 11.”
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KPMG Work Experience
Our fourth experience of the KPMG work experience opportunity at Chase Terrace Academy was fantastic. KPMG Partner Peter Workman was impressed with the quality of our candidates. This year we had 52 candidates apply which exceeded our previous best year of 48 applicants back in our first cycle in 2019. The letters of application and CVs were of a high standard and it was challenging to select the 12 candidates who will get the opportunity to visit the luxurious KPMG offices in Birmingham. The final six candidates who did the group presentation and undertook individual interviews were:
- Bethan Evans
- George Holmes
- Daniel Matheson
- Rihanna Harris
- Holly Whitby
Peter was adamant at the start of the morning that there would be only 1 successful candidate. However, due to the quality of our students, Peter felt compelled to offer places to both Rihanna Harris and George Holmes. In addition mentoring and further support has been offered to Bethan Evans and Daniel Matheson.
We are so grateful to Peter and his team at KPMG for extending this prestigious opportunity to our pupils once again.
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Chase Terrace Academy Celebrates Fantastic GCSE Achievements
Chase Terrace Academy has celebrated significant improvements this year as their year 11 students collect their GCSE and BTEC Level 2 grades. Students and their staff have worked exceptionally hard to reach the high standards achieved this year.
Students have secured firm foundations for continuing their journey with us in 6th Form or will already have places secured for college or employment with training. We would encourage any student who is yet to have a place agreed in further education or training to contact us for support. We still have some places in our excellent 6th Form and would love to continue to support them in their education journey.
Some notable achievements include Robyn Pipe with eight grade 9’s and one grade 8; James Youll who celebrated seven grade 9’s, a grade 8 and a grade 7. Top performers also include Charlotte Budinger, Maisie Hollowood, Edie-Mae Hughes, Mia Jarvis, Adam Jones, Tessi-Mai Jones, Lily-Rose Raven, Heidi Sammons, Heidi Willis, Yaseen Abu-Khalil, Daniel Ball, and James Harrison.
As our school strives to continue to drive our improvement in standards, this is a really clear indication of the positive impact that our work is doing for our children. We are super proud of you all and wish you every success for 6th Form and further study.
#WeareCTA #TheCTAway
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Chase Terrace Academy Pupils Celebrate Fantastic Achievements
We are absolutely delighted to announce that our Year 13 pupils will be leaving Chase terrace Academy with a tremendous set of results this summer. The pupils have worked incredibly hard alongside our staff during uncertain and disruptive times. They have demonstrated superb tenacity and ability to achieve very highly in their qualifications.
These pupils are the first to receive their results following external assessment since the school made significant changes to our Sixth Form provision. The results that pupils have achieved are some of the best in the school’s history and a big improvement on 2019. We would also like to thank the staff for their hard work and dedication in supporting our pupils to go onto the next stage of their journey, whether that be in higher education, apprenticeship or employment.
Congratulations of course go to all of our pupils, however, notable performances include: Daniel Fisher A*, A*, Dist*; Sophia Chiles A*, A, A*; Isaac Holdsworth A*, A*, A; Jessica Johnson A*, A*, A; Meena Harrington A, A*, Dist*; Ben Grayson A, Dist*, Dist; Shane Kent A, A, A; Lilyann Willis A, A, A*.
We wish all of our pupils the very best in their futures and congratulate them again on a wonderful set of results