Spring 2024
Dear Parents and Carers
We hope this newsletter finds you well and looking forward to the warmer and hopefully, drier
weather, and being able to make the most of the longer daylight hours ahead. The end of the
Spring Term is finally upon us and it gives me great pleasure to present to you in the newsletter a
snap shot of some of the fabulous learning which has occurred here at Compass over the term.
Thank you to our students for responding so well and to our staff for organising and planning
these enriched learning opportunities.
The School Leaders and Governors would like to thank those students who represented the views
of all students in our Student Voice / School Council this year. Governors were very pleased to
see both the range of topics discussed and the quality of the suggestions coming from the council.
A reminder, if other students wish to participate in school council please contact Jordan. Student
voice is important and so try to remember the phrase ‘do nothing about me, without
me’. Leaders will be working on your feedback.
I’d like to also thank those students who have participated in student panels when interviewing for
new staff so far this year. Your views are important to us and all candidates say that they
appreciate your questions and your honesty. Again, if you would like to take part in a panel please
speak with Kyle about this.
The term started well for our Year 11 students who undertook their practice exams with a positive
attitude, consideration for others and a determination to do their best. The good thing is that since
then, they have been working with their subject staff covering any gaps in knowledge, in
understanding the language of exam questions and revision techniques so they are able to look
forward to improving their results in the summer series. As parents and carers you understand
just how stressful exams can be for your children, the trick is to be well prepared and we hope
that between us we can work together to minimise the stressors at home and at school for them.
As a very quick reminder, the need for wellbeing and self-care is vital and of course it helps to eat
and drink well, get plenty exercise and good quality sleep throughout the exams period, so it is
perhaps a good idea to start to establish those habits well ahead of time.
As you will see Year 11 students (and other year groups) have been involved in a lot of activities
about planning their next steps, their futures and careers. We wish them all the very best in
making these plans happen and, to parents and carers if you have any questions or concerns
about Post 16 education opportunities , please get in contact quickly so that these may be tackled
in good time . /continued
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After that there is the extended summer break (for some) to look forward too. The official school
leaving date for all Year 11 students, or the date after which they can take up full time paid
employment, is 28 June. This is two weeks after our last exam which is 14 June. No Year 11
students will be required in school after their last exam has finished.
Generally, I’m pleased to report for the vast majority of students this term (and give or take the
occasional bump in the road), their behaviour in school has been super, thank you. There is,
sadly, a very small minority of students, who seem to be having difficulty in following and applying
the schools code of conduct, consistently. These students have had educational consequences
applied, including fixed term suspension. Compass does not apply suspension lightly, not least
because it affects school attendance, (and therefore learning and progress of individuals).
However, it is sometimes the only consequence which is appropriate for some behaviours.
We are currently experiencing, what we hope is a very temporary spike, in offences which start
with a comment, which needs challenging because it targets the protected characteristics as de-
scribed in the Equalities Act. This then escalates into threats of violence towards the person mak-
ing the challenge, predominantly an adult (those same adults who choose to work here to support
all students). This is a concern to us on many levels, but mostly because there is only a small
thought process difference between making a threat of violence to actually carrying out an act of
violence.
Also, as stated in a previous communication, the protected characteristics have a legal status so
to use derogatory language about any of them is, breaking the law. As a reminder, the character-
istics that are protected by the Equality Act 2010 are:
* Age * Disability * Gender reassignment
* Race * Religion * Sex
* Sexual orientation * Pregnancy or Maternity * Marriage or civil partnership
Compass is, and needs to continue to be, a second chance for many children in an environment
where all children feel they belong, feel safe, can thrive, learn and strive to be the best they can
be without feeling threatened or intimidated or limited to not being themselves. Compass
colleagues will continue to challenge all poor behaviour appropriately and especially this type of
behaviour, because of the lasting damage it can cause its victims. With your continuing support
we can tackle this together successfully . Thank you for all that you continue to do.
As always, at the end of a term we say good bye to some colleagues and thank them for the
service they have supplied to the school during their employment. Thank you and good luck to
Louise, from our Engagement Team who is taking up a post with Beachcroft School after Easter.
We also say ‘Happy Retirement’ to Kerry, our School Business Leader and longest standing
member of staff. Kerry has worked tirelessly for Compass for 25 years and for Dorset Council for
longer than that. She was instrumental in finding us a permanent home about 18 years ago. Kerry
has worked successfully on the Schools Leadership Team, as our Safeguarding Lead, and over
that time and has made a positive difference to many students and their families. Kerry has
multiple roles and very many skills which we will miss, but we have been able to persuade her to
maintain the financial oversight of the schools budgets for the time being. So although it is wishing
you all the best for your retirement, Kerry, it is still not time to say goodbye yet, thankfully!
Enjoy the rest of the articles and wishing you a lovely Easter Break.
Alison Glazier, Headteacher
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CAREERS NEWS
Careers Fair
Year 10 students were excellent ambassadors of Compass at Dorset Council’s first ever Careers
Fair. There was a huge range of exhibitors and we found out about jobs in planning, Live Well
Dorset, customer service, children’s services, Leeson House, finance, construction, building
control, youth engagement, harbourside jobs and conservation.
THANK YOU Year 10 for your enthusiasm and questions. The sheer number of different
job opportunities in Dorset made us all hopeful for the future.
National Careers Week
4th – 9th March was National Careers week and students and staff took part in our Careers Quiz to
find out what Compass Staff’s dream careers were when they were children! The winners in each
year group won a chocolate orange or a bag of sweets! We learnt about the importance of
Labour Market Information in choosing a job that will be needed in the future and used the
following websites to see which jobs will need more people to do in the future and which jobs
might be taken over by AI:
[Link] and [Link]
We also used transferable skills such as leadership, teamwork, following instructions and
creativity to create balloon-powered cars which we then raced to see whose car travelled furthest!
Here are some of our creations:
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Buddens Activity Centre
Year 11 students took part in an activity and careers day at Buddens. They were encouraged to
face their fears and take part in a variety of challenges such as the crate stacking activity,
nightline and tomahawk throwing. They can be proud of themselves for stepping outside their
comfort zone and trying activities they had never tried before. Some of them even faced their fear
of heights in the crate stacking! We then found out about how they could use the skills they had
developed in the careers that they are interested in, we also learnt about what it would be like to
study at Rockley C and what training and skills were needed in careers in sports and activities.
Arts University Bournemouth
AUB invited us to visit an exhibition of work produced by students on a summer project at the
University in January. While we were there, Year 10 students were able to find out more about
what it would be like to be a student at the university. We were lucky enough to be shown around
the Campus. Some highlights include photography department, especially the dark rooms; the
costume and set design department; the library of materials; the 3D printers and of course the
canteen and coffee shops! Lots of students said they would be very interested in studying here in
the future. Here is some of our favourites from the exhibition:
Kate
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Weymouth Wellbeing Bus
Fun, new, safe space for young people comes to Weymouth!
The Wellbeing Bus for Young People #WillDoesBus is at the
Esplanade offering a space to relax, play music, engage in games and
chat with youth workers on Wednesday evenings from 5:30pm –
8:00pm
[Link]
willdoesbus#:~:text=The%20%22Will%20Does%20Bus%22%20project,lives%20of%20the%20local%
LIFE SKILLS
Year 11 students are working on the final part of their BTEC in Personal Growth and Development
which is on the topic of Relationships and Sexual Health, Students in Year 10 are on their third
unit of this BTEC and are looking at Future Plans and Setting Goals as they start thinking about
Work Experience in July. Meanwhile Year 9 students are completing their RSPH Young Health
Champion Certificates and working on their campaigns which include: vaping, sexually
transmitted infections, mental health of young people, young men’s mental health and drugs. KS3
students are looking at what skills they might need in the future and how using Labour Market
Information can help choose career paths for their futures.
Safer Internet Day
As part of Safer Internet Day, we focused on how social media uses different techniques to get us
to spend more time on their apps, eg: autoplay on videos, red notification bubbles, streaks,
recommendation algorithms push notifications and limitless strolling. Compass students designed
their own social media apps and trying to stick to the budget given, decided which of these
features they would use to get the most usage on their app. Here is some of their work:
If you would like to find out more about safer internet, the following site has useful tips for parents
and carers: [Link]
Kate
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ART DISPLAY
Students at Compass have produced some amazing art work which was proudly displayed at the
recent Parents Evening. If you weren't able to see it then, below is just a small example.
Well done to all our Art students!
KEY STAGE 3 NEWS
KS3 students have been active again this term, taking part in six
weeks of climbing at the Jurassic Climbing Centre in Bridport. It was
amazing to see them progress over the course and everyone was
awarded a certificate for their best climbs.
We are currently enjoying swimming sessions at the Jurassic Fun
Centre, where students are able to enjoy relaxation time with their
friends and improve their water confidence ready to take on Stand Up
Paddle boarding after Easter.
Craig & Lucy
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SCIENCE NEWS
I am extremely pleased and proud to say that all year groups have worked hard this term and
have displayed great communication skills by contributing to class discussions in their science
lessons.
Students in KS3 have been learning about aerobic and anaerobic
respiration. Students successfully made a model of the respiratory
system using balloons, a plastic cup and some straws. Students were
able to demonstrate the role of the diaphragm during inhalation and
exhalation.
Year 9 students have been studying cells, looking at the different stages of mitosis. Students then
went on to look at specialised cells, stem cells and are currently learning about the nervous
system.
Students in Year 10 are working hard, learning about health and disease and have shown great
resilience with the difficult concepts within the biology GCSE content.
Year 11 students are completing the final teaching topic in preparation for their upcoming GCSE
exams. Looking at ecosystems, water/nitrogen and carbon cycles and are almost ready to begin
the task of exam revision techniques.
Bex
EASTER HOLIDAY & SUMMER TERM 2024
We are sure you don’t need a reminder, but we finish for
the Easter holiday this Wednesday 27 March,
and return to school for the start of the Summer Term
on Monday 15 April 2024.
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MAX EVENTS
Years 10 and 11 students continue to enjoy their time at Max Events. The Year 10 students have
been making bows and catapults recently, whilst students in Year 11 have been doing lots of
maintenance on the site. Mark
MY FAMILY COACH
My Family Coach is a free online tool created and managed by Team Teach available to parents /
carers providing expert support for every parenting challenge. It can help with a broad range of topics
including Friendships, Calming Down, Screen Time, School Life, Healthy living, Bullying, Relationships,
Communications, Mental Wellbeing, At Risk Behaviours. There are free online classes available, and a
whole host of resources to support families and children of all ages.
[Link]
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EXAM TIMETABLE MAY/ JUNE 2024
Please see below the exam timetable for this summer’s Year 11 external exams. Students will be
given full details together with their individual exams timetable and attendance arrangements.
Examination Timetable May - June 2024
Day Date Time Duration Exam
Friday 10th May am 1hr 45mins Biology paper 1
Tuesday 14th May am 1hr 15mins Travel and Tourism
Thursday 16th May am 1hr 30mins Maths paper 1
Friday 17th May pm 1hr 30mins Geography paper 1
Thursday 23rd May am 1hr 45mins English paper 1
HALF TERM HOLIDAY
Monday 3rd June am 1hr 30mins Maths paper 2
Wednesday 5th June am 1hr 30mins Geography paper 2
Thursday 6th June am 1hr 45mins English paper 2
Friday 7th June pm 1hr 45mins Biology paper 2
Monday 10th June am 1hr 30mins Maths paper 3
Friday 14th June am 1hr 30mins Geography paper 3
YEAR 11 LEAVERS EVENT
Plans are underway for a Year 11
Leavers event following the exams .
More details to follow!!
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