CHANGE TO DEPARTURE TIME FOR YEAR 7 FRENCH TRIP
The travel company has changed our departure time and students must now arrive at 6am, NOT 6.30am as stated at the parents' meeting.
Apologies for any inconvenience caused. Thank you

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Year 11 induction day, into Year 12 in September Taking place this Wednesday 1st July, normal school hours. Uniform is not required to be worn (smart/casual dress code). Assembly will take place in the hall to paint a picture of the day, followed by taster sessions of the subjects available, and a team event to close the day. If you have any further questions, please call Mrs Harvey: 01487 830701, ext 181

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Year 9 Spanish Trip
They have arrived safely , the sun is shining and they are looking forward to a wonderful week!

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Year 7 Disco
As part of the Year 7 fundraising campaign for Oxfam Unwrapped, 7AP are holding a disco on Thursday 18th June from 7pm to 9pm, open to Year 7 students only, tickets will cost £2.50. The disco will be supervised by college staff so come along and meet your friends, have a dance and laugh at some of your tutors/ teachers trying to boogie the night away!

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FilmClub
This week's great film is:
Hotel Rwanda (12) Wednesday 20th May: 1530-1700 in E2.
Hotel Rwanda is the true story of Paul Rusesabagina - a man who put his own life on the line to save over a thousand refugees who faced certain death at the hands of their own countrymen in a tribal civil war in the African state of Rwanda in 1994. With over a million people slaughtered in only three months, Rusesabagina - the manager of a luxury hotel - opened his doors to anyone who came seeking help. Amid the chaos, he tried to get word out to the outside world of the atrocities that were taking place.NB:This film does deal with some issues that may be disturbing and parental discretion is advised. Only students with a signed consent form will be able to attend.
Any questions, please contact Miss Rees.

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Summer Uniform
As from Monday 18 May 2009 students in Years 7, 8, 9 and 10 will be expected to wear official summer school uniform of light blue polo shirt with the college badge in place of white shirt, tie and blazer . This uniform is compulsory for all four years as indicated on Page 12 of the Parents Prospectus 2008-2009.
Other uniform rules still apply: no make up or jewellery; skirts or trousers must be grey; no boots, trainers or sandals.
Sweatshirts, cardigans, hoodies etc may be worn as a top coat only, and must be removed in lessons. Ideally they should be plain in colour, preferably white, black, blue or grey but this is not essential. Anything considered to be inappropriate or offensive will be confiscated.
Year 11 students who are sitting examinations have already been told what they may wear.

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Year 8/9 Spanish Trip Information evening is on Tuesday 12th May at 6pm in the Hall.

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FilmClub (E2)
This week's great films are:
Wednesday 13th May: Ratcatcher (15) KS5 students + staff only. 1530 - 1710
A dark and unique portrait of Glasgow in the 70s. When a young boy drowns in a canal, the friend who he was with - James - blames himself. But for a while at least, life goes on for James as usual - making the best of things in the council flat he shares with his parents and two sisters, and a friendship with an older girl who is a target of abuse for the local kids. Ratcatcher is a film where mood and visual images are as important as plot, and the results will stay in the mind long after other films have faded.
Thursday 14th May: Millions (PG)All students + staff. 1530 - 1630
Seven-year-old Damien and his nine-year-old brother Anthony have an interesting problem on their hands - a bag containing £265,000 has dropped into their lives, and with only a few days left before the British pound is replaced forever by the Euro, they only have one week to spend it, give it away, or try to return it to its owners. What the boys do with the cash, and how they feel about their sudden fortune, makes for a thought-provoking film full of hilarity, excitement and unexpected twists and turns.
Any questions, please contact Miss Rees.

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Sawtry News Team - Calling all budding journalists, film makers, directors, camera operators!
Miss Rees is setting up a Sawtry News Team. We will be covering news from in, and around, the college.
If anyone interested please let Miss Rees know by Friday 1st May.

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Welsh National TeamDalton Harris,10KR,has been selected to play for the Welsh under 16 national football team and will be flying to Switzerland on 12th April for games against Switzerland and Belgium. Congratulations Dalton!

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On Friday afternoon 30 January 2009, the College undertook a trial using some online software to gather parents' views of the College.
Unfortunately, a technical error occurred during the sending of an email to parents. The College apologises unreservedly for any inconvenience or distress this may have caused. The College is looking into how this error occurred and is seeking advice on how to avoid a reoccurrence in the future.

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A statement regarding the AQA Physics Exam 20th November 2008. The results for the AQA, GCSE physics papers that were disrupted due to an exam board mistake have arrived at the college and been analysed. It would appear that the exam board have been true to their word and have managed to be as fair as possible with these papers. The results are comparable with previous results. We do still have the option to allow all students to resit free of charge any time until the end of the next academic year, we also have an option to allow students to take an average of their remaining module exams and to use that as their score for the physics module. We will look at each case individually to decide on the best course of action for each student.

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Technical Difficulties 19/01/09
Due to technical difficulties the college computer network system was down from 9.00am to 11.00am today. As a result, students were unable to put money onto the catering online system. Some students were able to use cash at break and lunch today to reduce long queues at the cashless till. Thank you for your patience and support.

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BBC News School Report
The last two weeks of the Autumn term have seen students in year 9 developing their journalistic skills in their English lessons. All students are participating in the preparation work for the BBC News School Report. This is a national scheme run through the BBC, and gives 11-14 year-old students in the UK the chance to make their own news reports for a real audience.
On 26 March 2009, schools across the UK take part in a News Day, simultaneously creating video, audio and text-based news reports, and publishing them on a school website, to which the BBC aims to link.
The work that year 9 are completing now will prepare them for participation in the School Report News Day. A group of students will be working with Miss Rees and the English Department to write, film, and edit their own news story which will be broadcast by 1600. This exciting project is an opportunity for all students to experience the world of journalism, film-making, and editing. Look out for the outstanding work to be showcased on the website coming soon!

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Free Computer Classes for Adults
Do you know someone who would like to learn how to use a computer? Our free Microsoft Digital Literacy classes for adults will be running again next term. Run by experienced tutors, these classes are suitable for beginners and for those with only a little experience of using computers.
The classes cover Computer Basics, The Internet & the World Wide Web, Productivity Programmes (word processing, spreadsheets etc), Computer Security & Privacy, and Digital Lifestyles (music and photography.
Classes will start week commencing 12th January and you can book a place by telephoning Mrs Kitchen at the college on 01487 830701. Choose from one of the following sessions:
Wednesday morning 9.30am - 11.30am
Wednesday evening 7.00pm - 9.00pm
Thursday morning 9.30am - 11.30am

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Private Transport Service January 2009
DialARide now have a spare bus to provide transport to College and back from the Ortons area of Peterborough starting January 2009. There are a few spaces still available. Please contact Mandy Lott on 01733 391995 or 07788 716868 or email: mandylott@btinternet.com to reserve a space for your child.

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The Poppy Appeal 2008
The Poppy Appeal 2008 raised £143.37, thank you to everyone who made a donation.

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A statement regarding the AQA Physics Exam 20th November 2008.
As you are no doubt aware there was a problem with this examination. The problem being that the exam board sent answer sheets that did not tally with the question sheets.
Their 'solution' to that problem was to ask the students to write on the question papers. The students were all allowed 10 minutes extra time to allow them to do this. The exam board have released a statement on their website, www.aqa.org.uk/students.php, explaining and apologising for their error. They have also written to all the schools involved in the exam yesterday, the essence of that letter is as follows
AQA will do everything possible to ensure a fair outcome for all candidates.
There will be extensive manual checking of all exam scripts to ensure accuracy.
All students will be offered a free resit for the exam.
There is no further information available at this time from the exam board. We are bound by exam regulations that stipulate that we are not permitted to check the exam papers until the morning of the exam. We therefore have to rely on the exam board to check exam papers thoroughly; Clearly it didn't happen in this case.
Today a strongly worded letter is being sent to the exam board ensuring that the viewpoint of all interested parties at the college (i.e. students, parents, the Science department and SEN)is made clear. We will also be filing a special consideration request for all candidates who sat the exam. Basically then it will be something of a waiting game, unfortunately it may not be until we actually receive the students results (scheduled for 14th January 2009) that we can fully analyse the impact of yesterdays errors. Please be assured that I have no intention of letting the matter drop until I'm satisfied with the exam board's responses.
I must point out that the staff who invigilated the exam did an outstanding job, under very difficult circumstances, to ensure the students were given as positive an experience as possible.
If you have any further questions or concerns then please don't hesitate to contact the college. David Roughley,Examinations Officer and Deputy Principal.

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NEW!!! Extra Daytime Class
FREE MICROSOFT DIGITAL LITERACY CLASS
We are now able to offer an extra class on Thursdays 9.30am - 11.30am. This 12 week course is suitable for all abilities so please come along to any of the sessions and see the new online resources.
For further information about our Microsoft Academy Classes, please contact Pam Kitchen Tel: 01487 830701 or pam.kitchen@sawtrycc.org.uk

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Hot News!
Sawtry Community College is honoured to host the start of the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust (SSAT) Future Vision Tour 2008 on Monday 29th September. The tour recognises and celebrates those schools who are at the heart of their communities. Students from Sawtry Community College will escort the delegates on a tour of the site visiting the Microsoft Academy, Library, Sawtry Day Nursery and also a display of our Social Enterprise links with the wider community. Sawtry Community College is to receive an award recognising our whole of community approach, 'from cradle to retirement', which displays our commitment to ensure that all sections of the community are included, and indeed welcomed, in all our various educational activities.

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Art Success
Various students at Sawtry College entered the Folksworth County Art Competition in June 2008 on the theme of Wildlife. Amongst the entries were a host of paintings and drawings showing just how artistically talented the students at Sawtry College are. Amazingly, we scooped first, second and third prize in this new competition, which was held for the first time at the Folksworth Festival in memory of Mrs Mary Saint - a local and respected wildlife artist in Folksworth. Mr Saint presented awards to the winning students in assembly and commented on how impressed he was with the standard of art at this school, and that he looks forward to seeing entries from the college in next years festival. Sarah Ecclestone won first prize, with Holly Burton and Layla Barnes coming second and third respectively. Well done to all students who entered and especially to the winners.

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GCE A level Exam results
Statistics
Pass rate at grades A to E 94%
Pass rate at grades A to B 40%
Pass rate at grades A to C 62%
We are very pleased that there has been an overall improvement in performance again this year, in particular in terms of students achieving the higher A level grades. We are also delighted with the performance of students following the CACHE Diploma in Childcare and Education (a full time course equivalent to 3 A levels) who once again achieved exceptional levels. The college would like to congratulate all of the students who have achieved success in these examinations and to recognise the hard work put in by the students and their teachers over the past two years.
GCSE Exam Results
Statistics
% of students achieving 5+ A* to C grades 74%
% of students achieving 5+ A* to G grades 99%
% of students achieving 5+ A* to C grades (including English and Mathematics) 64%
% of students achieving at least 2 higher grades in Science subjects 60%
49% of all entries achieved a grade B or higher with approximately 1 in 5 achieving an A or A* grade.
We are really pleased with these results. They are the best yet achieved at the college and are fair reward for the enormous efforts made by students, staff and parents over the past two years. Everyone involved is to be congratulated. Nineteen students achieved A or A* grades in at least 7 of their GCSE subjects and these students deserve particular praise. Many more achieved no grade lower than a grade B. We now look forward to welcoming many of these students back in September to build on this success in the sixth form.

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Students - please take our Student Council Survey
See below under Student Voice

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Student Absence Reporting Line
We now have a dedicated telephone line for parents/carers to inform the College of students' absences. Messages should include the student name, form group and reason for absence. Please note that we still require a written absence letter on the students' return for our records The telephone number is: 01487 833909

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Our College policies are now on line, click here to view >>>

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