UTC Swindon
Newsletter – 10th November 2022
Dear all,
We’ve had a busy few weeks since the last newsletter so there’s lots of exciting news this week to share with you.
Wellbeing Day
Visit to Diamond Light Source
We were delighted to have won tickets to visit Diamond Light source (UK’S synchrotron facility). This is one of those places where Science and Engineering goes hand-in-hand to explore new research opportunities across the board. Our students had a great day learning about the opportunities at Diamond, very few people could say they’ve walked on top of the beam of electrons travelling at near light speed!
Diamond welcomes students to do work experience with them over the summer on variety of projects (e.g. physics, engineering, maths, IT). The next round of applications will open in December. It’s a great opportunity for UTC Swindon students and they should be encouraged to apply. Here is the link for when the round opens in December: Diamond Work Experience
Visit to the University of Oxford
Fundraising
Ever thought of being a governor?
Becoming a school governor is an invaluable role, contributing to “transforming lives through learning” of all Activate Learning Education Trust (ALET) learners. This is an extremely rewarding opportunity to make a difference and give something back to the local community. Becoming an ALET governor will allow you to use and develop your skills in a board-level environment. You would also be joining the largest volunteer network force in the country, with over a quarter of a million volunteers governing state funded schools in England.
To become a governor, you must be aged over 18 and have the necessary skills, attributes, and time to positively impact our learners. You do not necessarily need an understanding of education systems to be successful in this role as plenty of training and support is available and school governance benefits from a range of backgrounds such as from business, HR, legal, marketing and property. Our schools and University Technical Colleges in Theale, Bicester, Reading, Didcot, Swindon and Hillingdon need the benefit from a wide range of professional knowledge to provide a balanced and diverse range of knowledge, skill, and experience to be effective. As noted by Ofsted – the most effective schools demonstrate effective leadership and management, which includes the governing body.
Should you wish to discuss what this role entails in more detail, please contact Heledd Walker, Head of Governance and Compliance via email Clerk@alet.org.uk.
Opportunities
Oxford Brookes Open Day
The next Oxford Brookes undergraduate open day will take place on 12th November from 10:00-16:00. This is an opportunity for Year 13 students to chat to staff and students and find out about the courses they are interested in by joining subject-specific sessions and workshops. www.brookes.ac.uk/open-days
RateMyApprenticeship Event
This virtual event will take place on 22nd November from 17:00-20:00. Throughout the evening, current Apprentices will be talking about their experiences. Attendees can meet employers, get an exclusive employability session with The University of Law and receive an attendance certificate for their CV. www.ratemyapprenticeship.co.uk
Social Media
Please do join our Parent Facebook Group, this is a community page, giving you the opportunity to meet, help each other and discuss anything related to UTC Swindon. Please be aware that this should not be used to liaise directly with the school. You can join the group here: UTC Swindon Parents Group
Please also remember to follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook as this helps with our marketing and publicity.
Café Menu
Keeping in touch
Dates for the diary
- Monday 14th November – UTC Swindon Careers Event
Term dates for 2022 to 2023
- Autumn Term 2: Monday 31st October 2022 – Friday 16th December 2022
- Spring Term 1: Tuesday 3rd January 2023 – Friday 10th February 2023
- Spring Term 2: Monday 20th February 2023 – Friday 31st March 2023
- Summer Term 1: Monday 17th April 2023 – Friday 26th May 2023
- Summer Term 2: Monday 5 June 2023 – Friday 21 July 2023
Further details can be found on our website: Term Dates
With good wishes
Neil