The OSFC Newsletter

I would like to begin this newsletter with a tribute to Alisha Goup, who was tragically killed in a road traffic accident on 23rd February. The horror of that day still resonates with us all and our thoughts continue to be with her family. As a student of Statistics, Economics, Business and Sociology, Alisha had an exemplary approach to learning and was very confident in her ambitions and future plans. She came to us with glowing references from Oldham Academy North, where she worked hard and excelled in her studies, and she clearly loved her chosen subjects here, being eager to develop greater knowledge, understanding, and expertise. Her contribution to those classes and to the bustle of college is immeasurably missed by all of us.

Please, please help make the streets of Oldham safer places. We should all be able to travel to and from college, work, or home without fear. Oldham has started a School Streets pilot project which restricts car use on roads around 8 local primary schools, and this feels like a way forward and the beginning of an important statement against dangerous traffic. It reminds me that we can significantly change our environment by taking positive actions for the way we want Oldham to be.

In this newsletter you will find information on the recent CAP3 assessments, Easter College arrangements and Year 13 exam timetables for A level internal assessments (which begin the first week back). I would like to congratulate all the vocational students who very recently got the results of their January exams, the results were very strong - well done.

Opening Times:

📅 Week 1: Monday 3 - Thursday 6 🕘 9am-4pm

📅 Week 2: Tuesday 11 - Friday 14 April 🕘 9am-4pm

Don't forget your ID card!

Individual drop in support available throughout the Easter break, 9am - 4pm.

We will be running a series of revision sessions during the Easter break. These are an excellent opportunity for students to get some additional support and help with their revision and summer exam preparation. Please email the teacher for each session if you want to book on.

A list of the sessions can be found on our website by clicking here.

If you will be attending a session, please note the following:

• Wear your college ID
• Bring your Chromebook
• You can access the main building via the A3 entrance situated off the car park. If you are late, use the main visitor entrance. There will be no access to the upper floors due to maintenance works.
• Entry/exit to the DLB is via the usual doors.
• The Restaurant will not be open, therefore you must bring food/drinks with you.

Morning sessions are 9.30am - 12.00pm

Afternoon sessions are 1.00pm - 3.30pm

If you have any questions or queries please contact Lorna Keating lkg@osfc.ac.uk.

Exam Contingency Days

We have been instructed by Ofqual to inform all candidates sitting exams this summer that they must keep the following contingency days available, in case exams have to be moved nationally:

• 8 June (pm)
• 15 June (pm)
• 28 June (am and pm)

Therefore, please do not book any holidays before the final contingency day of 28th June.

Ofqual Student Guide 2023

Ofqual has published its 2023 Student Guide which provides information about this year’s exams arrangements and explains what support is in place when taking exams and assessments.

Summer exam dates

The dates for the summer GCSE/AS/A Level/BTEC/CamTech exams can be found on our website for your convenience. Individual timetables will be posted to Cedar on Friday 21st April.

Study Leave

Once the summer exam series begins, students will be given study leave in the morning on any days they have an afternoon exam. No study leave is given for morning exams.

Timetabled lessons and tutorials will only run until May half term for Year 13 and Level 2 students and so they will finish college on Friday 26th May, except to attend scheduled exams. However, as above, please note that students should remain available on the three exams contingency dates. Following the May break, Year 12 lessons will not restart until Monday 12th June due to INSET week running 5th-9th June. Exams will continue as normal during INSET week.

Student exams site

This presentation on exam protocol has been previously shared with all students but we also wanted to share with all parent. Please do read this as it gives lots of useful information. A reminder to student also that the Exams google site has lots of resources.

We will be using a new process for students to notify absences on exam days - we will email about this in due course.

Supporting Exam Preparation Parent Event resources

Last week we held an event in college, specifically for parents, on how they can support their son or daughter with exam preparation so they feel more confident, less stressed and give themselves the best chance of achieving their potential, including:

Thank you to everyone who attended. We have had lots of requests from parents to make this really useful information available so we have added the presentation to the new parent section of the website. You can also access it by clicking here. The slides show the results of recent students surveys regarding mobile phone use, sleep and wellbeing and is an interesting read for parents.

We have also been focusing on how to manage in the lead up to exams in tutorial and run student stress management sessions. Plus, don't forget, our wellbeing site features lots of really helpful student resources.

Wellbeing Week

There is a whole week of focused activities to take care of students’ well-being taking place from 24th April. This includes a visit from puppies, a smoothie bar, dance sessions and stress management activities. We hope everyone gets involved!

This is underpinned by the 5 ways to well-being, a set of principles we actively promote in College.

Mental Health First Aid

We continue to train members of staff across the Trust in Youth Mental Health First Aid to help them to promote the importance of looking after and talking about mental health. The course helps them to be aware of how to spot the signs of difficulties, approach conversations and how to signpost students to effective support.

We have also equipped many of our line managers by training them in Adult MHFA. This focuses on looking after the mental health of their staff team, approaching difficult conversations and looking after your own wellbeing in a managerial role. Over 80 staff have been trained at OSFC.

In addition to the half-termly bursary payment, students who are approved for a bursary also receive a daily free college meal entitlement. We are delighted to announce that on our return from the Easter break this entitlement will increase from £3.50 to £5 daily. It can be used at any of the eateries in the college buildings and is available daily to everybody on a bursary. Why not use this additional daily entitlement to sample some of the breakfast delights on offer and try out some of our new breakfast mini deals after the Easter break?

We encourage everyone to use it - as otherwise you lose it!

Easter holiday payment

Oldham Council want to ensure that those eligible for free meals receive a food payment to cover the Easter holiday at a rate of £15 per eligible child per week. This applies to all OSFC students who are in receipt of a free college meal / bursary. They will receive £30 to cover the 2 week holidays, and an additional £3.50 for the recent snow day. Therefore, a total payment of £33.50 will be made to bursary students' bank accounts on Monday 3rd April. The next usual bursary payment will then be made on Friday 21st April.

For any families that are struggling for food and provisions, please visit the Oldham Council website www.oldham.gov.uk/wecanhelp which lists financial support and benefits that are available for residents.

As we mentioned at February half-term, from the 6th March students have been prompted for an extra method of authentication when accessing Cedar or other college systems when not on the college network. Registration for MFA has to take place on-site and took place in tutorial ahead of this date.

A consequence of this is that parents need to use their own parental login for Cedar and not the student's - using the student login will require the student to use multi factor authentication.

A reminder that CAP3 (College Assessment Point 3) results have recently been published on Cedar. We encourage all parents to check these by logging into Cedar (please take note about multi-factor authentication and using parental login details as explained in the article above). They can be found under 'Curriculum and Achievement' then 'College Assessment Points (CAPS)' and then select 'March 2023'. If you'd like a reminder of your login details then please email Student Services on info@osfc.ac.uk.

For those who took mock exams in February, or external exams in January the CAP3 grades are reflective of that performance .

Student Union

We had an exceptional number of students apply to our Student Union this year, so much so we have enlisted 25 new members, compared to the usual 10 in previous years, all with fresh and fantastic ideas for College and the student population. New members have been recruited, have had their first meeting with the existing Y13 members for guidance and are already showing a great enthusiasm for their new role. Their first cross college experience will be helping during our Wellbeing Week from 24th April.

Student Ambassador Programme

Over the past few weeks, we have also been receiving applications from our current Year 12 students to be a part of our Student Ambassador programme for 2023-24. We welcomed 90 applications, and shortlisted 47 for interview.

We had some fantastic applications and conversations with students during the interview process and we are pleased to announce that we have appointed 37 Student Ambassadors for 2023-2024.

We had a fantastic attendance for our launch, and our first event which the ambassadors supported was our 'Progress to Success' event on Thursday. We welcomed over 300 prospective students and their parents to OSFC, and our fantastic ambassadors were on hand to welcome and direct them, as well as answering any questions they may have about studying at OSFC.

English students feel extremely privileged to have received three authors’ visits this month. Creative Writing, English Language and English Language and Literature students have attended author talks and Q&As by Phaedra Patrick, on how to write a novel, Dean Atta’s talk, about his journey to becoming a writer, and learned about Kate Bendelow’s role at the CSI, how she became a writer and benefited from writing advice. They have been extremely informative talks, with lots of time devoted to questions. The highlight being when students have been inspired to read broadly and to write, they have received guidance about the publication process and learned about the determination and resilience authors need to become full time writers. We believe reading and writing for pleasure can greatly benefit academic attainment cross-college due to improved literacy skills, it provides enjoyment, it increases wellbeing and gives students an insight into the worldview of others. Thank you all for your inspirational talks.

The annual Olympathon helps charity, but supports team building and bonding. It is a chance for students to interact with each other and staff in a way that traditional learning does not provide, it is a unique opportunity to build the foundation for skills that will continue on to later life.

Planned and supported by Year 13 students (with light support and guidance from college staff), the Olympathon is a gruelling 26.2 hour sporting event consisting of 26 sporting activities over a 26 hour period, inspired by classic Olympic events. Students are split into 6 teams and work nonstop, switching up their activities on the hour.

Due to unforeseen circumstances, out of student and staff control, the Olympathon had to be unfortunately cut short, for the safety of everyone involved during the heavy snow fall.

Despite this, a very impressive £3,116 was raised for Cancer Research UK. Through their dedication and determination, they were able to reach their targets and beyond. We are proud of all they have achieved.

Students at OSFC were able to sign up for a wide range of interactive workshops and talks across the week.

Computer Science, ICT & Maths students enjoyed a talk from a Cyber Security Senior Manager from KPMG.

Professor David Healy, from the University of Aberdeen, visited college to introduce students and staff to Raspberry Shake seismometers. David has also installed our very own seismometer in the science centre!

Lecturer, Dr Sarah Crowther, from the University of Manchester, visited OSFC to speak to students about asteroids and NASA return missions.

Science students attended a 'Chemical Tales from Forensic Science' workshop, centred around poisonous elements & molecules. Topics such as chemical agents in warfare/crime & the mystery of 'spontaneous human combustion' were also discussed.

Lecturer Karl Hemming, from Huddersfield University, for delivering 2 talks. Students were able to find out more about 'Careers from Chemistry' and 'Medicinal Molecules from Natural Sources'.⠀

Author and Crime Scene Investigator Kate Bendelow visited college today to talk to students about her career and journey into writing. Criminology and English students attended her very interesting and informative talks!

Science students visited the newly renovated Manchester Museum, looking at medicine & health in Manchester. Students were able to see the latest science research, interact with experiments, seek advice on science careers & talk to science researchers. The students particularly enjoyed learning how different biomarkers can be used in cancer research.

ICT students took part in a project to innovate a new product for the market as part of their year 12 unit: Internet of Things. Some brilliant ideas were presented with very creative and well pitched presentations. Souleymane Coulibaly and his Smart Sports Glasses, Ahsan Ali Maruf and a Smart Safety Speed Bot, David Vika pitched a Smart and Personalised Treadmill, while Muhammad Amaan Hussain presented an Environmental Pure Monitor, Keith Dzingayi proposed a Smart Luggage Carrier.

When the group voted there were three that were felt to be the most innovative and unique:

Arts Emergency is an award-winning mentoring charity and support network. Their network members share opportunities, contacts and advice so that young people can flourish in higher education and the cultural industries. Under the mentor scheme students are supported until they are 25, during which time they receive individual help, support and guidance from their mentor.

Students currently on the mentoring scheme include:

Anisha Azad studies Textiles, Sociology, Psychology and The Extended Project. Her mentor is Holly Gilbertson. Holly helps big brands in sport, fashion and technology better understand what young audiences want and need today by studying human behaviour and cultural influences.

Aliysha Azim studies Fine Art, Textiles, English Literature and Creative Writing. Her mentor is Alex Culshaw, a lecturer in Fine Art and Moving Image at the University of Bournemouth. She also works as a freelance experimental filmmaker.

Maryum Rowe studies the Extended Diploma in Art and Design and is also one of our keen volleyball players. Her mentor is Emilia Hall. Emilia works in the product development team of a cycling apparel brand, Rapha. She specifically works in colour development working with various fabric mills and dyehouses. Maryum says her meeting with Emilia have been very helpful in getting her to think beyond the mainstream routes into fashion.

Lisanne Bekker studies Drama, English Language, Psychology and is a member of the Debating Society. Her mentor is Sarah Pushnon, a freelance theatre director specialising in making work for young people. She runs her own company One Tenth Human, and has recently directed at The Dukes playhouse, Lancaster. Lisanne is looking forward to future help and guidance as her own career matures.

So say Lorena Colompar and Gloria Igbineweka.

Gloria and Lorena began The Oldham Pledge Scheme when in Secondary School, at Hathershaw College when they were both chosen to help launch the scheme with local Businesses and spoke at the initial Business Launch of The Oldham Pledge.

As they began their Oldham Pledge journey, they showed real passion about wanting to do as many activities and opportunities as possible. They said they wouldn’t have taken part in so much if it wasn’t for the motivation of the pledge’s passport scheme of recording activities.

Both became Senior Ambassadors at Hathershaw College and completed many of the activities across the 14 different pledges. The students felt their pledge passports made a huge difference in applying for Oldham Sixth Form College and helped build their confidence.

They have continued to take on leadership opportunities whilst at OSFC, including School Science Ambassadors and Student Ambassadors. Gloria, who studies Biology, Chemistry, Maths and Spanish is intending to study medicine at Oxford University and Lorena who studies Biology, Business, Psychology and Chemistry has ambitions to study Psychology at Manchester University.

Staff have been working on a range of projects throughout the year and are currently preparing to share the impact with colleagues using ‘Bright Spots’ as a platform. Projects are based on implementing tried and tested teaching strategies which are supported by peer reviewed research and have included embedding the effective use of technology as part of everyday classroom practice.

Teams of staff have built an appetite for exploring and refining the practical usage and possibilities of technology in the classroom, where their findings from low risk, high impact experiments, conducted across a range of subjects and levels, are fed back to all staff through our CPD cycle. Expanding the repertoire of learning technology increases opportunities to use it so that more students are actively involved in the learning environment, to improve their study habits, and experience success in their encounters with digital content. The programme runs throughout the year.

The Bright Spots will be shared within respective curriculum areas and eventually the whole staff, providing a menu of bite size summations of their projects.

There’s been a fantastic response to the opportunity to take part in the Manchester 10K across our Trust. We have over 70 staff taking part, including Broadfield Primary, friends and family. This all makes for an impressive team size. It promises to be really superb day on 21 May!

The next stage is to start our fundraising! We know there are lots of staff who are keen to support the fundraising but are unable to take part on the day for various reasons, so this is a plea to all staff, not just those taking part – please support us with raising as much as possible to support Oldham Food Bank.

We have created a team fundraising page (link here) which you can use to send your donation and supportive comments to the Food Bank and our team.

Please donate if you can, and share the link with family and friends, encouraging as much support as possible.

Let’s see if we can beat our previous best collective fundraising! We’ve set the target at £2000 but hopefully we’ll achieve that and more!

Along with some primary and secondary schools in Oldham, we are working with Oldham Council and Children North East, a charity based in Newcastle, to 'poverty proof' the college day. The charity's aim is to remove barriers to learning for children and young people experiencing poverty and reducing the stigma and discrimination that they face.

The process of Poverty Proofing begins with an audit of the views of students, parents, staff and governors. In order to be able to complete an action plan for the college, we need your views!

As they may not be able to speak directly with you all they would like to invite you to give your views anonymously online.

To complete the charity's survey please click on the relevant link below (when you click on the survey, click the blue 'Access Survey' button to start):

Student Survey, Staff Survey, Governor Survey, Parent letter and survey (please note that the charity's surveys are primarily designed for schools and so not all questions may be directly relevant)

Please submit your responses by 10th April 2023

If you have any further questions or queries, then do get in touch with us at info@osfc.ac.uk.

End of Spring term - Friday 31st March

Easter holiday - Monday 3rd to Friday 14th April

College reopens for Summer term - Monday 17th April

Year 13 'Mock' exams - Monday 17th to Wednesday 19th April (timetables are on Cedar)

Higher Education Evening for Year 12 - Thursday 27th April

Bank Holidays - Monday 1st and Monday 8th May

Summer exam series begins - Monday 15th May

Last day of half term / last day of lessons for Year 13 and Level 2 - Friday 26th May

Summer half term - Monday 29th May to Friday 2nd June

College reopens - Monday 5th June

INSET week / Year 12 Study Leave - Monday 5th to Friday 9th June (please note: exams will run as normal but there will be no timetabled lessons)

Year 12 classes restart - Monday 12th June

Exams contingency days - 8th, 15th June and 28th June (PLEASE KEEP FREE)

Last day of exams - Wednesday 28th June

Futures Fair - Thursday 22nd June

End of term / Celebration Day for Year 12 and Year 13 - Tuesday 11th July

A Level / Vocational Results Day - Thursday 17th August

Year 13 enrolment for current Year 12 students - Thursday 17th (online)

GCSE Results Day - Thursday 24th August

Year 12 enrolment for current Level 2 students - Thursday 24th August

Oldham rugby legend, former OSFC pupil, Trust Member and charity fundraiser Kevin Sinfield who ran seven ultra-marathons in a week has been granted the borough’s highest honour.

On Monday night the former Leeds Rhinos star officially received the title of Honorary Freeman of the Borough, the most prestigious award a council can bestow, during a ceremony in front of local councillors, relatives and friends.

The sporting star is one of just 27 people to receive the honour and joins the ranks of former Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill, suffragist Marjory Lees and Olympic gold medallists Nicola White and Matt Walls.