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Have you thought what is the next step for your son, or what lies ahead?
The Southampton Education Forum (SEF) in partnership with Southampton City Council and the Southern Universities Network invite parents, carers and young people (year 9 upwards) to the Your Future 2024 event hosted by Solent University. The free event will take place on Wednesday 5th June 2024 (15:30-19:30) and will provide parents, carers and young people with information on education and career opportunities after year 11. There will be the the opportunity to speak to colleges, 6th forms, universities, apprenticeship providers, employers, training providers and personal development partners, as well as talks and the opportunity to experience the Solent University campus. To join us please register via the link below:
Your Future - 5th June 2024 | Solent University (geckoform.com)
Have you wanted to try out for a football team? Wondered where try-outs happen? Look no further as a local club have trials each Wednesday. See the picture below for more details:
Bring a team, test your knowledge and have a great evening at the same time.
Work Experience placements form a vital part of our Careers programme at The Polygon School. Pupils are offered the opportunity to complete a, one week, block placement when they are in Year 10. This, following on from any employer encounters they may have experiences, forms their first opportunity in the world of work to see the structure of a working day and how a specific business operates.
For some pupils this could also lead to another placement in a different employment sector or an extended placement with a successful workplace partner.
We are lucky to work with many supportive businesses in the area that strive to give our pupils a positive experience when in their workplace. Many pupils return from their placement with knowledge of how the working day is structured, how operations in the workplace take place and knowledge of the business. Some decide what they want to do in the future, others decide that it isn’t the fit for them.
All experiences are viewed as positive and a valuable learning experience for the pupils. We are grateful to the businesses who have worked with us this year and look forward to working with them again in the future.
List of businesses we have partnered with:
Safer Internet Day is celebrated around the world in February of each year, promoting a safer and more responsible use of online technology by children and young people around the world.
What is the message for Safer Internet Day?
The internet is an amazing resource when used safely, helping children to learn and even keep in touch with friends and family who live far away.
For more information check out our links on E-Safety within the Parents or Children sections of our website or visit - https://www.saferinternetday.org/
We are seeking to a great person to join our school team. Please go to our Vacancies page for full details of the post.
In September we were very proud to successfully be re-accredited with the British Council´s prestigious International School Award in recognition of the work we have done in bringing the world into the classroom. For the past twelve years as a school we have embedded and built an international dimension in the curriculum with great success. The British Council states that:
´The International School Award celebrates the achievements of schools that do exceptional work in international education. Fostering an international dimension in the curriculum is at the heart of the British Council’s work with schools, so that young people gain the cultural understanding and skills they need for life work in today’s world.´
The icing on the cake for our school was an extremely proud moment this week! Our headteacher Mr Penfold explains:
„On Monday, on behalf of the school, myself and Ms Kinder got to go to the Houses of Parliament to pick up our International Schools Award. We were joined by a host of MP's including the member for Southampton - Royston Smith. There has been a huge amount of work that has gone towards achieving this award and I would like to thank all of the staff, students and school stakeholders that have made this award happen. This is another award that shows us what a fantastic school that we have. I could not have been any more proud!“
Healthy High 5 GOLD Award at The Polygon School
The Healthy High 5 Award was launched in Southampton to make it easier for schools to provide healthy and fun activities for all pupils to improve their wellbeing (the award is slightly different for primary schools as is age appropriate).
The award is comprised of 5 “Stars” to achieve:
These goals/stars link in with Life Lab, a service provided at Southampton General Hospital to help educate young people about lifelong health.
At the Polygon we are proud to say that we have now achieved a GOLD award!
Lots of hard work has been done to progress from “Working towards Bronze”, “Bronze”, “Silver” and finally “GOLD”!
We have been taking part in this scheme for 2 years now and plan to continue with it as it is a timetabled lesson, and part of our everyday routine now at school that the pupils enjoy.
***Photos of various HH5 activities can be seen on our blog. Our digital GOLD award logo is displayed on The Polygon School homepage (see bottom banner) and our physical copy is displayed in the school reception***
For more information about Healthy High 5 please see:
The end of term one is always a great week of celebration and fun leading up to the Christmas break...this week has not disappointed! From a Pop Up shop, trips out, to making Christmas trees in a swimming lesson, all staff have come together to make sure pupils have had a fantastic week.
The annual Christmas dinner is the highlight and an example of how teamwork is great at our school. Jane in the kitchen cooked a fabulous Christmas dinner that was then served to pupils in their own tutor rooms. This setting allowed all to enjoy the relaxed atmosphere before Santa came to visit with presents. The Polygon would like to say a HUGE "thank you" to Family Action who partnered the school up with local companies who were willing to donate presents for Santa to deliver. These were:
The generosity did not stop there and a "thank you" goes to Environcare who look after our grounds maintenance.
*A special mention and "thank you" goes to our Business and Finance Manager who went above and beyond in making Christmas special for all.
"On behalf of everybody at The Polygon School, Happy Christmas and a Happy New Year to everybody connected to our school community!"
This term we have had a significant investment in technology to assist teachers and pupils in their learning. School purchased SMART boards for each classroom which has allowed teachers to enhance the lessons and learning experience for pupils after extensive training. The increased interactivity in lessons has brought a new dimension to aid and further pupils learning. Teachers have found them reliable, stable and can be used all day long. One teacher has said:
"Pupil engagement has increased. Being able to highlight texts interactively to pupils is a great tool to have."
Pupils have found them very useful with a pupil in 4PR saying:
"I do interactive Maths games on the SMART boards in tutor time. I find this has helped me learn more."