Sixth Form Department News
25th April 2008
Dear Parent/Guardian
RE: Year 13 Study Leave
Year 13 students will start their study leave on Monday 12th May 2008, as examinations commence during that week. Subject teachers will individually arrange with their students should they wish to continue with their lessons during this period.
We shall be celebrating the completion of your son/daughter`s time at BGN School with our Leavers Mass in the school chapel on Wednesday 14th May 2008 at 7.00pm. We hope that you will be able to join with us on this important occasion and to meet formally with teaching staff after the Mass.
I look forward to meeting with you.
Yours sincerely
Mrs Veronica Martin
Head of Sixth Form
23rd April 2008
Dear Parent/Guardian
RE: YEAR 12 STUDY LEAVE / ENRICHMENT WEEK
Year 12 students will start their study leave on Monday 12th May 2008, as examinations start during that week. All students are expected to return to school on Monday 16th June 2008, to commence their A2 programmes of study prior to their work experience week, 23rd June to 27th June 2008.
Enrichment week runs from Monday 14th July to Friday 18th July inclusive, and it is essential that all students who wish to proceed to A2 courses attend for the whole of this week as not only does this provide an opportunity for students to broaden their horizons in a variety of ways, but also students will start their UCAS applications during this time.
We wish all out students well during their forthcoming examinations and look forward to seeing them back to register on Monday 16th June.
Teachers will arrange individually with students should they wish to continue with their timetabled lessons during study leave, when this does not conflict with exams.
Please do not hesitate to contact me should you have any concerns regarding any of these matters.
Yours sincerely
Mrs Veronica Martin
Head of Sixth Form
15th January 2008
Dear Parent/Guardian
RE: Berkshire Higher Education Convention – Year 12
Tuesday 18th March 2008
I am arranging a visit to the Berkshire Higher Education Convention at the University of Reading on Tuesday 18th March. This event is organised by the Connexions Department and will offer your son/daughter the opportunity to attend subject talks given by the admissions tutors from a range of universities, and to obtain specialist advice from staff from more than 120 universities and colleges.
Please complete and sign the reply slip below should you wish your son/daughter to attend and return with £5 towards the cost of transport, together with the enclosed parental consent form in a sealed envelope marked for the attention of Miss Debbie Roberts. Please note that trip will run on a `first come first served` basis.
The coach will leave BGN school at 8.35am and return to school at approximately 5pm. Please ensure that your child is in school at the time stated to avoid a delay in our departure.
Yours sincerely
Mrs Veronica Martin
Head of Sixth Form

7th January 2008
Dear Parent/Guardian
I would like to take this opportunity to wish you a very happy New Year and to remind parents and students of the following dress code requirements. Every student agreed to these when they registered for their `A` level courses and signed a contract to this effect.
• Students may wear smart/casual clothes e.g. jeans, combat trousers etc without tears and rips, for normal lessons.
• T-shirts and denim skirts may be worn for normal lessons but shorts must be knee-length and all tops should be appropriate for school without unsuitable slogans etc.
• For full school assembly on a Monday and for Liturgies, school masses etc, Sixth Form are required to dress more formally. On these occasions boys should wear tailored trousers and shirts with ties, and girls may wear tailored trousers and shirts of a reasonable length and modest tops. Trainers should not be worn.
We have tried to accommodate our students` understandable desire to express their own individuality, and to balance this with the important lesson that clothing needs to be appropriate for the particular occasion, in order to better prepare them for future life.
Yours sincerely
Mrs Veronica Martin
Head of Sixth Form
8th January 2008
Dear Parents/Guardian
I am very concerned that some students are continuing to plagiarise work, usually downloaded from the internet, and submitting it as their own. All students have been informed on many occasions that to plagiarise work is a serious offence. `Plagiarism essentially represents a breach of copyright or intellectual rights. These are rights to have one`s work correctly acknowledged, to object to false attribution, and to object to derogatory treatment of work. Plagiarism is essentially where the true author is not acknowledged, and the work is falsely attributed to someone who did not actually author the work` (Internet Plagiarism Advisory Service).
Examination boards will cancel all the work in all subjects if a student decides to offend in this way, and of course at university students are automatically dismissed for their first offence.
Some teachers are now forced to completely re-mark all their students work in order to double check it – a very ominous task indeed.
Please re-enforce with your son/daughter the serious manner in which we regard any form of plagiarism, and that any student who is tempted to resort to this form of cheating will not be entered for their examinations.
Yours sincerely
Mrs Veronica Martin
Head of Sixth Form
Parents Evening for Year 12 and Year 13 will take place on Wednesday 5th December from 4.00pm until 6.30pm.
I look forward to seeing as many of you as possible.
The Sixth Form open evening will take place on TUESDAY 13TH NOVEMBER at 6.30pm in the school hall. Any one interested in joining the sixth form will be very welcome to come along and see what we have to offer.
Mrs Veronica Martin
Head of Sixth Form
There will be a UCAS evening with a presentation by a local university which covers all the information you will need concerning your son`s/daughter`s application to university, funding etc. next Monday 17th September at 6.30pm in the school hall. The evening will be of particular interest to the parents of Year 13 students, but the parents of Year 12 students are equally welcome. The evening is not a parents evening, but is specifically focussed on UCAS.
The final date for applications to UCAS through this school will be Friday 19th October 2007, which is in line with the other local schools, and which will give our students the best opportunity of gaining a place at the university of their choice.
I look forward to meeting with you on Wednesday.
Please note the new date for Sixth form September 07 induction day is THURSDAY 6TH SEPTEMBER AT 9.00AM
YEAR 12 PROGRAMME:
9am Chapel:
Year 12 welcome assembly with Head of Sixth Form, Yr 12 receive AS grid, timetable, tutor group lists.
9.30am - 11am Hall:
Year 12 meet with form tutors to:
sign Sixth form contracts
Pay £12 kitchen money (cleaning)
Pay £10 damage deposit
11am - 11.30am Common Room :
Break - tea/coffee/biscuits
11.30am - 12.30pm Library:
Study skills and work experience seminar with Mrs C Smith, Deputy Head and Mrs Sam Garrett.
12.30pm - 1.45pm Hall:
Lunch for all Year 12
2pm
End of day for Year 12
YEAR 13 PROGRAMME
12noon Chapel:
Year 12 Welcome Assembly with Mrs Martin
12.15pm
Year 13 meet subject staff in their teaching rooms for guidance on A2 choices.
12.30pm - 1.45pm Hall:
Lunch for all Year 13
1.45pm - 2.15pm Subject Classrooms:
Further opportunity for Year 13 to meet subject staff in their rooms for guidance on A2 choices.
2.15pm - 3.00pm Tutor Bases:
Year 13 register with form tutors and re-negotiate sixth form contracts.
Pay £12 kitchen cleaning money
A number of Sixth Formers will be going on a trip to Aston University in Birmingham on Tuesday 19th June to give them an opportunity both of touring the campus and attending presentations on UCAS applications, student finance etc. There is no cost involved and the coach will return in time for school buses. Students will be free to choose their own itinary and will not be supervised throughtout the day, but allowed to tour the campus, so are expected to behave in an appropriate manner at all time. Two members of staff will accompany the trip.
Upcoming events for the week commencing 9th July for Sixth Form:
Mon 9th July :
9.30 until 11.30 - Northampton Univeristy presentation.
11.30am until 1.30pm - Registering with UCAS
2.30pm until 3.20pm - Finance Talk Nat West
Tuesday 10th July :
9.00am until 10.00am - Jazz Dancing/UCAS Personal
Statement
10.00am until 11.00am - Gap Year Activities - Frontier
12.00pm until 1.30pm - Holocaust Survivor talk
2.20pm until 3.20pm - Self-Defence 12BE
Wed 11th July:
9.30am until 1.30pm - Cooking on a budget
2.00pm until 3.00pm - PUSH Polytechnic & University
Student handbook
Thurs 12th July:
9.10am until 10.10am - Jazz dancing/UCAS Personal
Statement
10.00am until 11.00am - Blood transfusion
11.30am until 1.30pm - Yoga/Pilates
2.20pm until 3.20pm - Study Skills Revision
Fri 13th July:
9.10am until 10.10am - Interview & CV techniques
10.10am until 11.10am - Self-Defence 12BE & 12PA
11.30am until 12.30pm - Andy Milne Red Car Driving
School
12.30pm until 1.30pm - Presentation by Narcotics Anon
2.20pm until 3.20pm - Evaluative questionnaire
( this itinary may be subject to change)
Year 13 Leavers Mass
We shall be celebrating our Year 13 Leavers Mass on Thursday 17th May at 7.00pm in the School Chapel. I hope that you will be able to share this important occassion with us and enjoy some refreshments afterwards. I look forward to seeing you.
Important Dates - Yr 12 Students
Return from study leave - Mon 18th June
Aston University Fair Trip - Tue 19th June
Work Experience - 25th June to 29th June
Sixth Form Prom - Friday 6th July
Science Trip - Mon 23rd & Tues 24th July
Lessons will continue throughout the exam period by arrangement with individual staff.
Any Year 12 student who is leaving at the end of the year is encouraged to attend the Leavers Mass on 17th May with your parents so that we can celebrate the conclusion of your school life in an appropriate way.
`A` Level Exam Results
Results will be available for collection from 10.00am on THURSDAY 16TH AUGUST or may be mailed to students provided that Mrs Radcliffe - Examinations Officer has been given a stamped addressed envelope.
We wish all our students every success in their examinations!
Sixth Form `Taster Day`
There will be a `Taster Day` on MONDAY 2ND JULY where students will have an opportunity to visit each of the specialist subject areas and to discuss with staff what would be involved in taking their subject to AS level.
The school years starts for new sixth-formers on WEDNESDAY 5TH SEPTEMBER with an assembly at 9.10am in the chapel together with Head of Sixth Form and Sixth form tutors. This will be followed by regsitration in the hall at 9.30am. ALL students will be required to pay £22 on signing their contracts with their tutors - £10 damage deposit and £12 kitchen cleaning costs.
MUNGA:
Four teams of three `distinguished delegates` of BGN`s Year 12 Students took part in a Model United Nations General Assembly to see how assemblies of the United Nations take place. Between us, we represented: Sudan, Sierra Leone, Vietnam and Thailand. Throughout the day we debated on various issues including women`s rights, water and sanitation, education for all and birth control. By lunchtime we were able to have reached agreements on these issues and drafted resolutions. We were able to freely vote and `lobby` on these resolutions. MUNGA is useful in encouraging students to speak confidently in public and helps widen their knowledge, not only of their own adopted countries but also of the current affairs that are affecting these countries and their stance on them. It was an enjoyable day which was also enlightening. It was amusing to see how the USA was often under political attack! As a result ,we had a great day and would recommend MUNGA to others.
Andrew Weir and Becca Bray 12 PAUL
Presentation Yr 12 Post 18 Choices:
On Monday 18th March Nancy Horan our Connexions Adviser, gave a presentation to Year 12 students on Post 18 choices to start their preparation towards University, Further Education and employment choices. There will be further talks and activities related to these issues in the latter part of the summer term.
David Seaton from Northampton University gave a talk to Year 13 about student finance.
Sixth Form Prom
Friday 6th July at 7.00pm untill 11.00pm. Tickets are now on sale in school, please see Miss Debbie Roberts if you wish to purchase a ticket. Price - £23.00. Music from the Rivieras and photographs will be available for purchase on the night.