A Level Results Day

Well, today's the day all the students (and teachers!) have been waiting for: Results day. The day for A2 students to find out whether all that hard work has paid off, and whether they have got into the university they wanted to, or for the AS students, to see if they have got the grades that will send them straight to the top of the A2 class.

Our overall A Level pass rate this year is the same as last year: 95%, and the overall AS pass rate has increased to 87%. These are extremely good results and our retention and success rates were both higher  this year too (this means that more people than ever have continued their studies with us for the full year). All in all, many students have achieved excellent results, so we would like to say a big thank you and congratulations to all our students for their hard work and commitment, and to our teachers who have guided them in their studies.

Our photographer and videographer was there to record the buzz and the happy moments, so here's a little taste of the feeling of the day:

Crime Scene Taster Day

On 22 June, students hoping to study A-Levels with us in September 2011 were invited in to do a taster day with a difference.

During an introductory talk by Janet Ruffoni, two criminals wearing hooded tops and wielding dangerous-looking water pistols burst in, and proceeded to rob several members of staff of their mobile phones, and when Applied Business Studies teacher Kate Huggon refused to hand over her mobile, she was shot several times by one of the violent assassins, and she slumped to the ground. It was a deplorable raid which left several students in shock… until Janet explained that it wasn’t real (if the water pistols hadn’t already given it away!)
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Watch the robbery!

And so the CSI Loughborough day began. Students had previously indicated whether they were more interested in the Science & Maths activities on offer, or the Humanities activities, and thus students were split into two groups.

The Maths & Science students examined various fibres under a microscope, to try to discern which ones matched those found from the crime scene; some people were therefore ruled out as suspects. Footprints had also been found near the body, and so plaster casts of footprints were taken and compared, to see if the list of suspects could be narrowed down at all. And then there were the blood splatter patterns, which, with a bit of number crunching, enabled students to work out the height of the attacker. It then became quite clear that Suspect 1 was in fact the killer!

Meanwhile, the Humanities group were invited to discover what crimes had in fact been committed, and how robbery and murder are defined by law; it was concluded that a robbery had indeed taken place, and the unlawful death of Kate constituted a murder, as she was shot several times at point blank range. The next activity was for students to consider why some groups of people (e.g. young black males) appear more frequently in crime statistics, and the sociological reasons for these trends; reasons such as poor socialisation, peer pressure, police racism, and stereotyping by the media were settled upon. Next came a rather more difficult activity: students were asked to recall the details of the crime they’d witnessed an hour before, such as the colour of the killer’s baseball cap, and how many handbags had been stolen. Psychological reasons for poor memory of traumatic events were examined, such as leading questions and weapon focus, and only one student had realised that the killer was in fact the Sociology teacher, Karen Lancaster! The final activity for the Humanities group was a Media / English task: for them to write a news report and film it; partly in ‘the studio’ and to have a reporter at the scene, along with a couple of vox pops. These videos were done to a good standard, and you can watch some of them here.

Overall, it was a really successful event, with students having fun, meeting their teachers, and meeting some potential fellow classmates ready for September.

News videos:

Anatomy Club!

They say that anatomy is a dying art – but not at Loughborough college!  This year a group of A-level students had the chance to get stuck in and experience some old fashioned anatomy teaching as part of a newly formed anatomy club. The human body is an amazing object - a product of millions of years of evolutionary advances.  Knowledge of basic human anatomy provides an excellent way of trying to understand how our bodies work, as well as giving a head start to students wishing to study human biology as part of a science or medical degree.	Some of the  models used to demonstrate anatomy
Anatomy club Students preparing for dissection
The anatomy club enabled students to explore the structure of the human body in a practical and interactive way, utilising drawings, models and organ dissection, as well as the anatomical knowledge of the biology tutor! Furthermore, by participating in the anatomy club these students now have something that would be an excellent addition to any UCAS application personal statement as well as have an interesting talking point for university interviews!

Easter

Another end to another term - it's been a long one, as Easter falls so late this year, so staff and students are ready for a break, to rest, rejuvinate and REVISE! Two weeks off, then two more weeks of lessons, then the AS exams begin! So while we teachers are planning some great lessons to help students be fully prepared for the exams with their writing techniques, the students - AS and A2 alike - will be revising everything over the break.

So, once we come back after Easter, there are lessons in May, then that's virtually it for another year!

Unlike some schools which force students to come back to 4 or even 6 weeks of lessons after the exams, we give our students more freedom. Our students will come back for just a week after the exams, when we do an introduction to A2, a trip to Alton Towers, and start UCAS applications.

But for now, it's just Easter, none of that excitement just yet. But it's interesting becuase we are interviewing lots of potential students over the holiday period, which is an enjoyable process. It's good for us to meet a few of the people we'll be teaching in September, and good for our future students to meet us, so that when they arrive for Enrolment, there are a few familiar faces. :D

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A Level and Applied Business students visit Meadowhall

Loughborough College A Level and Applied Business students visited  Meadowhall shopping centre in Sheffield on Tuesday 5^th April 2011. Here are some of the comments from the students...

“Truly blew my socks off! The talk was informative and enabled me to see some of the theory in practice at such a large organisation. I really enjoyed the trip.”  - Jake McEnery (AS Business)

“I enjoyed the trip, it was fun! The conference was really informative and interesting and covered all the topics we learn in class. Moreover, the shopping was excellent! Plus it’s always nice to have a day off.” Dany Panus (AS Business)

“I think the trip was beneficial, not only from the point of view of learning, but also for bonding with class peers and lecturers. The conference was easy to understand, and interesting; putting our knowledge into a context.” Cornelia Musteata (AS Business)

Science at the Space Centre

In March, a group of ten AS and A2 Physics students spent a day in the Space Centre in Leicester.

We launched paper rockets, which go nearly 100 metres:

 

  

We made model asteroids out of dry ice

We looked at ourselves on Infra-Red cameras.

Not to mention handling a sample of rock from a meteorite from Mars, and watching a flilm in the biggest planetarium in the UK - and we also managed to learn quite a lot of science.

Parents' Evening

It was the A-Level Parents' Evening yesterday; thankfully, there was no snow, like there was last time! It's always nice to speak to the parents of students who you teach, and it can give us teachers another way of understanding where our students are coming from.

Because we tend to prefer a more relaxed atmosphere (compared to schools) the majority of parents come along with the students themselves, and it's great when parents, students and teachers are all 'singing from the same hymn sheet'.

It's only six weeks now until the AS exams start (how did it happen so fast?!), so all the students are trying to make sure they are prepared nice and early so they can get the very best grade they're capable of.