Digital Leaders’ Technology Hour 2016

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Written by Ryan Bowen

Published: 12 July 2016

Dane Court’s Digital Leaders, together with XMA/Google, put on the annual Technology Hour showcasing and demonstrating the latest tried and tested educational technology.  The Digital Leaders are students from across the school with a shared enthusiasm for cutting edge technology and collaboration.

Engineering Education Scheme - best in show

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Written by Mr P Dean

Published: 03 May 2016

Two teams of Y12 students from Dane Court Grammar School participated in the Engineering Education Scheme culminating in a celebration and assessment event at the University of Kent last week. The Engineering Education Scheme provides talented Y12 students the chance to explore the opportunities presented by careers in engineering.

The scheme consists of a number of phases which include a company induction day, a scheme induction day, the project, a two day regional workshop at Kent University and a celebration and assessment day. During these phases the team will learn about the task then develop a solution over a period of about six months. The project concludes with a technical report compiled by the team which they present to a panel of practising engineers.

This year one of our teams worked with Instro Precision Ltd, Broadstairs developing a cost effective training device to measure angles of azimuth and elevation. Our other team worked with Integrated Technology Ltd, Ashford developing a data logging device to measure the accuracy of the temperature of a dry heater block.

Both teams presented their work at a celebration and assessment day which showcased the work of fifteen other schools from across the county. The team representing Instro Precision Ltd was thrilled when they were presented with the Frank Manning Award for the best overall performance at the event. All Dane Court students were awarded Gold CREST certificates in recognition of their achievement. CREST is the British Science Association’s flagship programme for young people. it is the only nationally recognised accreditation scheme for project work in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) subjects.

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A stylish farewell to year 11

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Written by Mrs S Snaydon

Published: 30 June 2016

The weather threatened to spoil our party, but at the proverbial ‘eleventh hour’ the rain abated and the students were able to process from Broadstairs Road into the school to the cheers of parents and the rest of the school. A fantastic array of beautiful dresses (and precarious, possibly painful heels) and sharp suits greeted the audience as they passed through the balloon arches into the Heart.

What to do once you have received your IB results

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Written by Ms A Hale

Published: 29 June 2016

Results just arrived? This is for you!

Dear Dane Court IB Students
Congratulations on receiving your amazing results. You should feel very proud of your achievements in this rigorous and demanding course.
If you need to discuss your results with a member of the sixth form team we will be available so please come to the sixth form office
A UCAS link to your results has been set up so that universities should have your results.

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?

University Places
If you have met or exceeded your First Choice offer then the university should write to you to confirm your place shortly. You can telephone the relevant department to be reassured if you wish!

If you have not met your First Choice University offer, your First Choice University may still offer you a place, depending on a number of factors:

• How many other students missed their offers for places
• Any extenuating circumstances that could have affected your grades
• How much your application impressed them when you applied

In all cases, you should telephone your First Choice University and speak to the Tutor for Admissions in order to plead your case. Most Admissions Tutors will only speak to you (rather than representatives such as the school or parents). Many Admissions Tutors will be unavailable at this time due to holidays. Last year a number of universities would not make their decision until Clearing opened (on A Level Results Day). Expect the same this year.
If you have not met your First Choice but met your Second Choice offer then the Second Choice University will hold your place open until the First Choice University has confirmed whether or not it will offer you a place.
If you have not met either offer and both your First and Second Choice Universities reject you, then you should telephone both universities to plead your case. The Second Choice University will only accept you after you have been formally rejected by your First choice so the process may take some time. If neither Universities offer you a place then you will enter Clearing. Before Clearing opens you can telephone around universities that you would be interested in, asking if they may have spaces in Clearing for your preferred subject. They will probably say no because they won't want to give the impression that they are not full, but at least you will have made a contact that you can renew in Clearing.
It is advisable to be available to contact universities, should you need to, on 18 August 2016, as Clearing begins on this day.
Clearing

Clearing opens on the same day that A2 results become available, Thursday 18 August 2016. We will be in school to help everyone so do come in for advice. During Clearing universities fill remaining places on a 'first come first served' basis. If you have missed your offer, you should still telephone the universities to confirm whether or not you have been accepted.
It is important not to panic and rush into a university place on the 18th. It is unlikely that oversubscribed courses such as medicine or oversubscribed universities will have places available. In this case alternative courses and institutions will need to be considered. You should do your research, look at where institutions are and consider their options carefully. IB students are in an enviable position as by the time that Clearing opens they will have had considerable opportunity to research various courses of action in the light of their results. It is always possible to take a Gap Year and reapply through UCAS next year. The school will, of course, support all such applications. Members of staff will be available before the end of the summer term and on 18th August in school should you need support and advice.
If you have any questions or queries concerning results or clearing, guidance is available from school, in the National Press or on the Internet. Last year the vast majority of our students either exceeded or met the offers for their university choices. Those that were unsuccessful have found ways forward and are either attending or due to attend alternative institutions or courses. Clearing opens at 8am on 18 August 2016. In most cases A Level Students do not receive their results until after 9:00am but you can begin telephoning from before 9:00am. When you have found a university that will accept you, the place will not be confirmed until you have sent the university your 'Clearing Passport' – a link that UCAS sends to you once your First and Second Choice University rejects you formally.

Re-sits and Enquiries Upon Results
It is advisable to wait for the component marks of your examination subjects which will be available around the 7 July 2016 before discussing with your teachers which subjects to retake or for which subjects to request an "Enquiry Upon Results"'. Please come to the sixth form office for this information

If you wish to query your results you may apply for an "Enquiry Upon Results" (a re-mark). These are available for all subjects, including Extended Essays but are not available for multiple choice papers. The grade may be raised or lowered. If you wish to order an Enquiry Upon Result for any subject, you must inform the school in writing before 11 July 2013, including the fee for each Enquiry
Category 1: £81 per candidate per subject per level - all the externally assessed components are re-marked (it does not include multiple choice components and internal assessment).
Please note that separate cheques are needed for each re-mark request. Please address your Enquiry requests to Miss Aherne. Results from Enquiries will be made available to you by e-mail so it is imperative that you provide a valid e-mail address.
If you wish to order a photocopy of your marked papers, you must inform the school in writing before THURSDAY 14 July 2016, including the fee for each request
Re-sits are available for the IB Diploma. You may re-sit any of your examinations in November 2016. Your remaining marks will be carried forward from this examination session including all Internally Assessed work i.e. coursework. If you are successful in your re-sit for that subject your total Diploma grade will be amended. Please address your re-sit requests to Miss Aherne.
If you have any further queries relating to your results and your university offers please contact Ms Hale by 16 July 2016.

Thank you for all your help and support over the past two years. You are a wonderful year group, full of character and resourcefulness. It has been a pleasure to have you in the school and we are all very proud of you. We wish you all the best for the future!

With best wishes to you all

Ms Hale and Mrs Pickard

Davis Cup Trophy Tour

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Written by Mr M Alderson

Published: 14 June 2016

On Wednesday 8 June 2016 Dane Court Grammar School students, all of whom are members of the school tennis teams, attended the Davis Cup Trophy Tour at Polo Farm, Canterbury. Great Britain wrote their name in history to lift the Davis Cup by BNP Paribas title for the first time in 79 years, the incredible trophy is embarking on a memorable journey of its own. Launched on April 1 in Glasgow, the Davis Cup Trophy Tour is visiting over 100 venues across the nation including tennis clubs, Summer Major Events, parks, communities, leisure centres, town halls and shopping centres. (Red text lifted from Lawn Tennis Association website)

The students were able to get up close to the Davis Cup Trophy, worth £400,000, which Great Britain famously won last November. The trophy is one of the largest sports trophies, weighing in at a spectacular 105kg! The students also participated in some expert coaching, took part in a cardio-tennis session and watched an inspiring demonstration which included wheelchair tennis.

Where do we stand on equality?

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Written by Mr J Rye

Published: 14 June 2016

Equality nowadays is sometimes taken for granted. People sometimes say that racism and homophobia are outdated beliefs that society has grown out of. Unfortunately events such as the recent shootings in an Orlando nightclub and the Islamophobia backlash show that this is not the case. This is the very reason that Dane Court works and will continue to work for all forms of equality. We have six particular equality characteristics that we promote throughout the school:

• Age
• Disability
• Ethnicity
• Gender (both between sexes and for gender reassignment)
• Religion
• Sexual orientation

On Tuesday 17 May Dane Court hosted a group of students from the University of Kent who ran an LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and trans-gender) Mythbusters session for our year 12 students. These university students held an open and honest question and answer session, addressing many issues raised by our year 12 students about a wide range of topics, from coming out, to support groups, to clarifying terminology, to how a heterosexual person can best support LGBT people. The session relied on the questions that our year 12 students asked, and to hear the thoughtful and genuine questions really showed how sensibly people take these issues. Numerous year 12 students commented about how knowledgeable and informative the Mythbusters were, and how helpful they were in explaining things in a clear fashion. This was the second year that the University of Kent have run this event for our year 12 students. They will evaluate this scheme as a pilot before hopefully rolling it out to other schools in the local area. We hope to be able to continue and develop this link with the university, broadening to tackle other equality characteristics as well.
Our Equality display board features a rotating series of role models for each of our six characteristics. These role models are selected from those suggested by students and staff in response to a whole-school questionnaire. It is fantastic not only to see the different people identified as role models, but also the explanation that accompanies their choice.

However, it is not just through special events and displays that we aim to tackle discrimination on these characteristics, it is also in lessons themselves. Teachers already include aspects of these equality characteristics in some of their regular lessons, and we are developing this further. As part of our equality ethos and the development of the key stage three and four Identity, Culture and Education curriculum, we are sourcing and creating resources to promote equality with our students. Next year, each of the six terms will include a specific equality characteristic as a theme within assemblies and mentoring to provide time for staff and students to reflect upon these particular issues. It is our aim through the work that we do that we are preparing our students to go into the wider world and hopefully make it a fairer and safer place for everyone regardless of sexual orientation, religion, ethnicity, age, disability, or gender.

Parents: Do we have your correct email address?

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Written by Mr M Alderson

Published: 13 December 2014

We are making more use of email to send details of important events and opportunities for you and your child or children.