March 2024 Newsletter
Principal’s Message
Dear Parents,
A Term of Growth and Opportunity
This term has seen Aylesbury UTC continue to thrive, and I’m delighted to share some exciting news with you in this edition of the newsletter.
Showcasing our Success
We were recently honored to host a visit from members of the Baker Dearing Trust, a body that champions University Technical Colleges (UTCs) across the country. The visit provided a fantastic opportunity to showcase all that Aylesbury UTC has to offer. We were particularly proud to have our students directly engage with the Trust members, sharing their positive experiences of our specialist education. Their enthusiasm and insights were invaluable.
Discussions around Employer Engagement
The visit also fostered fruitful discussions about employer engagement, a cornerstone of the UTC model. We are committed to providing our students with the skills and real-world experience they need to succeed in their chosen industries. We look forward to further strengthening these partnerships in the coming months.
Investing in the Future
Our dedication to providing students with the best possible learning environment continues this summer. We are excited to announce a significant investment in our computing specialism. This includes acquiring industry-standard equipment, ensuring our students graduate with the most up-to-date knowledge and practical skills sought after by employers.
Homegrown Talent Shines
This term, we were also delighted to celebrate the success of one of our own. Ben Ward, a former Aylesbury UTC student, has recently achieved a distinction in his IT technician apprenticeship. His dedication and hard work are a true inspiration to our current students, demonstrating the valuable pathways our programs offer. We are thrilled to have him as a valued member of staff at the UTC, ensuring our IT infrastructure runs smoothly and supporting our students’ technological needs.
Collaboration and Enrichment
Beyond our core curriculum, we are always seeking ways to enrich our students’ learning journey. Our strong links with Merchant Taylors’ enabled us to offer a fantastic opportunity to Year 10 students. A whole-day workshop, facilitated by the Speaker’s Trust, provided valuable information to pupils about how to speak confidently to large groups.
We are incredibly proud of all our students and staff for their hard work and dedication this term. Looking forward, we are energised by the exciting developments planned for the summer and the new academic year ahead.
Sincerely,
Joe Dunckley
Principal, Aylesbury UTC
Key Term Dates
The school calendar is available for all students, parents, guardians and employers. Click here to view the calendar. A summary of the upcoming term dates:
| Friday 29th March 2024 | Bank Holiday- school closed |
| Monday 15th April 2024 | Term Begins for all student |
| Monday 6th May 2024 | Bank Holiday – school closed |
| Friday 24th May 2024 | Finish for Half Term Break |
| Monday 3rd June 2024 | Term begins for all students |
| Tuesday and Wednesday 2nd & 3rd July 2024 | New Year 10 Induction Days |
| Monday 8th July 2024 | New Year 12 Induction Day |
| Tuesday 23rd July 2024 | Term Ends for Summer Break |
Trips
Year 11 Team at The Big Challenge Lunch
Congratulations to the Year 11 Team representing AUTC, at the Action 4 Youth The Big Challenge Lunch Competition in Milton Keynes.
There were 4 schools from Buckinghamshire and 4 from Milton Keynes taking part. The winner lifted the Challenge Trophy and a chance to win £1,000 Inspirational Speakers award and delicious lunch. After a very exciting day, Buckinghamshire beat Milton Keynes.
Our AUTC Team, were amazing! Brilliant teamwork and focus throughout all the challenges. They didn’t win, but they will always be our winners.
Visiting our Sponsor – Buckinghamshire New University
Taking our students to visit a further education establishment, is sometime the first time they have been to a university. This trip for Year 10 and 12 enables them to learn about university life and see the marvellous modern facilities on offer.
Our Health and Social Care students heard about the new Paramedic three-year course and from a professional Social Worker, what is required to be good at this job. Whilst, our Computing Students learnt about the wide choice of computing courses on offer and how they can elevate into great careers in the future.
Bucks Skills Show 2024
Years 11 and 12 visited the Bucks Skills Show at the Stoke Mandeville Stadium. With more than 127 business and organisations giving these young people an opportunity to speak to as many organisations as possible, researching them and finding out about different careers and get networking.
Royal Buckinghamshire Trust Hospital
Visiting the Royal Buckinghamshire Hospital is always one of our students’ favourite trips.
Royal Bucks Hospital is a specialist in spinal and neurological conditions. We were given a tour of the facilities and a fantastic conversation with the lead physiotherapist. She was amazing and gave us real insight into how they work with the patients to rehabilitate them following a spinal or neurological illness.
After the trip there are some potential future physios in the course.
Employer Engagement Update
This term the CEDIA project took place. CEDIA UK is the smart home technology industry.
This exciting project involves AUTC Year 12 students developing solutions to meet the needs of a patient who is paralysed from his chest down. Both Health and Digital students are looking at the problem from their specialist points of view.
Digital students are focusing on developing solutions from a smart home perspective to give the patient as much independence as possible using technology solutions. Yesterday, year 12 got to review their ideas and visualise the practicalities involved in providing a solution for the patient – “Mark” to be able to regain his independence and meet his needs. Students have now gone away to fine tune their ideas with input from today’s sessions and will be producing presentations to address Mark’s needs.
CEDIA is the global trade association for the smart home industry, with over 3500 members in 77 countries involved in the design, manufacture and integration of home technology. Over 300 of these are in the UK. The organisation assists members with training, certification and advocacy and is actively aiming to raise the profile of the industry amongst young people in consideration of the development of a future workforce for all the opportunities that are emerging.
Health and Social Care Update
Well, we are very much nearly at the end of another year. Only one more term to go.
For both year 10 and 11, this term has been mainly focussing on completing coursework on the growth milestones of a teenager. And I am pleased to see so many have completed this within the deadline.
For Year 11, there was some excellent mock results, they should really be proud of themselves, and after Easter we will be making sure all are fully prepared for the real thing.
For Year 10, next term we look to moving on to our next unit “Health Promotions”, where they will learn about how health and social care organisations work to promote healthy lifestyles to prevent illness and diseases.
We will also have lots of fantastic guest speakers coming in to tell us more about their own personal journeys in Health and Social Care.
For the Year 12’s we have now finished all of the content for year 1 and will be practising for the assessments coming up.
There will be more trips and visits to look forward to and talk about.
Have a well earned break and be ready and refreshed for a packed Summer term,
Take care
Tom Devey
Computing Update
This term has gone really fast, and we are approaching Easter very soon!
The Year 12 Computing students are involved in a joint project with the Health students on utilising digital solutions to support health and well-being. Within the Baker-Dearing UTC network, we are privileged to be working with CEDIA, a home installation consortium to expose our students to how smart technology can be used to enhance and support people into independence ad recovery. Students are given a case study and asked to think about possible solutions from different perspectives.
The Year 10 groups have just finished a Merchant Taylor’s workshop that challenged them to practice and develop speaking, interview and communication skills. We know we are on the right track to build confidence in our students!
Daniel Lubinga
Building Studies Update
Practical work
Year 11 students completed their practical assessments and are excited about their next steps. Some students are applying for apprenticeships and others are focusing on Further Educaton in a range of construction trades inlcuding; electrical, carpentry, plumbing, bricklaying, painting and decorating or interior design.
Message from Assistant Principal
Attendance
This Term we have seen a significant improvement in attendance following a recent letter about the related impact on how being in school increases the achievement results of students. It is hoped that this continues to imprve into the Summer terms by all students.
Awareness of Mental Health and Drugs
Whilst it is not an easy topic to cover, it is important that our young students understand that there is plenty of support in school and outside of school. For example, we have reached out for all Young Carers to come and speak to me. Last week, we have a positive change organisation that come into school called Cranstoun to talk about Cannabis. Drug education can contribute towards decreased harm and increased safety for young people, their families and communities.
We also work alongside Youth Concern who help us to support our students during a time of need. During this morning’s assembly, I spoke to all students to inform them of this organisation who are available to support them during term time, and during the holidays. Youth Action has amazing facilities and is a place where young people can receive counselling, play pool, play computer games or just socialise and have something to eat and drink. They also have their own food bank! This is available to all young people and there are no questions asked. If anyone is struggling over the holiday period, please do reach out.
All schools are finding that the more you support the young people to have the right information the more we are protecting them from making poor choices.
Through holiday periods my contact details are –
SAFEGUARDING ENQUIRIES
If your enquiry is Safeguarding related, please contact our Designated Safeguarding Lead, Sarah Wood via telephone on 07883 779689 or via email to swood@aylesburyutc.co.uk
Sarah Wood
Assistant Principal
Careers Lead Update
National Apprenticeship Week
National Apprenticeship Week was in early February, all AUTC students learnt in PHSE about the different levels Apprenticeships.
Apprenticeship Levels
- Level 2 – Intermediate Apprenticeship. A level 2 apprenticeship is often referred to as an intermediate level apprenticeship. …
- Level 3 – Advanced Apprenticeship. …
- Level 4 – Higher Apprenticeship. …
- Level 5 – Higher Apprenticeship. …
- Level 6 and Level 7 – Degree Apprenticeship.
On 23rd February, all families of exisisting and prospective students were invited in to meet a range of professionals in the Digital and IT Sector. The evening hosted a number of UTC Alumni and our Employer Partners such as CISCO, VSK Test Solutions, Cloudy IT and guest, Softcat.
The evening event was kicked off with recognising the achievements of our fantastic computing students, being awarded for their creative, professional presentations and technical work.
The Year 11 Next Steps data has almost been completed to determine the destinations at Post 16. As Careers Lead I am here to support those students that are still unsure. Please email jlloyd@aylesburyutc.co.uk for an appointment request.
Bucks Skills Hub Careers Newsletter
March 2024 can be read HERE.
Work Experience
Year 10
AUTC prioritise work experience , I would like to remind all Year 10 students and families that time is ticking to getting your July work placement organised. The set dates are July 1st to July 5th, this does not have to be related to your specailism if that proves difficult. Please complete the online form for the team in school to make contact with the Employer to make necessary checks.
Sixth Form
AUTC has timetabled Mondays for work experience for at least 45 days. Many students are enjoying their placements, however there are still some students that have not managed to find a placement. This is a matter of priority towards the course and their future. Please complete the online student own placement form.
Online Student Own placement Form
https://forms.office.com/e/msnvqL40r7
Next Term
Year 10 will be called into Careers Advisor meetings in small groups with an independent Careers Adviser. This will be their opportunity to explore any career they are thinking about in the future. I urge all parent and carer to discuss future careers at home and share your views.
Happy Easter to everyone and have a restful holiday.
Jan Lloyd
Careers Lead
