ASDAN PSHE: Engagement Pathways

PSHE: Emotional Wellbeing

Pupils on the Engagement Pathway have been working through the PSHE Short Course ASDAN award. This has been quite successful through this year, with clear structure and easy to follow activities to support the learning content.

 

Module 1 of this course is Emotional Wellbeing. The aim of this module is to develop young people’s understanding of emotional wellbeing and mental health. It provides opportunities to learn about, and practise, strategies that recognise and support good emotional wellbeing.

 

Firstly, we learned about how being connected to others can improve emotional wellbeing and we explored how we can practice this in our own day to day lives. Pupils created posters on what activities could support improved mental wellbeing.

Next, we focused on common types of mental ill health, where pupils were given space to research different issues and learn more about illnesses which they may or may not have heard about before. Pupils did some great writing pieces about what they learned.

Following on from this, the pupils completed some work around recognising the early signs of poor mental health, and we created checklists on what we signs we can look for in ourselves and other people.

Finally, we looked at activities that can promote positive emotional wellbeing. We explored physical exercise, time outdoors, community participation and volunteering. Pupils were given the choice to then create a short film or a poster of their research.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

AQA Unit Awards with the Engagement Pupils

 

Pupils on the Engagement Pathways work towards accreditation on the AQA Unit Awards Scheme. This encourages students to engage with learning and have their achievements in their diverse personalised curriculum recognised. Students are rewarded with certificates each time they successfully complete a unit of learning. They can build up a portfolio to evidence their skills, knowledge and experience.  

The awards are versatile and can be delivered in partnership with our external providers, or on-site. Some examples of recent success in off-site accreditations include: Basic Fishing Skills, Wiring a Three Pinned Plug and Introduction to Indoor Top-Rope Climbing. It's great to see our pupils working so successfully within the local community and having meaningful encounters.

Using the Unit Awards Scheme enables us to recognise the breadth and depth of our student's achievements on-site. During the Autumn term, Making a Cheesecake, Improving Self-Knowledge and Self-Esteem and Designing and Carving a Pumpkin have been achieved. Pupils can choose unit awards from an extensive library to fit around what they already do and what they have interest in.

 

Unit Awards boost confidence, increase engagement and improve motivation. On leaving The Polygon School, each pupil will have an extensive portfolio which can be shown to colleges and employers to demonstrate their lifelong learning journey. 

Vocational Wednesdays

As part of their personalised timetables, a group of the Morris House pupils attend a vocational provision at the Routes Skill Centre.

Steve teaches them a number of different areas of construction, all as part of their Level 1 Multi Trade Construction qualification. 

The boys learn the basics of tiling, brickwork, plastering and plumbing, and more. 

The course lasts 4 years, and goes towards their Laser Learning Employment & Progression Qualification - which can be carried on in their next stage of education.

The set up in the workshop replicates that of a real work environment, so the pupils learn a work ethic as well as skills to set them up in a job, and the scenarios are realistic for training purposes too! 

KS4 ICT

Since September KS4 boys have all been taking part in IDEA, The Inspiring Digital Enterprise Award, an international award winning program that helps in developing digital, enterprise and employability skills. Through completing a series of online badges they will gain an industry recognised award after gaining a certain amount of points. 

Some pupils have already achieved their IDEA Bronze award certificate and are now working towards Silver and Gold. 

          

Maths GCSE

 

                                                        GCSE MATHEMATICS's

This summer we had a record 21 pupils entered into Mathematics, more than any other subject in Polygon history. This included two year 9's, nine year 10's and ten year 11's.

We also have two pupils sitting the higher paper. This paper has questions starting at a grade 3 and goes up to grade 9!

This specification was chosen as it allows the pupils to use a calculator in both exams. This has already led to multiple grade 4s and higher in recent years.

AJ and Lewis preparing for their GCSE's

The boys will now be waiting for Thursday 24th to receive their results. Good Luck everyone

*** First iDEA Enterprise Award winner ***

                                                            

                                                        Inspiring Digital Enterprise Award

CONGRATULATIONS to Lucas Jewkes for becoming the first pupil in the school to achieve a bronze award from iDEA

iDEA is an international award winning programme that helps you develop digital, enterprise and employability skills.

Through our series of online challenges, you can win career-enhancing badges, unlock new opportunities and, ultimately, gain industry-recognised Awards that help you stand out from the crowd.

For this Lucas had to complete badges in the following categories: Worker, Citizen, Maker and Entrepreneur.

Here is a complete list of his badges.

Shout out to James Wyatt, Tobi Sartain and Tyler Williams for being close to obtaining their badges

ICT Results are in

 

                                                    EDEXCEL Functional Skills in ICT

Back in February a host of KS3 and KS4 pupils sat the EDEXCEL Functional Skills in ICT exam. This was a Level 1 exam that was equivalent to a grade 2 at GCSE!

This was an opportunity for KS4 to bank a grade before sitting the Level 2 exam in June and a fantastic opportunity for KS3 to show off what they have learned this year.

We are pleased to say that we had LOTS of passes

Here are just a few of the certificates that we received. This will go into the boys folders for them to take home at the end of year 11. 

This course is finishing next year so we need a big effort from pupils and staff to make the most of this opportunity and grab some qualifications in ICT