It gives me great pleasure to contribute to the foreword of this newsletter. Time passes quickly and already, we are coming to the end of the third half term of this academic year. Personally, this is a significant time because I have worked at the UTC for nearly two years and I have loved every working day here. It is great to be able to witness and be a part of our growing community.
For the past 6 weeks, we continued to offer our students different learning experiences. All our Y11 students have now completed their RAF training at Wittering. A number of KS4 and KS5 students have been working on their Royal Navy Challenge project; and on the 11th of February, a group of 4 students attended the REV Robotics First Tech Challenge and qualified for the national stage of the competition in London.
As a college, we continued to promote to the public what LUTC stands for and what makes us a unique establishment. This was highlighted in our most recent Ofsted report: ‘The college’s sense of community and care is a distinct strength of its provision, underpinned by the college ethos of nurturing professional and respectful relationships,’ and that ‘pupils willingly accept opportunities to lead and take on additional responsibilities’. I am immensely proud that our Y10s and Y12s have embraced this strong sense of LUTC community spirit. Many of our students volunteered to showcase our college during Open Evening in January to our visitors and future students.
We also celebrated the successes of our students with their parents/carers at our Award Ceremony Evening in January. I am confident that all our prize winners will make a significant contribution to our community in the future. Additionally, we celebrated National Apprenticeship Week and the International Day of Girls in Science and have been sharing our destinations success stories through social media.
As for our Y11 and Y13 students, this time of the year is, without a doubt, a significant time as the pressure is mounting – getting ready for their summer examinations. We know this is a very crucial stage of your life and we are all here to offer – be it academic or emotional wellbeing – our support.
Finally, a quick reminder that there is a staff training day on Monday 24th February and we look forward to seeing all of our students back at the UTC on Tuesday 25th February. Have a restful half term!
Mr Chung
Assistant Principal