Year 11 Hub 14th May 2025 – A Proud Message from Mrs Razzell Mrs Clare Razzell Head of Year 11 at Penrice Academy Wow – What an incredible start to our Summer Term! The Class of 2025 returned after Easter in great spirits, focused and ready to embrace the final leg of their Penrice Journey. Friday 2 May really showcased what an incredible year group they are. The day included our Grand Finale Celebration Assembly (*we need to finish this off on Tuesday 3 June due to the sheer volume of amazing achievements), A Silent Disco, BBQ, and a special visit from the legendary Mr. Tee ice-cream (check him out on TikTok). It concluded with an amazing Guard of Honour by the Class of 2026. Thank you ‘Families’ for all for your support with the photos and videos and I hope that they have forgiven you! Fast forward to this week… Monday saw that start of the GCSE Exam window and it kicked-off positively with the English Literature exam on ‘Ambition and Kindness’. The feedback from the invigilators was phenomenal and both students and families should be very proud of how they have once again stepped up to their final challenge. We wish them all the luck in the world for the upcoming weeks and please let us know if any support is required. If we do not see you beforehand, then we look forward to seeing you all at The Atlantic Hotel on Thursday 19 June for their Ball. Please order sunshine for us all! 2nd May 2025 – Leavers’ Day 26th March 2025 21st March 2025 Ms Tanya Coleman Head of School of Penrice Academy It was absolutely wonderful to see so many of you at last night’s Year 11 Exam Success Evening. The turnout was a testament to the dedication and support from our school community and I have no doubt that this will give our Class of 2025 the best possible chance to succeed in their upcoming GCSEs. The strategies and tips shared by our expert speakers, combined with your ongoing encouragement, will undoubtedly empower your child as they approach this crucial time in their academic journey. Mrs Clare Razzell Head of Year 11 at Penrice Academy We’ve got some delicious news! On Friday 28th March, we’re hosting a FREE Chicken Friday for our Year 11 students! This is in recognition of their continued hard work throughout this academic year and to mark the completion of their Period 5 lessons – of which students have fully embraced! We are also super-excited to announce that our Grand Finale Celebration Assembly will be on Friday 2nd May. This will be an unforgettable event where we look back on all the amazing memories from your child’s five-year journey with us. From those first days in Year 7 to the incredible moments of Year 11, we’ll be celebrating everything they’ve achieved and the fantastic young adults they have become. A silent disco will follow before Year 11 are clapped out of school through a guard of honour. Lastly, a quick reminder that these Year 11 rewards are privileges, not entitlements. Rewards may be taken away from individuals who fail to meet our outlined expectations. So, let’s finish strong, stay focused and keep up the great effort! We’ve come this far together and let’s make these last few weeks count. 10th March 2025 Year 11 Exam Success Evening 20th March 2025, 4:15pm or 5:45pm – Advanced registration required. We are excited to invite your family to our Year 11 Exam Success Evening, which will equip you with the knowledge and strategies to support your child through this crucial stage of their education. This is the final information evening for families of Year 11 students and is designed to ensure that your child feels confident, prepared and motivated for their GCSEs. Our evening will offer plenty of practical advice on how you can help your child excel, along with key exam information, workshop sessions and a wealth of resources. Expert teachers will share tips on how to make revision more focused and efficient, including highlighting the best approaches and resources available for each subject. We will also return to the emotional and mental wellbeing of students during the exam period, offering guidance on how to foster a supportive environment at home. A flyer is available below containing full information. You can book your preferred timeslot via the online form below. Please remember to register for this event via the link below Exam Success Evening 2025 (PDF: 470KB)Book Your Timeslot 13th February 2025 A memorable visit to Poetry Live in Bristol for Year 11! Full Story 11th February 2025 Congratulations to our Year 11 golden ticket winner, Sam (11LE). Sam secured entry into the draw by attending January’s Year 11 Progress Evening with his family. His winning prize is free entry to the Penrice Prom later this year. 5th February 2025 A Year 11 Spring Term communication has just been sent out to families. This can be accessed below. Year 11 Spring Term Communication (PDF: 4MB) Year 11 Exam Success Evening (New Date: Thursday 20th March) We are delighted to invite you to our Year 11 Exam Success Evening (moved from 12th/13th February). This is a fantastic opportunity to meet with families of our Class of 2025 as we enter the final exam stage of Year 11, and it would be hugely beneficial for you and your child to attend. During this event we will be discussing all elements of your child’s remaining time with us at Penrice including: How the summer exam season works (dates/boosters etc). How students can revise effectively in the final weeks before their exams. How families can best support their children. Specific information from subject experts for all examined qualifications, including revision workshops for Maths, English and Science. We have multiple resources to give out at the event to support your child’s revision. 31st January 2025 Well done to our Year 11s for their outstanding effort this month. They thoroughly deserved a small thank you this morning through some ‘Dedication Doughnuts’ and a short extension to their breaktime to celebrate their efforts and perseverance. Their attendance at Period 5s is over 95% and we have so far accumulated over 2,750 additional hours of learning which will have a hugely positive impact when they sit their final exams later in the year. Well done Year 11! 17th January 2025 Words by: Mrs Razzell Head of Year 11 Dear Year 11 Parents and Carers, Thank you for attending the Year 11 Progress Evening yesterday at Penrice. There was a real buzz and lots of positive engagement which was great to see. Your participation plays a vital role in helping students reach their full potential and we appreciate your commitment to your child’s education. We look forward to working together throughout the remainder of the academic year to ensure their continued success. Next up is the Exam Preparation Evening on Thursday 20th March*. Details of this event will be released shortly. We look forward to seeing you again soon. *Original date of 12th/13th February has been updated since original message. 10th January 2025 A great first week back for Year 11 who have hit the ground running with their Period 5 study sessions. A total of 722 additional revision/study hours have been completed by the year group this week during Period 5, with 96% attendance. 9th January 2025 Save the date! Year 11 Progress Evening will take place on Thursday 16 January 3.30 – 6.30pm. The Progress Evening is an opportunity for families to meet with the subject teachers who will be taking Year 11 students through to the completion of their qualification in each subject. They will discuss PPE results, what they mean and what can be done to ensure that your child has a successful conclusion to Year 11. We strongly encourage parents and carers to attend with their Year 11 child. Students who attend with their parents/carers will be entered into a prize draw to win a ticket to the Year 11 Ball. The prize draw will take place during assembly on Monday 20th January. Mrs Razzell, Head of Year, will be available during the evening if you would like to discuss anything with her. She will be based in the reception area throughout the evening. This Progress Evening precedes our Exam Preparation Evening which officially launches the final revision period on Wednesday 12 February. Details of this event will be released shortly. We look forward to meeting with you next week. 7th January 2025 Great to see so many full classrooms during this afternoon’s first Period 5 session for Year 11. We look forward to keeping up the positive momentum. It was also a memorable day for the year group as they collected their PPE results earlier in the afternoon, being allowed time to phone home and share news of their results with loved ones. 3rd January 2025 The Term Ahead – 2024-25 – Year 11 (PDF: 4MB) 20th December 2025 Well done Year 11, you did it – the ultimate test of endurance! Over £4,000 raised for charity! We are so proud of you! A great way to end the term. A special mention to the amazing Mrs Razzell (Head of Year), the dedicated pastoral support team and all staff who volunteered to help with this event, be it the 3pm shift or the 3am shift! Without your help, this event would not be possible. And finally, one big thank you to the generous community of donors who helped us raise this amazing amount! Just Giving Page 18th December 2024 In true Penrice tradition, our Class of 2025 started learning ballroom dancing this week in preparation for the Summer Ball – and we are blown away by their incredible progress! Thanks to Mr & Mrs Thomas and Ms Tighe for their wonderful dance tuition 6th December 2024 Our Year 11 students have been very busy over the past few weeks, sitting their Autumn Term PPEs. As part of this process, we also had the pleasure of hosting our Year 11 Parent Partnership Evening on 28th November which was a tremendous success. We know that working in three-way partnership between ourselves, students and parents is the best way to help our young people achieve and we hope that the event provided plenty of useful guidance for how we can all work together towards the same end goal. In the event that you would like to recap anything from the evening, Mr Ben Wright (Assistant Headteacher) has prepared a 7-minute summary video available below. 22nd November 2024 Our Year 11 students started their PPE (Pre-Public Examinations) this week with papers in Further Maths, English Literature, History, Geography and more. Their written exams will continue through until the 4th December before some final full-day examinations in Fine Art and Photography in the final weeks of term. The PPEs are an essential part of preparing students for their final summer exams, helping students to learn about effective revision techniques, overcoming exam nerves and identifying gaps in their knowledge that can be addressed over the next 6 months. We will continue our mission in this regard at next week’s Year 11 Parent Partnership Evening, where we will be working in close collaboration with parents and carers to share guidance, effective tools and techniques to support learning as well as essential information for the next stage of the Year 11 journey after Christmas. 2nd September 2024 The Year Ahead – 2024-25 – Year 11 (PDF: 9.5MB)