The year 10 History students visited The Museum of Lincolnshire Life this term. We have been learning about the World Wars and life in the early 1900’s and this was a perfect way to bring our learning to life by seeing real artefacts and more information from the era. The kids found out lots of quirky facts and enjoyed seeing what different rooms looked like during this time period. We also inspected the tank and other war materials and reflected upon the tragic circumstances of war in general.

Education and Engagement Officer for the UK Parliament Malcolm Smith came in to talk about all things parliament with the Year 10’s this term. Children learned about the key roles within the Houses of Parliament and how traditionally things are running there. Students have the opportunity to write their own laws and policies and present them to ‘Mister or Madam Speaker’ in an engaging roleplay.

In the run up to World Mental Health Day on Sunday 10^th October, Athena school held their own Mental Health Week. Pupils and staff took part in a number of activities to raise awareness of the importance of looking after our mental health and well-being, and to encourage everybody to get talking about mental health. 

The week was a great success, with everybody pulling together and really enjoying all of the planned activities. 

On Friday, everybody was invited to come to school in something yellow for our ‘Hello Yellow’ day, in aid of the children’s mental health charity ‘Young Minds’. Young Minds is a fantastic charity supporting many young people with their mental health. 

Pupils helped with a student bake sale, and the staff had a staff bake off- where June and Jo judged the winners. We are very proud to announce that we raised an impressive £147.30, all whilst raising awareness of mental health! Well done team Athena!

School life has been far from normal this academic year (and last!) and many of you haven't been in school since before Christmas. We understand that it's probably quite daunting and tricky to come back to school as normal, especially with the anxieties and concerns surrounding COVID.

The link below gives some helpful advice and tips for those of you returning back to school after lockdown. There are tips of how to manage stress and anxiety, how to get yourself back into your school routine, and also further reading. This information can be useful for you as pupils, and carers.

Click here to read the full blog post.

Our popular school jobs are making a comeback! Staff at Athena are looking to reappoint some key members of the pupil team to take on some key responsibilities around school. 

If you have an interest in any of this positions, you need to send an email, in the first instance, and you will be sent an application form.

So what is available to our student body? Have a look at the available jobs below (click on the links to download the job descriptions):

• E-safety Ambassador - E Safety Members Poster, E Safety
• School Council - School Council Members Poster, School Council (1)
• Librarian - Librarians Poster, Librarians

If you wish to apply for a position, you need to send an email to the following staff, who lead these roles:

• E-Safety - Mrs Issott, Mr Barbosa, Mr Griffin
• School Council - Mrs West, Mrs Turnbull, Miss Taylor
• Librarian - Miss Allard, Mrs Seaman

We look forward to hearing from you soon, and good luck!

In the UK, February is LGBTQ+ history month. Athena School is a Stonewall School Champion, so we will be looking forward to seeing plenty of LGBTQ+ history information go up around school.

The first ever LGBT+ history month took place in 2005. The official LGBT+ History month website defines the month as promoting equality and diversity, for the benefit of the public by:

• Increasing the visibility of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (“LGBT+”) people, their history, lives and their experiences in the curriculum and culture of educational and other institutions, and the wider community;
• Raising awareness and advancing education on matters affecting the LGBT+ community;
• Working to make educational and other institutions safe spaces for all LGBT+ communities; and
• Promoting the welfare of LGBT+ people, by ensuring that the education system recognises and enables LGBT+ people to achieve their full potential, so they contribute fully to society and lead fulfilled lives, thus benefiting society as a whole.

Our Stonewall display, within school, will proudly feature historical LGBT+ people, and how they relate to the subjects we teach in school. For example, Jackie Kay is a well known gay author, and Frida Kahlo was a bisexual artist. LGBT+ history month is a great time to learn about people from the LGBT+ community and their contributions to society. For example, did you know that Alan Turing, a gay computer scientist, was responsible for breaking the German Enigma code in World War 2, and without his work, England would have continued to face a big disadvantage against the German military? How amazing!

You can find out more about LGBT+ history month on the Stonewall website, and the official LGBT+ history month website:

• Stonewall
• LGBT+ History Month

Holocaust Memorial Day is recognised on 27th January, and is a time to learn about and to learn from the events of the Holocaust, how the Nazis persecuted millions of people, and also more recent genocides and persecutions in history. HMD was first held in 2001 and has become an annual day of remembrance for all those, especially the Jewish community, who suffered in WW2, due to Hitler and the Nazi regime.

During the years 1941 and 1945, millions of Jewish people suffered at the hands of the Nazis, through persecution, discrimination and forced labour in concentration camps, and death. The Nazis attempt was to exterminate all the Jews in Europe. 

Holocaust Memorial Day is not only a day of remembrance, but a time to learn about the events of the Holocaust, and to learn from them. There are many ways that we can learn about such an important event in history, at school or at home. 

At 7pm today, you can watch the Holocaust Memorial Ceremony online here - the service will be fully digitised and will stream from 7pm to 8pm. At 8pm, if you are able to do so safely, join the millions of others and  light a candle and place it in your window as a sign of remembrance and respect. The theme of 'light in the darkness' symbolises remembrance of those who died in the Holocaust and a promise to fight against prejudice today. You can learn more about this year's theme here.

During the day, today, you can also take part in activities, at home or in school, and you can find out more here. There are cooking activities, plenty of videos to watch, artwork to create, and more. You can visit the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust website for more information on the Holocaust, what HMD is, and how you can take part.

Experience have just added some new virtual work experience opportunities that are looking for students like you to apply. Apply as soon as possible to give yourself the best chance of securing high quality work experience at a top employer and a boost to your future career aspirations.

New Virtual Work Experience Opportunities Recruiting Now:

· Royal Air Force Careers Insight Day - Access All Areas

· Eligibility: 15+

· 3 Dates still available:

o 2^nd March (Deadline 1^st Feb)

o 3^rd March (Deadline 2^nd Feb)

o 4^th March (Deadline 3^rd Feb)

· Time: 10:00 – 15:00

· ST EMpowered Working in the Water Industry

· Dates: 15^th February 2021.

· Eligibility: 16 – 19 year old students keen to find out more about a career in management.

· Application Deadline: 25^th January 2021

· Insights into Infrastructure and the Built Environment

· Dates: 15^{th – 19th} February 2021.

· Eligibility: 15– 19 year olds students interested in environmental sustainability, diversity and inclusion.

· Application Deadline: 15^th January 2021

· Virtual Work Experience with a leading Construction/Engineering/Infrastructure/Design Company

· Dates: 15^th -19^th February 2021.

· Eligibility: 14– 19 year olds students interested in Smart Motorways sector & technology

· Application Deadline: 29^th January 2021

· Wates: Insight Into the Construction Industry – International Women’s Day

· Date: 8^th March 2021.

· Eligibility: 14 – 19 female students.

· Application Deadline: 8^th February 2021

· The NDEC Women in Cyber Virtual Work Experience Day

· Date: 8^th March 2021.

· Time: 10-14:00

· Eligibility: 14-19 female students interested in cyber & security.

· Application Deadline: 17^th February 2021

· Royal Air Force International Women`s Day Webinar - Meet our Ambassadors - 10am-1pm

· Date: 8^th March

· Time: 10am-1pm

· Eligibility: 15– 19 year olds students interested in hearing some inspiring stories from some of our RAF Female Ambassadors

· Application Deadline: 8^th February 2021

· Magazine & Website Article Writing - Add to Your Creative Portfolio - 1 Week Virtual Work Experience

· Dates: 8^th – 12^th March 2021.

· Eligibility: Creative 15 – 19 year olds interested in marketing research, data collection and analysis. – Particularly from the East of England

· Application Deadline: 18^th February 2021

· Green Skills in the Construction and Engineering Industry

· Dates: 6^th -9^th April 2021.

· Eligibility: 14 – 19 year olds interested in the ‘green’ plans for the construction and engineering industry.

· Application Deadline: 7^h March 2021

· VWEX: Construct your Career with Kier

· Dates: 1^st – 5^th March 2021.

· Eligibility: 14 – 19 year olds interested in design, finance, Health & Safety, Sustainability, Planning or Community Engagement

· Application Deadline: 17^h February 2021

· East West Railway Company - Building a New Railway

· Dates: 6^th -9^th April 2021.

· Eligibility: 16 – 19 year olds interested in Technology, Engineering, Planning, Business Studies, Design and/or Customer Services

· Application Deadline: 28^h February 2021

Please complete your application early as employers may make selections before the advertised deadlines.

For a full list of placements - sign in here to search and apply.

If you have any questions about the process, have forgotten your login details or are having technical issues, please get in touch with experience@speakersforschools.org and the team will be more than happy to help.

Good luck!

The Experience Team