February 2019 Newsletter
February was mainly about Pre-Assessments. Students and a couple of our teachers felt the pressure of sitting the test under exam conditions.
Our Head of Science department Dr Aguiló sat the A2 Maths exam with his students to see how they feel when sitting the test with the clock ticking.
He scored 98%! Well done Dr Aguiló and to all of our students.
Concentration!
Enrichment this month
Giving our students life skills to help them deal with different situations is an important part of our Enrichment programme.
To help the students relax and focus the week before exams Jay from http://www. earthyoga.es visited us. She gave them breathing techniques to help deal with pre-exam stress.
Hazel from https://vipserviceschool.com/ offered a very practical skill on how to care for shoes. She explained the importance of having clean, well kept shoes as first impressions really do count! Hazel explained tips and tricks such as cleaning with toothpaste, using a rubber on scuffs and washing trainers in the dishwasher.
After the stress of Pre-Assessments we challenged the students to an egg drop, to work team building and negotiating skills. They were divided into groups, given a selection of different materials and devised a way of making their egg land safely after being dropped from our balcony.
It was great to see the team work and community spirit among them even if some of them showed us their more competitive side.
Drama Guest speakers
Our Drama students were fortunate to receive the visit of various experts in their field. We are always grateful to these professionals who offer our students the wealth of their experience and knowledge. This month they were visited by Jonathan Holloway , currently the Artistic Director of Melbourne International Arts Festival . Jonathan told them about his career and encouraged them to work hard to achieve their dreams.
Jenny Vila – Drama Lighting Designer gave them inspiration for their sets. She also shared tips on how to write about lighting for the theory component of the Drama exam.
Palma College Instagram
Love was most definitely in the air on 14th February. Our students were given an Instagram Challenge. They were asked to reenact, design and be creative when sending Valentine Day inspired photos for our Instagram page.
The IT department got involved straight away and won the prize of a box of chocolates!
Art
Art students went out to visit our Head of Humanities and Art teacher’s installation piece at https://www.ma-artecontemporaneo.com
Her piece formed part of the Un libro dos vidas exhibition. Students had the chance to see 30 different ways of interpreting one theme.
Taster Day
On 22 February we held another Taster Day and we were delighted to welcome prospective new students and their parents to college. We also had a special guest from Loughborough College who gave a presentation on the Sports BTEC we will be offering through them. There has been a very positive response to this new venture from current and new students.
