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Student Life

Virtual Library

Everything recommended in the Virtual Library is completely free to use!

eBooks

Project Gutenberg has over 60,000 books and counting! Have a look at their ‘bookshelves’, where they list popular books of particular genres. Try the Gothic Fiction bookshelf 

Audiobooks

What’s an audiobook? An audiobook is one you listen to, instead of read. You might prefer to listen while you go for a walk, complete chores, or while you are on the bus and train

Librivox  offers free audiobooks read by volunteers from around the world.  

Try these classics: 

Podcasts

Song Exploder

A podcast where musicians take apart their songs, and piece by piece, share the story of how they were made. Featuring artists such as Bjork, John Lennon, and Billie Eilish, and film and TV soundtracks such as those from Game of Thrones and Dune.

Harry Potter and the Sacred Text

Some people might claim flippantly that Harry Potter is like a religion to them. This podcast takes that seriously, studying the books as if they were spiritual texts, and discussing themes like commitment, revenge, and forgiveness. “This podcast creates time in your week to think about life’s big questions. Because reading fiction doesn’t help us escape the world, it helps us live in it.”

Welcome to Night Vale

A twice-monthly fiction podcast in the style of community updates for the small desert town of Night Vale where every conspiracy theory is true. Featuring announcements from the Sheriff’s Secret Police, local weather and news, mysterious lights in the night sky, dark hooded figures with unknowable powers, and cultural events. Turn on your radio and hide!

Six Minutes

Eleven-year-old Holiday is pulled from the icy waters of Alaska with no memory of who she is or where she came from. Are her mom and dad really who they say they are? When she begins to develop incredible abilities, she’ll soon discover she’s not alone in the world.

Treasure Island 2020

James Hawkins helps his mom run a motel in modern day Montauk, Long Island. But when a mysterious man washes up on the beach with a treasure map tattooed on his chest, James discovers that Billy Bones is, in fact, a time traveling pirate from the 18th century. James and his new friends, Morgan and Max, follow the map right into a magical portal that leads them back nearly 300 years and into a swashbuckling adventure.

The Unexplainable Disappearance of Mars Patel

A high-quality serial mystery story performed by actual kids. Think Goonies meets Spy Kids meets Stranger Things.

Book Suggestions

Don’t know what to read next? Try one of these websites for book reviews and community recommendations: 

Free Database and Other Study Resources

  • Encyclopedia.com
    Contains nearly 200,000 short entries from the Britannica, Oxford University Press, and Columbia Encyclopedia. This is an excellent, reliable source for all your research needs!
  • British Library Sounds
    Listen to the British Library’s huge collections of unique sound recordings, which come from all over the world and cover the entire range of recorded sound: music, drama and literature, oral history, wildlife, and environmental sounds. 
  • Zone In Book Lists
    Career and public speaking workshop, live poetry, reading and writing activities, and so much more! 

Recommended: Follow literacy_trust on Instagram for author interviews, competitions, and other events. 

  • Renaissance
    All KS3 students have access to non-fiction articles on the Accelerated Reader website by logging in with their username and password and clicking on the ‘Accelerated Reader Articles’ tab (the third tab on the home screen). This gives you a choice of lots of different articles with quizzes attached.
  • Newsround
    News magazine keeping young viewers up to date with the latest stories and events happening at home and abroad. Find out what is going on, with stories, pictures and videos. Try a quiz or a free game.
  • Bibliomania  
    A fantastic selection of classic fiction, short stories, poetry, study guides, non-fiction books, biographies, and reference books. 

The Bibliomania reference section provides so many great writing resources.  

Doing vocabulary exercises? Look up the words in Websters’ Dictionary, then put them into the Bibliomania search engine and find many examples of use by great authors.  
 
Writing an article? Find some inspiration in Bartlett’s Dictionary of Quotations or Grocott’s Dictionary of Quotations.  
 
Writing an essay, or your first novel? Use Roget’s Thesaurus and Soule’s Synonyms to find different ways of expressing your ideas.  
 
Wondering where that word comes from? It might well be from India or a precursor to one of the Indian languages. Hobson Jobson Dictionary of Anglo/Indian Words will tell you.  
 
Looking for a literary reference, or obscure author biography? It’s probably there in Brewer’s Phrase and Fable, or Brewer’s Reader’s Handbook. But you could also try Rhys’ Biographical Dictionary

WELLBEING

At Phoenix Community College our students’ well-being is paramount.

Wellbeing is the state of being “comfortable, healthy and happy”.  Our well-being varies, due to the daily demands of life.  However, there are various techniques and tips that can help you to improve or maintain positive wellbeing.

Wellbeing is easily split into 3 elements that contribute to our overall well-being:

Physical wellbeing – your ability to perform physical activities and carry out daily tasks that are not hindered by physical limitations.

Mental wellbeing – your thoughts and feelings and how you cope with the ups and downs of everyday life.

Social wellbeing – your ability to make and maintain meaningful positive relationships and regular contact with other people in your world.

If you have the correct balance of all three well-being elements, you are likely to have positive overall wellbeing. 

As a student, if you would like to a member of staff about your well-being, please email your Personal Study Manager (PSM).

Please explore the areas below to see how you can improve your physical, mental and social wellbeing.

Physical Wellbeing Mental Wellbeing Social Wellbeing
Explore the videos and resources below to help you exercise safely and effectively to improve your physical wellbeing. Explore the videos and resources below to help you learn about mental health and how you can improve your mental wellbeing. Explore the videos and resources below to help you learn about your social health and how to improve your social wellbeing.
Exercise with The Body Coach (Joe Wicks) Youtube channel
NHS Live Well - Exercise Webpage
NHS - Every Mind Matters
Young Minds UK
Children's Mental Health Week
NHS - Top 10 stress busters
NHS - Mindfulness
NHS - Improve mental wellbeing
Stress Management Techniques
Communicating with others
Social wellbeing ideas (scroll to social wellbeing section)
How to improve your social skills - careers advice
National Institute of Health - Social Wellness Toolkit

INCLUSION

INCLUSION

Phoenix Community College is committed to the individual needs of all young people. We respect diversity and aim to provide an educational environment in which all young people can thrive. We promote inclusion so that all students can realise their potential in terms of academic and personal achievement through access to the curriculum and extracurricular activities and by providing support, which is tailored to individual needs.

We offer a broad and balanced curriculum and have high expectations for all students. The achievements, attitudes and well-being of all our students matter. This policy helps to ensure that this school promotes the individuality of all our students irrespective of ethnicity, attainment, age, disability, gender or background and that they have a common curriculum experience.

Our Inclusion team is led by Roselle Thompson (Principal) and two  SENCOs.

Understanding Inclusion:

It is important to us that all stakeholders understand the term inclusion. Inclusion is concerned with the learning, participation and equal opportunities for all young people. Of which some examples are listed below:

  • Minority ethnic and faith groups, traveller’s asylum seekers and refugees
  • Students who need support to learn as an additional language (EAL)
  • Students with special educational needs including those with emotional, behavioural, or social difficulties.
  • Students with physical disabilities
  • Students who may be gifted and talented
  • Students in need including those in public care
  • Children who are at risk of disaffection and exclusion from school

At Phoenix, inclusion underpins all policies and practices, staff training provides opportunity to explore issues and strategies that staff can use to promote inclusion. Inclusion is also promoted amongst students through PSHE during class times, assemblies and day to day interactions with staff.