• Well done to all students for their hard work at the moment preparing for external and/or mock exams. The next few weeks will go really quickly, particularly the week after next, due to the bank holiday on Monday 4 May.  
• Good luck to the Y13 Art students next week and then the Y13 Photography students the following weeks.
• Well done to Adil and Kacper for their amazing achievement at not just getting to the VEX Robotics World Championships in the US but competing so well (at the time of the writing they had won 5 out of 6 qualifiers). And you can watch some of the footage here: VEX TV- For Match One (1hrs 12mins 54secs), Match Two (2hrs 23mins 21sec), Match Three (5hrs 32mins 05sec), Match Four (6hrs 25min 51sec) and Match Five (8hrs 11min 01sec). They return this weekend.
• Well done to the Chemistry students in Y13 who achieved a Gold Award in the UK Olympiad, Ben, Elliot, Filip, Morgan and Theo.
• Well done to Myra and Poppy for their amazing speeches at the Gabblers after dinner speaking competition last night, representing SMRT in a Bristol wide school competition. Myra was given the task of talking for 4 minutes on the topic of 'Long Shot' and Poppy's topic was 'Clean as a Whistle'. Both were fantastic and highly commended by all that attended. Well done Myra and Poppy!

• On Wednesday May 13 from 3:30pm-4:30pm Professor Stuart Mundell from the Pharmacology dept of Bristol Uni is coming in to school to deliver a talk entitled “Sticky blood and heart attacks- let’s talk about the drugs!”.

  This talk will link really well to the Biology topic 1 studies and would look great on your UCAS application when talking about how you’ve taken learning outside the classroom, and all are welcome.

• SMRT Spring Concert- Thursday 7 May at 7pm in the Main Hall. Tickets are £10 adult/£5 student and will be on Scopay closer to the time. All the year 12 A Level and 10 GCSE Music students are playing in this as their performance mocks.

• Counsellor Drop In- Toria from Transforming lives for good, will be offering a counselling drop-off session for anyone who wants to speak to someone confidentially about anything worrying them, on a Wednesday between 12.45pm and 1.45pm in the meeting room opposite G10. Drop in when convenient, no booking required. Any questions see Mrs Apps or Miss Foster.

• UK Head Delegate for the G7 Youth Summit- My name is Katie and I’m the UK Head Delegate for the G7 Youth Summit (Y7), the official youth engagement group of the G7, where young people develop policy recommendations to be shared with world leaders.

  I’m reaching out to invite your students to take part in a short national consultation on youth perspectives on geopolitics. This is an opportunity for students to reflect on global issues and contribute their views to real international policy discussions.

  We would be very grateful if you could share our short survey with your students:
  https://qualtricsxmjttzy77mz.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_dgS7WvvkNZL46W2

  The insights gathered will directly inform the UK’s contribution to the Y7 communiqué ahead of the summit.

• Christian Union will continue to meet at lunchtimes on Wednesdays in 202. All are welcome. They will also be running a Bible study on Wednesdays at 3.15pm in Room 102.

• An updated enrichment timetable: Final Enrichment Timetable 2025.pdf

• Please remember that if students are ill or absent we do expect parents/carers to phone or email and tell us or leave a message BEFORE the start of the school day where possible. Have the 6th form number (0117 3532073) and the attendance officer direct line (0117 3773465) on your phone. Also call if you are significantly delayed in traffic. If it is easier then email 6thform@smrt.bristol.sch.uk . Absences known in advance require a form to be completed which is available from reception.

• Y13 have tutor registration on Wednesday for Group 1 and Thursday for Group 2. 

• Here is a copy of the letter that was sent to all students and parents/carers this week about exams, following the assembly on Tuesday: Year 13 Exams 2026.pdf

• All parents/carers should have received a copy of student exam timetables a few weeks ago. If you did not receive this please let us know.

• Please remember Y13 students should be using their revision booklet to help structure and record/plan their revision. Parents/carers should ask to see this and tutors will be checking in with students regarding this in tutor registration and ViP/tutorials. 

• Y13 Student Commitee Meeting- There is a meeting (possibly the last one!) on Thursday at 12.30pm in Room 202. All Y13s are welcome to attend.

• Leavers Hoodies- Students have been sent an email about the option of a hoodie.  Deadline has been extended to Friday 1 May. Here is the attachment that there were sent: Hoodie link 

• Y13 Ball- Here is the letter that parents/carers were sent this week: Y13 Leavers Ball- June 2026 Update The deadline for payment is Friday 1 May. Any problems see Ella.

Languishing 

Mental health is a spectrum from depression to flourishing, but there is this middle ground, called languishing. Languishing is a sense of stagnation, emptiness, fogginess, low motivation and not functioning at full capacity. Recognise that?! It is a common state often unacknowledged as a "call to action" to reawaken life's potential, because we move back to flourishing by proactively changing our actions, not just our thinking. 5 key recommended activities are; 1- Helping Others: Engaging in acts of service. 2 - Learning: Pursuing personal growth and curiosity. 3 - Transcendence: Engaging in spiritual or reflective activities. 4 - Play: Engaging in activities for fun, without the pressure of productivity. 5 - Socialising: Fostering warm, trusting relationships. See if you can start to acknowledge when you languish and take action in one or more of these ways – it is proven to help our mental health. 

All of our live progression opportunities from the Newsletter are accessible in our Progression Site at www.6thformprog.blogspot.com, including more detail on the items below, and if you would like an appointment with Steve James, our careers advisor, then please contact reception or speak to your tutor to book a slot.

Year 13 - Most of you that have applied to university need to respond to your offers by the 6^th May. Here is a guide on what to do: https://www.ucas.com/applying/after-you-apply/types-of-undergraduate-offers/replying-to-your-offers. If you're not sure about which to pick have a chat to your tutor or Mr. Jones. Student Finance is open so make sure you apply soon so we can help with any issues that come up. As mentioned in assembly, Clearing opens on the 2^nd July and may be a useful way to plan around results day anxiety. If you have any questions or issues with any of the above see Mr. Jones!

Year 12 - Remember to Work Experience to Unifrog for approval: Here is a how to guide. There are also lots of summer school and supercurrlcular opportunities on the blog for you, see some highlights below!

Opportunities:

Apprenticeships

Key Information for parents and students on apprenticeships, including first-hand experiences

NEW Higher and Degree Level Apprenticeships have been added: https://www.amazingapprenticeships.com/resources/higher-and-degree-listing/

Latest Apprenticeships on the blog (a full list can be found here):

• Construction

• Audit

University Taster Sessions & Support (more on the blog!)

• English Essay Competition - Cambridge University

• Computer Science Residential - Cambridge University

• Arts & Humanities Residential - Cambridge University (During Activities Week!)

• Languages Summer School

• Cyber Summer School - UWE

Work Experience & Insight Events (more on the blog inc. paid!)

• Psychiatry Summer School

• FutureForAll - Useful tool to find work experience

• Watershed Work Experience

• Warner Bros.

• Super-curricular is different from extra-curricular (hobbies and activities) in that it is about stretching yourself academically beyond the narrow A Level syllabus, and it is something all the best A Level students will be doing. You can find our recommended reading list on our website at: St Mary Redcliffe and Temple School - Study Links (smrt.bristol.sch.uk) 

• If you are a science A Level student you should absolutely be flipping through the New Scientist magazine every week to keep up with research. We have a hard copy in the library and a login you can access with the email address 6thformlibrary@smrt.bristol.sch.uk and the password Redcliffe.  

• Bristol University have produced lots of resources, including online lectures, to support students in exploring HE options or super-curricular research, You can sign up for access to these at Virtual resources for students | Study at Bristol | University of Bristol 

• Bristol Festival of Ideas rumbles on, which the full index of talks at https://www.bristolideas.co.uk/attend/?pageNumber=1  

• Another fantastic reservoir of free on-line lectures to add power to your University personal statement can be found through Gresham College at https://www.gresham.ac.uk/  

• Swansea University has a great range of webinars related to the full range of Uni course they offer and wider issues at https://www.swansea.ac.uk/study/webinar-series/  

• Speakers for Schools run an excellent series of online talks relating to particular areas of work through the year. The full list is at Upcoming Broadcasts - Speakers for Schools.  

Key support information 

• Mental Health support page on our website - Health-and-Wellbeing-Sources-of-Support.pdf (smrt.bristol.sch.uk) 

• For really well pitched advice on mental health for young people check out this podcast, recommended by the Senior Students - https://linktr.ee/unboxedpodcast  

• Another great resource on Self-Care with loads of suggestions and ideas to try out to help build new habits which can support our wellbeing is here: https://www.annafreud.org/on-my-mind/self-care/  

• The Centre has sanitary products available if you ever need them. We try and keep a stock in toilets, with mentors and Millie and at reception if you need anything. 

• Condom Cards: Redcliffe Sixth Form have now been linked onto the C-Card scheme because practising SAFE sex is important. C-Card is a free and confidential condom distribution scheme for young people aged 13-25 living in Bristol. Once signed up you can collect condoms and lube for free from several outlets. Millie will be your C-Card representative in the Sixth Form, and you can collect them from her at any time during the day. Collecting condoms will be private, free, and completely confidential. Please drop her an email at feldmanm@smrt.bristol.sch.uk  or just pop by the office opposite G10 to have a private chat.  

• Remember you can always speak to our learning mentors, and Millie, for help or visit the Brook website for more information about sexual health, contraception, pregnancies, counselling, PREP (help with HIV) and more. https://www.brook.org.uk/