Blue School News · Blue School News July July 2022002010 110010 Y11 Prom 2010 Thursday 1 July saw the Y11 Prom taking place at ... Presentation Ceremony and the Prom will be available

www.theblueschoolwells.co.uk Page 1 of 9

Blue School News Blue School News Blue School News Blue School News July July July July 2020202010101010

Y11 Prom 2010 Thursday 1 July saw the Y11 Prom taking place at Crossways Hotel in North Wotton. At 10am the Prom team were eager and ready to ensure that the hotel was decorated in time for the 7pm start. All the planning and preparation paid dividends and we managed to pace ourselves enough not to hyper ventilate on balloon blowing.

Just before 7pm the arrivals started and I was amazed at the variety of transport procured for such an event. Several tractors blocked the country roads along with a JCB, a Scania Truck, VW camper van, convertibles, limousines, mopeds and more. It was an awesome sight with everybody looking absolutely gorgeous.

The dance off was a sight to behold with James Aldridge 11JT awarded the sash for Mr Jiggy and Sianade Clarke 11HM for Miss Diva. Other sashes awarded were given to George Ruddle-Hellier 11JT and Rosie Oldis 11RF for Mr Best Dressed and Mrs Best Dressed. Peter Mcleish 11RF, Rosie Andrews 11RF and Shannon Wood 11HP were Best Arrival. Prom King was awarded to Marcus Osmond 11EW and Prom Queen to Victoria Dulley 11HM. Sam Edwards 11RF walked away with the 1st prize on the Casino having won £533,000 over the evening. If only it had been real money!

It was a fantastic send off for Y11 and we hope that this will be a fond memory to look back on. Disks of photos for the Presentation Ceremony and the Prom will be available on Results Days for all students as a memento. Many thanks to Mrs Shergold for organising this. Miss Cox, Head of Y11.



Survive in the Wild Intrepid Key Stage 3 students have been learning how to survive in the wild as part of an introductory programme to Hill Walking that started earlier in the year. The programme of activities has included a walk around Ham Hill, Stoke -sub-Hamdon, to introduce the students to basic orienteering and map reading skills, a trip to a farm in Priddy to learn how to cook a budget meal on a trangia and erect a tent.

The programme also included a trip to the Kilve beach and the Quantocks to help build up stamina and confidence in preparation for

an overnight visit to Dartmoor in September.

Kaylem Marshall, 8DM, said “It was nice walking because you could enjoy the scenery. I enjoyed putting up the tent.” Sophie Pryce, 7AH, said “It was a nice walk on the Quantocks. It was nice to learn about the Dead Woman. It was really lovely scenery and I enjoyed making new friends.”

Steven Ellis, 8DL, said “I liked walking. I enjoyed going to Kilve Beach to look at fossils.” Mrs Mellish, Team Leader - Learning Support.



Blue School Science Club finishes another enjoyable year Whilst most of the rest of the country sat watching England reach the dizzying success of a 1-0 win against the footballing titans of Slovenia, teachers, technicians and about 40 students from local primary schools enjoyed the weather, a BBQ and a rocket launching competition to mark the end of this years science club sessions. Over the course of the year about 50 children have been attending the after school club and have enjoyed many activities including making miniature kites, windup toy racers and super strong paper bridges. They have also studied forensic techniques, used science to explain magic tricks and made ice cream with liquid nitrogen! This is the third year that the club has run for children from our surrounding primary schools to attend. Next year’s club will start in November. Many thanks to all staff and sixth formers who have helped throughout the year to make the club such a success.

Aquarium and Vivarium team visit St Lawrence’s Primary School

On a grey, chilly Monday in June, the entire 7 people who make up the Blue School Council Aquarium and Vivarium team packed up the geckos, counted up the stick insects and set off for Westbury-Sub-Mendip and St Lawrence’s Primary School. The visit started with an introduction to the Leopard Geckos and stick insects, with students handling and stroking them. Then the team described the concept of adaptation to them, and set them a task to design and make an animal to fit a certain environment. This went down a storm, and the designs were both creative and clever. The day then culminated in an activity by the science department about interdependency. The day was fantastically received and the team were sent some excellent letters by the pupils. The team are looking forward to being able to make this sort of visit to some of our other partner primary schools in the future. Mr Foster, Team Leader - Science.



Student Support Centre Garden Project Over the past few years, staff and students have cleared a space to make a peaceful garden at the back of the Student Support Centre. The aim was to create an area for relaxation, calm and tranquillity. Many different people have worked extremely hard and helped us to clear brambles, lay paths, build flower beds and create wonderful seating areas. The plan is, also, to incorporate a sensory/herb garden as we do cooking as part of our living skills programmes. We are now trying to plant the beds for this section and are aiming for a restful white, blue, silver scheme. I would like to thank everyone who has joined in to make this happen and hope to visit the space when it is more established. Mrs Phelan, Student Support Centre Coordinator.

Musical Notes

Well done to Hattie Pinches and Sophia Radford 8VC, for representing the Blue School in the Somerset Music and Lions Musical Spectacular Concert at Strode Theatre in June. You both brought the house down - well done! On Sunday July 4 a number of students sang Evensong at the Bishop's Palace Chapel as part of a summer series of reflections. The topic for the service was 'the servant heart'. Well done to all the students involved - you sang beautifully and were great company for the afternoon!

Gifted and Talented Music Workshop A group of Y8 and Y9 students were given the opportunity to develop their musical skills and creativity in a Gifted and Talented Music Workshop run by Miss Wilkins, Miss Cox, Mrs Rose and Ms French, Gifted and Talented coordinator. Students were given Fractals as the inspiration for their music. After two busy hours of composing and rehearsing, students performed their new piece of music in a concert that lasted over an hour! Well done everyone involved - you were amazing! Miss Wilkins, Team Leader - Music.



Y10 MfL Study Trip to Strasbourg

34 Y10 pupils studying French and/or German have just spent 5 days practising their languages and experiencing the delights of historic Strasbourg and the beautiful Black Forest. Accompanied by Mrs McIntyre, Mr Wiltshire and that very keen traveller and linguist Mr Ramsden, we set off at the crack of dawn on Friday 2 July. A very long and very hot journey later, we finally arrived at the Auberge de Jeunesse des Deux Rives on the banks of the Rhine, ate a hasty supper and collapsed into bed at midnight.

The following morning dawned bright and hot (the temperature for most of the trip was at least 30 degrees) and we set out for Strasbourg. Our first stop was the lovely Musée Alsacien where we discovered much about the local history and culture. We then wandered over to the fabulous cathedral and admired its world famous astrological clock and Pillar of Angels before succumbing to the heat and taking refuge in a nearby air-conditioned shopping centre.

Later on we took a boat trip along the river Ill and saw the rest of the sights from on board and in again gratefully received air-conditioned comfort. We cruised past La Petite France, the medieval old town, and right up to the ultra modern but very impressive European Institutions of the Conseil d’Europe and European Parliament, of which more later.

By this time fatigue was catching up with many of us and a few closed their eyes momentarily (including, it must be said, Mr Wiltshire). We then had the chance to cool off at the open air pool across the border in Kehl. After supper at the hostel it was time for work and all 34 beavered away industriously at their workbooks before joining in games of football, basketball, badminton and even piggy in the middle!

On Saturday it was time for a change of scene so we crossed the border again and headed into Germany and the Black Forest. The views from the coach windows were fantastic - mountains, forest, picturesque villages and castles.



Our first destination was the Schauinsland cable car just outside Freiburg and the longest in Germany. The ride up took 16 minutes with spectacular views all around and at the top although it was misty, and therefore blessedly cool, there was time for a picnic and a walk round the summit. On a clear day you can see south to the Alps and north to the Vosges. We could see Freiburg below

us and for many of the pupils this was the highlight of the trip. Time started to run out on us and everybody wanted to go back for another swim in Kehl, so we spent an hour wandering the historic and charming streets of Freiburg where there was a wine festival taking place around the cathedral and decided to keep the world’s largest cuckoo clock for another trip. After our swim and supper it was back to work again and the

main task was to plan our interviews for the following morning. On Monday morning we divided into language groups and Mr Wiltshire and I walked over the footbridge where we met our host, Herr Schneider an old friend of Mrs McIntyre’s, and went into the centre of Kehl. Under a shady tree in the market square we asked him the questions we had prepared and then made a short video demonstrating what we had learnt about the town. There was just time to practise some German shopping vocab before we went back to meet the coach at the hostel. Meanwhile the French group had been dropped off in Strasbourg again and walked through to La Petite France where they politely interviewed passers-by. Both Mrs McIntyre and I were very impressed by the way all the pupils made an effort to use either their French or their German that morning and by their behaviour. We then made our way on the coach to a hypermarket where all sorts of goodies were purchased and consumed and then it was time for the European Parliament. This had been the hardest part of our trip to organise and Mrs McIntyre had been in almost daily contact with Graham Watson our MEP towards the end in the hope we would be able to visit and luckily, at the last moment, he was able to get us permission. The Parliament building is a hugely impressive modern edifice and we were able to spend an hour with Mr Watson and then some time in the chamber watching the opening of parliament and then the start of the first debate. We were all overwhelmed by the number of different languages being spoken and by the skill of the interpreters we were able to listen to through headphones. Mr Watson stressed the value of knowing at least one foreign language, and even better two, so the pupils all felt justified in making their GCSE choices and many were also hopefully motivated to continue to A-level and beyond. That evening we played some more games, had an earlier supper and a few doughnuts and glasses of lemonade before heading indoors to pack and get a relatively early night. We left at 7:30 the following morning and finally got back to Wells at 23:30, hot, tired but all of us having had a memorable and very enjoyable 5 days. Well done to all the pupils for their good humour, good behaviour and willingness to make the most of their experiences. Mrs Fitzsimmons - MfL Department.



Sports Day For the first time in three years the weather was kind enough to us to enable all three sports days to take place this summer. Having been rained off for the previous two years it was something of a novelty for both students and staff alike! Participation levels were at their highest ever with over 60 boys and 60 girls in every single event. Many students participated in four or five different events and standards of performance were very high. Many school records fell (some of them long standing ones) in a number of different events and most pleasing of all was the sense of community and support for each other that students displayed. Another highlight of the occasion was the return of a number of ex-students who provided invaluable help to a stretched PE team. Worthy of particular mention are Abby and Laura Harrington who came to all three days and undertook the time consuming and tedious task of calculating all the points. They even helped out on their birthday, whilst Ali Weeks (another ex-pupil) took a day of her holiday allocation to come and help. Many other staff were drafted in to help and we are always really grateful to them for giving up time to make the event possible. A further highlight was the discovery of a particularly impressive tannoy system and a new witty and erudite commentator in Mr Wallis (although I understand that the residents of Ash Lane may have been less impressed!). Thank you to everyone who supported this event in any way including the students who participated and officiated and parents who encouraged and supported either from the sidelines or in their conversations at home. Mrs Holland - Team Leader PE.

Top Achiever Trip The Blue School is delighted to invite 30 students from Y7, Y8 and Y9 on an all expenses paid day out. On Monday 19 July, ten pupils from each of the year groups went to Hollywood Bowl, Taunton to play a couple of games of ten pin bowling. Before returning to the school pupils had the opportunity to spend a cash prize at Clarks Village, Street. All staff at the school wishes to congratulate the students concerned for their outstanding achievements throughout the year.

Blue Lounge Radio Project A group of students are fundraising to establish a school and community radio station. The Blue Lounge Radio Project has got through to the last five of the “Cash for Communities” competition in the Wells Journal. From 22 July coupons will be published in the Mid-Somerset series of papers. If the school team collects the largest amount of coupons, they will win £4000 to help them set up the school radio project. We should be very grateful if you would please collect the coupons and hand them in to Admin. The coupons will be published until mid-September. Thank you very much - Blue School radio Team.



PTA Update The PTA is continuing to fundraise to purchase a dedicated building for the Blue School Council teams (http://blueschoolcouncil.org/). We hope everyone will be really supportive. Two of our fundraising events have just happened: Glastonbury Festival stewarding and Bag2School.

• A great big thank you to the 16 volunteers who worked through the blazing heat to raise money for the Blue School at this year’s festival in Shangrila. Particular thanks to Andrea Moy (our Team Leader) and Julie Scriven (her deputy) – without them, there would not have been a Blue School team. They worked tirelessly throughout the festival to ensure that the team ran smoothly. Thanks also to Robin Horton who organized everything prior to the festival. We're also really grateful to all the volunteers supporting the Blue School who worked in the Dance area of the festival and also those in family camping, who had a very successful year with a team of dedicated and hard-working stewards headed by Dawn Meen and her ‘happy families’ team.

• The Bag2School collection on 6 July was a great success, so thanks to everyone who rummaged through cupboards to produce clothes for the collection. Thanks also to the group of Year 9 girls, supported by Helen Hobden, Robin Horton and Glenice Cox, who collected a large number of bags as a group. In the end we had just short of 200 bags, which was a great result. We will be running another Bag2school collection in September, so please watch out for details at the start of next term and we'll aim for an even greater number of bags then. For details on the Bag2School organization, see http://www.bag2school.com/.

Finally, don't forget to brush up on all your trivia over the school holidays. The annual Quiz Night will be on the 15 October. The role of Treasurer for the PTA is still up for grabs. Please contact Di Harris ([email protected]) or Jo Armstrong ([email protected]) if you think you might be interested. The next PTA meeting will be on Tuesday 7 September 2010, 6.30 pm in the Atom Café, Kennion Hall. Have a good summer!

ParentPay ParentPay allows parents to pay for trips and activities over the Internet using either a debit or credit card; the system is available 24/7. One of the advantages of using ParentPay is that parents do not need to return the Permission Slip attached to letters; permission is given electronically at the time of making your payment. Parents may top-up their child’s Smartcard - any top-up made via ParentPay will be credited automatically to the Smartcard by the following morning. A large number of parents are taking advantage of ParentPay and find it easy to use. We would like to encourage others to try it to see how quick and convenient it is. If any parent has lost their instructions, or secure log-on user name and password, please contact the Finance Office Team on 01749 836262

Reporting Absence When your child is absent, please ring the school by 10 am on the first and subsequent days of absence. On returning to school, your child should bring a note to the tutor confirming the reasons for absence. Our Attendance Secretary has a direct telephone line with Voicemail 01749 836210. Please use this number when reporting your child’s absence or, alternatively, you can e-mail us at [email protected]



School Uniform Shop holiday opening hours Commencing Tuesday 27 July to Saturday 4 September Inclusive. Monday Closed all day Tuesday 10.00 - 16.00 Wednesday 10.00 - 16.00 Thursday 10.00 - 16.00 Friday 10.00 - 16.00 Saturday 10.00 - 12.30

Diary Dates Wed 21.07.10 Students break up for the summer holidays Thu 19.08.10 GCE Exam Results Thu 24.08.10 GCSE Exam Results Wed 01.09.10 Inset Day - school closed to students Thu 02.09.10 Y7 and Y12 return to school - 08.45 start. Fri 03.09.10 All other year groups return to school - 08.45 start.

Documents

Blue School News · Blue School News July July 2022002010 110010 Y11 Prom 2010 Thursday 1 July saw the Y11 Prom taking place at ... Presentation Ceremony and the Prom will be available