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In a time of international conflict,looming environmental meltdown andglobal recession, ‘change’ appears tobe the favoured option of many.Change is also on the agenda atChurston; although our approach tochange is not a reaction to conflict,looming meltdown or a budget crisis!

The School Forum has asked whetherwe would consider changing theschool uniform from a jumper to ablazer. In response to this request wehave asked School Parliamentmembers to trial the wearing ofblazers for several days so that agreater number of students canexpress their view. We would also liketo consult with parents about anyfuture changes to the school uniform.As part of this process we are askingparents to complete a very shortquestionnaire about school uniform.The questionnaire can be completedby following the link on the schoolwebsite. We would welcome highlevels of participation so that we canmake an informed decision.

Students have recently engaged withthe issue of change during C-Day.Carbon Day was organised by Churstonstudents and involved a range ofprimary and secondary schools in

Torbay. The focus of the day was toraise awareness of the need to reducecarbon emissions. Activities on theday included shutting windows anddoors, turning off lights andcomputers, walking or cycling toschool, an inter-form re-cyclingcompetition, a plastic bottlecollection for a school greenhouse anda ‘dreaded’ Carbon Police Patrol. Theworst offending areas on the dayincluded the Headteacher’s Office!

Individual students have also taken upthe environmental challenge. TobySpittle was part of a scientificexpedition investigating the impact ofglobal warming on glaciers in theArctic Circle. He spent thirty days intemperatures as low as -20c andpresented the school with a stunningframed photograph in recognition ofthe grant he received from the Forcefor Change Environmental Trust.

Year 7 students were involved in thefirst of two Learning to Learn Days,with activities including team-buildingand leadership. This type of learningreflects the changing emphasis ineducation that recognises that skillsand attributes are just as importantas subject knowledge. It is pleasing tonote that large numbers of students

continue to develop these skillsthrough the extensive range of extra-curricular activities on offer in school.In particular we are pleased to notethat numerous boys are activelyinvolved in music and we aredelighted to report that JackArrowsmith won the Most PromisingMusician at the recent Torbay MusicFestival. A new addition to the extra-curricular offer, the Churston Times,will no doubt report on this further.

One aspect of school life that has notchanged is the policy regarding facialpiercing. Parents are reminded thatgirls are allowed a single stud in eachear. Boys are not allowed to wearearrings and all forms of facialpiercing are forbidden. Students thatchoose to have an unacceptablepiercing will be asked to remove thestud / ring, irrespective of whetherthe piercing then closes over. It is notacceptable to cover it over with aplaster or wear a clear stud / ring.

Finally, we are pleased to informparents that the new pavilion is nowin full use and the playing fields havehosted their first fixtures.

R OWERSHEADTEACHER

A time for change

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The School Network

The ICT facilities continue to be upgraded. The following act as a reminder of some important issues we feel you need to be aware of:

Illegal and inappropriate materialIt is illegal to download music without paying for it. Jokes and personal images may also be inappropriate and should not be broughtinto school. Music or any executable file must not be loaded on to the school network. We are duty bound to ensure that we, as aschool, adhere to both the data protection and copyright acts. To this end we ask that you encourage your son/daughter to be mindfulof our request that only educational material should be stored on the network. Any member of the ICT team is available to advise onthe suitability of material, if in doubt leave it out. Any suspect files found on the system, without permission, will be automaticallydeleted after an investigation has taken place.

BackupsWe encourage the students to save their work and have backups. Recently a number of substantial pieces of work have becomecorrupted. It is essential that your son/daughter takes ownership of their own work and makes regular copies to reduce this potentialrisk. The industry standard is to make three copies; these are alternatively saved onto, thus reducing the amount of important datathat might be lost. Can I ask you to encourage your son/daughter to look after their USB pen sticks and keep them safe. Placing themon a key ring with house keys on usually stops the USB pen being left in school.

E Safety – Do you help protect your child at home?

Start here for an overview http://www.childnet-int.org/seminar-flash/main.swfAnd here http://www.thinkuknow.co.uk/

Keeping your child safe and monitoring their use on the internet

A great place to start is an honest conversation with your child. It is important that you agree a set of principles and rules. Thefollowing website: http://www.kidsmart.org.uk/ provides free clear and realistic advice on a range of issues.

Despite and regardless of the mutually agreed rules, there will come a time when more obtrusive methods are required. Beforeallowing your son/daughter to use the internet we recommend a stepped traffic light system:

Green

· Discussing an agreed use and website activity set of rules· Whenever possible placing a computer in a public part of the house· Restricting access to clearly designated times of the day

Amber

· On a first offence remove the privilege of computer usage for a set period of time in the same way you would deal with anytoy/privilege. We have computers available before school, break-time, lunchtime and after school and thus the ‘I have to domy school work’ is not a valid excuse. The easiest way to remove the privilege is to take the power cable away. Alternativelyyou can change their login password in Windows if you use usernames and login passwords.

Red

· Repeat offences may require more drastic methods such as monitoring and controlling internet use using specialisedsoftware. There are two options available:

Recording software – keeping a record of their use. There will be a cost for this option. It is also a policing tool rather thanpreventative and should be seen as such. A comparative guide to a range of such software can be found at http://monitoring-software-review.toptenreviews.com/

Restriction software – the time, websites and access to the computer. Windows Vista has a parental control option. Alternativelystart at http://kids.getnetwise.org/ where you can find reviews on a range of products and excellent information.

Crash

If the difficulty continues the ultimate sanction is to remove the computer or logon privilege for good. You should not feel that thiswill affect your child’s education. We have enough computer availability in school to compensate for no computer access at home.Access is available in rooms 19, 20 & the study centre before school, at break time, lunchtime and after school until 4.30pm.

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International School’s Award

Churston Ferrers Grammar School’s goal of achieving the full International School’s Award has made considerable progress overthe last few weeks.

On 7 November we ran an International Day for years 7 and 8 to both promote the importance of learning about globalcommunities and to develop skills in teamwork, resourcefulness and adaptability.

The day centered mainly on our link school in Peru and our students had the opportunity to learn something about:

the geography and culture of Peru, international food cocoa/chocolate production and how Fair Trade works the Spanish language.

The week commencing Monday 10 November saw the Heads of Years 7 and 8, Dr King and Mr King respectively, together withfour students from Year 12 – Stacey Kemp, Caitlin Whytock, Shaun Gray and Josh Callaghan – fly to Estonia to spend the week inthe capital Tallinn. This trip took place as part of the Comenius Partnership Project, working with our link countries Spain,Finland and Estonia. The four Year 12 students are members of our Lead Learners team of 21 students who will be working withYear 7 and 8 students on a two year project, centered on climate change, in conjunction with students at our partner schools.

Later in November, a further day took place, heavily involving both our Year 11 GCSE Drama students and 24 Year 4, 5 and 6students from some of our feeder schools – White Rock, Eden Park, Collaton St. Mary and Galmpton. The aim of the day was tohelp the primary school students understand the meaning of Sustainable Living through the medium of drama, and was led, inthe main, by the Year 11s. The whole day was hugely successful, a comment from one of the primary school children was “it hasbeen lots of fun and I have learnt what sustainability is and what I can do to help the world”.

All of the above activities are, additionally, instrumental in enhancing the very important key skills needed in later life –leadership, team work, presentation, confidence, risk-taking, creativity, decision-making, enterprise and resilience.

'MagicInfo Digital Signage'

We now have a 'MagicInfoDigital Signage' screen in themain foyer showing differentimages of school life, up-to-date information, and newsfor students - don't forget tohave a look regularly!

Sixth FormThis year three students havereceived offers from Oxbridge:Harriet Maxwell – Natural Sciences– CambridgeJames Menage – History –CambridgeMatilda Smith – French & Italian –OxfordCongratulations to all our studentswho have received offers foruniversity. Offers are still beingreceived. Universities should havemade all offers by 31 March.IMPORTANT DATE: students needto confirm their choices by 5 May.

Old’s cool!Over the past year a small team has beenbeavering away to establish an OldChurstonians’ Society. Another milestonewill be reached with the launch on 1stMarch of the Society’s website(www.oldchurstonians.co.uk). The sitewill provide great opportunities for socialnetworking and enable ex students andteachers to maintain contact or renewold friendships. Parents who werestudents at Churston are particularlywelcome to join, so why not check outthe site after 1st March. If you wouldlike to be involved in making this asuccess, please contact the Committee atenquiries@oldchurstonians.co.ukBob Punchard OBEChairman

There is a web site calledschoolholidayclub.co.uk -that searches all majorholiday suppliers, and whopromise to offer as good abooking value as visitingyour local travel agent.The benefit to Churston isthat the school can getaround 2% of the bookingvalue, instead of the Travelagency chain.  Churston isalready registered on thissite so you lose nothing bylooking.

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World Book Day 2009 is coming

This year World Book Day in the UK and Ireland willfall on Thursday 5th March, and will be celebratingit’s tenth anniversary as the biggest celebration ofbooks and reading for children. The main aim ofWorld Book Day in the UK and Ireland is toencourage children to explore the pleasures of booksand reading by providing them with the opportunityto have a book of their own.

World Book Day will be celebrated in school thanks to the generosity ofNational Book Tokens Ltd and numerous participating booksellers, as ourstudents are entitled to receive a World Book Day £1 Book Token. TheBook Token can be exchanged for one of the six specially publishedWorld Book Day £1 Books (where stocked and while stocks last), or isredeemable against any book or audiobook of their choice at aparticipating bookshop or book club (terms and conditions apply).

To find out more about World Book Day, please visit the websitewww.worldbookday.com

Students can also take part in the ‘Design a National Book TokenElectronic Gift Card’ competition details available in school after halfterm.

Book tokens will be given to students via their form tutors the weekcommencing 23rd February.

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Each day during the school term in 2009, readers of The Timesand The Sunday Times can collect tokens that can be redeemedfor free books. With books available for as little as ten tokens,our school could benefit from hundreds of books next year.

With some fantastic titles available for as little as ten tokens,one person reading The Times and The Sunday Times could putup to 43 books into a school library during the promotion.

Please give any tokens you collect from the newspaper to yourchild to add to the school’s token collection. At the end of thefirst phase of the Books for Schools scheme we should havecollected enough tokens to exchange for hundreds of free books.

‘C Day’ A low carbon day in Torbay schoolsDuring the week beginning the 2nd of February 2009, primary and secondaryschools across the bay took part in activities to reduce their carbon footprint in aninitiative that has resulted from students’ concerns on the impacts of climate change.Over the past two years students taking part in specialist geography days throughthe ‘Torbay Gifted and Talented Programme’ have been working hard to gain anunderstanding of the needs and implications of schools becoming sustainableinstitutions.

“That means that our schools must not only be teaching us kids stuff about theenvironment and sustainability such as climate change and fair trade, we must alsobe actually doing what we learn. By organising the C Day we are giving schools thechance to be really making a difference. Hopefully they will see how easy somethings can be to reduce our Carbon Footprint and they will carry on for ever.”explains Leanne Jackman, one of the students who has been helping plan the event.

Schools have had their directive and guidance on how to become ‘sustainableschools’ by 2020 in an initiative launched by the then Department for Education andSkills in 2006. The scheme neatly divides a school’s sustainability in to 8 ‘doorways’or themes such as ‘Energy and Water’, ‘Travel and Traffic’ and the ‘GlobalDimension’. Running a campaign to help schools reduce their carbon footprint suchas the C Days, will actually draw upon all 8 of the doorways, as students’ learn thatcarbon reduction can be much more than just switching off lights and making fewercar journeys.

Schools will have prepared for their chosen C Day by completing a Carbon FootprintAudit of a typical day. On their actual C Day the school will be implementing thoseinitiatives that they can in order to reduce their activities that needlessly useresources that contribute to the problem of Carbon in our atmosphere. A simplecomparison can be made and the school implementing the most effective activitieswill be rewarded with prizes that will help continue to teach the principles ofsustainability and Carbon Footprint reduction.

C Day plans were originally designed by teams of students taking part in theGeography Day convened at Churston Ferrers Grammar School. Since the originalevent for students attending from the majority of Torbay secondary schools, a smallgroup have taken their ideas forward to the point now when we can finally launch theevent to all schools in the bay.

C Day packs were received by individual schools in the first week of January 2009with an official launch at The Cube, Churston Ferrers Grammar School onWednesday 21st January.

David Lewis (on behalf of the student teams)

Torbay Schools Low Carbon Day‘We want our classroom powered by the sun’

Year 8 students alongside the solar panels on the roof at CFGSHenry Looze, Michael Blair, Toby Cook, Rosemary Blood, EmilyCorbett, Jenny Hourigan and Laura Pattison with Mr D LewisDirector of Humanities College

Help feed their mindsBox Tops for Books supports the teaching of literacy, through the PrimaryFramework for literacy, by providing a broad selection of books thatinspire, teach, amuse and challenge. The scheme can help children todevelop their powers of imagination and critical awareness and to developtheir speaking and listening skills. Many of the books on offer also relateto a wide range of other subjects such as history, geography and science,so will contribute to learning across the curriculum.

You can view the types of books that are available by visitingwww.boxtops4books.co.uk. The scheme runs from 1st September 2008until 31st March 2009.

It takes as little as 10 tokens to get one book, so the more tokens wecollect the more books we can receive for our Study Centre. This is wherewe need your help and support to make the most of the scheme. If yourfamily eats Nestlé cereals, please remember to tear off the token on thetop of the box and bring it into school. The collection box is situated onthe display stand outside the Study Centre. If you would like to find outmore about which Nestlé brands are included in the scheme, please visitwww.boxtops4books.co.uk.

CHURSTON SCORE WITH NEW SAFER GOALPOSTSFROM FOOTBALL FOUNDATION

Following a successful funding bid to the FootballFoundation’s Goalpost Safety Scheme, Churston have beenawarded a grant to replace it’s football goalposts with new, safer ones.

Headteacher Mr Owers thanked the Football Foundation: ‘This fundingtowards new, safer goalposts is a fantastic boost. Football is ournational sport and it is great that the football Foundation is investingin improving the grassroots of the game.’

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Year 11 GCSE MathematicsAdditional Support sessions

Staff from the Mathematics Department are offering Year 11 students anumber of additional support sessions to help students achieve the bestpossible grade in GCSE Mathematics this summer. The timetable for thesessions is outlined below. All sessions will start immediately after halfterm (week beginning Monday 23rd February) and continue until Year 11students begin examination leave in May. As you can see from theprogramme each session targets different levels within the GCSEspecifications and students are very welcome to attend more than onesession each week. They will gain maximum benefit from these sessions ifthey can attend on a regular basis. If your son or daughter wishes to comealong to any of these sessions - all they need to do is turn up!

The actual GCSE Mathematicsexaminations take place on:

Monday 18th May (Non Calculator paper) and Monday 1st June(Calculator paper).

Additional resources available to support students in their preparation forthe GCSE Mathematics examinations are:

· Use of the excellent web site: www.mymaths.co.uk to which allstudents have logon details

· Maths Watch CDs available for £3.00· Revision Guide (students have their own copy)· Past papers and topic practice packs are available to students -

these will be used by teachers with their groups.

I feel sure that you will encourage your son/daughter to attend at least oneof these support sessions. If you would like to discuss additional ways inwhich your son/daughter can work towards achieving their target grade inGCSE Mathematics please do contact me.

Mr J Bourne(Head of Mathematics)

The Luncheon Club is available onWednesdays and Fridays.Please book 48 hours in advance 01803 842289.

WednesdayMenu Roast Lunch, dessert and coffee £3.75FridayMenu Fresh Brixham Fish and Chips, dessert and coffee £3.75

School TripsYou’ve received the letter (that’s lucky!). Paidthe money. Off they go. Oh no! Lunch!

Packed lunches can be pre-ordered fromschool and collected on the morning of the trip.Choice of fresh sandwiches or wraps, fruit anddrink £2.00Choice of freshly made baguette, fruit anddrink £2.50

English Department

All Year 11 students attended a Speaking and Listening morning once again this year as part of their GCSE English course. We went to the PalaceTheatre in Paignton where the pupils took part in three activities: a role play in pairs; a group discussion of an unseen poem and an ‘Apprentice’type problem solving exercise where they had to formulate an advertising campaign for a company which needed to reassess its position.The students responded well to the tasks and relished the freedom of working on activities for concentrated periods of time. Many pupils gainedimpressive marks and saw the benefit of extended discussion and comment in a supportive atmosphere.

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Please contact Katrine BanhamChurston Ferrers Grammar School

01803842289katrine.banham@churston.torbay.sch.uk

Meat & Olive Platter serves 10 £10.00

Mixed Meat Platter serves 10 £15.00

Naughty but Nice cake selection serves 15 £10.00

Fresh Fruit Kebabs serves 15 £18.00 serves 8 £10.00

Cheese Platter serves 10 £12.00

Sandwich Platter small serves 5 £7.00 large serves 10 £12.00

Vegetarian Platter small £7.00 large £12.00

Open Rolls serves 10 £12.00

Wrap Selection serves 10 £12.00

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CODE OF STANDARDS

We accumulate a large amount oflost property clothing and makeevery effort to reunite items to theirrightful owner, unfortunately manytimes this is impossible as it isunnamed.

Every half term it is displayed on tables in the Foyerfor students to claim. Any unclaimed items are thendisposed of.

Please ensure that all uniform/items of clothing arenamed.

Student Services

2008/2009 Academic Year - School Term and Holiday Dates

February 16th to February 20th (inc) Half Term

April 1st Last day of Spring Term

April 2nd and 3rd Non pupil days

April 20th Start of Summer Term

May 4th May Day

May 25th to May 29th (inc) Half Term

July 22nd End of Summer Term. Students dismissed at 1.30pm.

One Way System

May I take thisopportunity toremind allparents of theone-waysystem thatoperates inGreenwayRoad. Thesafety of ourstudents isparamount andwe are reliant

on parents driving and parking sensibly outside theschool. At the beginning (from 8.30am) and end of theday we ask that parents approach the school by drivingup Greenway Road from Manor Road in Galmptonvillage.

CFGS