Since the previous newsletter, the schools in the Federation have achieved their best ever GCSE results. At Alderman White School and Language College 77% of students gained at least 5A* - C at GCSE and at Bramcote Park Sports, Business & Enterprise School the figure was 82%. Equally important, the Government has recently informed the Federation that the progress that students made from the age of 11 to 16 in both schools places both Alderman White and Bramcote Park in the top 25 % of schools in England. Clearly, we are very proud of the achievements of our students. We are also delighted that their hard work and that of their teachers have been rewarded. Of course all of us are aware of the uncertain times ahead. However, the changes that we have put in place make us all confident that we can both sustain this progress and provide a rich and varied experience for our students.

May I take this opportunity to wish everyone a Happy Christmas and a prosperous and successful New Year.

K. Dean

RECORD ACHIEVEMENTS FOR FEDERATION SCHOOLS

FEDERATION AWARDS EVENING Even the threat of the first flurries of winter snow did not deter parents, students and staff who gathered at the Albert Hall on a chilly November evening to ‘Celebrate Success’ at our Annual Federation Awards Evening. Parents and VIP’s took their seats to the sounds of the Alderman White Swing band - which really got the evening off to a great start. After an opening speech by Executive Head Kevin Dean to a packed Albert Hall, our guest speaker for the evening Mr Mark Wagh, Nottinghamshire cricketer, explorer and adventurer, regaled us with tales of his life as a cricketer and his rise to fame. He shared with us his achievements and the challenges he sets himself together with his strategy for dealing with those. He certainly was a very interesting and inspiring speaker -I think all of us, students and adults alike, took something away with us from his speech. Mark then helped Councillor David Grindell, from Stapleford Town Council and Mr Dean, present prizes to our successful students. In total 300 students from across the Federation schools were awarded for their achievement in all areas of the curriculum. The culmination of the evening’s celebration was the announcement of the names of the four students who had won House Student of the Year -Tillie Stone for Newark House, Cameron Wedgeworth for Sherwood House, Rebecca Gamble for Trent House and Leia Bowen for Welbeck House - a fanfare from the Swing Band heralded the announcement of the winner of Federation Student of the

Year….Tillie Stone. We were all treated to one final number from the Swing Band as families filed out into the night with sons and daughters proudly wearing their award winners medals and brandishing their mini ‘Oscar’ trophies.

Julie Boott (Publicity & Fundraising)

Inside this issue:

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Inside Story 6

December 2010

A Federation for Every Future

On 19th November a non-uniform day was held to raise money for ‘Children in Need’. There were many events happening across the Federation and once again all three schools showed their generosity: Bramcote Hills: £259.83 Alderman White: £618.92 Bramcote Park: £869.09 Thanks to everyone who took part, especially those who had to count it all up! The grand total came to:

£1747.84

CHILDREN IN NEED

Visit to Ashby School for ‘The Day of the Mind’ On Tuesday 17th November, eight Year 12 pupils along with Ms Iwanczuk and Mrs Lancley travelled to Ashby School to partake in a set of university-style lectures. The majority of the sessions focused on Psychology, with one of the lectures giving us an insight into Philosophy. The day was packed with interesting topics such as “The Nature of Identity” and “What is Consciousness?”. The lecturers from Leicester & Nottingham Universities gave us a fantastic opportunity to learn and understand more about the topics we are studying in Psychology lessons. Charlotte Warner (Yr 12) said: “For me, the most enjoyable part of the day was the lecture by Dr. Young on schizophrenia. It provided an interesting and insightful look into a topic we will be studying in Year 13”.

One of our students was recently in receipt of a great community honour. She had this to say about her exciting new role: “I am Tilly Stone & have recently been elected as the 2010 Broxtowe Youth Mayor. I am in Year 10 at Bramcote Park School & am also part of the Broxtowe Youth Council. It was through the Council that I heard about the post of Broxtowe Youth Mayor. I was elected to the post by my peers, after them hearing my speech, regarding why I thought I would make a good Youth Mayor.

So far in my post, I have helped to organise & present the Children in Need Music Gig, in Beeston, raising £300 for charity. I also turned on the Christmas lights in Beeston Square, with the Mayor of Broxtowe. I also presented awards at the Broxtowe Youth Awards Ceremony. Throughout my year in post, I want to be able to show young people in a positive light & allow their voices to be heard”.

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Christmas cookery course 11th November - 16th December 2010 A Christmas cookery course took place at the Bramcote Park School. this was a family learning course funded by Castle College and run by Geraldine Martin. Parents are the biggest influence on their children - this course gave parents an idea of how children are taught and built on individual skills. We had 12 parents and 14 students (ages ranged from 7 to 16 years) on the

course. Some of the culinary delights that were prepared on the course were: walnut whip snowmen, marzipan fruits, stuffed dates, mince pies, chocolate logs, and decorations for xmas cakes. Not only did the students learn new cookery skills, they were able to adapt recipes for an impressive and healthy Christmas. Much fun was had by each and everyone.

Special Community event for Special Community event for Special Community event for Special Community event for Broxtowe schoolsBroxtowe schoolsBroxtowe schoolsBroxtowe schools Pupils from 17 primary and secondary schools in Broxtowe came together for a special community event to promote healthy eating and physical activity. Broxtowe Borough Council hosted the ‘Change4Life’ event at Bramcote Hills College to teach young people about the impor-tance of living healthy, active life-styles. The event welcomed repre-sentatives from local sports groups to inform pupils about ex-ercise opportunity in their area. Mrs Widdowson who helped organise this event said “We plan to continue to stage this event in future years. For more information visit: www.nhs.uk/change4life www.broxtowe.gov.uk/sport4me

New Library for Bramcote Hills New Library for Bramcote Hills New Library for Bramcote Hills New Library for Bramcote Hills CollegeCollegeCollegeCollege WHP Federation Library Service provides a cross-Federation service. Between the three sites, we have nearly 20,000 items to loan. Our inter-library loan service enables staff and students to request materials from any of the three libraries that can then be collected from their ‘home’ library. In addition, Bramcote Hills holds a reserve collec-tion of KS3 stock to backup the service offered by the other two

sites. The Service is led by two ex-p e r i e n c e d C h a r t e r e d L i b r a r i a n s , who are there to offer

advice on finding both print and

e-resources as well as to teach research skills. The new Library has now opened in The new Library has now opened in The new Library has now opened in The new Library has now opened in the Collegethe Collegethe Collegethe College. Having a two-room lay-out (connected by a small passage) allows us to offer a more flexible learning space. The main room is intended as a collaborative work-space and holds the majority of non-fiction stock. The Quiet Room is a study area for people who need to work without distractions and a reading area, with fiction books, magazines and comfortable sofas. Staff and students have the option to choose to work in whichever room suits them best. Recent developments include an online e-journals service, print news-papers and leisure magazines. In the summer of 2009 the Service dipped its toes into the Manga Manga Manga Manga market, developing a small collection

for each site. Even reluc-tant readers w h i p p e d through the titles we had. Some even dispatched Mums and Dads into Nottingham to buy more for them. October saw us return to the Page 45 shop determined to develop a significant collection for each of our libraries. Our policy is to swap se-ries between libraries to give the students access to the widest possible range of titles. Students are eagerly devouring them as soon as they are put on the shelves.

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Head of House: Julia James House Captain: Matt Camina

Head of House: Andrea Kilbane House Captain: Dominique McClean

Head of House: Steve McKay House Captain: Alex Craske

Head of House: Emma Deakin House Captain: Amie Bennett-Bull

Newark

Welbeck

Trent

Sherwood

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Welbeck

Sherwood

Trent

Newark

Student Points

6256

4258

5196

4364

Quiz Points

180

155

260

115

Competition Points

875

950

650

800

TOTAL POINTS 7311 5363 6106 5279 Number of Competitions won: 1 3 1 3

Appointment of: Vice Captains Deputy Vice Captains Welbeck Leia Bowen Becki Gamble Sherwood Jaleesa Carr Beth Smith Newark Abbie Balchin Emmy Brown Trent Emma Smith Ivana Talbott First Annual Spell Bee Tournament First Annual Spell Bee Tournament The Federation held its very first House Spelling Bee this term. The competition was rolled out across all tutor groups with the top speller from each House in each year going forward to represent their House in a School final. The finals were held during Year assemblies and all students that took part performed absolutely fantastically considering the potentially stressful situation! Pupils will now go on to compete in the Federation final against Bramcote Park, Alderman White and Bramcote Hills Year 11 pupils. The overall winner will get the opportunity to travel to London to take part in the National Times spell bee final. Forthcoming House Events: �

Bramcote’s Got Talent Final Each school will hold a 'talent show' (dance acts/singing/drama sketches) in the final week assemblies. The audience will vote for the winning act and they will then go through to a Grand Federation Finale after Christmas. The house that is currently in the lead in terms of house points will be rewarded by getting to see the grand final.

Alison Padgett and Elisha Cordon were both nominated for Sky Sports, Living for Sports, Young Person of the Year. They were nominated for their commitment to the Living For Sport Programme which involved them, and 8 other year 10 students, participating in a variety of sports and activities. Alison and Elisha then went on to work with the Youth Sports Trust in the helping of plan-ning, filming and supporting young people on an ‘Inspire to Aspire’ residential camp. The camp was based around the Olympic values. The girls worked really hard to produce a short film and help organise the events. The camp included Athlete Mentors and around 80 schools from around the UK including 4 students from Bramcote Park .Alison Padgett (now year 11 at Bramcote Hills) won the East Midlands region and is therefore now the East Midlands Sky

Sports Living For Sport Young Person of the Year. She has been filmed, photographed and interviewed by Sky Sports in preparation for the Grand Final in London on 30th November. Alison is one of 12 finalists hoping to be given the overall title of Living for Sports Young Person of the Year. The girls have now gone on to produce

a peer mentoring programme based on the Olympic Values to be used for younger students in the Federation.

WHITE HILLS PARK FEDERATION SPORTS Alderman White School & Language College Chilwell Lane Bramcote Nottingham NG9 3DU Tel: 0115 9170424 Fax No: 0115 9170494 email: white@whpfederation.org Bramcote Park Business & Enterprise School Bramcote Nottingham NG9 3GD Tel: 0115 9130013 Fax No: 0115 9130012 email: park@whpfederation.org Bramcote Hills College Moor Lane Bramcote Nottingham NG9 3GA Tel: 0115 9168900 Fax No. 0115 9168901 email: college@whpfederation.org

Sports Focus Group at Loughborough University On Thursday 18th November we went on a trip to Loughborough University to be on a focus group about some new sports equipment called ‘Training Buddies’. There were four young people in the focus group with adults in charge of the development design and promotion of the Training Buddies. Firstly, we were taken on a tour of the sports equipment and came up with lots of ideas on how the Training Buddies could be amended for use in schools. We may see this equipment in schools across England with some of the ideas we came up with. After we had put together all our ideas we went to the Sports Technology Institute. This is where all the Olympic and top sports person’s equipment and clothing is created. Usually the public is not allowed to look around the building but because of our involvement in the Training Buddies, we were allowed to have a tour. We saw loads of amazing technology; sports robots, slow motion camera sensors, machines that tested the ripping of clothes and even saw where all the machines were made! To finish the day, we had a yummy buffet and were given Boots vouchers. All round it was a great day and we enjoyed the insight it gave us into sports equipment being used in schools.

Tilly Stone and Thomas McGeoch

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