Highways february 2014

Ad Caelestia Sequere … Reach For the Stars

Newsletter for Highworth School Issue 3

Message from the Headteacher

For those of you who attended this year’s Dance Show “Split Alliance”, I am sure you will agree it was absolutely stunning. Every year it seems to get better and better. It always amazes me what students are capable of and this year some of the staff surprised me as well with a very slick routine which they had been refining in secret since September. Miss Hodges has a fantastic eye for detail and always manages to attract considerable sponsorship from Wilkins Kennedy and Castelli Cheese - many thanks to them for their ongoing support. After the February break, Yr11 will complete a week of “Pre Public Examinations” or PPEs in preparation for their real examinations in May and June. We have a formal results day planned for March 10 and I am anticipating many of our students will have worked hard and will be pleased with their outcomes. Good luck to you all. It is pleasing to note that a number of our students have enjoyed success in their particular field of interest: Naomi Wilson has been elected to the National Youth Parliament; Emily Woods collected her DofE Gold Award from St James’s Palace; violinist Lara Smith played in the Kent Young Musician of the Year Concert and Charlotte Wise has been selected for the England U17 Hockey Squad. Congratulations on these superb achievements. I look forward to reporting on many more successes in future editions.

I hope that everyone had a relaxing and enjoyable Christmas break and that 2014 has started well for you all. Last term ended with some great activities including our whole school trip to the pantomime. Such events are very valuable as all forms and year groups are able to mix and have fun together. Also at the end of last term (after a lot of hard work!), Prefects’ Entertainment was enjoyed by Yr11, the Sixth Form and (hopefully) the staff. January and February are always busy months for students. The UCAS deadline for Yr13 has now passed and many have already received offers from universities. Yr12 are currently applying for Prefect positions, whilst Pre Public Examinations are on the horizon for Yr11 and Yr9 are considering their GCSE options. The school is very conscious of wellbeing and is aware that such times can be challenging for students. I would like to remind everyone that mentors, student support staff, careers advisers, prefects and peer mentors are there to help whenever needed. Student Voice continues to meet regularly, giving students the opportunity to get fully involved in Highworth life and the chance to contribute new ideas on how they think the school could be improved. If you have any suggestions, please pass them to your representative. Elissa Poyner

Message from the Head Girl

Photographic Society Schools Competition

For the second year Highworth has been given the honour of Winning Shield at the annual Ashford Photographic Society Schools’ Competition on 28

January 2014. It was a fantastic evening with 12 prize winners and many first place awards in a variety of categories and age groups. The students won cash

prizes thanks to the sponsor and we were lucky enough to win a new A4 photo colour printer for the department. Many thanks go to the Ashford Photographic Society in particular Gordon and Sue Chapman and the sponsor Givaudan. Well done to all the photographers who work so hard to produce artwork of this quality and huge congratulations on their success.

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The highlight of this term was undoubtedly our winning performance of Matilda in the Community Performing Arts Cup. Achieving a total of 125 points out of a possible 140, we were awarded best technical theatre and best dance in addition to best overall performance. Congratulations go to our superb prefect team, the cast, including the whole of Yr7CS as naughty children and our wonderful Matilda, played by Lily Bromfield. Iona McBain and Ffion Platt deserve a special mention for stepping in at the last minute to give brilliant performances. Well done! Fundraising has continued to be a high priority and on January 13, we were invited to attend the Ground Breaking Ceremony of the new M.S. Therapy Centre in Canterbury for which we have raised over £6,000. Holly Chapman, Orla Dean Odey and Isabella McKenzie-Sanchez represented us and they were joined by lots of other schools, clubs and businesses, showing what a community effort the appeal has been, raising £1.6 million in two years. As we watched Frank Brake dig the first hole, we felt proud to have played a part in such a monumental achievement.

This term AB has been involved in two major activities. These were the Community Performing Arts Festival and the Inter Community Debating Competition. For the Community Performing Arts Festival, we chose High School Musical in which Alex Dalton in Yr11 played Troy and Grace Thompson in Yr7 played Gabriella. There was great Community spirit from all involved and we were all happy with the performance that we put on. The judges commended us on our creative dance routines and both Alex and Grace were commended for their solo singing performances. We performed during the day for Yrs7 and 8 and then during the evening for parents. The second event was the Community Debating Competition. We had three teams of different year groups and

each time we were put against a team from another Community. I took part in the Yr11, 12 and 13 competition with Francesca Barnes and we had to debate ‘Are single sex schools better for education?’ Rachael Sheppard and Hannah Snowden were our Yr7 and 8 debaters and Laura Sheppard and Chloe Bayliss represented Yrs9 and 10. Overall AB came 2nd and only

missed out on first place by 20 points. Since the Community Debating Competition AB has engaged in debating competitions within mentor time in preparation for next year!

It’s been another eventful term in the JP Community. The term started with a bang and our performance of Jungle Book for the Community Performing Arts. Becca and Maddie, our Community Captains, worked extremely hard preparing the script, costumes and rehearsing our amazing singers, actors and dancers. JP proudly took fourth place overall and won best dance. A huge congratulations to everyone who was involved in putting on such a fantastic performance. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the JP Community Captains and prefects who have all done a fantastic job. We have been inundated with applicants for next year’s prefect team, all of whom have no doubt been inspired by our current group. I am eagerly awaiting the interviews and looking forward to appointing a new prefect team to help JP on the road to success.

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After our well-earned Christmas break, it’s been full steam ahead with the new year and new term. This month we performed our Community Drama, a revamped rendition of Disney’s “The Lion King”, and it was worth all the hard work. Congratulations to everyone involved and an even bigger congratulations and thank you to Zia and her Prefect team for putting in so much effort and time to make the show as fantastic as it was! During our mentor periods this term VM’s been looking at effective revision methods with contributions from all years, each offering their trusted revision tactics to help with revising for the forthcoming exam season. To lift everyone’s spirits during the winter months, all mentor groups have been exploring the 365 Grateful Project, in which students make themselves aware of all the small things they are grateful for, even the tiny things such as a stranger offering up their seat on

the bus, or a smile from someone in the corridor. Each group has taken to this challenge in their own unique way. Finally, this term has seen the VM non-uniform day where the whole Community has pulled together and worked hard to raise money for Ronald McDonald House in Camberwell that provides accommodation for the families of children who are in Kings College Hospital. From the Bring and Buy Sale, to amazing cakes, a creative photo booth and much more, the Community pulled together for a fantastic day of fundraising. By Steph Thurston Yr12

This year started with a bang for KK, with the Community Performing Arts Festival and non-uniform day all in the same week. However, the Community thrived under pressure to produce the best possible results! Firstly, the Inter Community Performing Arts Festival. With just 24 hours to go, students were still perfecting dance moves and scene changes. On performance day they put on a spectacular performance of Shrek and Kiri Te Kanawa were placed second - an excellent result after all the hard work. Everyone did amazingly well, with a special mention to Lauren Hone in Yr7, who took on a solo role just hours before the performance.

Then, everyone continued the hard work through to non-uniform day. In KK we decided to take a slightly different approach with every student pledging to raise £5. Consequently, some students decided to get sponsorships for

different events, including Adam Cook and George Walker in Yr13 getting their legs waxed and Jaz Wright in Yr7, who ran 20 laps of the field in the pouring rain – a spectacular effort. Some

students helped run stalls in the hall, including lots of delicious cakes, pot noodles, face and nail painting, and finally some students filled the school with beautiful music, busking at various places around school. In total Kiri Te Kanawa has now raised £2,449

for Demelza so far!!

The highlight of this term for the talented members of NS has been our performance of “Tangled” in the Community Performing Arts Competition in January. With beautiful solos from Daisy, Ellie M, Rea Mae, Katherine G, a moving duet from Meg and Paige and a performance from our orchestra, led by Giles, which Mrs Booker described as “quality”, we were delighted to be presented with our award for Best Music. It is impossible to mention everyone who took part, singing, dancing and acting, or who contributed in a wide variety of other ways – although Hester’s work which adorned our set and her beautiful programme do deserve a special mention - but it must be said that it was once again a huge team effort, led by Laine and her team, and you all did NS proud! It was lovely to be able to share some of the highlights with the Community in our next assembly when it was also a pleasure to present certificates to those who had achieved the greatest number of Events in their year group in Term 2: Mika Goodchild, Ike Mofolasayo, Ella Russell, Abi Wyllie, Isabelle Hockey, Molly Ryan and Elissa Poyner, while PHU/KSA were the winning mentor group. We had a large number of Bronze Superstar certificates to hand out, too, and already have a list of names for next term – along with our first Silver Superstars!

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GCSE Music students in Yr10 who have been visiting eight different primary schools in separate teams during January and February. They have taught some songs to some junior classes and choirs and the children have greatly enjoyed the songs and warm-ups. The project culminated in a Singing Day at Highworth on Tuesday 11 February where over 300 primary children came to rehearse and perform the music together. The theme was ‘Commonwealth’ ahead of this summer’s Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. Violinist Lara Smith, Yr13 who played in the Kent Young Musician of the Year Concert at the Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury, on Tuesday 4 February. A marvellous performance! Well done, Lara.

Music Notes

Congratulations to …….

Coming Soon….

Musical dates for your diary: BAND STAND 9 – Thursday 6 March from 7pm – Popular musical talent from Highworth and beyond will be performing. Admission £2; refreshments available throughout the evening. SPRING CONCERT – Thursday 20 March at 7pm – Our choirs, orchestras, ensembles and soloists will be performing. Admission £4 (£2.50 concessions).

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Split Alliance Dance Show

Once again, the Dance Department did not disappoint in putting on an incredible show, ‘Split Alliance’, and

selling out on both nights with ease. Yr12 students organised a glamorous event with red carpets, candy floss, balloons, a brilliant raffle and silent auction to raise money for the ‘Make A Wish Foundation’ and, lest we forget, the complimentary wine and cheese thanks to our amazing sponsors - Wilkins Kennedy and Castelli Cheese. Over 100 dancers rehearsed their hardest leading up to the show enabling them to perform at a professional standard over two nights. The show featured not only Highworth’s musicians with some music being composed specially for the Dance Show,

but also special extra performers such as Soul Mavericks and Breakin’ Bones which

were an enormous crowd pleaser and gave this year’s show something a bit different to raise the bar yet again. Thank you to everybody who came and we look forward to seeing you all in 2015.

Soul Mavericks

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Talented Tate Modern

January saw another successful trip for Yr8 to the Tate Modern in London. All had a wonderful day seeing first hand the many artworks they have been studying in class and exploring the varied spaces in the gallery. Of particular highlight was the interactive digital drawing bar on Level 3 where students could share their creativity with other visitors on large screens. The day provided a great opportunity for students to study works in detail by artists including Kandinsky, Delaunay, Picasso and Mondrian. This will aid their learning in future classwork and help to foster an understanding of Modern Art’s impact on the history of art. Work from the day will be presented in sketchbooks providing a fantastic aide mémoire and insight into their first impressions and thoughts of the day. There was also time for a visit to the famous Tate shop and, for some, a chance to try some delicious hot chocolate!

Beautiful Blencathra - Cumbria

On the 27 January the AS Geography students and two teachers went on an adventure to the Lake District. For their first expedition the students braved the cold and carried out a fieldwork investigation, exploring Keskadale Beck. After four hours in the wind and rain, the students had collected enough data to return to the field work centre to collate and analyse their data in an evening lesson. The next day the students ventured into Carlisle where they assessed the environment and the provision of services in the inner city and suburbs. With day four came the challenge of climbing the mountain Cat Bells. Many students overcame mental and physical challenges, but with team work and encouragement, everyone managed to reach the peak and had the opportunity to admire the picturesque view. After the descent of the mountain, the students went to a nearby village and compared this rural area to the urban areas they had visited the day before. Day five brought the arrival of snow. The students ventured into Keswick to evaluate the flood defences along the

River Greta; they also had the chance to ask the public about their experiences of flooding. This trip will hold lots of wonderful memories for students and they are all glad they took the opportunity to see amazing landscapes, which have not yet been destroyed by urbanisation and to experience working with people they would not generally work with at school.

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Dressage at the High Weald Academy

The Highworth Equestrian Team had another good day competing at the High Weald Academy Dressage competition at Blue Barn just after Christmas. They started the day in the introductory class with Charlotte Giles placed 2nd, Emily Gawler placed 4th, Emily Ross-Smith placed 5th and Rosie Payne coming 6th. The next class was prelim where Hannah Smith came 3rd and Emily Gawler came 7th. To finish off the day Hannah Smith won the novice class and Tabi Underhill finished 5th. Overall, in the team competition Benenden School were the winners scoring 209, Uplands Community College were 2nd on 202 and Highworth Stars (Hannah Smith, Tabi Underhill, Charlotte Giles and Emily Gawler) were 3rd on 200.1. It was very close!

Also The Highworth Notes team finished 7th consisting of Rosie Payne, Charlie Hilton and Emily Ross-Smith. By Hannah Smith 10VM

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Charlotte Wise Yr12 who has been selected for the England Hockey U17 National Age Group Squad. This is a fantastic achievement for Charlotte and she will attend five National Training Camps during the school holidays over the next year. She is also playing for Canterbury Ladies 1s who are currently top of the National Premier League (the equivalent of football’s Premier League!).

Scarlett Carter Yr10 who has been selected for the U16 Kent Junior Academy Hockey Squad.

Ike Mofolasayo Yr8 on completion of her 25,000m rowing award.

Our Kent Schools’ Rowing Qualifiers. Twenty students qualified for the Kent Indoor Rowing finals and came home with 22 medals. Our Yr7,8 and 10 teams are combined Kent Champions and our Yr9 and 11 teams finished in 2nd place. Ella McCormack is also Yr10 individual champion and Emma Kingston took third place in the Yr11 competition. Outstanding personal performances were from Ella McCormack, Faye Mileham and the Yr10 relay team.

The Yr7 and Yr8 Indoor Athletic teams who both qualified to the finals of the Kent School Games.

The U14 Futsal team who finished second and the U12 Futsal team who finished first in the Kent Games Futsal finals.

Our Kent Schools’ Trampolining qualifiers. Eight students have qualified for the Kent Finals following their performances in this competition: Elite – Fiona Paterson, Gemma Lane, Lucy Ambler and Chez Swansborough. Intermediate – Lizzie Chambers, Hannah Smith, Jess Meadway and Charlotte Dissanayake. Our novice team of Seona Mae Casse, Xenia Coleman, Hannah Brooks and Beth Freeman finished third, just missing out on qualification.

Our U13 football team who reached the Final of the Kent Cup. They previously played against King Ethelbert School in the Semi Final and won 22-2.

Our U14 football team who reached the semi final of the Kent Cup against Rainham School. They have also reached the 6th round of the National Cup and won 3-2 with goals from Claudia Smith and Meadow Barton, both in Yr9. In the fifth round they played a team from Brighton and won 6-2 with 4 goals from Meadow Barton, Claudia Smith and Aileen Williams Yr8. They are now through to the quarter finals of the National Cup. Well done, and good luck in future games.

Our U13 and U16 students who entered the Kent School Table Tennis Games held at Medway Park in Gillingham. Aileen Williams, Charleen Cairns, Nicole Amos and Imogen Amos fought for first place. Aileen Williams won the gold medal and all the U16 girls came away with medals. Lauren O’Neil won all her games convincingly, followed in second place by Mary Coleman then Rebecca Hawkins. In the consolation draw, Meadow Barton won Gold, Lizzie Connors Silver and Kirsty Bingham Bronze. All the girls then cheered for Kieran Morphett in the U19 Boys who was awarded Silver in the consolation draw. All students left with a medal. Well done, Highworth!

Congratulations to…….

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Monday 24 February - Term 4 commences; return to Week A timetable

Week commencing 24 February - Yr11 Pre Public Exams

Friday 28 February - Italian Culture Day

Thursday 6 March - Band Stand

Friday 7 March - Non-School Uniform - CS

Thursday 13 March - Focus Day

Thursday 20 March - Spring Concert

Friday 21 March - Non-School Uniform - NS Friends Disco

Week commencing 31 March - Yr9 Exam Week

Thursday 4 April - Last Day of Term

Headteacher: Mr P Danielsen Highworth Grammar School, Quantock Drive, Ashford, Kent, TN24 8UD

Phone No.: 01233 624910, Fax: 01233 612028 Email: [email protected] Website: www.highworth.kent.sch.uk

Chinese Culture Day

We celebrated the beginning of the Chinese New Year on Friday 31 January, seeing in the Year of the Horse with a Chinese café, pin the tail on the dragon and the Great Chinese New Year Bake off which was spectacularly won by Ophelia Gregory in 7NS and Ellis Sharp in Yr13CS. Congratulations! Our next Culture Day will be a celebration of Italy on 28 February. If you have any suggestions or would like to help, please e-mail [email protected]. Following their anti-bullying work last term, our peer mentor teams joined together on Focus Day to complete a training module on revision skills and examination technique which they will be using to support younger students over the weeks ahead.

Swimming Gold

The Kent Secondary School Swimming Gala was held over two weekends in January. Five girls and two boys swam representing the school: Faye Mileham, Eliesha Hardy, and Grace Rasmussen, Yrs7, 8, 9, Alex Scott and Phoebe Grace Yrs10 & 11, Oliver Gilham and Nimai Jivan-Frier Yr12. Faye, Eliesha and Oliver all achieved new personal best times. Phoebe Grace achieved personal best times in both her events and a County time and seventh place in her backstroke. Nimai won a sixth place medal for Highworth in his backstroke race. Alex Scott gained a new personal best and a third place medal in her freestyle race, followed by an amazing final in the backstroke where she came first, winning a gold medal. She set a new personal best and took an Ashford Town Swimming Club record.

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Highways february 2014