Highways March 2013

Ad Caelestia Sequere … Reach For the Stars

Newsletter for Highworth SchoolNewsletter for Highworth School March 2013 Issue 2

Message from the Headteacher

Beth Seccombe

Message from the Head Girl

Duke of Edinburgh's Award It has been another great year for our Duke of Edinburgh students and at the Presentation Evening next week, 72 girls will collect their completed Award certificates - 44 Bronze, 25 Silver, and 4 Gold - a substantial percentage of the Awards gained in the Ashford and Tenterden area. Very well done all of you! Special congratulations go to Roberta Tilt, Jessica Gentry and Charlotte Hearne, who completed their Gold Award whilst still at school - a fantastic achievement! This year enrolments are also high with 97 Bronze in November. Enrolment of Silver and Gold is an on-going process, but at present we have about 35 working on Silver and approximately 40 from Years 11, 12, and 13 going through the process of doing their Gold. I would like to take this opportunity of thanking all those of you who help in any way in teaching, supervising, assessing and encouraging the girls in their efforts. It is a long process and they definitely need the support and help of adults, especially their parents, and so thank you all. Mr Pat Wright

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In CS/MCL-SBA, Yr 7 students Georgie Turley –Meehan and Rhiannon Taggart gave up their weekend to wash cars in order to raise money for The Kent Multiple Sclerosis Therapy Centre’s Butterfly Appeal, this year’s CS Charity. Their hard work raised a fantastic £55 which, due to the generosity of local Businessman Frank Brake, will be doubled to £110!

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On Friday 8th March, 27 Year 10 Drama students participated in a mask workshop with a Trestle trained practitioner. They explored body posture and how physicality can display emotion along with how emotions can be altered through facial expressions. As a result there was some entertaining improvisations using the Trestle masks which display singular exaggerated expressions. This workshop was a fantastic opportunity for the Year 10s to engage in this specialist area of theatre. They all enjoyed the session greatly and showed real skill and adaptability in their performances.

Drama Workshop

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On 7 March 2013 the Highworth Folk Band (Jack Allen, Sophie Allen, Karen Ashby, Sophie Ball, Diana Banham, Liz Bate, Molly Boot, Jess Donnelly, Maddie Rogers, Lois Slinger and ex-student Suzie Knuckey) travelled to the Royal Albert Hall in London to play in a lunchtime concert as part of the Inspire Concert Series in partnership with Music for Youth, following our performance at the National Festival of Music for Youth in Birmingham last year. We all thoroughly enjoyed playing in a venue with such prolific musical heritage and having a large, appreciative audience, as well as being extremely impressed by our green room: one of the grand tier boxes in the main auditorium! After our performance we spent some time busking on the South Bank and, despite the rain, we all had a great time entertaining passers by, including one who unexpectedly decided to lead us in an improvisation with his xaphoon whilst getting the audience to sing along! We were also lucky that David Griffiths, a passing professional photographer, produced some fantastic portraits of us all having a great time playing (and occasionally dancing!) together. The band would like to thank Mrs Booker for organising such a brilliant opportunity and we are now working hard to put together a set to impress the judges at the regional stages of Music for Youth at the end of March. Fingers crossed that we might return to the Royal Albert Hall next year! Molly Boot, Year 11

Highworth Folk Band

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On the 14th February 2012, Year 9 took an exciting and interesting visit to Ypres, the location tied to many historical WW1 events. Once arriving at Ypres, our first stop was the Flanders Field Museum where there were historical documents and artefacts such as army uniforms, gas masks, letters from home and real war propaganda posters. Our next stop was to the home of some of Belgium’s finest chocolate: The Peter De Groote Chocolaterie! It was at this point that most of us parted with our money for some of the deliciousness Belgium had to offer! Next was a visit to the trenches. Even after years, the trenches still have a very gloomy and chilling feel to them and after being almost knee-deep in mud myself, it becomes easy to sympathize with the soldiers who regularly endured shoulder-high, deadly mud. After a short lunch break, we changed out of our muddy wellies and made our way to a cemetery reserved only for British officers from WWI. We were told that the number of graves would be shocking, but even that did not quite prepare us for the hundreds and hundreds of marble gravestones, all laid out neatly in rows. Most graves were not even engraved as the identity of the remains were not known.

Later we visited a German cemetery and the contrast was clear. Although there seemed to be fewer graves, the atmosphere was eerie and it looked dark and rather sinister. There was a mass grave of approximately 25,000 men, which really demonstrated the scale of death that WWI had on both Britain and Germany. This trip enlightened us all on the conditions that World War One soldiers faced and the scale of destruction that it caused. Phoebe Curtin, 9VM.

In February 2013, 30 Year 12 and 13 students visited Krakow in Poland. We enjoyed walking around the beautiful medieval city but we also learned about the terrible crimes committed in Poland by the Nazis during the Second World War. The trip was certainly educational and thought-provoking but fun as well, and one I am sure we will remember for a long time. One of the best and most eye-opening experiences on the trip to Krakow was meeting a concentration camp survivor, Josef. Josef told us of his struggles as a teenager in the Mauthausen concentration camp, as at the age of 16, he had lost both his mother and father and was imprisoned as a ‘political prisoner’ who had tried to fight back against the Nazis. He was a true inspiration to us all as he told us of his haunting memories and dreams of being a prisoner and losing everything near to him and yet his faith in his religion still remains strong and he is forgiving of all that was done to him. Josef is an amazing person and I am sure that everyone on the trip will never forget having the pleasure of meeting him and being able to listen to his sad but amazing story.

Ypres - Belgium

Krakow - Poland

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In the words of the writer Thomas Wolfe, “One belongs to New York instantly; one belongs to it as much in five minutes as in five years” and this is most definitely the case! Despite visiting for only six days, this vibrant, beautiful and inspirational city drew us in and made us feel part of it. New York is a city which has something for everyone. It has a uniqueness that cannot be explained unless you have experienced it for yourself. Despite at first being nervous of hailing a taxi, using the subway or wandering the bustling streets of Broadway, we were soon at ease and did feel as if we belonged there. The incredible architecture of the skyscrapers and other buildings was amazing and one of the many highlights of the trip was when we travelled up the 90 floors of the Empire State Building to gaze at the panoramic night time lights of the city that never sleeps. We were literally on top of the world! The trip gave us the fantastic opportunity to visit multiple galleries including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Museum of Modern Art and the Guggenheim. We saw breath-taking and inspirational artwork such as Van Gogh’s ‘Starry Night’ and Edvard Munch’s ‘The Scream’. Every evening, we also had the opportunity to visit Jazz Clubs (such as ‘Birdland’) which had dynamic atmospheres and unbelievable music. There was plenty of time for ‘retail therapy,’ from browsing and wishing we could afford the designer shops such as Tiffany and Co., Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s to buying clothes and gifts in the many discount stores. Other highlights were seeing the Statue of Liberty, the twinkling lights of Times Square and ice-skating at the Rockefeller Centre. There was a part of us that never wanted to come home and we would all like to thank the staff for making this incredible trip possible. Elissa Poyner

Pinzolo - Italy

This year’s ski trip was full of memorable moments. The resort we stayed in, which was Pinzolo, was fantastic! The gondola was only across the road - thankfully because skiing was enough exercise for some of us! We also had the whole hotel to ourselves and because Mr Linstead, Mr Beer and Mr White were our singing alarm clocks every early morning. We were lucky to have all-round amazing ski instructors, Dario, Marco, Alberto and Fabio, who were very helpful even when they were laughing at our falls and calling us chickens! As well as the great skiing, we had activities in the evenings, including eating in a pizzeria, husky sledging and craft activities. Every day we voted for a Skier of the Day, A Special Award and, of course, Dipstick of the Day. The awards were very hotly contested! Thank you to our 6 fabulous teachers: Miss Cassey, Mr Linstead, Mr White, Miss Greensmith, Miss Hodges and Mr Beer. Jodi Tanton and Keeley Taylor

Art and Jazz Trip to New York

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Friday 1st March was an exciting day for lovers of poetry as we had the opportunity to go to London to experience “live” poetry at a special event at the Dominion Theatre. The poets who have work in the AQA GCSE Anthology performed their poems and those of poets from the literary heritage, talked about what inspired them and the ways their poetry could be read. We also had the chance to ask them questions! Having an AQA chief examiner who talked us through how to answer an unseen poem (with comic asides!) meant we covered all aspects of the exam. We began by listening to two highly accomplished poets: Carol Ann Duffy, the Poet Laureate, and Gillian Clarke, the National Poet of Wales. Their readings were thought provoking and gave intimate glimpses into both their own lives and those of others. Duffy’s “Medusa”, we learned, was based on how the poet felt during the break up of a relationship, and Clarke’s touching poem “Miracle on St David’s Day” actually happened to her during a reading. We were also privileged to hear from Andrew Forster (“The Horse Whisperer”, “Brothers”), Owen Steers (“Mametz Wood”) and Imtiaz Darhker (“The Right Word”). After lunch we finished on a Caribbean note with Grace Nichols (“Price We Pay for the Sun” and “Praise Song for My Mother”) and finally with the amazing John Agard (“Checking Out Me History”) who had 2000 students involved in making poetry truly ”come alive”! Awesome!

Yr 10 Poetry Live Science Live Conference

On Thursday 28th February 50 Year 10 and 11 students attended the GCSE Science Live event at the Dominion Theatre in London. Here they enjoyed entertaining talks from some of the country’s most prominent and inspiring scientists. Professor Steve Jones started proceedings with an insight into human evolution. He was followed by Dr Ben Goldacre giving a lively and amusing take on science and the importance of being aware of bad science. Professor Andrea Sella wowed us all with some clever chemistry as he tried to explain to us why zebras have stripes! Undoubted star of the show was Professor Lord Robert Winston who talked about his research into human fertility. He used some fascinating images to illustrate his work and amazed us with details about ourselves. Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock shared her personal journey from dyslexic school child to space scientist and childrens TV science expert. Her message was clear, if you want something badly enough and you are willing to work for it, there is nothing you cannot do. It was a great privilege to hear from such prominent and inspirational scientists and we returned to school enthused and ready to continue our own scientific journeys of discovery.

Professor Winston

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The U15 cricket team who won the county indoor cricket competition at Canterbury and now go through to the South East of England Final in April.

Our Yr8 netball team who came in the top 8 in the U13 county netball tournament at Rainham. The standard of netball was excellent and they were a credit to the school.

Our table tennis teams who won the district competition at Pent Valley. U13 A team 1st, C team 2nd, B team 3rd. U15 B TEAM 1st, A team 2nd. They will go to the regional finals in June.

Our Yr7 teams who took part in the district indoor athletics competition on the 7th March. The A TEAM came 1st and the B team came 4th. The Yr 8 team came 1st. Both teams will go to the finals at the end of the term.

Our Yr 7 and 8 Sportshall athletics teams. Yr 7 A team won the district tournament with the B team coming 4th. Yr 8 team also won. Both Yr 7 and 8 teams will represent Ashford in the County finals.

To Palli Shakya in Yr 10 on achieving the 50,000m rowing

award and Simana Gurung and Louise Telford in Yr 8 for completing 100,000m.

Congratulations to…….

Year 7 and 8 Sportshall Athletics Teams

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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

Thursday 28 March —Last Day of Term

Monday 15 April - Term 5 Commences

Free School Meals – Have your circumstances changed?

If you have children under 19 in full-time education, they may

be entitled to free school meals. To be eligible, the student’s family must be in receipt of one of the following benefits and will need to provide the relevant proof: Income Support Income Based Jobseeker’s Allowance Child Tax Credit (not Working Tax Credit) If the household income is below £16,190 Guaranteed Element of State Pension Credit Asylum Seekers Proof of support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 An Income-related Employment and Support Allowance They do accept bank or building society statements as they show which benefit is being received. If you think you may be entitled to free school meals, please request a form from the school or alternatively, please download and print-off the Free School Meals form from www.kent.gov.uk/education

Focus Day

Ghanaian CULTURE DAY

http://www.kent.gov.uk/education

Documents

Highways March 2013