LFA QEMS Newsletter

Issue 14. 4 Sept 2014

English Texts

If you have an older brother or sister in Year 11 who have just left and you see any English texts lying around at home, please hand in to Mrs Wilson-Dyke in E3:

‘Woman in Black’

‘Of Mice and Men’

‘An Inspector Calls’

Spanish Club

Have you ever wondered what animal ‘Spain’

takes its name from?

Would you like to watch the Spanish equivalent

of Jerry Springer?

Are you interested in impressing the locals next

time you go on holiday?

Then ¡Venga al club de Español!

Spanish club takes place every Wednesday from

3.45pm – 4.15pm.

We learn about the Spanish language and

culture, play games, do projects and have fun!

See Miss Atherton in L1 for a letter if you are

interested.

DT Jute Bags

Food Students in Design Technology have produced some excellent practical work and are to be congratulated on their organisation in preparing and bringing ingredients. Many thanks to all parents for their support.

These bags, shown below, may make bringing your ingredients to school easier and more stylish!

They have been designed with Food Technology in mind. The unique 24cm base-width enables large tins and containers to lay flat in the bag to avoid spillages. They have a wipe-clean interior and are made from sustainable resources. They also feature an internal label for students’ names.

The bags are priced at £2.60 each.

If you want to place an order for one of these bags please see Mrs Morgan or Mrs Rose in

Design Technology.

The media this summer has been full of celebrations, commemorations, religious services, TV programmes, articles and books remembering the centenary of the beginning of World War 1. This school, or Queen Elizabeth’s Grammar School as it then was, played its part with more than 200 old boys joining up to serve Queen and country. 34 did not return.

Mr Maugham, subject leader for Maths, has written an article about many of the 34 for the Tamworth Herald special edition, Historic Tamworth, available for just £1. Please buy a copy and read about the contributions of some past students of this school.

Historic Tamworth

LFA QEMS Newsletter

Warwick Castle This summer we took Year 9 and 10 to Warwick Castle. They experienced The Mighty Trebuchet; the horrifying Gaol (prison); reached the terrifying top of the towers and watched a very memorable bird show.

The next day the students created their own advertising campaigns to promote Warwick Castle and these wonderful pieces of artwork were displayed in the hall and the PA.

All in all it was a very enjoyable

few days!

Alton Towers On the 16th July nearly 150 students were taken to Alton Towers for the day. A full day was on offer; an early arrival and late leaving time meant students- and some very excited staff also- got to experience rides such as ‘The Smiler’ and ‘Oblivion.’ Students were impeccably behaved and enjoyed the reward for another great year!

Jaguar Land Rover

A group of Year 11 work experience students visited Jaguar Land Rover in Solihull as part of their enrichment week activities. Students took part in a range of team building, design and make activities, which reflected the real life production that takes place in JLR. Working competitively in small teams, students were made aware of the importance of quality manufacture, meeting deadlines and precision working.

Students and staff particularly enjoyed the factory tour, where impressive ranges of robotics were seen in action. The guided tour, conducted by an employee who had worked in the ‘Specialist Automobiles Department’ was fascinating, as students learnt about the specialist features that were available and the cars specially designed for royalty and the rich and famous.

A number of students were impressed and interested by the apprenticeship scheme offered by JLR and Miss Hazleton particularly liked the glue machine!

LFA QEMS Newsletter

Costa Brava July 2014 The PE department ran an extremely successful Costa Brava trip during activities week 2014. We had 40 pupils and 4 staff set off on Saturday morning for a week of water sports and beach activities!

After a very smooth but tiring journey, we arrived at camp where we settled into our cabins.

The week started off on the beach, where pupils were divided into four teams (Hufflepuff, Gryffindor, Slytherin and Ravenclaw). Each group took part in one of four activities in the morning and then switched over in the afternoon. Activities included paddle boarding, kayaking, snorkelling and sailing. All of the students were extremely positive and threw themselves into the activities at sea! Lunch was spent on the beach were students swam in the sea and sun bathed.

Evenings were spent completing team challenges and activities including mini golf, archery and rock climbing. As well as this, students enjoyed the pool opposite the cabins and the daily disco and football matches at night.

One of the days was spent in Barcelona visiting famous attractions such as the Olympic Park, Camp Nou and Las Ramblas, where students were able to shop and wander at their leisure.

The following day, students attended the water park which was excellent. There were some fantastic rides and a nice relaxing pool for staff to enjoy!

After a very busy week, we set off back to England, slightly sunburnt but having thoroughly enjoyed the trip! The students were a real credit to the school and should be extremely proud of themselves, both for their attitude in trying new activities and for their conduct throughout.

LFA QEMS Newsletter

Cote D’Azure Music Trip

After a long and tiring coach journey we finally arrived at our destination, The Media Gardens, Valbonne. The hotel was very nice and picturesque with a lovely little outside area to relax in during the evenings and a pool, which by all accounts was absolutely freezing!

All three of the concerts we played went really well. The first was in St. Paul de Vence where it started raining just as we were about to play so we had to keep most of our electrical equipment out of the way and covered apart from the bare essentials like piano and bass which meant, unfortunately, The Curv3 didn’t get to play this particular concert. Despite the adverse weather conditions the gig was very well received and some students even had members of the public stand next to them with umbrellas keeping them dry! Luckily this was the only bit of bad weather we had for the whole trip. The actual venue was lovely, a very quaint stereotypically French village square made of gravel with many people playing games of Boule around where the band were playing.

The next concert was in Grasse, which was quite a large town, where we played on a band stand in one of the town squares overlooking the rest of the town and surrounding countryside. We had a couple of students who weren’t playing moving up and down the adjoining streets with flyers trying to entice people to come and listen. Again the concert was well received with people particularly enjoying The Curv3’s performance. Last but by no means least we played in Vence. We played in the old town which was very renaissance in style but still very stereotypically French with lots of narrow streets and courtyards dotted with art galleries and little shops, restaurants, bistros and cafés.

When we weren’t playing we were sightseeing around places like Nice and Antibes as well as the places we played or sunning ourselves on the beach. We visited Marineland and Aquasplash where we got to see many aquatic and marine animals perform shows and went on water slides. We also took a trip to St. Cezaire caves and a confectionary factory called Confiserie du Vieux that made sugared/crystalized flower petals, candied fruits (oranges etc and even chocolate covered olives!), jams such as rose (tasted like Turkish Delight) violet, (tasted of Parma Violets), jasmine (tasted of erm… jasmine!) and chocolate again with rose, violet etc.

After our performances we would disband and go and find somewhere nice to eat, of which there was no shortage, and the students would be given €10-15 to put towards their meals. We would then head back to the hotel where we would relax on the terrace by the pool, play cards, tennis and table tennis and generally unwind. A jolly good time was had by all!

LFA QEMS Newsletter

Kingsbury Water Park The Science department and some of the Year 8 students had the

opportunity to go to Kingsbury Water Park as part of their enrichment week.

During the day students took part in some ecology activities including

identifying organisms from different habitats which included lakes, ponds,

butterfly fields and woodlands.

When back in school the students conducted more research on

their habitats and produced detailed posters on their findings.

Students from Landau Forte Academy QEMS commemorate old boys killed during World War I

On the 1st July, staff and students from Landau Forte Academy QEMS commemorated the 34 old boys of Tamworth Grammar School who were killed during WW1 by wearing an item of green clothing in honour of 2nd Lieutenant Basil Green who was one of the 34.

On 14th June 1917, Basil led a successful trench raid on the enemy lines, following which he went back out into No Man’s Land and spent more than an hour searching for wounded comrades. For this act of bravery Basil was awarded the Military Cross, however he was himself killed just two weeks later on 1st July.

Principal Rob Fell, students Sian Harper, Alex Watkins, George Godfrey-Roe, Chenille Reeve, Chloe Walker, Shannon Turner, Maths Teacher David Maugham and Troop Aid Chairman Al Sutton are pictured.

Reading Group meet Horrible Science Nick Arnold at Lichfield Garrick Theatre

Our Key Stage 3 Reading Group enjoyed a day out in Lichfield where they watched the Horrible Science Show at Lichfield Garrick Theatre and met Nick Arnold at a book signing. The students are working towards the Bronze level Arts Award and the trip was sponsored by Staffordshire Schools’ Library Service . They enjoyed the show and Jake Rough was invited on stage to help prove how a £20 note could be submerged into a beaker of water and remain dry.

LFA QEMS Newsletter

As part of the enrichment week, 35 students went to the National Paintball Fields in Bassetts Pole. Students and staff worked in two teams to gain the winning flag in several rounds.

Our students and staff had a great day out and had a few bruises from being hit with the super fast paintballs. A full day’s play left everyone exhausted, and the coach back to school was silent with everyone resting.

Paintballing in enrichment week was not only exciting but was very intense at the same time. We arrived at the complex in Bassets Pole in no time and ran through safety talks. Within minutes, we were suited up in our overalls and ready to go to battle! The first game... capture the flag. The aim of the game (in the name really) was to make your way through the enemy's camp and steal the flag and make your way safely back to your own camp with it. Again the games flashed quickly by and while everyone sat down to have lunch, Mr Andrews bought a multiple array of grenades (not real, of course!). During the next game, the grenades came to use as our team mates Sam Chapman and Keir Lloyd tried to win the game for our team. Mr Andrew threw a smoke grenade "right next to their feet" and caught Sam and Keir out in their hunt to win their team the game. Getting near to the end of the day and one map consisted of multiple army trucks and two trenches down the sides of the map. A small team of us stormed down the trench and caught a lot of the opposition out in our stealth attack. Onto our last game and, everyone exhausted, found a final burst of energy. As I was running down the wing of the map my team mate (not to be named because of utter humiliation) hit me right in the bottom and I shouted, and shouted and shouted! It hurt quite a lot! After an exhausting but good day out, it was time to relax as we made our way back to school.

By Harry Robson

Paintballing

Cinema and Bowling

On Wednesday 20th

August, as part of Activities Week, 58 students had a morning bowling at the Namco bowling alley followed by an afternoon at the Odeon. The weather was excellent making the walk between the venues a pleasurable experience. On arrival at the bowling alley, the students split themselves off into games, selected strange nicknames for

one-another and then mostly cheated by having the barriers up while they were playing!

After a pleasant picnic in the castle grounds, we then moved on to the Odeon cinema. The film we chose to watch was ‘X-Men 2, Days of Future of Past’. The staff seemed to enjoy the film as much as the students, all managing to stay awake for the duration. Our budding film

critics tended to give the film 4-5 stars meaning it probably wasn’t a bad choice.

LFA QEMS Newsletter

YTF Celebration Day 2014

YTF Reading Group portraying characters

from Poison Boy

Our reading group, made up with students from Years 7, 8

and 9 not only attended the annual Young Teen Fiction

Celebration Day, but were also part of the presenting team.

The award is the highlight of Staffordshire Library Services’

Book Award and attended by many schools from across the

county. These students regularly attend our after school

book club. They, and hundreds of other Staffordshire

teenagers, have been part of the selection process for the

long list, short list and voting for the eventual winner of the

award. The winning book is announced at Celebration Day.

Every year six schools are chosen to present one of the

short listed titles. Our students chose to write and perform a

short drama about Poison Boy by Fletcher Moss. They were

given the opportunity of working on their drama with

assistance from Shoebox Theatre. Under the expert direction

of this company they honed and rehearsed their

performance. Their drama was expertly presented and well

received by the audience. Only Key Stage 3 students from

Staffordshire are allowed to participate in any of the

selection processes. It is the only book award in existence

that is chosen entirely by teens…no adult intervention

allowed. The six books short listed by them in February

were:-

……and the winner was

While the Others Sleep

by Tom Becker

This is a creepy ghost (verging on horror) story about a

boy who is shut up in a Victorian mental hospital for rich

disturbed kids. Unlike the other patients, Alfie isn't mad

(as far as he knows), but is suffering from severe

insomnia. He soon discovers that something is seriously

wrong - dark supernatural forces are at large and his

insomnia puts him at special risk. Seemingly irrelevant

events from his past are linked to his condition and may

also be clues to source of the present danger……

Author Sally Nicholls also gave an interesting presentation. She was one of the authors short listed last year for her book All Fall Down, which is set in England during the plague. She entertained us by involving the audience in making decisions we may or may not have had to make, if we had lived during the time of the plague. Our chances of survival rested on the throw of a dice. The plague wiped out nearly half of all civilisation….on this occasion we survived…thanks to the roll of the dice! Sally is a very popular author. You can find out more from her web page www.sallynicholls.com

LFA QEMS Newsletter

Lucy being presented the

YTF Champions Award by

Tom Becker

Students also had the privilege of meeting Tom Becker.

He dropped in to see how his book While the Others Sleep was

doing…and it won! So he was presented with the award at the

end of the day— a beautiful cut glass bowl.

One of our students, Lucy Crowther from Year 8 was also

presented with a YTF Champions Award. This is an award given to

any student who is an advocate for reading in their own school.

Tom Becker presented Lucy with her award.

Our students are very familiar with Tom Becker’s books. They

study Darkside as a set text in English and they were thrilled to

be able to meet him.

Final preparations

Students

meeting and

having books

All of the books mentioned here are available for loan from our school library

The YTF Reading Group is aimed solely at students from KS3. We meet every Thursday after school, in our

school library, for around 30 minutes or so. We read and review new fiction aimed at the teenage market

and we get involved with the YTF Book Award. It is a relaxed, no pressure environment – we firmly believe

reading should be for pleasure…and we have fun doing just that…. Reading for pleasure!

New members always welcome.

Shoebox Theatre is a local drama company which meet at Tamworth Library on Thursday evenings. They

stage productions throughout the local community and are welcoming of new members. To find out more go

to www.shoeboxtheatre.co.uk

before going on stage

signed by Rob Lloyd

Jones and Tom

Becker

Students listened to an inspirational talk from Rob Lloyd Jones. He told them stories from his very interesting life, explained how reading about Robin Hood switched him onto reading as a teenager and how he became a real life Robin Hood. When he was at high school he broke into the staffroom, stole all the biscuits and gave them away to other students on the school playground! Teachers beware!

His book Wild Boy too third place and there are more Wild Boy stories in the pipeline.

You can find out more about him at www.roblloydjones.com

LFA QEMS Newsletter

During Activities Week, the GCSE double option Art group had a very successful workshop session with Mrs Longmore-Spillett at the Sixth Form Centre. They had a wonderful opportunity to work within the Sixth Form Centre and experiment with bleach and inks to create amazing portraits that will go into their portfolios. Well done to all involved.

Huge congratulations to last year’s double option Art group. The results were fantastic (77% A*-C) They all worked incredibly hard to produce work to be proud of. Well done!

GCSE Art

Work Experience

On the 17th July our Year 11 students embarked on one week of work experience. As this was intended to give students a complete taste of the world of work, students were expected to organise the placements themselves, making initial phone calls and chasing paperwork. The result of all of this hard work was a programme of work experience which had our students engaged in a diverse range of activities from working on an Astrophysics project at a university, to working with exotic pets and a number of students supporting our local primary schools.

As expected, our students behaved impeccably with a fantastic number of positive reports coming back from employers. The students then had a day of work experience trips to enhance their experience before spending the final day learning vital interview skills and looking at how to write a CV. The whole experience has served to demonstrate what a useful and productive part of society our Year 11 students will be when they enter the world of work.

Beaudesert Camping Trip

60 Year 7 students enjoyed an activities trip to Beaudesert camp site in Cannock Chase. The students completed various tasks from archery to abseiling and were treated to gourmet standard food expertly cooked by Mr Price and Mr Rose with a little help from Sankey’s Fish Bar. All students were extremely well behaved and represented the school in a mature and positive manner. A special mention must go to Boy Tent 1 who were exemplary in their housekeeping and sleeping arrangements, well done boys.