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Head teacher’s message Wednesday’s Sports Day was fantastic this year. The PE

Department set out each year to promote competition, participation and enjoyment in athletics and I think this year was one of the most successful. A significant number of students were involved representing their tutor group in at least one event. Friendly rivalry between individual students and tutor teams (not to mention the tutors!) was intense at times; it was not uncommon to see raucous cheering taking place as athletes entered the final 100ms. What I love about Sports Day is the determination on students’ faces as they compete. Above all it is events like this that enable a community of young people and adults to come together and feel part of something special. Well done to all the students who took part and congratulations to the winners. An enormous thanks to the PE Department for making it happen and all the staff who supported. While on the theme of sport, another great Axe Valley tradition takes place this weekend: The Dartmoor Classic cycle challenge. A team of Year 10 students, led by Mr Mythen (team organiser), Mrs Fanzo, Mrs Fletcher and Mr Hunt compete this Sunday in this gruelling 65mile race across Dartmoor. This will be the culmination of months of training, puncture repairs, buckled wheels and painful hill climbs. From everyone at Axe Valley: good luck!

As we head into the final month of the year there are lots of great events to look forward to. Tickets for Oliver have gone on sale—buy now to avoid disappointment! We have another exciting programme of Activity Days’ activities which I know students are excited about. The annual Art Exhibition is one of my favourite events. Lots to look forward to. Please be aware of some changes to roles within the college. I am delighted to announce that Mrs Moran is the new Subject Leader for PE, taking over from Mr Davies who has become a Year Leader. I am also pleased to announce that Mr Scott and Mrs Baker will share the role of Assistant Subject Leader for PE. Finally, I would like to thank all our students who have worked so hard in their recent exams. They conducted themselves superbly and we look forward to getting the results in August.

Martin Smith - Head teacher

The Update

The Axe Valley Community College Newsletter: Friday 20th June 2014 - Issue 17

Diary Dates: Tuesday 24th June - PSHE Day

Wednesday 25th June - Year 6 Transition Day & Evening Wednesday 2nd July - Year 7 Parents Evening

Friday 4th July - Non-Uniform Day Monday 7th July - Prize Giving

8th to 11th July - Oliver Performances 11th to 22nd July - Art Exhibition 23rd & 24th July - Activity Days

Friday 25th July - End of Summer Term

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It is a pleasure to announce Lewis Gibbons and Rebecca White as the new Head Boy and Girl for 2014-2015. Congratulations to both students who did brilliantly to be appointed from such a strong field.

Martin Smith - Head Teacher

Head Girl

Hi, I’m Rebecca White and I am fortunate

enough to have been selected as Head Girl. I

have many interests and partake in a variety

of activities both in and out of school. These

include: cycling, netball and the school

production of ‘Oliver!’ As well as these, I am

also a cadet in the Air Training Corps and am

currently working towards my Bronze D of E

Award; both of which I enjoy.

In my new role as Head Girl, I intend to be

someone approachable who can support

students and help to iron out any problems

that they may have. I look forward to

beginning my role as Head Girl and am proud

to support Axe Valley.

Head Boy

My name is Lewis Gibbons and I have been a student at The Axe Valley Community College since September 2010. I have enjoyed an active and fulfilling time at the college to date, enhanced by the opportunities which have been available to

me. These have included participation in the Aspire General Programme since it started, various clubs and sports fixtures, an Exeter University Tutoring Programme and trips to Austria, Germany, the Ardeche, and Beaford Arts. I am also looking forward to the skiing trip later this year! Art is one of my chosen GCSE’s and I am now participating in the Aspire Arts Program. I enjoy sport and am a member of Lyme Regis Golf Club where I play on a regular basis. Recently I have volunteered to help with the coaching of the Seaton Town Football Club Under 10’s team as part of my Duke of Edinburgh Bronze Award. I am extremely proud of being chosen to represent the college as Head Boy and look forward to the new challenges and experiences that it will bring. I am committed to being a good role model and have two goals which I hope will be achieved during my year as Ambassador for the college, although one may be a little more realistic than the other!

Firstly I wish to share in the college’s

ambition ‘to be outstanding in every way’ and

secondly I would love to see England win the

World Cup!

Student News

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The new Senior Prefects: Jessica Boulton - 10NG Sunday School leader, Grade 8 Singer, horse rider and lace maker, she is in the Netball squad and on the Duke of Edinburgh Scheme. “I want to encourage younger students of the college to take every opportunity to enjoy what I have already experienced.” Issy Somers - 10SS Musician and actress in college concerts and shows, a Year 7 buddy and ASPIRE student. “I would love to get involved with new people and I love to put in new ideas to help others” Lucy Gay - 10SS Active Young Farmer, Netball team player Year 7 buddy, Student Council member and Captain of the Rounders team as well as doing the Duke of Edinburgh award. “I try to help and care for people. I will encourage others to behave and act appropriately.” Jessica James - 10NG Netball team player, Year 7 buddy and sports leader, Art and core ASPIRE student “I am committed to everything that is important to the college. I have determination and perseverance which I can apply to my Senior Prefect duties to be successful.” Polly Huscroft - 10SMC Actress in College productions, and ASPIRE student . “I believe that safety and wellbeing of students in the college is incredibly important as I believe it should be a safe environment in which everyone is safe and relaxed and somewhere that students are happy to be.”

Hannah Burnett - 10NG Tennis player, Musician—piano, ASPIRE students and Year 7 Buddy “Promoting the reputation of the school is something I endeavour to do at all times. I will always look out for my fellow students and help them with any problems they may have.” Bradley Searle - 10STP Keen golfer, “I will help to maintain a pleasant and safe environment for all students encouraging and supporting them in a friendly and polite manner” Alfie Brooker - 10SS Cricket team, Duke of Edinburgh award, School Council and Year 7 Buddy “I feel a great sense of pride in my school. I feel that a student’s education is the most critical part of their life so if they have support and care they will enjoy it more” Steven Apsey - 10LM Captain of Cricket Team, National Bowls Player, Football player and Literacy Leader. “I want to help the college become as good as it can be and this includes improving its reputation and ensuring safety. Also I would like to support students and care for them whilst keeping them safe.” Max Richardson - 10LM Helping with Primary School league of Rounders, Football squad , cricket team and sports leader, Year 7 buddy and Sports Captain “I am committed to promoting the good reputation of our college and I will happily help any student wanting help or support”

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Bovey Tracey Contemporary Craft Festival

On a very sunny Friday in early June ,textiles and art GCSE students went along to the annual contemporary craft festival in Bovey Tracey. The festival showcases the countries best makers – including ceramics, jewellery, textile design, furniture and clothing and is a fantastic opportunity to not only see objects first hand – but also to meet the artists themselves. Students also got the chance to look at exhibitions by local colleges and Plymouth university to enable them to find the next step in their careers as artists and designers. After a short! stroll through the woods to get

to the site, students gathered information and took part in workshops which will enable them to gain crucial marks towards their GCSE portfolios. We also all indulged in the odd purchase (especially ice creams and doughnuts!! Its hard work looking at all that art!). Just before we left to return to college we had a quick look at the exhibition of art made from old books in the Devon Guild of Crafts which will inspire future projects. Thanks to Mrs Searle for coming along!

Mrs G Fletcher - Art Department and Mrs M Gregson—Textiles Department

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Sixth Form Tug of war on Sports Day Now the exams for this year are over welcome back to the start of the A2 courses and the second year of BTECs. A good start to your courses is essential part of calm enjoyable success next summer. It can be amazingly tempting at this beautiful time of year to fritter away this crucial time and lose this huge opportunity. Do not let this happen. It’s important to get stuck into new courses with renewed energy and start building a strong platform for next year. Next week is PSHE day. We will be looking at CV building and kicking off the UCAS process. We have some representatives from

Plymouth University coming in to give their perspective on what they are looking for in applications. This is an opportunity to do some research and plan in a little more detail what your next steps might be. It should be an interesting and exciting day for all of us.

Mr R Carr - Head of Sixth Form

Sixth Form PROM 2014

Only two weeks to go until the Prom!!

A new feature for this year’s prom is the ‘prom prize’. £25 to the holder of the lucky ticket, drawn on the night. You could be going to prom for FREE!

Cake Sale on Wednesday 25th June with all proceeds going towards your prom event.

Sixth Form News

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College Notices 100% Attendance Well done to all of the students that achieved 100% attendance over the last Half Term. Check the notice board by reception or the College Website to see if you name is there. Miss McCarthy’s (10 SMC) tutor group achieved an amazing 21 students with 100% attendance.

Mrs Steggall/Attendance Officer First Prize For Mrs Carroll On Thursday 12th June, Axe Valley English teacher and author Mrs Emma Carroll trav-elled to Newcastle to attend The North East Book Awards 2013. Her debut novel ‘Frost Hollow Hall’ had been shortlisted for the prize. Students from over 25 schools in the North East took part, reading each shortlisted book and then voting for a winner. The shortlist was particularly strong this year- it included Waterstones Children’s Prize and Blue Peter Prize winner ‘Rooftoppers’. Only one other debut ‘The Poison Boy’ had been shortlisted. The ceremony itself, organised by school li-brarians, was held at Newcastle’s Centre For Life. Over 250 students, teachers and parents attended. When the gold envelope moment finally ar-rived…. Frost Hollow Hall was announced as the WINNER! In all, a very successful night- except for the fact that Mrs Carroll was so excited she couldn’t sleep!

eSafety Advice – Gaming Computer games can be great fun for chil-dren, but there are several risks involved, which you can reduce with the correct ap-proach. Research game websites that are specifically there for children and get advice from people you trust about those that their kids use.

More and more children – especially older ones – are playing online multiplayer games, even though many have age certificates. You may be able to monitor and control this, but if your child is at a friend’s house, you may not know what they’re playing with. Talk to your child about why games publish-ers put out games for people of certain ages … to protect them from things they would be best not to see. Talk to them about communi-cating with online strangers in games: even though they may seem friendly, their motives may not be. If they play games that involve buying and selling ‘in game property’, there’s a risk of fraud, as many parents who have had their credit card maxed out have found. Some more specific advice can be found: http://bit.ly/1h1Gh9S Additional eSafety guidance can be found on the weblinks listed on: http://axevalley.devon.sch.uk/parent/esafety/ REMINDER! Don’t forget to save your 2 litre fizzy drink bottles—please bring them to Reception.

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TAVCC PTFA Update Old Axonians Reunion Summer Ball Saturday 5th July 2014 Sadly this event has been cancelled for this year, for anyone who purchased tickets you will be reimbursed in full. BIG Summer Raffle We will still be running the BIG summer raffle—we have some amazing prizes that includes a woodburning stove from Arada Stoves together with a factory visit for the winner, a gorgeous hamper of local and French gourmet foods and wine from Millers Farm Shop, Golf lesson or round of golf at the Lyme Regis Golf Club and many others donat-ed by local businesses.

Raffle tickets are available on Reception. OLIVER Refreshments We would be grateful for help on the refresh-ment table at the Oliver performances. If any-one is able to help one evening please let us know. NEXT PTFA MEETING The next PTFA meeting will be on Monday 30th June at 7pm. Everyone is welcome!

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Rehearsals are well underway for our college production of Oliver with four performances planned for 8th, 9th, 10th and 11th July. From Monday tickets will be on sale in Reception. Remember to get your tickets quickly as they always sell out fast! On Thursday 10th the performance will start

at the earlier time of 4pm to give families with younger children an opportunity to enjoy the show. It’s going to be a fantastic show!! Poster designed by Thomas Wilde - 10NG

College Production

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Marcus Wood, who played Danny in Grease, returns as Fagin.

Consider yourself one of us! Katie Richards and Jess Hill getting into character as Oliver and Dodger.

The cast at rehearsals earlier this week under the direction of Mr Selby.

Some of the cast rehearsing the Umpapa song.

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ASPIRE Update

ASPIRE ARTS On Tuesday 10th June the year 7 ASPIRE ARTS students enjoyed an evening of wood turning at Axminster Tools and Machinery. On arrival the students were instructed about the safety procedures involved before getting kitted up with protective jackets and face guards. Colwin Way the teacher at Axminster Tools Training Centre was excellent and soon gave the students the confidence to have a go at making a pen. The artists used coloured acrylic blocks and by turning and shaping them in the lathe began the process of making the pen barrels. It was much harder than it looked and the students soon appreciated the skills needed for this craft.

After a final sand and polish the beautiful pens were assembled ready to take home. The students gave the activity a definite 10/10 and thanked Colwin for his patience and enthusiasm throughout the evening event. ASPIRE ARTS Residential The lower school ASPIRE ARTS students started their residential on Wednesday afternoon at the picturesque Weycroft Hall. The weather is set to stay sunny for their whole visit as they get creative exploring “Surface to Image”. The students are using the beautiful Hall and surrounding gardens as their inspiration, working with acrylics, charcoal, fine pumice paste and rubbings to generate their art work.

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Their work will be displayed on Friday 20th June from 3.30 – 4pm for parents and friends to come and view. Further photographs and students comments will appear in the next issue of UPDATE. Big Bang South West—26th June The ASPIRE General students and Year 9 and 10 triple science students have been invited to a day of interactive science activities and science shows next week. The students have been invited to attend The Big Bang South West Science Fair held this year at Exeter University.

The event will bring Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) alive for the students, putting their classroom learning into context and taking them on a journey to discover the STEM careers available to them. Featuring explosive theatre shows and engaging, immersive activities, the Fair is more than just a great day out; it’s an opportunity to meet some of the South West’s leading scientists, technologists, engineers and mathematicians, and to discover how school subjects can lead to fantastic, rewarding careers. To add to the excitement one of our very own scientists will be appearing on stage! There are still a few places available, at a cost of £4 each, so please come and see me in my office opposite L1 in the languages block to collect an SOE3 and details of the trip. Villages in Action After last years fantastic show by Le Navet Bete, “Once Upon a Time in a Western” we are lucky enough to have secured a date for them to visit again. This years show will be on 23rd April and is called “Alex and the Beys”. The Devon based comedy physical theatre company, Le Navet Bete will this time parody another classic cinematic genre – a fool’s version of Film Noir. I have already heard from many of you who would like to help out with the promotion team again this year, if any other ASPIRE students would like to get involved with what was last year a hilarious journey from start, promoting the show, to finish, show night, please come and see me.

Liz Slade – ASPIRE Co-ordinator

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REACH Update Hopefully you will all know what the REACH programme is at TAVCC, and for the first time we have an update page in the newsletter with news of our latest projects. In case you are not sure exactly what REACH is all about here’s a re-cap. REACH is the college’s name for the Government funded Pupil Premium programme that provides the college with additional funding for all free school meals students as well as for students in care, students adopted from care and students who had free school meals at some time during their school career. One of the many measures the college offers REACH students is enhanced careers guidance, inspiration and support in the form of a series of workshops and visits as well as coaching and mentoring from vocational professionals in the community. Some of the first of these workshops ran during the last two weeks: Axminster Tools and Machinery Wood Turning workshops Over two days students visited the skill centre at Axminster Tools and Machinery and following in the footsteps of ASPIRE and the Year 10 Technology students worked in the training workshop on their wood turning skills.

By the end of the evening each of the students had mastered the industrial lathes and left with a beautiful handcrafted pen and a broad smile on their faces. A big thank you to Colwin and Ben for making this a very

rewarding and engaging experience for the students. SWH Ltd Construction workshop John Matthews from SWH Ltd the builders who have recently completed the construction of the new teaching block on the college site came in to give a presentation and workshop about the construction industry.

He talked about the various careers in construction as well as show the students the materials and practical example of the building details.

REACH careers workshops, trips, late bus and study club are available to everyone in the college, however when places are limited priority will be given to REACH students.

Kate Pemberton - REACH Co-ordinator

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Athletics Axe Valley Community College students were out in force at the Devon Athletics Champion-ships on Saturday at Braunton in sweltering temperatures. Becky Griffiths came 5th place in the Junior girls discus with a throw of 19m 00,Thristan Dionio achieved 4th place in the junior boys shot with 10m 08. Jack Croxall came 4th place in the in-ter boys long jump with 5m46 and 3rd in the inter boys 100m in 12.06seconds, after the event he said, “It was a great achievement as I am a year younger than everybody else, it was great to be placed 3rd but next year I will be even better”. Sixth Former Jonny House competed in the senior boys 400m and came second place in 57.55seconds. Jack Harwood had an amazing day, firstly com-ing second in the junior boys long jump with 5m14 and then achieving a fantastic triumph in the junior boys triple jump with a jump of 11m47 giving him 1st place victory and a new Year 9 college record! Jack was extremely happy and said, ”it was an amazing experience and I would like to thank the P.E department for this opportunity to compete and for their support throughout the event”. As a result of this Jack Harwood has been se-lected to represent Devon at the South West

Championships in Yeovil on Sat 21st June. Mrs Moran Head of PE accompanied the stu-dent to the event and said, “The students achievements were fantastic, they were very supportive of each other and were a credit to the college as they performed in their events.”

Sports Update

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Great competition, great sportsmanship, great teamwork and great weather - that's how I would sum up Sports Day 2014! Athletes put in superb effort to achieve their best personal performances as well as gathering those crucial tutor points in every event. This was born out by the pure determination witnessed in the finishing straight of the track and across all the field events. Staff, students and ex-students worked hard to ensure all events and results gathering ran smoothly. But the last note must go to the fantastic atmosphere that the whole school provided with their positive competitiveness and superb behave all day - well done to everyone for making it a sporting day to remember!

Mrs T Moran - Subject Leader for PE

I would echo Mrs Moran's views - it was a great day, well organised and well supported by all. The competition really mattered for lots of students which was great to see. There was a great atmosphere and student behaviour was very positive. Thanks everyone for your support and a special thanks to Mrs Moran and the PE team for all their hard work in making this happen.

Mr M Smith - Head Teacher

10SS performed really well on Sports Day with many successes and good placings in Track and Field events. Best results of all for 10SS were 1sts in Girls Triple Jump, Boys Long Jump, and Girls 1500m. Well done Rosie, Wes and Lucy.

Mrs S Stone - Year 10 Tutor

Sports Day 2014

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My tutor group (10SMC) did really well and I'm very proud of them. We had a wonderful day and we are just sad that's its our last ever sports day .

Siobhean McCarthy - Year 10 Tutor

“It was great going up to the podium with all the other Year 7 winners. There was lots of noise as everyone was cheering.”

Sophie Sharp - 7MG “It was good because I won two medals and had an all round great day”

Rhianon Tims - 7MG

Lastly thanks to all the staff who helped to make it such a memorable day.