Academy Newsletter Edition 14, December 2011

Message from the Academy Principal, Mr R C Evans On 24th November 2011 we held our second Federation Presentation Evening at the Wills Building, University of Bristol. This event celebrated the considerable achievements of students from last year‟s Year 11 at both Winterbourne and Yate International Academies. The special guest for the evening was Dr Antony Jinman, Polar Explorer, who gave an inspirational speech on his life and expeditions which was extremely well received. In addition, we were pleased to welcome Alison Perry from the Young Peoples Learning Agency. Subject Prizes for Outstanding Achievement throughout Key Stage 4: Art Rachel Mynott Biology Becky Watson Business Studies Hollie Perrett Chemistry Isabel Portergill Drama Harry Angus Engineering Adam Coltman English Language Conor Sinclair English Literature Megan Hughes Food Technology Jenna Vickery French Lucy Allinson Geography Hannah Doyle German Harriet Davis Graphic Products Jessica Hughes History Annalise Lam

ICT Emily Norman Mathematics Krishan Mistry Music Thomas Clark Music BTEC Simon Branton PE Robyn Brailey Physics Guinan Williams-McCarthy Religious Studies Gurdeep Kaur Resistant Materials Matthew Flood Science, Applied Naomi Cowley Science, Single Troy Brake Science, Double Alexandra Barrington Spanish Joseph Weaver Systems Tom Bryant Textiles Stella Kline

Academy Principal’s Award for Outstanding Achievement at GCSE: Krishan Mistry Academy Principal’s Award for the Most Progress made KS2 to KS4: Megan Hughes Stephen Bray Academy Principal’s Award for 100% Attendance: Eve Coleborn Jamie Cooke Tom Elson Oliver James Anna Lankester Chloe Miller Dan Rose Daisy Sawyer Ben Taverner Owen Thompson University of Bath Award for Promoting Internationalism: Kevin Schesser Eddie Gregg Award for Outstanding Achievement in PE: Beth Downes Michael Luxton Kostas Lazarides Award for Significant Overall Contribution at KS4: Isabel Portergill Jake Bufton Federation Community Shield: Stephen Bray

We have also held two successful Open Evenings since the last Newsletter. On 6th October 2011 the Academy held its annual Year 7 Open Evening for next year‟s prospective Year 7 students and on 10th November 2011 we held the Sixth Form Open Evening for prospective Year 12 students. A follow up IB Information Evening was also held on 28th November 2011 and a number of other events are planned for students interested in progressing to the Federation Sixth Form. May I remind you that Sixth Form applications should be submitted by Friday, 16th December 2011. The Friends‟ of Winterbourne International Academy held their annual Christmas Market on Saturday, 26th November 2011. Once again, this event was a great success, raising £2332. I would like to express my continued thanks to the work of The Friends and would appeal to other parents/carers to join The Friends‟ Committee in their excellent work.

Monday, 14th November 2011, witnessed the presentation of a cheque for £30,000 to Joseph Weaver, a Year 12 student, for his design „The Snug Hug‟ in a national competition organised by The Dream Lab. £20,000 of the prize goes to the Academy and it will be used to provide new equipment in the Technology Learning Area. The prize was presented by Trevor Bayliss, OBE (inventor of the clockwork radio) and Ortis Deley, presenter of the Gadget Show. Joseph‟s amazing success was well reported in the local press and he was invited to a live interview on the BBC Points West News Programme.

Our international work was again in the News with four students: George Bryant, Joe O‟Connor, Chris Shine and Ana Galtung attended an international event at the Houses of Parliament on 24th November 2011. Further information on this event is included elsewhere in the newsletter. A number of charity events have also featured prominently in recent weeks which have received press coverage. Two Year 11 students Chloe Goulding and Jodie Davis undertook a sponsored silence and sale of badges, etc. The girls are on target to raise over £2000 for NSPCC and Cancer Research, two extremely praiseworthy causes. I am also pleased to inform you that our Children In Need Day on 18th November 2011 raised a total of £1715.44; a “Find the Five Pudsey‟s” competition organised by the Learning Resource Centre was one of a number of events organised at the Academy. I would like to take this opportunity to raise with parents/carers several recent concerns:

The Academy rules indicate that the Recreation Field (including the skateboard ramp) is an Out of Bounds area. This applies to the period immediately before and after the Academy day. Students who do not cooperate with this rule will be subject to disciplinary action.

There has been an increasing level of inappropriate and offensive language used by students. The concerns are compounded when some students have directed such language at members of staff and other students. As an Academy we are seeking to provide a welcoming and friendly environment for parents/carers, students, staff and other members of the community. The use of inappropriate language directly conflicts with these aims and there is a determination to stamp out the use of such language once and for all.

The Academy would greatly appreciate these matters being raised with your son/daughter. As we approach winter, I would like to highlight that staff will endeavour to keep the Academy fully open in severe weather conditions. However, we have a duty of care to all the students and staff which may

require a full or partial closure. Any such decision will be communicated to parents/carers by text and on the Academy website (www.trfwia.org.uk). The local media will also be informed of any decision to close. Could I also draw your attention to the recent letter distributed to parents/carers regarding Free School Meals. A copy of the letter has also been posted on the website. In this final Newsletter of 2011, may I take this opportunity to wish you all a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year with a reminder that Term 3 will commence on Tuesday, 3rd January 2012.

Joyeux Noël! Feliz Navidad! Fröhliche Weihnachten! Nadolig Llawen!

Mr R C Evans Academy Principal

NEWSLETTER PUBLICATION DATES 2011-2012 For information the 2011-2012 Academy newsletter will be produced on the following dates with copies also posted on the Academy website (www.trfwia.org.uk):

2nd February 2012

22nd March 2012

17th March 2012

12th July 2012 Paper versions will be distributed to all parents/carers who have requested such a copy.

DEGREE SUCCESS We are delighted to announce the following former students who have graduated from various universities: Alexander Reed has gained a BSc (Honours) in Environmental Conservation and Countryside Management from Nottingham Trent University. Congratulations Alex!

OXBRIDGE INTERVIEWS Best wishes go to Year 13 students Sam Burville, Liam Grogan, Kevin Schesser, Stuart Slater and Sasha Ward who have been invited to attend interviews with Oxford and Cambridge Universities. We wish them all every success!

PARKING

Parents/carers are asked to be considerate to the local community when dropping off and collecting their children at the start and end of the Academy day. Parents/carers should not enter the main Academy site or the front entrance to the Academy. The forecourt should not be used as a turning area. The presence of

additional vehicles on the Academy site does present a health and safety risk. In exceptional circumstances, e.g. when a student has a mobility issue, parents/carers who enter the site must do so with extreme caution and with the permission of the Academy Principal.

CHRISTMAS MARKET AND DRAW

A BIG thank you to everyone, who contributed to our Christmas Market on Saturday 26th November 2011 - parents, who sent in donations for the tombola & raffle; parents and students who helped put out the tables and chairs on Friday night; parents, staff and students, who helped on the day. Your help was SO appreciated! We would also like to thank the following organisations, which kindly supported our fundraising:

Airbus

Avon Valley Railway

Bath & NE Somerset Council

Bowlplex

Bread Shop, Winterbourne

Bristol Ice Rink

Bristol Rugby

Buxton Butchers, Winterbourne

Coca Cola Enterprises Ltd

Esporta

Frome Valley Farm Shop

Gloucester Waterways Museum

Michael Rich Photography, Winterbourne

Morrisons Supermarkets

Riverside Leisure Club

Rolls Royce

South Gloucestershire Leisure Centres

The Fruit & Veg Patch, Frampton Cotterell

The Handmade Store, Winterbourne

The Millennium Stadium

The Rising Sun, Frampton Cotterell

The Royal Raj, Winterbourne

Theatre Royal Bath

Wessex Water

Winterbourne Post Office

Winterbourne Convenience Store

………&, of course, our stall holders! The day was a great success & we raised approximately £2300.

Silent Auction

Many thanks to those who placed a bid in the recent Silent Auction for a pair of Bristol Rugby tickets. The winning bid was £40 & the tickets went to a big fan! Look out for more Silent Auctions- you need to join our Supporters List to take part.

Next Meeting

Our next meeting is on Thursday January 12th at 7.30pm in the Technology Centre Conference Room.

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All parents are members of the Friends & you are welcome to come along to any of our meetings, without having to join the Committee. We would really appreciate some new ideas for social or fundraising events. So…if you have any suggestions or would like to join our list of Supporters, please contact Alison Bray via the Academy Reception or email office@trfwia.org.uk marked FAO Alison Bray The Friends.

Date for the Diary

Following the success of last year‟s Indoor Car Boot sale we are planning to hold another one on Saturday March 17th 10am- 12pm. Look out in the New Year for further details regarding booking a table.

We look forward to meeting you all at our events during 2012!!

The Academy Educational Standards Committee would like to express their congratulations to students, staff and parents/carers on the exceptional 2011 examination results at both its Academies. For Winterbourne to achieve 80% 5A*-C including English and Maths (the first in South Gloucestershire and one of the highest performances in the South West of England) and for Yate to break through the 50% barrier, achieving 51% 5A*-C including English and Maths is an outstanding achievement and one which you can all be proud. My congratulations to you all and my best wishes for continued success in this academic year.

Professor Mike Rees

Chair

Students in the Academy participated in the BBC Children in Need day on 18th November 2011, with a total of £1,715.44 being raised. One of the many activities was a “Find the Five Pudsey‟s” competition organised by the Learning Resource Centre, raising £232.18. Year 7 students from Tutor Group 7.4 also chose to do some nail painting at breaktime and lunchtime, raising £19.65. Well Done 7.4!!

£1483.26 was raised from the non-uniform day.

£1715.44

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POPPY APPEAL

A total of £148.42 was collected by students as part of this National Appeal which plays an important role in the welfare of this country‟s armed forces.

Thank you to all staff and students who supported this worthy cause.

Two Year 9 Food Technology groups took part in a cooking competition where they had to cook one dish to demonstrate their cooking ability. The 3 winners are now being entered into a competition with students from Yate International Academy to compete in a Rotary Club competition where they will cook a 3 course meal against each other to decide who will be the representative for the district. The students from Winterbourne who won are Eliana Saladino, Alex Hillier and Catrin Buckley. They

In October 2011, the Academy assisted the local scouts by giving them use of the Academy‟s ICT suite for the Scouts‟ Jamboree on the Internet. It was a very successful event with the scouts making contact with other scouts from 47 countries using internet chat, email and Skype video calls. Some of the scouts were able to practice their French and German language skills with native speakers. Whilst it was really helpful to have the bank of computers and the

video-conferencing facilities to provide group involvement, they also used a good old fashioned, large wall map of the world to mark up contacts during the day.

A row of scouts busy chatting with scouts from many different countries

Projecting the JOTA/JOTI

Station list on Google Earth

Putting an orange sticky dot on the location of each

contact

Skype call with scouts from North

Carolina, USA

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33 Maths PGCE students spent the day at the Academy. They split into groups of 5 and each group worked with a teacher to plan a lesson. The groups then watched the lesson being taught period 3 by the same class teacher with whom they had undertaken the planning. Period 4 was used to observe lessons

and to review what they observed with their university tutors. Lunch was then provided during which the lessons which were planned by the PGCE students and taught by the class teachers were reviewed and linked to teaching theory.

YEAR 10-11 MATHS CHALLENGE SUCCESS! On Wednesday 2nd November 2011, a team of students from Winterbourne International Academy travelled to UWE to compete in the regional final of the Team Maths Challenge. They were one of 10 teams competing to achieve the title of West of England champions. Despite being a man down due to illness, our team of 3 battled hard against the teams of 4 from the other schools, finishing as the fourth placed team overall and finishing only one point behind the first placed state school. Congratulations to Kapil Agarwal, Scott Rose and Josie Cable for this fantastic achievement.

SENIOR MATHEMATICS TEAM CHALLENGE On Tuesday 15th November 2011 a team of four Sixth Form students from Winterbourne International Academy travelled to UWE for the regional final of the Senior Maths Team Challenge. They were one of 19 teams competing for the area title. They had to work as a team to solve problems in various rounds including a crossnumber and a mini-relay. Our team did well and finished in 12th place. Congratulations go to Sam Burville and Joe Richardson (Year 13) and Tom Clark and Pete Weber (Year 12).

Molly Kendal from Winterbourne International Academy was one of 5 students selected from the region to represent Avon at Under-15 Squash to play Wales, Gloucestershire and Hampshire at Redwood Country Club on 9th October 2011. Avon came 2nd but beat Wales and Hampshire. Well done to all the girls! 1 Molly Kendall, Winterbourne International Academy

2 Karina Tyma, Redland

3 Ellie Weldrake, Brimsham Green

4 Elen Turner, Bridgewater

5 Kayleigh Griffee, Brimsham Green

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YEAR 10 RUGBY TEAM CLINCH VICTORY FOR A PLACE IN THE NEXT ROUND OF THE DAILY MAIL VASE! The Year 10 rugby team continued their winning streak with an outstanding performance, including 6 tries to beat their opposition from Bristol Cathedral School. Top performances from Dan Rodwell at fly half, Scott Ball at full back and Man of the Match, Jack Woodman at flanker contributed to an excellent team effort. Captain Dan Spalding said afterwards: “Great effort from all the boys even though we had a tough opposition.”

AFGHAN CONNECTION – EDUCATION ISSUES! MILLENIUM DEVELOPMENT GOAL 2 - UNIVERSAL PRIMARY EDUCATION BY 2020 A big thank you to Miss Bruton and students Georgie Bryant, Joe O‟Connor, Chris Shine and Ana Galtung who braved the early autumn morning to travel to London and participate in an event organised by Afghan Connection to raise awareness of education in Primary schools in Afghanistan.

They attended morning workshops, including a talk and selection of photos from award winning journalist Nick Danzinger. After lunch, they made their way to The House of Commons where they engaged in discussions with politicians. The students (representing the UK in the international event) sat with the Minister for Education at Parliament, put questions to the panel and were one of a small number of students to be involved in a video call.

Once the students had asked the panel their questions and they had been given the time to answer, the outcome was that the MDG2 will not be met by 2015 but will be met by 2020 and they assured us that ALL students in Afghanistan of correct age will have received a Primary education by 2020. The Rt Hon Alan Duncan MP and Minister of State for International Development then attended to accept the letter urging the government to support and help achieve MDG2. The meeting was then closed and a photo call taken in Westminster Hall.

INTERNATIONAL

Joe and Chris being Interviewed for

BBC News

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INTERNATIONAL CLUB All Students are invited to the International Club which takes place every Tuesday from 3.30pm to 4.30pm. For more information, please speak to Mrs Adams.

MODERN

FOREIGN LANGUAGES

...One of Our Specialisms

COME ALONG TO THE LANGUAGES CLUB! Languages Club runs every Monday lunch time in room AG4. It is open to students in all Year Groups. We learn about all sorts of different languages - so far this year, we have done a quiz about different languages, and treasure hunt following clues around the Academy, and learnt some Italian. In the Italian, we learnt words for animals and food, and then designed pizzas. We are also learning about St. Nicholas (also known as Santa Claus), and how his Saint‟s day is celebrated in some countries in Europe.

MEXICO 2013 Fourteen Year 10 and 11 students studying Spanish have taken up the challenge of raising money to go on a cultural/language visit to Mexico in 2013. The students will stay with Mexican families and will attend school as well as visit important Mayan ruins such as the famous Chichen Itza, recently designated one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World by UNESCO.

The students will also spend time at a rural primary school where they will do some community work and spend time with the children. The students have got a huge task ahead of them to earn and raise the money necessary for the trip and began their fundraising marathon by washing the cars of the Academy‟s staff on the recent INSET day, raising £180. We will keep you up to date with the students‟ progress in future editions of the Newsletter and if anyone has any ideas for fundraising or sponsorship then please see Ms Kirby. The students are also holding a „Winterbourne International Academy‟s Got Talent' to fundraise. The auditions will be held on the 16th and 17th January 2012, with the final in the evening of 2nd February where friends and family will have the opportunity to watch for £1. Entry will only be 50p and both students in Years 7 to 10 and teachers can enter. Application forms can be obtained from Heads of Year and all applicants need to submit their entry applications no later than Friday 16th December 2011.

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The Languages Department are pleased to offer a trip to the Black Forest in Germany which will run from 9th

July 2012 to 13th July 2012. The trip is open to all students studying German in Years 8, 9 and 10 and this is a fantastic opportunity to experience Germany and for students to use their language skills in an authentic setting. We will travel by coach and the trip price includes all travel costs, full board accommodation and all excursions during the stay.

The itinerary will include a trip to one of Germany‟s best water parks, a toboggan run and free time to explore the lovely towns of Baden Baden and Freiburg. The total cost is £450. Please see Miss Szczekala for more details. Hello, We would like to say a friendly hello! Bonjour from Lauréna Geay from France, Olá from Noemi Berrios Povolin from Chile and Guten Tag from Esther Schmidt from Germany. We are the Foreign Language Assistants for this school year and we will stay until June to work in the Language Department and support the students to learn foreign languages. We are really happy to be at Winterbourne International Academy and already enjoy working with the students. Winterbourne and Bristol are lovely places to stay and we all had a really warm welcome (not only the weather which was surprisingly nice). We look forward to spending time here at the Academy and in Bristol!

Lauréna, Noemi and Esther

Jodie Mellor, Year 7, who made it through to the Regional Finals of

Open Mic UK 2011 and performed at the live showcases. Open Mic UK 2011 is an exciting national talent competition which searches for the UKs best singers, singer/songwriters, rappers and vocalists of all genres who perform either covers or original material.

It was Jodie‟s first ever audition and alongside many experienced competitors, she was surprised to be chosen to compete in the regional finals. Well done Jodie!

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Year 11 Mock Interviews Year 11 students were again given the opportunity to practise their interviewing skills with local industrialists on 7th, 8th and 9th November and 7th December 2011. This was a follow up to a series of tutorial sessions, during which students had completed CVs, letters and application forms. Each student was given a 25 minute interview which included a debriefing. Generally the employers were very impressed with how the students presented themselves in the interviews, but stressed the need for them to recognise the importance of neatness, accuracy and “selling themselves” in their applications. The Academy is very grateful to the following for providing the 31 interviewers who took part over the 4 days:

Airbus

Atkins

City of Bristol College

Hit Training

KTS Training

Magnox

Mr Graham Jeffery (Retired Engineer)

Mr Richard Westacott (Local Governor)

Royal Bank of Scotland

CALENDAR

Tuesday 3 January TERM 3 BEGINS

9 January - 15 January Year 8 Humanities Trip to Parkend

Wednesday 11 January Year 11 Subjects Reports Issued

Year 10 Enterprise Day

Thursday 12 January Friends Meeting (7.30pm)

12 January - 13 January Year 10 Post-16 Taster Days

Monday 16 January Year 8 Pathways Evening

Tuesday 17 January Year 8 Pathways Evening

Wednesday 18 January Year 11 Subject Staff Evening

24 January - 27 January Academy Production - Bugsy Malone

Wednesday 25 January Year 8 Subject Reports Issued

Tuesday 31 January Year 8 Subject Staff Evening

Wednesday 1 February Year 10 Progress Reports Issued

Thursday 2 February Academy Newsletter

Thursday 2 February Intermediate Maths Challenge (Years 9-11)

4 February - 8 February Spanish Trip

Tuesday 7 February Year 10 Subject Staff Evening

Wednesday 8 February Parent Focus Group Meeting (6.30pm)

Friday 10 February TERM 3 ENDS

13 February - 17 February HOLIDAY

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