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MAY 2016

Year 7 Spelling Bees! All of our year 7 students took part in the national Spelling Bee competition organised by Routes into Languages, an organisation that promotes foreign language learning. Every student was given 50 words in either French or German of which they had to learn both the meaning and the spelling. Our three winners, representing Egglescliffe school, are getting ready for the regional Spelling Bee competition which will take place on

Wednesday 20th April at Newcastle University, where they will demonstrate their knowledge of 150 words. This is quite a challenge, however Egglescliffe School has proven success in the competition; we have had winners at the regional stage and had finalists at the national Cambridge competition three times in the past four years. We wish Amaan, Humzah and Farah the best of luck in the third round of the competition! Bonne chance! Viel Glück! ¡Buena suerte!

Welcome to the Summer edition of the Egglescliffe Edge that offers an overview of the wide range of activities that

both students and staff are taking part in, along with some incredible group and individual achievements.

This year, we have introduced a questionnaire at parent consultation meetings that provides invaluable feedback

which I share with both governors and staff to ensure we reflect on continual improvements.

Primary transition continues to develop and this year, English and maths books will be used in the final weeks at

primary schools transferring work to Egglescliffe to bridge key stages 2 & 3. We will also be delivering music and PE

in a number of primary schools.

Following full consultation, governors approved to proceed with an application to become a Multi Academy Trust.

The DfE have issued Egglescliffe with an Academy Order to complete the transfer by the 1st August, 2016.

I would like to thank the PTA for their continual support for Egglescliffe School. This has resulted in the purchase of

subject materials and most recently 7 picnic benches for use during lunchtimes. We also discussed a number of

issues including mobile phones and now we have a clear and robust policy for non use during the school day. I will

send this to parents before the end of term.

As we approach the formal examination season, I would like to wish our year 11 and sixth

form students, along with a number of year 10 students every success in each subject.

Their hard work, revision and extra work has been a pleasure to witness.

Over the Easter holidays, Mr Ferguson travelled to Canberra in Australia to play for

England Hockey Vets in the Masters World Cup. After winning some relatively easy

group games against Ireland and Scotland and scoring his 3rd goal of the tournament in

a comfortable 4-0 win against New Zealand, England came up against a really strong

Australian team in the final. The game, played at noon in 34 degree heat suited the host

nation as they eventually came out 301 winners. Overall, it was a very satisfying

performance from the English and to come home with a silver medal was still an

amazing achievement. Mr S White

Head Teacher (NLE)

World Book Day at Egglescliffe School

Students got to laugh

and talk with their favourite book

characters as staff and 6th formers dressed up

for the day.

Year 9 tutor groups created giant book

character posters to be displayed around

school.

The whole school were invited to join in

our get caught reading raffle, with delicious prizes going to the winners.

In Modern Foreign Languages Y9 pupils

looked at the work of authors in their target

language, e.g. Die Bruder Grim and their

fairy tales. In addition they had a quiz,

translating book titles from the foreign language into English.

They also worked with Y7 pupils, designing

and describing their own wizard after

completing a range of Harry Potter activities.

We collected spare change from 6th

form students to support Book Aid International, the registered charity

sending the gift of reading to developing countries.

The Library had a great response to

their annual Scholastic Book Fair, earning nearly £500 pounds of free

books for the school. In addition they had a Where’s Wally competition

running during lunchtime as well as instant quizzes with spot prizes.

Students were asked to bring

old books to swap with their

peers in their house block

World Book Day is a celebration! It is a celebration of authors,

illustrators, books and (most importantly) it’s a celebration of

reading. In fact, it is the biggest celebration of its kind,

designated by UNESCO as a worldwide celebration of books and

reading, and marked in over 100 countries all over the world.

This is the 19th year there has been a World Book Day, and on 3rd

March children of all ages came together to appreciate reading.

Here at Egglescliffe School we joined in with a whole host of

activities

Departments

joined in the fun

Geography created a

GEOGRAPHICAL QUIZ for

the students to take part

in.

During lunchtime, Drama, Miss Pascoe,

Miss Chapman and Mr Carlton read an extract from a play called ‘Teechers’ by

John Godber.

English looked at Roald Dahl’s

Dirty Beast Poems. They

analysed them

and then created their

own Dirty Beasts for the

Dirty Beast Zoo.

Once again we celebrated

World Book Day with a Big

Lit Quiz. Tutor Groups

from Y7 and Y8 selected up

to four students to represent

their class. These students

were questioned on books,

from Potter to Sherlock,

Horrible Histories to

Classics and much more.

After ten rounds of gruelling

questions and a brilliant use

of their joker round 8RJ

came in victorious.

A competition was set up for

students to create a book

trailer of their favourite book.

We received some fantastic

entries and after much

deliberation, First Prize was

given to Izzy Duffy-Cross and

Iris Burlacu, who joined

together to create a superb

trailer for Jane Eyre. In

second place was Lucy

Gerretsen for her trailer of

Dracula, while in third,

another joint entry from

Harrison Butler and Tom

Swales gave us a great trailer

for The Hunger Games. Well

done to all who took part.

Judging was not easy.

History arranged a

selection of HORRIBLE

HISTORIES Quizzes as

well as a ‘IDENTIFY

WHICH DATE THESE

BOOKS WERE SET IN’ quiz.

Article written by

Agnes Walmsley

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6th Form Head to New York

February half term saw Egglescliffe 6th form travel to New York for a second time. The trip was ostensibly for year 12 and 13 Economists but our itinerary included visits to many traditional tourist sites in addition

to those of economic interest. The students threw themselves into a packed schedule which included the following: - Sunday

we arrived at Newark mid-afternoon and were greeted with sub-zero temperatures. After wrapping up (not like Jay-Z) we began with a walking tour through mid-town Manhattan taking in the

New York Public Library where we re-enacted scenes from ‘The Day After Tomorrow’, this seemed appropriate given the

historic all time low temperatures we experienced. We followed this with a visit to Grand Central Station, the Chrysler Building,

St Patrick’s Cathedral, and Times Square before we had dinner at the famous Ellen’s Stardust Diner. This allowed Xav McCabe and James Greenwood to share their

repertoire of songs with ‘Broadway’s’ finest. The rest of our week included trips to the Rockefeller Centre which was built to provide jobs at the height of the Great Depression; we also visited the newly completed Freedom Tower both of which afforded

us magnificent views of Manhattan unlike our visit to the Empire State which was like a scene from Gotham. Whilst in Lower Manhattan we also

had a rather sobering tour of the 9/11 memorial site and museum before letting off steam singing the Keynes/Hayek rap next to the Wall Street

Bull. From here we boarded a ferry and took in the sites of the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. As we disembarked some of our group where

selected to take part in an impromptu street performance due to their natural dance ability! That evening we crossed the Brooklyn Bridge to experience the magical site of the Manhattan skyline line lit up in all its wonder. Our tour of the United

Nations included information about its social and economic goals and we were fortunate enough to be allowed inside the newly refurbished

General Assembly. Other highlights included being inspired (‘a la

Alicia Keys) by Alex our guide at Madison Square Garden who gave us

an all access tour as well as an informative visit to the aircraft carrier USS Intrepid. We all enjoyed an opportunity to shop despite the

inclement weather which ruined James Morgan’s career as an Abercrombie and Fitch model. During our adventures we met up with

a former Egglescliffe pupil, Joe Morley, now studying in the US as well as Jamie Garbutt from our current year 13. In addition the ‘Head’ of 6th was delighted and surprised to meet up with both the ‘Head’ of Aldrin

and Gagarin. The group enjoyed a whole range of new experiences as most had not visited the ‘Big Apple’ before, the staff also introduced the students to new softer skills such as walking long distances and getting up early on a morning. Miss Proudlock and Mr Gratton would also like to thank all of the students

for their impeccable behaviour and good humour throughout which allowed everyone to enjoy a fantastic trip of a lifetime.

Digital Leaders

12 Year 8 students successfully applied to become Digital Leaders in school,

as part of the Child.net Digital Leaders Program. They have been working

through a series of online tutorials to become qualified Digital Leaders.

As now they are qualified, their first project has been to work with year 5 & 6 at Junction Farm Primary

School in the creation of 4 video adverts advising of e-safety scenarios. They have planned their video shoot,

filmed and edited. The videos will be shared with students in both Junction Farm and Egglescliffe with more

projects to follow to ensure students stay safe online. Students involved:-

Annabel Robson, Bethany Rogers, Breanna Greenaway, Elizabeth Robson, Ella-

Mae Storr, Faith Ashley, Harry Brown, Isabelle Duffy-Cross, Jazmine Hawkes,

Jessica Childs, Joe Harston and Rylee Ogden.

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Egglescliffe Careers

National Careers Week (7th-11

th March) and National Apprenticeship week (14

th-18

th March). To mark both

occasions the following events took place:

Apprenticeship Carousel Event – 7th

March

Egglescliffe School were host to 9 different training providers and colleges to provide information, advice and guidance to our Year 11 students who are thinking about their post 16 options.

They were 40 students split into small groups and the morning was structured so that all students would get 4 or 5 minutes to spend talking with each of the colleges. Each student had a booklet with prompts in to focus the conversations.

The event was a great success with all students saying they had more knowledge of apprenticeships after the event, with some even saying the event had made them think twice about the area of work they want to go into. The majority of students, however, said they had made a firm decision of what sector they wanted to get an apprenticeship in.

Year 10 Work Experience Week 21st

March – 24th

March

We have been fortunate enough for well over 200 Year 10 students to have gone out on a work experience

placement. They secured themselves some interesting and varied placements and it has been delightful listening

to the feedback from employers praising our students for their positive attitude and commitment.

Students rise to the challenge of spending a period of time outside the classroom, learning about a particular job or

area of work. During placements, students are able to find out what skills employers look for when they fill a job

vacancy. It is an opportunity to develop self-confidence and communication skills. They meet some very inspiring

and motivational professionals during their placements

which helps raise aspirations in young people.

Students appreciate being treated as an adult and

respond well to being given responsibility. They enjoy

making contributions and being a valued member of a

team. If you are a business that has supported our

students – Thank you very much!

The students who did not manage to secure a

placement have had the benefit of an afternoon

session with Iain Gallagher, a Senior Learning Manager at Santander, learning about the “World of Work”, the

skills and experience employers are looking for, and the benefits of self-marketing using social media but also the

dangers of social media. The students had a go at giving

each other a mock interview, and reflected on the types of

jobs they are aiming for now as opposed to when they were in

primary school.

The students have also had a fun, active but very beneficial

morning session with the RAF learning important team

building skills, doing practical exercises and learning what

makes a good leader.

Step in the NHS Event – James Cook Hospital. 23rd

March

After having meetings with the schools’ Careers Advisor, Miss

Pascoe, about their career aspirations five Year 10

students and 9 Year 12 students were selected to

attend interactive workshops at James Cook

Hospital at the Step into the NHS event. The

purpose of this event was to give students a taste of

career options within the NHS. They met with

health professionals from a number of different

fields and got the chance to draw on their

knowledge and expertise during a “marketplace”

section at the end of the event.

SIXTH FORM -EURO DEBATE

Monday 21st March 2016

A packed hall witnessed a debate about the merits

and problems associated with a potential BREXIT.

Mrs Mandy Boylett began by stating the case for

the UK’s withdrawal from the EU while Mr Drew

Dunning made the case for remaining a member.

Both speakers were well informed and passionate

about their cause.

The contributors were extremely impressed by the

standard of questioning from the floor and the

sixth form students have certainly received a good

deal of input regarding

the issue.

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Egglescliffe under 14 Boys Hockey- 1 game away from the Olympic Stadium

The under 14 boys’ hockey squad have capped a successful season by reaching a national last 12 play-off

game to be played against Bishops Stortford School at Beeston Hockey Club in Nottingham. If they

succeed in this game, they will play at the Lee Valley Stadium based at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park

in London.

The team, captained by Alex Heath

have made great strides throughout

the year and it has proved a tough

team to be selected for, as up to 40

boys have trained regularly on

Monday mornings. Having a fairly

comfortable county tournament

win against local opposition, we

had to play a one-off game against

the Yorkshire Schools runners-up,

Harrogate Grammar School. The

boys were surprisingly dominant

against a strong hockey school and

came out 3-1 winners with 2 goals

from Sam Irvine and another from

Hedley Wordsworth.

The boys then travelled to Leeds University for the North finals and were drawn against a strong St Peter’s

School from York in their opening game. The boys came close to scoring on several occasions and Sam

Richardson and Alfie Owen were excellent in the centre of midfield, however St Peter’s got a late goal and

we lost 1-0.

We then played Manchester Grammar School which started really well and we were awarded a penalty

flick in the first 10 minutes- which we missed! However, Manchester grew more and more into the game

and our performance levels dropped and we were lucky not to concede on several occasions. At half-time,

the boys received some stern words from their coach and started the second half with renewed purpose.

Sam Irvine proved the hero of the hour scoring the winning game which meant we were back in the hunt

for a place at the national finals.

Our final game was against a very strong Wilmslow High School from Manchester and it was going to take

a mammoth performance if we were to progress. Joel Costello proved a thorn in the opposition side with a

busy performance up front, whilst Hedley Wordsworth pace was a constant threat on the right hand side.

We scored early through Irvine and we were well and truly in the game with Matty Boddy, Riley Shelton

and Spencer Evans growing in confidence at the back. As the game wore on, we were looking more and

more likely for the win. However, Wilmslow scored a late equaliser meaning we could only manage a draw,

however, Manchester Grammar did us a favour by beating St Peter’s and somehow we had come 2nd. This

means we now play against the runners-up from the east region, Bishops Stortford in Nottingham at the

end of March.

The boys warmed up for this game by winning the county cup in a quite comfortable game against Yarm School by 3 goals to 0. Well done to all concerned!

UNDER 14 BOYS HOCKEY SQUAD- DURHAM COUNTY

CHAMPS/NORTH RUNNERS-UP 2015/16

Back Row (L to R): H. Amin, L. Godfrey, A. Heath, H.

Wordsworth, M. Body, R. Shelton, S. Richardson

Front Row: J. Costello, S. Evans, S. Irvine, E. Shaw, T. Strachan,

A. Owen, J. Jamieson, M. Lynn, F. Shafiq

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U15 girl’s Indoor Cricket Team

Once again the U15 girl's cricket team have qualified for the regional

finals for the Lady Taverner’s Indoor Cricket where they will be

representing Durham. They were unbeaten in both the district and

county rounds coming first from a total of 12 schools. Erin Bunford

captained the team with composure, spot on decision making and an

excellent performance. Between them the girls maintained an average

run score of 70 and bowling no more than 15 wides throughout their

games. Hannah Hamilton stepped up to the plate as best bowler

whilst Emily Eaglesham retired from batting in all games. These ladies

were truly exceptional both batting and fielding. Well done once again

and here’s to the regionals on the 27th of April at Old Trafford.

Abi Treadgold, Ella Passman, Emily Eaglesham, Izzy Carroll, Alia Khan, Kirsty Robb, Lucy Smith, Erin Bunfor (captain) and Hannah Hamilton

Morgan Passman from Egglescliffe school and Yarm Rugby club

represented the England U16 team against Wales in Caerphilly . He was

selected to play on the wing where he scored a try in the corner from some

excellent handling skills from the backs. Unfortunately this wasn’t enough

as Wales ran out 23-22 winners in a close contest.

England U16 coach Steve Shortland said he was proud of the effort from the

side on Sunday. "I thought it was a great game," said Shortland. "We had

two young teams trying to play and keep the ball alive. Full credit to both

teams for trying to play open, expansive rugby. The group only came

together on Friday and they’ve worked incredibly hard all weekend to

connect with each other and produce a way they want to play which I

thought served them well. I’m very proud of the way they behaved and

adapted to the challenge in front of them.”

Morgan is now the fourth

student from Egglescliffe school to gain representative

honours for England, Mr. Rudd from Egglescliffe

commented, “It just goes to show with the commitment,

correct mind-set and determination anything is possible.

Morgan has worked hard on his rugby with both Yarm rugby

club and the school and has excellent support from his parent

Bev and Steve and thoroughly deserves this. Hopefully he

can continue to develop and stays fit and healthy”.

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Rugby Seven Stars warming up for the county Finals

Egglescliffe make 4 out of 4 Sevens county finals.

Egglescliffe have continued to show their dominance around the area in this format, the year 11 beat

Grangefield school in the final 56-5, they have now won the Sevens tournaments for 5 consecutive

years. They also play St Johns Bishop Auckland in the county cup final and English Martyrs in the

Durham Cup final after Easter. The year ten team beat Ian Ramsey 10-5 for the first time in a final to

win their Sevens tournament. The year 9 sevens was cancelled due to bad weather, but won the

Stockton district tournament beating Conyers and Old Lady St Bede, but lost in the Tees Valley finals to

both Kings Academy and High Tunstall after a win against Sacred Heart School. The year 8 team won

the county sevens with wins over Conyers, Stokesley, Longfield, and St Johns , they are also due to play

High Tunstall school in the final of the Cleveland county cup and English Martyrs in the Durham

county cup after Easter. The year 7 won the Stockton district with wins over Conyers, Grangefield, and

a draw against St Bedes. They then went on to reach the Tees Valley Semi- finals losing to Laurence

Jackson after wins against Hills View, Middlesbrough, Polam Hall and Acklam Grange school. They

also reached the final of the Sevens topping their group with wins over Stokesley and Longfield, before

losing to Macmillan in the final.

COUNTY CUP RUGBY SUCCESS

The year 8 team have remained unbeaten in competition and

finished the season off with a treble adding to their sevens and

tens success. They beat High Tunstall 52-21 in the final of the

Cleveland county cup held at Northern Echo Stadium, and a week

later beat the same opponents in the Durham county cup final 60-

35. They also won the Tees Valley Rugby beating Scared Heart,

Carmel, Dyke House and Acklam

Grange.

The year 11 continued their success and beat St Johns in the Cleveland

County cup 50-26 and then beat English Martyrs school 43-0 in The

Durham Count cup. The school team have now won 5 consecutive

Cleveland County cups and the 2 Durham County Cups.

The year 7 team reached the final of the Durham County Cup against English Martyrs 10-30.

Benches

Members of the lower school voiced their desire to have bespoke seating areas in order to eat their dinners or socialise during break times, the school only had indoor seating or small walls for students to sit on. Following research and discussion with garden shops, Rachel Duffy (now year 10), India Hunter and Jonathan Bates (now both year 8) created a presentation and delivered it to the school PTA last academic year. The PTA voted

unanimously in favour of the benches. Following meetings with Kevin Place from HMP Kirklevington Grange, it was agreed that the benches would be manufactured there. Egglescliffe School provided the steel and the wood, whilst the individuals being rehabilitated would use the project as a chance to gain qualifications in welding and wood working. The benches have been delivered and well received by the students in time for the summer.

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On January the 23rd of 2016, Charlie Smith was accused of common assault by Andi Manning. This took place at the local fire station at around 10:1o pm. Smith claims that the kick was provoked however, Manning disagrees. On this particular night, Smith had been having a meal at the Bella Pasta restaurant with her friends. The woman who had driven her to the venue was intoxicated and therefore could not drive meaning that Charlie had to call a taxi. Manning, the driver of the aforementioned taxi, arrived at the restaurant on time and began the journey to Castletown Train Station. During the journey, Smith began shouting profanities at Manning, accusing the driver of taking her the wrong route. Andi claims that she did drive through the residential area but only did this because of the roadworks located on the main road. The situation scared Manning so she took her phone out to call the police. She states that “The defendant was clearly drunk which made me concerned for my welfare,”. In a bout of confusion and panic, the cab pulled up outside of the fire station instead of the police station. Smith jumped out of the car and began to run towards the busy road. Worried for the passenger's safety, Manning followed, catching up to Charlie and causing a tussle. During this small struggle, Smith claims that she slipped and accidentally kicked Andi's side. A witness to the situation, Vik Linn, agrees with Charlie, saying that it was definitely an accident. However, Mel Grant, prosecution witness of the case, saw the defendant deliberately kick the victim. Manning required no medical assistance after the incident but still prosecuted because the blow hurt and could have been more serious. Smith was found not guilty and was not sentenced or fined. The magistrates found that Smith did in fact slip and so the assault was not her fault. The article is written by India Hunter

who attended the court as a reporter,

her task was to write a report to be

entered to the competition. The team

included Billy Caley, Eva Connelly,

Jack Bedford, Kush Kotecha, Annie

Zhu, Jonathan Bates, Brooke Tinkler,

Chloe Beattie, Bethany Rogers,

Hannah Llewellyn, Molly Holmes,

Esme Howard and Jaye Spence.

Thank you to Mrs Porthouse and Mr Simpson for their expert guidance.

Up-Cycle

‘Up-Cycling’ is the activity whereby you take an unwanted or an unloved item and either rejuvenate it or alter it in such a way as to breathe new life in to a product. It is the idea of going against the throw away culture which has developed over recent years. Egglescliffe Enterprise students have begun a project in conjunction with Kerrie Murray from Pins & Ribbons. Students split into small groups and then visited the Daisy Chain Charity Superstore on Porttrack Lane in Stockton. They were then given £20 per group and required to browse around the store for items of furniture which could be ‘Up-Cycled’. Once items were identified, Kerrie Murray, specialist in high quality furniture and fabrics, advised on potential ways that the furniture could be ‘Up-Cycled’. The students then went off and purchased the items. Over the next few months, students will work on their items with a view to selling at a profit at forthcoming events. All profits made on the furniture will then be donated back to Daisy Chain. Keep an eye out for a beautiful writing bureau, drinks cabinet, nest of tables plus many more.

Magistrates Mock Trial

Egglescliffe School entered the Magistrates Mock Trial competition

at Teesside Magistrates court. They competed in the court room

against Huntcliff and All Saints schools, successfully prosecuting

and defending against their opposition.

Assault At The Fire Station

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What an awesome few months of fundraising!!

Egglescliffe School has a well-supported and enthusiastic PTA that meets every half term at the school. Following our April meeting we can celebrate a success couple of months of fundraising and have a busy calendar of events lined up from now until Summer.

Our purpose is to raise funds for the benefit of all children in the school. At our April meeting we confirmed and celebrated funding for numerous projects around the school community.

Bags 2 School Collection successfully raised £110, so thank-you to all that donated and we will keep you updated for the next one.

The PE Department were awarded funding last meeting for netball dresses for the sixth form team, so they would look professional when competing on a regional and national platform. Funding was also given for Sports Leader Hoodies so they too can look professional and WARM! The hoodies are worn at school sports events and when we host primary feeder events and host other schools. I am sure you will agree that they all look GREAT!

As the government is pushing Computer Science rather than IT the PTA has been requested to fund a range of resources to help deliver this in an engaging and exciting way for students. The request was for 5 x Raspberry Pi’s, 5 x Power Cables, 12 x Wireless adapters for existing Pi’s, 15 x new SD cards, 1 x Raspberry Pi weather station (for an extracurricular project with science) & 15 x breadboard & breakout kits – a cost of £450. Also, 30 x Microbits & 60 x Crumbs (for adding outputs & sensors) – at a cost of £600. Funding for this was agreed by the meeting.

The PTA also supported the purchases of 10 picnic benches for pupils to use during breaks and lunchtimes to provide an outside social environment for small groups to get together.

Summer Draw Tickets – We now have 2000 tickets printed – Thank-you to MV Print for their support with printing. We will let you know as soon as these tickets are available.

Upcoming Events

Summer Fair – Saturday 2nd July, we are looking for volunteers for the summer fair, so please let us know if you can help out for an hour or so on the day. All help is much appreciated.

If you can help or would like to contact us please email us at egglescliffe.pta@gmail.com or contact us through Facebook @facebook.com/Egglescliffe-School-PTA

Next PTA Meeting - Would you like to join us? Our next PTA meeting is Monday 13th June, 7pm, in the Conference Room @Egglescliffe School. All Welcome

Hope to see you at our events – Egglescliffe PTA

Wine Tasting Success – A great night was enjoyed early March

in the school hall, when Majestic Wines, Darlington shared a number of great wines and a quiz to get us thinking about origin and cost of each wine. It was a great evening and just over £300 was raised, with £168 of that being through a well-supported raffle.

Car Boot Sale – Mid March, we held an Indoor Car Boot Sale, the event again was a huge success and we raised just shy of £600. The event was well attended by both stall holders and people through the door to buy.

The Gazette ‘Wish’ 2016—We received £40.13 from collecting 2996 tokens, so

well done and thank you to all who donated!

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WHAT YOU THINK ABOUT YOUR SCHOOL?

Over the last few weeks we have been gathering both students and parent voice to evaluate the quality of

teaching and learning at Egglescliffe. This is an important way for the school to identify the areas in which

is can improve further to remain an outstanding school and sixth form. We plan to do this for all year

groups throughout the rest of the academic year. A summary of the feedback from Year 11 and Sixth

form is shown below.

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Provisional school term dates and holidays 2016-2017

Please note:

The 5 staff Training days

for 2016/2017 are:

Thursday 1st September Friday 2nd September Monday 3rd October

Tuesday 3rd January

Friday 10th February

(students will not attend school on these days)

Raising Funds for The Meserani Project—Kenya and Tanzania

Students in 7GS have been raising money for The Meserani Project (Reg. Charity No.

1135670) which supports schools and communities in Kenya

and Tanzania. The money they have raised will go towards

sponsoring a young man named Hosea to go to secondary school –

giving him a future that he wouldn’t have otherwise.

Last term, the students organised a cake sale, which was held in

Armstrong. They raised a fantastic £26.51 by selling their homemade

cakes and biscuits. To add to this total, 7GS also organised an Easter egg

raffle and sold tickets all around the school. With over 18 eggs up for

grabs, a total of £63.36 was raised for The Meserani Project. The funds

raised will truly change Hosea’s life and give him the opportunity for a

bright and exciting future.

Thank you to everyone for their kindness and support. Mr Small & 7GS

Autumn Term 1 Monday 5th September-Friday 21st October

October Half Term Holiday Monday 24th October-Friday 28th October

Autumn Term 2 Monday 31st October- Friday 16th December

Christmas Holidays Monday 17th December- Tuesday 3rd January 2017

Spring Term 1 Wednesday 4th January- Friday 10th February

February Half Term Holidays Monday 13th February- Friday 17th February

Spring Term 2 Monday 20th February- Friday 7th April

Easter Holidays Monday 10th April -Friday 21st April

Summer Term 1 Monday 24th April-Friday 26th May

May Half Term Holidays Monday 29th May- Friday 2nd June

Summer Term 2 Monday 5th June-Friday 21st July

Music instrument exam results - stunning results!!

This term dozens of our young musicians have taken Royal Schools of Music graded exams, from Grade 1 all the way to Grade 8. We were delighted that every student passed, including many at merit and distinction level! We are delighted for every students, but a special mention should go to Kia Powell in Year 8, who passed her woodwind exam despite having being treated for pneumonia!! Since we set up our own instrumental teaching, and have been able to offer exams in school on a Saturday, the numbers of students taking instrument exams has grown considerably - so much so that we now have two examiners running exams alongside each other for two days each term!

Interestingly, the Department for Education has now accredited a Grade 6 instrument exam as an equivalent qualification to an A* at GCSE, and many of our Year 11 students will now be taking Grade 6 exams in the summer term alongside their GCSEs. As has been the case for a number of years Grade 7 and 8 carry UCAS points which can positively affect offers from Universities for any undergraduate course.

Well done to all our amazing young musicians, and good luck to all those preparing for our next round of exams in the summer term. We will be presenting all the certificates at our Leavers' Concert in July.