Month: June 2017

Week Commencing 26th June

/ hadfieldj / Leave a comment

Your PTFA needs you!

We need your unwanted gifts

This year you have helped the PTFA donate £2,835 to different department in school. Donations have been made to the Science Department for books; the English Department for an Exampro; the History Department for books; the Childrens’ School Council for Carpet in Keeling House and an outside tap among many others.

So we can keep on raising money we are holding a raffle over the Summer term and we’re asking for donations.  If you have anything you could send in as prizes, could you please let the Office have them by the 5th July.

thank you

Thought of the Week

Assemblies w/b 3rd July
There will be a Year 9 assembly on Thursday and a Year 10 assembly on Friday. Both assemblies will be led by Mrs Rudge and Mr Wright on the theme of Tolerance
Thoughts for the Week
Tolerance is the oil which takes the friction out of life. Wilbert E. Scheer
The test of courage comes when we are in the minority. The test of tolerance comes when we are in the majority. Ralph W. Sockman

Head Teachers Blog

Next week the Art Department will be holding their annual Art Exhibition. I have the privilege of being able to pop into the Art department throughout the year and am always stunned by the work the students produce. The Art department have brought all the work together to create a very special show for us.

We would like to invite all parents of our partner schools to the exhibition. If your son or daughter is in year 9 and opting for art next year please make sure they join us. I know they will be inspired by what they see!

Please see more details later in the newsletter.

On a more difficult note, as part of our Health and Safety procedures, we will be speaking to students in assemblies on Thursday and Friday about our plans if we ever needed to evacuate the school site. If you or your sons or daughters have any questions please let us know.

Snapchat Upgrade

Does your child use Snapchat? Are you aware of the latest upgrade whereby your child’s location can be made available to all? This article will be of great interest to you:

BBC News Article on Snapchat Upgrade

Safeguarding Reminder

​Please remind your son or daughter that students in Years 9 – 11 ​are not​ allowed to leave school during school hours unless collected by an adult such as a parent who is doing so for a valid reason. They should report to the office to do this.

Changes to GCSEs

We realise that parents will wish to know as much as possible about the changes in GCSE measures. Please see the leaflet below which gives further information.

.Gov Leaflet

Art Dept- Where are they now?

It’s always great to see past students come back to catch up with their teachers especially when their time at TAHS inspired them into a fulfilling career.

Past student Ella Kasperowicz left TAHS 3 years ago after securing 3 x A* at A level in Maths, Applied art & Photography. She gained a prestigious First Class BA Hons degree in Illustration from Falmouth University and has been fully immersed in developing her own unique style.

Her work incorporates her own quirky humour often based on comic observations of the world/ her own thoughts and anecdotes (see image of ‘fret- a- manger’ about an incident in New York). She has and a strong use of colour and innovate print techniques- one Mrs Derby and Mrs Cornell were astonished to see was a colour changing screen print on a page design for a version of Roald Dahl’s George’s Marvellous Medicine (see image). You can really imagine this having positive implications for children’s book publishing.
During her degree, Ella has returned to New York (her first trip was in the 6th form on an Art visit!), and spent some time building up contacts from publishers and is soon to be featured in New Designers (a trade fair for designers) in London. We wish Ella and all our other fantastically talented and hard working past students all the best forging out such interesting and exciting careers!

If you want to see our Art & Photography Students work before they leave us for exciting adventures in further education, training or employment, please come and visit the Art Exhibition this Thursday 6th July 5:30-7:30pm.

art ex

6th form

This week our Year 12 students have been given resources on their personal statements and how they should approach it. Mr Robinson-White has sent these to the students on insight. If you look on the UCAS website there are lots of hints and tips to help your child and also help you.
From Tuesday of next week, the Year 12 curriculum will be collapsed and all students will be participating in ‘Future Intentions’ activities. This is where we provide all the year with knowledge and insight to help them prepare for Post-18 (university, apprenticeship or work). We have arranged for guest speakers to talk to them about finance, not just student finance but also about mortgages and credits cards as we feel that it is beneficial for them to learn about loans and credit cards at this age.
We have a ‘Spelling Bee’ competition, where a member from each form will be playing to win the coveted Bee trophy.

unifrog

As well as this we have sent letters home to invite all parents of Year 12 students to an informative evening where will be explaining student finances to you and also introducing Unifrog, a brand new platform that we have purchased especially for our Sixth Form.
unifrog letter

Sports Week

Key Stage 1 Team Games

On Tuesday the Uttoxeter pyramid first schools, were invited to Thomas Alleynes astro to take part in a range of team activities led by our young leaders, Burton Albion and The East Staffordshire School Games Organiser. Photos and full report to follow next week.

Ryecroft Swimming Gala

On Wednesday Ryecroft Middle school traveled to us for their house swimming gala. This provided a great opportunity for them to use our facilities and engage in competition. Due to their location it also increased the swimming provision for some students. Thanks To Jonathan Davis Yr12 BTEC sport student for acting as life guard.

House Cricket

Year 9 & 10 House Cricket will take place next week.

Monday P1 & 2 Whitmore v Torrance

Monday P3 & 4 Elkes v Orme

Tuesday P1 & 2 3rd place play off

Wedneday P1 & 2 Final

Captains
Whitmore- Joe Haywood
Torrance- Jack Bond
Elkes- Kieron Coates
Orme- Alfie Bednall

Teams are of 11 players and can include, year 9 and 10, boys and girls.

Science Students of the Week

This week’s Science Students of the Week selected by Mr Gilson are:

Year 9
Alicia Coates and Timothy Campbell for good assessment scores

Year 10
Reece Heathcote and Emma-Jo Gilbert for consistently high achievement

This week’s Environmental Land Based Science Students of the Week selected by Mrs North are:

Tom Cooper and Raeley Hall for hard work on their course work
Well done!

Languages Festival 7th July

Y9 have prepared activities on a visit to France and we are looking forward to welcoming our pyramid first schools on Friday.
Bon voyage​

School Walk 2017

The bi-annual school walk is fast approaching and all pupils will receive a letter and sponsor form during registration on Monday morning. For prior information the letter is attached below:
walk

Careers

Don’t forget to check out the new careers page on tahsroundup.wordpress.com This week featuring a fantastic opportunity from Rolls Royce.

Direct Page Link

Links

Follow the links to; School Website, Facebook, Twitter & our Online Shop

cropped-newlogo-large.png   facebook-logo-4   Twitter_bird_logo_2012.svg  newlogo large

Week Commencing 19th June

/ hadfieldj / Leave a comment

Your PTFA needs you!
We need your unwanted gifts

This year you have helped the PTFA donate £2,835 to different department in school. Donations have been made to the Science Department for books; the English Department for an Exampro; the History Department for books; the Childrens’ School Council for Carpet in Keeling House and an outside tap among many others.


So we can keep on raising money we are holding a raffle over the Summer term and we’re asking for donations.  If you have anything you could send in as prizes, could you please let the Office have them by the 5th July.

thank you

Thought of the Week

Assemblies w/b 26th June 2017
Year 10 assemblies will be led by the Head of House on a RESPECT theme in the school canteen
Thoughts for the Week: on the theme of ‘Tolerance’
“Resolve to be tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving, and tolerant of the weak and the wrong. Sometime in life you will have been all of these.”
“Think for yourself and let others enjoy the privilege of doing so too.”
― Voltaire
“Love thy enemies, it says in the scriptures. My foster mother always added, “At the very least, you will be polite to them.”
― Patricia Briggs, Moon Called
“Never judge someone
By the way he looks
Or a book by the way it’s covered;
For inside those tattered pages,
There’s a lot to be discovered”
― Stephen Cosgrove

Head Teachers Blog

This week I was able to work with the Headteachers of the schools within the Uttoxeter pyramid on a range of issues. We continue to work together to ensure that we further develop teaching and learning and that effective transition between schools is in place. In just over a week our new Year 9 students will be joining us for their induction days. We are very appreciative that many of our current students will be acting as mentors for them on these days and also when they join us in September. With the support of these sixth formers our new Year 9 will adjust quickly to their new school. Year 11 will be continuing with their taster days for our sixth form over the next week and Year 10 and Year 12 will be completing their examinations. A final date for your diary is the Art exhibition which is supported by the Rotary. This will be held on 6th July. Even if your son or daughter has not studied Art it is worth joining us to see their fantastic work.

New Look Roundup

As we explained last week we have had some issues with the provider of our blog, there have been a number of system outages and errors in creation. So we have taken this as the impetus to update, reinvent and freshen up the weekly news after 3 years of the same format.

The news is now hosted on a new WordPress site, a company that hosts 25% of the websites in the world and has a number of benefits. Firstly all blogs are archived and indexed at the bottom of the page making it easy to browse old news, secondly it is our website that we can customise and finally we hope it is giving you a fresh new look.

The link to the specific weekly blog will be sent out in the usual way, but you can view the whole site at tahsroundup.wordpress.com 

Our archive of news items can be found on the TACKK website.

art ex

6th form

Today was the Year 11 students opportunity to experience some of their A Level subjects before starting with us in September.  We saw many familiar faces at the presentation this morning and were very pleased with the attendance, 150 students were present. Mrs Dodd explained to them their role whilst at Thomas Alleyne’s Sixth Form and also what our expectations were. All students received information that I hope they have brought home to share with you, if not please see the link.
With more ‘taster sessions’ to come we look forward to welcoming more of students back next week.
As we approach the end of this academic year our year 12 students have been looking at universities by attending open days, this is a great way for them, and possibly parents, to have a look around the facilities and to see if the university is right for them.  Please ensure that if your child is attending one of these sessions that they inform the school and also that they provide evidence to clarify they are registered with the open day.  Some our students know that university is not for them and we would like to signpost them to look at a range of opportunities that will support them in the upcoming weeks.  www.notgoingtouni.co.uk  is a great website that will help them look at a variety of different options including Gap Year and Apprenticeships.  I would recommend that parents and carers also look at this site as it full of information, don’t forget the UCAS website as this also has lots of information to also support students.

Sports Week

Girls Cricket

TAHS travelled to Oldfields to play John Taylor in a seven over game. Batting first Alleyne’s set a high target of 68 for no loss of wicket. Openers Sophie Lomas and Lucy Carr retired on 15 and 18 respectively. Katy Hartley and Jaz Sutton came in and scored 3 and 7 runs.

The bowling was again accurate with few extras being given away . Freya Barkas, Jemma Thornett, Jaz Sutton, Katie Lawrence and Katy Hartley all took wickets and reduced John Taylor to 30 runs.

Team – Jaz Sutton, Freya Barkas, Emily Barton, Meghan Geofferson, Sophie Lomas, Jemma Thornett, Kim Burgess, Sam Cotterill, Katie Hartley, Katie Lawrence and Lucy Carr

Hockey Leadership.

Last Friday saw 28 Year 7 students visit from Oldfields to receive some hockey coaching from members of the 9H1 girls PE group. The leaders were well organised with their session, having completed detailed lesson plans and set up challenging activities for the Oldfields girls to complete. Warm-up activites included foxes and rabbits, ladders and dishes and domes. The leaders were confident and clear with their instructions and they passed on their technical knowledge of hockey. The leaders split into four groups and delivered their skill related drill in a carousel format. Hockey techniques covered included dribbling, passing, shooting and defending. Both Oldfields and TAHS students enjoyed the experience on a sunny afternoon. Many thanks to Miss Merrick for bringing the girls down.

 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Year 10 Rounders Vs Paget Won 19-10

This fixture saw the best performance from the Year 10 rounders team to date, with an excellent fielding display from both teams. Paget took 2 early wickets in the first three balls to put the pressure onto TAHS. The score rate moved quite slowly and the wickets continued to fall and it looked at one stage like the whole side would be out before the allotted 8 minutes was up. Abby Chilvers, Abbie Walters and Heidi Woodward were resolute with their batting and running and remained in and got the score up to a healthy 9 1/2 rounders. TAHS were excellent in the field, with Sophie Howe taking several catches in the deep off their big hitters, restricting Paget to 5 rounders. With the fielding being of such high quality the game was far from over at the half way point. Jaz Sutton, Belle Hancox, Lillian Ford and Freya Barkas but Paget continued to take difficult catches in the field. TAHS moved onto 19, some consisent bowling from Emelia Lowe allowed Alleyne’s to take catches and some great reactions and decision making reduced Paget to 10 in total.

House Rounders

Some competitive House matches were played in the glorious sunshine on Wednesday. The Year 10 teams saw the introduction of two boys being able to play per team. Results as follows

Year 9
Orme, Torrance, Whitmore, Elkes

Year 10
Elkes, Torrance, Orme, Whitmore

Many thanks to the BTEC students who officiated these fixtures.

Boys Cricket

Alleyne’s traveled to Cheadle CC to face Painsley in the semi final of the Staffordshire Moorlands cup. Alleynes won the toss and elected to bowl. Joe Haywood began by beating the bat and then creating a chance to get Painsleys captain out. After surviving that early scare Painsley began to build a score. At 66 for 0 off 9 overs the game was poised, Frankie Bussell made the break through with Callum Dreher taking the catch behind the stumps. Some high scoring overs then put Painsley in the driving seat. Then captain Whitehead introduced Kieron Coates to the attack, on his first ball the Painsley opener drilled the ball straight to Robbie (the buckets) Minshull who took the catch cleanly after earlier showing a text book long barrier. Alleyne’s fielding went up a notch with Alleyne’s responding to the wicket. Coates’ next over was expensive but on his last ball he hit the stumps for his 2nd wicket. Opening bowler Haywood took a deserved wicket but Painsley had amassed 136!

Needing 8 an over Alleyne’s began well with Haywood and Whitehead hitting 26 off 3 overs. When Haywood was out in the 4th over Alleynes were up against it. Jack Bond struck a couple of crisp drives, George Whitehurst had a go and the captain batted positively for 29 before being run out. The run rate proved to much though and Alleyne’s finished on 94 off 16 overs with Alex Ford and Callum Dreher batting well at the end of the innings.

Science Students of the Week

This week’s Science Students of the Week selected by Miss Sims are:

Year 9
Richard Wason and Charlie Land for much improved scores in the last Chemistry test

Year 10
Nicole Rankin and Amy Burrows for excellent commitment to revision for the Year 10 Chemistry exam

Well done!

Race for Life

On Tuesday evening eight ladies from the school ran the Race for Life at Trentham Gardens in Stoke on Trent.  The race was run by the “Alleyne’s Angels” in memory of colleagues Adam Nevin and Helen Reaney who both passed away as a result of cancer. 
The team would like to thank everybody who sponsored them in the lead up to the race helping them to raise an amazing total of over £600 to be donated to Cancer Research UK.

Rotary Photography Competition

Below are some examples of the fantastic work that is being submitted by our students for the Rotary Competition – impressive!

 

China Trip Opportunity

Please see below for a competition for Staffordshire students in Year 10,11 and 12 to win a trip to China. Details on the competition and how to submit can be found at http://beaconwood.org/beaconwood-international-education-programme-competition/

Winning students would travel to China in October 2017, during half-term. Submissions need to be in by 30th June 2017.

Links

Follow the links to; School Website, Facebook, Twitter & our Online Shop

      cropped-newlogo-large.png          facebook-logo-4          Twitter_bird_logo_2012.svg         newlogo large

 

 

Staffordshire Young Poet Laureate

/ hadfieldj

Are you  budding poet aged 14 to 18, if so keep reading and see Mrs Bell as soon as possible

Staffordshire poets are invited to put themselves forward for the roles of Staffordshire Poet Laureate and Staffordshire Young Poet Laureate.

The Staffordshire Poet Laureate is a two year position open to adults aged 18 plus, while the Staffordshire Young Poet Laureate is open to teens aged 14 to 18 and is a one year position.

Staffordshire County Council Libraries and Arts Service are behind the initiative, which aims to promote an appreciation of poetry across the county.

Applicants for both positions must either live or study in Staffordshire, share a love of poetry and a desire to promote it. The successful applicants will take up their roles at the end of September 2017.

Gill Heath, Cabinet Member responsible for libraries at Staffordshire County Council, said: “This is a wonderful opportunity for people who love poetry and want to share their love of it with others. We’re keen to see more people engaging with poetry and reading, and our Poet Laureate scheme is helping us do this. We’re now in our fifth year and we’ve had some wonderful laureates, including the current Staffordshire Poet Laureate, Bert Flitcroft, and Young Poet Laureate, Isobel Horsley, both of whom have done a fantastic job. Our new laureates will enjoy a busy year writing and performing poems for special events and I would definitely encourage anyone with an interest in poetry to apply.”

Bert Flitcroft said: “I have very much enjoyed my time as Staffordshire Poet Laureate and would thoroughly recommend others to apply. I enjoyed the challenge of writing a range of poems I would not otherwise have written, and the whole experience has given me a much deeper appreciation of the County as a whole.”

Isobel Horsley said: “Being Young Poet Laureate has been an unforgettable journey, it was incredible to experience and immerse myself in what the literary world of being a poet is like, and I would gladly do it again. I’ve met so many inspirational and enthusiastic people including John Lancaster and my mentor Bert Flitcroft, the Staffordshire Poet Laureate, who have helped me develop my poetry. I would urge anyone with an interest in writing and performing poetry to step forward and apply without hesitation.”

Entries for Young Poet Laureate close at 5pm on 6th July 2017. Entries for Poet Laureate close on 30th August 2017.

Winners will be announced on National Poetry Day, 28th September 2017.
Further details on applying for both roles can be found at http://www.staffordshire.gov.uk/libraries People can also view the Staffordshire Poetry collection at http://www.staffordshirepoetlaureate.wordpress.com.