October 26th 2018

October 26, 2018 / hadfieldj / Leave a comment

Dates for your diary

w/c 29/10/18 – Half term

05/11/2018 – Inset day

09/11/2018 – PTA Quiz night details below

19/11/2018 PTA Meeting

20/11/2018 – Y13 Parents Evening

29/11/2018 – Y11 Parents Evening

20/12/2018 – Last day of term

21/12/2018 – Inset Day

Headteacher blog:

We are now at an exciting stage in the planning of our new build which will be located on the site of our current pavilion. The new block will include a multi/gym or dance studio, 3 new classrooms, new changing rooms and toilets for students. As you can see from the artist impression below, it is a exciting addition to the school environment and one which we hope to have ready for students and staff in 12 months time. The work we did to extend the canteen over the Summer has proved popular with students and we have found that the sixth form are increasingly using it as a place for them to complete their independent work. We are close to finalising the work on the swimming pool in the hope we are able to re-open it in Easter next year.

Thank you to all parents and students for your support this half term. We hope you have a lovely break and look forward to seeing you back on Tuesday 6th November.

Year 11 Pre Mock Interventions

Interventions will be starting in earnest after half term and the full timetable can be seen below:

Interventions Oct 18

History

Year 13

Well done to all the students who have met the coursework completion deadline. Year 13’s next task is revision for mock exams. If this has not already started then it must be begun during half-term – make sure that you refer to the year 12 topic revision document given to you in lessons.

Year 11

All year 11 have been set a holiday homework of reviewing and learning the answers to the GCSE quiz sheets. Recap knowledge tests based on year 10 work will begin after half-term in class. Don’t forget that if there is anything students don’t understand, then revision classes are available at lunchtime and after school – see Mrs Johnson and Mrs Young for details.

World Challenge

It’s exciting to hear that your child is keen to join the Thomas Alleyne’s High School expedition team to Malawi in July 2020. Mr Gilson has an information pack for your child to bring home about the trip, and if you click on the pictures below you will be able to watch the “Safety” and “Our traveller” video’s that were played as part of the information evening.

Malawi is known as the warm heart of Africa, its people are incredibly friendly, and it has excellent travel opportunities and fascinating cultures for a student led expedition. While in Malawi the team will trek through tea plantations to reach the high Zomba Plateau and hike the Mulanje Massif to reach 2684m with fabulous views. They will take part in a community project learning about Malawi life and culture first hand and giving something back by improving facilities at a local school. The boat and land safaris at Liwande National park will be a highlight, and there will be time to relax at Monkey Bay on the shores of Lake Malawi too.

The Cost of the 4 week expedition is £4350 this includes Flights to and from Malawi, all transport during the expedition in country, all accommodation costs (tents are provided), all food, a 2 day training weekend in the UK next year, full safety and backup including expedition leaders, and comprehensive medical insurance. Other costs to consider include personal kit and equipment eg clothing, rucksack and boots, pre departure withdrawal insurance, Vaccinations and Visas, kit insurance, UK transport and pocket money for treats and souvenirs (max £200).

A tradition has grown at World Challenge over the last 30 years for students to raise as much of their own expedition fee as they can themselves. Popular ideas include getting a part time job, baby sitting, or mowing lawns, making and selling things at Christmas craft fayres or bake sales, team car washes and supermarket bag packing or big theme nights raise lots too.

There will be meetings in school to help with organising fundraising events for the expedition fee. It is important that your child has some ideas of their own too, as we can’t do it for them. World Challenge have lots of resources and ideas on the members area of our website to help your child with their fundraising, which you will have access to if they sign up.

If after looking through the information you would like your child to participate, please apply following the instructions below or on the paper application form in the information pack by the 9^th November.

To Apply online

Go towww.myworldchallenge.com/bookingcodeand enter the booking code ZVJZ92Z5
Verify your email address by clicking the link in the verification email we send you.
Complete the online application in full and pay your first instalment, you will have full access to My World Challenge straight away.

There is lots more information in the pack your child will be bringing home, if you have any questions or would like to discuss any aspect of the expedition please call our customer support team on 01494 427600.

The deadline for signing up for World Challenge (Malawi 2020) is Friday 9th November. Applications can be made through postal application from the brochure handed out on the parents’ evening or more easily completed online by going to the World Challenge website, again full details of how to apply are also outlined in the brochure. If you require a brochure or further help please do not hesitate to contact Mr Gilson.

MFL News

Congratulations to all those Y9 who did well in the family assessment – praise cards to follow.

Y11 French are choosing and writing up their chosen theme for the speaking exam to be handed in the first lesson after half term.

5 Y10 students are are waiting to find out their exchange partners.

Y10 French should be preparing their holidays questions to hand in in their first French lesson after half term and revising for an assessment.

Bonnes vacances

Geography

Geography year 13

Students should have handed in chapter 1 and 2 of their coursework – the introduction and methodology sections. Over half term students should spend time on collecting their primary data and its presentation. Please see Mr Washbourne or Mrs Goodwin if there are any questions about this.

Geography year 11

Well done to the 14 year 11 pupils who stayed behind last Friday to spend time revising urbanisation. There will be after school revision every Friday from 3:10 – 4pm to help pupils prepare for their mock exams. All pupils welcome.

Science

This week’s Science Students of the Week selected by Mrs Evans are:

Year 9

Louisa Page and Jack Smart for two fantastic assessment test scores in Chemistry.

Year 10

George Foster and Saffron Forrester for continually working hard in Chemistry.

Year 11

Tya Messer and Leyton Tyers for consistently being above their target grade in Chemistry.

Well done!

PE

Girls Rugby

On Thursday the girls travelled to Burton Rugby to compete in a festival which also involved players from Robert Sutton and Pingle.

The competition started with a full 15 a side game which was played to a really high standard with some big hits, great runs and solid ball distribution. The experience and power from TAHS meant that we dominated the score line but scoring 6 tries Maddie Porritt x 2, Molly Beresford x 2, Heather Leech & Lucy Calladine, finishing off some strong runs from their team mates.

The festival then broke down into smaller sided games again TAHS were dominant but this allowed for more development of individual players.

A fantastic performance backed up by lots of singing on the minibus journey home.

Chatfield, Porritt, Jones, Reilly, Beresford, Yates, Calladine, Peaty, Clarke, Baldwin, Horsfall, Perry, Leech

Girls football

The first 11 a side game of football this season ended in a crushing 8-0 defeat from Westwood.

However there were many positives to take away from the game with every player improving and becoming more confident on the ball as the game progressed.

Team – Klaudia Siwek, Courtney Bogacki, Jemima Pope, Ava Shenton, Harriet Bebbington, Charlotte Ward, Mia Beavan, Phoebe Lawrie, Isabel Rose, Ellie Avery, Millie Yates, Georgia Edwards

Year 9 Boys Rugby

On Wednesday last our year 9 rugby team travelled to Burton Rugby Club for the district tournament. This was the teams debut for school and some excellent rugby was played. In great conditions we got through to the 3rd / 4th playoff against Paulet. Our experience of earlier games began yo pay off as we scored some scintillating tries and racked up a good score.

U16 County Cup Rugby v St Josephs College

Report to follow after half term.

District Cross Country- First day back. All runners selected should have received a parent text.

Year 9 Basketball- practice first day back 3.05. First fixture Wednesday 7th Nov

Year 11 Football – Semi final v Repton at home Thu 8th Nov

A Thank You

Please see the letter below from the Lions Club….

Lions letter

You can now train to teach at the Uttoxeter Learning Trust Teaching School

Have you always had a desire to teach ? Would you like to inspire and shape lives for the future ?

Is this something you have considered in the past, but don’t know where to turn to for advice ?

Come along and chat with us at the forthcoming Train to Teach event –

Wednesday 14th November 2018 (4pm – 7pm)

Staffordshire University,

Science Centre,

Leek Road,

Stoke-on-Trent,

ST4 2DF

More information can be found on the Train to Teach web site :

www.getintoteaching.education.gov.uk/teaching-events/train-to-teach-events/train-to-teach-stoke-on-trent-141118

For further information about the opportunities to train to teach please e-mail – teachingschool@tahs.org.uk or telephone 01889 561820 please ask for the Teaching School, where we will be happy to offer guidance.

Maths Puzzle October 2018

You have until the end of this coming week to get your answers in…..

How Old is John?

Mum’s age in two years’ time divided by John’s age now , then added to John’s age comes to two-thirds of what Mum was when John was born. And today it is Mum’s and John’s birthday.

How old is John?

Maths Puzzle – Solution Mum 37 John 13 or Mum 26 John 2

Winners ‘How Old is John?’

Peter Taylor (Governor)

Mrs BA Davies (Governor)

Well done – See Mr Askey for your prize

Your Staffordshire Card

The Your Staffordshire Card scheme is ending on 31 August 2019

Staffordshire County Council like many councils are facing unprecedented financial challenges not of our making due to the increasing costs of funding adult social care and children’s care – at a time when national funding to councils continues to fall.

The decision has been made to phase out financial support for the Your Staffordshire Card (YSC) youth scheme. In the past you have helped to promote the scheme and we would like you to display the attached poster and let your students know of the closure if possible.

This means that from 31 August 2019 the pass will no longer be accepted for discounted travel on buses. We will honour passes to that date.

If people wish to comment they can email yourstaffordshirecard@staffordshire.gov.uk by 30 November 2018.

Individual responses will not be provided but all comments will be noted.

House Trophy

The House Trophy competition for this half-term is incredibly close, with each house having a success in at least one event. There is still plenty to play for, especially with regards to achieving credits and attendance to school. Elkes house have come 2nd in 5 competitions so far, which is a fantastic achievement for where they stand at the moment. Orme house came first in the Y9 Girls Cross-Country and Attendance, whereas Torrance have been first in Y9 Boys Cross-Country, Y9 Handball and Credits. Whitmore have been equally successful in coming first in Y10/11 Girls and Boys Cross-Country as well as the Y10/11 Handball Competitions. The leaderboard stands as follows:

1st Elkes – 40 points

2nd Torrance & Whitmore – 39 Points

3rd Orme – 32 Points

Could this be the closest year yet for the Thomas Alleyne’s House Competition? Plenty to play for in the next half-term with:

Credits

Attendance

House Hockey

House Rugby

Art

Year 9 Sculptures!

In year 9 art class this term we have been looking at key visual elements such as colour, patttern, space, shape and form. Also investigating the artist Hundertwasser, and had our drawing assessment from direct observation of a shoe. Drawing with line and using tone to emphasise the illusion of form and texture. At home we have been looking at our design work from imagination and referencing Hundertwasser’s work, ready to challenge ourselves with a 3D construction.

Well done to those groups who have already finished their first independent learning task based on the artist Hundertwasser.

We have had some super inventive designs, creative use of reclaimed materials such as crisp tubes, drinks bottles, lollipop sticks and one even made entirely from crochet!

We are looking forward to seeing the rest of year 9 art groups completing their own sculptures shortly. If you are not sure what date to hand in your work please check INSIGHT.

These works will be photographed for your sketchbook, left on display then all being well returned home for you to keep.

Reports

Year 11 & 13 reports are available on Insight.

Respect Programme – Autumn 2

The themes for the next half-term now moves onto some current challenges that young people are faced with day-in, day-out. It is vital that if you have any concerns about the material, that you contact your child’s Head of House or Form Tutor to discuss any of these issues. All students will be studying e-safety, however each Year group will focus particularly on:

Year 9:

Safeguarding

Consequences of Cyber Bullying

Social Media and the Law

Cyber Bullying Situations

Being Impersonated on Social Media

Fraping

Sexting

Year 10 & 11:

Web Evaluation

Filesharing and Copyright Infringement

Digital Footprint

Ratings and Responses Websites

Creative Commons Licesing and Copyright

How to Avoid Fraud

Hijacked Videos

Year 11 will also have a focus towards their Mock examinations as we get closer to Christmas. So may look at revision techniques with their Tutors.

Links

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

Thank you for taking the time to read our newsletter. If there are any changes you would like to see please let us know.

October 19th 2018

October 19, 2018 / hadfieldj / Leave a comment

Dates for your diary

24/10/2018 – Y9 Tutor Evening

w/c 29/10/18 – Half term

05/11/2018 – Inset day

09/11/2018 – PTA Quiz night details below

20/11/2018 – Y13 Parents Evening

29/11/2018 – Y11 Parents Evening

20/12/2018 – Last day of term

21/12/2018 – Inset Day

Headteacher blog:

This week, Year 9 students, have had the opportunity to attend ‘Talk the Talk’ training sessions to develop their own public speaking. The ‘Talk the Talk’ facilitators said it was a pleasure to work with them and have selected a group of 20 to meet with me next week to share what they have learnt from the experience.

Because of the importance of public speaking, and our desire to make sure that Thomas Alleyne’s students can compete against the very best, we have decided to offer 30 Year 12 senior students the opportunity to complete the Talk about the Future course. They will have the chance to identify employability skills, develop interview skills, nurture their presentation skills and make sure they are ready to take their next step into employment, apprenticeships or Further Education, with confidence and a positive mindset.

On Friday, I attended the World Challenge assembly for Year 12 students inviting students to attend an information evening on Thursday next week, to find out more about the expedition to Malawi. It looks like an incredible opportunity for our young people and it was wonderful to share Tom Ellis’s book of photographs with them from last year’s trip

Thank you for a fabulous turn out for our Year 11 revision evening. So many of our young people are getting prepared already and making sure that they are ready for their mock examinations. We are always keen to help them with the techniques they use to revise.

I can never keep up with all the news from our PE department but I did hear that our girls had been victorious in netball this week against DeFerrer’s Academy. Congratulations to the whole team. DNA (school production) rehearsals continue after school and I can’t wait to see the play just before Christmas.

I also had the privilege of joining one Year 9 form this week to show them GCSEpod. Year 9 are using the podcasts to revisit learning from their lessons so make sure they have understood the content. As parents we suggest you encourage them to stream a minimum of 3 pods a week. Year 11 students have now streamed over 16,500 podcasts in preparation for their final exams.

As we approach Half Term I would like to pass on to parents and carers that we are very proud of the work of our students. Over the break we would like to remind students that this is a time for reflection. Think about what has gone well and what can be improved upon. The mock examinations for Year 13 are before Christmas this year so creating flashcards, mind maps and completing past papers would be a useful way to spend the days. For those working towards Maths and English Resit examinations then use this time well. Before next Friday speak to your teachers and collect a range of materials that you can use to support your independent revision. Remember that there is an exam on the 5th November, which is an inset day, so if you normally come to school on a school bus then you will need to find alternative travel arrangements.
At TAHS we promote the ethos of supporting and also being part of the wider community. We are pleased to announce that we have been asked to help support the Uttoxeter Lions. They are a worthwhile charitable organisation who help many causes across the Uttoxeter area. As a member of the Uttoxeter and wider area community I have always supported their charitable efforts and as a school we have now been asked to help from within the school. We would like to ask if you would like to help.
Uttoxeter Lions has given us a recycling bin for old specs, hearing aids and mobile phones. It is in the reception area outside Mrs Walton’s office where Sixth Form students can put their items; students in lower school can bring their items to Mrs Bell in room 11. We will giving credits for every item received. We do ask, and this is very important, that all phones have all the data deleted from them and that the passcodes are removed. If the passcode is still on them then the Uttoxeter Lions will not be able to use them.

Below is a statement that the Lions Club have provided:
Recycling Spectacles & Hearing aids is a long established Lions Club International project. It goes under the banner of “Recycle For Sight”. It is aimed at improving the sight & hearing of people in countries around the globe. What we collect in Uttoxeter is sent to our Chichester branch who sort & do simple repairs before dispatching them to organisations on the ground.
There is no “sale” involved at any stage. Spectacles etc are donated free, repaired free, fitted with prescription lenses free & passed to the new recipients free of charge. Transport, packaging & labour etc is all donated by the local lions club involved in the recycling. Broken, precious metal, frames (e g Gold) are sold centrally and the income from this finances the purchase of new lenses etc.
In Uttoxeter we started recycling in October 2014 & so far have recycled 5000 pairs of spectacles. The UK annually dispatches over 300,000 pairs and globally this figure rises to around 1 million pairs.

If you would like to find out about schemes similar to the Uttoxeter Lions’ who have helped many people across Africa with their sight bus that performs minor surgery (eg for cataracts) as well as giving out spectacles then please follow the links provided.

http://lionsclubs.org/blog/page/5/?s=recycle+for+sight

History

Year 11

All year 11 have now sat their end of unit exam on the American-West, 1835 – 1895. Well done to those who achieved their target grade or higher.

The big lesson for everyone from the exam is the need to use precise examples in written answers. You can help students to do this by ensuring that they have revised thoroughly at home and have learnt the material in their exercise books. All students have quiz questions and answers which you can use to test their knowledge.

World Challenge

Please come along to the school theatre on Thursday 25th October from
18:30 to 20:00 hrs where there will be a presentation from Karen
Holloway and Mr Gilson about the next World Challenge Expedition to
Malawi in 2020. Kindly note, there will be a question and answer
session following the end of the presentation. We look forward to
seeing you there.

MFL News

Year 9 French have an assessment next week on the self and family topic – revision is on Insight

Year 10 are preparing holiday extended answers

Year 11 are preparing t=for mock speaking exams

Bonne chance à tous

Year 9 Tutor Evening

Bookings are now open on insight, http://www.thomasalleynes.org

Login details have been sent to the registered email address we hold on our system, please check you mail, including junk for an email from insight@tahs.org.uk.

Heads of House will also be available on the evening on a drop in basis.

If you have not received this please email insight@tahs.org.uk stating:

The email address you wish to use

Your name

Your child’s name and tutor group

The first line of your address

PTA Meeting

Monday 19th November, 7pm in the staffroom.

All welcome.

Science

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

Year 9

Leanne Painter and Millie Yates for attainment in Physics.

Year 10

Honor Christie and Chloe Yates for effort and progression.

Year 11

Charlie Cope and Korey Brammer for effort and attainment.

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

Year 10

Millie Hodges and Isabelle Smith for making a positive start to the Animal Care course.

Year 11

Joe Porritt and Josh Buckley for working well inside and outside the classroom.

Well done!

PE

Netball

The Year 10 netball team started their league competition with a double victory against Deferrers. Playing against their Year ‘s first TAHS were full of confidence and raced to a 2-0 advantage, the score was soon back level but now TAHS were settled into a rhythm controlling the mid court play with a range of short and long passes. The ball was frequently finding Anna and Freya who rarely missed their chances. Frankie, Eve, Alice, Holly & Caitlin kept the tempo high but also showed composure on the ball to keep possession high.

TAHS ended the game victorious winning 16-11.

The girls were straight back on court to play against Deferrers Year 10’s in a dominating 15-0 win. Holly, Jess & Amelia all took turns in shooting positions, Anna played half a game at centre running tirelessly between the two D’s. The most pleasing aspect of the game was the Second half performance where Eve, Amelia, Freya and Frankie defended fantastically to prevent Deferrers from entering their own D.

Team -Boothby, Bednall, Chatfield, Banner, Jones, Hadgett, Adams, Tooth, Hadgett

This coming week:

Tues- girls football vs Westwood (h)

Wednesday – Netball club

Thursday- Girls Rugby festival @ Burton Rugby Club

Year 9 District Cup

On Tuesday the year 9 football team travelled to Paulet. The team started well with moments of very good football being played by both teams. Unfortunately after 20 minutes there was some careless play from the lads and Alleynes were 3 – 0 down within 4 minutes. Despite this the lads never dropped their heads and finished the half strongly. The second half saw Alleynes dominate possession and playing down hill Paulet struggled to get out of their half. Constant pressure failed to result in Alleynes being able to score. As the half ticked away it was clear that a three goal deficit would be difficult to pull back. With 10 minutes to play Alleynes did pull a goal back, only to allow Paulet to score. Again Alleynes rallied but could not find the net. The clock was against them until finally losing 4-1. We still have the league and county cup games to play.

Free Level 2 Qualification in Sports Leadership

The Level 2 Qualification in Sports Leadership is a nationally recognised qualification that enables successful learners to lead groups of people in sport/activity, under indirect supervision.

The qualification teaches generic leadership skills such as organisation, planning, communication and teamwork through the medium of sport within the community. It is a fun and practical qualification with no entrance requirements or final examinations to sit.

Dates: Monday 29^th October to Friday 2^nd November 2018

Time: 9.30-4pm each day

Location: Fenton Manor Sports Complex, Stoke-on-Trent

Cost: FREE! (Terms and Conditions apply and can be found on the booking page)

Age: 16+

To book a place on the course please click here:

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/free-level-2-qualification-in-community-sports-leadership-csl2-or-sports-leadership-sl2-tickets-50587365171

Allergies

Please see the following regarding allergens and special dietary requirements & for information on how you can log these with our catering supplier, Chartwells.

Allergens-Schools-Parent-Letter-Oct-2018

Well Done Sixth Form….

Our Sixth Form showed their generosity and community spirit by raising almost £150 for the Uttoxeter Lions Indonesian earthquake appeal. Many thanks to Maisy Bettany, Mackenzie Smith and Grace Pennell for their support. We have also received a letter of thanks from the Uttoxeter Lions which said the following:

Dear Mrs Dodd,

I wish to say a huge thank you, for both your and Mrs Bell’s superb support on the launch of the Uttoxeter Lions Young Leaders in Service Scheme (YLIS) in your school. The response to date has been extremely positive. I would also like to thank the schools Head Girl Maisy and Head Boy Mackenzie, for rising to the challenge following my visit on Friday 5th October and their subsequent visit to our monthly Lions Club meeting on Thursday 11th October. The club and all Lions members were delighted that the two students took times out of a busy evening to come along and give an update on the Indonesian appeal collection being held in the school. Kind regards Mr Dow

Maths Puzzle October 2018

You have until the end of this coming week to get your answers in…..

How Old is John?

Mum’s age in two years’ time divided by John’s age now , then added to John’s age comes to two-thirds of what Mum was when John was born. And today it is Mum’s and John’s birthday.

How old is John?

Answers with solutions to Mr.Askey (Maths department – room 47) by half term.

Your Staffordshire Card

The Your Staffordshire Card scheme is ending on 31 August 2019

This means that from 31 August 2019 the pass will no longer be accepted for discounted travel on buses. We will honour passes to that date.

If people wish to comment they can email yourstaffordshirecard@staffordshire.gov.uk by 30 November 2018.

Individual responses will not be provided but all comments will be noted.

Revision Tips

Further to revision evening please find a second link to an effective revision strategy. Last week we shared a tutorial on how to use post-it notes to support revision. This one is designed to help complete effective mind-maps.

http://lifemoreextraordinary.com/study-skills/revision-posters-and-mind-maps-to-boost-your-grades/

Art Winner

Congratulations to Lizzie in year 10 who won first prize in her age group in a ‘Spirited Arts’ competition. This is an art competition run to support religious, ethical and philosophical themes. Lizzie’s work was one of 20,000 in this category and was submitted for the ‘Where is God?’ category.

Please see her work below and the explanation of her piece. This is an excellent achievement, well done.

Does God exist?

The artwork suggests different things depending how you look at it. I created it in the image of my views on ‘Does God Exist’. I drew a pair of hands controlling almost everything that I could think of, giving the artwork a jumbled, almost overwhelmed sense. I did this to represent the world and all the things us as humans’ control, and that it is only us that can make an influence on our lives. One section is filled with influential quotes to show that it is no other force than the power of the human mind that controls success, and maybe inferring that it is out minds that come up with a God to reassure ourselves.

However if you look at it from another perspective it could be said that the hands are actually the hands of God, or a supernatural being that is controlling everything, including the human mind.

Links

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

Thank you for taking the time to read our newsletter. If there are any changes you would like to see please let us know.

October 12th 2018

October 12, 2018October 13, 2018 / hadfieldj / Leave a comment

Dates for your diary

16/10/2018 – Y11 Core Subjects Revision Evening

24/10/2018 – Y9 Tutor Evening

w/c 29/10/18 – Half term

05/11/2018 – Inset day

09/11/2018 – PTA Quiz night details below

20/11/2018 – Y13 Parents Evening

29/11/2018 – Y11 Parents Evening

20/12/2018 – Last day of term

21/12/2018 – Inset Day

Headteacher blog:

This week, was the week of our Year 9 service at St Mary’s church. It was a wonderful opportunity to reflect on our first month together at Thomas Alleyne’s and to consider the opportunities ahead of our new Year 9 students, the vast majority of whom, have made a fantastic start to their school lives with us.

I briefly visited the sixth form assembly on Friday to thank them for their support at the Church and at Year 9 and Year 11 open evenings. We have always appreciated having a sixth form attached to the school, and having them by our side or leading speeches in departments, was a real privilege on both evenings.

Finally, I would like to thank our staff. We appreciated that many parents commented on the passion of the teachers when delivering their subject talks.

If any Year 11 needs further support please talk to your form tutor. Whilst you may have selected 5 subjects on Thursday evening, there is plenty of time to reflect and find out more about other subjects.

‘Oh what a night’. Our Year 12 information evening was wonderful. Thank so much to all the Year 12 and 13 students who helped last night. We had so many helpers that we were able to provide a fabulous service to all the external applicants that came for their first look around Thomas Alleyne’s. Many parents provided feedback and stated how mature, helpful and knowledgeable they all were. Mackenzie Smith, Maisy Bettany, Elliot Jones and Amanda Clough spoke confidently to all parents and students about their experience at TAHS. These talks posed many questions for our new cohort; should they take a blended route – BTEC and A Level, would they choose BTEC’s, either Triple or a Double Award and a Single Award or should they take three or four A Levels as the EPQ sounded so interesting. The extra-curricular activities that Mrs Dodd, Mackenzie and Amanda spoke of were inspiring; Gold Duke of Edinburgh and World Challenge.
We were able to provide an insight into all subjects that will be available at TAHS from September 2019.
If you would any further information on this or would like to see a copy of the prospectus then please contact Mrs Walton at Sixthform@tahs.org.uk.

A huge thank you to Maisie Bettany and Mackenzie Smith for raising around £80 for the Uttoxeter Lions Indonesia appeal by selling bangles kindly provided by Mrs Fisher.

If any students wish to take part in the Lions Young Leaders In Service community service award, please see Mrs Bell for a log book. Certificates are available for 25, 50 and 100 hours voluntary service over a year’s duration.

Maths

All Year 9, 10 and 11 students will have a maths assessment during the last week of this half term.

This will take place during their normal maths lessons. Students will need the following equipment for their maths assessment: black pen, pencil, ruler, protractor, compass, Year 10 and 11 will also need a scientific calculator. All equipment can be purchased from the online shop (see link at bottom of the newsletter) or from the maths department.

A list of topics to revise will be put on Insight.

Year 9 Photographs

Any parent or carer that have purchased a Year 9 Photograph should be receiving their order over the next couple of weeks. An order came into school today and they have been distributed into form trays ready for Monday. If you do not receive your order by Wednesday 24th October, please contact Mr Hawthorne (Head of Torrance House).

Year 9 Welcome Service

On Thursday 11th October, it was a pleasure to welcome Year 9s to Thomas Alleyne’s High School in our traditional welcome service at St. Mary’s Church. It consisted of a talk from Mrs Rudge, a welcome from our Head Boy and Girl, a well participated hymn and a reading by Mr Hawthorne. The following students shared their thoughts:

“The welcome service at St. Mary’s church was a special day to welcome us to Thomas Alleyne’s! We all sung a hymn and were told about all the opportunities by the Head Boy and Girl and other teachers. To finish, we sung a hymn one more time and said the Lord’s prayer. Overall, I found this event very enjoyable!” – Tilly 9W1

“Year 9 walked down to our local church to celebrate the start of our first year at Thomas Alleyne’s High School. Mrs Rudge started the service with a speech to work hard and not give up before our Head Boy and Girl encouraged us to take advantage of the opportunities the school has to offer. We finished off by singing ‘He’s Got The Whole World In His Hands’ when Mr Hawthorne claimed we were the best Year 9 singers yet!” – Isabelle 9W1

“I felt it was welcoming and I really enjoyed it, particularly the part where we all sang together at the end” – Ava 9T1

Year 9 Tutor Evening

Bookings are now open on insight, http://www.thomasalleynes.org

Login details have been sent to the registered email address we hold on our system, please check you mail, including junk for an email from insight@tahs.org.uk.

If you have not received this please email insight@tahs.org.uk stating:

The email address you wish to use

Your name

Your child’s name and tutor group

The first line of your address

PTA Meeting

Monday 19th November, 7pm in the staffroom.

All welcome.

Science

This week’s Science Students of the Week selected by Mrs Pavey are:

Year 9

Ben Ogden and Isla McFadzean

Year 10

Isabel Watts and Matthew Jackson

Year 11

Max Edwards and Aaron Gwynne

All of the students were selected for their recent Physics assessment grades.

Well done!

PE

Girls Fixtures & Practices

Tuesday – U14 & !6 Netball Vs Robert Sutton (A), also netball club for students not involved in fixtures

Wednesday – Girls football club on astro.

Thursday – U6 netball Vs Deferrers (A)

U16 Moorlands Football League & Cup double header.

On Thursday we made the short trip to Rocester FC to take on JCB. With the pitch in great condition we were able to play some of our best free flowing football. Harvey Belcher in goal played like a quarter back pinging the ball around to start our attacks. Lewis Dawson enjoyed the wide pitch and created numerous chances but was unable to score himself. Charlie Martin seemed determined to dribble the ball in but when he did shoot scored 2 excellent goals. Man of the match was 2nd half substitute Max Hunt who was on fire with his mazy dribbling frightening the JCB defenders and deservedly scored the third to cap a 3-0 win.

U16 Rugby

East staffs district tournament – team photo below.

Year 9 Football County Cup

On Tuesday night the year 9 team aheaded off to Biddulph High School. A very good first half saw Alleynes dominate with George Arnold settling the visitors nerves with an excellent strike from outside of the box. Unfortunately Alleynes were unable to capitalise and went in at half time 1-0 up. The second half started similar to the first half with Alleynes dominating Leighton Thomas scored from a very good break down the right wing. Biddulph fought back very well and scored 2 quick goals. The last 10 minutes was a tense affair with neither team being able to break the deadlock. It took a solo effort from captain Charlie Ratcliffe to decide the match. Well done. Next game is on Tuesday against Paulette in the Burton and District cup. Players need to get their own way there.

National Inter County Swimming Gala

Congratulations to Ben Year 9, who has represented Staffordshire last weekend at the National Inter County Swimming Championships at Ponds Forge in Sheffield. He was one of a quartet of swimmers in his age category. He swam the individual 100m freestyle, narrowly missing a personal best time and swam the anchor leg in the medley relay to help his team finish third in their heat.

Maths Puzzle October 2018

How Old is John?

Mum’s age in two years’ time divided by John’s age now , then added to John’s age comes to two-thirds of what Mum was when John was born. And today it is Mum’s and John’s birthday.

How old is John?

Answers with solutions to Mr.Askey (Maths department – room 47) by half term.

English News

Year 9 will be involved in an oracy project with an outside provider called Talk the Talk. All of the pupils will be involved, with each of the English groups taking part in the project for a whole day instead of following their usual timetable. The training will be delivered by the visiting experts, with Thomas Alleynes teachers assisting them in doing this. When the project has taken place in the past, pupils have reported that it has been really enjoyable, and beneficial to both their oracy skills, and their overall self-confidence. I am sure that this year will be no different. Pupils will be informed which day their group is taking part, and the room that is their venue, by their form tutor.

English Pupil of the Week: Izzie Mcleavy, in 10U4. Since beginning Year 10 Izzie has shown a mature, hard-working and positive approach in all of her lessons, and should be very proud of herself.

Tesco Bags of Help

Thomas Alleyne’s High School calls out for votes to bag a share of Tesco’s bag fund to Save the School Pool

Thomas Alleyne’s High School is bidding to bag a massive cash boost from the Tesco Bags of Help initiative.

Tesco teamed up with Groundwork to launch its community funding scheme, which sees grants of £4,000, £2,000 and £1,000 raised from carrier bag sales in Tesco stores awarded to local community projects.

Three groups in every Tesco region have been shortlisted to receive the cash award and shoppers are being invited to head along to Tesco stores to vote for who they think should take away the top grant.

Thomas Alleyne’s High School Save our Pool is one of the groups on the shortlist.

We have been raising funds to bring our swimming pool back into use and we really need your support to make this happen.

Tesco’s Bags of Help project has already delivered over £60 million to more than 18,000 projects across Britain. Tesco customers get the chance to vote for three different groups every time they shop. Every other month, when votes are collected, three groups in each of Tesco’s regions will be awarded funding.

Alec Brown, Head of Community at Tesco, said:

“Bags of Help has been a fantastic success and we’ve been overwhelmed by the response from customers. It’s such a special scheme because it’s local people who decide how the money will be spent in their community. There are some fantastic projects on the shortlists and we can’t wait to see these come to life in hundreds of communities.”

Groundwork’s National Chief Executive, Graham Duxbury, said:

“Bags of Help continues to enable local communities up and down Britain to improve the local spaces and places that matter to them. The diversity of projects that are being funded shows that local communities have a passion to create something great in their area. We are pleased to be able to be a part of the journey and provide support and encouragement to help local communities thrive.”

Funding is available to community groups and charities looking to fund local projects that bring benefits to communities. Anyone can nominate a project and organisations can apply online. To find out more visit www.tesco.com/bagsofhelp.

Revision Tips

With Year 11 and 13 Mock exams in a matter of weeks, we want to support students as much as possible with preparing for exams.

Further to revision workshops held recently in school – please see the link below showing how to make great use of post-it notes in revision. Further clips will be shared weekly to support students.

http://lifemoreextraordinary.com/study-skills/post-it-notes-revision/

More tips will be shared at the Year 11 Revision Evening on Tuesday 16th October.

Revision Evening

English, Maths and Science Revision Evening on Tuesday 16th October, TAHS Theatre 6pm.

There will also be a section on revision tips and how to help your child revise.

We very much look forward to seeing you there.

Links

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

Thank you for taking the time to read our newsletter. If there are any changes you would like to see please let us know.

October 5th 2018

October 5, 2018October 8, 2018 / hadfieldj / Leave a comment

Dates for your diary

11/10/2018 – Post 16 Open Evening

16/10/2018 – Y11 Core Subjects Revision Evening

24/10/2018 – Y9 Tutor Evening

w/c 29/10/18 – Half term

05/11/2018 – Inset day

09/11/2018 – PTA Quiz night details below

20/11/2018 – Y13 Parents Evening

29/11/2018 – Y11 Parents Evening

20/12/2018 – Last day of term

21/12/2018 – Inset Day

Headteacher blog:

For me, the reason why teaching is such a fantastic career is that students frequently take my breath away with the work that they produce. Today, I had the privilege to meet Tom Ellis one of our sixth formers, who was part of the 2018 World Challenge Expedition to Vietnam and Laos. Tom shared with me, a book that he has created of photographs from the trip. It is truly stunning and made me wistful to travel again, to these countries which are so different to ours and from which we can learn so much. I can only offer you a taster of some of the photographs from his book, and it was impossible to choose my favourites, but I hope you enjoy them as much as I did. If anyone wishes to purchase a copy of Tom’s book please email Mrs Dodd who will put you in touch. We will be purchasing a copy for the school so that all students can share a little of his experience. Tom intends to study Photography at Falmouth in the future and is currently completing his A levels with us.

Mr Gilson has offered to lead our next World Challenge trip and has chosen Botswana as the destination. More details will follow.

On Wednesday we held our open evening for Year 9. I would like to thank all the students who supported us during the evening. It was fantastic to see so many students here supporting staff and talking to our prospective Year 8 students. I would particularly like to thank our Head girl, Maisy, Head boy, Mackenzie, Year 9 students Freya and Duncan who shared their journeys through Thomas Alleyne’s with our guests during the evening and Zakk who played guitar for our guests on their arrival.

We realise it is a busy time for parents of Year 11 students. We have our open evening next week starting at 6.30pm on the 11th October closely followed by our core subjects revision evening on 16th October. This evening is always well attended as it offers parents an insight into how they can support their sons and daughters over the coming year. We hope you find both evenings informative and helpful. It is led by our Heads of English, Maths and Science departments.

Finally myself and Mrs Maingay look forward to a question and answer session for Year 8 parents on the following evenings at 4.00pm.

9th Oldfields Hall Middle School

15th Windsor Park Middle School

22nd Ryecroft Middle School

All Year 13 students are busy getting their statements finished and refined- please visit our resources @ bit.ly/tahs6thF – and make the most of tutor and Enrichment sessions to get your draft as super as possible.

The Sixth Form were visited by a representative from the Uttoxeter Lions today (http://uttoxeterlions.co.uk/) and were encouraged to raise funds for the Indonesian Earthquakes. Please support in any way you can.

The Unidays app is ready (https://www.myunidays.com/GB/en-GB/content/about)- and is full of discounts and benefits for students- Please ensure you have your office 365 email address if you want to sign up. If students havn`t accessed their 365 email for a while they may need to reset their address. Due to the high demand for the email reset- please see Mrs. Walton (instead of the IT technicians) to put your name down for and email re-allocation- thanks

A massive thanks to all Y12 and Y13 helpers at the Open Evening this week- We are very grateful. We are looking forward to the next Sixth Open Evening on Thursday the 11th October and would really appreciate the same level of support from our lovely students again.

If you would like to see one of our gifted A-Level Photographer`s work (Tom Ellis) featuring stunning images from their World Challenge Journey to Vietnam and Laos please visit his site @ https://tomjohnellis.wixsite.com/photography

Our Sixth Form were pleased to welcome Mr Graham Dow from Uttoxeter Lions on Friday. He gave an assembly to introduce the Young Leaders In Service Award which encourages community service. Students can gain a recognised award for completing either 25, 50 or 100 hours of service. Our students are expected to complete at least 5 hours community service as a minimum. Graham explained that service covers a wide range of activities such as helping with lawn mowing or cooking, childminding, running errands, hospital visiting, helping others to learn ICT skills, teaching children cycle safety, helping students with literacy or numeracy skills, plus schemes such as Duke of Edinburgh and health and social work placements. The Lions are always looking for new members or young people to support them at events such as the Christmas Cracker or helping to organise their annual prostate screening. We are also looking for students to organise spectacle recycling as part of a wider Lions scheme. Graham threw down the challenge for us to raise as much as possible within a week for their Indonesian disaster fund. We are encouraging as many students as possible to take part. As well as benefitting the community, students can use the Lions Award in apprenticeship or university applications to show more about their personal attributes. Please see Mrs Bell for further information and get involved.

News from English

English Pupil of the Week

Layla Thomas in year 10W1 ( 10U1 English). She volunteered for Open Evening and talked to visitors in room 20 for 2 hours about the power and conflict poems and contextual tasks my students had completed.

She was brilliant!

Running from Monday 15th October through to Thursday 18th October, all Year 9 classes will be taking place in a public speaking project run by an external provider called “Talk the Talk”. These sessions will last all day instead of normal lessons and will take place in school. Details of dates, rooms and times will be passed onto form tutors this week.

CACH Assemblies for years 9,10,11

On Monday we welcomed CACH Assemblies for years 9,10,11

We welcomed Anna Mclaughlin form the Staffordshire charity, Communities against crimes of hate to speak to our students in extended assemblies.

We will be following up this education with students in our Respect programme.

Please follow the link below to their website for further information form the Staffordshire charity, Communities against crimes of hate to speak to our students in extended assemblies.

https://www.cachpartnership.org.uk/index.htm

Elevate resources

‘After Elevate’s visit last week, we now have access to the student activity pack which leads on from the first session ‘Study Sensei’. Please see link below to support students in their revision.’

Study_Sensei_-_Student_Activity_Pack_UK.pdf

INSIGHT

We have been sending out the parental login emails to all year 9 parents that we hold a valid email address for. Please check all of your inboxes, spam, promotions etc for an email giving you your login details.

It is especially important a on the 24th October we have the year 9 tutor evening and bookings will be made via insight. We will be re sending emails throughout next week.

Canteen Prices

Here they are…..

Click on each one to enlarge….

PTA Meeting

Monday 19th November, 7pm in the staffroom.

All welcome.

News from MFL

Thank you for all the support at open evening. We looked at comparing similar Eurepean Languages with our prospective Y9 students.

French for all years has included a lot of verb revision.

Y12 are revising all tenses

Y11 are preparing school speaking questions.

Y10 are revising perfect tense with avoir and être.

Y9 have been learning reflexive verbs.

Science

This week’s Science Students of the Week selected by Mrs Hughes are:

Year 10

Alyssa Shaw and Harriet Bebbington

Year 11

Gregor Hayes and Ellie Brown

All of the students were selected for their hard work in their chemistry lessons.

Well done!

PE

Year 9 Football

Congratulations to the year 9 football team who put on a excellent display to beat Cheadle High School, 15 – 0 last week. It was a very good all round team performance well led by Ethan Hudson and hat trick scorers Harry Clarke and Charlie Ratcliffe. Next weeks opposition will be a sterner test in the District Cup against Painsley at home on Thursday.

Also well done to Harry Clarke who has been re signed by Everton for the up coming season, we wish him well.

U16 Football

Very busy week for our U16 footballers.

On Tuesday we hosted Blessed William Howard in the county cup, winning a tight fought game 3-2. Alleynes took a 2-0 lead through Max Hunt with a lovely chip into the net but were then pegged back in the second half. Archie McNair put is back in the lead before BWH equalised again. Our attitude and character shone through though with Alex Ford finding Lewis Dawson to tap home the winner.

Wednesday saw a trip to Deferrers in the Burton & District Cup with two well matched sides. Deferrers scored first through poor marking at a corner, but we hit back with 2 well taken goals from Harvey Belcher. Lewis Dawson completed the scoring to make us comfortable 3-1 winners.

Thursday proved too much as tired legs in the 2nd half turned 0-0 into a 4-1 loss in the league at Painsley, With Dawson scoring to make it 2-1. The boys character stood out as they kept working for each other and stayed positive but it was clear the previous games had taken their toll.

Squad- Callum Dreher, Alex Shaw, George Walker, Mitchell Ball, Alex Ford, Jenson Bosworth, Asher Topliss, Ethan Archer, Harvey Belcher, Frankie Bussell,

Next Thursday we make the short trip to JCB in a league and cup double header.

U16 Rugby

Next Wednesday 10th October is the District tournament at Burton RFC 4pm-6pm. Team list is on the PE notice board and has been text out.

House Handball

Open evening on Wednesday saw the annual handball competition which was well represented by both girls and boys from Year 9-11.

The year 9’s soon picked up the rules of the game and played some entertaining matches.

Torrance won all of their fixtures winning all of their group matches and the grand final, Elkes finishing 2nd, Torrance 3rd and Orme 4th.

The senior competition was a solid tactical display with Whitmore and Elkes participating in the final and Whitmore winning by one goal. Torrance were 3rd & Orme 4th.

Many thanks to the Btec sports students who officiated the games.

Maths Puzzle October 2018

How Old is John?

Mum’s age in two years’ time divided by John’s age now , then added to John’s age comes to two-thirds of what Mum was when John was born. And today it is Mum’s and John’s birthday.

How old is John?

Answers with solutions to Mr.Askey (Maths department – room 47) by half term.

Thomas Alleyne’s High School Merchandise Shop

Link is here

This is an online shop where you can purchase the following school items:

uniform – school ties, school badges

stationary sets

maths sets

scientific calculators

overalls and boots for Animal care

folders and sketch books for Art

revision guides for various subjects

Please add items into your basket and then proceed to payment. Please then print off a receipt – students will need to bring this into school to collect their item(s)

Please note – there is always a link to the online shop at the bottom of this newsletter

The staff raised £130 in the Macmillan Coffee morning held last Friday

Pastoral Students of the Week

Pastoral students of the week – there are too many to name, but we owe huge thanks to all those students who came and helped at open evening this week!

We’re also proud to have 35 students through the Bronze threshold for credits so far this half term – special mentions to Alyssa Whitehall, Duncan McGarry, Ben Craven and Jack Smith who’ve all passed 40 credits already.

Well done!

History

First of all a big thank you to the students from years 11 and 13 who helped out the department at Open Evening. They were excellent ambassadors for the subject.

GCSE – Year 11

All groups have now started our final unit, ‘Weimar and Nazi Germany, 1918 – 1939’. However, Mrs Johnson and Mrs Young would like to remind everyone that we have not completely finished with the American West because there is the big end of unit exam for groups in the week starting 15th October.

Therefore, all year 11 have revision as homework.

A level – Year 13

Make sure that you are balancing your history study time between coursework, homework and also reviewing year 12 work ready for mock exams in a few weeks time.

News from the Farm

We had a very successful vet skills session on Tuesday with over 15 students learning about how to carry out a health check on rabbits and guinea pigs. We also managed to fit in a visit to the school calves and check their eyes because we had noticed a bit of discharge around them. Luckily they were given a clean bill of health. The session was made even more exciting because of the arrival of our baby guinea pigs. We now have 10 babies from our three proud moms and the students are fussing over them and making sure that they stay safe.

Year 9 Prize Draw from Open Evening 2017

After receiving the department postcards from last year’s open evening from a number of Year 9 students, the winner of the draw made on Wednesday 3rd October was Harley Stanton (9T1) who was presented with a £10 Amazon voucher. Congratulations to Harley.

Links

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

Thank you for taking the time to read our newsletter. If there are any changes you would like to see please let us know.