Thank you to everyone who joined us for our Future Intentions evening this week. Year 9 are now deciding their options preferences. As we explained on the evening, we encourage the vast majority of students to follow the EBacc route, as recommended by the Department for Education. This route means Year 9 students will need to select either Geography or History and French as 2 of their choices. We will endeavour to allocate students as many of their higher preferences a possible, but we cannot guarantee they will be offered all of their first four choices. If anyone needs any further support please speak to your form tutors.
On Friday of this week, I met with all our East Staffordshire Sports Scholarship winners. Their commitment to their individual sports was impressive. A number of the winners regularly complete over 15 hours of training a week alongside completing their studies in school. We wish them all well in their future competitions and look forward to hearing about their successes.
Next week we have Year 9 parents evening. If you have any problems booking appointments please contact your Head of House. We are keen to meet as many families as possible on the evening.
Finally, I wanted to draw your attention to a number of changes which will be happening on the school site over the coming months. Over half term, the area surrounding the pavilion will be removed from use, so that we can commence our rebuild. We will talking to students about how they can move safely around the site as a number of entrances and exits will be altered. Please reiterate to them that they must stay well away from the building site. We are excited at the improvements that these new facilities will offer and are looking to re-open our pool after Easter.
Fire Alarm Activation
We have recently experienced a malicious activation of our fire alarm at lunchtime. The fire brigade was alerted and we fully evacuated the school.
Clearly, this false alarm caused significant inconvenience and disruption to students, staff, and visitors. It compromised everyone’s safety in school and presents a significant risk to the local community because the emergency services are not available to attend genuine emergencies whilst they are at the school. The Fire Brigade will prioritise the school over other emergency call-outs. We are currently conducting a thorough investigation of the incidents. The police will be involved because malicious call-out of the Fire Brigade is a crime. The police will speak to a number of students who were near the site of the alarm and will continue to support our investigations.
The penalty for a student caught maliciously setting off the school fire alarm is permanent exclusion. The penalty for conspiring to have the alarm sounded is exclusion for a fixed period or permanent exclusion.
Senior staff will speak to students in assemblies. Students will be informed about the seriousness of setting off the fire alarm and the very serious consequences of being caught doing so. Students will be reminded to treat any sounding of the fire alarm as a potential emergency and to follow fire evacuation procedures promptly and sensibly.
Obviously, we are very disappointed that one or more of our students has chosen to behave in this inconsiderate and irresponsible way. I am pleased to be able to tell you, however, that students have responded very patiently and sensibly to the evacuation.
Please would you support us by talking to your son or daughter to reinforce our message that they must treat any sounding of the alarm seriously and follow the evacuation procedure promptly. If your son or daughter has any information that might help us identify the culprit/s, I would be grateful if you would let us know in order to prevent any further disruption and risk to the local community.
As part of our commitment to Year 12 and Year 13 we organised for NHS professionals to come in and talk to our students regarding attitudes to healthy relationships. We received some lovely feedback form the nurses who stated that our students were extremely polite and a pleasure to talk to, they also agreed to return to the school to host similar events in the future as part of our ongoing commitment to student wellbeing. These small, yet meaningful talks, help to build a positive ethos around our community commitment. I spoke to a few students after the event and they felt the information they heard about what is and what is not a healthy relationship resonated with them and I know that this led to deeper conversations in school and at home.
This week Mrs Dodd led an informative talk on Oxbridge, this was to inform those that are interested in applying to either Oxford or Cambridge about the process and the level of detail that needs to be placed within their personal statement. As part of the commitment to these students, we also hold mock interviews nearer the time.
It is clear that not all students are using Unifrog to its full potential; it is a great resource that we provide. It helps with planning for the future, it allows them to start putting together a personal statement which they will need for apprenticeships, university and work. It allows them to look into universities now, look at apprenticeships and careers. It really is a ‘one stop shop’ for all their post 18 needs.
Three of our Year 12 students arranged to speak to the Denstone Tuesday Club, they ‘transported them to Laos and Vietnam’ as they explained their adventure. Alex Bennett, Tom Page and Elliot Williams really did make a good impression. ‘Maturity’ and ‘confidence’ were used to describe them and they really did enjoy hearing about their World Challenge experience. As a result of this we have received a donation from the Denstone Tuesday Club for our forever charity, Dougie Mac.
Year 9 Future Intentions
Thank you to those parents and carers who came to the Yr9 Option Talk and Future Intentions evening on Thursday. We hope that Yr9 students have a better understanding of the option subjects that are available to them and how the process works. If your child has misplaced their Future Intentions booklet or needs a copy because they were absent, tutors have spare copies or see Mr Washbourne. Yr9 Parents Evening on Thursday 14th February will be an ideal time to talk to subject teachers about your child’s option subjects. The option form on Insight will then go live on Friday 15th February. Yr9 students will need to ensure that they have access to Insight in order to complete the form.
Puzzle of the Month January 2019
Murder on the River
Ian and Chris took a boat trip on the canal. They left from the Star pub. Ian started the motor and they set off gently up-stream. Some minutes later as they passed under a bridge Chris shouted ‘Ian, there is a hand in the water! It’s a dead body, Ian laughed ‘It is only an old glove.’ They continued up-stream. After 15 minutes Ian turned the boat round and made for the Star. They shot under the bridge and then it did not take long to travel the remaining mile to the Star. As they arrived they saw floating midstream the same old glove which they had just overtaken.
Ian kept the boat engine at the same speed all the time. But what was the speed of the current?
Solutions to Mr Askey
Year 11 Geography Revision.
This week’s knowledge organiser is focused upon the Living World. This topic involves understanding how ecosystems work at both a small and large scale. The large scale examples that we have studied are Tropical Rainforests and Hot Deserts. Students will need to know where these ecosystems are, why they are there, what the climate is like, how humans/plants/animals have adapted to these ecosystems and how we can manage them for the future. An example question for this topic would be “Choose one of the following environments: hot deserts or tropical rainforest. To what extent is your chosen environment at risk from human activity?” This would be a 9 mark question in which students would have to explain the challenges in these environments and then justify how successful we are at managing these challenges.
Intervention Timetable
The latest timetable for interventions and revision in linked below. Make sure you make the most of the opportunities that are presented to you.
Year 9 Pupil Premium Meet and Greet afternoon 12th February.
On Tuesday afternoon we look forward to meeting year 9 parents over a cup of tea and a biscuit. The afternoon gives parents and 1:1 tutoring staff the opportunity to meet each other, provide resources and find ways in which we can best support their son or daughter in the coming months. If you haven’t returned your reply slip please do so asap, we look forward to seeing you on Tuesday 12th February.
GCSE +
The intense revision programme moves into its final week of this first session. Pupils have benefited from spending time with specialist subject staff supporting them with their revision and exam technique.
Parents Evening to help support your son/daughter with revision
6th March 6.00pm. Tim Benton
It is with great delight that once again we have been able to secure the services of Tim Benton. Tim is a motivational speaker who delivers strategies to help young people go about learning, revising and more in an effective, purposeful and brain-friendly way, Tim has been regularly used by the school over a number of years and holds the philosophy “Whether you’re ten years old or ten years teaching, I want you to live at your best.” Through his disarming manner, his casual and entertaining style and his inarguable logic, Tim helps all those he works with – young and old – revaluate what they do, why they do it and whether they should be doing something else entirely.
Tim will be working with all year 11 pupils on revision techniques and strategies in the day and will run a workshop for parents in the evening. Please come along at 6.00pm on 6th March, to gain valuable insights into how you can best support your son or daughter as they approach their public exams.
Year 9 Parents Evening Thursday 14th February from 4.00pm.
This is an excellent opportunity for parents to meet the teaching staff and discuss their child’s progress before deciding what the best GCSE options are for their son or daughter. This is often a very busy evening so please ensure that you have made the appointments you need and if there are any concerns regarding the process or attendance please contact your respective Head of House. We look forward to seeing you on Thursday 14th February.
Science
This week’s Science Students of the Week selected by Mr Gilson are:
Year 9
Katie Large and Rebecca Wooliscroft for excellent assessment scores throughout Module One.
Year 10
Jessie Dickens and Nico Ball for consistently good scores in Biology assessments.
Year 11
Alexander Griffiths and Leyton Tyers for a positive approach to revision.
Well done!
Book Club
Book club starts on Monday at lunch in the library. Students from all years are welcome!
News from PE
Netball Results
Year 9 team endured the wintery conditions on the outside court at Robert Sutton. The game was played in a good spirit with TAHS dominant in both possession and scoring. The defensive duties were covered by Lucy Calladine, Abi Garland & Evie Robins who saw little of the ball but looked to support the attacking play. Zoe Carr, Teegan Berry & Jess Perry showed good composure to keep feeding the ball to our shooters Halle Young and Holly Dickens who were challenged to shoot from distance. Alleyne’s romped to a 29-5 victory, with Holly being named Girl of the Game.
Our Year 10 team enjoyed the luxury of the indoor court at Robert Sutton. The game was yet again an exciting and competitive game to watch and umpire. The first quarter was an even contest with Alleyne’s taking a narrow 9-5 lead into the break. Eve Bednall and Amelia Hadgett made some great tips and interceptions to stop the high ball going into the GA and GS. Jess Banner, Frankie Tooth, Holly Chatfield and Alice Boothby worked tirelessly to create space and keep the ball moving at a high pace. Anna Adams and Freya Hadgett again had a high success rate with their shooting. The work rate of the team saw TAHS extend the lead over the remaining three quarters to win 25-12, with Eve voted as Girl of the game.
House Netball and Boys House Football Thursday 14th February
The next round of house matches are next week.
Thursday 14th Feb
Year 9 period 4
Year 10 period 3
Year 11 period 5
County Cross Country
Congratulations to Leighton Thomas who came 5th in the county cross country last weekend, representing East Staffordshire.
House Basketball
The boys house basketball competitions took place last week with good participation and high levels of performance particularly in year 11 where Torrance put together some great plays.
Year 10 1st Orme, 2nd Torrance, 3rd Whitmore, 4th Elkes
Year 11 1st Torrance, 2nd Elkes, 3rd Whitmore
Football Update
Our Year 11 football team have an exciting month coming up-
They are due to play in the County Cup Semi-Final away to Codsall, The semi-Final of the Moorlands Cup at home to Endon, The semi-final of the league play offs also at home to Endon and the 2nd round of the Sentinel Cup at home to Stone-Alleynes.
History
Year 12 will be having big exams on both sides of the course next week. You can support revision this weekend by asking students to show you revision work completed as part of their 6th Form 7 activities and testing their subject knowledge by looking through their Purple Progress Books.
MFL Interventions
Foundation Tuesday after school room 102
Aiming for a 9 Tuesday after school room 23
Higher French intervention Friday after school room 10
Half term French intervention – Monday 18th February 10.00 – 12.00 in room 10
Key vocabulary and structures to include in writing questions and general conversation speaking in past present and future tense.
Congratulations!!!
Huge congratulations to Joel Grout and Gregor Hayes for representing their county in the U16 rugby squad. Both play for Stone Rugby Club, and Joel is in his third year of the youth program with Leicester Tigers. It’s a great achievement for them both, and we’re looking forward to see the part the sport has to play in their futures.
Maths
All year groups will be having an assessment in maths lessons this week.
Year 9 – calculator paper
set 1 and 2 – percentages, perimeter and area, coordinates and linear graphs, real life graphs
set 3 and 4 – sequences, percentages, perimeter and area
Year 10 – calculator paper
set 1 and 2 – surds, recurring decimals, quadratic sequences, upper and lower bounds, Pythagoras’ Theorem, trigonometry, simultaneuos equations
set 3, 4 and 5 – congruence and similarity, trigonometry, perimeter and area
Year 11
Students will sit a past paper over 2 lessons – this will be a calculator paper
An excellent way to revise for these assessments is to use Mathswatch
Several local schools are contributing to fundraising for the family affected by the fire in Stafford last week. Should any student or parent/carer wish to make a donation then this can be passed to form tutors and we will share this with Staffordshire fire service.
Links
Follow the links to; School Website, Facebook, Twitter & our Online Shop
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Thomas Alleyne's high school 