TAHS Weekly Newsletter.

Headteacher blog

Thank you to parents for your support this year. We very much appreciate the cards and gifts you have sent in for the staff team and hope that you feel that your children have had a successful year.

We brought the year to a close with our Prize Giving Celebration.  Over 50,000 credits have been awarded this year, over 3200 hours of community service provided and national awards have been achieved. The final winning house this year is Whitmore winning by just one point at the end! Congratulations to all students who participated in one of our house events. 

This week, we also held our Year 12 graduation, music concert and platinum plus award winners ice-skating trip. We completed our pre-opening of the swimming pool. Seeing students in the pool made all the hard work worthwhile for everyone involved. 

I wanted to take this opportunity to thank all staff for providing these opportunities for students.

Over the next six weeks we have the opportunity to work on the school site to improve the environment for students and staff. The roof will be replaced over the Theatre, Maths and Science rooms, the new build continues and the floor, which was damaged by our recent flood, will be replaced. If students are on site please remind them they need to take care around the building sites. 

I hope that students from Year 8 enjoy their Summer school and look forward to seeing Year 11 and Year 13 when they collect their GCSE and A level results. We will be open at 7.00am on the  15th August for A level and BTEC results and at 9.00am on 22nd August for GCSE and level 2 BTEC awards. Once students receive their results they will be invited to sign up for our sixth form.

GCSEpod is available for all students during the holiday so that they can prepare for next year.

I hope you have a wonderful Summer, it has been a privilege to work with your children this year.

Well Done Joel

The end of this academic year has arrived and we have had a successful year.  Seeing the Year 12 students embrace the challenges of BTEC and A Level is inspiring.  I know that some students will feel that the upcoming 6 weeks holiday is a time to completely relax and forget about work but we have been reinforcing positive habits this week.  We recommend that all students spend some time revising and preparing for tests and exams that will be given upon their return in September.  Spend some time completing wider reading tasks and researching the Year 13 content.  Please check Insight to see what work has been set so that all students have a positive start to Year 13.

Thank you to all parents and carers for your continued support.

Celebration Assemblies

This morning Whitmore were crowned house champions by just one point. See below pictures of winning captain and Head of House.

For further pictures please see our Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/thomasalleyneshighschool/

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BBC Sport Media Day

On Wednesday our year 12 BTEC sport students went to Burton Albion FC to take part in the BBC Sport media day. The day involved working with BBC news journalists to produce a sports news video. They took on the roles of presenter, interviewer, researcher, cameraman, producer, director and editor. The day was a great success with our students being praised for their professionalism and even getting an interview with BAFC chairman.

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Uniform & Behaviour

Please see the documents below for reminders of our polices on uniform and behaviour to ensure we all have a fantastic last week and a great start to the new term in September.

News from PE

Rounders Vs John Taylor Year 10

For the final game of the season TAHS travelled to John Taylor. The girls learnt from the games the previous week and held their wicket longer, not allowing the opposition any extra time to bat. Unfortunately with the cautious approach there were not enough rounders scored. TAHS trailed 7and a aahalf to 2 at the interval.

In the second innings, the rounders flowed with some big hitting from Eve, Frankie, Scarlett, Holly and Alice, which made the game more entertaining. John Taylor were also free scoring in their second innings and went on to take victory. A great game with lots of gigglesSquad – Boothby, Tooth, Bednall, Chatfield, Porritt, Hardisty, Sutton, Simister

Swimming Success

Sports Day 2019

See a full report from Max here and the results below – the culmination of a fantastic day.

https://1drv.ms/v/s!AvUS8Q2sq8Qqa54AEUDEZ-wyT5w?e=0RqAg8

Sports Coaching

Thanks to Andy Griffin and NULC for providing coaching in football and netball to our Gifted and Talented Year 10 PE students this week.

Summer Water Safety

As we aproach the summer break and hopfuly some good weather it is pertinent that we share the attached with you all re water safety.

It may be tempting to jump in a local lake or river to cool off, but did you know that drowning is the third highest preventable death in the UK.

News from our Farm

On Saturday 13th July 8 Year 10 students took part in Uttoxeter sheep fair, competing in young handlers and a stock judging class.  As part of this we had to prepare the sheep by halter training them so we were able to lead them in the ring and also wash them so that they caught the judges eye. We were very successful with Saffron winning in young handlers and Zack winning in the stock judging class.  A big congratulations to everyone who took part with all prizes being won by students from Thomas Alleyne’s.

Ellie Roobottoom.

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Canteen Funds

As we approach the end of the school year please could we politely remind you to ensure that your child has enough funds in their Thomas Alleyne’s school meals account to pay for their lunch and snacks when they return in September. 

It can be embarrassing and upsetting for both the students and the catering staff when insufficient funds are available to pay for meals.
Parents can check their child’s balances through their ParentPay account.
If you have any questions or concerns regarding this please don’t hesitate to contact the finance office and we will be happy to help.

Safeguarding Advice

Safeguarding advice for young people and their families as we approach the summer break.

Sexting & on-line safety

https://www.childline.org.uk/info-advice/bullying-abuse-safety/online-mobile-safety/sexting/
Mental health Issues

https://youngminds.org.uk/find-help/your-guide-to-support/need-to-talk/

Uniform Shop

For full details for the ‘pop up’ shop available over the summer holidays please see the link below:

School Lockers

Should you wish your child to hire a school locker for the new academic year please use the following link,  www.ilsschools.co.uk . 

On-line safety advice for students and families

*The NSPCC are currently working closely together with O2 to provide the most up to date and effective advice.

*O2 have a helpline which parents can call to ask advice on all aspects of parental controls on devices. (The number can be found on the attached link)

*A parent can go into any O2 store and ask them to help them to set parental controls on their child’s device and they will gladly do this for free.

*Primary schools can ask for an O2 advisor to come into school to complete a workshop with parents where they can bring their devices into school and ensure that the parental controls have ben applied. O2 will do this for all types of devices not just phones including ipads and gaming machines such as playstations and Xboxes.

Please see the link below for further information.

https://www.nspcc.org.uk/what-we-do/about-us/partners/nspcc-o2-online-safety-partnership/?_t_id=1B2M2Y8AsgTpgAmY7PhCfg%3d%3d&_t_q=o2&_t_tags=language%3aen%2csiteid%3a7f1b9313-bf5e-4415-abf6-aaf87298c667&_t_ip=82.203.72.3&_t_hit.id=Nspcc_Web_Models_Pages_StandardPage/_2fa14345-c026-443d-9860-2d430e0c7c06_en-GB&_t_hit.pos=1

Links

School Website

School Shop

Why choose McCracken Opticians? 

Because your eyesight is precious….Because not all eye tests are the same….

• When you choose to have your eyes cared for with McCrackens, you can look forward to a friendly, professional eyecare experience.
• Come and browse our beautiful frames, many of which you will not find in high street chains. Among the brands we carry are Rayban, Oakley, Emporio Armani, Ralph Lauren Polo, Radley, Superdry, Furla, Police, Carolina Herrera, Reykjavik Eyes, Stepper..and countless more. Our frames are spread across two floors. With all the time and space to try on to your heart’s content in our elegant surroundings. 
• Our qualified, experienced Dispensing Opticians have expertise in dispensing a wide array of lenses with prices to suit any pocket. From budget to top of the range, freeform varifocals with the latest coatings or photochromic options, we can decide what is best for you and have it expertly fitted. Your spectacles require skilled dispensing, therefore we ensure that dispensing of all our lenses and frames is always overseen by qualified staff.
• Eye examinations for children, over 60’s and certain other categories are free under the NHS, with many of our spectacles free for children too.
• Wheelchair friendly, all of our services can be accessed downstairs.

Give your local independent Optometry practice a try and see what you’ve been missing!

TAHS Weekly Newsletter.

Headteacher blog: What a week!

It has been a wonderful week culminating in our House Music competition which was an impressive display of teamwork and talent. Only yesterday, students took part in the House Sports day, the results of which will be announced in our final assemblies of the year. Next week, we have our celebration breakfasts,   house chess competition and the school music concert to look forward to. Thank you to all staff who have led these events offering students the opportunities to participate. 

Thank you also to all parents who joined us for our prize giving evening, the coaching for success introduction and sixth form finance talk this week.

At our prize giving evening, we had the pleasure of seeing over 80 students being recognised for commitment or excellence. I would like to give a particular mention to Leanne. She shared with us her Rotary National Young Writer Award prize-winning story. Many were brought to tears by the beauty of her story. Also congratulations to Eve who has been selected to play netball for Loughborough Lightning the number one Vitality Netball Superleague side in the East Midlands.

Finally, my personal thanks to Mark Goodwin our guest speaker at prize giving. His message to our students to ‘be teachable’ and to everyone in the audience to ‘hug with both arms’ brought our term to a fantastic conclusion.

 

 

Monday and Tuesday this week, we spent 10 hours sharing information to help students make the correct choices for their post-18 journey. We had outside speakers to talk to the Year 12 students about finances and budgeting. All students were registered on UCAS and personal statements should have been updated.  It is clear from the positive turn on Tuesday evening that you were also interested about their post-18 journey and keen to ask many questions to us when the two presentations from Mrs Dodd and Mr Fuller were completed.  If you were unable to attend or did not manage to make notes then we have attached the presentation for you to look through.  One of the sessions that was introduced this year was ‘Wellbeing’ led by Mrs Blair. I was unable to attend but from the discussions that I heard amongst the staff and students, it was successful. Some photographs are attached that link to the Lions talk on issues surround World Sight Week and Lion International Foundation.

On Tuesday, it is our Year Graduation ceremony.  You should all have received a letter about this. I have written about it in the last two weeks of Round Up so I hope it does not come as a surprise.  This process will allow students that have applied themselves robustly to their studies and shown commitment to the school to be celebrated.  Those that have not graduated or who are graduating with a condition must realise that this is an opportunity for them to think about what did not work this year and to seek support from school and home to remedy these areas of weakness. If you have any questions surrounding the graduation process then please contact the Sixth Form Team.  sixthform@tahs.org.uk

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House Music Competition – Torrance Triumph

The House Music Competition was a huge success for the students of Thomas Alleyne’s and the students should be so proud of their achievements. It was a closely fought competition and one of the closest I have been involved in for 10 years. Each House had notable performances and the quality of the acts was outstanding.

In 4th place: Whitmore, 3rd: Elkes, 2nd: Orme, 1st: Torrance

There was a moving performance of ‘This is Me’ from The Greatest Showman for Orme’s finale and Willow Gregory brought the house down with her EDM performance on the launch pad. Torrance just pipped them to the post with their more diverse programme and a greater representation of more musical genres but it was such a close finish. Huge congratulations to Max Houghton and Robert Fuller for leading their house to victory. 

If you wish to see the highlights of the House Competition, they will be performed at the Summer Concert at 7pm on Wednesday 17th July. Tickets are available on the door, £2.50 concessions and £5 full price. There will be a special guest appearance by a local celebrity band and it is not to be missed.

Please can I thank all the students that took part both on and off stage, the pupils that supported the acts by being in the audience and to all the staff that supported the event

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Uniform & Behaviour

Please see the documents below for reminders of our polices on uniform and behaviour to ensure we all have a fantastic last week and a great start to the new term in September.

Summer Revision for Yr 12 BTEC students

BTEC Health and Social Care students have been trying their hand at producing knowledge organisers for revision over the summer holidays. Their Anatomy & Physiology external exam in January has a lot of content and we are aiming to produce one of these after every section so that students can put them up at home. The use of colour and pictures and also the challenge of having to summarise a whole topic on one page is proving to be a really good revision tool.

News from PE

Sports Day 2019, results to be revealed next Friday.

Congratulations Eve

Rounders

Year 10

There were some scintillating rounders game played this week, both with very high standards of fielding. At half time in the Robert Sutton match the game was evenly poised with TAHS trailing by half a rounder. The second half we batted a lot smarter protecting our position in the batting line up rather than chasing points and ending up out.

The game was won by Alleyne’s 16 – 11.

Player of match – Eve

De Ferrers visited on Wednesday, again a very even game. De Ferrers were slightly stronger in the field and gained time in both innings and this proved crucial as they ended up winning by one rounder.

Player of match – Frankie

Squad – Simister, Grocott, Bothby, Tooth, Hadgett, Hadgett, Bednall, Sutton, Chatfield, Barber

Year 9

A double win for this team, starting on Tuesday against Robert Sutton. Carr led the way with a player of the match performance, scoring a rounder off every ball bowled and fielding fantastically.

The team won 16-1/2 – 10.

County Cricket Plate Final

Congratulations to Yr9/Yr10 boys who made it to the County final on Thursday at Penkridge CC.  After beating Petersfield on Tuesday evening the year 9 and 10 took on Madeley High in the final of the county cup.  Madeley won the toss and elected to bat.  There opening batsman got off to a good start in the first 2 over however in his second and third over Whitehead took the wickets of the 2 opening batsman. 

Madeley were put under pressure from Jon Ball with an excellent spell of 2 wickets for 10 runs in four overs, unfortunately Alleyne’s were not as economical from the opposite end and Madeley were able to mass a total of 109 off 20 overs.  The opening pair of Alcock and Watt looked well set against some inaccurate bowling by Madeley’s opening pair unfortunately runs were difficult to come by, with Alcock becoming frustrated and losing his wicket.in the third over, this was quickly followed by Ball falling for  nought.

In the middle overs wickets started to fall along with the rain, which bought about a stop start period of play.  With the outfield wet and batsman off and on Alleyne’s failed to gain any momentum.  Watt tried to lead the charge as the asking rate crept up to 8 an over only being caught for 26.  With further rain disruptions Alleyne’s struggled to gain any momentum and fell short of victory by 9 runs!

Safeguarding Advice

Safeguarding advice for young people and their families as we approach the summer break.

Sexting & on-line safety

https://www.childline.org.uk/info-advice/bullying-abuse-safety/online-mobile-safety/sexting/
Mental health Issues

https://youngminds.org.uk/find-help/your-guide-to-support/need-to-talk/

Uniform Shop

For full details for the ‘pop up’ shop available over the summer holidays please see the link below:

Science News of the Week

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

Year 10

• Eve Rigby
• Felicity Burgess
• Kyle Elcock

All students were selected for consistently working hard in Science lessons.

This Week’s Animal Care Students of the Week selected by Mrs North are:

Year 10

• Abigail Wildman
• Ellie Roobottom
• Spencer Reeves
• Chloe Yates
• Zack Hedgecombe

 All students were selected for excellent support to the School Farm throughout the year.

Well done!

School Lockers

Should you wish your child to hire a school locker for the new academic year please use the following link,  www.ilsschools.co.uk . 

 

History

This week, four Y9 students have represented the school in The National Memorial Arboretum’s Youth Festival of Remembrance. The Year 9 History Leaders visited Oldfields Hall Middle School on Monday to deliver a lesson on aspects of World War Two to a group of Year 7 history students and then on Wednesday students from both schools attended the event at the Arboretum. Students were involved in a range of activities – including constructing model Mulberries (floating harbours for the D-Day landings). The day finished with students taking part in a formal Act of Remembrance with other participating schools.

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House Chess Competition

Wimbledon Finals weekend, Cricket World Cup Final – well they have nothing on the much anticipated House Chess competition.

Once again Mr Askey will be running the competition so enter please come to room 47 during registration Monday 15th July.

Art Success

Fantastic news for one of our Talented A Level Art and Photography Y13 students Livia Robinson; her work has been SOLD at the Mall Galleries in London thanks to the fantastic support of the Arts Society. The local Lichfield and Needwood Arts Society put forward her work as part of the Star Students scheme to highlight young talent. Although hundreds of entries were submitted only 21 made it to the exhibitions at the Royal Overseas League and the Mall Galleries in London. We look forward to hearing what Livia does in her future art career too. Well Done Livia! 

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qwerty

qwerty

On-line safety advice for students and families

*The NSPCC are currently working closely together with O2 to provide the most up to date and effective advice.

*O2 have a helpline which parents can call to ask advice on all aspects of parental controls on devices. (The number can be found on the attached link)

*A parent can go into any O2 store and ask them to help them to set parental controls on their child’s device and they will gladly do this for free.

*Primary schools can ask for an O2 advisor to come into school to complete a workshop with parents where they can bring their devices into school and ensure that the parental controls have ben applied. O2 will do this for all types of devices not just phones including ipads and gaming machines such as playstations and Xboxes.

Please see the link below for further information.

https://www.nspcc.org.uk/what-we-do/about-us/partners/nspcc-o2-online-safety-partnership/?_t_id=1B2M2Y8AsgTpgAmY7PhCfg%3d%3d&_t_q=o2&_t_tags=language%3aen%2csiteid%3a7f1b9313-bf5e-4415-abf6-aaf87298c667&_t_ip=82.203.72.3&_t_hit.id=Nspcc_Web_Models_Pages_StandardPage/_2fa14345-c026-443d-9860-2d430e0c7c06_en-GB&_t_hit.pos=1

Links

School Website

School Shop

Why choose McCracken Opticians? 

Because your eyesight is precious….Because not all eye tests are the same….

• When you choose to have your eyes cared for with McCrackens, you can look forward to a friendly, professional eyecare experience.
• Come and browse our beautiful frames, many of which you will not find in high street chains. Among the brands we carry are Rayban, Oakley, Emporio Armani, Ralph Lauren Polo, Radley, Superdry, Furla, Police, Carolina Herrera, Reykjavik Eyes, Stepper..and countless more. Our frames are spread across two floors. With all the time and space to try on to your heart’s content in our elegant surroundings. 
• Our qualified, experienced Dispensing Opticians have expertise in dispensing a wide array of lenses with prices to suit any pocket. From budget to top of the range, freeform varifocals with the latest coatings or photochromic options, we can decide what is best for you and have it expertly fitted. Your spectacles require skilled dispensing, therefore we ensure that dispensing of all our lenses and frames is always overseen by qualified staff.
• Eye examinations for children, over 60’s and certain other categories are free under the NHS, with many of our spectacles free for children too.
• Wheelchair friendly, all of our services can be accessed downstairs.

Give your local independent Optometry practice a try and see what you’ve been missing!

TAHS Weekly Newsletter.

Headteacher blog:

It was fantastic to meet Year 8 students on their induction days this week. They fitted quickly into our school, adapting to our expectations and showing that they have the potential to achieve well when they join us in Year 9. The Jenga towers they built in Design Technology lessons were a particular highlight! Thank you to all the student leaders who supported us on the day. We cannot believe how quickly Year 9 has passed. A particular thank you to our Year 9 speakers who shared their experiences with our new Year 8 students. We hope they have a wonderful last two weeks in their middle schools.

It has clearly struck many students in Year 10 on the return of their mock examination results, how soon they will be sitting their Year 11 GCSEs. They have already streamed over 16,000 podcasts as a year group from GCSEpod. The summer holiday is a fantastic time to take a break, spend time with family and friends, and take part in activities not possible in term time. Balancing this with a programme of revision will serve Year 10 students well. Mrs Johnson has offered support to any students who feel nervous about preparing a plan. 

As you may have seen, the new build is well underway. We are thrilled that it will be complete for October when we will be able to open the new changing rooms, toilets, classrooms and gym. 

Last night,  a group of young people (not from Thomas Alleyne’s High School)  trespassed on the school’s construction site. The police consequently attended the site. Please remind your sons and daughters that anyone who gains access is putting themselves and their friends at risk as well as committing a criminal act. If any current students access the building site, they will be excluded.

I would very much appreciate parental support in re-iterating this to your sons and daughters –  particularly over the Summer holidays. Building sites can be notoriously dangerous for young people. In addition, any damage caused will mean there is less money to spend on the equipment we provide in the gym. 

Finally, the Multi Academy Trust have held interviews this week for our new Chief Executive Officer. We will be able to share the outcome of these interviews with you next week and I am excited to introduce our new CEO to you. 

 

Last week in Round Up I shared our vision for Year 12 Graduation. Today Mrs Dodd reiterated that in her assembly.  She spoke clearly about being the best version of yourself that you can be. Strive to better, do better and be a positive influence for others. 

On Monday, form tutors will be giving out mock results and these will be the basis for the Year 12 Graduation, which will be held in school on Tuesday 16^Th July.  The process of graduation may seem worrying but if they have worked all year, have had a positive attitude towards their subjects and are on or as close to their target grades as possible then their achievements need to be celebrated.  For those that have not shown the same level of commitment to their learning, or been able to follow school policies successfully, then we will be putting a programme of study together to enable them to succeed in Year 13. 

Each subject will be providing students with bridging work which must be completed over the 6 weeks break.  Letters are being sent home that will explain this process in more detail.  Once this has been received if you feel like you need further clarification then please contact the Sixth Form Team.

Date for diary:

Year 12 Future Intentions Parents Information Evening  – Post 18 Options Wednesday 10th July 6.30pm in school theatre. Letters will be sent out next week 

Year 8 Transition Days

Pastoral Team thanks go to all the year 9, 10, 11 and 12 students who gave such invaluable assistance to all of our Year 8 visitors and their families on our transition evening and transition days this week. They supported our new students through their time with us, and will have helped to make our year 8 students feel confident and prepared for their next move. Every one of our helpers was outstanding, and we’re hugely proud of them all.

News from PE

Sports Day will take place on Thursday 11th July.See Timetable attached.
Team lists will be confirmed on Tuesday.

County Cup Cricket Semi-Final

On Tue 9th July we host Perryfields in the U15 County Cup cricket semi-final 1.45 start.

U15 County Cup Cricket

Congratulations to our boys team who beat OSSMA  by 30 runs. Top scorer was Charlie Allcock with 22, top performer with the ball Jamie Richardson with 5 wickets. Game changer Archie Cooper who removed their county batsman.

School Games – Trampoline

Our largest team travelled to Keele University to compete in the County Finals for trampoline.Selina, Leanne and Tia participated in the beginners category and held off nerves in their first ever competition to complete routines.Two teams were entered for the intermediate competition, Chloe, Evie, Eliya, Alicia, Evie S and Frankie all performing the routine strong. The A team finished 4th and the B team 6th out of 10 schools. Evie N’s score from the two routines saw her finish second individually and on the medal podium.Zoe, Megan and Jodie also won the silver medals in the team event for the elite category successfully completing a very difficult routine.

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National Sports Week

I was really impressed by how many students embraced the week during curriculum and extra curricular time. Students took part in 2 of the following activities during lessons:

Danish Long ballFootball rounder’svolleyballTennis volleyballUltimate Frisbee

After school we had a mix of activities to maximise participation including:
Girls world cup footballRounder’sCricketRock climbing Self DefenceTennis
Due to the success of the week, the PE department are looking forward to running National Sports week in 2020!

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Science News of the Week

This week our Year 12 Biology students visited Formby Beach, situated on Merseyside, as part of their A Level Biology course.  The dramatic sand dunes provided the ideal opportunity to study the plants growing along the coastline.

The students investigated the growing conditions of marram grass found along the dunes. The grass is a pioneer plant with an extensive rhizome root system, which ultimately enables other plant species to colonise the harsh environmental conditions.  The marram grass also stabilises the sand dunes helping to prevent coastal erosion. 

The students also visited the adjacent pine forest; studying the effect of light intensity on lichen distribution and abundance.  The students concluded that the most favourable growing conditions were on the north facing tree trunks away from direct sunlight.

The students were graced by the presence of a red squirrel; the first one many students had seen in the wild! 

After spending a glorious summer’s day by the seaside, the students are now back in the lab analysing their data and presenting their findings!

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

Year 9

Tess Shelley – for her consistent effort in Physics.

Nathan Shipley – for his consistent effort in Physics.

Year 10

Sam Johnson – for always being ready to learn, having everything he needs and for achieving his target grade in his Mock.

Martha Murray – for always getting involved in activities and doing her best – consistently showing a positive attitude to her learning.

Well done!

House Music 2019

Meeting in room 67 at 1.20pm on Monday 8th July for pupils who wish to participate in the House Music Competition (Friday 12th July) and the Summer Music Concert (Wednesday 17th July). Pupils MUST be at the meeting in order to take part in the events. All pupils from across the school are invited to take part and do not have to study GCSE or A Level music in order to be involved. I would love to see Year 11 and Year 13 pupils as this may be your last opportunity to take part in a music event. I look forward to seeing you all at the meeting on MONDAY 8th July. Many thanks, Mrs Todd. 

Mock Exam Results.

Year 10 and 12 students will receive their mock exam results on Monday morning in an envelope from form tutors.

Results will be available on Insight from Monday.

YEAR 12 LITERATURE VISIT: DRAGONS WORKSHOP AT ST.MARY’S C of E (A) FIRST SCHOOL

On Friday the 28th of June Mrs Baldwin accompanied 7 Year 12 English Literature students to St Mary’s C of E First School to tell the story of the Bamburgh Dragon. These students were Daniel Campion, Rob Bradley, Nicole Rankin, Erin Bedford, Chris Kitson, Patrick North and Euan Marshall. We were all tasked with dressing up as a character from the play, including a dragon and a toad!

As the year 3 children walked into the room we were shown how much they loved the story as they were all dressed in the best fancy dress costumes. To start the morning off the children were asked to act like various fantasy characters and walk around the classroom. We awarded prizes for the best costumes.

They were then split into small groups to work on their part of the play with a sixth former. They all threw themselves into the challenge and gave it all they had, which was reflected in the performances and how much they enjoyed the story.

Once we had completed the storytelling the students were tasked with colouring in and naming their own dragon, with students taking inspiration from sixth formers for names and colour schemes for their dragons. To finish off the session they were asked what they enjoyed most about the morning, with one student proclaiming the performance was amazing and another really enjoying the lollipops given out by the sixth formers and Mrs Baldwin.  

Daniel Campion

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Excellent Experience Day for BTEC students.

On Monday, 16 year 12 BTEC Health & Social Care students had the exciting opportunity to visit Staffordshire University’s Centre of Clinical Excellence.  The day centred around practical challenges in Paramedic Science, Nursing, Midwifery and Operating Department Practice (OPD).  Students saved lives by opening airways, checked the heartrate of an unborn baby and prepared for surgery by learning how to scrub up! 

Aaliyah said,  ‘I had only really thought about Midwifery, however, listening to the other talks and how passionate they were, it made me open my eyes and look further into Child Nursing and OPD.’

Tilly commented, ‘We got taught how to prepare for going into theatre.  We were all provided with surgical gowns and gloves, then got the chance to put them on without contaminating ourselves.  I found this helpful and fun; staff and students from the university were extremely kind and encouraging. I am now considering OPD as a future career.’

Megan said, ‘The day has made me want to become a paramedic because of what I can achieve.  For example, being able to save people or help people who have a mental health problem and be able to adapt.’

Becky reflected, ‘I found the nursing talk really interesting, learning how to give someone CPR was informative and fun to do.’

Amberleigh enthused, ‘I found the Midwifery course session the best.  The room was very interesting with lots of models including a talking, moving, pregnant woman model.  We held model babies, felt a model pregnant abdomen and listened to a baby’s heartbeat.  I am excited for a career in Midwifery.’

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National Healthcare Weekend – external provider.

Doctors, dentists and vets will provide invaluable insight and network to our students.

Day 1: Making it Into Medicine, Dentistry or Veterinary
An introduction into your future career. Network with current students and professionals, whilst gaining an in-depth understanding of topics including CV building, work experience and choosing the right university for you.

Day 2: Medical Masterclass
A full day of lectures covering the medical application process including personal statements, interview techniques, UCAT, BMAT and medical ethics led by our team of doctors and medical students.

Dates: London 6th – 7th July
           Cardiff 13th – 14th July 
           Birmingham 20th – 21st July

Registration starts at £25. Students from low-income backgrounds can apply to attend for free. Please click on this link for the flyer: https://medicmentor.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/NHW-Summer-2019.pdf

Students can register and find out more information here: https://medicmentor.co.uk/national-healthcare-weekend/

On-line safety advice for students and families

*The NSPCC are currently working closely together with O2 to provide the most up to date and effective advice.

*O2 have a helpline which parents can call to ask advice on all aspects of parental controls on devices. (The number can be found on the attached link)

*A parent can go into any O2 store and ask them to help them to set parental controls on their child’s device and they will gladly do this for free.

*Primary schools can ask for an O2 advisor to come into school to complete a workshop with parents where they can bring their devices into school and ensure that the parental controls have ben applied. O2 will do this for all types of devices not just phones including ipads and gaming machines such as playstations and Xboxes.

Please see the link below for further information.

https://www.nspcc.org.uk/what-we-do/about-us/partners/nspcc-o2-online-safety-partnership/?_t_id=1B2M2Y8AsgTpgAmY7PhCfg%3d%3d&_t_q=o2&_t_tags=language%3aen%2csiteid%3a7f1b9313-bf5e-4415-abf6-aaf87298c667&_t_ip=82.203.72.3&_t_hit.id=Nspcc_Web_Models_Pages_StandardPage/_2fa14345-c026-443d-9860-2d430e0c7c06_en-GB&_t_hit.pos=1

Links

School Website

School Shop

Why choose McCracken Opticians? 

Because your eyesight is precious….Because not all eye tests are the same….

• When you choose to have your eyes cared for with McCrackens, you can look forward to a friendly, professional eyecare experience.
• Come and browse our beautiful frames, many of which you will not find in high street chains. Among the brands we carry are Rayban, Oakley, Emporio Armani, Ralph Lauren Polo, Radley, Superdry, Furla, Police, Carolina Herrera, Reykjavik Eyes, Stepper..and countless more. Our frames are spread across two floors. With all the time and space to try on to your heart’s content in our elegant surroundings. 
• Our qualified, experienced Dispensing Opticians have expertise in dispensing a wide array of lenses with prices to suit any pocket. From budget to top of the range, freeform varifocals with the latest coatings or photochromic options, we can decide what is best for you and have it expertly fitted. Your spectacles require skilled dispensing, therefore we ensure that dispensing of all our lenses and frames is always overseen by qualified staff.
• Eye examinations for children, over 60’s and certain other categories are free under the NHS, with many of our spectacles free for children too.
• Wheelchair friendly, all of our services can be accessed downstairs.

Give your local independent Optometry practice a try and see what you’ve been missing!