TAHS Weekly Newsletter.
Headteacher’s Blog
We have very much appreciated the support of parents and students this week. It was a difficult decision to postpone our production on Tuesday but students responded exceptionally well and put on a fantastic show on Wednesday. Congratulations to all involved. It was an innovative, refreshing presentation of Sharkespeare’s final play. I would like to thank Mrs Mood and Mrs Shackell for their hard work in supporting students in preparing such a fantastic show.
Student leadership has really shone this week. We have had Amanda from our sixth form leading assemblies on St John’s Ambulance and Oki and his team have submitted a bid to the Dragon’s Den Eco Challenge. We wish them every success in the bid they have compiled, which aims to reduce the school’s carbon footprint. Finally, Mia supported students in the production of The Tempest in the role of make-up artist and Corey led the lighting team. Along with this, Holly from our sixth form, did an exceptional job in leading the Choreography.
We know the vast majority of Year 11 and 13 students are working hard to prepare for their mock examinations. Please encourage them to stream GCSEpods as these offer an excellent revision resource. All students from Year 9 through to Year 11 have access to this superb resource.
Assemblies week commencing 2nd December
Assemblies next week will be led by Mrs Shanahan on the theme of attendance. Due to mock exams starting this week assemblies will be as follows:
Year group assemblies (Monday year 9, Tuesday year 10, Wednesday year 11)
Sixth form Assembly in Canteen
Our thought for the week is:
“Vulnerability is about showing up and being seen. It’s tough to do that when we’re terrified about what people might see or think.” Brene Brown
Mrs Young sent information on Insight about Unifrog on Friday 15th November, some Year 12 students have registered but we still have many that have not. This is part of their tutorial programme and must be completed. It is a great tool and will benefit all students over the next two years. It helps students navigate their way through the process on apprenticeships, universities and employment.
Please contact Mrs Young at sixthform@tahs.org.uk for further help and support.
Sixth Form TAP activity w/c Mon 2nd December.
Year 12
Log onto Unifrog and research their careers library. You can search by keyword eg law; by your 3 subjects; by career area eg social services; by theme eg community; or by competency eg team work. At the bottom of the page is the Myers-Briggs personality test to take and compare with your friends before seeing which careers are best suited to you as an individual.
Year 13
Log onto Unifrog and take a look at their live apprenticeships. Even if you are considering university, take a look – you might be surprised, especially with the Higher Level Degree Apprenticeships on offer.
Revision Tips
Do you understand the need for breaks and keeping active. Active body active mind!!
BEBRAS Challenge
In computing lessons year 9 have taken part in the Bebras Challenge, an international computational thinking competition. All students had 40 minutes to work through as many challenges as they could and they were then graded against all other competitors.
131,000 students from across the country took part in the same age group challenge as our year 9s and I am pleased to report that 18 of our students were in the top 10% nationally. They will now be invited to a further extra curricula club to prepare them to partake in a further challenge in March run by Oxford University. Names will be published in due course.
Well done all.
December Mock Examinations
Please see below for the upcoming examinations to held in school:
Well Done Max
Max Houghton in year 11 entered the National Young Drummer of the Year Competition and today found out that he is down to the last 40, shortlisted from over 4000 entries. He finds out on December 11th if he will be shortlisted for the final 10.
He performed his GCSE music composition as his entry and will be performing this at the Christmas Concert next week on December 5th at 7pm.
Tickets are £5 for adults and £3 for concessions and include seasonal interval refreshments. Tickets are available from the online shop or directly from Mrs Todd.
Rehearsals for the Christmas Concert will take place all day on Wednesday 4th December. Please see Mrs Todd for further detail
Senior Maths Challenge
On Monday, four Year 12 Further Maths students took part in the UKMT Senior Team Maths Challenge Regional Final. It was a closely fought competition with Thomas Alleynes performing exceptionally well, finishing in 6th place of 17 teams. The team achieved an excellent score in the group round, demonstrating brilliant team work alongside outstanding mathematical ability. Congratulations to Vicky, Alex, Andrew and Euan on their achievement!
Most Able Programme
Last week 30 year 9 students took part in the first session of the Most Able programme. After 4 hours of intense and entertaining French, they had all produced French lyrics to fit their favourite songs. They did a fantastic job, and even went so far as to perform them live for the rest of the group.
Try singing along to Wonderwall by Oasis:
J’ai mangé au petit déjeuner et c’était très bien,
J’ai bu du jus d’orange et c’était fantastique
Or try singing along to Rocking Around the Christmas Tree:
J’adore le fromage,J’adore le poulet et,Je mange des pommes de terre
Order your Alleyne’s Turkey Now!!!
Christmas turkeys available- Fully cared and prepared by our year 10 students, £7 per kg. Email deakingallimore@tahs.org.uk to order yours now! Thankyou for your continued support to the school farm!
Flu-like illness at Thomas Alleyne’s School
This letter is to inform you that several children have been unwell from Thomas Alleyne’s School with a flu-like illness. There is no need for alarm as this most likely to be normal seasonal “colds” or flu. Please be reassured that the illness has been mild in most affected children and they are recovered at home.
If your child develops flu-like symptoms it is very important that your child stays at home and does not attend school or mix with others outside the home until 7 days after the onset of first symptoms.
General infection prevention practices and good hand hygiene can help to reduce spread of all viruses, including flu. This includes:
- Covering your nose and mouth when coughing or sneezing, using a tissue when possible.
- Disposing of dirty tissues promptly and carefully.
- Maintaining good basic hygiene, for example washing hands frequently with soap and water to reduce the spread of the virus from your hands to face or to other people.
- Cleaning hard surfaces (e.g. door handles) frequently using a normal cleaning product.
If your child has a underlying chest illness such as asthma problems you should contact your GP for further advice.
Further information on influenza is also available on www.nhs.uk Health A-Z/Flu. If you would like further advice on flu please contact NHS 111.
Sports News
U16 County Cup Basketball
Well done to our U16 boys who beat Endon 65 -18! The team showed great improvement from last year. Harry Taylor and Connor McLaughlin led the team well with good shooting percentages. Ben Wain was man of the match with a fantastic all round performance. Lewis Caparis was a ball of energy in attack and Hayden Fisher was incisive with the ball. Josh and Kain spread the ball well and Ricardo defended brilliantly.
U14 County Cup
Well done to year 9 boys who played gallantly against a talented Trentham High School team on Tuesday. In very muddy conditions we played well with the ball but could not penetrate their defence. In defence we rucked well but we’re unable to contain some of their individual brilliance.
U18 County Cup Rugby
So near… A missed kick proved the difference in a close fought 21-19 defeat to Denstone. Captain Ben Simon did a great job getting the team organised and he was rewarded with a length of the field interception try. Their were good performances across the board. See team picture below.
Science News
Thank you for all the entries received in the ‘Big Science Question Competition’. The competition is now closed and judging has commenced!
All entrants will receive a Credit Point, runners up will receive a ‘front of the queue’ lunch pass and the overall winner will also receive the fabulous prize of an Echo Dot. The results will be announced in next week’s ‘Weekly News Bulletin’.
Throughout December we will be celebrating success in Science with special nominations for our Science Students of the Week. Students will be selected from teaching groups across all Science subjects.
Students receiving our award, featured in each December ‘Weekly News Bulletin’, can, pick up a hot chocolate at break time from the Science Department on the following Monday (2nd December this week).
Year 9
Joel Armstrong for fantastic practical work. Selected by Miss Thorley.
Yasmin Liu for excellent effort in Chemistry. Selected by Mrs Hughes.
Year 10
Blake Plant for consistent hard work in Chemistry and for figuring out and completing the electronic structure table with minimal help. Selected by Mrs Macdonald
Bradley Marcroft for being above baseline all term. Selected by Mr Mitchell.
Duncan Craven for receiving the top mark in the end of unit Chemistry test. Selected by Mrs Evans.
Tilly Shelley for excellent work in Chemistry. Selected by Mr Crum.
Year 11
Katie Simister and Sam Johnson, both students were selected for their focus and conscientiousness in their Physics lessons. Selected by Mrs Pavey.
Year 12
Aaron Gwynne for consistent hard work and excellent results in Chemistry. Selected by Mrs Evans.
Andrew Pye for his work with IRIS. Selected by Mrs Pavey.
Katie Lawrence for always being so helpful in the Science Department. Selected by Mrs Gouldsmith.
Year 13
Emily Whieldon, Elliot Jones and Luke Langley for excellent effort in Chemistry. Selected by Mrs Hughes.
Very well done to all students – we look forward to seeing you at breaktime on Monday!
Maths Revision
Maths after-school support sessions start after half term for Year 11, 12 and 13. Come along if you need help with any topics or want to work on practice questions.
PTA Raffle
A level / GCSE Certification Collection Dates
Certificates are available for collection as follows:
- Monday December 2nd 2019 – 9am – 11am
- Thursday December 5th 2019 – 5pm – 6.45pm
If you are unable to collect your certificates please see the option below:
Nominate a friend/relative to collect them on your behalf. They must bring with them photo ID plus the completed Certificate Collection form that was given out with exam results OR a letter of permission written by you.
Links
Thomas Alleyne's high school 