Meols Cop High School Weekly Bulletin Week Ending Inclusive Excellence for ALL Friday 24 March 2017

MEOLS COP HIGH SCHOOL ANNUAL DANCE FESTIVAL 2017

Last week on Wednesday 15th and Thursday 16th March, Meols Cop High School held its annual dance festival. There were 196 students involved in the festival either performing, or back stage helping, including 5 local primary schools. Both nights, all students showed an amazing amount of talent from a range of year groups, displaying; 100% commitment, determination, creativity, confidence and team work. As a school we are extremely proud of all the students who performed in the show and are overwhelmed with the amount of talent we have at Meols Cop. A special well done to Zach Hands-Hibbert, Luke Ashton and Harry Holmes- Moore for presenting the show in a mature, respectable manner. All the primary performances were amazing on both nights and it is very exciting to see young talent on stage. The costume competition was extremely close, however there could only be one winner; a massive well done to Bishop David Sheppard on their creative, homemade pirate costumes. A special thank you to the following year 8/9 dance leaders who have worked alongside each primary school; choreographing, rehearsing and refining the performances for the past 9 weeks in preparation for the competition:

Tia Howard Nicole Helsby Gabbi Niemen Brooke McFord Rebecca Kilduff Cerys Burrows Rachel Grant Charlotte Maher Natasha Porter Mae Forshaw Heidi McMullen Emily Murray Alicia Lloyd-Stafford Nicola Powell Jessica Dewhurst

As always a huge thank you from Miss Pilling to all the students and teachers who performed and helped in making the dance festival a massive success. Until next year…

Congratulations to Lauryn Beggs achieving the dance star of the month award, displaying; 100% enthusiasm, creativity and commitment to dance in and outside of lessons.

Meols Cop High School Weekly Bulletin Week Ending Inclusive Excellence for ALL Friday 24 March 2017

Please see the changes to the dance extra-curricular timetable from this week onwards, after school:

Tuesday: Year 8/ 9 GCSE Dance intervention Wednesday: Wally Cain Thursday: Year 10 GCSE Dance Friday: Year 11 GCSE Dance

From Miss Pilling.

STUDENT INTERVIEW TEAM Our student interview team has been busy over the past week and such has been their demand, the team has grown. Kieran Samuels, Shakil Zaman, Stuart Ball and Kiera McArdle have demonstrated a superbly professional approach to their duties and have been joined by Tia Amy, Dylan Tindall, Charmaine Benito and Oliver Hagan who have proven to be the most wonderful additions to the team. When appointing new teachers, their views are essential to Mr Jones, helping him make the very best decisions for all of our students.

Meols Cop High School Weekly Bulletin Week Ending Inclusive Excellence for ALL Friday 24 March 2017

OUR STUDENT COUNCIL IN THE COMMUNITY On Monday 20th March members of the school council were delighted to be invited to work with pupils from Holy Trinity Primary School, Holy Family Primary and the Community Parks Officers to design a Sensory Garden which will be created at the Kings Gardens in .

The students have been working with local primary schools on a project called the Green Machine which has helped to redesign and renovate the gardens for the local community and tourists to use.

The green Machine team researched different aspects that would be needed in a sensory garden including planting and ideas for smell, sight, sound, taste and touch. They then designed their ideas in small groups and presented them to each other. The best ideas from each group will now be included in the sensory garden which the Green Machine will plant before the summer.

CAREERS

Earlier this week some year 11 students gave up their lunch time to attend a ‘Motivational Lunch’ with Tim Cahill from Runshaw College.

Attendance was voluntary but those who attended found the session inspiring and encouraged them to work hard towards their goals at GCSE.

Inspiration was not however their only reward, there were two more incentives; one in the shape of a sticky doughnut and the other we hope will be realised in August on results day!

Meols Cop High School Weekly Bulletin Week Ending Inclusive Excellence for ALL Friday 24 March 2017

FABULOUS ARTISTS!

Miss Morgan’s Year 11 GCSE Art class are beginning to see the completion of two years hard endeavour on their completed sketchbooks and final pieces and Miss Morgan just wants to say well done to the whole class. All students in the class have worked to a high standard and showed excellent understanding of composition and application of media, I look forward to the exhibition of their work in the Summer.

Well done again!

Imogen

Ellie

Lucy

Meols Cop High School Weekly Bulletin Week Ending Inclusive Excellence for ALL Friday 24 March 2017

Nestory

Lalibela Fern

Meols Cop High School Weekly Bulletin Week Ending Inclusive Excellence for ALL Friday 24 March 2017

National Funding for Schools

Attached to today’s bulletin is the letter that was sent to various MP’s from the Sefton secondary and primary head teacher associations and that was mentioned in last Friday’s Southport Visiter. Our school was a signatory to this letter and we are as frustrated as any other school with the current funding situation which has seen real cuts to every school in ’s budget. We agreed that we wouldn’t speak about our own situation or compare our finance publicly with other schools so that the honest concern that some schools may try to attract parents/children to their own school by painting their own financial situation as rosier than others, doesn’t happen. Whilst my main concern and priority has to be the standard of education that Meols Cop offers, I refuse to make any comments that would adversely impact on another school and hope that all of our friends at the other high schools in the Southport area are able to weather the financial crisis as best as they can. These are unprecedented times in education and we must be supportive internally of each other in our own community and in the wider education community.

It would be wonderful if parents could lobby MP’s and send their thoughts via social media so that the government can see the strength of opinion around Sefton and Southport regarding the lack of funds for schools in our own area and the nationwide picture. I’m not sure that the government will listen, but it is important that opportunities to be heard are taken and I hope that our parents feel as strongly as I do about what is happening and share my concern about how inadequate funding can impact on the future of our children. The local MP has been very supportive and vocal.

David Jones REvise, REcall, REmember Excellent results in RE REvise REcall REmember key Finn Radcliffe concepts tests. Kieran Samuels Rebecca Tomlinson Arwen Corcoran Max Wylder Harrison Davies Shakil Zaman Maximilian Davies Melissa Tsang Freya Garrett Esme Goodson From Mrs Pickup. Rebekah Helm Michael Lawton Benjamin Proctor LIBRARY REMINDERS

A reminder for years 7 and 8 that the deadline for Connect Four homework is lunchtime on Wednesday 29th March.

There will also be a lunchtime quiz in the library on Wednesday 29th, with an Easter prize for the winner!

From Mrs Burt.

Meols Cop High School Weekly Bulletin Week Ending Inclusive Excellence for ALL Friday 24 March 2017

MUY BIEN!

Absolutely above and beyond proud of my Year 11s today! They came into lesson only to see yet ANOTHER past paper but started it without complaint. It is one of the hardest papers we’ve seen in a while, with several really tricky questions on the paper, however they managed to achieve some fabulous results! A huge well done to them!

Caris Dixon Anastasia Murusidze Jay Douglas Shannon Porter Conor Forshaw Megan Powderly Harry Holmes-Moore Jack Redshaw Nathan Hosker Rebecca Roberts-Winning Chloe Judd Jordan Lovegrove From Miss Forrest

SCIENCE STARS A massive well done to 9.3a in their recent science test. Their success is down to their positive mindsets, especially Tom Ward and Ellis Baker.

Keep up the hard work everyone!! From Mrs McLeigh.

JUMP FOR NOAH TOTAL RAISED SO FAR £1112!

A huge thank you to everyone who has sponsored Mrs Senior so far!

Mrs Senior, one of our Science teachers, has decided to do the world’s biggest bungee jump in South Africa during the Easter holidays, in order to raise the final funds for Noah’s hydrotherapy pool. Noah is a year 8 student at Meols Cop High School and has a condition called Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. This is a condition which causes severe muscle wasting. Hydrotherapy is really important for Noah to carry out exercise to keep his heart as healthy as possible, as this is the only form of exercise possible for him. He needs approximately £4000 to reach the target so that the work can begin.

We would really appreciate it if parents, their families and friends could support Mrs Senior by sponsoring her jump and help Noah get the pool he so desperately needs. To see the world’s biggest bungee in action, look on YouTube for Bloukrans Bridge, South Africa.

You can either drop money/cheques off at Meols Cop High School reception or alternatively parents can donate via ParentPay online.

Many thanks for your support.

Meols Cop High School Weekly Bulletin Week Ending Inclusive Excellence for ALL Friday 24 March 2017

END OF TERM THURSDAY 30 MARCH Year 7/8

Years 7 and 8 will finish at 12.20pm, they may have a meal in the dining hall if they wish, it is not necessary to pre-book. They will then return for their review day appointment time.

Year 9/10/11

All year 9, 10 and 11 students will be in school as normal on Thursday 30th March from 8.50am to 3.10pm. Lessons will take place as normal periods 1-3 and students will be involved in either intervention or an examination periods 4 and 5.

Year 9 – Maths Examination Year 10 – English Literature intervention and revision Year 11 – RE examination

We return to school on Tuesday 18 April 2017 at 8.50am.

NEXT WEEK’S MENU

Meols Cop High School Weekly Bulletin Week Ending Inclusive Excellence for ALL Friday 24 March 2017

7th March 2017

The (suggested) recipients: The Rt Hon Theresa May MP, Prime Minister The Rt Hon Justine Greening MP, Secretary of State for Education The Rt Hon Nick Gibb MP, Minister of State for School Education Lord Kerslake, Chair of UK Northern Powerhouse Advisory Board Directors of Children’s Services, North West Bill Esterson MP, Peter Dowd MP, John Pugh MP

Funding for education in the North West We are writing to you to express our significant concerns regarding the unprecedented cuts to school budgets we face as Headteachers of schools in the North West of England.

We know that the Government requires schools to find £3bn in savings by 2019 / 2020. This figure is validated by the National Audit Office and is, in reality, an 8% cut to school budgets. This figure does take account of the cost implications for schools of its policy changes such as phasing out the Education Services Grant (saving £615m by 2019/20). The has insisted that it has protected school budgets in real terms. As headteachers we can clearly demonstrate that this is not the case.

As an example, Sefton schools have already had to make savings to cope with over £2.132m of additional annual employment costs which schools now pay in the form of increased national insurance and pension contributions in 2016/17. This annual figure represents an actual cut to school budgets as these costs have not been funded by the Government.

Secondary schools in the North West will have to find savings approaching £400,000,000 by 2020 without even factoring in the impact of inflation and the apprenticeship levy. The impact of this is potentially devastating, with schools nationwide already considering cuts to arts provision, the curriculum, and the ability to maintain current opening hours.

In addition, consultation documents for the National Funding Formula show that all schools in many areas of the North West will face further highly significant cuts to funding. When this is added to the additional employment costs which schools are required to fund, the impact on schools is likely to become unmanageable. For example, by 2020 Sefton schools will face a reduction of £2,900,000, Cheshire East a reduction of £4,100,000, Cheshire West £4,200,000, Rochdale schools at least a £3,200,000 reduction in funding, Manchester schools a £9,600,000 reduction and secondary schools in Lancashire will see their annual budgets, in real terms, reduced by at least £9,600,000.

This unprecedented cut in funding coincides with schools having to manage a period of significant change which includes a complete reform of the curriculum, assessment, examinations, academisation, rising pupil numbers and significant changes to school accountability measures in the last seven years. This occurs against a crisis in teacher and Headteacher recruitment, which is particularly acute in the North West.

The future is potentially a bleak choice between making significant reductions in staff, with a constrained capacity to implement change, raise standards and offer a broad and engaging curriculum for children, or an untenable budget deficit.

Meols Cop High School Weekly Bulletin Week Ending Inclusive Excellence for ALL Friday 24 March 2017

This runs counter to the aspirations of creating a shared society and in particular the revitalisation of the North of England through ‘The Northern Powerhouse’ agenda.

We all became Headteachers to make a positive difference to the lives of young people. We are extremely concerned that these budget cuts will harm the quality of education we are able to provide and ask that the Government addresses these issues and properly invests in our children by sufficiently funding education.

Yours faithfully

Ian Raikes Wendy Cheetham Chair of SASH Chair of SAPH Sefton Association of Secondary Schools Sefton Association of Primary Schools

Secondary Schools Bedford Primary School Newfield School & Specialist St Mary’s Catholic Primary Bishop David Sheppard CE College St Monica’s Catholic Primary High School Primary Northway Primary St Nicholas’ CE Primary Birkdale Primary School Northwood Primary St Oswald’s CE Primary Christ the King Catholic High Christ CE Primary Our Lady of Compassion Cath- St Patrick’s Catholic Primary School Churchtown Primary olic Primary St Philip’s CE Primary Children’s’ Centre Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic St Robert Bellarmine Catholic High School & Nursery School Primary Primary Nursery Our Lady of Compassion Cath- St Teresa’s Catholic Infant Hillside High School English Martyrs Catholic Pri- olic Primary School Holy Family Catholic High mary Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic St Thomas’ CE Primary School Farnborough Road Junior Primary St William of York Catholic High School School Our Lady of Walsingham Cath- Primary Crosby High Co-operative Farnborough Road Infant olic Primary Summerhill Primary Learning Trust School Our Lady Queen of Peace The Grange Primary High School Forefield Junior School Catholic Primary Thomas Gray Primary Maricourt High School Forefield Community Infant & Our Lady Star of the Sea Cath- Trinity St Peter’s CE Primary Meols Cop High School Nursery School olic Primary Ursuline Catholic Primary Merefield Maintained School Primary School Redgate Primary Valewood Primary Catholic Primary Rimrose Hope CE Primary Waterloo Primary Sacred Heart Catholic High Greenacre Nursery Rowan Woodlands Primary School Green Park Primary Sand Dunes Nursery Jigsaw Primary PRU Savio Salesian School Hatton Hill Primary Shoreside Primary St Michael’s CE High School Holy Family Catholic Primary Springwell Park Primary Stanley High School Holy Rosary Catholic Primary St Andrew’s Maghull CE Pri- The Hawthornes Free School Holy Spirit Catholic Primary mary Presfield High School Holy Trinity CE Primary St Benedict’s Catholic Primary South Sefton College Hudson Primary St Edmund’s & St Thomas’ Woods Primary Catholic Primary Kings Meadow Primary St Elizabeth’s Catholic Primary Lander Road Primary St George’s Catholic Primary Thornton College Larkfield Primary St Gregory’s Catholic Primary Impact Secondary PRU Nursery & Primary St Jerome’s Catholic Primary Linaker Primary St John’s CE Primary Primary Schools Litherland Moss Primary St John’s CE Crossens St John’s CE Primary Marshside Primary St John Bosco Davenhill Primary Melling Primary St Luke’s CE Primary All Saints Catholic Primary Netherton Moss Primary St Luke’s Halsall CE Primary