theRedhillAcademy newsletter February 2019

Message from the Head of School

As we approach half term, we are hoping the short, cold winter days are behind us and we can move forward towards the spring. Despite the weather, it has been really impressive to see large numbers of students taking part in a range of activities. The ‘Couch to 5K’ group are proving to be really resilient and committed to the weekly programme that takes them towards their big 5k challenge at the end. Redhill’s sports teams continue to perform well with a number of boys’ and girls’ teams making it through to the latter stages of a range of competitions. January also saw a wonderful celebration of the achievements of the top students in Performing Arts in years 8, 11 and 13. It was a ‘star studded’ night with high quality performances, deserving recipients and inspiring words from our keynote speaker actor Adam Guest. On the academic front, Y13 and Y11 students are now moving into the latter stages of their examination courses. Staff have been impressed by the determination and commitment shown with encouraging attendance at Period 6 lessons. Remember, it is never too late for students to access this additional support! Year 11 students will have a chance to show what they can do in the second mock period of mock exams in March. Easter revision sessions will also be running for Year 11 at the start of the Easter holidays (April 8th and 9th). Year 13 students will currently be taking on board the lessons learnt from their mock exams and working towards targets set on their review day. Finally, I wanted to remind everyone of the Redhill 70th birthday celebrations on May 1st. Please contact the school with any stories and photos of years gone by and keep a look out for the forthcoming details of the event.

Mr N Matthews - Head of School

www.theredhillacademy.org.uk www.twitter.com/redhillacademy [email protected] Carol Concert – St Paul’s Church, Daybrook As always, the carol service was a great success. There wasn’t a spare seat in the church as the audience watched and enjoyed the fantastic musicians from our extra-curricular ensembles. The evening comprised of performances from The Concert Band, Swing Band, Advanced Performance Ensemble, Choir, Vocal Ensemble, Keyboard Group, Samba Group, Guitar Ensemble, String Group and the Brass Group. Immediately after the concert, the audience were invited through to the church hall for a glass of mulled wine, hot chocolate and a festive mince pie. What a great way to end a very successful term! Mrs Y Thomas - Head of Music Carol singing It is always our pleasure to go and sing for the residents of the local care homes. Last term we visited two local care homes; Coppice Lodge and Leivers Court. Unfortunately, Leivers Court is due to close in June 2019 so, we said a sad farewell following many years of enjoyable performances for the residents. The Vocal Ensemble were also invited to perform at Brookfields Garden Centre to entertain passing customers, with a selection from their Christmas repertoire. Mrs Y Thomas - Head of Music Music department news Friday 8th February 2019, 8:20-8:50pm: Light Night, Vocal Ensemble performance, at St Andrew’s with Castle Gate Church Wednesday 13th February 2019, 7pm: Recital Evening Saturday 23rd March, 7pm: Spring Concert, Vocal Ensemble performance, at St Martins Church, Sherwood ABRSM exam results Isabelle Mccormack V Flute PASS Lottie Cobham V Flute PASS Lola Moses II Clarinet PASS Katie Anderson V Clarinet MERIT Well done to all the students above! National Concert Band Festival - Silver Award for Redhill On Sunday 2nd December 2018 The Redhill Swing Band performed in the regional heats of the National Concert Band Festival 2019. The National Concert Band Festival is the UK’s largest wind band and big band festival for wind instrument musicians. The event took place at High School where our students performed a set that lasted fifteen minutes. Immediately after their performance they were given feedback from the panel of adjudicators. The purpose of adjudication was to measure the band’s attempt to achieve a particular level of performance and not to make comparisons between other bands’ performance. The performed before The City of Derby Swing Band and Northamptonshire County Youth Big Band and I am pleased to announce that The Redhill Academy received a silver award for their performance. Our students were extremely professional and excellent ambassadors for The Redhill Academy throughout the whole performance and should be extremely proud of their achievement. Mrs Y Thomas - Head of Music 70 and still counting! It was the discovery of the old Headmaster’s log book (day to day diary) that alerted us to the fact that the school was officially opened on October 1st 1948 which makes this our 70th year. The log is an incredible window into a time when schools and life in general was very different indeed. We have learned so much about our history from the detailed entries on each of the pages. For example, in October 1949, one teacher was absent as she was unable to walk after a mosquito bite on the ankle. Then, it was noted on November 24th 1955, that subsidence from Gedling Colliery had resulted in the beams of the main hall roof ‘moving’ and this was causing the headmaster some ‘anxiety’! Thankfully this was later resolved by building extra steel supports! The hot news from 19th December 1962 was that the ‘Christmas Pudding was not up to the usual standard.’ I wonder if the head told the school cook! All of the log books are priceless documents and it is great to follow the development of the school from those early days. We are also in good company, sharing our 70th birthday with other illustrious individuals, organisations and events. Ozzy Osbourne, Samuel L Jackson, Olivia Newton John and Lulu all made an appearance in 1948. The NHS was founded, the Olympics were in , bread rationing from WW2 ended and the Honda Company was founded. To commemorate this milestone in our development we will be holding a special celebration on the afternoon of May 1st. Please do contact us with any memories, stories photos from your time at Redhill. Contact [email protected] Quote: Memory Lane. Aaliyah Byrne Dancing Queen In January Aaliyah competed in a competition in London called ‘PopCity’ and won her category. The next stage of the competition was held in China. So Aaliyah flew to Beijing on the 9th November and travelled to Baoding. Aaliyah competed in two sections ‘Hip-hop’ and ‘All Styles’. Aaliyah was a guest battler in the Hip-hop section which meant that she was automatically in the top 32. However, in the ‘Allstyles’ section she had to do a pre-selection against over 150 children. Aaliyah had to do multiple battles to make it to top 16, top 8, and then top 4. She made it to the finals in both categories and won both of the categories. Aaliyah is now through to the world championships held in America. Well done Aaliyah! Building for the Future Plans for a long anticipated extension to the Post 16 Centre are close to fruition. The building will include three new classroom spaces that can be joined together to make once large space ideal for public examinations, assemblies and lectures. Many options have been considered from over half a dozen different contractors before deciding on one particular design. The new building will be attached to our Post 16 Centre, sympathetically matching the lobby and office’s roofline and blue timber cladding. The second phase of the award winning post 16 centre was proposed over a decade ago and will provide a modern learning space for our A-Level students. This work is part of an ongoing plan of improving the learning spaces across the Academy as seen in the Maths Block and the recently refurbished Humanities classrooms. Miss Sharp, Trust Director of Post 16, has been a strong supporter of the development “It’s fantastic to see new facilities to match the outstanding results our Post 16 students achieve.” Redhill Can Redhill PE need’s you! Do you participate in any physical activity outside of school? Are you part of a sports team outside of school? Do you want to be part of ‘The Redhill Girls Can’ and ‘The Redhill Boys Can’ display boards? The PE department are looking for any action shot photos of you participating in sport or physical activity. We would love to have as many of you showing, that ‘Redhill Can’. If you want to be part of the ‘Redhill Can’ display boards please see a member of the PE department. Active in Mind Active in Mind is a Youth Sports Trust project aimed at supporting mental health in young people through increasing activity levels. This is the second year that we have received the funding to run Active in Mind at Redhill. We are delighted to be able to train a new team of mentors from our Year 12 students and filter the benefits of the project through to our younger students in school. The mentor training day was a huge success, with our athlete mentor, Jade Windley, being incredibly impressed with their leadership skills and empathy. We look forward to the next few months of fun activities and working with our wonderful students. Mrs Johnson - Head of PE Athletics Championship The Year 7 boys and girls Athletic team competed in the Gedling School Sport Hall Athletics Championship on Tuesday 22nd January 2019. This selection event was to decide which school represents Gedling in the Winter School Games finals. After a close and competitive start, Redhill then began to pull ahead of the pack during the Track events, where both, the boys’ and girls’ teams, won almost all of the races. The end results showed that Redhill finished overall 1st out of 5 schools in the boys’ and girls’ categories. The students were ecstatic about the result and proud of their performance and efforts in the competition. The Team will now compete in the School Games Finals later this year. Mr M Tibbs – PE Department Couch to 5K article for Redhill review The Couch to 5K programme is an NHS initiate aimed at getting people more active. This is the second year of providing the project at The Redhill Academy and we are thrilled with the participation once again. Each week a team of enthusiastic coaches guide students and staff through a progressive parogramme of walk/run activity. The long term goal is to support everyone to be able to run 5k at a local Park Run in March, and then for them to continue running for fun and fitness after the project ends. You can follow our student and staff progress on our Twitter page @RedhillPE and if you fancy having a go as a family, you can get more information about the couch to 5K programme at the NHS UK Couch to 5K web page. Mrs S Johnson - Head of PE Inclusion Team Success The Inclusion Sports team have made a very successful start to their 2019 Nottinghamshire Schools Games campaign. First up, the team faced a trip to Carlton Academy for a taste of Dodgeball. Redhill dodged, ducked, dipped, dived and dodged some more and came away with a well-deserved 3rd place, with standout performances from Nicole and Jessica Young. The team then took this impressive form into the Sportshall Athletics at Carlton Le Willows, with events such as the standing long jump and javelin, helped by strong performances from Joel Goodall-Ratcliffe, Nathan Patrick and Tyler Rockley. The team recorded a 1st place finish securing their qualification to the Summer Games! The team will be hoping to continue this fine start to the year in 7-a-side football which is next on the calendar. Mr S Peters – Senior Teaching Assistant Inter-House Engineering Challenge The House Achievement Co- ordinators’ Team would like to say a big thank you to all students that took part in this term’s Maths and Engineering Challenges. Knight House took the lead in Maths and Smith House in the Engineering Challenge. All Houses demonstrated great team work and problem solving skills. Upcoming events include two new events this year, the Inter House Creative Writing Challenge in February and Dance-Off in March. Academic Achievements February 2019 Maths For working really hard all year: Year 7: Jordana Wood For working consistently well since September: Year 9: Elise Chapman For an outstanding to learning in every single lesson: Year 10: Jessica Griffiths Working hard and achieved a grade 6 on latest paper: Year 11: Harry Phillips For achieving the highest mark in the class and a level 6 on the first practise paper of the year: Year 11: Mabel Horan For excelling in lessons, really positive attitude and cycle paper scoring 56: Year 11: Cameron Brewitt For her dedication to learning. Lucia not only does her FM homework she always does a few extra questions: Year 12: Lucia Hughes Science For outstanding attitude and effort in lessons Year 7: Bradley Collison, Megan Reynolds For outstanding attitude and effort in lessons Year 9: Ella Meek For outstanding effort, participation and enthusiasm in lessons Year 9: Keegan Coulter For excellent effort and performance on SenecaLearning Year 11: Lewis Barrett For outstanding effort in lessons and seeking to extend understanding by reading around the subject Year 12: Lucia Hughes For excellent organisation, participation and effort in lessons Year 12: Beth Brown Computer Science For excellent performance in recent test Year 9: Namai Bartley, Paul Hurst, Jacob Sanders, Jake Stott English For working so hard to improve on his spellings each and every week: Year: 7 Jacob Anderson For always answering questions in class and never giving up: Year 7: Leo Brailsford For having made an excellent start to English at Redhill and completing all written work to a high standard and always contributing to discussion: Year 7: Eleanor Glover For excellent unseen poetry answer, showing maturity of style and an ability to engage with the poet’s intentions: Year: 9 Caitlin Clarke For trying his best every lesson, consistently completing homework to a high standard and always having a smile on his face! He is an asset to the class and to the academy: Year 9: Keegan Coulter For outstanding effort in both, class work and assessments, together with consistent positivity and pride in his work: Year 9: Usmaan Khalil For having such a mature attitude to learning, working very hard and writing a very incisive essay on Frankenstein: Year: 9 Andi-Marie Search For having a brilliant level of focus in English and having written work always completed to an immaculate standard and includes some really insightful comments: Year 10: Jessica Griffiths For trying her best every lesson and being determined to succeed. She has provided some fantastic work so far this year: Year 10: Britney Moodie For commitment to revision at home and attending after school sessions which led to rapid progress in his English Literature mock exam: Year 11: Kieran Seymour For being an incredibly conscientious and thoughtful student. She completes all her work to an exceptional standard, consistently offers insightful contributions and always comes to lessons with a positive attitude. Year 11: Mercy Acquah Health and Social Care For achieving above MAG in 3 end of topic assessments this year Year 9: Abigail Marshall, Layla Scotney, Rebekah Sharp For excellent attitude and effort towards their coursework Year 10: Mercedes Alexander, Paris Limb For being the first students to complete their coursework to MAG or higher Year 11: Tia Anthony, Jake Bushnell, Sophie Fido, Jenai Graham, Olivia Hotchkiss, Jordan McIntyre Business Studies For continued exceptional performance Year 9: Millen Davies, Imogen Green, Evie Neylon, Billy Nunez, Phoebe Wright Year 10: Jack France, Ellie Haughton, Samuel Kellam, Ben Simpson-Hallas Year 11: Abigail Barrett, Joseph Black, Bethany Ingram, Owen Tobin For having most improved Year 9: Taysian Hanna-Johnson, Jared Meats Year 10: Heaven-Lei Maddock, Emma Dillon, Riordan Keetley Year 11: Aaliyah Byrne, Thomas Dalton, Isobel Grey, Caitlin Whittle Media For good extended writing Year 9: Elleanore Calladine-Rose, Ellie Kirby For superb effort in recent extended writing task (blue grade) Year 9: Ethan Dale Dance For full marks in their Artificial Things test Year 10: Morgan Delton, Emma Dillon, Maisie Smith Most improved student in her exam question answers Year 11: Chloe Bainbridge For achieving a recent string of full marks on her exam questions Year 11: Aaliayh Byrne School Calendar - Spring 2019 FEBRUARY Week 2 Monday 25 Inter-House Dance off begins Tuesday 26 Year 8 Progress Report 2 issued Year 13 Progress Report 3 issued 4pm Year 8 Parents’ Evening Wednesday 27 Thursday 28 4.30pm Year 11 GCSE Dance Choreography Showcase MARCH Friday 1 Week 1 Monday 4 Year 11 MFL Mock 2 Speaking Exams (until 08.03.19) Tuesday 5 Wednesday 6 7pm Dance Evening Thursday 7 Year 11 Dance Practical Mock Friday 8 Year 8 Options deadline Week 2 Monday 11 Year 11 Mocks 2 (until 15.03.19) Tuesday 12 Wednesday 13 Thursday 14 Year 9 Progress Report 2 issued Dance off at lunch time KS3 and KS4 Friday 15 Week 1 Monday 18 3.45pm GCSE Drama performance Tuesday 19 3.45pm GCSE Drama performance Wednesday 20 4pm Year 9 Parents’ Evening Inter-House KS3 Tug of War Thursday 21 Year 10 GCSE Dance Arts Pool Workshop Friday 22 Year 11 GCSE Dance exam Week 2 Monday 25 Year 10 Exams (until 05.04.19) Tuesday 26 Wednesday 27 7pm Annual Presentation Evening 12.30pm Shakespeare Reading Event Thursday 28 Year 13 Reports issued Year 11 GCSE Drama Practical Exam Friday 29 Year 11 GCSE Drama Practical Exam Saturday 30 Year 9 Bronze Duke of Edinburgh Training Day APRIL Week 1 Monday 1 Year 10 Exams (until 05.04.19) Tuesday 2 Wednesday 3 3.15pm Inter-House Easter Hunt KS3 and KS4 Thursday 4 Year 11 Progress Report 4 issued Friday 5 Trip: Year 9 and Year 10 PE to Porto (until 09.04.19) Saturday 13 Trip: Years 9-13 National Concert Band Festival Finals (until 14.04.19) END OF SPRING TERM

Term Dates for 2018 – 2019 Autumn Term Tuesday 4 September to Friday 21 December Half Term Week Monday 29 October to Friday 2 November Spring Term Monday 7 January to Friday 5 April Half Term Week Monday 18 February to Friday 22 February Summer Term Tuesday 23 April to Wednesday 24 July Half Term Week Monday 27 May to Friday 31 May