Bulletin

16th December 2019 – 10th January 2020

Headteacher’s Blog Number 33 : 13th December 2019

I would like to take this opportunity to give special thanks to all of our parents and supporters of The Chase for helping to make 2019 a very productive and successful year. I am both very appreciative and grateful for this support both to me as Headteacher and to all of my staff at The Chase.

The Chase Carol Concert held at Malvern Priory on Thursday 19th December from 7.30pm is our final event of the year which I would highly recommend that you attend if possible. This is a lovely occasion and always signifies for me, the start of Christmas. A reminder that the school will be closing at lunchtime on Friday 20th December 2019 for the Christmas holidays. The school will then reopen for all students on Tuesday 7th January 2020. We would like to wish everybody a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

ELAs w/c 16th December Y7: Science Y8: Spanish ELAs w/c 6th January READING WEEK ALL YEARS Drop Everything And w/c 16th December Unit 5 w/c 6th January Unit 4 Read Thought for the Week 16th Dec Nativity: "If in your heart you make a manger for his birth, then Christ will once again appear a child on this earth." Angelus Silesius (d.1677) 6th Jan Epiphany: “Epiphanies, those transcendent moments of awe that change forever how we experience life and the world.” John Milton (d.1674)

Celebration & Achievement Food bank: A massive thank you for all the donations for the foodbank and the homeless appeal. We will be delivering the foodbank donations on Monday morning with a group of students, and the donations for the homeless will be handed over to the Polic, on Thursday, ready for them to hand out within our local community. It has been humbling to see so many donations and I know the recipients of these will be very grateful.

Karting: George Whitehouse (11JLE) has finished his 3rd and final season as a Junior Karter competing in the Daniel Ricciardo Series National Karting Championship. During this season George achieved 10 podium places and finished 6th in the Championship, out of 33 drivers. He has travelled the Country competing in all driving conditions, and enjoyed every minute of the season. Parents would like to thank the school for their support, enthusiasm and encouragement they have given George. George is now looking at options for moving into car racing, so the adventure continues …………

Cardiff Rugby Trip: message from a parent – “Firstly, thank you so much for a brilliant trip, Will has had a great time - he was absolutely exhausted when he got back last night but full of great things to say about the weekend. Thank you to all the teachers involved in making it so memorable.” For a full report on the trip please see our website.

Sports Hall Athletics: Congratulations to the Year 7 and Year 8 Sports Hall Athletics Teams who competed at Tenbury recently. The Year 7 Girls’ team finished in 1st place, the Year 7 Boys’ team finished 2nd, the Year 8 Girls’ team finished 3rd and the Year 8 Boys’ finished 1st. Both the Year 7 Girls’ team and the Year 8 Boys’ team will progress to the School Games Sports Hall Athletics finals at on Monday 30 March 2020.

Worcestershire School Games: Congratulations to Matt Wall (11BSK) who competed in the Worcestershire School Games Trampolining Competition in the Elite Category. Matt had to perform two routines and finished in a highly commendable 4th place.

Dance Festival: The Chase organised a Dance Festival for Year 3/4 students from Callow End, Great Malvern, Grove, Malvern Parish, , Rushwick and Wyche Primary Schools. 190 students attended and took part in an African themed workshop, as many of the primary schools have links with schools in Tanzania, and either a Street or Pom workshop. Thank you to the dance instructors from Dance In Motion who delivered the workshops and to the Chase students from the Year 11 and Year 10 BTEC Dance groups, and Year 8 student Jakob Hughes who assisted the Dance In Motion instructors.

Sports Leadership Academy: A big thank you to the Chase Sports Leadership Academy who have delivered the Chase Primary Cluster Netball and Football League and the Chase Cluster Primary KAB Festival this half term.

Decorated Yule Log Competition: This took place during Cooking Club on Wednesday 11th December. The standard of entries was extremely high, and judging was a difficult decision for Mrs Saunder. The winner was Hannnelore Thomson with runners-up being Anya Haighton, Zoe Haighton and Nansi Robinson from Year 7. Well done to all who took part! Cooking Club will every Wednesday after school starting on 15th January in T10 - see Mrs Borthwick in T10 next term for a recipe list

Congratulations to:  Hayley Watson (10EBC) has been selected to perform at Her Majesty’s Theatre, London alongside 21 others from the Three Counties Dance Academy.  Tahlia Hudson (10BAC) who won 1st place in the Rotary Young Chef competition recently. 2nd place went to Dominic Heron (10PBL) and 3rd to Emma Phillips (10JDT). Full story on our website.  Anna Helder (7PKN), Madeleine Laycock (9PHD), Natalie Seyler (7BED) & Evie-Mae Myhill (7JBU) who are performing in Aladdin from December 12th throughout Christmas until 5th January 2020 at Malvern Theatres. Chase 6th Former Lily Dyde is dancing and singing in all 44 shows as part of the ensemble. All the girls take extra-curricular dance lessons at Cecilia Hall Dance Centre, Malvern.  Well done to the 1st Team Boys Football Team who have now advanced to the Semi- Finals of the Worcestershire County Cup. On Wednesday 11th December the Chase travelled to in the Quarter final and beat them 9-1 in a very convincing win (Goal Scorers: Jack Sankey 4; George Wharton 1; Lewis Regan 1; Ollie Russell 1; Isaac Oakley 1; Ollie Hallion 1) - Fantastic effort, good luck in the next round!  Congratulations to the String Quartet (Charlotte Neville, Thea Wilson, Sophie Combes & David Hume), who played by invitation at Madresfield Court for a fundraising event on Tuesday 3rd December – they did the school proud!

Events 16th December 2019 – 10th January 2020 Mon 16th Staff Christian Prayer Group 08:15 – Room 2 Awards evening 6:30pm Tues 17th Dry slope ski lessons @ Gloucester (Y8&9) 3:30pm Weds 18th MasterClass (SCITT, PGCE, NQT, RQT, new staff) H2 3:15pm Thurs 19th Carol Service rehearsals all day Carol Service @ Malvern Priory 7pm Fri 20th END OF AUTUMN TERM – SCHOOL CLOSES AT LUNCHTIME Xmas Jumper Day Mon 6th TE DAY 1st Aid & Fire Marshall training Tues 7th Weds 8th Cambridge HE+ 2:30pm Y13 Mock exams start Thurs 9th Fri 10th Chase Primary PE Cluster meeting @ Chase 2:45pm Notices Note : School closing lunchtime Friday 20th December Buses have been informed to collect students from 1:10pm Lunch will be available as usual NO Library or Homework clubs Students using First Bus services will need to go to the bus stop at Barnards Green Attendance: The school’s target for attendance is 96%. Current attendance is 95.1%

Should you wish to contact school to inform us of your child’s absence, please either leave a message on the school’s dedicated 24-hour absence line by 10:00am on each day of your child’s absence (01684 891961 and follow the instructions), email school on [email protected] or text on 07860 095556. Please ensure that you contact school every day that your child is absent, not just the 1st day.

6th form: please ring 01684 898752, alternatively email [email protected] or [email protected] for attendance or any other queries

#wakeupwednesday What are ‘Online Challenges? Be able to support your child with this online trend, read the #wakewednesday ‘A Parent’s Guide to Online Challenges’ on the Chase FaceBook page or The Chase Twitter account.

Trip Payments are due for:  Sorrento Geography Trip April 2020 - All outstanding balances must be paid by 28th November. Please check ParentPay to ensure that your payments are up to date.  Russia A Level History Trip - Monthly payment was due 1st December. Next monthly payment is due 1st January.  Spanish Exchange - Final balance was due 1st December.  Cern A-Level Physics Trip March 2020 - All outstanding balances to be paid by 28th December.  Nassfeld Ski Trip 2020 - All outstanding balances must be paid by 28th December. Please check ParentPay to ensure that your payments are up to date.  Biology A-Level Field Trip - Monthly payment is due 28th December.  Normandy Year 7 Trip - Monthly payment due 28th December.  Berlin/Krakow GCSE History Trip - Monthly payment due 30th December.  Performing Arts Trip to Belgium July 2020 - Monthly payment was due 1st December. Next monthly payment is due 1st January.  Holocaust Centre & Museum GCSE Trip - Payment due by 16th December.  Religious Studies GCSE Conference - Payment due by 16th December.  Y8 English trip to see “Holes” Performance at Malvern Theatre - Payment required by 10th January

For any payment queries, parents can check details on ParentPay or contact the trip leader.

If you require your login details for Parent Pay please contact [email protected]

**Please ensure payments are kept up to date in accordance with the payment schedule for the trip**

Parking, dropping off and picking up:

If you need to drive your child to school, for the safety of all our families, please remember, as a driver you have a responsibility to park in a safe and considerate manner; if you don't you could be endangering a child's life. Please park with care and help make the area near and around our school a safer place for pupils

Carol Service: We invite all Chase students, parents, families and friends to attend our Carol Service in Great Malvern Priory on Thursday 19th December at 7.30pm. This is always a lovely event, with the traditional “Nine Lessons” readings interspersed with a real variety of musical items and congregational favourite carols – come and join us and feel fully prepared for Christmas! Free entry (charity collection at the end) and refreshments will be served beforehand for early arrivals.

Medical Room: If your child has a medical condition and you have not completed yet than please complete a Care Plan form and return it to the Medical Room as soon as possible. All our forms are available on the school website. Completing the form ensures that we give the best care possible for your child in case of a medical emergency. If you have any questions regarding any of our forms or would like to remove the medical condition from our record please do not hesitate to contact the Medical Room.

If you have received a letter regarding your child’s Care Plan Review, please complete the form attached to the letter and return it to the Medical Room as soon as possible. If you have misplaced the form please contact us and we will send you a new one.

Students are allowed to carry over the counter medication with them in school but we require parents/guardians to complete an Over the Counter Medication Consent From. This form is also available for download from the school website. However if you are unable to download it please contact us or send your child in to the Medical Room for one.

If you have any queries or not sure if your child needs a form please do not hesitate to contact the Medical Room Team.

Computing Hub: In the summer The Chase was awarded Computing Hub status by the National Centre for Computing Education (NCCE). The NCCE was set up in November 2018 by the Department for Education to increase the number of pupils in schools and colleges who study computer science at GCSE, AS and A-level, particularly girls and those in disadvantaged areas, and to ensure that there is a strong pipeline of digital skills in England.

We will be known as “Teach Computing Midlands West Hub” and will be delivering computer training to primary and secondary teachers across Herefordshire, Worcestershire, Shropshire and South Staffs at various locations in the region, including here at The Chase. Courses can be booked now via www.teachcomputing.org. The courses are generously bursary-funded by STEM Learning to ensure that teachers can make the most of these opportunities. If this is relevant to you, or you would like further information, please email us via [email protected].

Music Theory: there are still some spaces in Theory Club (Tuesdays 3.05 – 3.50) for anyone wanting to work towards their Grade 5 Music Theory (from whatever starting point!) - £55 for the Spring term (11 lessons) payable in advance – contact Mrs Livingstone ([email protected]) for more details and to sign up.

Sixth Form News MEDIC MENTOR NATIONAL HEALTHCARE WEEKEND We’re always looking for ways to enhance our students’ career aspirations. In September, we were made aware of Medic Mentor, the UK’s mentoring organisation for aspiring doctors, vets and dentists who runs the largest scholarship programme for medical, dental and veterinary university students in the UK. In November, three of our students attended a free weekend in Birmingham. Here, Sophie Stokes tells us what it was like: During the two day conference, we learnt the key problems facing our NHS currently, the structure of the NHS, pathways into medicine and how to tactically apply for med school, BMAT and UKCAT exams. In addition to this, we listened to current med school students who told us how they are taught and what makes a good personal statement. It was a very informative weekend, gaining insight in the different careers in medicine and what makes a good medic.

Y13 MOCK EXAMS A reminder that the Year 13 mocks and some Y13 BTEC external exams run from 8th – 17th January. All students should have their individual timetables by now and should contact the Exams Office if they do not.

Y11 APPLICATIONS TO THE SIXTH FORM Thank you for the applications received so far from our Y11 students. The internal deadline for applications is Friday, 31st January, and the timetable option blocks are then drawn-up based on student choices. Students are welcome to apply after this point but we may not be able to accommodate their preferred subject combinations.

Finally, the Sixth Form Team would like to thank parents for their support this term and wish you all a healthy and enjoyable Christmas break.

Eco Committee update

After declaring our own school-wide climate emergency, the Eco Committee have been busy working on projects that will help us achieve our goal of becoming as carbon neutral as possible.  PHASING OUT SINGLE-USE WATER BOTTLES: a new water fountain has been installed, so there are plenty of opportunities for pupils to re-fill a reusable bottle across the school site. Parents and carers, you can help by checking your child has a sturdy reusable bottle.  MISSION: TREES! Tree planting is one of the biggest and cheapest ways of taking CO2 out of the atmosphere to tackle the climate crisis. Thanks to The Woodland Trust’s Free Trees for Schools program, we are in the process of ordering trees for our school, starting with a sapling for each Year 7 to plant at some point after Christmas. Parents and carers, you can help - if you have space in your garden or have access to an area of land, why not plant one or more trees? Let us know your name, the type of tree, the number planted, plus the date, and we will include your ‘plant pledge’ in a prominent display in school  TRANSPORT: we’re working on getting an electric vehicle charging point installed – more details to follow. In the meantime, parents and carers, you can help by encouraging your child to walk or cycle where possible, to use public transport, or to car-share  MOVIE MONTH: Chase away the January blues by coming along to the Eco Committee’s film club – Wednesdays after school. Details of dates and films to follow For further information, or to pass on ‘plant pledge’ details, please email Sarah Dukes, [email protected], O5

Friends of The Chase Wow! The Christmas Fair raised £3068 What a fantastic result! It is easy to measure the success of a fundraising event by the total amount raised, but it is also important to consider the harder-to-measure results of the Christmas Fair and value them just as much. The Christmas Fair was an intergenerational community event. People came together to support the largest educational institution in the local area, and it was primarily volunteer-run! Over 40 parents, grandparents, teachers, staff, 6th Formers and students volunteered in a variety of ways to put on a fantastic Christmas Fair. Volunteers donated items, loaned jars, stuffed envelopes, scheduled Facebook posts, tweeted, loaned a Christmas Tree, cleaned tables, sorted donations, priced stock, hung crackers, bagged sweets, tied bows, knitted a teddy bear, folded raffle tickets, made signs, moved furniture, wielded staple guns, built a Human Fruit Machine(!), filled urns, manned stalls, wore Christmas jumpers, Santa hats & deely boppers, dressed like elves, pretended they were fruit, made outside traders feel loved, kept floats safe, smiled sweetly, baked cakes, stirred drinks, mopped up mystery spills(!), took photographs, exercised their initiative, swept floors, asked "what can I do?" at all the right times and were generally, amazingly, wonderfully helpful. What a team! Thank you!!

Christmas Fair Raffle and Other Results The winners of the raffle and other prizes are listed below by their initials. All prizes may be collected from The Chase Main Reception upon presentation of the matching winning ticket: £100 Cash Prize – 00639 G. F. Family Portrait Experience at Sub Studio Photography – 02009 M. K. Tickets for Two Adults to The Malvern Spring Show – 00303 H. T. Midweek Tobogganing for Two at Tamworth Snowdome – 01233 C. L. Family Pass to Croome Court – 00084 O. R. Tickets for One Adult and One Child to Puzzlewood – 00114 C. S. £10 Gift Voucher to Schooltogs – 00116 S. G. Second £10 Gift Voucher to Schooltogs – 04068 V. W. £10 Gift Certificate to Bahoo – 01298 B. F. Family Swim Pass to Malvern Splash – 02957 L. S. Goody Bag from Boots – 01720 B. W. Champagne – 00305 H. T. Chocolate Hamper – 01409 D. W. Voucher for one Christmas Tree for half price at Hagley Christmas Trees – 00901 N. G. Wandering Champagne Bottle – Queen of Hearts Name the Teddy – ‘Wilf’ won by L. I. J. Sweets in the Jar – won by H. S. with closest guess

Call for Volunteers : We need you! Next term, Friends of The Chase will be serving teas and coffees at Parent Consultation Evenings. We could use a few more people to help out. We set up from 3:30pm to 4pm (wheel out rails of uniform, set up cups, check the urn), serve from 4pm to 6pm (fulfilling teachers’ pre orders, serving parents, making uniform available) and tidy up from 6pm to 6:30pm (wheel uniform rails back into storage, pack away tea and coffee, wipe down the table). Our busiest time is 4pm to 5:30pm. Customers are always appreciative. If you would like to learn more just email [email protected]. We would be looking to cover the following consultation evenings: Y9 Wed 29/1, Y11 Thurs 13/2, Y12 Wed 26/2, Y10 Wed 11/3 and Y8 Thurs 19/3.

The Chase School Lottery A special ‘thank you’ to three recent winners who donated their winnings to the school. This support is really important to our fundraising efforts. If you would you like the opportunity to win £25,000, join the Chase School Lottery! For £1 per week you will be in with a chance of winning our weekly local school draw AND a £25,000 jackpot for all school lottery supporters nationally. We are all still waiting for someone in our community to win the £25,000 jackpot, but supporting our children and our school while we do feels pretty good too. Join the Lottery by searching “The Chase” at www.yourschoollottery.co.uk . It takes two minutes to sign up.

Reminders Lost Property : in order to try and reunite lost items with their owners, please make sure all items are clearly named. We cannot accept responsibility for any items that are lost. Items that have not been collected or reunited with their owners after 6 weeks will be donated to charity.

Contact details : please make sure we have up-to-date contact details for you to ensure we can contact you in the event of an emergency, especially if your child is unwell and needs collecting. To update your details, email [email protected]

Next bulletin due 10th January 2020