Lytchett Minster School | Newsletter

November 2018

elcome to the November edition Wof the Newsletter! I am sure all those of you who came to see our production of ‘Les Misérables’ will join me in congratulating the cast, musicians, technical and backstage crews and staff for putting on an outstanding show. It is quite humbling to see our young people performing night after night with such professionalism, passion and technical brilliance. They never cease to amaze and inspire! We are all immensely proud of their remarkable achievement. Putting on a show of this complexity takes hours and hours of rehearsal. I find it incredible that my colleagues were able to pull this off on top of their normal day job. Mrs Midworth, Mr Painter, Mrs Ames, Mrs Hocking and Mr Lum-Kin (not to mention the many other staff who supported the show) all have busy teaching schedules, and up until the final week, all rehearsals took place at lunchtimes, after school and at weekends. Such commitment encapsulates what is so brilliant about the school. Staff here are prepared to go the extra mile because they really care about the young people and want the best for them. The students involved in the production this year will carry the memories of this experience with them for the rest of their lives. Giving young people amazing learning opportunities and experiences is what we are about! Our Year 11 students will shortly be making decisions about where to pursue their studies next year. Our Sixth Form offers great teaching, strong pastoral support and guidance, amazing facilities and a fantastic range of courses (A-Levels and BTECs). I really hope that we will see the vast majority of our Year 11 students staying on into the sixth form next year. Our A-Level and BTEC results place us in the top 15% of schools nationally, based on the authoritative ‘Advanced Level Performance System’ (ALPS). In addition to the traditional academic subjects we also offer Psychology, Sociology, Photography, Government and Politics, Product Design, Business Studies and a range of BTECs such as Sport, Film and Television, Performing Arts, Health and Social Care, and Food and Nutrition. For the first time this year, we are offering the Extended Diploma in Health and Social Care, which is worth 3 A- Levels. For students who are not quite ready for a Level 3 course we offer a one year transition course which allows students to retake their GCSE English and maths, develop their confidence and employability skills, and undertake a one day a week work experience placement in a company of their choice.

I hope you enjoy this month’s edition of the newsletter. As always there is so much to celebrate!

Andrew Mead Headmaster

 01202 622413 • www.lytchett.org.uk • /lytchettminsterschool

1 Student of the Month

Congratulations to the following students who were nominated as October’s Student of the Month:

English Maths Geography Music Food Tech

Oliver Major Ben Tinsdale Amelia Barber Victoria Thompson-Purvis Chloe Medley Year 11 Year 13 Year 9 Year 9 Year 11

MFL Psychology P.R.E. Computing

Tom Gill Molly Gill Ender Locke Lucas Sibley Liam Stewart Year 9 Year 13 Year 11 Year 8 Year 8

Business Drama Chemistry Dance History

Photo not available

Darcy Jennings Rhianna East Esme Morris Rhianna East Erin Shuttle Year 11 Year 13 Year 13 Year 13 Year 10

Science Sociology Art

Photo not Photo not available available

Max Brickstock Merryn Matthews Bonnie Holmes Year 10 Year 13 Year 8

2 Agglestone Gault

Photo not available

Emily Jenkins Thomas Hannaford James Harrington Year 11 Year 7 Year 7

Purbeck Wealden Portland Sixth Form

Chloe Haesler Tegan Bastian Rebecca Barron Matthew Noel Year 10 Year 7 Year 10 Year 12

Dance Achievements

Congratulations to Olivia Colbert (Year 8) who recently competed in the Destination Dance competition in London. Olivia was awarded gold in the following categories: jazz, contemporary, a group dance and one duet dance.

Olivia was then placed 3rd in her music theatre number , 3rd in her duet with platinum, 1st in the junior group and 1st in the teen jazz group with platinum placing. What fantastic achievements!

3 Bridging the gap between school and the world of work

On 10th October it was my privilege to be the guest speaker at a dinner organised by the Chamber of Commerce. My brief was to talk about how schools and businesses could work more effectively together. If ever there was a WIN WIN situation, this is it. Students need to gain a greater insight into the fast changing world of work and the exciting opportunities that await those with the right skills set and work ethic, and businesses need to attract the best candidates to allow them to prosper and get ahead of their competitors.

With nearly 1500 students on roll, it would be reasonable to presume that we have over a thousand parents in some form of employment, with a significant percentage in a position of some authority within their firms, if not outright owners or CEOs of them. It would be fantastic for the school if we could harness this potential within our parent body. Some parents already support the school by sharing their professional expertise (from the worlds of finance, HR, management and education) in their roles as governors. I understand that sitting on the school's governing body may not be possible or even desirable for everyone given their workload capacity. However, I would like to invite those parents with a business background to consider how else they might be able to give something back to help the school. It may be that your firm might like to sponsor a particular activity or project? If so, we would be only too happy to celebrate this in the form of positive PR with press releases and photos on the school website and in the local press. To discuss this further, why not get in touch with me directly ([email protected])?

Here are a few suggestions of things that local firms may like to sponsor: 1. Funding pet therapy for vulnerable children 2. Funding the completion of our Wellbeing Area (outdoor seating and relaxing area for all students) 3. Funding enhanced CCTV which will provide greater security around the site 4. Funding GCSE Pod (a fantastic online learning and revision tool for KS4) for the next three years 5. Funding for improvements to our D&T workshops

Alternatively, you might like to provide students with 'experiences' such as: 1. Allow them to undertake a site visit - to see how your firm works and the range of jobs it offers 2. Giving a short careers talk - explaining the qualifications and skill sets required in your firm 3. Taking part in our mock interview days 4. Helping deliver CV writing workshops 5. Offer work experience placements 6. Mentoring some of our less motivated students

Dorset Young Chamber Steering Group met on Friday 19th October to review ways of bridging the gap between schools and local industry. The meeting, chaired by local MP Michael Tomlinson was attended by representatives from Dorset Chamber of Commerce & Industry (Ian Girling), Bournemouth University, local business, Lytchett Minster School and Thomas Hardye School, and Ansbury Careers Advice Service.

4 Les Misérables

Just a few comments made by people who saw our recent production of Les Misérables:

“Thank you so much for a truly amazing performance of Les Miserables. It was fantastic from start to finish. The cast put in so much energy and enthusiasm to everything they did. You can all feel very proud of yourselves and the whole school putting on such an ambitious production and making such a success of it. We agreed that iswas better than the West End production! The balance and clarity of the voices with the orchestration was just right. And the characterisations were excellent; very good casting and role playing.”

“I just wanted to say how much we enjoyed last night’s performance of Les Mis. It was utterly incredible. It was equal if not better than the West End version . An absolutely wonderful evening.”

“WOW! I can't really describe how amazing the show was! We were lucky enough to be in the front row and there was not a dry eye around me, people were crying with emotion at the performance all evening. Everything was fantastic, and the singing sent a shiver down my spine.”

5 Les Misérables (continued)

6 7 Student Achievements

Well done to Gault House who raised £124.23 in their MacMillan Coffee

Congratulations to Bethan Harbut (Year 10) who recently Morning. Thank you to parents and stu- participated in a rowing regatta at Itchen with Christchurch dents who supported this fabulous rowing club. Bethan and her team mates in the J14 girls’ effort! quad team were final medal winners. Well done!

Congratulations to Maddy Spring (Year 11) who recently competed in the British Eventing competition at Tweseldown Racecourse.

Maddy competed in terrible conditions - wet, cold, windy and lots of mud! However she came 9th out of 43 in the BE90 Show Jumping event.

Congratulations to all who took part in the recent Bournemouth Marathon Festival, including:

Dylan Townley (Year 12) and Michelle Ryall (Art Technician) who both ran the 10k in bitter winds and very chilly weather. Katie Townley (Year 9) who ran the Junior 5k in the worst of the weather - cold, rain and wind! Andy Waters (Head of Agglestone House)who completed the full marathon - a very impressive achievement! He also raised money for Julia’s House. Carolyn Sherlock (Exams Manager) who ran the Supernova 5k during the evening, all lit up like a Christmas tree! This was her first 5k race so another impressive achievement as she has only recently taken up running.

8 Student Achievements (continued…)

Congratulations to a number of students who recently participated in the annual charity Swim Marathon at the Purbeck Sports Centre raising money for a number of different charities: Congratulations to Sam Duffin and Zara Revill who helped their team raise over £1800 for The Brain Tumour Charity. Well done to Bethan Harbut and Isabella Baskett who were raising money for Wareham Youth Club, where Bethan volunteers as an ambassador. Bethan has participated in this event for the past ten years having completed her first Swimathon when she was just four years old.

Rhys selected for the Golf U18 South West Regional Squad

Congratulations to Rhys Harrison (Year 10) who was recently selected to join the England Golf South West U18 Regional Squad. This is a notable achievement for a 14 year old - Rhys is the youngest member of the squad. Annually England Golf undertake a selection process to identify the best U18 golfers from across the Country to form ten U18 Regional Squads. The South West Regional squad comprises of the best golfers from across Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Gloucestershire, Somerset, and Wiltshire.

Lytchett student wins national art competition

Congratulations to Ender Locke (Year 11) who was recently named as one of the winners of the national art competition ‘Spirited Arts’ held annually by the National Association of Teachers of Religious Education (NATRE). Over 1800 students were selected from schools from across the UK and entered into ‘Spirted Arts’ this year, to get people thinking about Religious Education (RE) through art.

In its 14th year, this competition has attracted over 300,000 participants averaging 20,000 partakers per year since 2004. Hundreds of UK schools get involved, and it gets entries coming from as far afield as Cyprus and Australia, Indonesia and South Africa. You can read more about Ender’s entry on the theme of ‘Happiness’ (pictured here) on the NATRE website: https://www.natre.org.uk/about-natre/projects/spirited-arts/ spirited-arts-gallery/2018/happiness/

9 Rugby Round Up

Year 7 Rugby The Year 7 rugby team has made an excellent start to the season by winning all but 2 of their 7 recent fixtures. They showed immense passion as a team and played some outstanding rugby to come 2nd in the Year 7 rugby tournament held at St Edwards. The team tackled well and worked together in the defensive line making it very difficult for any of the opposing teams to attack with any success. Special mention goes to Kallum Taylor and Jacob Marshall who both selflessly volunteered to play for Purbeck after losing players through injury. Garret Newbury- Smith said “We worked very well as a team especially as we are a new team. We developed as the tournament went on and everyone played well. Some players had never played rugby before. James scored a very good try and everyone made really good tackles.”

Year 8 Rugby What the Year 8 team lacked in numbers, they more than made up for in determination and played some incredible rugby against teams with 3 times as many players. The team have won 3 out of their 6 games. With solid leadership from Archie Green, formidable defensive tackling from Archie Logan and Riley Blemings and finished off with amazing try scoring from Harry Fletcher, this team were a force to be reckoned with. Archie Green, the team captain, said “We played well as a team and kept our heads up even when we were losing. Everyone enjoyed playing and we look forward to more games”.

Year 9 Rugby The Year 9 team showed immense courage against a well-prepared High team in their first game of the season. They outplayed the opposition in the majority of the game and scored 2 fantastic tries. As the game went on the team found their confidence and played some outstanding rugby. Finlay Horn, the team captain said “Poole High are a strong team and play great rugby but there were points during the game when we were better. We were very good moving forwards and going through the phases but lacked confidence in defence. Overall it was a good game.” The team then played Corfe Hills and narrowly missed out on a win with a score of 29-26, a massive team effort from every player.

Year 11 Rugby The Year 11 Rugby team have finished a successful half-term of fixtures with a record of four wins and one loss. After a somewhat chastening start to the programme against a very strong, well-drilled Purbeck School where they were beaten 48-0, the team demonstrated a great deal of resilience and character and came back to win the remaining four matches. They recorded two wins against a combined Year 11/12 Corfe Hills team winning 37-15 and 34-10, with a 47-21 victory against Winton sandwiched in between. In the final game of the half-term they played some of their most impressive rugby and beat a QE team 43-24. Throughout the schedule, the team have become a very tight group who support and encourage each other and who have listened and responded positively to the advice given.

10 House Emails

To aid quick and effective communication between parents and the House Offices we have recently introduced some new email addresses. Please could we encourage you to use these email addresses instead of individual staff email accounts - the main benefit to this is that if a member of staff is not in school and therefore unableto respond to your query, another member of the House team will be able to pick this up for you.

Agglestone House Office: [email protected] Gault House Office: [email protected] Kimmeridge House Office: [email protected] Portland House Office: [email protected] Purbeck House Office: [email protected] Wealden Office: [email protected] Sixth Form: [email protected]

Governor News

We are delighted to welcome a new governor to the governing body. Here, Trevor Chaplin

I was born in a small village in Nottinghamshire back in the 60’s and was very lucky that I managed my misspent youth prior to social media!

At 16 I joined the Armed Forces, serving in many different countries and operational theatres. I was always keen to go on any tour that gave me the opportunity to experience a new country and culture. On leaving the Forces, I worked for a FTSE 100 company leaving them after 17 years as the Facilities Director. I now run my own company working in the Facilities and Property Management Arena. I have a proven track record in: managing facilities management services; strategy; project management; relocation; fit outs and delivering multiple and extensive projects within public and private sectors including 999 services and mixed campus estates; superior involvement within Stakeholder Management; managing and liaising with a variety of key personnel, including business leaders, architects, lawyers, clients/end-users, local authority and Government bodies. I am now keen to bring my experience and expertise to bear for the benefit of young people as a school governor.

I am married to Julia and have one young adult who is studying to be an architect. I like spending time with family/ friends, as well as walking, cycling, golf and cooking, and have recently begun coaching rugby at a local club.

11 Sixth Form News

Running Club This year, as part of our focus on health and wellbeing we have started out first ever sixth form running club. Students and staff meet at 3.45 each Tuesday and the response has been phenomenal!

Paired reading and Mentoring We are incredibly proud of the number of our sixth form students who have stepped up to support students in the lower school via either our paired reading initiative for Year 7 students or through mentoring programmes. A massive thankyou to all students involved.

Sleep Easy For the second year running, the Sixth form are running an extraordinary charitable event in association with the YMCA on Friday November 9th 2018. It is called the SleepEasy 2018 and all students in the sixth form are invited to ‘sleep rough’ in the grounds of Lytchett Minster School to raise money to support people in our local community who are sleeping rough every night. All students and parents have received a letter regarding this event.

Brain Day After the huge success of the Lytchett ‘Brain Days’ over the last 3 years, we are delighted that neuroscientist Dr Guy Sutton will be returning to Lytchett for 2 days of mini conferences on Neuroscience for all Psychology students in both Year 12 and Year 13. Letters will be sent home in due course.

Grace McGee Grace has been accepted onto an ‘Introduction to Medicine’ course during half term. Well done Grace!

Mia Bailey, Year 12 Attended the National English Championships in Sheffield and came 7th in the country in double mini trampoline. Well done Mia!

Absence Please can we remind all parents / carers that the attendance policy for Sixth Form is the same as for lower school. We require either an email or telephone call from a parent/carer on the morning of the absence. We require com- munication for each day of absence, unless a doctors note is provided.

Please can we request that medical appointments during school time are kept to a minimum.

If you have any questions about any items then please do not hesitate to contact the team via: [email protected]

12 Weddings at Lytchett

In recent months, Lytchett Minster School has been the host for a number of wedding ceremonies and receptions. To find out more, please visit our website: www.lytchettweddings.co.uk

13 PTA News

Join the Team

Lytchett Minster School has a very friendly and lively PTA Team. The team are always keen to recruit new members who are willing to join the committee and help out at events. If you would like to findout more, please contact Louise Christopher (Chair of the PTA) at [email protected] or come along to the PTA AGM on Thursday 8th November at 4.30pm in the Headmaster’s Office—all are welcome!

The PTA Secondhand Uniform Shop The PTA Secondhand Uniform shop will be open on: Friday 2nd Novermber 2018 Friday 7th December 2018 Friday 11th January 2019 Please come to main school reception between 3.30 and 4.00 pm. If you have any unwanted uniform in good condition that you wish to donate please send this in to main school reception, marked for the attention of the PTA.

The PTA is holding a clothes collection event to raise money for the school. We would love you to help usby donating any items you can. We then sell the bags of clothes to a company for reuse in emerging countries.

When – Anytime up until Friday 7th December Where – Main School reception or any PTA event

We are able to accept any of the following ‘good quality’ items: Men’s, ladies and children’s clothing, paired shoes (tied together or elastic band around), handbags, hats, bags, scarves, ties, belts, jewellery, lingerie and socks, soft toys, household linen, curtains, towels, bedding (bed sheets, pillow cases and duvet covers).

Unfortunately we cannot accept and of the following items: Duvets, blankets, pillows and cushions, carpets, rugs and mats (including bath, shower and toilet mats), oiled, painted, ripped or wet clothing, school uniforms with and without logo, corporate clothing and work wear, textile off cuts, yarns or threaded material.

So when you organise your spring wardrobe, don’t throw away those unwanted items, please support your school by bringing them in...

14 Reminders

Road Safety We have had a number of concerned drivers contacting the school about the safety of our young people on their commute to and from school. I have had several reports of students cycling with ear phones in, riding 2 or 3 abreast, jumping on and off of pavements, swerving around, giving friends lifts on handle bars or behind the rider and pulling wheelies. Please remind your children about the importance of safety on the road.

Concern has also been expressed about the number of students who are crossing roads without due care. Please remind your children to check the road is clear before crossing - often if they are wearing earphones they are not aware that a car is approaching.

Please remember to drive carefully, slowly and courteously in and around the school site. Drop-off and pick-up times can be incredibly busy with traffic. Please avoid parking in front of the Manor House as our students use this as a main thoroughfare at the end of the school day and there have been a few near misses!

Leaving the premises If your child needs to leave school for any reason, such as a medical appointment, please send a note to the Head of House or Deputy Head of House, who can then inform his/her colleagues and issue your child with a pass to leave the school site early. This pass must be handed in at main school reception before your child will be permitted to leave the school site. A departure without notice would only be given rarely and at the discretion of the Head of House.

Absence A telephone call on the first day of absence (to the Pastoral Support Assistant after 8.30 am) is expected if your child is unwell and will not be attending school, particularly if the illness is likely to extend for several days. Any absence must be covered on return by a note of explanation to your child’s tutor.

Any requests for term-time holidays should be put in writing in advance to the Headmaster. Absence for holidays during term time will be unauthorised except for very exceptional circumstances. Holiday absences of 5 days or more will result in a fixed penalty notice being issued.

Please could we also remind you that, whilst your child is at school, any contact with them must go through their House office. It is not appropriate for students to be using their mobile phones to ask a parent to come into school to collect them. This is a safeguarding issue. If you child is feeling unwell, or needs to contact you for a different reason, they should go to their House office.

If you need to see a member of staff, please could you contact the school to make an appointment. It is not always possible to release a member of staff from other commitments if a parent turns up at school unannounced.

Visitors to the school must report to main reception to sign in and to receive a visitor’s badge. It is not appropriate for parents to go directly to House offices.

15 Leave your mark at Lytchett Minster School!

As part of our Sunken Garden/Outside Eating Area project, our landscape architect, Nick William-Ellis, has designed a floor surface made up entirely of bricks – engraved with the names of students/parent/staff/ governors of Lytchett Minster School on them. We are we are offering parents, students, staff and governors the chance to buy a brick with their name engraved upon it. This could be a lasting reminder of your involvement with the school. You can buy a brick with your name on it for £15. The maximum number of lines permitted is two, with a maximum number of sixteen characters per line: e.g.

The Smith Thomas and Thomas Smith Family Sarah Smith Year 7 2017

If you would like to order your personalised brick(s), please go onto our WisePay page on our website, and write the names of the people you would like engraved on it. If you don’t have access to WisePay, cheques will also be accepted (made payable to ‘Lytchett Minster School’).

Please remember:  £15 per brick  Two lines maximum  A maximum of 16 characters per line  Maximum of 10 bricks per family

16 Lytchett Lecture Series Inspire, Challenge, Enthuse

‘Hubble Space Telescope’ Thursday 8th November, 6.00pm: Professor Christian Knigge, Astronomy Department, Southampton University

‘The Nature of Consciousness’ Wednesday 21st November, 6.00pm: Dr Guy Sutton, University of Nottingham Medical School

‘Brexit and British Politics' Thursday 29th November, 6.00pm: Dr Jasper Miles

All lectures are free of charge and held in the Theatre. Lectures are open to students, parents and the wider school community. Places are limited so please reserve your seat by booking through Wisepay or email: [email protected]

17 Important Dates

Thursday 1st November (6.30pm-8.30pm): Sixth Form Open Evening Friday 2nd November: Year 7 Reports and Year 10 Progress Reports go home Thursday 8th November (4.30pm, Venue: Headmaster’s Office):PTA AGM Thursday 8th November (6.00pm-7.00pm, Venue: Theatre): Lytchett Lecture:‘ The Hubble Telescope’ Wednesday 21st November (6.00pm-7.00pm, Venue: Theatre): Lytchett Lecture:‘ The Nature of Consciousness’ Friday 23rd November: Year 8 Progress Reports go home Wednesday 29th November (6.00pm-7.00pm, Venue: Theatre): Lytchett Lecture:‘ British Politics and Brexit’ Monday 3rd December (6.00pm-8.30pm, Venue: Poole Lighthouse): ‘Render’ Film Festival Wednesday 12th December (7.00pm-8.00pm, Venue: Headmaster’s Office): Parent Forum Meeting Wednesday 19th December (7.00pm, Venue: Theatre): Christmas Concert Thursday 20th December: Last day of term (3.25pm finish) Thursday 20th December: Year 9 and Year 12 Full Reports go home. Year 11 Progress Reports go home Friday 21st December: INSET day Monday 7th January: Students return to school Monday 7th January: Year 9 Options Evening Friday 11th January: Year 7 Progress Reports go home

STEM Returners programme running in Dorset with Atlas Elektronik

Have you taken a career break from an engineering or a technical sector and wish to return? Are you working below your experience in a different sector? Do you have an engineering or technical degree that you aren’t using? Do you just wish to transfer sectors but don’t have any experience?

If so this could be the opportunity for you! We are currently sourcing candidates for the Atlas Elektronik ‘STEM Returners’ programme, a 13 week, fully paid and supported return to work programme starting in February 2019 in Winfrith. All candidates will also have the opportunity to obtain a permanent role at the end of the programme. No career break is too long, register to return to STEM today! For more information please visit www.stemreturners.com or email [email protected].

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