As we come to the end of our first two terms we can reflect on some very positive changes that we have made and look forward to a bright future together. Despite all the fuss in the papers in September the introduction of the new behaviour has been a huge success. We have listened to Student Voice, Staff Voice and Parent Voice which are generally very positive and made tweaks as necessary. The policy is designed to stop low level disruption and improve the learning environment which is exactly what it has done. At the same time we have introduced Show My Homework and our new assessment policy which is based on the very latest research and was praised by the renowned national assessment guru Daisy Christodoulou when she came to the school recently. Sadly two members of staff are leaving us this Christmas. Bill Tucker, our Head of Computer Science, has had enough of travelling from Bath every day and has decided that he will work closer to home and Alex Burns our Mad Dog Rugby Head Coach is leaving to be Head Rugby Coach in a private school in Somerset. We wish them both great success and every possible happiness. In the summer our students yet again excelled themselves keeping in the top 5 schools in at both GCSE and A level/Btec. For the third year in a row we gained our best ever results at GCSE with record numbers gaining the new Strong Pass – a 5 in both English and Maths as well as the Standard Pass – a 4 at English and Maths. Our Year 13 students again beat their average target grade which takes into account every subject and every entry for every student. Those targets were based upon their GCSE results which at the time were the best results that the school had ever had so they were ambitious targets. Congratulations to all those students and a huge thank you to the staff for all their hard work and parents for supporting children so well. This year so far there has been the usual array of success in all areas. House competitions continue and extra-curricular activities happen all over the school. Sporting success has come again with the main focus on netball and rugby with some swimming, cross country and football thrown in. We have had stunning musical performances in concerts and Speech Night.

I am looking forward to our end of term celebration assemblies and the Carol concert.

I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New year.

George Croxford, Headteacher

Ex-student Harry Apps has landed a role in Les Miserables, touring the UK until May 2019.

Critics wrote ‘Harry App’s emotional performance of Empty Chairs and Empty Tables, staged with beautiful simplicity, highlights the star of the show, that wonderful score written almost forty years ago. Perfection.’ Congratulations to Harry. We wish his the very best of luck for future roles on stage and look forward to hearing how his acting career progresses.

This term the 6th Form language groups have been providing weekly support in some of the Key Stage 3 language lessons, helping pupils with their pronunciation, aural and reading.

The Year 12 students are gaining valuable experience, which some are using as Duke of Edinburgh Gold evidence or a skill for their UCAS personal statements or school references.

We are proud of our students making this commitment and helping younger students to gain confidence in their studies.

We are busily rehearsing Beauty and the Beast for performances in February, with pupils from Years 7 to 13.

When we come back to school after Christmas, we only have 5 weeks until the show - so please make sure you attend rehearsals if you are involved. Everyone from the Beast to the chorus can be seen on stage all of the time - show off your talent!

The lead cast are very dedicated and we have had fun in rehearsals as well as hard work.

The 'putting the show together' will happen in January where we will bring dance, drama and music together.

Professional West End shows get a 6 week rehearsal period, and we have 5, so there is a lot of work ahead!

Please come along and support the show. We keep ticket costs as low as we can as some schools in the area charge £15 a ticket!

Our prices are £7 for adults and £5 for students and concessions.

Show dates are Friday 8th February at 7pm, Sunday 10th February at 2pm, Monday 11th and Tuesday 12th February at 6pm.

RWBA has launched its refurbished form of Student Voice through a completely new School Parliament. Mr Jonathon Hake (Science Teacher and School Parliament Leader) has designed this system to be a wonderful opportunity for students across all Year groups to be able to have their ideas shared and discussed in order to make real positive change in the school. Unlike Westminster, our parliament is not some loud arena of conflict, but instead a cooperative and enthusiastic team who will be looking at issues of the school environment, personal development, well-being, behaviour and safety, and teaching and learning.

The new School Parliament is structured very much like Westminster, with Jade Cain (13Wo1) as our Prime Minister and her two Deputy Prime Ministers Molly Lambert (13Be2) and Matthew Warner (13Wo1). This trio lead up their cabinet of Ministers consisting of Chanel Du Toit (13Co1), Veronica Mkrtchyan (12Ba2), Thashania Nulliah (13Ba2), Maddy Sargent (12Wi2) and Josh Johnston (13Be1) and Deputy Ministers elected from each group. Each of these Ministers will oversee a specific committee of Members of School Parliament (MSPs) who will be meeting regularly to discuss their agendas.

So far the environment group in particular has had a lot to work on regarding ideas about changes to our recycling practices. This has involved meetings with G4S about what can be done to improve our waste management at RWBA. This state to parliament is a key part in raising the profile of student voice in school.

We are also looking forward to students taking an ever-increasing active role in designing and re-shaping our provision for pupils on PD days. The aim of this is to use their knowledge and awareness to plan sessions and invite expert speakers to address modern concerns. It is an exciting time and is a result of the schools ongoing work regarding Children’s Rights, Internationalism and a constant focus on student engagement with the school.

Jade Cain Molly Lambert Matthew Warner Chanel Du Toit Veronica Mkrtchyan Thashania Nulliah Maddy Sargent Josh Johnston

Year 9 students have been studying Creative Writing in Mrs Weeks’s English lessons. Here are just some of the fantastic pieces of writing they have produced. Well done to everyone – very impressive! 

I walked, until the path would end… A cacophony of sound entered by ears with anger The plane was shot down, it dived into the sea like a and hatred. A loud mosquito noise, but I could only kingfisher and all I could do at the time was pray he hear one voice. That one voice sounded like it was didn’t die, that he survived. worried, I didn’t know where it was coming from. I miss his voice, his hair, his smile. Nothing seemed Echoing around the empty atmosphere I looked right, everything was out of place, he wasn’t coming around, there was no one to be seen. My ears burst home every day at 5.30pm. He wasn’t taking the dog to into tears. A new tune started to play, I recognised work every Friday for an hour. All I could think about is it. how I didn’t say goodbye. I had to escape… How could I live without him, but how could Loreli – The tune that was playing sounded like a nursery growing up wondering about the man in the pictures rhyme that my dad used to play to me. Where are around the house. you dad? I woke up to a strange aroma entering my Today the beautiful deadly funeral was so heart- blooded nose. I couldn’t breathe for a few breaking. Tears everywhere. seconds. Staring outside, even through the shut window pane the world looked cold. The path finally ended. “Hello dad”. He replied with “Who are you?”

It’s been 3 years since the outbreak hit the city. My family was first to get infected. I was sleeping at the time and my brother came in my room screaming, crying and shouting. What’s wrong with mummy and at that moment I know something was up. London streets, usually crowded with business men At the same moment I got up and sprinted towards my and shoppers now empty. Everyone just left. All but parents room, but as I got there I saw blood coating the one. bedsheets. Then my dad started crawling out from behind the bed, bites all along his neck all bleeding, Her yellow coat and black jeans drenched from the painting his pyjamas red. Screaming at me to get my rain stood out against the bleak grey buildings brother to run and never look back. But I couldn’t move, behind her. Every light in every window still on but I had tears running down my face soaking the carpet and nobody inside. It’s like all of London decided to pick my clothes. The moment I saw my mum I ran back to my up and leave, taking nothing with them, not even room and grabbed my brother and ran in the pouring their most beloved possessions. rain blending with the tears on my face. One room in the top of a story of flats, a girl’s room ‘The Infection’ still covered in toys and like a pink monster threw up on every wall, toy and piece of furniture. The Now my brother has been asking since about where’s memory of a young girl playing with her Barbies and mummy and daddy. But I can’t bring myself to tell him teddys still lingered like a spirit. they’re gone. It’ll terrify him to where he’ll decide he couldn’t live anymore. Like she never left. Street lamps flickered nearby and abandoned car lights flickered on and off. The girl with her yellow coat climbed the stairs like a mountain, slow steady and careful and every step felt more isolating more dead. Not even a cat left behind. It was all gone.

“I think we need to talk” said my Maths Teacher. I started shouting “No, I don’t want to” I felt like a volcano about to erupt. I didn’t see the need to talk about the incident. I left the room. When I got outside the room I sat down, I was in a complete rage. I stood up again and punched the lockers several times. I became a firework, my strings had been lit. I shot up into the air and exploded into a thousand colours. Then… Someone walked past and was that I was upset. They spoke to me and comforted me and made me feel better. I told them what happened and why I got annoyed. I’d been having family problems and they understood and helped me feel better. Remember – everyone is fighting a battle you know nothing about. So if you can be anything be kind.

I was seven. I lived in a big white house. The house was old fashioned and in the middle of nowhere, it They were all terribly skinny and their eyes were was peaceful and it was fantastic. I lived with my sunken and they all had shaven heads. They shook mum and dad and I loved them so much… It was an like the tree leaves in the wind, terrified. They endless amount of love. were all wearing the same clothes that looked like When I turned 10 me and my friends were playing striped pyjamas and looked like they were dressed with glass bottles. One of my friends threw one at as someone who they weren’t. the wall and the glass shattered everywhere. A The pain on their faces shadowed an alarm of shard hit me in the throat and pierced me. I was danger and innocence. rushed to hospital. The doctors saved me, but not my voice. I had lost my voice forever. Bang. The sound hit me. The sound of thousands of men shouting and calling out. We were all squashed I turned 13 and my parents are divorced. My mum is against the flimsy, colourless beds that we retire still living with me but my dad went insane after to, when other men in uniform walked in with bats the war. One day the unthinkable happened… My as solid as bricks. The noise of them hitting them dad came home one day with a semi-automatic against their hands echoed continuously. The cold shotgun and called my mum downstairs. Bang! He air hit me as I walked outside in a huddle of men, shot her. She died right in front of my eyes. Then every step I took was one step closer to my death. my dad took his own life. The sheer sound of that Everywhere I looked the same image mirrored into bullet leaving the gun into my dad’s head deafened my eyes. People dropping like flies beneath my feet me. The only thing I could hear was silence. Silence was like another strike on my heart. for the rest of my life. But now all I think of is the day when I could hear my parents talk to me and me respond. But not anymore.

Kingdom’s Whispers She staggered three steps toward the centre and collapsed. It seemed like she had been walking for hours in the vast, forgotten forest. Amelia was the pinprick in the massive forest that separated two rival kingdoms. Amelia stared upwards and then around there, scanning her surroundings. The trees seemed to keep going up and up, encroaching, surrounding her. Suddenly, she felt isolated, she began to feel hot, like she was the sun. She had reached the centre after hours of walking. Again, she surveyed her surroundings. Amelia realised that she was alone, but safe. Tears raced down her face onto her dress that was filthy. She couldn’t remember the last time she had fresh clothes or had a simple wash. Yet, memories flooded back to her. She was lucky to have escaped. However, it wouldn’t be long until she got found. She remembered her castle, her responsibilities. Meanwhile her back scraped down the old wrinkly tree trunk. Head in hands, they knew they were close. Amelia’s long pointy ears twitched, something was close but she didn’t know what. The trees started whispering to her, many, many words. She could only make out “war was upon us”. Amelia began to shout to the trees in frustration. How could she leave? How could she leave them? “No” she thought to herself, I will not return, to now not ever. Amelia tried to pick herself up but her legs were shaking like the leaves in the wind. Like the white flag that she wish she could wave between the two countries. Amelia was determined to get up, so she did. She held herself up using the tree trunks. Something seemed to be biting her foot. She lowered her eyes, it seemed to be a young rabbit. Its little delicate glass eyes gazed up at her. Then it darted into the bushes. In curiosity, she followed the rabbit and it led her to the centre, where she thought she already was. A lade glistened, the trees had made an opening, the sun rays began to creep along her face. She jumped back, she hadn’t been close to the sun for as long as she could remember. And in this moment she realised that she must save the kingdoms, the world…

Called to A&E to review a gentleman in his seventies. Why did I choose to work in a hospital? The things I have to face, they break me, not just mentally but also physically. The hardest days really are the toughest. They show me you need to live life to the fullest and not drag yourself down. I feel like I’m in the bottom of a hole sometimes and it gets bigger and bigger. No matter how hard I try I just can’t find a way out. It really is reality. Screaming and shouting that someone, anyone, can hear my suffering. I watch as each human slips through my fingers. Every night my worst nightmare, losing someone, one of my patients. All of my hope disappears into the deep blue sky. I never know what’s going to hit me next. The day you decide you want to become a doctor it truly changes your life and when you save someone’s life it really makes the bad times fade away. Saved a life tonight. The best feeling ever. I was bleeped to see a ninety-two year old patient who was as close to death as I’ve ever soon anyone. My heart came to a halt. My mind went blank. He could be the one flying up above us all, or the one crashing right in front of me in agony.

Merry Christmas Everyone from the Geography department!

The Geography department have had a busy and exciting start to the academic year. Here’s a summary of the highlights!

Italy Fieldtrip November 2018 Our current Year 11s and Year 13s enjoyed a four night residential trip to Italy, to take in a range group visited Alcantara Gorge, the summit of Etna and then on to Vulcano mud pools! The group then travelled to mainland Italy where they immersed themselves in volcanic history with a visit to Pompeii. Finally they travelled to Rome for a tour of the city, before embarking on their return home. What a fantastic experience!

Key Stage 3 Volcano competition! Year 8 had an explosive start to their year! All students completed a tectonic hazards topic and one of the highlights was the volcano making competition. There were dozens of brilliant entries. Here are the winners.

Tom Foster - 8Co1 / Darcy Cox 8WO2 / Martin Claassen 8Wi3

Fieldwork Opportunities As a department, we are passionate about the benefits of practical fieldwork in Geography. We have integrated a local fieldtrip study into Years 7, 8 and 9. This gives students exposure to geographical fieldwork enquiries and is designed to prepare them for further and more in depth project work at GCSE and A Level. Our first outing was with Year 8 to Jubilee Park. Students were able to collect, present and analyse data on environmental quality.

Up and Coming News Fieldwork opportunities for Year 7 and 9

Year 9 to start GCSE topics

Key Stage 4 Year 10 have made a promising start to their GCSE course. They have completed half of their fieldwork element, which involved a day out to to focus on the quality of urban regeneration. The students will be able to use the data they collected in their exam in Year 11. All the groups that we took out were an asset to the school and entered into the spirit of practical Geography with enthusiasm!

Year 11 are about to embark on their final GCSE topics. Good luck from all of us!

Up and Coming News Year 10 fieldtrip to Swanage in June

Year 10: Watch this space for details of overseas residential next autumn!

Year 11 revision Wednesdays 3-4pm

Key Stage 5 Year 12 have settled in well to their A Level course. Students have recently been out and about in RWB collecting fieldwork data for their ‘Changing Places’ unit. The group will be travelling up to Snowdonia to investigate a range of fieldwork techniques in the spring.

Year 13 are studying their final topics in physical and human Geography. Revision has started and we wish them lots of luck!

Up and Coming News Year 13 Christmas quiz! Wednesday 19th December 3-4pm

Snowdonia fieldwork trip March 2019

Year 12: Watch this space for details of overseas residential next autumn!

Year 13 revision Tuesday week A and Wednesday week B (3-4pm)

RWBA record making A Level results! All A Level Music students performed A* Year 13 recitals with Harry Apps, Kieran Potter and Felicity Woolnough achieving full marks and Benjamin Pope and Clare Rabbitt achieving a record 95%!

20th anniversary party on Sunday 18th November at Wiltshire Music Centre. Fantastic concert with Wiltshire Youth Jazz. An amazing 7 RWBA swingband players in the line-up at the celebration!

Music For Youth

Swing Band at the final of Music For Youth at Birmingham Town Hall with Harry Apps singing Delilah! Music mentors commented that Harry would not be out of place on the West End stage! How right they were!

GCSE Music Samba! GCSE Music students exploring Rhythms if World!

Armistice Day Talented musicians performing songs from world was one on Armistice.

Year 9 Brass Band ‘Bread’ performing to their peers in July 2018. Alfie Whetham (9Ba1), Cofi Nash (9Ba1), Wilbur Hudson (9Wo1) and Charlie Mann (9Be2).

Swing Band at Chalfest Summer 2018!!

9CO1 extending there learning of instruments in Jazz looking at four different types of Saxophone.

Year 7 learning instruments of the orchestra treated to a live recital in T8.

Alexander Harris successfully auditioned for a second year in the National Youth Orchestra! An example of exceptional talent, hard work, determination, commitment and of course practise!

Alexander Harris performing in the National Youth Orchestra Prom in August 2018 to a huge audience at the Royal Albert Hall.

RWBA performing at the hugely successful Autumn Music Concert!

Swing Band performing at the Trout in early September. A fantastic way to start the new academic year!

Music for Youth

Festive Brass

Congratulations to the following students in the exam achievements:

James Absalom (12Ba2) Grade 5 Theory 92%

Nathaniel Evans (12Be2) Grade 8 Alto Jazz Saxophone 95%

Ben Kimberley (9Ba2) Initial Grade 1 Piano 100%

Siobhan Male (8Ba1) - passed Grade 1 Piano with distinction!!!

Natalie Pocock (10Co1) Grade 1 Piano with a merit!

If you wish to learn a musical instrument, please contact Mrs Hodgson, Head of Music: [email protected]

Follow the music department on Twitter: RWBAMusicDept

RWBA Annual Carol Service

7pm - Wednesday 19th December 2018

St Bartholomew and All Saints Church Royal Wootton Bassett

Everyone welcome

Year 7 Science Club

In science club we have been discussing fluorescence (making slime that emits light when UV light shines on it), non- Newtonian fluids (hitting a mixture of cornstarch and water to show both liquid and solid properties) and polymorphism, tasting, breaking and testing the melting points of chocolate before and after it has melted to see how crystalline structure of cocoa butter affects properties.

Taraivini Tuinabua (7Wi2), Olivia Finney (7Wi2), Imogen Jones (7Wo3), Laura Tanker (7Wo3), Isabella Thorp (7Wi2), Olga Dolik (7Ba1), Amelia Steele (7Be2) and Gwyneth Dogbatse (7Co2) are Science Club students carrying out these tests.

MFL – Christmas Market

A massive thank you to all who th donated, Monday 10 December bought sweets 4:00 – 6:00 pm and contributed by Royal Wootton Bassett attending!

The students & staff raised £1125.65 for JOYEUX Stand By Me! NOËL Congratulation s to everyone Students of MFL at Royal Wootton Bassett Academy invite who took part! you to come and have a taste of Europe and sample Christmas in France, Germany and Spain! And to the wonderful • Carols • Stalls• Christmas food and drink Music department who did a fab

In keeping with the methods by which our pupils communicate and view news, the PE department have taken to TWITTER in a massive way. As a result we would encourage all parents to get on to Twitter, set up an account and follow @RWBAPEDept for everything PE and sport at Royal Wootton Bassett Academy - results, fixtures, pictures and headlines. It also saves paper as we have so much going on we would need to write a book to cover all the action of terms 1 & 2. RWBA have competed in 92 competitive fixtures, meets or events since the start of this academic year, winning and performing exceptionally well in a number of these. The RWBA values have been shown in abundance and the PE department are all really proud of everyone’s achievements so far and hope they continue into the new year.

Swimming

On Saturday 19th November, 7 students from Years 8-10 competed at the English Schools Swimming Association’s national championships, having qualified in the regional round for both the freestyle and medley relay events.

The event was held at the iconic 2012 London Olympic venue, The London Aquatic Centre, and being a national final it brought together the fastest secondary school-aged swimmers in the country. This is one of the most prestigious events on the school sporting calendar and to make the final is testament to the ability and dedication of our amazing students.

The junior team consisted of Year 8 students Charlotte Barrett, Lavinia Morsani-Jones, Bria Knight and Talia Haines.

The intermediate team consisted of Year 10 students Zara Honeyman, Emily Preedy and Leila Griffiths.

Both teams swam amazingly well on the day and did the Academy proud. Mrs Penberthy

Girls Football

A massive well done to the following girls who made it into the Girls Wiltshire County representative’s squads for football:

U14 – Poppy Wannell U16 – Lara Wilson Klaudia Knapzyck Ellie Murray Ellie O’Nions Mollie Smith

Our U16 Girls Football team have displayed several fantastic performances having made it into the fourth round of the ESFA National cup. All of the girls have represented the school since Year 7 and are an absolute credit. They will face Maiden Erlagh School in Reading on Tuesday 11th December, good luck! Boys Football

Year 7 boys 5-a-side football team qualified for the Swindon finals in 2nd place

Boys Rugby

RWBA rugby has been hugely successful this year; both Year 7 and 9 teams reached the finals of the Swindon Schools Cup, with Year 7 being unbeaten until their close defeat in the final. The Year 8 and 11 teams played a number of really competitive fixtures with some fantastic performances from a number of boys. The Year 10 team put up a spirited performance in the National Cup, narrowly losing to a very well organised side from Bristol. In total, boys rugby have played over 30 fixtures this term and all the pupils involved should be very proud of their commitment to the school teams and their training.

Girls Rugby

Big Congratulations to our U13 Girls Rugby Team who showed great commitment and character whilst taking part in the Pitch Up and play festival @Supermarine_RFC. Well Done Girls!!

Cross Country

North Wiltshire Cross country event took place at Grittleton House in November. Over 50 runners from RWBA attended and showed some real courage and resilience completing the course in the rainy, snowy and cold conditions. A number of RWBA athletes have progressed into the next round and will be running at the county event in the new year. Good luck to all those pupils who make it through.

The following have qualified to represent North Wiltshire in the county finals held at Sheldon and Hardenhuish Schools on

Saturday 19th Jan. An amazing achievement as they register themselves as the top 12 fastest pupils in North Wiltshire! Year 7 – Emily Billett, Leina Matsushima and Tom Nicholls Year 8&9 – Rebecca Heaps, Poppy Wanell, Taiga Matsushima, Michael Clifton Year 10&11 – Lauren Curtis, Jack Latus, Ethan Taylor

Hockey

This term has seen many Year 7 & 8 pupils pick up a hockey stick for the very first time. Through commitment to training and displaying the RWBA PE values they have progressed into confident players and represented the school against other, more experienced, schools.

The RWBA U16 mixed hockey team has displayed some amazing skill, great team goals and some excellent results. Miss Windsor would like to thank both Thea Hopkins (11Wo1) and Charlie Butt (9Co2) for all their help with supporting and organising the teams. More hockey to come after Christmas!

Netball

Once again we had a fantastic turn out for netball club from Years 7-11 and have been competing in all Year groups in the Swindon School League with some great wins. The U16 netball team showed true RWBA spirit at the Swindon Netball Tournament. 3 wins in the bag! Amazing shooting from Lydia and Laura, combined with tough defence from Jess and Molly. Also, we saw an amazing effort from th U14 team at the Swindon Netball Tournament. Some great wins and some brilliant play made for a great afternoon of netball.

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year from everyone in the PE Department at RWBA

REMINDER - PE KIT IN LESSONS

Winter has well and truly arrived! We have been reminding students in lessons but can we ask parents support us by ensuring pupils are appropriately dressed for the weather. A reminder we have the School hoodie and tracksuit which can be purchased through the normal uniform suppliers – Price and Buckland.

Festive Greetings from the RWBA Computing Department.

Last year the Computing Department ran for the first time the Cyber Discovery programme. It was very successful with 3 pupils advancing to the final round - CyberStart Elite!

Joshua Sheppard, Nathan Taylor, Max Barstow were the pupils that made it to the final stages of the Government’s flagship cyber security training programme. The students ranked in the top 200 out of over 23,000 initial participants and, as a result, they attended a weekend cyber camp featuring advanced hands-on challenges as well as demos and presentations from industry experts. With the current scale of the cyber security skills gap, the more we can prepare and inspire the next generation of cyber security warriors, the better chance we have of creating a safer and better place for people to be online, do business, and go about their daily lives in the UK. As part of CyberStart Elite, the successful students had the opportunity to attend one of three residential camps that ran over the summer period where they developed further cyber security skills, whilst also finding out more about jobs in cybersecurity.

The aim of Cyber Discovery is to give young people (in schools Years 10-13) an opportunity to learn the skills needed to either enter the cyber security industry at a junior level or go on to further study in the area and was designed to grow the UK’s cyber security workforce of tomorrow. Delivered by a consortium of experts including SANS Institute, BT, the Cyber Security Challenge and FutureLearn, the programme looks to identify those with a talent for cyber security at a younger age and to encourage them towards a career in cyber. As a result of the success of the programme it will be running again this year and anyone interested in Years 10–13 should contact Mr Kingshott in B13 for further information or to sign-up.

We are in the process of finalising our new Academy Website which will go live in the New Year.

The website address will stay the same: www.rwba.org.uk

We hope the new website will make it much easier to find information about the Academy, and will work a lot better on mobile devices too!

Sixth Form News

On 28 th September, 6th Form students baked and sold cupcakes for the Macmillan Coffee Morning. This is now an annual event and students enjoyed making the cakes as much as encouraging staff and students to buy one!

Well done everyone who cooked, decorated, presented and sold cakes Total raised = £86.85

6th Form Applications for 2019 Entry

A reminder for Year 11 students If you are planning on applying to RWBA Sixth Form the deadline to submit your application is Friday 14th December.

Year 7 & 8 Christmas Disco The Sixth Form Leadership Team are co-ordinating this year’s Christmas Disco which is taking place on Monday 10th December (7.00–9.00 pm). Tickets are still on sale until lunchtime on the 10th and cost £3.00. Tickets are available from Jade Cain (Senior Leadership Team member) and she is usually in the Street at morning break or visiting tutor groups in i-learn). Don’t miss out – come and dance the night away!!

Sixth Form Speech Evening On Monday 17th December we will be holding our Annual Award Evening for the students who completed their A Level and BTEC Courses in the summer. We are looking forward to welcoming them back and hearing how they are getting on at their University or employment.

This is an evening of celebration and recognition of achievements both academically and for overcoming their personal challenges.

Our speaker for the evening will be Dr Natalie Smith, an NHS General Practitioner from Surrey, fitting in this the 70th anniversary year of the NHS and musical items will be performed by Year 12 students and the School Orchestra.

British Heart Foundation – CPR Training – Callum Davidson This year the Sixth Form students have chosen to support the British Heart Foundation with all of the money they raise through events. Over the last six months, members of the Sixth Form Student Leadership Team have been liaising and working with Nationwide and the British Heart Foundation regarding CPR training. Through this, Nationwide have kindly donated 2 training kits and the British Heart Foundation themselves have also donated 2 kits worth £4,000 in total! The Sixth Form Leadership Team have been trained and are now rolling this out to others. The Kit allows up to 40 people to be trained at one time.

The Sixth Form Leadership Team have carried out training during Wednesday enrichment sessions for Year 12 students, a session on PD Day for Year 13 and already trained all of the Gold Duke of Edinburgh pupils. We now have plans in place to train the Bronze Duke of Edinburgh pupils too (110 people!).

Here we are training students during the recent PD Day.

Holocaust, Genocide and Human Rights Programme (HGP) Update

This term has been another busy and memorable one for all things HGP. With so much going on, it’s been hard to pick out some highlights, but here’s the summary of some fabulous opportunities that have served to inform, engage, inspire and empower students, staff, parents, governors and our wider community.

In November we welcomed Karen Pollock MBE, CEO of the Holocaust Education Trust. We had invited her in acknowledgment of the Trust’s flagship ‘Lessons from Auschwitz’ programme impact and reach at the Academy. Whilst meeting with various students and staff, we also presented Karen with an artwork piece to recognise how, since 1999, 36 Sixth Form students have visited Auschwitz-Birkenau & 54 teachers (accompanying students or as CPD). This visit is a hugely powerful teaching and learning experience – often one that Mr Croxford talks about in assemblies and elsewhere as having been ‘totally life changing… it utterly changes your perspective’. It was a great day and way to say thank you for the enriching and important opportunity her Trust provides.

One of the groups of students Karen met with, were the RAD group (Reading and Discussion group) and they continue to do incredible extra-curricular work. This term they have met to discuss Elizabeth Hankins “I learned a new word today…genocide” and next term will be skyping with Derek Niemann having read “A Nazi in the family” in advance. Many thanks to Miss Bickell for all the work she does to support and lead this group. It is clear these sessions are hugely impactful – as the students spoke with such insight, thought, care to Karen that she remarked on ‘how articulate, well informed and engaged’ they were.

To mark #Genocide70 we hosted a ‘Time to Talk about Genocide’ workshop and collaborative legacy workshop for 10 RWBA students, 10 from John Bentley School and another 10 from . This was the first time the RWBA Trust had come together in this way for an HGP event or initiative and it was hugely successful and, we hope, the first of many such difficult and challenging learning opportunities that seek to inform, engage, inspire and empower the young people. All participants made a positive contribution to the day and were excellent ambassadors for their school and families. There were so many insightful contributions, thoughtful questions and meaningful discussions. It is clear from the RAG rating table at the start and end of the day that all students’ substantive knowledge had improved as a result. For example, they now know who Carl Wilkens is, who coined the term genocide and can explain what Jan Karski did and how he was treated in America. They had a chance to learn from at least three survivors and we were very interested in the three words students choose in one task to describe Lemkin and his legacy. We are excited to see what RWBA participants, Xavier, Rebecca, Honey, Oliwia, Zac, Natasha, Yan-Ting, Daisy Charlie and Alfie do as part of their legacy project. #T2TAGenocide

As a UNICEF ‘Rights Respecting School’ it was important for us to mark the anniversary of the UN Declaration of Human Rights, so we choose to host another collaborative learning day with students from RWBA and Wyedean School. We called this ‘Time to Talk about Human Rights’ and the day included a legacy project for the students and schools to follow up on between now and July 2019. Participants from RWBA made a very positive contribution to the day and were again, excellent ambassadors, made insightful contributions and posed thoughtful questions, including asking about where human rights originated and why. It is clear from the RAG rating table at the start and end of the day that substantive knowledge and understanding had improved because of the day. For example, students know now what the UNDHR is, understand the FRED acronym, and who have an appreciation of Janusz Korczak and his legacy for children’s rights. I was very interested to see the Korczak inspired kite students created – thanks to a very special contribution from the UCL Centre for Holocaust Education, Ruth-Anne Lenga, and our very own Mrs Ferguson. These creative and inspirational pieces clearly demonstrated the learning that had taken place earlier in the day. We are looking forward to what RWBA students decide to do as part of their legacy project. It was a wonderful day of meaningful learning and active global citizenship. Well done to Lucie, Harvey, Madeleine, Jordan, Felicity, Keith, Rucha, Olivia and Charlie.

Holocaust, Genocide and Human Rights Programme (HGP) Update

Although there is more we could report on, one other event to share with you, was the visit of Jordan Hattar from the US, a 26-year-old humanitarian, who in 2016 was the recipient of our ‘Empowering Young People to Change the World’ Inspiration Award. In a workshop with students and then at a family and community evening presentation, Jordan shared with us how on the night of his high school graduation, he packed his suitcases and embarked on a humanitarian trip to South Sudan with Sudanese Lost Boy, Deng Jongkuch. Two years later, after learning his Syrian professor’s story, Jordan founded Help4Refugees.org and travelled to the country of Jordan to report as a freelance journalist in the Zaatari Refugee Camp. From building a medical clinic in South Sudan to delivering prefabricated housing units in the Syrian refugee camp, and finally to his recent time interning in the White House with First Lady Michelle Obama, Jordan’s story is one that emphasizes the difference one person can make, what it means to never give up, and the importance of fearlessly following one’s dreams. This was a hugely powerful and inspirational evening.

We would like to finally look ahead – in 2019, we will as a school, mark Holocaust Memorial Day in iLearns, assemblies and in enrichment opportunities, this will focus on the national theme of ‘Torn From Home’. We will also be holding Year 9’s Holocaust Day, featuring a survivor speaker, on 31st January.

As we approach the festive season we would like to wish our survivor friends, partner organisations, contributors and supporters, along with students, staff and parents a healthy, safe and happy break, and thank you for your continued support. Miss Nicola Wetherall - Lead Practitioner for Holocaust & Genocide Programme

Annual Centres of Excellence Conference on financial education held in Birmingham

This year Young Money, the financial education charity held its annual Centres of Excellence conference in Birmingham. The event took place on the 14th of November at The Vox Conference Centre and celebrated schools and colleges who are committing to developing and continuing excellence in financial education.

The overall aim of the Centres of Excellence programme is to support practical, effective and sustainable financial education for young people in school. The school will work for approximately 1 academic year to achieve the accreditation.

Mr Dan Kingshott, Enterprise and Finance Co-ordinator at Royal Wootton Bassett Academy (pictured above), was formally awarded the accreditation at the conference by Sharon Davies, Deputy CEO of Young Money.

The conference comprised of a welcome speech from Russell Winnard, Head of Programmes and Services at Young Money, as well as a film presentation featuring Martin Lewis from MoneySavingExpert.com about the launch of the ‘Your Money Matters’ financial education textbook.

The annual conference aimed to provide an opportunity for teachers and practitioners to showcase their work, share ideas, attend workshops and access a large range of financial education related resources and tools.

Sharon Davies, Deputy CEO of Young Money commented: “The annual Centres of Excellence conference is an excellent opportunity to highlight financial education excellence in school. It was great to meet teachers from the schools involved in the award ceremony and I would like to congratulate them again on their success in embedding financial education into their schools. We’re already looking forward to awarding new schools from across the country at next year’s Centre of Excellence conference.”

About Young Money  Young Money (formerly pfeg), part of Young Enterprise, supports all educators in developing the financial capability of the young people they work with. They are a trusted and valued provider of knowledge, resources and training to anyone teaching children and young people how to manage money.  Last year (2016/17) Young Money delivered financial education training to over 1,400 teachers.  92% of teachers Young Money trained said following training they were now likely to deliver financial education in their schools.  Young Money is the Secretariat for the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Financial Education for Young People.  Julian Knight MP is the Chair of the APPG on Financial Education for Young People. The APPG’s most recent report, Financial Education in Schools: Two Years On – Job Done? was published in May 2016. The report highlighted a lack of financial education resources in schools and provided a number of policy recommendations.

International School’s Award

On Wednesday 5th December, Miss Emma Stevens (Teacher of Geography & D of E Manager) visited London to receive RWBA’s reaccreditation of the International School’s Award. The prestigious event hosted by the British Council was held in the Member’s Dining Room at the Houses of Parliament - which was an exciting place to be given the current political climate! There was over 200 representatives from primary and secondary schools across the country who were being recognised for their outstanding work in developing internationalism across the curriculum. The event was led by Ciarán Devane, the Chief Executive of the British Council. There was also an unexpected speech by Damian Hinds (the Secretary State of Education) who praised the work that teachers have done over the past year in terms of developing international links and ensuring that students get opportunities to become global citizens. International work at RWBA is currently led by Miss Melissa Cassidy who has strengthened RWBA's international links. She has developed a strong link with a school in India which she visited last April and has recently set up a link with a school in Poland.

RWBA is now one of the largest schools in Wiltshire in terms of students enrolling and completing their Duke of Edinburgh Award.

Statistics from the past year have shown that our students have completed 2,574 hours of learning a skill, 2,405 hours of physical activity and 2,301 hours of volunteering in the local community - which equates to £9,319 of social worth.

This year we have 80 students enrolled on their bronze award who have already completed their practice expedition which took place on a very wet weekend in October.

We have 35 students participating on their silver award who will be completing their qualifying expedition in the New Forest in March.

We also have 25 students in Year 12 completing their Gold award this year. Over the past 4 years nearly 40 students have collected their Gold award from St James' Palace.

On 28th January 2019, RWBA will be hosting their annual D of E award ceremony when over 100 students who have achieved their award in the past year will receive their certificate. This year our guest speaker and presenter will be Jake Meyer, who was the youngest Briton to climb Everest.

The Reading And Discussion Book Group will be reading ‘A Nazi In The Family’ by Derek Niemann over Christmas.

If any student is interested in joining the group, please see Teaching Assistant Miss Bickell, who leads this club.

This year’s Christmas Card competition attracted a Year 1st 2nd 3rd very high entry, as usual. It was an extremely 7 Rhys Channer Emily Billett Harsimran Sunner difficult decision to choose winners, but eventually 7Wo2 7Wo2 7Wo2 it was decided on the following Prizes £5 Book Token M&Ms Selection Box M&Ms Selection Box

8 Pierre Storey Syanon Rai Anna Viranyi AND George Kirton Congratulations to all our 8Co1 8Ba2 8Wi3 8Ba2 Prizes £5 Book Token M&Ms Selection Box M&Ms Selection Box each winners. 9 Molly Bastin 9Be1 Sam Warner Jasmine Scott 9Co1 9Co1

The School will be sending Prizes See Below M&Ms Selection Box M&Ms Selection Box out e-cards this year instead of printed ones. Overall Molly Bastin Winner 9Be1

Winning £10 Gift Token Prize

This year students have been gathering unwanted Christmas jumpers from various sources and recycled them by selling them on to those who wish to buy them.

This was a massive success and went down a storm! The chosen charity will be delighted 

Thank you to everyone who contributed to the scheme – both donating and purchasing.

Pictured below are Zach Watkins (9Wi2) and Meg Swatton (9Wi2) selling the Christmas jumpers:

Sign up for Mad March Hare and raise money for Breast Cancer Now!

The Trust’s HR & Marketing Manager, Esther Newman, is looking to recruit students, staff and parents for the Mad March Hare event on 24th March 2019.

Esther said “whether you like to walk or run, this event is for everyone. I am part of the event team organizing the day and it would be lovely to have a group representing the Royal Wootton Bassett Academy Trust on the day. The event is held from on Sunday 24th March 2019, starting and finishing at . The 5k or 10k routes are good for walkers, joggers and runners and takes you around a circular route of West Swindon and the popular Lydiard Park. Families, pushchairs and dogs are very welcome - all entrants receive a medal and dogs receive a goody bag. You can also sign up to complete the ‘virtual run’ - simply send in evidence of your run and you will be issued with a medal. This is an excellent way for children and adults wanting to challenge themselves for the New Year!”

The event has raised over £100,000 over the years for the Breast Cancer Now charity which provides vital research to ensure more people survive breast cancer than ever before. Registration for the event is now open; if you feel you cannot take part but still want to help we are always looking for event marshals and volunteers on the day.

To take part or volunteer at the event please log on to http://www.madmarchhare.org.uk/, email at [email protected] or call 0845 6808064. If anyone would like a paper copy then please contact Esther Newman through the school.

Each year, RWBA raises between £18,000 and £25,000 for a variety of local, national and international charities including those linked with the British Armed Forces, Cancer related charities for example MacMillan, Breast Cancer and the Brighter Futures campaign at Swindon's GWH. The NSPCC have benefited from our fundraising for many years and this year we also targeted mental health charities such as Young Minds. CRY-UK and BHF are charities that are very close to us and we continue to support them. At Christmas, we support Winston's Wish, Shelter, Save the Children and Barnardo’s, all young person focused charities and our Swing Band played to various Swindon outlets this week. We also raised £160 for Ridgeway House, another charity close to some of our students and this charity also benefitted from the raffle run during the local elderly Christmas meal.

The MFL organised annual Christmas Market was one of the most successful this year, raising over £1,100 for Stand By Me.

As a Unicef Rights-Respecting School, we link our fund raising to many of the articles in the UNCRC, especially ones that centre on the rights of all children to have the basics in care.

Finally, thank you for all of your donations, as Parents and Guardians much of the fund raising in school could not

happen without your support. Mrs Anita Ellis

Deputy Headteacher

Leadership Social Science

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Train to teach ‘on the job’ through our Teacher Training Programme Please come and see us or call: 01793 841961 www.nwscitt.org.uk.

If the purpose of the visit of the visitor / Upon exiting the parent / guardian School, the visitor means they need to NO VISITOR MUST / parent / Visitor / Parent / Visitor / Parent / enter into the main part ENTER THE guardian must Guardian arrives Guardian reports of the School, the SCHOOL WITHOUT sign out at Main at School to Main Reception Receptionist will ask REPORTING TO Reception & them to sign in & give MAIN RECEPTION return their them a visitors badge - visitor badge this should be worn / displayed at all times

Attendance Guidance At RWBA we recognise that regular school attendance is the most critical element in ensuring academic success. Regular attendance promotes academic attainment and allows students to make the best progress. We have a clear expectation that students should attend 100% of the time. Obviously we understand that sometimes absences from school are unavoidable, especially in times of ill health, injury, family bereavement. In such cases parents should contact the school as soon as possible. (01793) 841957 is the dedicated absence line number or speak directly to the Year team. Every absence from school should be explained in this way on the same day of absence. Authorisation of absences will be at the discretion of the school. An accumulation of unauthorised absences will lead to meetings with the Year team and possible referral to the Local Authority. Despite some absences being unavoidable, we expect all students to attend over 95% of the time.

School starts at 8.40am and all students are expected to be in iLearn before 8.40am ready for registration. It is important that all students are punctual for this first session of the day as attending iLearn ensures students are ready and prepared for their learning. The Tutors also give out important notices and are able to support students with their emotional needs.

There are 190 school days per year and 175 other days for holidays, birthday treats and non-urgent appointments. RWBA will not authorise any holidays or time off during term time. We may consider authorising individual requests for time off in exceptional circumstances. These requests must be submitted to Mrs Salmon, Assistant Headteacher, in advance and will be considered on an individual basis.

Some students require time off school to attend sporting events, play in music concerts, receive specialist coaching or competing in national/International competitions. Any requests for time off will be considered, however, any time off authorised or unauthorised will impact on the academic progress of students.

Any significant periods of unexplained or unauthorised absences will be investigated and Parents/Carers will be expected to meet with the Year team to address the attendance concerns. These periods of absence could result in a fixed penalty notice fine from the Local Authority.

Attendance 0 days off school = 100% = Perfection Equates to 2 days off school each Year = 99% = Excellent Equates to 5 days off school each Year = 97% = Good Equates to 10 days off school each year = 95% = Slight concern. Parents will be notified of concerns. Equates to 20 days off school each year = 90% = Concerning – Classified at Persistent Absentee Equates to 30 days off school each year = 85% = Very Concerning

Following changes to Government standards, any students whose attendance falls below 95% will be considered a ‘Persistent Absentee’. This means students are at serious risk of failing to make the progress expected of them and could lead to them not achieving their potential.

Attendance Rewards Badges each term = 30 achievement points Tutor group competition each term rewarding winners with a non-uniform day Certificates for 100%

Improving Attendance Attendance is initially monitored by the students Tutor. If attendance falls, support can be put in place for individuals with specific issues relating to attendance. Students can speak with their Tutor or Year team. Parents can receive support from the Year team and school staff. Referrals could be made to the Parent Support Advisor, Educational Welfare Officer, School Nurse/First Aid team, School Counsellor or other external agencies.

Letters/emails are sent out on a termly basis to all parents of students with an attendance below 95%. This is followed with further letters if improvements are not made.

Should attendance drop below 90%, school attendance meetings will be held between the Year team, parents and students and an action plan will be agreed to promote improved attendance. These plans will be reviewed and if improvements are not made, referral will be made to the Educational Welfare Officer.

School attendance is the responsibility of the Parents/Carers and it is expected that Parents/Carers adhere to the above guidance.

Truancy Calls Every Minute Counts! As mentioned in our previous Newsletter, we are 8.30am Your Child has arrived in time to settle well and has the best start possible continuing to run a strategy to monitor attendance which includes supporting the safety of students’ 8.40am Your child has probably arrived just after most students as the school day welfare during the school day. starts at 8.40am

Registers are marked at the start of i-Learn at 8.41am Your child is late and has missed the beginning of the school day, being a 08:40am and the system displays all students who few minutes late often unsettles students have not been marked present at that time. Student Managers check the names and update the system 8.45am 5minutes late a day means 3 lost days a year showing the reasons for absences. 8.50am 10minutes late a day means 6 lost days a year

Unless we have notification of illness at the start of the day or prior appointments, truancy calls will go 8.55am 15minutes late a day means 9 lost days a year out to all the contact numbers on our records for that Arriving after the register closes is recorded as an unauthorised absence particular student until we establish a reason for their If you child is late they are missing out absence. Please inform us if you have recently moved If you child is regularly late it will affect their learning and progress in school or have new contact details – we need to know they are correct and up-to-date in case of an emergency. Give your child the best start to the school day by ensuring they arrive before 8.40am School Car Park Facilities When you visit the School by car, please adhere to the one All students are given a 10minute breaktime detention on the same day that way system (clearly marked by the arrows) and be mindful they are late to school of the parking space you use. Please keep the disabled spaces free at all times for those who need them. We have NO PARKING PERMITTED in Lime Kiln Car Park for School Collections/ Drop-Offs parents/visitors coming and going throughout the day, but Please DO NOT park in the Lime Kiln car park when waiting for your child to come out of school unless you display a blue disabled sticker in your car or dropping them off. Local residents have complained they are being blocked in when coming windscreen we will make the assumption that you are parked out of the Leisure Centre. Instead, please park considerately and safely either on the school incorrectly. Thank you for your consideration. premises or on the main road and with your engines turned off. Thank you for your adherence.