Parents’ Newsletter: Issue 3 2018-2019 April 2019

Welcome to the third newsletter of this academic year.

Year 11: GCSE Preparation

For our Year 11 students, attention has turned to the completion of controlled assessments and the final revision preparation for the terminal exams. On January 19th, we held our annual Family Revision morning, attended by over 120 people with Mr Patrick, Mrs Rossiter, Mr South and Mr Woodcock on hand to offer advice for the final push towards exams. My thanks also to our PTA volunteers who served up hot drinks and pastries to keep everyone going.

The Easter break presents a very welcome chance to put those revision plans into action. We have been very impressed by how focused Y11 have been as they face the challenges ahead with confidence and commitment. For those parents who would welcome some advice and guidance to support their child in the coming weeks, I recommend you visit our website which has comprehensive advice and guidance from each subject area for the final weeks.

Notice for all parents: Making appointments

I would like to take this opportunity to remind all parents that we have a protocol for booking appointments to see staff during school time. We have recently seen an increase in the number of parents presenting at reception and asking to see a member of staff immediately. This often occurs during extremely busy times at the beginning or end of the school day. Can I remind all parents that all staff, including Senior Pastoral Leads and all members of the Senior Management Team, have teaching commitments during the school day and are often involved in meetings that have already been booked into the diary.

We are always happy to meet with parents face to face, or discuss concerns via telephone, and welcome such contact to enable us to work with you to support your son or daughter at school. However, parents who arrive without making an appointment cannot usually be accommodated. Our Communications Policy gives full details about how we strive to ensure we are able to offer an effective liaison programme that helps to ensure all parents are able to discuss any concerns that may arise in a timely manner. The Communications Policy is available from our website: www.thomaskeble.gloucs.sch.uk All key policies can be found by following the ‘About Us’ link at the top of the page. Thank you for your assistance in this matter.

Dates for the diary: Key Dates for Term 5 & 6 (correct at time of going to press) Saturday 6 April – Monday 22 EASTER HOLIDAY – SCHOOL CLOSED (apart from Exams Office) April inclusive Tuesday 23 April Term 5 begins Saturday 27-Sunday 28 April DofE Bronze Practice Expedition Monday 29 April 18:15 TK PTA meeting @ The Ram, Bussage – all welcome Tuesday 30 April Y10 “Ask the Professional” day / Y10 Post 16 Evening Wednesday 1 May 11:45 in Hall - Y8 Citizenship Coffee Morning Wednesday 1 May 18:30 Board of Trustees’ Business meeting Thursday 2 May 16:30 Year 10 Parents’ Evening Monday 6 May BANK HOLIDAY – SCHOOL CLOSED Tuesday 7 May Year 7 exams begin 1

Thursday 9 May 14:00 Leavers’ Assembly / 19:00 Year 11 Dinner Dance @ The Barn Friday 10 May 9:00 Bag2School Collection Saturday 11 – Sunday 12 May DofE Bronze Practice Expedition Monday 13 May GCSE Exams begin Monday 20 May House Rounders matches this week Thursday 23 May Year 10 Mental Health talks with Satveer Nijjar Friday 24 May Year 10 visit to Crown Court Friday 24 May – Friday 31 May Watersports Trip to France Saturday 25 May–Sunday 2 June HALF-TERM – SCHOOL CLOSED Monday 3 June Term 6 begins Monday 3 June Year 8 exams begin Thursday 13 June TK Sports Day for pupils Friday 14 June Year 10 Geography Field Trip to Swanage Friday 14 June – Sunday 16 June Year 10 Geography Residential Field Trip to Swanage Monday 17 June Year 9 Core Subject exams begin Wednesday 19 June Year 7 Trips to Rivers/Castles Thursday 20 June Year 6 SEN Transition Day Saturday 22 June–Monday 24 June Silver DofE Paddling Practice Expedition Monday 24 June 8:45 Year 7 Celebration of Achievement Assembly Tuesday 25 June Athletics @ the Prince of Wales Stadium (tbc) Wednesday 26 June 9:00-10:45 YEAR 5/6 OPEN MORNING Year 7 Rivers/Castles Trip Year 8 “Real Game” Thursday 27 June Year 11 Official Leaving Day (holidays must not be booked before this date) 18:30 KS4 Celebration of Achievement Evening (by invitation only) Friday 28 June INSET DAY – CPD FOR STAFF. SCHOOL CLOSED TO PUPILS Tuesday 2 July Year 10 Post 16 Taster Day Wednesday 3 July 8:45 Year 9 Celebration of Achievement in Hall (by invitation only) 18:30 Board of Trustees’ Business Meeting Thursday 4 July Year 6 Induction Day 1 Year 10 Post 16 Cirencester Taster Day 18:00 Sports Award Evening Friday 5 July Year 6 Induction Day 2 Tuesday 9 July 18:30 Summer Concert Wednesday 10 July 8:45 Year 8 Celebration of Achievement Assembly (by invitation only) Year 10 Graphics/RM trip Thursday 11 July–Friday 12 July Bronze DofE Assessed Expedition (Group A) Thursday 11 July 18:30 Year 6 Induction Evening Friday 12 July 10:00-20:00 Year 7 & Drama Leaders to Trip to Globe Theatre Saturday 13 July 11:00-15:00 Sports Fair Monday 15 July Year 10 Work Experience week begins Monday 15 July-Tuesday 16 July Bronze DofE Assessed Group B Wednesday 17 July 17:00 Board of Trustees’ Strategy Meeting Friday 19 July TERM 6 ENDS @ 13:00 Monday 22 July – Tuesday 23 INSET DAY – SCHOOL CLOSED TO STAFF AND PUPILS July inclusive Wednesday 24 July – Sunday 1 SUMMER HOLIDAYS – SCHOOL CLOSED September inclusive Thursday 22 August GCSE Results Day

Key Term Dates 2018 / 2019 Academic Year Dates TERM 4 Monday 25 February – Friday 5 April Easter Break Monday 8 April – Monday 22 April (Easter Monday) inclusive TERM 5 Tuesday 23 April – Friday 24 May inclusive Monday 6 May – Bank Holiday – School closed May Break Monday 27 May – Friday 31 May inclusive TERM 6 Monday 3 June – Friday 19 July inclusive Friday 28 June – INSET Day (school closed to pupils) 2

2019 / 2020 Academic Year Dates TERM 1 Tuesday 3 September – Wednesday 23 October Monday 2 September – INSET Day (staff training - school closed to pupils) Tuesday 3 September – Year 7 & 11 only in school Wednesday 4 September – all pupils in school Friday 4 October – INSET Day (school closed to pupils) October Break Thursday 24 October – Friday 1 November inclusive TERM 2 Monday 4 November – Friday 20 December Monday 25 November – INSET Day (school closed to staff and pupils) Christmas Break Monday 23 December – Friday 3 January inclusive TERM 3 Monday 6 January – Friday 14 February February Break Monday 17 February – Friday 21 February inclusive TERM 4 Monday 24 February – Friday 3 April Easter Break Monday 6 April – Friday 17 April inclusive TERM 5 Monday 20 April – Friday 22 May inclusive Monday 4 May – Bank Holiday – School closed May Break Monday 25 May – Friday 29 May inclusive TERM 6 Monday 1 June – Friday 17 July inclusive Friday 26 June – INSET Day (school closed to pupils)

Thomas Keble PTA News

 The PTA would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who supported the quiz night by either donating raffle prizes, helping on the night or simply coming and joining in. We made just over £2,000!  The PTA sells second-hand uniform for a minimum donation of £2 per item. If you require any second-hand uniform please contact Gail at [email protected] or Jo at [email protected] . If you have any donations of uniform these can be sent into school.  The PTA runs the 100 Club to help raise funds and give members the opportunity to win cash prizes. If you would like to join please email for a form: [email protected].

If you would like to get involved with the PTA either as a member of the committee or as a volunteer helper for our fundraising events, please email us at the address: [email protected] or [email protected].

Attendance and Requests for Absence in Term Time

It is important that all parents are aware of the government guidance regarding requests for absence. Headteachers are not permitted to agree to holiday leave during term time unless there are very exceptional circumstances. For example, a military family may not be able to secure leave during school holiday time to spend family time together. If you do submit a holiday request form, it is unlikely that the absence will be authorised. If, as a family you choose to continue with holiday plans, we have no choice but to record the absence as unauthorised. This means that parents face the risk of being issued with a penalty notice under current DfE guidance.

The World Is Run By Those Who Turn Up  Attending school every day results in 100% attendance.  Attending for 4 ½ days per week leads to 90% attendance or 4 missed weeks per year.  Attending school for 4 days per week leads to 80% attendance or more than half a term missed per year. An average attendance of 80% or less across a child’s school career adds up to missing two whole years from school!

Bag2School

The next collection at TK for Bag2School will be on Friday 10 May. Bags will be distributed to pupils in Years 7, 8 and 9 to bring home after the Easter holidays, but any bag filled with items for recycling is acceptable. Please do take advantage of the Easter break to have a good clear out.

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Adopted From Care & Free School Meals: Information on Funding

We are required as a school to return information to the Department of Education about any children we have on roll who have ever been adopted from care. This is a change from previous years where only those adopted since December 2005 could receive additional funding. If you feel your family is affected by this statement, then please get in touch with Mrs Hawker who oversees this matter. She can be contacted via: [email protected]

In addition, if your child is entitled to free school meals, particularly in light of the new changes to rules under the Universal Credit scheme, please let us know. You can check eligibility by following the link: https://www.gov.uk/apply- free-school-meals . It is particularly important that we have an accurate record of students who are entitled to claim free school meals, even if your child prefers not to take the meals, as it triggers some additional funding for the school which helps to support our enrichment programme of trips and activities that ensures we continue to provide an excellent quality of provision.

Pick-Up and Drop-Off at Thomas Keble School

In the interests of the safety of all students, we should like to remind you of the traffic restrictions on the school site: no parent cars will be permitted on the school site between 8.25 and 8.55am or between 2.45 and 3.15pm. During these times students may be dropped off or picked up in the layby at the top of the school crescent or on Middle Hill from where they are able to access the school via Eastcombe playing fields and through the rear pedestrian gate. We also request that pupils are not dropped off and picked up from the rear pedestrian gate in Stonecote Ridge as this is causing a nuisance to our neighbours. Many thanks for your assistance in this matter.

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Year 8 Geography Fieldwork visit to Westonbirt Arboretum

In March, Year 8 Geography classes visited Westonbirt Arboretum to learn more about woodland ecology and sustainable management of Forestry Commission woodlands.

Students had an opportunity to try the challenging Plant Hunter Orienteering course in Silk Wood where both their map skills and fitness levels were tested. Some groups managed to find all 18 controls in the wood in less than an hour, which was very impressive!

During the rest of the visit, students enjoyed various activities based in the Old Arboretum including searching for wildlife clues in different micro-ecosystems, learning how Westonbirt staff manage the woodland and planning their own sustainable forest. During the visit, all students worked hard and were a credit to the school.

English Short-Story Writing Competition

During Term 4, the English department ran an inter-house short story writing competition, with all entries also being submitted nationally to the BBC's 500 Words competition for under 13s. We were delighted to receive over 200 entries covering a fantastic range of subjects, including stories based on reality and imagined worlds. The high standard certainly reflected the amazing talent we have at Thomas Keble! Although it was very difficult to decide, Emily Dury from 7JLO triumphed in Year 7 with her war story 'In The Gaze of the Wolf', which combined a serious subject matter with outstanding descriptions, and Jonathan Priestley from 8CJB was victorious in the Year 8 competition with 'Little Pieces of Paper', which we thought was really interesting but complex, with superb description and gradually building tension leading up to a fantastic cliff-hanger. 4

We wish all the Year 7 and Year 8 students luck for the national competition and we hope to hear next term if any of their stories have been shortlisted. In The Gaze of the Wolf - Emily Dury The flailing arms of helpless children entrap me in the darkness. The voices of lost loved ones ring out. My heart thumps faster and faster, until all I can hear in this echoing chamber are my ragged, sharp exhales and the solemn beating of my broken heart. I’ve seen gunfire, people’s lives flashing before them, yet its moments like this that scare me the most. Utter darkness, where my thoughts trap me and I have nowhere to run. Now, silence ensues, making my thoughts echo louder than ever. Before long, the silence is replaced. Gunfire. I’m back in the trenches. I see a younger, less scarred version of myself – yet someone about to endure the torture nobody should face. Adrenaline pumped in my veins, but dread lurked behind. Gunfire still ringing in my ears, I watch, helpless, as I load my gun. Still my hands tremble. I give a nervous smile to my comrade. Then he falls, blood dripping from his head. Gone. The images stop, but his face haunts me. The nervous smile as I gave mine. The look of horror as he fell. I stop hyperventilating. It won’t be long before more past images come to play. I block the screams from my ears. He’ll be joining my nightmare cast tonight and I’ll be joining him up there, soon. Which of my other deceased loved ones will flash before me tonight? Noise, once again, penetrates my ears, but this time screams and explosions. It’s as black as this dingy cell out there, but beautiful, with shimmering, shining stars bursting from the night sky. My last look at nature. I put on a mask of courage, but, really, I was dying inside with every breath. I was thinking about him, I know. How he slumped to the ground; the small croak from his lips; whispering goodbye; the dazed look in his eyes that faded, with his life. My comrade. Friend. The pain in my eyes is unmistakable. My next actions are a blur, quick flashes, my only thought avenging him. The gun slung over my shoulder, cold as death. The grenade in my hand, ready to kill at my command. The steely look in my allies’ eyes. The noise as we dig through no-mans-land surreptitiously. The tremor that rushes through me. Then the faces of my past, in the limbo between words. My loving, deceased family. The hearts of the Germans, no longer my enemies in this short life we waste. My comrade, friend, lover, drowned in sorrow, sharing this grey space between life and death. The one to be avenged. Always. Then the explosions as the world fades to black…

World Book Day – March 7th 2019

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The costumes were many and various and ranged from Stick Man to Miss Haversham (both staff prize winners) by way of Sherlock Holmes, Hetty Feather and Angelina Ballerina as Year 11 and staff celebrated World Book day. Many staff and students took the trouble to come dressed strangely for the day creating a definite buzz round school.

Student prizes for being the best dressed went to Henry Polley who came as the Mad hatter and Rosie Hayes-Holgate who was Captain Jack Sparrow. 11JJW won the tutor group prize and the staff department cup was won by Learning Support for their Peter Pan theme, with several other departments coming close on their heels.

Many thanks to everyone who took part!

The school Library also celebrated by providing a team of enthusiastic Book Doctors, all of them avid readers, who were on hand to offer advice to anyone struggling to find a good book. They held consultations with their ‘patients’ and issued prescriptions.

The Yellow-Lighted Bookshop pop-up shop. March 20th-21st 2019

The Library was taken over for two days recently by the Yellow-Lighted Book Shop, which has branches in Nailsworth and Tetbury. Pupils were given a chance to come and browse and buy books, which they certainly did!

The shop was busy all the time with many people discovering new books and authors and discussing their finds with others. It was a very good couple of days enjoyed by all, including the book shop staff. The money spent by staff and pupils will generate lots of free books for the library. Thank you to everyone who visited. Careers

The Options Procedure

Our recent Year 9 Options evening was very successful following the decision to trial a new format. Parents were asked to opt into 20- minute subject talks in which their child was interested. Each department presented to parents a summary of their KS4 course on offer and was able to answer questions on how the subject is taught and what it entailed. The evening concluded with the main presentations and general guidance to help parents complete the process with their child. In addition to this all students received impartial guidance from our Careers Adviser with a resource emailed home for parents to work on with their child. Overall the response from parents has been extremely positive regarding the whole process of Options. We move on in school to constructing the timetable in response to the option choices made.

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Careers Fair

The Humanities block was recently closed to enable 20 local employers to set up a stall and talk to students about the work they do as part of our Careers Fair. Priority was given to our KS4 students who were given the chance to suspend their lesson for a short period and to find out more about the range of jobs the employers came from. The KS3 students were then given the opportunity to talk to the employers at lunchtime and then we moved into an Apprenticeship Fair specifically for Year 9 to allow them to access information from the world of work and find out about apprenticeships as part of their Options procedure.

Careers Ambassadors

To enable students to take on responsibility within Careers, four Year 9 students have taken on the role of Careers Ambassadors. The students help with big Careers events in school such as the recent Careers Fair and are already highly valued, not only by staff, but by local employers too. The students have enjoyed helping employers in any way they can as well as taking on responsibility for serving refreshments in a most mature manner. For many of them this has boosted their self-confidence enormously. Many of the employers at our Careers Fair commented upon our Careers Ambassadors and the mature approach they have showed and highlighted the fact that they were invaluable to the organisation of the event.

Citizenship

European Youth Parliament Debate at the Oxford Union in March

Eight Year 11 pupils put in the preparation to attend this debating competition. All other schools are represented by 6th form pupils and this includes schools such as Dean Close, Pate’s and the Oxford International School. In very smart business suits, our team got off to a strong start in the first debate with Jed taking issue with a comment that compared Northern Ireland to Gibraltar on the Brexit issue. Louis and Rosie-Jane put forward our main debate, arguing that the EU should not encourage the repatriation of artefacts. We felt we had been given the morally wrong side of this argument and expected the vote to go heavily against us but we were very encouraged when we only lost by 3 votes. The different debate topics continued, with 6 in total through the day. Max made a strong point regarding the need to combat discrimination now, rather than in the future through education programmes, then in the next debate, Ellie made it clear that clothing businesses could easily pay fines imposed for breaching environmental limits, with Ben supporting her by referencing the plight of vulnerable species. Jacinta’s point regarding the issue of global warming was packed full of statistics and quotes, therefore very hard to argue against. Ben’s ‘Direct Response’ to an opposition comment was judged by the Chair to be ‘lovely’! Nat kept making his points regarding the issue of digital voting with Ben adding that censorship should not be introduced. A fellow teacher from one of the other schools commented, ‘you would never know’ that our pupils were not A Level pupils like everyone else in the room. A superb experience and one that our pupils rose to with style!

GCSE Citizenship Year 11 Civil Law day 2019

GCSE Citizenship were very privileged to have HRC Law join them for the day. A team of solicitors led workshops on areas of civil law such as probate and property. Pupils had the opportunity to ask questions and complete several tasks designed to challenge their new understanding. Following that, the pupils were asked to recognise the finer details of a civil law case against a cooker supplier where the Claimant wanted compensation for a cooker fire that led to the destruction of his property. Every pupil was expected to question witnesses in order to demonstrate that the defendant was either culpable or not. All 26 pupils in the class took on the role of a solicitor and then waited for the Judge’s final decision. The Court case re-enactment was fascinating 7 and very well executed by the pupils. The whole day was much appreciated by the pupils and HRC have kindly offered to come back and do the same experience for future GCSE Citizenship pupils at TK.

GCSE Yr10 Citizenship to London 2019

After a very early start, our class arrived at Downing Street just before 10am. We walked up to Horse Guards Parade and looked across at Banqueting House where Charles I was beheaded in 1649 marking a turning point in our political history. It was interesting to watch the movements on Downing Street, including the departure of the Chief Whip and the arrival of Larry the cat, 10 Downing Street’s Chief Mouser. A quick visit to our country’s Highest Court, the Supreme Court followed before entering the Palace of Westminster. We looked at the famous image of King John signing the Magna Carta beside the Central lobby and then split to visit the two Houses of Parliament. We were then lucky enough to have David Drew MP meet us for a half hour talk in the

Great Hall about his role as an MP before lunch. The afternoon held a visit to the London criminal Court, known as The Old Bailey, where different groups heard about crimes such as drug supplying and homicide. It was a shattering day, jam-packed with interest and our pupils were a credit to our school.

Yr 11 GCSE Citizenship Voter Registration Team visit from Council 2019

Jack and Rebecca from Stroud District Council visited Year 11 GCSE Citizenship to talk to them about the process of registration before they can vote. Being interested in the world of politics, our pupils were keen to ensure that they had the first opportunity to place their vote in the future and make their voice heard. Rebecca told us that 2000 young people between 16 and 18 who are eligible to register for the vote in the Stroud District have yet to register so several of our pupils who were 16 at this point took the chance to register there and then with Jack and Rebecca. A helpful visit not only to reinforce their learning of the voting process but also to assist them in their adult life.

Citizenship Actions On Tuesday 22nd January, three pupils from Yr 11 GCSE Citizenship, led a de-stress special 'one off' session with the school nurse and the animals from Animal Club in the Training Room at lunchtime. They had information to share about ways to reduce stress and the Nurse had the opportunity to discuss how pupils were feeling while they held or stroked Nettles and Bramble the guinea pigs. Chloe Ives, Josh Wilson and Kelsie Bullivant have spent their time campaigning for pet therapy to be more readily available as part of NHS treatment offered. They have had very positive responses from several charities and the Department for Health. The pupils would like to thank Animal Club and the School Nurse for their support.

Re-Usable Water Bottles Following our GCSE Citizenship action, our catering company has kindly donated a reusable water bottle for every student in our school. Please be aware that you should see your child with one of these green bottles, which they can fill up with water at school during break and lunchtime. As a result we will stop selling non-recyclable water bottles so we, as a school, start to reduce the amount of plastic we use. We have also now got recycling bins for plastic, paper and food in our Hall for lunchtimes and break times. Thank you for your support. Hannah, Flo, Lily and Holly (Yr11 GCSE Citizenship)

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Science

Fame Lab 2019

This year the whole of Year 9 has taken part in the Cheltenham Festival’s Fame Lab Academy which promotes scientific communication. Each student did a presentation on a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) topic of their choice. Each class had two winners who then competed in front of a Year 8 audience in the school final. The two runners up were Harley Clarke with a talk on Mars and Ella Whitaker with a talk on Colour Blindness. The school champion was Poppy Day.

Poppy received £50, a STEM work placement visit and a master class in scientific communication as part of her prize, as well as entry into the Fame Lab final. Poppy Day with her fabulous prop On Thursday 21st March Poppy did herself proud in the overall final held at EDF in Gloucester with a splendid talk on The God Particle - a most challenging of topics that looked at whether there would be a Higgs Boson doomsday scenario. It was good to hear that she concluded we need not worry about the God Particle destroying us just yet. Congratulations to Poppy and all the TK finalists!

Performing Arts - School Production “Little Shop of Horrors”

Audiences were treated to a fantastic production of Little Shop of Horrors over three nights in March. Over 50 students were involved in staging the show, both on stage, behind the scenes and operating the sound and lights, and a great sense of community spirit was evident in the young company. The fantastic talents of the actors attracted the admiration of many in the audience, who were full of praise for the high standard of the production, and the students involved were left at the end of the week with new confidence, new friends, new skills and a tremendous sense of achievement. Special thanks need to be given to Mr Apperley, who spent weeks constructing the ‘Audrey II’ plants, the largest of which filled the stage by the end of the show, and to the community of staff, teachers and parents who helped make and supply props for the show.

Horticulture – DIY SOS Animal Room

The Horticulture and Animal Club teams are in need of parent volunteers! You may be aware that the Learning Support and Vocational Departments have been raising money for some time to turn our garden room into a fully functioning classroom for Horticulture and Animal Club. We have received considerable support from Tesco through their Bags for Life scheme, and staff here have been working hard to 9

fundraise through tombolas, raffles, and plant, craft and cake sales etc. A lot of hard work has therefore already been done. Our animals now live in smart new hutches. On top of this, Mr Dunn, former Assistant Head, did an enormous amount of work including fitting new doors and windows, and kitchen cupboards as his parting gift to TK, making the area weatherproof for our animals. However, to finalise our project, we are desperately in need of adults who would be happy to donate some time (and, hopefully, some materials) on a few selected weekends, to help finish things off. We need electrics, plastering, painting and possibly heating if our funds can stretch that far. It is a big ask, but it is just one room! We are almost at the end of our fundraising money pot and it would be great to finally see our project finished. TK has a wonderful tradition of supporting our extra-curricular and specialised activities; your help to keep this going will be gratefully received. In the current climate, we cannot do it any other way. Please contact the school if you think you can help us.

Adventure club takes to the slopes!

T his term 20 students have completed 6 weeks of Beginner and Advanced skiing tuition at Gloucester Ski and Snowboard Centre. Mrs Parfitt, Mr Parfitt and Mr Baker accompanied students during their sessions at the centre. After completion of the six- week course, all pupils have mastered the basics of skiing. Each pupil moved gradually further up the slopes, getting ever closer to the ski park at the top of the slope. All of the students found the sessions fun, challenging and a very rewarding experience. Over half of the pupils can now “free ski”, which means they can now use the centre without supervision from an instructor. After May half term we will be starting our Water Sports Programme at South Cerney Outdoor Education Centre. Please see Mrs Parfitt for more details about Adventure Club.

PE and Sports Results and Achievements

Basketball

Our boys have now finished their Basketball Fixtures but our Girls U16 team have carried on after winning the County Finals against a strong Pate’s Grammar School side. They then went on to play in the National Zone Rounds where some exceptionally strong sides lay in wait. Unfortunately, they were unable to progress beyond Round 2 but to get to the

last 32 in the Country is a fantastic achievement. Well done girls!

Hockey

Our Girls teams have been busy playing fixtures against our local Secondary Schools in a series of friendlies. Our U12 team have made lots of progress this year and our U13 team now boast a number of Club players from Stroud Hockey Club who is one of our many excellent local Sports Clubs partners. Our U14 and U16 Girls teams also boast a number of Club players and this is really boosting their success on the pitch wearing the school colours. Our U16 Girls team have been on an impressive win run beating Deer Park 4-0, Farmors 5-2 and KLB B team 1-0. They played against a strong Archway team and narrowly missed out on another victory. Rosie Langston has been the standout player this season along with Becca Hoare and Izzy Cook up front making them a formidable attacking threat.

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It is also important to mention our boys U13 team who played against Deer Park recently. They are such a keen and enthusiastic bunch of players and it was great to see them come out with 3 wins out of 4 in a mini-tournament.

Football

Our Boys and Girls teams have been busy playing lots of fixtures against local teams as well as schools farther afield in the County. Our Girls U14 and U16 teams both qualified for the County Finals having placed in the top 3 in the District. Izzy Cook in Year 11 continues to inspire her fellow players once again being selected for an U18 Training Camp. We also now have good links with the outstanding Rodborough Girls Football Club where more and more of our players are going to hone their skills. Exciting times ahead for Girls Football!

Our Boys teams have been playing lots of games in the District League. Our U14s just missed out on a Final spot losing to Marling in the Semi-Final but finished the league off with a great win against Rednock in their last game of the season winning 6-2. Our Year 10 boys team have been outstanding this season and have won all their group games finishing top of the West side of the league. They played in their semi-final in front of an enthusiastic crowd. Regrettably we went on to lose and just missed out on another Final spot.

Netball

Our U12-14 Girls Netball teams recently attended the Condover Hall Netball Tournament which involved playing a Regional Tournament against schools from all over the South West as well as taking part in Outdoor Adventurous activities. This is always such a fantastic trip and our U14 and U13 Girls teams both finished an amazing 3rd place.

We are also very lucky to have developed outstanding links with the impressive Randwick Netball Club this last year. A number of our girls now play for the Club outside of school and our U14 Girls team make up the majority of their starting line-up. They were invited to attend a brilliant Netball Coaching Workshop hosted at Stratford Park recently where they helped Primary pupils learn the skills of the game. They also had the opportunity to meet Paige Reed, England Netball star.

Primary School Links

Since our last report on the fantastic links we have with our local Primary Schools we have completed two great events: a Quicksticks Hockey Tournament and our annual Primary X-Country Event. Both events were very well attended and it was an absolute pleasure to see so many young pupils taking part in sport and challenging themselves. Our next events will be the Indoor Football Tournament taking place at Inside Football in Brimscombe when we come back after Easter.  X-Country  Quicksticks Hockey Results Year 3 / 4 boys: 1st Eastcombe Hill 1st Large Schools Year 5 / 6 Boys: 1st Bussage Bisley 1st Small schools group 1 Year 3 / 4 Girls: 1st Eastcombe. Christchurch 1st Small schools group 2 Year 5 and 6 Girls: 1st Chalford Hill

Netball Trip to Team Bath in the Superleague

On March 22nd we travelled to Team Bath ready to watch a pulsating game of Netball in the Superleague. Team Bath played Strathclyde Sirens and emerged winners by only a few goals at the end of an amazing game full of pace, skill and passion. The girls were a credit to the school and enjoyed every minute of the experience and also got to see elite level sport first hand. What made it even more special was meeting Serena Guthrie at the end (England superstar and Commonwealth Games Gold medallist) who was kind enough to stop and have her photo taken with us!

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Ski Trip To Austria 2019

During the February break Thomas Keble School ventured all the way over to snowy Austria to embark on what was a most successful Ski Trip. 40 pupils plus 4 members of staff took to the slopes in Oberlungau and the standard of skiing and snowboarding was simply amazing. The pupils had the opportunity to race against each other at the end of the week on a Slalom Course as well as try their luck on the jumps at the Snow Park. The weather was stunning throughout the week and we even went ice skating and out for the most fantastic pizzas on our last night. Look out for the next ski trip in two years’ time!

Residential Netball Tour to Condover Hall

This year we took 19 students, 2 teams, to the prestigious netball tournament at Condover Hall, Shropshire to showcase our Year 8 and Year 9 netball skills.

Miss Roberts managed the Y8 team whose age group was split into two pools entered into either the A league ‘Cup’ or the B league ‘Plate’ competition. The Y8s played six matches Saturday morning, winning four and losing two. TK achieved outstanding wins, including 9-0 v Yarm School, 10-0 v Kingsley School, 7-2 v Alcester Grammar and 4-2 v Devizes School. All girls played extremely well and demonstrated advanced skills and tactics. Their hard work paid off as they were placed third overall, out of 13 teams. An excellent achievement! A special A big thank you to Maya Stewart who was added to the trip last minute due to Amaya Leadbeater’s hand injury, meaning Amaya was unable to play, although she was there to support and encourage the team throughout.

Mrs Richards managed the Y9 team who were entered into a round robin competition with eleven teams in total; four of those being Y10 teams. They played six teams on Saturday afternoon, winning two and losing four. Their wins included 10-3 v Priory School and 8-0 v Kingsley School - fantastic results despite three of the teams being Y10 teams. On Sunday they played four games, winning three and only losing one. Their team work and resilience was exceptional. The Y9 team were placed third overall in their age group, out of 7 teams. An excellent result!

All the players were impressive and should be proud of their achievement and standard of play, but after difficult deliberation, the following awards were given out at the end of the tournament:

Y8 Player of the tournament - Imogen Latham Y8 Most improved player - Maya Stewart Y9 Player of the tournament - Issy wright Y9 Player of the tournament - Ellie Read

When the students were not playing netball, they were able to participate in many outdoor and adventurous activities such a high ropes, climbing wall, abseiling, kayaking and much more.

A special thank you also to Mrs Richards, who gave up her weekend to join the girls on the tour.

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SLS at THOMAS KEBLE SCHOOL

We are pleased to announce that the Fitness Suite at Thomas Keble School will be re-opening to the local community on the 1st April! Memberships will be available on a monthly non-contract basis, paid by Direct Debit at an introductory fee of just £9.99 per month for individuals over 16.

Family membership will also be available where up to four adults or young people (14-15) can be combined for a discounted monthly fee, with a two-person Family Membership starting at an introductory fee of just £18.99 per month.

We will also offer a paid in full option for those who wish to pay by lump sum for 3, 6 or 12 months.

Initially the Fitness Suite will be open in the evenings Monday to Thursday 6:00pm - 9:00pm and Friday 6:00pm - 8:30pm. However, as the gym and other facilities become busier we will look to extend the opening hours as much as possible.

Membership can be purchased online by following the link to the membership sign up page: https://secure15.clubwise.com/thomaskeblehighschool/pos.asp

The Fitness Suite and memberships will be run by SLS Fitness, part of School Lettings Solutions and they can be contacted with any enquiries regarding the membership. They can be contacted by emailing [email protected] or by telephoning 0800 107 6397.

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