Dear Parents

PARENTS’ NEWSLETTER – ISSUE 5 DECEMBER 2008

REMINDER - END OF TERM ARRANGEMENTS We break up on Friday 19 December 2008. Registration and tutor time will be 12.00 – 12.15 pm. The bus service will be as follows:  Cricklade Buses ie 21, 22, 25, 30, 31 will depart at 12.15 pm prompt.  West Swindon Buses ie 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 53 will depart at 12.50 pm. NB: Students should line up in usual places ready for staff to organise boarding of the buses. Purtonians or those students being collected by parents can leave school at 12.15 pm.

NB 1: Reminder of the Closure Notification System The information from the previous newsletter regarding the system operated in the event of a closure is repeated for information at the end of this newsletter. NB 2: Parking in the Peak Please refer to the urgent notice regarding car parking in The Peak at the end of this newsletter.

INTRODUCTION I would like to wish students, parents, governors and friends of the school a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Hopefully everyone will be able to enjoy the festive season, spending time with families and close friends. As we move towards the end of yet another busy and action-packed term I would like to thank all staff, both teaching and support, for their hard work, support and professionalism. Bradon Forest has the privilege of having a team of staff who work extremely hard in supporting all aspects of school life to ensure Bradon Forest’s continuing success. As a school we can be proud of a wide range of achievements, many of which have been reported in this term’s Parents’ Newsletters. 2009 promises to be another busy and successful year and we can look forward to reporting on a wide range of achievements throughout the next year.

STAFF NEWS Mrs Britton (Head of Science Faculty) is retiring at the end of this term after 30 years service. Mrs Britton is a well respected colleague who has always been very supportive of the school and generous with her time, helping out at numerous school events. She has been involved with three major science rebuilding and refurbishment projects and has helped create a thriving department with nine laboratories. Mrs Britton served for many years as a Staff Governor and has been an excellent ‘social secretary’ in terms of numerous end of year/leaving presentations. This year we will be organising one for her! On behalf of everyone in the Bradon Forest community, colleagues and students – past and present - I would like to pay tribute to Mrs Britton for all that she has done over the years and for her valuable contribution in helping make Bradon Forest such a good school. We wish her and Brian well for their retirement. Over the last few weeks we have wished both Mrs Deadman (Religious Studies) and Mrs Holmes (Art) well as they start their respective maternity leaves. We are very pleased to welcome Mrs Cox (Religious Studies) and Miss Patterson (Art) who join us on ‘maternity cover’. We will also welcome Miss Colbert (ICT) who joins us at the start of next term and Mr Bourne who takes over a temporary Teacher of Science for the remainder of the academic year. (Miss Colbert is an ex-student and undertook some of her teaching training here.) Miss Machart also joins us as part-time teacher of French. I am pleased to announce the following promotions: Mr Vizor takes over as Head of Science and his Head of Year post is being taken over by Mrs Brett-Harris (English). We have also appointment Mr Widdop as a Support Head of Year. He will be assisting Mr Martch-Harry (Head of Year 8) who will be undertaking Mrs Holmes’ duties as Subject Leader: Art along with his Head of Year role. Mr Lemin (Science) will also become a Support Head of Year to Mr Bray with Year 11 (Mr Lemin will retain his tutor group). Due to these promotions and maternity breaks, the following changes have been made to tutors: Tutor Group Tutor 7P Miss Colbert (will work with Mrs Henly) 7Q Miss Machart 10P Miss Patterson 10S Mrs Cox 10Y Mr Bourne

There have also been a number of changes and new appointments to our support staff team. Liz Pallaria has been promoted to Premises Manager, Julie Taylor has moved from Reprographics to the Finance Team and Dionne Child has taken over Reprographics. In the office, we are joined by Karen Peppin and Sarah Chandler and Jen Sandell is our new Examinations Officer. Daniel Collict has joined our ICT support team, working both at Bradon Forest and St Mary’s School.

DRAMA NEWS : GCSE Drama - 18 th Century Farce Week It's a Farce! On Monday 1 and Tuesday 2 December 2008 Bradon Forest’s two groups of GCSE drama students performed two classic comedies as part of their 18th Century Farce Week. One group performed Richard Sheridan's 'School for Scandal' , a satire about scandal and damaged reputations, which director Alison McCallum decided to set in the 1960s. She says: "The iconic 1960s photograph of Christine Keeler, posing naked on a chair gave me the inspiration for the setting for School for Scandal. Keeler was a good-time girl, having fun in a decade that saw massive changes. However, her affair with a government minister and a Soviet diplomat at the height of the Cold War led to the government being brought down. I decided to take Sheridan’s play and set it in one of the most scandalous times most of us have heard about if not lived through ." Christine Saunders, Eddie Buchanan, Justin-David Machado, Claudia Reeves and Emily Bradford. The play presented was not the full length version. Due to unforeseen circumstances some major cutting and re-writing had to take place at the last minute which resulted in a new script being produced only the week before! The cast did remarkably well to adapt to the new script at very short notice and the play was thoroughly enjoyed by all. Arts Manager, Jennifer Purcell, said: "With the re-write in mind, the students did an excellent job at keeping the show together. There were a couple of scenes where Alison had to cut a lot of conversation, but she replaced this with low lighting and 1960s music, while the characters acted in deep conversation. As the music faded out, we heard a quick summary of the discussed plotting and the audience was brought straight back into the story."

Gavin Alexander as Sir Peter Teazle

Wednesday 3 December 2008 was the opening night of ‘The Venetian Twins’ , by Carlo Goldoni, which ran until 5 December 2008. The play, written in 1747, was the first time that Commedia Dell Arte had been scripted, and was Goldoni's response to the continuing stream of smut that was being performed by touring commedia troupes.

- 2 - The play is a classic tale of mistaken identity and ensuing confusion. These identical Venetian Twins, unbeknown to each other and utterly different in character, arrive in town together on the same day. As a result the other characters can’t make out who’s who. Classic comic confusions follow with many antics to entertain the audience; fathers with a dark secret, rival lovers, sex-mad servants and jobs-worth constables are all looking out for themselves. A neat twist in the plot (including a mislaid sister, a lost and found jewellery box and a poisoned drink) bring it all to a joyful conclusion. Both twins are played by Harley Viveash who does well to flit between his regal and northern accents throughout the play, and his high energy and performance skill was matched by the whole cast – an excellent production. Well done to all involved in both terrific productions. Future Drama Productions Please visit the Theatre pages of the school website ( www.bradonforest.wilts.sch.uk ) for further details. Drama Events include:

March 2009  ‘The Devil’s Doctor’ performed by the Shifting Sands Theatre Company  ‘Richard’s Love’ a Bric-a-Brac Production

July 2009  Bradon Forest’s Big Top Festival

MUSIC NEWS Christmas Carol Concert – 10 December 2008 The traditional Bradon Forest Carol Concert at St Mary’s Church took place on Wednesday 10 December 2008. It was an enjoyable evening that really ‘showcased’ the talent and teamwork of a large number of students, staff and peripatetic music teachers. Thank you to Reverend Jane Haslam and St Mary’s Church for hosting the event and to Miss Clements, Miss Groom, our peripatetic music team and all staff and students involved. Reminders :  Busking: Miss Clements and Miss Groom are continuing our annual ‘busking’ event with student musicians and singers in the West Swindon Centre on Monday 17 December 2008 between 4.00 – 6.30 pm and Tuesday 18 December 2008 between 4.00 – 6.30 pm.  Extra Concert: This year the Music Department are running an additional Christmas Concert on Thursday 18 December 2008 at 7.00 pm in the school hall.

CHRISTMAS LUNCHES

This year our Year 9 students started off our festivities well by designing and decorating our Christmas tree and organising a special Christmas menu. Christmas lunch was served on Wednesday 10 December 2008 and Thursday 11 December 2008 in the festively decorated hall with live entertainment!

Many thanks to all staff and students involved and to Janet Horton and her team in the kitchen.

- 3 - PE NEWS a) Basketball Year 8 Boys: The Year 8 boys, after expert coaching from Mr Duncan, have now started their league and cup campaign. The results so far have been very good with wins over Kingsdown (50 – 32), Churchfields (39 – 31) and Wootton Bassett (37 – 19). Year 9 Boys: The Year 9 boys have made an excellent start in the Swindon League and Cup, defeating Wootton Bassett School (104 – 6) in their opening match and then Highworth (74 – 38). As the team won the Swindon League and Cup last year, they have been entered into the National Cup where they have already qualified for the South West regional playoffs after defeating St Bede’s (Bristol) and in a close, excellent game, Bristol Met (63 – 60). They now play Bishop Wordsworth School for a place in the last thirty two of the country. Year 9 Girls: After training for the last six months, the Year 9 girls entered into the National Cup for the first time. After defeating in a warm up, the girls travelled to a traditionally strong sports school - St Edmund’s. The girls outplayed St Edmund’s from the start and came away with a 58 – 29 win. Following this victory they defeated St Augustine’s School and then Bournemouth School for Girls (77 – 15) to qualify for the last sixteen in the country. All the girls have contributed with points in the games so far and they are continuing to develop. Year 10 Boys: The Year 10 boys have had their usual strong start in the Swindon League and Cup defeating Greendown (105 – 37). After reaching the national finals last year they have been entered into the U15 Elite competition. In the final of the South West region the team defeated Millfield School (104 – 43). They now go through to the last sixteen as number one seeds from the South West of England. b) Year 9 Physical Education (PE) Learning Pathways With the introduction of the new PE curriculum in September 2008, Bradon Forest School’s PE Department decided to introduce Learning Pathways for all Year 9 students. The new PE curriculum has less prescribed content in order to provide sufficient flexibility for schools to design their curriculum so that it matches the needs of learners. In the case of PE at Bradon Forest School, the department consulted students to develop a range of ‘Options’, allowing each student to build on their strengths, interests and experiences. The option ‘blocks’ for the first two terms included the following: rugby, hockey, basketball, table tennis, step aerobics and trampoline. Students can choose a different option for each term, with new choices as the year progresses. The feedback from the Year 9 students has been very positive, with the traditional team sports being played by those who enjoy them, and the girls having a new opportunity to play rugby, and the boys hockey. The Year 9s have really enjoyed being able to choose their own areas for learning. As a department we have found the option choices have increased students’ enjoyment and commitment to learning in PE. c) Football Bradon Forest U13 Girls win Swindon Town Football Club Tournament: The Swindon Town Football Club Tournament took place on a rather chilly Tuesday evening in December, with Bradon Forest girls winning all four of their group games. They defeated Churchfields ‘B’ (1 – 0 Edie Cooke), Ridgeway (3 – 0 Edie Cooke 2, Sarah Stiles), Greendown (5 – 0 Sian Towler 4, Nicole Farmer) and Isambard (1 – 0 Edie Cooke). The standard of football displayed by Bradon Forest was exceptionally high, with excellent linking moves ending in superb goals from crosses, headers or one on ones with the goal keeper. Jon Holloway, one of the organisers from Swindon Town, commented on the high quality of players from Bradon Forest and tipped us to win from the first game!

- 4 - In the semi finals we met Churchfields ‘A’ and won (1 – 0 Nicole Farmer). The final was against Dorcan and in a closely fought match Sian Towler scored the only goal of the game to seal victory. As well as superb attacking moves and the twelve goals scored, Bradon Forest’s defence was solid, and they did not concede any goals in the tournament.

Back Row L to R: Rhianne Groom, Nicole Farmer, Olivia Longstaff, Jemma Bradley.

Front Row L to R: Edie Cooke, Charlotte Bunce, Sarah Stiles, Sian Towler

d) Table Tennis Last week saw the relaunch of a boys table tennis competition for schools in the Swindon area. An impressive ten teams turned up to take part, five teams in the Key Stage 3 competition: Bradon Forest 1, Bradon Forest A, Isambard, Commonweal and Greendown, and five teams in the Key Stage 4 competition: Bradon Forest, Churchfields 1, Churchfields A, Nova Hreod 1 and Nova Hreod A. It was an afternoon of exciting team matches, with most of the forty students involved competing in table tennis for the very first time. The competitors also officiated some of their own games which added to their competition experience and promoted fair play. After a round robin tournament in Key Stage 3, Bradon Forest ‘A’ were the winners (Liam Stacey, Evan Haigh, Sam Stafford, Jordan Lancaster), with Bradon Forest ‘1’ in fourth place (Tom Abbott, Callum Kavanagh, Elliott Giles, Alex Wood, Dan Rogers). In Key Stage 4, Bradon Forest (Jon Sore, David Miles, Joshua Langley, Sean Hall) achieved third place. Well done to all involved. e) Cross Country Area Cross Country Championships: A team of thirty boys and girls represented the school at Grittleton House at the Area Cross Country Championships. Despite not yet receiving the team awards, a record eleven Bradon Forest students have been selected to represent the area in the Championships in January 2009 (their positions are indicated in brackets): Year 7 Girls Edie Cooke (1), Nao Kasahara (3), Bella Larkin (6) Year 7 Boys Dan Loyden (5) Joe Petit (10) Year 8/9 Girls Ellie Sundburg (7), Anna Meares (10) Year 8/9 Boys Tayton Nywaha (1) Tom Campbell (2) Year 10/11 Boys Louis Elton (7), Dan Cole (12) Inter form Cross Country Results: The Bradon Forest School Inter-form Cross Country Competitions took place in year groups at the end of the cross country season in November. Having raced in half year groups during PE lessons, this event determined the students’ overall position in their year group. Students were also racing as part of their tutor group, with finishing places resulting in points for their tutor group. The results table below shows the finishing positions of the tutor groups. Position Year 7 Boys Year 8 Boys Year 9 Boys Year 7 Girls Year 8 Girls Year 9 Girls 1st W R X S W Q 2nd S X R R X R 3rd Z Z P X Z X 4th X Q Z Z Y W 5th Q T T P Q P 6th R Y Q Y R Y 7th T W Y Q T Z 8th Y P W T P S 9th P S S W S T

In Year 7, Daniel Loyden and Edie Cooke finished first, with Joe Petit and Bella Larkin in second place and Aaron Moody and Nao Kasahara finishing third. In Year 8, Tayton Nyahwa and Frances Oakland finished first, with Josh Sparks and Zoe Mayo in second place, with Braydon Mistry and Laura Halford finishing third. In Year 9, Tom Campbell and Natasha Chilambo finished first. Louis Maddison and Ellie Sundberg took second place with Joseph Hillard and Angela Luchembe finishing third. Well done to all the students, many of whom gained personal bests and surprised themselves with how well they performed.

- 5 - f) Netball Under 16 Netball Squad: The Bradon Forest Under 16 Netball Squad went through to the Wiltshire Schools’ Tournament at Dauntsey after having finished as runners-up in the Swindon Schools’ Tournament. Unfortunately they just missed getting through to the semi finals on goal difference, but finished a very respectable third in their group. They comfortably defeated Lavington in a third place play off to win 6 – 0! The Under 16 squad played excellent netball in the competition and were a credit to the school. The squad was as follows: Captain Mia Harrison, Ailee Waite, Sarah Romain, Laura Moseley, Jade Thompson, Alex Lee, Alicia Edwards. Under 14 Netball Squad: After winning the Swindon Schools’ Tournament, the Under 14 squad went through to the Wiltshire Schools’ Tournament at Dauntsey. They progressed to the semi finals as group runners-up, but unfortunately lost to Marlborough (overall winners) 5 – 4 after extra time and a golden goal. The squad then comfortably defeated the South Wiltshire Grammar School in the 3rd/4th position play off. Although the squad was upset to have lost in their semi finals, this was an excellent team performance. There’s always next year girls! Many thanks to Mrs Showler for helping Mrs Evans to manage the team. The squad was as follows: Captain Natasha Chilambo, Angela Luchembe, Charlie Legg, Hannah Pettit, Gemma Sheridan, Gemma Fishell, Jemma Showler, Shannon Stephenson, Beth Deakin. g) School Sports Partnership News - Miss Moore reports: Young Ambassadors Day: Six Year 10 students were carefully selected by the PE Department and invited to represent Bradon Forest School at the Avon Valley Young Ambassador Training Day. The six students are regarded as being ‘Gifted and Talented’ and having strong ‘Leadership Skills’ in Physical Education. The students underwent training on activities such as Wake and Shake, Multi Skills, Warm-up ideas and Top Activities, all of which were organised by the Avon Valley School Sports Partnership’s School Sports Co-ordinators. The day was a success and students felt that they had gained the training they need in order to go into primary schools and deliver high quality sessions. The new Young Ambassadors for Bradon Forest School are Matthew Bunce, Anna Coleman, Marley Feeney, Craig Miles, Billi Skinner and Ellie Symons. I look forward to having them work along side me to benefit the primary school pupils in the Bradon Forest Family. Years 5 and 6 Bradon Forest/Wootton Bassett High 5 Netball Festival: Nine teams entered the ‘High 5’ Netball Festival held at Wootton Bassett School earlier in November. The standard of play was encouraging, especially with the high goal posts! The final was a close call with both St Mary’s and St Sampson’s scoring a goal each. With thirty seconds to go, St Sampson’s scored the winning goal, giving St Mary’s no time to reply! All pupils were very well behaved and extremely enthusiastic, with ‘three cheers’ and handshakes at the end of every game. The festival would not have been a success without the outstanding organisation and officiating of the Year 10 Bradon Forest and Wootton Bassett students. h) Rugby (Boys ) - Mr Hartley reports: So far this season, England has not fared well on the international stage, however, all is not lost. Bradon Forest’s first half of the season has proved to be far more successful than England’s! Year 11: The Year 11 first fifteen opened the season with a convincing win against Highworth, who struggled with the pace and passing of Bradon Forest. Full time score 43 – 5. The second match provided a challenge for Bradon Forest and a shock defeat by - Bradon Forest missing out by the narrowest of margins. Unphased by the previous loss Bradon Forest regrouped during training and faced Commonweal, who put up a good fight, but the momentum was with Bradon Forest and the result went in our favour. Full time score 40 – 0. The final game of the season was to prove the toughest of the lot. Playing against Wootton Bassett, a well drilled and accomplished team (the players regularly play together for club and school), Bradon Forest challenged and applied a tremendous amount of pressure to open up the score sheet to 5 – 0. Unfortunately, the regular training and set piece moves proved to be a challenge in one of the best games of the season, leading to a second loss for the Bradon Forest Year 11 team. Year 9: The Year 9 squad started the season with purpose and confidence with the will to succeed. The team came out and dominated from the starting whistle against Swindon Academy with a final score of 60 – 5; morale was high. The second fixture of the season provided little resistance to the Year 9 ‘machine’. Greendown travelled to Bradon Forest and worked hard, fortunately to no prevail, and Bradon Forest exploited weaknesses in Greendown’s defence to open up the score card. Final score 53 – 0 win. The last game of the term was to be the match to end all matches - against Wootton Bassett – this was going straight into the Bradon Forest history books. A tight match played under immense pressure. Bradon Forest at the half time whistle had a comfortable two-try lead which was cut short just five minutes into the second half. However strength of character and determination prevailed and Bradon Forest won by the tightest of margins 29 – 26.

- 6 - Year 8: This was their first season of school rugby for this likely group of young men who stepped up to the plate and delivered. Their first foray was to set the standard with an away trip to Commonweal with a convincing but rough and ready win, a good start! Greendown had invited the young but intrepid Year 8 team, but to find the swift hands of the backs who were superbly supported by the engine room ‘the forwards’ out-classed and played Greendown to win 35 – 10. Again the biggest challenge to face the young guns of Year 8 was Wootton Bassett - the opposition was well drilled and played as a squad for the local club, so were set to disrupt the Bradon Forest momentum. Although Bradon Forest lost (the final score was 20 – 5) the Year 8 team had referee and spectators applauding a gutsy and hard fought match, the first in which Wootton Bassett’s rugby prowess was put under the spotlight. The final game of the term, at home against Highworth, was the icing on the cake for the young talented players in the Year 8 squad. The screws were tightened on Highworth providing the opportunity for Bradon Forest to flex its muscle and produce a resounding win. Year 7: After the dedication of these young rugby players in training it was time to be put to the test. The first fixture against Isambard was possibly one of the shortest matches refereed. After a solid but perfect tackle, an Isambard player was unfortunately injured with a broken arm and the play was suspended. Greendown were invited to Bradon Forest and the standard was set. Right from the starting whistle our young Year 7 squad accepted the challenge and found their feet very quickly, the forwards working very well scrummaging and in the different phases of play providing an excellent service to the backs with plenty of clean safe ball to work with. The future looks bright for these freshly capped Bradon Forest rugby players. The success of the season of all age groups is down to the hard work and the regular large numbers of pupils giving up their time to train and work as a tight unit of players. As a result they have reaped the benefits of this and won the majority of games. Bradon Forest has just become the proud owners of a scrum machine which will benefit players of all ages and positions so look out the opposition! Well done to all players, it has been a fantastic start and keep up the training until the light returns early next year ready for the second half of the season. Well done!

HUMANITIES NEWS Year 9 ‘Invasion’ Trip to Normandy! During the mid term break, Miss Crerar, Miss Mazelin and Mr Otter took twenty five Year 9 History students on a trip to Normandy, France. The theme of the trip was ‘Invasion!’ - looking at the Norman invasion of Britain and the D-Day invasion of Normandy. Leaving at 1.00 am on the 25 October 2008, we started the journey to Merville-Francville on the Normandy Peninsula and stopped off at the pretty town of Honfleur for lunch before carrying on to Pegasus Bridge, where D- Day started. A drink in the café, which was the first house liberated on D-Day, was followed by a guided tour around the Pegasus Bridge, where we learnt about the gliders and parachutists who played an important part in D-Day. The first day ended with a visit to Ranville Cemetery where many of those who died at Pegasus Bridge are buried and then we arrived at the Bonsejour, our hotel for the trip. The next day began with a trip to the Juno Beach Centre, on the site of the Canadian beach landings, where we were given a guided tour of the bunkers that the Germans were defending, and the beach which the Canadians were trying to take control of. Then it was off to Arromanches for a look at the famous Mulberry harbours and a trip to the 360 ۫ cinema, which was a poignant look at the D-Day landings. Miss Crerar began to tell the story of the soldier - a look at D-Day from the point of view of an unknown soldier. Then it was time to travel further back in time to 1066 and a look at the Norman Invasion of Britain with a trip to the town of Bayeux and a visit to the famous tapestry showed a nice contrast to the two invasions. Miss Crerar continued her story of the unknown soldier at the British Cemetery at Bayeux where Eve Cornock was chosen to lay a wreath on behalf of Bradon Forest School at the graves of an unknown soldier, sailor and airman. A minute’s silence was observed and we reflected on what the trip had taught us so far. The next day was our last day and we started it off with a trip to the Atlantic Wall Museum- a museum from the German perspective. This was a trip around a real WWII bunker complete with observation equipment and guns. We then began our journey home, stopping off at Honfleur again for lunch and a bit of shopping. I think we must have bought the entire stock of the chocolate shop between us! We passed the time in the Channel Tunnel with a history, geography and famous faces quiz before we were back on home soil. One last stop to buy us all some dinner. Miss Crerar absolutely loved going up to the counter and saying “I’ll have 25 children’s meals please!”- It was a great trip and we learnt a huge amount. Thank you to Miss Crerar, Miss Mazelin and Mr Otter for taking the trip and thank you to Helen Brazil for making the wreath.

- 7 - STUDENT SUCCESSES Two Year 9 students, Peter Newton and Christopher Jones, attended the Shichahai Gymnastics School of Excellence in Beijing, China during the October half term. The training regime was very tough and their days consisted of training and eating. Every time they fulfilled the expectations of the Chinese coach (who was a member of the last Olympic squad), he increased their targets. The hard work has paid off as since their return to the UK they have attended two competitions and obtained medals in both. The first competition was representing the whole of Wiltshire (again obtaining their Wiltshire Colours) and this is the first medal that Wiltshire has received. The boys were allowed two and a half days to spend sight seeing and managed to walk part of the Great Wall, visit the Summer Palace and the outstanding Olympic Village, where they saw the Birds Nest Stadium and the Water Cube which were just as a mazing in real life. This has been a fantastic experience for them

WORLD AIDS DAY In conjunction with the World Aids Day awareness campaign this year, ‘Respect’ visited the school on Monday 1 December 2008 during Key Stage 3 and Key Stage 4 lunch breaks. There were posters and information available regarding the Aids awareness campaign. Students were able to enter a quiz, after which there was a prize draw with prizes for 1 st , 2 nd and 3 rd places. As promised in the last newsletter Sarah Howes and Huw Solly (Youth Workers) have provided an update in a letter from Sarah Howes:

What a fantastic session, both Huw and I really enjoyed ourselves and felt the response to our display was amazing, so a big thank you to all the young people who took part. Bernadette Jackson-Parish (8T) won 1st Prize = World Aids Day T-shirt, Friendship Bracelet and Chocolate bar. Hannah Bissell (11X) won 2nd Prize = Build your own Porche and Chocolate bar. Sophie Nayer ( 9Q) won 3rd Prize = Chocolate bar.

PTA NEWS The PTA Annual General Meeting will be held on Monday 19 January 2009 at 7.00 pm in the Library. Anyone interested in joining the PTA is welcome to come along. We do need new members, so please volunteer! Salsa Night A chance for Strictly Come Dancing Fans to get their dancing shoes on! We are holding a Salsa Evening on Friday 23 January 2009 at 7.30 for an 8.00 pm start until 10.00 pm. The event will be in the school hall and will cost £5.00 per person. Refreshments will be available. Tickets will be available from Emma Hayden in the school office. Diary Dates Spring Disco Years 7, 8 and 9 Thursday 19 March 2009 7.30 pm – 9.30 pm Tickets will be on sale nearer the time.

DATES OF FUTURE NEWSLETTERS 2008/09 It is important with secondary age students to create a system that maximises the chance of newsletters arriving home to parents. The newsletters for this academic year will be published in the week beginning: Issue 6 - 12 January 2009 Issue 9 - 4 May 2009 Issue 7 - 9 February 2009 Issue 10 - 8 June 2009 Issue 8 - 23 March 2009 Issue 11 - 6 July 2009

REMINDERS: Closure Notification System This autumn has been one of the mildest since records began which may be a sign for a hard winter! With this in mind, we would like to reiterate our procedures for closing the school in the event of bad weather or other circumstances outside of our control. Our aim is to give students, parents and staff as much notice as possible. Often the weather forecast is not always reliable and bad weather overnight may lead to a decision to close the school early in the morning. We will always keep the school open whilst it is safe to do so. However, in access difficulties, power cuts, heating failure or in the case of an overwhelming staff shortage, we may have to take the decision to close. If we do have to close the school we will use the following means to alert the school community:

 The school website will carry a clear message on the homepage stating that we are closed (www.bradonforest.wilts.sch.uk).

- 8 -  Local radio stations will be informed and should broadcast details of school closures throughout the day. If the weather or other circumstances lead you to think that the school is closed, please use the website or radio to check whether we are open or not. Please do not ring the school switchboard as this can overwhelm the system when we need to contact staff, bus companies, the media, local authorities, etc. Thank you in advance for your co- operation – hopefully there will be no need to use this system this winter.

Car Parking in The Peak We would be grateful if parents do not park on the ‘bend’ on the approach to school in The Peak when dropping off/picking up students. North Wiltshire County Council has monitored the situation and when cars are parked on the bend, the buses have no choice but to mount the pavement when navigating their way past. This has caused damage to the pavement and considerable inconvenience to local residents. The Council and Parish Council are considering implementing parking restrictions/yellow lines in the critical areas, but this will take some time. The police have used some cones recently because of the degree of damage, particularly opposite Number 16, The Peak. It would be greatly appreciated if parents could exercise some consideration and avoid parking where access for buses is affected. The survey indicated that the most problematic time is during the afternoon when cars wait to collect students. (St Mary’s will also be alerting parents who collect their children in The Peak.) Thank you in advance for your consideration regarding this matter.

ACADEMIC YEAR DATES 2008/09 The dates for this academic year have been published in previous newsletters but are reproduced here for reference, with details on any ‘end of term’ closures and all our Teacher Development Days when the school is closed to students.

Term 3 Term 4 Begins Monday 5 January 2009 Begins Monday 23 February 2009 Normal time for all year groups Ends Friday 13 February 2009 Ends Friday 3 April 2009 Holiday 14 February 2009 - 22 February 2009 Holiday 4 April - 19 April 2009

Term 5 Term 6 Begins Monday 20 April 2009 Begins Monday 1 June 2009 NB Public Holiday Mon 4 May 2009 (School Closed ) Ends Friday 22 May 2009 Ends Friday 17 July 2009 Holiday 23 May 2009 - 31 May 2009 Holiday 18 July 2009 - 31 August 2009

Remaining Teacher Development Days 2008/09 (School Closed to Students)

Friday 26 June 2009 Monday 20 July 2009

Yours sincerely

L M Spiers Headteacher

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BRADON FOREST SCHOOL

PURTON, SWINDON, WILTSHIRE SN5 4AT NOR 1195

PART TIME TEACHING ASSISTANT

We currently have a vacancy for a teaching assistant to join our Learning Support department. This is a term time only post for 16.25 hours per week. Actual salary range is £5890 to £6304 depending on experience. Previous experience in a similar role would be advantageous, however, training is available for the successful candidate.

Bradon Forest is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and all posts are subject to an enhanced Criminal Records Bureau Disclosure.

For an application pack please telephone the school on 01793 770570, or email your details to [email protected]

Closing date: Friday 16 January 2009

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