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School Newsletter | Issue 17 | April 2014 | Student Name______

Inside this issue: Work Experience P16-19 Headteacher’s Introduction P2-3 Dance Show P20-21 Notices P4-5 N. Herts College Dancers P22 Year 7 Area Appeal P6 Jazz Dance Workshops P23 Sports News P7-11 AR Week/World Book Day P24-25 Leadership event P12 Numeracy P26 Gifted & Talented Day P13 Maths Challenge P27 Photography Competition P14 Commonwealth Day Technology Competition P15 Observance P28-32

Coming Up End of Spring Term Summer Term Begins Sports Day >>> Friday 4th April 2014 Tuesday 22nd April 2014 Wednesday 25th June 2014

Lealands High School, Road, LU3 3AL Tel: 01582 611600 Fax: 01582 612227 Email: [email protected] www.lealands.luton.sch.uk

Aspire Believe Achieve Introduction from Headteacher - Mr Burridge

Dear Parents/Carers,

We have enjoyed a very busy and exciting half term. The Dance Show (see pages 20-21) was another fantastic evening enjoyed by the whole school community demonstrating huge talent and commitment amongst our students. There have also been many individual successes, notably, that of Leone Crick (Year 11) who won first place in a national photography competition, not only getting a substantial prize for himself, but for the school as well! Another highlight was Accelerated Reader Week and World Book Day – I really enjoyed seeing the staff in costumes (and many in character throughout the day too!). I have to confess to disrupting a few lessons as “Charles Dickens” much to the amusement of our students – it was a lot of fun and hopefully inspired students to read even more. The rest of this edition is full of just some of the many activities, achievements and successes at Lealands over the past month or so.

As I write, we are also looking forward to a very special visit from the Archbishop of Canterbury on Thursday 27th March. This is such a huge honour and we are pleased that through our excellent links with LCET, the Archbishop is coming to find out about the work on spirituality in which some of our students are involved.

Exam season has begun with drama practical assessments and Year 11 are fully engaged in preparations for examinations with LILAC revision classes after school most nights and at weekends. We also have a packed programme of revision during the Easter holidays. I am immensely grateful to all of our staff who give up so much of their time to ensure that Year 11 have the very best opportunity to achieve excellent results. The students themselves are showing great levels of maturity and dedication to their studies – we are sure that if they continue to work so well, they will all achieve excellent results. College applications have been made and every student has had an individual careers interview to support them with making the right decisions for life beyond school.

At the end of this term we will be sad to see some of our staff leaving the school. Mrs Pickles, Assistant Headteacher, has been at the school for a staggering 23 years and is leaving us to emigrate with her family to New Zealand. We wish her and her family well in this new adventure and I anticipate some emotional “goodbyes” at the end of term. Mr Togher, Head of Maths, is also leaving us after 17 years of dedicated service at Lealands, having been promoted to a senior post at another school. We have said goodbye to receptionist and SLT administrator Mrs Rahman, and will be welcoming Miss Shah as her replacement in April. Finally, Mrs Union (maths) is also moving on and goes with our best wishes.

2 Introduction

I am very pleased to announce that Mrs Patten has been appointed to replace Mr Togher as Head of Maths. Mrs Patten is currently Second in Maths and whole school Numeracy Coordinator. Mr McCracken has recently joined the Languages Department to provide maternity cover for Miss Plaideau. We have already appointed two new maths teachers who will be joining us in June. I am also pleased to welcome our new Learning Support Assistants; Mr Shafi, Miss Learmont and Mr Phillips.

I will be giving a fuller up-date on staff in the Summer term as we are currently making a number of appointments to both replace staff leaving and to accommodate our growing numbers.

May I take this opportunity to wish you and your family an enjoyable Easter break and I hope to see some of you at our annual Easter concert.

Mr J Burridge Headteacher

Value Of the Month

3 Online Payments

This is a reminder that you can now pay online using the ‘Parents Payment’ link from homepage of our website: www.lealands.luton.sch.uk

If you do not have your link code to login, please contact the school finance office on 01582 611600. Parents can pay online for the following:

Voluntary Contributions Events, Trips and Visits

Technology contributions Years 7, 8 and 9 Amsterdam May 2014 Graphics contributions Years 10 and 11 Blue Peris November 2014 Resistant materials contributions Years 10 and 11 Prom 2014

Online Payments For School Meals Are Now Available. A reminder that the school now prefers for all school meals to be paid for online. This gives you the flexibility to top up your child’s account at home using a debit or credit card rather than having to use cash or cheque.

Access to the online payments can be found on our website using the link at the top of the page ‘Parents Payment’; this will take you directly to the registration/log in website.

Further details and an online payments instruction manual can be found on our website: www.lealands.luton.sch.uk

Term Dates

End of Term: Friday 4th April 2014 Summer Term: Tuesday 22nd April 2014 - Friday 18th July 2014 Half-term: Monday 26th May 2014 - Friday 30th May 2014

Contact Information for Students

Just a reminder to parents/carers that it is extremely important that we have up-to-date contact information for all students.

Any changes to a student’s address, parental contact telephone numbers or email addresses should be passed to Mrs Lawes at the school as soon as possible either by telephone on 01582 611600 or by email to [email protected]. Many thanks for your assistance in this matter.

4 Medical Information

It is very important to ensure that we do not dehydrate. As well as keeping our bodies fit and healthy it will also help keep concentration levels higher and therefore improve performance at school.

Can you please ensure that your son/daughter brings a bottle of water with them to school – this can be re-filled at the water fountain. Any fizzy drinks or energy drinks WILL BE CONFISCATED.

Cups will not be available from the medical room and pupils will not be permitted to leave lessons to visit the medical room to get a drink.

48 HOUR RULE Can I please remind you that any child who has had diarrhoea and /or vomiting should be kept at home for 48 hours after symptoms have gone away to avoid further spread. This directive comes from the Health Protection Agency – Guidance of Infection Control in Schools and other Child Care Settings.

Asthma Inhalers Inhalers for the relief of asthma must be immediately available and pupils with asthma are encouraged to carry their inhaler with them at all times. It is also very important that the school is provided with a spare inhaler in case the pupil’s own inhaler runs out, is lost or forgotten. All inhalers must be labelled with the child’s name and should be left in the medical room in case of emergency.

North Luton Area Board Meeting

On Thursday 6th March members of the public, local councillors and representatives of the Police came to Lealands to consider matters that have been raised by individuals or by local interest groups.

This is the second time Lealands has been asked to host the event but this time was a little bit different. Head Boy, Luke Davis and Head Girl, Georgia Marcantonio, were using the event to highlight the roles and responsibilities of a Student Leader to a group of Year 9 students.

Luke and Georgia did a very professional job as always and the Year 9 leaders now have a real understanding of what will be expected of them next year and the high standards that they will need to aspire to.

Well done to Luke and Georgia and also to Tia Travers, Caitlyn Towers, Shannon Shakes, Abigail Smith, Jemma Poulton, Amoy Smith, Nadine Scarlett and Rudo Makoni.

5 Year 7, Science and Small Toy Appeal

As many of you will be aware, we have a small collection of animals, housed within the Science Department. These are used by science to aid teaching and Year 7 for their therapeutic elements.

As you are probably aware budgets are very tight, so with this in mind, we would like to request the following: If you have any small animal equipment or even maybe a small animal that you feel may be of use please call Ms Cartmel on 01582 611600 to discuss donating it to the school.

Another plea…

Over the last year we have been trying to make parents’ evenings more fun for younger siblings. While we are not able to offer child care we have provided some books, colouring pens and comfortable seating. We would like to add to this, some small toys. If you feel you have something suitable and would like to donate please call Ms Cartmel on 01582 611600.

BBC School Report

On Thursday 27th March, students swapped the classroom for a media studio for the day to take part in the BBC School Report day.

Budding journalists, editors and reporters spent the whole day learning about: finding and gathering news; writing news stories; broadcasting and working to strict deadlines.

For full details of the day, please visit our special BBC School Report website page at: www.lealands.luton.sch.uk

6 Sports News - Trampolining Competition

In February Lealands entered two trampolining competitions. The first took place on Wednesday 12th February and included students from Years 9 - 11; Megan McLaughlin, Nadine Scarlett, Shannon Shakes, Kieran Archer, Harry Clarke and Jack Stephen.

They were given a set routine and had to make up a ten bounce voluntary routine that was to be tariffed by the judges.

Results:

1st - Lea Manor 2nd - Lealands 3rd -

Highest A individual 1st Megan McLaughlin - Lealands

Highest B individual 3rd Harry Clark - Lealands

The second competition took place on Tuesday 25th February and included students from Years 7 and 8; Tajisha Frederick, India McKenzie, Levi Munroe, Josh Owens, Jack Dearden and Izaiah Phillips.

Students were entered into the B team competition and came 2nd. All performers had to learn a set routine and ten bounce voluntary routine. Again this was performed in front of the judging panel and 4 other schools.

“We competed against different schools in the area. We had to learn two routines and came 2nd overall and Lea Manor came 1st by just a few points difference. Everyone had a fantastic time.” - Jack Dearden Year 8.

“The students worked very hard to produce some great routines to perform for the judges. They practised a lot and this showed in the overall results”. - Miss Cussen.

Well done to all students involved.

Lealands PE Department would like to thank Mrs McLaughlin for judging the competition.

7 Sports News - Year 7 Football

We played our first Luton Schools league match on Tuesday 25th February against Denbigh. It was a match played in a great spirit with both teams displaying exemplary sportsmanship and not inconsiderable talent.

Lealands were rewarded for their great performance with a 5 - 2 victory. Our goals were scored by Jamie Gill (3), Lincoln Gilmartin and Luke Tappin.

It would have been unfair to name a M.O.M. as this was a great team performance. Well done lads!

In our second match we played a very good side from Ashcroft School. Unlike our first game the sun was shining and both sides played some great football. In a very close first half we managed to edge it 4 - 3 with 2 goals from Joe Clarke and one each from Jamie Gill and Lincoln Gilmartin. Joe’s second goal was a real thunderbolt.

Playing up hill in the second half did not slow us down and we managed to add one more goal from Jamie and due to some great defending and a magnificent goalkeeping performance from Solomon Habashanti we ran out 5 - 3 winners. M.O.M. Solomon Habashanti. Thanks also to Karl Dearden for being an excellent Lino.

Team: Solomon Habashanti, Leo Stretch, Joshua Cox, Joe Clarke, Charlie Nelson, Luke Tappin, Lincoln Gilmartin, Michael Brako, Seiya Fujino, Ellis Clarke, Jamie Gill and Karim Latchman.

New Sky Sports Club

The Year 8 students that participated in last term’s LEAP PROG have started training to deliver a sporting festival to one or more of our feeder primary schools. They are being taught by our fantastic Year 9 Sports Leaders as part of the Lealands Leadership Academy.

The festivals will take place in the Summer term and will give participants the opportunity to demonstrate the life skills they have been developing. More updates to follow in future editions of the newsletter.

8 Sports News - Dodgeball

On Monday 10th February some of our fantastic Year 9 Sports Leaders delivered a dodgeball festival in aid of the British Heart Foundation (80%) and Lealands (20%). Our willing and very excited competitors came from Year 7, with each Tutor Group represented.

Competition was fierce and very, very noisy. Eventual winners were 7CK who won all 5 of their matches to be crowned champions.

The Sports Leaders planned and organised the event with very little help from staff and they did a fantastic job.

As the event was for charity each Tutor Group tried very hard to secure as much sponsorship as they could. There would be a small prize for the Tutor Group that raised the most money and individuals that achieved £50 sponsorship would be entitled to receive a free dodgeball.

We were amazed when the final count showed that the amount raised was £1149.40. This figure far exceeded anything we could have hoped for.

It was a great effort from Year 7 in general but special mention must be made of the efforts of Henry Bloom £53, Joshua Cox £54, Aiden Phelps £59, Damani Malone £80, Charlie Nelson £101, Shania Mohit £171 and Asher Omar £190.

A small prize was given to 7AM who raised £325 but Mr Burridge was so impressed with everyone’s efforts, he has agreed that we should reward the whole year group. Mr Reading, Head of Year 7, will let you know exactly what that reward will be very soon!

All that is left to do is decide how we will spend the £229.88 which Lealands gets to keep as our share of the grand total. News on this will be published in the next newsletter so watch this space.

9 Sports News - Winter School

On Friday 7th March, Luton hosted the annual Winter School Games at Inspire Sports Village. The event catered for over 200 pupils from all schools in .

The opening ceremony was fantastic with a host of talented young people, who really shone. Followed by an inspirational speech and exciting countdown from Olympic diving champion Peter Waterfield.

Afterwards there was a separate diving opening ceremony, in which Peter Waterfield featured. The divers that were performing were amazing and found it easy to captivate the audience’s attention.

My job was to go round and use social media to showcase budding Olympians. As I went around the venue, the amount of teamwork that was being showcased was overwhelming. There was an immense sense of security and diversity throughout the games and it simply cannot be replicated.

My favourite event of the day was the table cricket. This was because even though most of the children had some form of disability or learning difficulty, they were still able to come together to create a remarkable atmosphere where none of that mattered. Overall it was a unique leadership experience that I hope I can take part in again next year.

Student report by Rudo Makoni 92ST

10 Sports News - Cheerleading

Cheerleading is amazing; we do lots of fun things like stunts and jumps. The people who are in the team are from Years 7, 8 and 9. The lady who teaches us, Karen, is very kind.

Karen teaches primary schools but we are the only high school. We have learnt how to do different lifts and jumps. We have also learnt that when you are doing cheerleading you have to work well as a team. You also have to trust one another because you do lots of stunts.

You should come and join us because you can learn different things and it is a fun and enjoyable after school club.

Cheerleading is on every Wednesday after school at 3:30pm until 4:30pm.

Student report by Trinity Calvano and Isabel Goldney.

Good Luck to Year 9 Student Chloe Hewitt

Lealands’ Year 9 student, Chloe Hewitt, is off to Holland for 5 days in April for a football tournament.

She plays in goal for the Flitwick Eagles Girls Football Club and will be competing in the Dutch Easter Open.

There are 478 teams from 13 countries involved in the tournament.

Chloe is very excited about the trip and we would like to wish her and her team the best of luck!

11 Leadership Event at Dell Farm

Earlier this month the school’s gold ambassadors; Aronte Quashie, Destiny-Blu Atkinson, Jake Kissiedu and the platinum ambassadors; Chantelle Johnson and Regan Cook, led a training day with other ambassadors across Luton at Dell Farm.

The day was spent training adistars and silver ambassadors in order for them to take away leadership skills they could use at their own school and within the community. The day was successful and everyone left having learnt something new from the ambassador led team building activities.

Well done to the ambassadors who took the time to plan this event and the adistars and silver ambassadors who took part:

Tia Travers, Kayla Perry, Nadine Scarlett, Shannon Shakes, Amoy Smith and Elise Crick.

Young Chef of The Year District Finals

Congratulations to Year 10 catering student Megan Cole who recently entered the ‘Young Chef of the Year’ district finals, following her win in the Luton competition. Megan was competing against other students who were as old as 18 and applied herself brilliantly.

The judges were every impressed with her ability and said they thought she was extremely talented for her age.

12 Gifted and Talented Day

Fifty of Lealands’ most gifted and talented students have recently taken part in a special Gifted and Talented Day at school.

‘Gifted’ is used to describe a student who excels in an academic subject, while ‘Talented’ means students who have abilities in more creative subjects. The students are selected through regular assessment data/testing and teacher nomination.

On the day, students from Years 7 to 10 took part and were divided into mixed teams. They were asked to work together in their teams to compete against the others.

Activities involved; building bridges with limited resources, which had their strength tested by placing an increasing number of weights on top. They designed planes, wrapped and dropped eggs from a height, completed surveys, built spaghetti towers and took part in 4 Mensa challenges, individually, in pairs or in teams.

Throughout the day, students alternated between physical and mental activities; building their communication and teamwork skills.

It was a challenging but enjoyable day for all those involved.

“Today was challenging, just like I am challenged in my lessons to achieve my best. I believe I can achieve my goals”. Saara Walsh Year 10

“At Lealands I enjoy being challenged. I enjoy Gifted and Talented days because they are an extension of my work.” Georgia May Year 7

“I am Gifted and Talented at Lealands High school, which gives me amazing challenges and extension opportunities. It makes me want to achieve, not only in lessons, but everything outside school”. Asher Omar Year 7

In addition to special days like this, identified gifted and talented students at Lealands also have the opportunity to attend workshops, subject specific sessions, clubs and day trips relevant to their expertise.

13 Art Student Wins 1st Prize in National Photography Competition

Year 11 GCSE art student, Leone Crick has defeated over 2,000 other young people to win first prize in a nationwide photography competition.

The competition, which was run by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), was titled ‘Where do I belong?’ It challenged entrants to produce a photograph which reflected where they feel they belong in society. The image had to provide the answers to the following questions; who are you? Where do you feel you fit in - in your family, your community, the wider world? How do you see the world around you, and what forms your opinions?

The photograph could be of a place, something they do, a person in their life or something which illustrated where they would like their life to go. Leone chose to take a photograph of himself, which he entitled ‘Be ready’. The image shows Leone preparing for a swimming competition; he said “I wanted the photograph to capture my competitive edge”.

Leone was encouraged to enter the competition by art teacher Mrs Kellet to expand his learning for his art GCSE.

ESRC received over 2,000 entries in the competition and the judges were delighted with the high standard of work produced. Leone’s prizes included £300 in vouchers and a trophy for himself, plus £300 for the school.

Following the announcement Leone said; “I was very excited to hear I had won first prize. It came as a big surprise and I am really excited to see my photograph in the exhibition”. Leone and his parents were invited to attend an awards evening on Thursday 20th March at The Strand Gallery in London, to collect his prizes. Leone’s winning entry

The competition was run as part of National Science and Engineering week and photographs were displayed at a flagship exhibition at The Strand Gallery in central London between 18 and 23 March 2014.

Well Done Leone!

14 Rotary Club Technology Competition

On the 14th of March, two teams from Lealands High School took part in the annual Rotary Club technology competition in Baptist Church.

Eight students from Years 7, 8, and 9 formed the teams who were competing against teams representing nearly a dozen other secondary schools from the area.

The tournament itself challenged the teams to use mechanisms to create a "grabbing" tool that would be suitable for handling a hazardous material, with the overall winner being the team that was deemed to have best solved the problem.

Both Lealands’ teams displayed incredible ingenuity and technical ability in their attempts which led to some extremely creative and original work. Both teams fully immersed themselves in the nuances of such a technical task and, though the victory eluded them this time, they can take away some well learned lessons from an invaluable and unique experience.

15 Year 10 Work Experience 3rd—14th February

This year our Year 10 students took part in a two week work experience programme. This gave our students the opportunity to learn and acquire news skills, as well as experiencing work life first hand in their chosen field. Our students worked in a number of organisations from well-known retail outlets to local nurseries and restaurants.

It was a great success and I would like to congratulate all our students for their hard work and commitment in completing their two week work experience– Mr Quddus, work experience co-ordinator.

Here are some of the accounts taken from students who took part in the programme:

Aronte Quashie 101GP - Brakes and Service World, Chaul End.

For my work experience I wanted to work with cars, so I decided to work for local garage Brakes and Service World. My working hours were from 9am until 5pm and the staff at Brakes and Service World were really helpful. I was given a lot of sound advice on what options and courses to take to become a qualified mechanic.

During my two weeks I learnt a lot about mechanical engineering such as fixing and servicing cars. I was provided with gloves, overalls and steel capped boots to meet with the health and safety laws at the workplace. My role was very practical as I had to get my hands dirty changing tyres, fitting exhausts pipes, changing oil filters and replacing brake discs and pads. I also helped with the MOT testing of some cars.

I really enjoyed my work placement and it has strengthened my ambition to pursue a career in mechanics. I would definitely recommend this placement to anyone who wants to be a mechanic.

16 Year 10 Work Experience 3rd—14th February

Justina Johnson 106MF - Next Retail Ltd, Gypsy Lane

For my work experience I wanted to work in sales and was given the opportunity to spend two weeks at the retail outlet Next in Gypsy lane. I was really nervous at first, as I had to arrange my own interview with the manager. Once this was completed I was really excited to start work. I found the staff really friendly and always willing to help if I was stuck or needed anything. For the two weeks, I did a variety of jobs including meeting and greeting customers at the door, helping with sales, answering queries, stock taking and helping monitor the fitting rooms. I was also responsible for making sure the shop floor was always tidy. I really enjoyed my work experience as I learnt so much about how a business runs and makes a profit and the importance of customer service. I would recommend Next to anyone who wants to learn about working in retail and sales.

Gaurav Bassi 102MH - Cycle King, Road

For my two weeks I worked at Cycle King, one of the biggest retailers in the UK who specialise in selling bicycles to the public. I was really nervous as I didn’t know what to expect but at the same time I was excited because I love working with bikes.

Once I started my placement and completed my induction I felt comfortable as the staff were really friendly and made me feel very welcome.

My working hours were from 9am till 5pm and I was responsible for making sure all the bikes on the shop floor were in working order. I was also responsible for stock taking and fixing and repairing bikes that were damaged.

I enjoyed my work experience especially learning how to fix bikes and would recommend this placement for all bike enthusiasts.

17 Year 10 Work Experience 3rd—14th February

Leigha Collet 105SS - Thomas Whitehead Lower School,

For my work experience I was placed at Thomas Whitehead Lower School in Houghton Regis for two weeks from 8.30am to 4pm. I worked with a variety of children from all different backgrounds, from reception ages to 4 years old.

My duties included supervising the children at all times making sure they were safe and happy.

I took part in a variety of projects based around animals, helping the children with their hand writing and maths. I also took part in reading stories and singing songs and one of their favourite books was ‘Rumble in the Jungle’ about lions which the children loved.

In the mornings I was tasked with filling the fruit bowls and making sure the class had milk and water for the day. I had to help prepare and serve snacks and help tidy up the classroom at the end of the day before I went home.

I thoroughly enjoyed my two weeks at Thomas Whitehead Lower School. The staff were really nice and they were always around to help. They made me feel very welcome and treated me like a member of staff.

Some more photos from our students work experience

18 Year 10 Work Experience 3rd—14th February

19 Dance Show 2014

On 25th, 26th and 27th February, forty of our students from Years 7 - 11 performed in our annual dance show 'An Evening of Dance'.

On Tuesday 25th February, students performed the show to 300 children from Pirton Hill Primary school, Sundon Park junior school, Primary School and Cheynes Infant school. The children were very impressed by what they saw and it was a pleasure to perform to such an enthusiastic and well behaved audience.

On Wednesday 26th and Thursday 27th February, the performers from Lealands were joined by Next Generation Youth Theatre and Pirton Hill Primary school to perform to the general public. This is the first year we have performed the show on two nights and I am pleased to report that it was a sell out on both nights! This year's dance show was the biggest we have done to date, with 27 pieces of dance including street, ballet and contemporary dance styles.

The work had been created during lessons and as part of our extra-curricular programme. The performers and students who operated backstage were all excellent and we thank them all for their hard work and dedication in making this year's show such an overwhelming success. More photographs are available to view on the Gallery page of our website: www.lealands.luton.sch.uk

20 Dance Show 2014

21 North Herts College Students Showcase Their Coursework

North Herts College BTEC Level 3 performing arts dance students recently came to Lealands and performed work from their course.

Among the performers were some ex Lealands students who had left our school with distinction* in dance. It was great to see them continuing their studies and amazing to see how well they are doing at college.

Also among the performers was the world champion male freestyle disco dancer. He was inspirational to watch and wowed the audience with his flexibility and skills!

The performance was enjoyed by many of our Year 9 students, who are considering BTEC Dance as an option in Year 10, and our current BTEC dance students from Year 11.

If you would like to know more about BTEC dance, please do not hesitate to contact Mrs Harley.

22 Jazz Dance Workshops

On Wednesday 5th March we were lucky enough to have Mrs Paige from Samuel Ryder Academy come in and run some jazz dance workshops with our Year 10 and 11 BTEC dance students.

Mrs Paige is an ex-professional dancer so she was able to give the students an insight into her life as a dancer.

The workshops focused on the work of Bob Fosse with the students learning the opening scene from Chicago; "All That Jazz". The students thoroughly enjoyed the sessions and it was great to see them turn their (jazz) hand to a different style.

23 Accelerated Reader Week and World Book Day

Monday 3rd March - Friday 7th March was Accelerated Reader week at Lealands, which included World Book Day on Thursday 6th March.

The Accelerated Reader programme is a scheme which is used across schools in the Luton Futures Partnership, the UK and internationally to help promote the importance of literacy and inspire a love of reading.

To encourage and inspire the students to continue their reading, they participated in a number of events and reading based activities. Assemblies and most lessons across the curriculum focused around Accelerated Reader week and World Book Day. Plus, there was a live web stream with author Robert Muchamore detailing his life as an author.

On Thursday 6th March, to celebrate World book Day, teachers came to school dressed as their favourite book characters. It was great to see everyone make such a fantastic effort with their costumes.

The Learning Resource Centre held a book fair with books supplied by Larburham House Publishing Company which were available for half the cover price. Students were also given a £1 World Book Day voucher from their form tutor to be used to either purchase a World Book day condensed publication from WH Smith or Waterstones, or used against a book purchased from those stores.

24 Accelerated Reader Week and World Book Day

25 Numeracy

It is important that all our students recognise that numeracy is an important part of life. Being numerate is not just for the maths classroom, numeracy skills are important and used every day; at home and in the workplace.

Students have the opportunity to enjoy numeracy activities in tutor time activities, competitions and special events. Details of these will be advertised in future newsletters.

Our parental support sessions for Year 7 have started. If you would like the opportunity to work with us and your son/daughter in a supportive friendly environment please let us know.

If you have any concerns regarding your child's numeracy skills or how to support them with their numeracy or their maths homework please contact Miss Gail Patten on 01582 611600 or email: [email protected]

Numeracy Activity

68 people are sitting in 20 cars and each car contains at most 4 people. What is the maximum possible number of cars that could contain exactly 1 of the 68 people?

Please email your solution to Miss Gail Patten at: [email protected]

26 UKMT Intermediate Maths Challenge

On the Thursday the 6th of February, selected students from our top set Year 9 and Year 11 classes took part in the UKMT Intermediate Challenge. Unfortunately for the year 10s the date clashed with their work experience and so were unable to enter.

The Intermediate Challenge is aimed at the top third of pupils in Years 9 - 11 in , Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland. The challenge involves answering 25 multiple choice questions in one hour under normal exam conditions; any incorrect answers can lose marks. The questions are intended to be challenging and we are really proud of all pupils who took part. A special congratulations goes to the following pupils:

Ryan O'Reilly - Best in the school (and Best in Year 11) and achieved a Gold certificate Tia Travers - Best in Year 9 and achieved a bronze certificate

Oliver Stringer - Achieved a silver certificate Bethany Salt - Achieved a bronze certificate Nirusan Tharmaseelan - Achieved a bronze certificate Candice Lawlor - Achieved a bronze certificate Abisha Tharmaseelan - Achieved a bronze certificate Naa Ntodi - Achieved a bronze certificate

Ryan has also been invited to take part in the follow on round, taken by pupils from over 30 countries. Selected Year 7 and 8 pupils will get the opportunity to compete in the UK Mathematics Trust Junior Challenge after Easter.

Try some of the questions yourself:

1) An equilateral triangle is placed inside a larger equilateral triangle so that the diagram has three lines of symmetry.

What is the value of x? A 100 B 110 C 120 D 130 E 150

2) How many weeks are there in 8 x 7 x 6 x 5 x 4 x 3 x 2 x 1 minutes? A 1 B 2 C 3 D 4 E 5

3) How many 4-digit integers (from 1000 to 9999) have at least one digit repeated? A 62 x 72 B 52 X 72 C 52 X 82 D 42 X 82 E 42 X 92

Answers on the bottom of the back page

27 Commonwealth Day Observance - 10th March

We were very fortunate to have been offered a number of tickets for the Commonwealth Day Observance Service at Westminster Abbey on Monday 10th March.

The celebration was focused around a multi-faith service and took place in the presence of Her Majesty The Queen, The Duke of Edinburgh, The Prince of Wales, The Duchess of Cornwall and the Earl and Countess of Wessex, senior politicians, High Commissioners, Commonwealth dignitaries and over 1,000 young people.

The aim of these days is to celebrate the unity, diversity and linkages of the modern Commonwealth and foster greater understanding of the Commonwealth’s achievements and role, particularly among young people.

The theme this year was the importance of teamwork and collaboration both within and between Commonwealth countries. It also set the tone for the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow later in the year.

Key speakers included Lord Coe, Baroness Tanni Grey-Thomson (Paralympian) and Malala Yousafzai (Malala is the young girl who was shot by the Taliban for her campaign on the rights of girls to receive an education). There was also a memorable performance by Laura Mvula (winner of ‘Best Female’ in the 2013 MOBO awards) and a welcome by ‘Clyde’ the Commonwealth Games mascot.

28 Commonwealth Day Observance - 10th March

Here are some students reports from the day:

“I saw the Queen today….and I am NOT joking!

Now I am in Year 11, Monday period one normally means Science for me. This week, things were different. I arrived at school on a very warm, sunny March morning…again I am not joking! I was ready to go to London.

We all jumped in the mini bus; I got to sit at the front with Mr Slatter. By the way, he was the driver, but I think we would have got there quicker if I was driving. At Leagrave train station, we all rushed to catch our train from Platform 4 after a delay because of the broken parking ticket machine. It was good sitting on the train, looking out the window at so many different things. I made sore Miss Moore knew what all the things were that I knew.

Very quickly we were in London and walking through Green Park to Buckingham palace to watch the changing of the guard. I have never seen anything like it before. There was even soldiers and police on horses to guard the palace. The guards marched up and down to the sound of the loud bangs of the drum. It was a lot longer than I thought it would be; I sat down on the steps with Mr Slatter for the last bit.

Next, it was the cabinet offices, Downing Street and the Houses of Parliament with Mr Slatter as our tour guide. I thought the buildings were massive!

The bell went for lunch; it was Big Ben. It was getting colder, so Mr Slatter took us all to get hot drinks.

The queue outside Westminster Abbey was very long and getting longer. We were all guests at a very special event called ‘An Observance for Commonwealth Day’, and we all waited to go through security control.

In the Abbey, everyone was getting ready. There was a film crew setting up their cameras and loads of TV screens on the walls. They were all on the same channel – US! One camera was zoomed on the orchestra, and sitting next to them was Mr Slatter with a great big smile on his face.

Suddenly, loud music began and everybody started standing up…the Queen had arrived! I could see her on every TV screen, and then she was right in front of me. Next to her, I could see the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Charles and Prince Edward.

Actually, I saw the Queen TWICE. At the end of the service, there was a procession out of

29 Commonwealth Day Observance - Continued the Abbey by all the important guests from the Commonwealth countries. At the front was the Queen and soon there she was again, standing in front of me. She stopped and smiled at all the children before she walked towards the huge glass doors at the front of the Abbey. There were loads of people, young and old waiting to talk to the Queen before she went home. I watched it all on the TV screens and waited for my turn to move and go home too.

In the procession, I saw a long line of flags (one for every country) being carried by children. It reminded me of Lealands’ sports day last year and all the flags on the school field. Some children in the Commonwealth are not even allowed to go to school!

Outside the Abbey, it was absolutely freezing. I was glad I had my racing jacket on. The tube back to Kings Cross station was completely packed because it was rush hour. Mr Slatter made sure we could all get in before he got through the doors and squeezed in too. He was standing very close to the doors and pulling a strange face. A voice on the loudspeaker said “Move away from the doors”. Mr Slatter did not move! The strap on his backpack was stuck in the door; he was laughing…so was I.

At the next stop, we tried to get out; it was very difficult. Mr Slatter was free again. We followed his shiny head up the escalators and along the windy corridors to catch our train back to Leagrave. When we got there, the train was nearly full. Loads of people had to stand up. I quickly looked around and managed to find a seat. At last, I was warm again. I got my mobile phone out and I text my friends…”I saw the Queen today….and I am NOT joking!”. Jamie Brown Year 11

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“My favourite part of the day was listening to Laura Mvula perform and watching a dance group called Visual Statement. Rudo and myself were very excited when we saw the Queen because when we came to Westminster Abbey last year, the Queen was ill so she couldn't come.

We all had to guess what colour she was going to wear and I guessed pink. I was surprised when she walked in wearing pink because I thought she would be wearing yellow or blue but I couldn't say those colours as they were already taken. Overall, it was a great day!” Samara Ottey Year 8    

30 Commonwealth Day Observance - Continued

“On the 10th March, I was honoured to receive an invitation to the Commonwealth Observance Day in Westminster Abbey. The day started off quite slow, with a lot of travelling and most of the morning spent looking out of train windows.

Finally when we got to the Abbey you had to wait in a colossal queue, so we could get searched for dangerous items. The minute we got into the Abbey, it was all worth it though. The details and design on the inside were so intricate and beautiful, it was hard to image that this was all made by hand without modern day machinery.

The ceremony itself was a sight to behold, with many famous faces such as Laura Mvula and Her Majesty the Queen. There were performances from very talented people and speakers that included Malala Yousafzai. The atmosphere itself was unbeatable and you could feel the pride swelling in the building swelling as The Queen made her own speech. All in all, this event was a wonderful occasion and I would recommended it to any student in the school to look up into because it truly is spectacular”. Rudo Makoni Year 9

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“I was selected to go to the Commonwealth Service at Westminster Abbey. We went on the train which was a little bit busy.

When it was time to enter Westminster Abbey, we had to go through a security check (I was quite nervous). The minute I walked in, I was stunned by how awesome the building was. We sat next to the string section, they were fantastic.

We listened to some speeches, sang hymns and listened to fabulous performers like Laura Mvula who I had a photograph with and got her autograph.

When the Queen arrived, all of us had to stand, she wore a nice pink outfit which really suited her.

I was lucky to be selected and think everyone should visit Westminster Abbey”. Huali Zheng Year 7.    

31 Commonwealth Day Observance - Continued

“We had the opportunity to go to Westminster Abbey for the Commonwealth service. First we had a tour around London and we saw the ceremonial event of the changing of the guards. We also saw the London Eye and the Houses of Parliament. It was amazing.

When we saw the Abbey, we were amazed; it’s huge, even bigger than our school. Before we went inside, we had our bags checked and went through a metal detector. Our seats were behind the violas so the music was both beautiful and loud. Many important people entered, but the last one was the most important. The Queen, who was dressed in pink, entered the Abbey and walked down to the end where the main event was happening. We sang and said prayers. We saw The Hermit Crabs too (a dance troop) which was funny. Other people came like Malala Yousafzai.

The trip was amazing, but we were all tired at the end”. Sarah Hilsdon Year 8.

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“London was a fantastic experience and one I will never forget. I heard about the Commonwealth, but to actually be there was amazing! It was a great feeling to be in the presence of the Queen and my superiors. I loved the different ways everyone expressed their thoughts on the Commonwealth, it was so exciting!

It was a privilege for me to be there and I just want to thank everyone who made this happen”. Karris McGonigle Year 8

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