New Line Learning Newsletter
12 February 2021 NEW LINE LEARNING NEWSLETTER
Believe and Achieve
MESSAGE FROM THE HEADTEACHER
Dear Parents/ Carers,
As we come to the end of a quite extraordinary Term for many
of us I am writing to once again try to clarify the current
situation at the school given the rapidly changing circumstances that we have found ourselves in. It is now becoming even more obvious that the pandemic is now having a huge impact on many who work and are connected to the school particularly in regard to rising infection rates again locally. I would like to reiterate that the commitment of our staff to the children and our school remains undiminished but we are constantly having to adapt to almost daily announcements,
New Line Learning Newsletter 1 12 February 2021 guidance changes and directives from Government. It was always going to be the case that the ever changing pandemic would require some changes of direction but currently the school staff and pupils are facing ever more uncertainty. My message to all in our community is that we will as a school continue to support all pupils through these times and attempt to ensure that all have the opportunities that they deserve to be educated, supported and guided in the coming weeks. I do not have any influence over national announcements or policy but will make decisions that I feel are right and proper for those in our care. As I have stated many times this does not always meet the expectations of all but in such chaotic times we must forge forward and try and provide a clear direction where we can.
REMOTE LEARNING
I would like to thank you for your continued support of our staff and your kind comments about our remote teaching that is being provided. Staff are working exceptionally hard and as you can imagine this has taken time, much training and a huge effort to keep developing and set up.
Just a reminder, if a staff member is absent work will be uploaded to TEAMS for pupils to access in their absence as it will be impossible to cover lessons.
EXAMINATIONS AND TESTS
I am not sure quite what to say to either pupils, parents or staff in regard to announcements by the Government over National tests and Examinations. Once again there remains very little clarity over the process from now on and we have been left
New Line Learning Newsletter 2 12 February 2021 trying to reassure and advise on the current round of BTEC examinations. However, I will try and outline what I can about the facts and the school position:
SECONDARY SUMMER EXAMS – The Government have not yet released to us the process of replacing exams this year and will be consulting over the next two weeks. I would urge all pupils to keep working hard as they did last year to ensure that we have evidence to prove grades if needed to do so. We will not just hand pupils grades if they have not worked hard for them!
BTEC JANUARY ASSESSMENTS - At present the Government have left it up to schools to decide whether these examinations take place or not and in our view this is not ideal given that we are in a pandemic and in lockdown. We are therefore willing to accommodate those that are desperate to sit them and those that do not wish to come into school and not sit them. I am aware that this is a difficult decision for all of you and one which only you can decide at this time in discussions at home. Whatever you decide to do we will support you and I am extremely frustrated by the apparent lack of leadership at national level over this. We are unclear over the way forward at present but have safety measures in place if you wish to go ahead. It is unusual for me not to make a clear decision but I am aware that at present at least half the pupils are coming in because they wish to sit them and it is not our place as a school to deter you from doing so if pupils have prepared fully. We will continue in this light until we have further clarity and I can only apologise for the Government`s lack of direction! It remains your decision.
ATTITUDE TO LEARNING:
It would be very easy for pupils at both schools to simply stop working, particularly with the changes to exams and National tests. However, everyone needs to realise that we
New Line Learning Newsletter 3 12 February 2021 need to base grades and evidence on what is happening now and the assessments when pupils return. Please support us with ensuring that all pupils are accessing lessons and working hard in all areas of their learning. We will need evidence to back up any grades that we predict for the children in the summer. The vast majority are working really hard and we are very proud of them.
COVID TESTING:
Staff are now being tested weekly using the Rapid Flow System and we have a dedicated team set up for this. This is a massive achievement to have even reached this point and I would like to thank those staff who have supported me over Christmas and this week to set it up.
FINAL THOUGHT FOR THE TERM:
Over the last few months we have probably learnt many things about ourselves, realised that we have resilience that we didn`t know we had, come to terms with the fact that many things are out of our control and realised that by working together we can achieve great things. This week the staff have continued to make their Headteacher an extremely proud person, they have adapted again to change, they have welcomed the inconvenience of a new Covid testing system and they have patiently waited and then trusted me to make some very difficult decisions. I am sure that the new lockdown announcement has created much anxiety amongst parents in regard to teaching at home and supporting the learning of your children. We will continue to support you, provide the best opportunities we can and we will stay connected with you in a variety of ways. Your messages of encouragement continue to provide us with hope, with the desire to do better and most importantly have picked many staff up when they have felt low. There are many staff who themselves are dealing with loss, illness and difficult situations at home but continue to work daily for the best interests of our children. I
New Line Learning Newsletter 4 12 February 2021 have seen much pain, strife and worry across our community in the last nine months caused by just one virus, but what will come through in the end is the willingness of our community to care for each other and show compassion for each other.
All I can promise is that our school will continue to provide hope, practice compassion, develop stronger friendships in this virtual world, forgive each other when we make the wrong call and most importantly act with wisdom in ever changing circumstances.
The only option is forward………………………………………………and we will lead in the best way we can.
Warmest regards
Paul Murphy
New Line Learning Newsletter 5 12 February 2021
MATHS DEPARTMENT NEWS
This term in Maths we have been studying a range of topics remotely. Year 7 have enjoyed looking at solving problems with the four main operations as well as starting to explore fractions and percentages of amounts, useful when it comes to shopping the sales! Year 8s got stuck into my favourite topic Algebra, starting to look at sequences, indices and brackets. Meanwhile year 9 focused on money problems, working with pay slips and tax rates and adding VAT to purchase, all very important areas with plenty of links to the real world. Year 10 took on the difficult topic of circles and vectors – learning how to calculate the area of a circle and then using that to calculate volume and surface area of cylinders and other difficult prisms!
We continue to teach remotely and pupils are engaging really well in a variety of online resources that we use such as: www.drfrostmaths.com www.mymaths.co.uk www.ttrockstars.com
Every pupil at the academy has an account to the above sites and they can be used independently to improve topics that might need work– if you need help with passwords and log ins etc then please contact the academy directly.
New Line Learning Newsletter 6 12 February 2021
New Line Learning School of Excellence…
#SaveTheArts
While learning remotely, SoE team were still committed to keep pushing forward in improving the pupils’ skills, as well as providing them with a much-needed break form virtual lesson. We decided to support the ‘save the arts’ movement, creating much needed awareness of the importance of the arts, and the worry of how the arts will be affected by the pandemic.
Each week pupils had a short 30-minute session with an exciting independent task to complete. These included: a lip sync battle, a spoken word challenge, a musical dance number, as well as a production task. The work that the pupils have produced has been a real credit to them and the arts, really proving the importance behind the ‘save the arts’ movement. Hopefully they also had a lot of fun in the process! A video showcasing the amazing work pupils have done will be available soon.
Hamilton Workshop
New Line Learning Newsletter 7 12 February 2021 Pupils in the NLL School of Excellence had a wonderful opportunity to work with star of West End’s ‘Hamilton’, Ellena Vincent. In the hour-long virtual workshop, pupils learnt a dance from the musical, and explored the storyline and character behind it. This was followed by a question and answer session, where Ellena gave the pupils valuable insight into the performing arts industry, detailing what it is like to perform in a west end show.
The pupils thoroughly enjoyed the workshop opportunity, engaged well with the questioning, and showed great commitment to the SoE. This was a fantastic opportunity – even the staff wanted to get involved! This certainly left the pupils exciting for future projects!
Unfortunately, due to unforeseen circumstances, the SoE Instagram has not been very active over the past two terms. These issues have been fixed and, as of Term 4, will be fully active and engaging. Be be sure to follow and check out some of the great work being produced.
New Line Learning Newsletter 8 12 February 2021
@nll_schoolofexcellence.
MUSIC DEPARTMENT NEWS
During the current lockdown pupils have been engaging and developing their music Skills using the music App Bandlab. Bandlab is a free to use app that allows users to write, record and produce music and performances using a vast array of instruments and sounds. Pupils are able to share their work with the department and also work collaboratively with peers online.
Lockdown and online learning has had an impact on all subject areas, but particularly the performing arts which is such a practical and demonstration based discipline. It has been encouraging to see a good numbers of pupils engaging with their music studies, and actively developing their skills whilst seeking feedback to progress their work.
New Line Learning Newsletter 9 12 February 2021 Here is an example of student work
completed by Santiago Dasilva (year 8):
Pupils were set a composition task using set notes to develop harmony and melody, Santiago Dasilva (year 8 pupil) explains his work:
‘This is a representation of an anime sword that is very intriguing to me, the beats represent that the sword is alive, the little crystal diamonds represent where it was found and the material of the sword and the harp represents the centre of it.'
Lilly Browning - year 9 - reflects on her use of Bandlab during Term 3: Bandlab – By Lilly Browning
You may be wondering what is Bandlab? Well, Bandlab is a social music platform that enables creators to make music and share the creative work
New Line Learning Newsletter 10 12 February 2021 you’ve made! Bandlab has unlimited storage so you can make as many albums as you want. This music platform is free for everyone around the world. Bandlab enables you to make the best free recordings around. You can autopitch your vocals, add effects like loops and change how loud the recording is in your headphones/speaker. Bandlab is a music platform where you can share your creations with others. You can even make a bit of money on this platform if your music is successful. You can listen to others for inspiration and help, you can make whatever kind of music you want, jazz, pop, hip hop, rock, metal, in fact any genre at all. I’ve enjoyed mixing and making beats on this platform and in my honest opinion it is a high-quality platform for free which is fun and easy to use. Bandlab has helped me improve my skills of editing music during lockdown.
If any parents/ carers have any questions about Bandlab and it’s educational use, please contact myself, [email protected] (Mr Walker).
Album Review - By Jack Burkitt - Year 10 Paloma Faith – Infinite Things | Album Review Paloma Faith is a British, critically acclaimed artist who is recognized for her eccentric take on R&B and often delving into the Pop sound. Her debut album, ‘Do You Want The Truth, Or Something Beautiful?’, was released in 2009, and was later certified 2x Platinum in the UK. This is just one of three albums by her to go 2x Platinum in the UK, joining Adele as the only female artist this decade to achieve this. Her last album, ‘The Architect’, was her first album to ever debut at number 1 on the official UK charts. Paloma’s third album ‘A Perfect Contradiction’ earned her Best Female Artist at the BRIT Awards in 2015. ‘Infinite Things’ is her 5th album, which kicks off with the very up-beat ‘Supernatural’, which may not be my favourite track o https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/2/2b/Paloma_Faith_-_Infinite_Things.png n
New Line Learning Newsletter 11 12 February 2021 the album, however, the vocals on it are incredibly smooth, hitting very high notes almost effortlessly, in front of an 80’s pop-inspired drumbeat. The next track, ‘Monster’, is also a disco inspired beat, with a horrifying and also beautifully harmonized backing vocals in the chorus as Paloma sings “You created a monster, rattling the bars, dancing with the stars, but I'm a monster, so hear me howl, I'm coming out.” The addition of the backing vocals adds to her lyrics, emphasizing that she has become a monster, she’s powerful, and she’s a woman not to be messed with, or underestimated. The title track, ‘Infinite Things’, deals with many different subjects and topics which are close to the singer, like love, loss, motherhood and friendship, coming together to be a very orchestral power ballad, which is followed by ‘If This Is Goodbye’, my favourite track on the album. This song has a very personal meaning to Paloma, as it deals with accepting her close friend’s illness, emotionally singing about how much this is affecting both of them mentally. This is all over a peaceful and heartwarming piano, and beautifully picked guitar. The next song ‘Better Than This’ is the comeback song, which flawlessly proved to us that Paloma Faith is an incredible singer as she reaches incredibly high notes in the chorus, and letting us know how emotional this album was going to be. A few tracks past this, we reach the closing song, to finish off the album - ‘Last Night On Earth’, which Is in my opinion, one of the weaker tracks from this record, and despite vocally nailing it, the melodies seem to quite cliché and predictable. Overall, this album successfully delivers emotional lyrics and vocals, however, a handful of songs feel like they are a ‘filler’. I rate this album a 7/10.
New Line Learning Newsletter 12 12 February 2021 YEAR 7 OAK HOUSE CELEBRATE THE SNOW AND
THEIR MOST ENJOYABLE ONLINE LESSONS…
New Line Learning Newsletter 13 12 February 2021
Book Review – By Tilly Stone – Year 7
Name: Beast Quest Author: Adam Blade Illustrator/s: David Wyatt and Steve Sims Genre: Children’s fantasy Published in: 2007 Media type: Print { hardback and paperback} A bit about the series: This book series is a fantasy novel about heroes, villains, magic and all the Beasts. It is a third person action adventure. The novels have been described as “Clearly and simply written” and “A good balance between adventure and storytelling.” Not only this but the main series has achieved 130 books published by the middle of 2019, 20 million copies of the books have been sold to this date. In addition to this, in 2015 a mobile video game based on the book was created not to mention a version for Xbox One and PS4 in 2018. Not to forget the new and improved mobile version that was released in May 2020 by Animoca.
The writers and publishers:
New Line Learning Newsletter 14 12 February 2021 These books were produced by Working Partners Ltd they were also written by several authors all using the house name Adam Blade. In the UK, this series is published by Orchard Books and in the USA, it is published by Scholastic Corporation. The plot: The plot takes place in a world called Avantia. It mainly focuses on a young boy called Tom and his friend Elenna. As well as Storm and Sliver {his horse and her wolf.} Who are making an effort to restore peace to the land by stopping the beasts from causing demolition. Why are the books so successful: One of the many reasons the books are so successful is its ability to appeal to a whole new audience with each new group of kids. It is not just a book for children it can also be read by an adult. Not to mention the amount of books produced and the amount of time the game has been downloaded. Why you should read the books: Personally, the books and outstanding. It is not just fixed to one specific part it is something new and different every book. As I have mentioned they fit for any audience any age you could read these novels. It is a fun and adventurous time reading these stories. You may not like other adventure, magical books but these creations are bound to catch your attention.
TV SERIES REVIEW - By Lucy Hatter (year 9) SHADOW HUNTERS Who else is always looking for series to binge watch?! If you are, I’ve got the one for you…
This series is called Shadow hunters. It is about a group of teens called Nephilim and they make sure the city is safe from monsters and shape shifting beasts. I know what you’re thinking, it sounds boring, it sounds like it’s for little kids. But it’s more than just fighting monsters; much more.
If you decide to watch it, you will be taken into a world filled with vampires, werewolves, love, hatred and even death. Even though it’s an old show its one of my favourites because of the drama between the two main characters. This show has got 3 seasons with 20 episodes making you not want to stop watching. You can find this on Netflix, even though you have to pay its worth watching. I would give this series 8/10…
New Line Learning Newsletter 15 12 February 2021
The House System at New Line Learning
A redesigned and reintroduced house system was brought back into the school in September 2019, with the intention of providing the students with an opportunity to take part and compete in a number of different house competitions over the year. The target was to build smaller communities within the main school environment, for which the pupils would gain House points for attendance, rewards, academic success, creative performances and sporting achievement.
Each House would have its own identity, create responsibility for both staff and pupils and facilitate community involvement through charity and work within the trust. There are 5 Houses that students of the academy are divided into when they start at Year 7. These Houses are vertical, meaning “Pupils like belonging to that there is a form class in each year group their ‘house’; they are in each House. The Houses complete against one another throughout the year, in happy and enjoy coming a variety of different competitions and activities, in order to establish the overall to the school.” OFSTED champion at the end of the year. Each November 2019 department will have its own competition during the year for which students can earn points to add to their House’s overall total. For example, History ran a competition to create a fort using only spaghetti and marshmallows.
Each House has a termly assembly where all the form groups meet to discuss upcoming competitions, reflect on previous activities and to consider opportunities for community involvement. The Houses each have a local charity that they will support, either by raising money for worthy causes or to become involved with, in a variety of different ways. We want the students to become active citizens of their community and to understand that they can make a difference to their local environment. Each House has a House leader, a member of the school staff who is responsible for the pupils in their House. There is also a House Captain for each form, who are chosen as the representative for their form. They form the Communication team with the Head of House and the Senior leader. The Communication team are then a part of the student voice of the school, the point of contact between staff and students. Students in the Communication team are also a part of the Parent Teacher Student Association.
Students are awarded House points for places awarded in House competitions, fundraising, attendance, punctuality, behaviour, and rewards. Only positive behaviour is rewarded- negative behaviour does not lose points. These are all recorded at the end of each term.
New Line Learning Newsletter 16 12 February 2021 We hope that the students enjoy being a part of the House system at New Line Learning. If you have any questions please speak to Mr Kemp.
ALBUM REVIEW - JOSEPH WHYMAN | Madeon Good Faith
Madeon’s story is one of an artist turning a viral moment into a sustained career.[4] crunchy and melodic electro-house that was not being done by his contemporaries became his every day. He would go on to release singles like “Icarus” and “The City” that gained popularity on the internet. He would work with Lady Gaga and cement his place as a producer who can easily glide between genres. His bromance with Porter Robinson hit its peak in 2016 with the release of their single “Shelter” and the subsequent global tour.
New Line Learning Newsletter 17 12 February 2021
Welcome to “Good Faith” a Grammy nomination for “best dance/electronic album , Due to only having a runtime of 35 minutes good faith is technically a “long” EP (its 5 minutes longer than an EP) However, Madeon (Hugo Pierre Leclercq) insisted that he intends good faith to be an “era” [1] which likely means that “Good Faith” will have more instalments in one form or another. Madeon has generally allowed other artists to sing on his records (see the songs “la lune” and “pay no mind”), but with Good Faith he takes the reigns. There are moments with choirs who add a heavenly feeling to the album, but it is Madeon himself who looks to put his words on the album. He often uses autotune to give his vocals a little bite and blend with the highly over-engineered synths he uses.
The album opener “Dream Dream Dream” sets the tone for this album with clean vocals before transitioning into soaring distorted lead synths and vocal chops (fragmented vowels that act as melodic or percussive elements). This song seems to be about being terrified of our passions and of the future, then coming to terms with it. This song was used in an unreleased apple advert back in September 2019[5]
New Line Learning Newsletter 18 12 February 2021
“All my Friends” adds something different with some electro funk , this song is likely about the conflicts between madeon’s personal life and his career ,for example in the line “all my friends ,they know I’m making messes out of silence” The lyric is quite directly inspired by that experience as it is like we can hear him saying "I know it's wrong to do this to you guys but I really want this".
“Be Fine” starts with “Shelter” era synths and then drops into heavily distorted sound effects. The song is about self-confidence and how it can change your view on life
New Line Learning Newsletter 19 12 February 2021 “Nirvana” and “Mania” capture the large and epic feeling of this album. Big drums match soaring synths and scuttering snares as the songs progress. These songs can be considered one continuous composition as they flow into each other and are only separated by an extended pause.
“Miracle” is about trying to live up to extremely high expectations “I’ve been trying to be every man you saw in me ““can you show me a miracle” and pushing your comfort zone “I’ve got to go to America”. This song contains large amounts of madeon’s signature vocal chops.
“No fear no more” is about Getting past that initial point of anxiety when becoming/ starting out as a musical artist [2] ,for example in the line “you used to tell me not to dream away go chase the safety not the rush “this song is composed just of just a chorus and post chorus (this could signify the non-stop action and work of trying to get noticed)
“Hold me just because” is It is the album’s love ballad, asking an unknown recipient, who Madeon has known since childhood, to hold him one more time before he lets go of them both emotionally and physically. (“hold me just because” and “heavy with hoping” could comprise a short story arc)
The album shows more twists and turns by the end. “Heavy with Hoping” (which is my favourite song on the album) has a soul music like start as Madeon laments the ability to have another chance with a hypothetical lover, who left him for some unknown reason, before getting into some loud electronic elements (wall of sound), which is kind of representative of the way people distract themselves with metaphorical walls from the feelings caused by the breakdown of a romantic relationship.(apparently)
“Borealis” is the solemn but hopeful ending track of “Good Faith.” In his AMA (ask me anything) on /r/electronicmusic (a section on the website reddit.com about electronic music), Madeon described the song as being about fatherhood and his future children.[3]
The album blends easily and has no consistent narrative unlike Nurture (the album by porter Robinson which I previously reviewed), flipping from one song to the next without trying to do too much. Each song has its own theme but fits into the overall vision of the album. There are some similarities between Good Faith and
New Line Learning Newsletter 20 12 February 2021 Adventure however even through all the music is over-engineered it feels more organic and authentic to Madeon. What a way to cap off a decade that has seen him grow from a teenager working out of his bedroom in Nantes to a festival headliner and universally loved act.
Citations and references (out of order because I did them as I wrote) (accurate as of 11th February 2021) [1] https://www.complex.com/music/2019/11/madeon-good-faith-album-stream-and- interview [2] https://genius.com/Madeon-no-fear-no-more-lyrics [3] https://i.reddit.com/r/electronicmusic/comments/dy6ae9/hello_my_name_is_madeon _and_i_just_released_my/f7yped8/.compact [4] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTx3G6h2xyA (55.3 million views at the time of writing) [5] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8NcDHj0XF8
New Line Learning Newsletter 21