Summer 2016 Welcome to the Summer Newsletter
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Summer 2016 Welcome to the Summer Newsletter I write to you as we enter the final weeks of another busy academic year. Where does the time go? At the end of the last half term, At this time, Primary children have Y1 travelled ‘Beyond the Four recently completed their SATs and Walls’ to Endcliffe Park, to put Y11 students have a further week of their knowledge of local and GCSE examinations to go. I would national heroes to the test. like to place on record my thanks They put their learning into to staff for ‘going the extra mile’ to action and went on a huge ensure every child is fully prepared, scavenger hunt across the park. and to students for working so very hard. We hope every child achieves Pupils looked for clues linked the outcomes they deserve! to some of the most significant However, as this newsletter testifies, people throughout British history, life at school is not just about and used their knowledge to examinations, and children have solve Mr McDermott’s had many wonderful experiences challenging puzzle! They during the last term. successfully managed to outsmart him - finding clues Thankfully, as we enter the latter hidden in the walls, under rocks half of the Summer Term it begins and even at the top of a tree! to have a slightly lighter feel. This is the time for the Y6 Residential, Y11 On their arrival back at school, Prom, Charity Day, Rewards Trips they eagerly wrote recounts and Y6-7 Transition Week. about their interesting day! [Mr Heath and Miss Haynes] As you can imagine, we intend to finish the year on a real high and I look forward to reporting back strong results and a wide range of exciting events and activities in our Autumn Newsletter. Finally, I would like to thank parents/ Following the wishes of both a life size angel, standing over six feet, carers for their continued support staff and students, we would like abstract and figurative but not following for our school and wish you a to commission a local artist, Jason any traditional religious image. Heppenstall, to design and make a happy summer break with some permanent external sculpture as a lasting The sculpture will be made out of sunshine… memorial for Miss Louise Greasley. reclaimed mild steel and sprayed with a specialist clear lacquer to protect it from The sculpture will be sited in the school the elements as well as enhancing the grounds and will be a focus to help sculpture’s texture and patina. Mr C French remember and celebrate the life of Louise. (Executive Principal) A sculpture of this size obviously takes Following an initial design meeting with time to make and requires funding. Jason and taking inspiration from Anthony Our target is to raise £3500. In order to Gormley’s ‘Angel of the North’ it was make this happen we have set up a ‘just decided the sculpture would be based on giving’ page which can be found at - crowdfunding.justgiving.com/Misslouisegreasley or via the Louise Greasley Facebook page Beyond the Four Walls The Beatles Reunited at Endcliffe Park It’s true! The latest ‘Beyond the Four Walls’ adventure saw the Y2 children reunite the Beatles. Having learnt all about the Beatles in class, their outdoor challenge was to find sections of album covers and reunite all the pieces. Successfully creating one of the famous album covers resulted in access to the cafe for an ice cream or hot chocolate! Hope to Edale Remember, the 88 bus from Firth Park goes directly to the park. Why not head It’s that time of year again when the Y5s and Y6s head out to Hope, in the Peak that way one weekend? National Park. This is what they thought about the trip… “It was the first time I had ever been on a train, it was a very exciting trip”(Shaleen) “The best trip ever! - wish we could all go again” (Adam) Running Club hits the Peaks “It was tiring because we needed to climb up a massive mountain” (Hasan) After a number of weeks training in “I liked the trip because it helped me get better at walking …one thing I hated was the Concord Park and around Wincobank Hill, smell of poo and seeing dead sheep!” (Hamza) we felt strong enough to venture in to the Peak National Park. We left the minibus “The trip was amazing, I would really like to go on this trip again, even though the at Longshaw Estate for a 5km run with mountain was very hard to climb” (Chelsea) awesome views and running very close to cows and sheep! The RAF even did a “I loved this trip…seeing the great views” (Charleigh) fly-past for us, as two huge Hercules flew along the valley! The final section saw “The Edale trip was spectacular. I would highly recommend it to other schools” (Amari) us run alongside Padley Gorge, before returning to Longshaw and the much “Amazing, absolutely AMAZING!” (Saif) talked about cafe. Longshaw Estate is a great place for a family walk or run. See Mr McDermott if you’d like to know more. Y3 and Y4 recently had the fantastic opportunity to visit and live at Whirlow Farm for our annual residential. The children lived on a real working farm; they had the lovely experiences of handling new born ducklings, collecting freshly laid eggs and pony riding! However, the undesirable jobs also needed completing – they got their hands dirty and got stuck into doing activities such as removing animal waste! Both groups had a fantastic time in the evening, walking and bouldering in the Peak District, with thanks to Mr McDermott. Throughout their stay, the children made their own beds, washed the pots and even helped cook dinner - let’s hope it continues at home too! [Mrs Grice and Mrs Wilkinson] The children in Y2 had a fantastic time when they were visited by a live band, ‘Even the Odds’, as part of their learning about the Beatles. The children learnt two Beatles songs, which they then performed with the band to the Y3 and Y4 children. The band then sang a selection of songs, which the children clapped and danced along to. This was a fantastic opportunity to see professional musicians playing a range of instruments and some pupils were even offered Even the chance to have a go on the guitars and drums. the Odds This has inspired so many children to now want to learn an instrument of their own! RE through P4C Our RE curriculum teaches us about tolerance and respect it provides an open forum for us to ask questions, share views and through knowledge of the different religions represented in our clarify our ideas. It lets us delve deeper into some tricky questions community and around the world. in a safe environment where everybody’s ideas are welcomed and respected. Questioning, thinking about and sharing views and ideas, are a vital part of us understanding religions; it allows us to be open with Our ‘Speed P4C’ sessions are included on every RE theme day for each other in sharing our own experiences of faith. every year group, from Y1 right thorough to Y6. Ask your child to share what has really made them think deeply, P4C (Philosophy for Children) goes hand in hand with RE because after our next RE theme day! [Mrs Anglesea] Healthy Eating The school caterer’s, Mellors, provided a healthy eating cooking session for the Y8’s in February. They wanted to teach students some basic cooking skills and to try and show them how vegetables can taste good. They were taught how to make a type of samosa, using carrots, onion, and lamb. To start with, good hygiene was taught and the students were sent off to clean their hands. Then they were shown what they had to do and how to make the samosa. Afterwards, the students had their own go - deciding what vegetables they wanted inside their samosa and then wrapping the mix up in pastry. All the students really focused and had a great time trying things out and learning how to create something new. We would like to add our thanks to Mellors for providing this excellent experience. [Mrs Greenwood] While learning about the seaside, Y3 went on a fantastic all about the rescues he has made from the Cleethorpes trip to Cleethorpes. The children enjoyed feeling the sand lifeboat station, the longest serving in the UK. The children between their toes and building sandcastles while looking were fascinated to hear his tale of once rescuing a cow from at the features of the seaside. the sea! The children demonstrated great behaviour and enjoyed a cooling ice cream in the lovely sunny weather. “It The children met with Steve from the R.N.L.I. and learnt was the best day of my life!” commented Marian in Y3GL. Performing Arts Well done to the cast of ‘Grease’ - they have now rehearsed the first half of the play with Mr Cooke and Ms Dudley and have now started on some of the dance routines with Mrs Smith. Next up will be the songs. Students from all years went on a trip to see the National Theatre Connections Festival at the Crucible Theatre. We all loved the show and thought the performances were brilliant. Hinde House students will be performing in the festival next year, so if students would like to be involved, make sure you audition next term. [Mr Cooke] Design Challenge A group of Year 10 Product Design students were chosen to design the full cycle kit for the 4Challenge charity bike ride team, which raises money for Weston Park Hospital Cancer Charity.