Newsletter Issue 4
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Dear Parents PARENTS’ NEWSLETTER – ISSUE 4 NOVEMBER 2009 INTRODUCTION As most of you will be aware, one of our school buses, the B8 that serves Sparcells and Peatmoor, was involved in an accident with a tractor on Monday 16 November 2009. Fortunately the injuries were not as serious as they could have been. Three Year 8 girls were taken to hospital, two were discharged that evening returning to school the next day. The third Year 8 girl had a dislocated shoulder and needed surgery to remove glass from her hand. Difficult situations such as this can bring out the best in a community. I would like to thank all staff, the emergency services, parents and students for their support, kindness and consideration during a very difficult 48 hours for the B8 students, their families and the Bradon Forest community. (The letter to parents/press release that we produced has been put on the school website www.bradonforest.wilts.sch.uk under the newsletter section as Parents’ Newsletter Issue 3A.) BRADON FOREST STUDENT, PARENT AND STAFF SURVEYS As a school we regularly run a number of surveys and questionnaires each year on a variety of specific issues. However, it is five years since we ran a whole school survey for parents, students and staff. Earlier this week, questionnaires were distributed to all students, parents and staff. Your son/daughter would have brought home an envelope containing the parental questionnaire with a white return envelope. The student questionnaires contain a brown return envelope. When you have completed your parental questionnaire, please put the form in the white envelope, seal it, and your child should hand these in to his/her tutor. Students have a similar system for the collection of their brown envelopes. All the sealed envelopes (parents, students and staff) will be sent, unopened, to the survey company who will process all the returns and produce a detailed school report. This will be valuable to enhance the future development of our school. To ensure the results are significant we are hoping for as large a return rate as possible. The original return date for your envelope was Monday 23 November 2009. Due to the newsletter being a little late because of events earlier this week, we have extended this to Wednesday 25 November 2009. I would like to thank all parents, students and staff for their cooperation in completing this whole school survey. UPDATE: STUDENT PERFORMANCE REVIEW DAY (PRD) – THURSDAY 26 NOVEMBER 2009 Our first Performance Review Day of this academic year takes place on Thursday 26 November 2009 when our timetable and lessons are suspended so that the day can be devoted to academic mentoring and target- setting with students and parents. It is expected that all students will remain home on this day and will work on material that their teachers will have set in advance. Students will, however, come to school with their parents to attend pre-arranged Performance Review meetings with their tutor or an associated Learning Manager. Individualised letters from Mr Bond and Mrs Chappell (Assistant Headteachers) have been sent home to all parents regarding arrangements for the November PRD, including details on making appointments. If there are any queries please contact either Mr Bond or Mrs Chappell NB: Reminder/information for new parents: PRD appointments do not replace our parent/subject teacher evenings, which are all scheduled on the parents’ calendar. BRADON FOREST PRIMARY LIASION NEWS: ISSUE 6 The sixth edition of our Primary Liaison News has been completed and is currently being distributed to Key Stage 2 pupils in our partner primary schools. This edition contains a report on our recent open mornings and open evening, an article thanking Joy Major for all her work in running our Library over the last 23 years and a summary report on the Bradon Big Top Festival. Many thanks to Jennifer Purcell and all colleagues involved in producing the Primary Liaison News. The next edition, Issue 7, will be published in March 2010. This will contain articles and photographs covering a fantastic range of projects undertaken with our partner primary schools in North Wiltshire, West and North Swindon. NB: Issue 6 (and previous copies) are available via the partner primary schools button on the homepage of our website www.bradonforest.wilts.sch.uk . PE NEWS Netball Trip To Spain Over the half term break, Mrs Evans, with the support of Mrs Davies and Mrs Brett- Harris, took a large group of students to a Netball Competition in Barcelona, Spain. There were two squads, the Under 14s and the Under 16s. The Under 14s were fourth overall in their group and were winners of the shooting competition. Charlotte Densham (9Q) was voted overall best player in the Under 14s. There were two Under 16 Bradon Forest teams. The A team, captained by Alexandra Lee (11S), were winners of the tournament, and their success included beating two Under 19 teams in the group. The B team was third in its group. The Under 16s were winners of the shooting competition, Charlotte Legge (10Y) was voted overall best player in the Under 16s and Gemma Showler (10W) was voted overall best shooter in the Under 16s. Mrs Evans and her colleagues were particularly pleased with the behaviour, sportsmanship and effort which all the girls put into the tournament and the trip in general. Bradon Forest students were the winners of the quiz and also the winners of the best mascot competition – a three foot inflatable piranha! Mrs Evans gave reports on the trip in assemblies and gave the girls the recognition they thoroughly deserve. Many thanks to the staff that organised and supervised this trip – the students and staff were a credit to Bradon Forest School. I have reproduced below a letter that I received last week from the Managing Director, Nigel Parker, of the travel company – the letter speaks for itself. Dear Mr Spiers I am writing to you and the School Governors following the recent Netball Festival your school took part in with Pinnacle Travel to Spain. We are delighted to report that we have received extremely positive feedback from our travel representatives and resort staff about the good behaviour, positive attitude and application of students in the team. They were superb ambassadors for your school’s reputation, both here in the UK and overseas. Additionally, I am pleased to report that the organisation and professional manner demonstrated by Sarah Evans and her team whilst on tour with us was a credit to your school. In the current climate it is rewarding to know that you have dedicated staff who are committed to school travel. Please pass on my thanks and congratulations to the whole Netball Team and we look forward to being of service to you in the future. Wiltshire Schools Netball Tournament Bradon Forest School was the only comprehensive school with two teams going through to the Wiltshire Schools Netball Tournament which took place at Dauntsey's School in Lavington on Sunday 15 November 2009. Luckily, the weather stayed dry and bright as the U16s started their tournament with a convincing win over Sheldon School defeating them 9-2 in the first round. The U14s, with Olivia Longstaff in a new position as goalkeeper, also started strongly beating Malmesbury School 6-1. The second round saw the U16s defeating South Wilts Grammar School 7-4, whereas the U14s just lost to Lavington School 5-6. A minute longer and the score line would have surely been in Bradon Forest's favour. The third round saw the U16s against a team who everyone thought would be the toughest competition - Marlborough College. However, the girls played fantastically well, supporting each throughout the court, leaving Marlborough standing still - winning with a huge margin of 12 goals to 1! The U14s were unlucky again in their next match, losing to the eventual U14 tournament winners Godolphin School by 5 goals to 6. After winning their group, the U16s went through into the semi-finals where they met St Mary's School. The girls showed flair, control and some inspiring netball to win 9-3 and secured their place in the final! Meanwhile, the U14s were then playing for fifth or sixth place against local rivals Kingsdown School - some patient and controlled play from the entire team allowed them to win 7 goals to 5 and to finish fifth place - a worthy effort for the youngsters. The U16s had to wait a while to see who they would come up against in the final, as Marlborough and Godolphin went into extra time during their semi-final clash. Godolphin were the eventual winners of their semi-final and the stage was set for the final! It was decided that all squad members would play in the final and this paid off as every player worked hard for the team and supported each other throughout. The final score of 10-5 to Bradon Forest was a testament to the hard work, skill, team work and sheer determination from a squad of very talented netballers! The girls were presented with their medals and certificates and now go through to represent Wiltshire at the South West stage of this national tournament. A fantastic effort from all of the Bradon Forest girls. PARIS MUSIC TRIP Miss Clements Head of Music reports: “After a long coach journey from Bradon Forest School to Paris, the Music Tour arrived a little dishevelled and tired at our base in Paris – a modern glass fronted school in the suburbs called Campus Sainte Therese. We were led straight down to dinner which we gratefully ate before unpacking the coach and getting settled.