December 2019 As we approach the Christmas break, students are continuing to work hard in lessons. Year 11 students have just completed their first round of mock exams and will receive their results on their Mock Results Day on Tuesday 7th January 2020. In addition, we look forward to discussing their results with parents on Monday 13th January 2020 at the Year 11 Parents’ Evening.

Our Year 13 students have also completed their mock exams and will receive their results in one to one interviews with Miss Murray (Head of Post-16). Many Year 13 students are currently in the process of applying for University and are anxiously waiting for their offers to come in.

I have been very impressed with how well our Year 7 students have settled in to life at Aldercar High School. They have quite clearly risen to the many challenges that their first term at Secondary School has thrown at them.

To celebrate the end of the Autumn Term, on Friday 20th December we will be:  having Christmas dinner (at a cost of £2.40);  giving students the opportunity to wear Christmas colours or a Christmas jumper for non-uniform day (for a donation of £1);  finishing the term at 1.45pm (if your child needs to stay on the school site until 2.45pm, please contact pupil reception by Thursday 19th December and we will arrange for them to be supervised). We look forward to welcoming all students back to school on Monday 6th January, at 8:20am.

With regards to staffing, we are saying farewell to Mrs Wolverson who is our Catering Manager. Mrs Wolverson is retiring after completing just over 18 years at the school. In addition, Mr Travell will be leaving us to embark on a new career path and Mr Tempest–Mitchell is taking up a new teaching post at another school. We wish all of them luck for their future.

In January we will be welcoming five new members of staff: Miss Cousins (Teacher of Maths), Miss Tyrrell (Teacher of Physical Education), Ms Lee (Teacher of Law and Criminology), Mrs Ward (Teaching Assistant) and Ms Johnson (Catering Manager).

I would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for your invaluable support over this term and to wish you and your family a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Mrs Hatto Head Teacher The Effect of Absence on School Progress A whole year has 365 days. A school year has only 190 days. This leaves 175 days to spend on other appointments No absence 10 days absence 12 days absence 19 days absence 29 days absence 38 days absence 190 days 180 days 178 days 171 days 161 days 152 days 100% 95% 94% 90% 85% 80% Very Good Worrying Serious Concern

Early Help Offer At Aldercar High School, we understand that every family can have ups and downs and sometimes you or your children may need some extra support. There is nothing to be ashamed of in asking for help. The Early Help offer can help you and school recognise what is going well for you and where you may benefit from some extra support. Early Help Assessment To access this support, a conversation with Miss Peplow, our Family Support Worker, will help to identify what is going well and what is not going well for you and your family. This conversation may lead to an Early Help Assessment (EHA) being completed, so a full picture of the family’s circumstances can be created. This will then be used to see where some extra support could be useful. It is your choice to take part in this assessment and you can choose who else should be involved. The EHA will require your consent for other organisations to be contacted or information to be shared, so the correct help and support is put in place for you and your children. This could be school staff, mentors, health workers, etc. Once a picture of your circumstances is completed, giving your permission for this to be shared, means you do not have to repeat yourself to different workers. Team around the family meeting This is where the family, school staff and other workers involved meet to discuss and create a plan to support you and your family. The plan will be reviewed at set times to ensure progress is being made for you and your family and the correct support is in place. A ‘lead worker’ will be chosen at this meeting. This will be the worker that you see the most of or the person you find most approachable.

Students from Year 5 and Year 6 and their parents came to have a look around Aldercar High School’s Open Evening in October, and everyone had a great time. The hall was full for the presentation and all the subject areas put on a great show of what our school has to offer. Lots of fun was had by all. Don’t worry if you missed it: you can arrange a visit whenever it suits you. Just give the school a call on 01773 712477. Here at Aldercar High School, we understand the importance of reading to enable success, which is why, in every newsletter, we will be updating you on all the reading activities and achievements that have taken place during the term.

All of Years 7, 8 and 9, are again participating in the Accelerated Reader programme this year. This is a programme that encourages targeted individual progress for every student through computer based quizzes and assessments. Also this term, we are introducing the ‘Home Connect’ facility which enables parents/carers to sign up to receive email notifications on their child’s progress. Letters about this have been sent out to all Year 7 students and will be given out to Year 8 and Year 9 students in the coming terms. Please email Mrs Cleese at [email protected] if you would like more information on this or the Accelerated Reader programme.

We are also continuing to have our Drop Everything And Read (DEAR) time in Years 7 and 8 to support the Accelerated Reader programme. This works on the statistic that 20 minutes of engaging reading time a day is the amount of time needed to allow progress. Therefore, it is vital that every student has their Accelerated Reader book and log book with them in school every day. Encouragement to read at home would be much appreciated – please feel free to write in your child’s log book if they read; there are competitions to win and rewards up for grabs! Students at Aldercar High School have been delighted to see their creative writing chosen for publication. During their English lessons, pupils were given an opportunity to compose a poem and a short story. These were then entered into national competitions with 24 being chosen from the school for print! Special mention should go to Isabel who managed to get both her poem and short story published. Mr Garratt said, "all the students chosen should be very proud of themselves. Hopefully this might be the start of some glittering writing careers! Aldercar High School library will be stocking copies of both books on their shelves so hopefully this will inspire other pupils.” The books are called Poetry Escape: Poets from the East Midlands and Mission Contamination: It’s gone viral. Both books will be available from the school library.

At the start of the year, we teamed up with BookTrust and participated in their Bookbuzz programme to inspire a love of reading in all of our Year 7 students. They had the opportunity to look at a selection of different books and pick one they liked. We then ordered that book for them and they got to keep it for free! Our students have really enjoyed these books and it certainly has created a buzz around reading. We have launched some exciting reading competitions this year. Firstly, our ‘Wall of Fame’ competition, which rewards monthly effort and participation in Accelerated Reader, has seen a number of winners so far. For September, the winners were: Joshua Lewis, Benjamin Swift and Dylan Goulding in Year 7, Chelci-Mai Thomas-Hart, Celsey Hall and James Goulding in Year 8 and Kayleigh Ellis, Kieran Bacchus and Jack Bott in Year 9. For October, the winners were: Summer Fretwell, Archie Whelan, Claribel Abernethy and Benjamin Riordan in Year 7, Sophie Leder, Cainan Marshall, Thomas Davies and Ellen Moore in Year 8 and Stephanie Wall, Millie Simpson, Harrison Pearson and Heather Whittall in Year 9. Congratulations to all these students - they won a queue jump pass for a week! More winners to be announced in the next newsletter, so keep reading for a chance to be one of them! We also launched the ‘Millionaires’ competition in September to find students who can read over a million words by the end of the year and become ‘Millionaires’! There are already a number of students who are coming close to achieving this status and, I am pleased to announce, that we have one student, James Goulding in Year 8, who has become the first member of the club, with an impressive 1,036,529 words read! Massive congratulations to him.

This term has also seen the appointment of some Reading Ambassadors within Key Stage 3. They are: For Ormonde: Chloe Hankin (Y7), Oliver Biggs (Y7), Kayden (Y8), Ellen Moore (Y8), Amber Whiles (Y9) and Ashleigh King (Y9) For Shipley: Ciara Kearney (Y7), Joshua Lewis (Y7), Cainan Marshall (Y8), Chantelle Whetton (Y9) and Sophie Chippendale-Scott (Y9) For Howitt: Katie Greaves (Y7), Joshua Canlin (Y7), Chloe Hallam (Y8), Lexie Stapleton-Bojko (Y8) and Nathan W (Y9) For Gregg: George Pearce (Y7), Conor Brough (Y7), Rohan Phillips (Y8) and Louis Brown (Y9) These students will represent their Houses and Year group with the responsibility of promoting, encouraging and supporting reading within school. They have already suggested lots of fantastic ideas and have set up some book clubs for KS3 students. A group of Year 7 and Year 8 students enjoyed a visit by Tom Mitchell, author of young adult fiction. His hilarious talk was about his latest book, How To Rob A Bank. He gave us cautionary tales of failed bank robberies and told us the funny story of when his dad got trapped in the toilet of a bank overnight. The talk ended with a question and answer session and Tom was really impressed with the inventive, engaged and funny questions our students provided!

We have had a very busy term in Modern Foreign Languages. We started the fun with the European Day of Languages. Students found out lots of interesting facts about the importance of learning languages, we had a House quiz and students had to find the Languages stones hidden around the school. We also had an Abbavision song contest. Students in Year 7 all learnt part of a Spanish ABBA song which we then recorded and played in all the assemblies. Students enjoyed voting for their favourite singers. Well done to all who took part - it was great fun and there was some super singing from each house. Some of the Year 11 students had a super time at an exciting MFL project ‘Mind the Language Gap’ at Derby University. It was a project which showed the students how languages are used in engineering careers. They had the opportunity to use their language skills in an authentic work environment. Looking forward to more language fun next term. Fifty Year 8 students visited the National Memorial Arboretum in Burton on Trent on Tuesday 12th November, as part of the school's remembrance activities. They had a tour of a very cold, wet and flooded memorial park concentrating upon memorials associated with the First World War, which we are studying at the moment. The students then attended a WWI workshop which encouraged pupils to handle a variety of artefacts and use limited information to piece together a story of what happened to different people in the war. This included investigating a pilot who flew in WWI and the role of Lawrence of Arabia. Finally, students took part in a remembrance service where they laid wreaths on behalf of the school and held a minute’s silence in respect for those who have served in honour of our country. As always, our pupils were commended by the staff at the centre for their behaviour, interest and maturity.

On Monday 11th November, a group from Aldercar High School laid a wreath at the war memorial at St John's Church. The group consisted of the Head Boy and Head Girl, the Deputy Head Boy and Deputy Head Girl, and the House Captains of Gregg, Howitt, Ormonde and Shipley as well as students representing the Army Cadets, St John's Ambulance and the Scouts.

From the 17th to the 21st of July 2019, I went on the Maths trip to Paris, staying in the Disneyland Explorers Hotel. I went when I was in Year 10, excited to travel to a foreign country with school and my friends. For the first day of our trip we explored some famous sights around Paris. This included the Champs-Elysees, the Louvre, the Arc de Triomphe, and the Eiffel Tower. For the Mathematics part of the trip we visited the Science Museum located in the centre of the city. We got to explore it in groups, looking at the sections that interested us the most, being supplied worksheets to fill in respectively. We spent a few hours there before leaving to go to Disneyland Paris, where we watched the illuminations show late at night. The very next day we spent a full day in the Disneyland Paris theme park. Overall, it was an incredible trip that I would recommend to all future Year 10 and Year 11 students. By Rebecca Year 11

Around the time of Bonfire Night, students in Year 8 did an experiment to find out what makes the different colours in fireworks, by making sparklers in their science lesson with Mr Waite. They found out that different metal powders give different coloured flames: for example, the magnesium compound gave a very bright white sparkly effect and the potassium compound created a beautiful purple colour. Using a variety of metal compounds, the students made some very sparkly and colourful sparklers.

Aldercar High School hosted a very entertaining evening on 12th November, as the sixth formers presented the Aldercar’s Got Talent Show. There was a brilliant variety of acts including singers, dancers, a beat boxer, a pianist, a violinist and even a speed Rubik's cube solver. All the acts were fantastic. The audience voted William and his Thriller act as the overall winner of the night. The show was also part of the Year 13 Performing Arts examination. They triumphed through a few technical difficulties like true professionals. Their acts were brilliant and included singers, comedy, miming, ventriloquism and more. A few of the staff also got involved and Mr Parry had a go at Irish dancing, with a pink wig and tutu. He was very light on his feet! A hilarious evening which had the audience in stitches. We look forward to the next one.

On a cold, yet dry, afternoon students from Aldercar High School descended on Alfreton Country Park for the local cross country championships. Fantastic commitment to their running was seen and all pupils did well. Despite tough opposition from the other eight local secondary schools there were some fantastic notable individual performances and achievements. Skye was overall Key Stage 4 girls’ champion and James also finished in the top 10 of the boys’ event. Both qualified for the regional championships-the next step of the event where they will represent Amber Valley. Some other good results were seen across the other age groups too. Congratulations to all the runners.

On Thursday 14th November, a number of students and staff went to Wembley to see England versus Montenegro. The students were brilliant from start to finish and really enjoyed the game. All five of the goals in the first half of the match were right in front of our seats. England, whose captain is Harry Kane, went on to beat Montenegro 7-0 on their 1000th game at Wembley Stadium and now have a place at Euro 2020. It was a cracking game. A very late night back to Aldercar meant there were some tired eyes the next morning, but it was worth it.

It was a pleasure to be able to take a selection of the Year 9 students to Primary school on one of the last days of the summer term. They were there to assist in the running of their primary sports day. All of these students have shown an interest in Sports Leadership and, potentially, some form of future career in this area. They held themselves to high acclaim and did a fantastic job. Parents, staff and the headteacher were very forthcoming in their praise and appreciation for how well the students represented the school. The day was also a great chance for our students to develop key skills needed in Sports Leadership and as they worked alongside all of the younger students, it was clear to see our pupils thriving. They each ran a station, linked to a particular activity. As each small group arrived at their station, our students had to instruct them, run the session, give out scores and feedback the results to a central scorekeeper. Our thanks go to all the students involved for representing themselves and the school so well. A great day was had by all.

A fun afternoon was had by eight competitors partaking in the event at Alfreton Leisure Centre. A mixture of indoor running events, throwing events and jumping events were undertaken and whilst not all the students involved had taken part in these events before, a splendid effort was given. Running events were evidently our stronger events but participation was the key to the event. Thank you to Mrs Grimes for assisting in the trip. Aldercar came 3rd out of the schools from Amber Valley. Year 11 boys took part in a football match against Ripley Academy and demonstrated excellent attitude and commitment. They never gave up throughout. The result did not go our way but we take a good team spirit onto the next game. Aldercar High School 2 - Ripley Academy 6.

Big well done to the Year 9 boys football team who beat Ripley Academy 9 - 5.

Carrying on with the same attitude and commitment from the last game, the Year 11 boys won against a decent David Nieper side. We soaked up a lot of pressure at the start of the second half with the score at 1-0 but it was our excellent team work that got us over the line.

The Year 11 boys came second against : Belper 4 - Aldercar 2

Year 11 Boys Year 8 and Year 9 Boys Ripley 1-4 Aldercar David Nieper 0-7 Aldercar John Flamsteed 1–3 Aldercar Swanwick 0-6 Aldercar Swanwick 2–1 Aldercar John Flamsteed 0-2 Aldercar David Nieper 3–3 Aldercar Gate 1-2 Aldercar Heanor gate 4–0 Aldercar ..... The final finished 2-2 and the match went into extra

time where Swanwick pinched

a goal to win it at the death!

Year 9 Girls Year 7 Girls Aldercar 1-0 Ripley Aldercar 0-3 v Ecclesbourne Aldercar 3-0 John Flamsteed Aldercar 0-1 Heanor Gate Aldercar 0-1 Heanor Gate Aldercar 2-0 v Ripley Aldercar 0-1 Ecclesbourne Aldercar 1-0 v David Nieper

The Autumn Term has been incredibly close between all four houses so far this year. There are currently only 5 points between all of them! As well as the usual Spelling Bee, Cross Country and Languages Quiz we have put in some new events this year such as the amazing Abbavision competition and the Accelerated Reader ‘Hall of Fame’ which is announced every month. The PE department are currently in the middle of the Futsal tournament for all year groups and Art have introduced the Christmas star making competition which you will see decorating the corridors of Aldercar High School during December. With everything to play for, who will win the attendance to Parents Evening? Yes, even parents can contribute to house points as they get reports from your teachers. Attendance and behaviour figures are also included so next time you get a C1 or think about having a day off, think about the consequences of your actions! Not only will you be missing out on vital lessons for your education or racking up detentions all over the place, but your actions could cost your house the honour of lifting the coveted House Cup at the end of the year! May I take this opportunity to thank all the staff who run these competitions for us and the House Captains etc who have been doing a fantastic job organising their teams. If you have any ideas for future competitions, no matter how serious or silly, please see Mrs Cleveley in C4. Ideas for staff competitions are also very welcome – make sure you are training hard for the tug of war which is coming very soon to a sports hall near you!

Howitt were the winners of Abbavision

After an eventful first attempt on 21st November, our students successfully attended the world skills live event at the Birmingham NEC the day afterwards. Students had the opportunity to explore an event full of future career prospects and meet some of the nation’s largest companies and future employers of our aspirational students. Our students had the opportunity to take part in numerous hands-on displays, gather resources and watch many competitions and specialist sessions. Students left the event feeling inspired. They will use all they have learned to decide upon their careers and future plans.

On Tuesday 26th November, Baasit Siddiqui (GoggleBox) came into school as part of the ‘Lets Pitch It’ campaign, to do a session with a select group of Year 9 students. The session had a careers element to it, particularly focused on ideas related around TV creation and production. Students created numerous resources and worked in groups to come up with a new TV show concept, with some of these being entered into a national competition. The competition results will be released in August 2020. Well done to all the students. The involvement throughout the day was great and some of the ideas were fantastic. Baasit was superbly impressed by the ideas and involvement. One of our Year 13 students was recently nominated for the Community Radio Awards. He attended the ceremony with Rebecca Hall and was presented with the bronze award for best newcomer. This is a fantastic achievement. Well done Lewis.

On 17th of October, 35 of the Post-16 students went on the annual trip to London. Whilst there, students had the opportunity to visit the Houses of Parliament, the Tate Modern Gallery and they also enjoyed a boat trip up the Thames. The staff and students thoroughly enjoyed the day.

On 17th of September, Year 12 students were given a presentation from The National Citizen Service. It was an opportunity for them to see what was on offer for them in terms of university taster sessions and summer camp. Students who are considering applying for university are strongly encouraged to take part as it provides them with important skills that universities look for in applications.

Our Post-16 Open Evening was a success. Years 10 and 11 students enjoyed exploring the subjects on offer whilst chatting to staff and students about their experiences in Post-16. We thank students for their prompt return of their application forms. Students who wish to apply can come and collect a form from the Post-16 office.

On Monday 11th November Post-16 students were encouraged to ‘dress to impress’ as a mark of respect for Remembrance Day. The students attended a short service where poems were shared and there was time for reflection. We were very impressed with the effort of the students.

On Wednesday 13th November our Enhanced Resource Facility went to see The Rickshaw Challenge as it made its way through and Nottinghamshire. What is the Rickshaw Challenge? ‘A team of six young people and The One Show's Matt Baker take on an eight day challenge to cycle 400 miles from Holyhead to London. This year's route will see the team ride to Flash, the highest village in the UK, and tackle the steepest street in the world in Harlech, Wales. The aim is to raise money for disadvantaged children across the UK.’

Students, along with Linda Frost, Anne Foster and Sue Longdon went to cheer on the Children in Need Rickshaw Challenge live at Ripley Fire Station. The crowds were certainly lively, with lots of cheering and support. Matt Baker and Uche both came and spoke with people who had turned up to show their support. Pudsey Bear also made an appearance and we even managed to have photos taken with him. We also had a photo taken with the Mayor of Ripley. All the students and staff enjoyed taking part and are looking forward to hopefully seeing themselves on The One Show.

During the weekend of 11-13th October Mrs Jefferys participated in 3 events at the Obstacle Course Racing World Championships in Essex. Here is what she has to say about it:

“On Saturday I took on the 15k, which included 75 obstacles. Sunday was the team relay. I did the strength section which involved a lot of heavy carrying as well as climbing over walls and across rigs, while 2 friends did the speed and technical sections. Straight after this I did the 7k charity event where a group of us took our friend, who uses a wheelchair, round the course and across all 40 obstacles. The rain didn’t stop all weekend and I have never seen so much mud but it was an amazing experience, spending the weekend with participants from all over the world as well as friends I have made since taking up the sport 5 years ago.“

We would like to congratulate Mrs Jeffreys, who is now ranked 8th in world for her age group. Well done.

Event Date Last day of term 20th December Christmas Break 23rd December - 4th January Students return 6th January Year 11 and Year 13 mocks 1 results day 7th January Post-16 tours/invitation evening 7th January Year 11 parents’ evening 13th January Year 13 tutor review. Year 13 UCAS deadline 15th January AR rewards trip 21st January Uniform pop-up shop 3pm-6pm 3rd February Year 7 accelerated reader test week 3rd - 7th February Year 8 accelerated reader test week 10th - 14th February Student gratitude week 10th - 14th February Year 9 options evening 13th February Last day of half term 26th October Half Term 17th - 21st February Ski Trip 15th - 22nd February Students return. Year 10 Geography field trip 24th February Year 13 finance evening 25th February Year 9 options deadline 26th February Year 11 photos 28th February Post-16 ERF Centre Parcs trip 2nd - 6th March Year 10 parents’ evening 4th March Year 10 Science trip to Natural History Museum 5th March World book day 5th March Year 11 and Year 13 mock 2 exams 9th - 20th March National Careers week 9th - 13th March Year 13 National Apprenticeship Show 16th March Year 7 accelerated reader test week 23rd - 27th March Year 12 Psychology talk in London 23rd March Year 8 parents’ evening 24th March Sports Relief 27th March Year 8 accelerated reader test week 30th March - 3rd April Student gratitude week 30th March - 3rd April Year 7 parents’ evening 2nd April Last day of term 3rd April Easter Break 6th -17th April