Newsletter July 2017 Dear Parents/Carers As the academic year draws to the end I would like to take this opportunity to thank the students of Taverham High School for their hard work, enthusiasm for learning, for participating in all the enrichment activities and trips that have taken place this year. I have thoroughly enjoyed sharing their achievements and celebrating their success. I very much look forward to the results days which will be difficult to compare to last year due to the new specifications and grading system but which I am sure will support the students to reach their future pathways. I would like to thank the parents and carers who have diligently supported events and activities and given us honest feedback to improve our systems and processes. Finally I would like to thank the hard working staff and governors who work tirelessly to ensure students are taught well, supported and cared for. I have just returned from the Year 9 Hautbois trip and the staff have thoroughly enjoyed spending time with the year group, providing them with different challenges and cannot speak highly enough of the young people we have in our care. I thank all staff for their enthusiasm and willingness to maintain the richness of our school curriculum and positive ethos. I would ike to wish Mrs Burgess and Mrs Greer best wishes as they finish this summer for maternity leave. We need to say goodbye to Mr Willis as he has gained a full time post in charge of music at Fakenham High School. Mr Money will be leaving us as a classroom teacher but returning to support the Art department in a technician capacity. Mrs Foyster, Mr Bowdler, Mrs Robbins, Mr Prochera, Mr McCleary and Mrs Harbord will also be leaving our staff and we thank them all for their valuable contributions to the school over the time they were with us. I would like to wish Miss Dimarco the best of luck on her forthcoming wedding. A special thank you and good bye must also go to Mrs Plater, former Deputy Head and Headteacher. She has made a such a significant contribution to the school over the past 10 years and led the school through a very difficult period of time, leading to some of the best exam results the school has had. We will miss her both as a leader and as an outstanding teacher of Geography, I hope she thoroughly enjoys her retirement. I hope you enjoy your summer break and I look forward to seeing everyone back in school on Wednesday 6 September at the start of another exciting year. Ms Dallas Headteacher 2017-2018 Elf Team A group of 21 students have undertaken three training sessions to become the next Elf Team. They met with local agencies including our Police Community Support Officer, Michelle Warren, to undertake training around CEOP Child Exploitation and Online Protection. The Youth Advisory Board and the YMCA completed sessions around wellbeing and mental health. We would also like to thank the students for giving up their free time to attend Taverham Fayre, where they raised £29.50 towards the school gardening project. Some of the team will be working alongside Mr McCombe, Development Manager, who will be running a summer school during the holidays. Prefects I am delighted to inform you that we have set up for the first time a prefect system in the lower school. The purpose of the prefect system is to: - improve the leadership and employability skills of students - improve the community ethos in the school to develop respect, support and positive role models - provide an additional opportunity for students to have a voice in the manner in which the school is organised and led. The students had to undertake a rigorous application process, they wrote letters to Ms Dallas and I had the pleasure of interviewing them with a Sixth Form student. They have undertaken Prefect training and are now the school ambassadors at all events involving the school; they started the prefectship at June half term and have already taken part in the following activities:- • intake Day for year 6; • written and presented in assembly (very nerve wracking, I can assure you!); • attended Parents’ evening as helpers, as well as assisting with car parking duties; • attending the Celebration of Achievements; • represented the school at Taverham Village Fayre. The motto for the prefects is “reliable, resilient, and responsible”. The students have demonstrated this so well, so far…. I am looking forward to their accomplishments in the next two terms. Mrs Brook Year 11 Graphics Controlled Assessment 2017 Year 7 Celebration of Achievement On Tuesday 11th July the Year 7 Celebration of Achievement assembly took place. We had two musical pieces from Kieran Gilbert and Callum Hudson and a display of dance by Lili-Mai Mallett. The event was well attended by Year 7 parents and we saw nearly 50% of year 7 students nominated for an award. Thank you to everyone who has achieved so much throughout their first year at Taverham High school. Miss Buffini Year 8 Celebration of Achievement Year 8 Celebration of Achievement event was a fantastic end to the year giving us the opportunity to celebrate numerous successes. It was lovely to see so many parents, carers and family come along to support the event. Over half the year group were nominated for an award which shows the huge wealth of talent and hard work that has been noticed this year. We were privileged to have some Year 8 students perform at the event including Sophie Dingle, Abigail Tate and Lucy Wilson in the jazz band, Emily Colbert singing a new and improved version of Ed Sheeran. Freya Sheeran and Hannah Brown both stunned the audience with their talent and song choice, followed by Alex Dagless on the keyboard for a sensational finale. The Jarvis Cup this year was presented to Freya Sheeran who, for countless reasons, has impressed staff this year with her outstanding attitude, achievement and effort. Miss Dimarco Year 9 Celebration of Achievement Well done to the students in Year 9 for their hard work and determination. It was great to see so many students being nominated and winning subject prizes in the celebration assembly. Our Jarvis Cup winner was Jack Jarvis who has fought back from a serious operation, always with a positive attitude and a smile on his face. We also had the winner of the Liz Vaughan sports awards – congratulations to Maisie Easter for her dedication in swimming. Now hopefully we are all ready to hit those GCSEs over the next 2 years! Mr Taylor Year 10 Celebration Achievement The Year 10 Celebration of Achievements was a lovely event, with beautiful performanaces from Eve Minto, Emily Coleman, Joe Chapman and Chloe Bowsell and an uplifting and invigorating drum solo by Chloe Miller. There were a great number of students who were nominated and awarded and this demonstrates the hard-work and dedication of the students. The form tutor awards were well deserved and it was brilliant to see the support from all of the forms. The Jarvis Cup winner was Georgina Samuels who has greatly contributed to school life this year, being an ELF and a Prefect as well as taking part in lots of extra-curricular acitivies in the school. Many thanks to the parents/carers who attended. Mrs Brook Exam Result Information GCE Exam Results Day is: Thursday 17thAugust 2017 Results can be collected between 8:00am and 10:00am in the Atrium GCSE Exam Results Day is: Thursday 24th August 2017 Results can be collected between 9:00am and 10:30am in the Atrium Please note, if a parent or friend is collecting your results for you, they must have a signed letter from yourself giving permission. We cannot issue results if they do not have this. If you cannot collect your results and would like them posted home, please provide Mrs Haywood, Exams Manager, with a stamped addressed envelope. Karate Success for Shannon Earlier this year Shannon won 3 gold medals in the ESKA Competition held at the UEA sports park Norwich, she won a gold in Individual Kata, Team KATA and Tokui Kata (favourite). In February Shannon attended the JSKA Uk Championships in Aldershot and won a gold in team Kata and a bronze in individual Kata. In March Shannon attended the legend competition in Bracknell and won a Bronze in team Kata. On Sunday 23rd April Shannon graded for her black belt and passed with high marks. In May Shannon won a gold in individual Kumite (fighting). In the 3 and a half years since Shannon has been doing Karate she has won:- 19 Gold medals 12 Silver medals 12 Bronze Medals Year 9 Rounders A big shout out to the Year 9 Rounders team who have had yet another successful season this year, winning all their league games followed by making it straight through to the finals to play Thorpe St Andrews, with yet another win making them Norwich League Champions! Massive congratulations to all the girls, who again have made themselves and the school proud. It’s been so lovely to have a few new recruits such as Saskia, Anya, Lucy K and Caitlin T. Same again next year ladies! Have a great summer. Year 10 Rounders League Success On Wednesday 5th July the Year 10 Rounders team finished off their last rounders league for Taverham High school, coming runners up. After winning our pool in the league we played Sprowston High School in the first round of the finals and beat them 10 and a half to 6.