Nova News Issue 11 w/c 3rd June 2019

Message from the Headteacher

Summer is here. Gardens are in bloom and so are the students at Nova Hreod - as you’ll see in the pages of this newsletter. Our gardening team have been working hard on improving the area they have at the side of the school which has got better and better since September. Likewise, our young athletes have outperformed their own personal bests. We have also had pupils working hard to shine in table tennis and chess. Over the last few weeks, our Year 11 students have really been pushing themselves in their GCSEs. We are looking forward to seeing great commitment too from Year 7-10 pupils as they begin their second set of SPR examinations in the next couple of weeks. Nick Wells Headteacher Athletics Trials A group of athletes competed at the County Ground against students from across the town to qualify for the Swindon athletics team. The standard was very high and all the students performed exceptionally well, and we are delighted to announce that seven students met the standard to represent Swindon in the next round before hopefully progressing to represent the South West. The seven students are all in the top two in Swindon for their events (with Tyrique and Tiya qualifying for three events each); this is an amazing achievement and we are very proud of them. Well done to everyone that qualified for the trials, and congratulations to the students for their success. Table Tennis Competition A Year 11 Nova team took part in a Table Tennis Competition against other schools at Swindon .

Each team was made up of four players who played four matches each. The Nova team scored 10 points overall and finished 3rd out of five schools, behind Royal Wootton Bassett Academy (18 points) and (16 points).

Mr Paillard awarded Viktor the MVP title (very impressive, winning 3 out of his 4 games). Congratulations also to Subhan, Guilherme and Eduardo who all played very well.

Chess Competition

A team of 15 Nova students headed to for a keenly anticipated chess match. Our last fixture had ended in a narrow win for Nova (albeit from a match of fewer students) so we had everything to play for.

Each player had four 15-minute games, one each against separate opponents. After a tense match, in which the lead changed hands several times, Nova ultimately proved victorious, exchanging, trapping, forking, skewering and check-mating their way to a 33-24 victory.

Particular congratulations go to Oriol (Pegasus 4), Logan (Pegasus 6), Miles (Orion 4) and (team captain) Samuel (Cygnus 1), who each managed to win all four of their individual games. Fundraising Award for Logan Congratulations to Logan (Aquila 2) who was invited to the Diabetes UK Inspire Awards as a runner up in the young person’s outstanding contribution category last month.

Logan was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes in 2017 and within 4 months of his diagnosis, he started fundraising for Diabetes UK, taking part in their Swim 22 challenge, swimming the width of the English Channel over a 12 week period in local swimming pools. He raised over £1,000 for Diabetes UK, who fund research to help find a cure for Type 1 and provide advice and support for those affected by diabetes.

Keen to keep up the momentum, Logan begins his next sponsored event, the One Million Step Challenge, next month to raise more funds for Diabetes UK walking one million steps from 1st July to 30th September. Progress in the garden

Students have been working hard planning and developing an allotment patch at the back of the school. The raised beds are now planted up with traditional flowers and vegetables that we will now look after until harvest.

A group of students visited the Manor Garden Centre to look at plants and seeds for inspiration. The students were impeccably behaved around the centre and were able to speak with an employee who gave us some advice on plants that would establish well if they went unwatered for a while due to our long school holidays. During the visit they noticed some broken pots which they were able to acquire for a new topic, “designing mini gardens in damaged pots.“ The manager was very kind and we were very grateful for their support. This will follow on from the winter topic where students painted bricks to decorate the garden, showing how something as ordinary as a red house brick can be transformed into an eyecatching feature.

Sadly the local deer have taken a liking to some of the fresh tips from the growing crops so we will have to watch out that they don’t eat them before we do, but there are lots of things to look forward to such as a new fence, raised bedding areas and new guttering for the shed which will help collect fresh rainwater to help in the newly reformed plot.

DO YOU HAVE AN INTEREST IN GARDENING AND GROWING CROPS? We are looking for volunteers who can offer an hour or more each week to help us maintain the garden. We’d love to hear from volunteers who can either help to maintain the plots or give advice and practical support to the students. COME ALONG TO NOVA ON MONDAY 10TH JUNE AT 4PM TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT SWINDON COLLEGE’S FREE FUNDED QUALIFICATIONS.

RSVP to [email protected]

Dates for your diary

June Thursday 13th Year 6 new parents’ welcome evening Thursday 20th Year 5 Open Morning Monday 24th Year 11 trip Thorpe Park Thursday 27th Summer Arts Showcase Friday 28th Year 5 Open Morning

A full calendar of events and more information can be found at www.novahreodacademy.org.uk