Darlington 11­19 Practitioner Newsletter Welcome In This Issue… It is a great pleasure to introduce the first Practitioner Newsletter of the • Hummersknott Academy ­ Literary Dreams academic year. • Longfield Academy ­ Geography Department Achieves National Once again it gives me great pleasure to recognise the first class Award academic achievements of all of our students in the Secondary and Post • Carmel College ­ Sporting Legacy 16 sectors; Darlington continues to build upon its reputation for Fund academic excellence and my congratulations go out to all of the staff, • Longfield Academy ­ UK Maths Challenge whose hard work, dedication and commitment have ensured that the • Darlington College ­ SkillBuild students have optimised their potential and thus given them the best possible chances of success when they move onto the next stages of • Hurworth School ­ Student Business Challenge their lives. • Hummersknott Academy ­ English Schools ’ Track and Field As you will see from the great variety of activities represented in these Championships pages, the Partnership remains vibrant and diverse in its work, and • Education Village Academy Helps Students Achieve Their Dreams young people in Darlington continue to make a contribution not only through their own personal successes but also by supporting the success • Longfield Academy ­ Celebrates 100% Attendance of others. • Haughton Academy ­ ‘Building My Skills ’ Even a brief glimpse at this edition of the newsletter reveals just how • Hummersknott Academy ­ Maths much 11­19 year olds in Darlington do to help others. At a time when Champions our young people face so many great challenges, it is inspiring to be • Foundation For Jobs reminded of their capacity to make such a positive difference to their • Queen Elizabeth Sixth Form College world. ­ Top Students • Longfield Academy ­ London 2012 Legacy I’m confident that this strong platform will be built upon in the academic year 2013­14 and we will all enjoy another first class year. • Carmel College ­ Chemistry at Work • DBC —Summer Programme 2013 Best wishes • Darlington College ­ Maguires Carpets ’ Apprentices • Carmel College ­ Stunning Results • Careers Guidance • DBC —ESF Summer Programme to Next Steps • Heritage Schools Programme Issue 13 Dean Judson October 2013 © Darlington 11 ­19 Head Teacher, Hurworth School Partnership Chair, 11­19 Partnership 1 Literary Dreams Kathryn Elwell, 15, a Hummersknott Academy student has published her first book – “Chasing Blackbirds: The Letters of War”. The book is a tale of power, murder and war; the problems of an entire city and the fate of thousands more. Kathryn wrote the 80,000 word book in a single month and then spent many more months editing and refining the story. Her initial inspiration to write the book was par­ ticipation in National Novel Writing Month in August 2011, where the challenge is to write an entire novel in a month. She then edited the book herself before submitting it to a publishing company. At the time of publication Kathryn said “Writing a novel was a dream I’d always had and once I’d started, it seemed to write itself. I think in the future I would like to have a career in Science, but would hope to continue writing as a hobby – in the meantime I am working hard for my GCSEs.” Kathryn did continue to work hard for her GCSEs and take part in extra­curricular activities – being one of the first students to complete the Bronze Duke of Edinburgh Award at the Academy. In August this year she was delighted to achieve outstanding results with 10A*s at GCSE, and an OCR distinction. Kathryn was also one of a group of five students from Hummersknott Academy who achieved full marks in a GCSE exam. Kathryn and Lindsey Pearson achieved the top score in English Literature, whilst Lucy Gray and Luke Hewitson achieved them in English Language and Jack Foxabbott in RS. Full marks was a fitting result for these hard working students. Geography Department Achieves National Award Longfield Academy of Sport is pleased to announce that we have recently been awarded the Secondary Geography Quality Mark by the Geography Association. Out of 64 award winners we are the only school in County Durham to be awarded this national award in 2013. This award recognises the new and innovative approaches to teaching geography and the success of the department. The SGQM, now into its fifth year, recognises student attainment, progress and achievement in areas such as geographical knowledge, understanding, values, skills and concepts, and sets expectations about the quality of teaching in geography. It aims to promote effective subject leadership and management, helping subject leaders raise the standards of geography in their schools. 2 Carmel secures £49,000 from sporting legacy fund Students at Carmel College and the local community can look forward to decades of high­quality sport after Carmel secured £49,105 of National Lottery investment from Sport England’s Protecting Playing Fields fund. The College will use the investment to improve the playing surface and drain the water­logged football and rugby pitches at the back of the school. Simon Hannaford, Curriculum Leader for Physical Education, said: “We are delighted to receive this investment as we can improve the quality of our playing fields to match the talent of our football and rugby players. We will continue to develop grassroots sports at Carmel and are proud to be part of the 2012 Olympics’ legacy. Minister for Sport, Hugh Robertson, said: “The Protecting Playing Fields fund is a key part of the legacy from London 2012, improving facilities up and down the country. Good pitches, that can be used all year round, are vital to sustain and encourage sports participation. This additional lottery investment will help increase opportunities for people to get involved in sport.” The playing field will also be protected from developers for at least 25 years, creating an enduring benefit for sport. UK Maths Challenge Pupils at Longfield Academy of Sport achieved 5 silver and 7 bronze in this year's UKMT Junior Maths Chal­ lenge. Over 240,000 pupils from across the UK sat the Junior Maths Challenge with roughly the top 6% receiving a Gold certificate, the next 13% Silver and the next 21% Bronze. The following pupils will receive certificates during an assembly at the Academy. Best in School and Best Girl ­ Kathryn Bennie Best Boy and Silver ­ Callum Butler Silver ­ Thomas Carter, Matthew Handley and Luke Swainston. Longfield would like to congratulate all the pupils involved. The Junior Maths Challenge is run by UK Mathematics Trust and is aimed at pupils in years 7 and 8 and is sat in school. The UK Mathematics Trust is a registered charity whose aim is to advance the education of children and young people in mathematics. It organises national mathematic competitions and other mathematical enrichment activities for UK secondary school pupils. Further information about the trust and its activities is available at www.ukmt.org.uk 3 SkillBuild Construction Students have been laying the foundations of future success after dazzling judges with their craftsmanship. Construction students at Darlington College secured the top places in the regional heats of the annual SkillBuild competition for bricklaying and joinery. The success follows impressive performances in the Guild of Bricklay­ ers’ competition earlier this year, and students could find themselves competing again in the national finals and world skills event due to be staged in Rio in 2014. The events are designed to test the skills and discipline of the latest generation of CITB brickwork and joinery apprentices. They are pitted against competitors from across the North­East and the clock after being set a series of skills tests in their chosen field. Judges assess quality of workmanship, accuracy and appearance against a set of fine tolerances. Darlington College students apprentices included: Jacob Toomey, 21, of Ferry Hill, who works for Shaw Construction and won the Guild of Bricklayer’s junior contest; Sam Heys, 19, of Mickleton, who works for Peter Fisher, who won the SkillBuild bricklayer competition; Thomas Tenant, 20, of Richmond, who works for Randall Orchard, who was first in the SkillBuild joinery; Ryan Wilbor, 19, of Northallerton, who works for Cliff Dove Services, who came first in his SkillBuild competition; Steven Peart, 19, of Middleton­in Teesdale, who works for H&M Construction and won the Guild of Bricklayers senior contest; and Scott Watson, 19, of Northallerton, who works for Walter Thompson and came third in the senior SkillBuild competition. The college has had previous winners in the Guild of Bricklayers under the guidance of Malcolm Jones, these were in 1990 (Paul Moody) and 1995 (Adrian Helmsley and Jamie Claminson). Ryan said: “I’m really pleased to have done well at SkillBuild. It’s a compliment just to have been nominated to compete, so to go on to win makes me feel great. It shows that I’m one of the best young trades­people in the area, which I think is definitely something I can be proud of.” The regional heat, which took place in Durham, was one of 15 staged around the UK. The highest scoring competitors will be given the opportunity to compete at the three day SkillBuild UK final later this year. SkillBuild is an annual event which is managed by CITB, the Sector Skills Council and Industry Training Board for the construction industry and supported by local employers as well as national sponsors. CITB apprenticeship officer Allison Morris said: “The students worked very hard on the day and were a credit to themselves, their companies and Darlington College.” Bricklaying tutor Andy Roscamp added: “We need more apprentices or there will be a skills shortage in years to come. Construction really is a worthwhile and rewarding occupation for young people to consider.” For more information on Darlington College courses, contact (01325) 503030 or log on to www.darlington.ac.uk.