Newsletter Autumn Term 1 2019

THE FERRERS SCHOOL NEWSLETTER AUTUMN TERM 1 2019

Update from the Principal It has been a very busy and purposeful term at The Ferrers School and students and staff have worked exceptionally hard. Term Dates

We were absolutely delighted that at our recent School closes for 25th October 2019 monitoring inspection, Ofsted inspectors praised our half term staff and students for positively transforming the School re-opens 5th November 2019 culture of the school!

We still have some areas to continue improving, but if we continue on this School closes for 20th December journey, we are confident that we will be removed from special measures at our Christmas 2019 next full inspection. Thank you to all our parents and students for your support School re-opens 6th January 2020 along the way.

Students have settled into the new House System and are enjoying helping each School closes for 14th February 2020 other within the Vertical Tutor Groups. half term

We are also very excited to have launched our Pledges with all year groups! School re-opens 24th February 2020

School closes for 3rd April 2020 Easter

School re-opens 21st April 2020

Pledges is an awards system which offers students a range of character building School closes for 8th May opportunities that enhance their learning and development. It is an expectation Bank Holiday of every pupil to complete their Pledges during their time at the school. School closes for 22nd May The Pledge system aims to encourage and support many important qualities in half term students, such as responsibility, expectation, intuition and citizenship, all of which are crucial for giving students employability and brighter futures. School re-opens 1st June 2020

As always our students continue to excel, working enthusiastically and embracing School closes for 17th July 2020 school life. We regularly share our daily activities through social media so please Summer follow us on Facebook or Twitter.

The Ferrers School, Queensway, Higham Ferrers, Northamptonshire, NN10 8LF T: 01933 313411 E:[email protected] Restart A Heart

Restart a Heart Day is an annual event to teach as many people as possible the life saving skill of CPR. 296 students were trained in CPR. Our thanks go out to the volunteers who came to work with our students, these included East Midlands Ambulance Service, East Northants First Responders and RAF Wittering Co Responders.

Duke Of Edinburgh

We are delighted to introduce you to our new Duke Of Edinburgh Manager, Mr James O’Shea. He will be working closely with Caroline Thomas, Operations Manager for our region to further develop this thriving programme at the school. As a Gold Award holder himself, he is experienced in all aspects of the programme. The DofE is many things to many people, supporting generations to successfully navigate adult life. 14-24 year-olds can do a DofE programme at one of three progressive levels which, when successfully completed, leads to a Bronze, Silver or Gold Duke of Edinburgh’s Award. There are four sections to complete at Bronze and Silver level and five at Gold. They involve helping the community/environment, becoming fitter, developing new skills, planning, training for and completing an expedition and, for Gold only, working with a team on a residential activity.

Any young person can do their DofE – regardless of ability, gender, background or location. Achieving an Award isn’t a competition or about being first. It’s all about setting personal challenges and pushing personal boundaries. So if you want a life-changing experience. A fun time with friends. An opportunity to discover new interests and talents. A tool to develop essential skills for life and work. A recognised mark of achievement; respected by employers.— Get involved now !

Contact Mr James O’Shea at the school or by email [email protected]

The Ferrers School, Queensway, Higham Ferrers, Northamptonshire, NN10 8LF T: 01933 313411 E:[email protected]

Brunel House

Senior Tutor Review - Mr Matt Jackson

Throughout Term 1, the focus for myself and all of the Brunel staff has been to create an ethos and identity that the students can engage with and to create a House that all can be proud of. An identity that demonstrates key values that will allow all students opportunities to be the best that they can be at all times. Pride, independence, self-management, self-motivation, resilience and collaboration have been the values focussed upon and as Senior Tutor I am excited and encouraged by the tremendous start that the vast majority of Brunel students have made to their new school year, and in the way they taken on-board and engaged with the transition to a vertical system of pastoral care. The simple message, ‘Be the BEST that you can be’, has been spoken about in all assemblies and the results of the students, within such a short time frame, have been amazingly positive and demonstrate the greatness that exists within Brunel House. Particular successes that deserve special mention are detailed below: A total of 4,473 Achievement Points have been awarded to Brunel students this term. Ellie and Ellie (Year 9), Nicole (Year 10), Drasius (Year 7), Alfie (Year 9), Connor (Year 8) and Evan (Year 8) have all been recognised as ‘Stars of the Week’ in assemblies for their individual Achievement Points totals. Daniel (Year 8) is the whole school leader in the PiXL Times-Tables competition. A tremendous effort by Daniel which has also helped put The Ferrers on top of this national competition. Jack (Year 9) has been offered a day-release programme by Leicester City Football Club. A fantastic achievement and one that Jack fully deserves after his efforts for The Foxes over a number of years. Jessica (Year 9) and Louis (Year 11) have been recognised by staff for being positive role models to younger students within Brunel House. Young Leaders Charlie , Daniel and Thomas (all Year 9) were recognised for their support of Year 7 students during their off-timetable afternoon. Administration staff have recognised Oliver and Grace (both Year 7) as exceptionally helpful and great ‘student runners’. Leoni for being cheerful and polite around school and brightening up each day for her form tutor, Mrs Underwood. All-in-all, it has been an exceptional start to the new academic year and as Senior Tutor of Brunel House Iam extremely proud of the students and staff for their efforts, dedication and commitment.

The Ferrers School, Queensway, Higham Ferrers,

Brunel House

Art, Design & Technology

The academic year has taken off with a flying start in Art and Design & Technology with new staff, courses and displays. Students have enthusiastically welcomed our new members of the team Mr Eckersley (Art), Mrs Lawson and Mrs Wilson (Food & DT). Many thanks go to four of our very talented art students who produced work for the corridor in the Brunel building, using different fonts, art movements and individual artists’ work to promote the subject and bring the corridor to life.

Engineering Your Future

Engineering is an integral part of Design and Technology, providing a wide range of further education and career options to students with more of a practical aptitude. Year 9 students visited Milton Keynes University this term to take part in workshops and interviews with a range of engineers and practitioners, to find out what engineering could potentially offer them. They very much enjoyed the day, listening to presentations by the McLaren Racing Team engineers and a range of engineering companies demonstrating their developed specialist technology.

The Ferrers School, Queensway, Higham Ferrers,

Franklin House

Senior Tutor Review - Mrs Fleming

I have been so impressed by all the students in the House in terms of how well they have started the year. They are always polite, punctual and smart. The Year 7 students have settled in really well and are a welcome addition to the school in terms of their energy and enthusiasm. I have been especially impressed with how the older year groups are nurturing and supporting the younger students. Such relationships are helping to overcome any fears & anxieties that the students might have. Form time has a really lovely atmosphere with the wide range of tutor activities that students are engaged with.

I would also like to thank the Franklin tutors. I am working with a very professional and energetic group of teachers. These staff are from Science and PE. A healthy competitive spirit is certainly evident between the tutors and the forms. I would also like to thank Mrs Grover who is our Student Support Assistant who provides an invaluable support to staff and students alike. If she does not know the answer to a question, she soon finds someone who does! I am extremely proud to be the Senior Tutor of such a House.

Achievement Points A total of 3568 Achievement Points have been awarded to Franklin students so far this term. Students topping the table for achievement points in Franklin House are Kristers, Jack, Jack, Charlie, Caitlin, Lewis, Emma, James , Soll, Amber, Sam , and David.

News From the PE Department

In the middle of September, The Ferrers School hosted Wollaston in a well contested rugby fixture as part of the County Vase competition. Following on from last year’s success in the Under 15 competition, the boys started well moving the ball competently across both sides of the pitch in front of a bumper crowd including fantastic support from the English Department. In the end some strong defensive work combined with plenty of good attacking play saw us score 4 well worked tries through Louis, James, Lewis and Diya. In the end, the boys triumphed 24-7 with James being awarded Player of the Match. We now face Prince William School in the next stage of the competition.

The Ferrers School, Queensway, Higham Ferrers,

Franklin House

7 Aside District Football Competition

Over the last 4 weeks, Ferrers have been a part of a new 7 aside district football competition. There have been many boys involved with Mr Jackson rotating the squad regularly to ensure all students have had an opportunity on the back of large numbers at training each week. During the main phase of the competition, Ferrers finished 4th out of the 8 teams winning 4 games and losing 3. This then meant that we qualified with Sir Christopher Hatton, Huxlow and Manor in to the finals night of the cup competition. The boys played with lots of grit and determination but in the first two games were outdone by two bigger, more physical outfits in SCH and Manor. In the last game, Ferrers moved the ball around really well creating numerous chances. A well taken goal and a wonder strike from Charlie meant the boys came through 2-1 winners and cemented their place as 3rd in the district. Lots of positives to take forward with plenty to work on but most importantly great to see so many different students involved each week. Year 9 & 10 Netball Teams

The Year 9 & 10 Netball teams have both fought extremely well this half term. Some wins and some losses, but constantly learning to improve their performance. Year 10 have worked extremely well as a team to push each other to achieve their best. Some outstanding performances from all, however two students who have displayed incredible determination this year are Katie and Emily. Year 9 have worked equally as hard and are still very much on a journey to be the most successful they can be. Notable performances from Jess and Ellie, who have been able to motivate the team and apply mature tactics to their game.

The Ferrers School, Queensway, Higham Ferrers,

Franklin House

Year 9 Girls Football Team Some key fixtures/dates in the school sporting calendar The Year 9 girls football team travelled over to the St. Ivo Academy in TBC – Under 18 ESFA Cup Cambridgeshire for the 1st round of the Match @ Jack Hunt School, Peterborough ESFA cup. The girls involved played with or King Edward VII Academy, Norfolk. tremendous effort and determination against a very strong opposition with a Thursday 7th November and the following large number of representative footballers. Ferrers battled to the end but 3 Thursdays unfortunately came up just short losing 1-0. Despite the performance, the girls were a credit to the school and the quality of football the students Year 7 District Football Competitions @ produced was something to be very proud of. All the girls involved were Ferrers School. brilliant but standout performances came from Shannon, Jess and Lauren. With a number of key players unavailable, Ferrers hosted Stratton Upper Wednesday 20th November School in the ESFA cup. A slow start from Ferrers saw us concede 3 early Years 7-13 District X-Country @ Croyland goals facing a huge task ahead. Through some spirited play towards the Park, Wellingborough. end of the first half, Kristers chipped a beautiful goal in to the top right hand corner of the net. Unfortunately after half time despite battling play Wednesday 27th November and some strong defensive interventions, the boys could not find a way through Stratton with the game finishing 3-1. Years 8 Girls District Dodgeball @ Weavers School, Wellingborough.

Sixth Form Science Club starts at The Ferrers Wednesday 4th December Sixth formers Sam, Lily and Izzy are keen budding scientists and have loved Science at the Years 8 Boys District Dodgeball Ferrers. All currently studying at least one Science at A level, they are working with the Science team Thursday 12th December to launch “The Ferrers Science Club”, so they can pass on their infectious enthusiasm to a new Year 8 Girls/Boys District Sports Hall Ath- generation of science students. Starting on Thursday 7th November for Year 7 and 8 letics Competition @ Manor School, students, they will host a series of fun practical Raunds. experiments. To apply, give a couple of sentences to your science teacher with your name and tutor Tuesday 17th December group and why you would like to attend science club. If you are not admitted this term, we will save your place for next Year 7 Girls/Boys District Sports Hall Ath- time. This will be held after school until 4.30pm every Thursday starting letics Competition @ Manor School, after half term. We will let you know if you have been successful in your Raunds. application. Hope to see you there.

The Ferrers School, Queensway, Higham Ferrers,

Turing House

Senior Tutor Review - Mrs Dean

Welcome to the first news about Turing House! Many congratulations to all members of the team – staff and students – for an excellent start to the new academic year and for embracing the change to the House System and Vertical Tutoring. As our House motto/ethos, we have decided to use the infamous words of Alan Turing, and hope all students will adopt this sentiment as they progress through the school on their academic journey: “This is only a foretaste of what is to come and only the shadow of what is going to be’’

Academic Mentoring The first of these sessions have so far taken place for students in Years 10 & 11 with their Form Tutors. Year 10 to discuss how they have settled into their new GCSE/BTEC courses; and with Year 11 to ensure that they are on track in their studies, with advice given to help them continue to work towards achieving their target grades or better! Please contact your child’s form tutor if you would like further information on this.

AttendanceWhilst we strive for 100%, Turing House average attendance since the start of term is 96%

Achievement Points - As the Senior Tutor for Turing House, I am proud to be able to say that we have led the way since the start of the new academic year with House points. Our total as of the penultimate week is 5201 points, but we are being hotly pursued by the other houses!! Well done and congratulations to the following students who have been our House Stars of the week:

River (T7), Charlotte (T8), Syrah-Rose (T6) & Alexandra (T8), Jack (T1), Shannon (T2) & Evelyn (T9), Archie (T1) & Jack (T7) and House Star of Term 1 Zak (T7) with 76 points.

It has been lovely to be able to celebrate the achievements and successes of Turing House students in assembly each week. I have given only a small selection of teacher comments below, to acknowledge the hard work of the students: Alfie (T8) has made some great contributions in Media Studies over the past 3 weeks. He has made a great start. The following students achieved on or above their Target grade in a recent class test for GCSE Business: Sam (T4) & Katie (T7) (2 grades above her target! Fantastic)

Excellent start in their GCSE PE: Emma (T6) Francesca (T3) Mollie (T2) & or BTEC Sport courses: Samuel (T2) Dylan (T6) Kacey (T8) Muhammed (T7) Jamie (T6) Maths Stars: Ashontai (T4), Jordan (T8), Hollie (T5), Jayden (T4) Ronnie (T9), Abi (T9), Holly (T8), Elijah (T4) & Kia(T4)

The Ferrers School, Queensway, Higham Ferrers,

Turing House

Jack (T1) has made a fantastic start to the German GCSE course. I am really impressed with his contributions to lessons and his written work has been fab! Keep up the great work!

Special mention to William (T6), Connor (T8) & Evie (T2) for getting full marks in their vocab tests this week! You have all made an excellent start to learning Spanish. Thank you to all members of Turing House for an excellent Term 1

Geography—The new Geographers have embarked on their learning voyage with vim, vigour and alacrity! Year 7 are working out what their home region is like and how to navigate with surety around it. Year 8 are investigating criminal activity, from changing our risk levels to why certain countries have a criminal impact on our lives. Year 9 have begun investigating Natural Hazards as the first of their GCSE topic – from shattering the earth to getting blown away, it promises to be an interesting ride! Year 10 are analysing how cities grow and change, and will reinforce this with a visit to Cambridge in late November. Finally, the experienced Geographers of Year 11 are completing their pen-ultimate unit about economic growth and change and the role of the UK in the wider world.

History—It has been a spellbinding return to the school to the students in History lessons, our Year 7s have had a dark age murder mystery to solve, where they examined clues to ascertain why 471 skeletons were found buried on the coast of Ireland at Loughshinney. Year 8 have been studying the Industrial Revolution and have been grappling with questions like “where should a museum to the Industrial Revolution be built?” and who is the “greatest inventor or entrepreneur of the Industrial Revolution?” Year 9 and Year 10 have begun their study of the ‘Medicine through Time’ course by making an incision into the macabre world of Medieval Medicine. Let the bloodletting begin! Meanwhile Year 11, at the other end of the Dr’s Waiting Room, have been looking at the effect modern medicine including the discovery of DNA, and the NHS, assessing their effect on health and wellbeing. Mr Collins also had all of House Turing enthralled with a characteristically, charismatic eulogy to the great Alan Turing during house assembly.

The Ferrers School, Queensway, Higham Ferrers,

Turing House

Maths

During this term we have had a PiXL times table competition for Years 7 and 8. Our students have done us proud. We were even National Champions for three weeks. Some of our superstars this term include: Daniel from B7, Zak from T7, Maddison from F4, Melin from T7, Evie from T2 and Cody from T1. It gives me great pleasure to announce the winning House for this term are Turing House!

Supporting Maths Learning through Online Resources - A reminder for some useful web- sites that you should be using:

PiXL Maths App – You should be coming your grade challenges. Maths Genie - www.mathsgenie.co.uk/gcse.html Corbett Maths www.corbettmaths.com/revision/practice-questions/ - Graded GCSE practice questions, solutions and videos to support your child through each topic. Mathedup - www.mathedup.co.uk/gcse-maths-takeaway/ - GCSE Maths takeaway. Past paper questions and answers by topic including videos to support their learning. Mathsdoctor - www.mathsdoctor.co.uk/resources/ Useful video clips to assist understanding of topics

Here are the topics that are coming up next term. Why not do some flipped learning and find out about these topics before the actual lesson. Search each topic in MathsWatch. Year 11 will commence their bespoke revision based on their personalised learning checklists.

The Ferrers School, Queensway, Higham Ferrers,

Woolf House

Welcome to Woolf House! Firstly, I would like to say how proud I am of the Woolf House staff and students and how they have welcomed being part ofa ‘school within a school’ ethos. Since the start of term, I have witnessed students of all year groups helping and supporting each other during their tutor time which has been one of my highlights. At the end of each term, myself and the Woolf Form tutors will nominate a ‘Champion of the Term’. This will be a student who has gone above and beyond perhaps in day to day lessons, extra-curricular or been an all-round fantastic student! It was a hard choice this term as there are so many worthy winners who stand out. Woolf House Champions of Term 1: W1 – Kiera , W2 – Grace , W3 – Travis , W4 – Alfie , W5- Lucy, W6 – Harry, W7 – Matthew, W8 – Tia , W9 – Tapiwa, Senior Tutor Award – Ella Our House motto/ethos is inspired by Virginia Woolf. I want our Woolf House students to feel inspired by Virginia Woolf’s attitude and know that there are no limitations on what they can achieve. They have the freedom to explore and create whilst being confident and intelligent to become the best versions of themselves. Achievement Points Woolf House has had a fantastic start to the year with a total of 4471 Achievement Points! This is a fantastic achievement and something we as a House are celebrating in our end of term 1 Celebration Assembly. We are currently in 3rd Place behind 1st Turing and 2nd Brunel, so in Term 3 let’s have a drive on our Achievement Points and give the other houses a run for their money! As well as House Achievement points competition I am running an interform Achievement Points competition. Here are the current totals: Well done to all tutor groups in Woolf House but in 1st Place we have W2 with 750 points! Let’s see if they can hold their lead during Term 2. Now down to the Top 3 students with the highest Achievement Points in Term 1! Well done to: 3rd – George W2, 2nd – Maisy W1, 1st – Katie W2 Attendance We have 75 students in Woolf House who all have 100% attendance! Huge congratulations to you all, it is very important that students are punctual and are in lessons, so they can achieve their full potential, every lesson really does count! Our House Attendance for Term 1 is 93%, which needs to improve for Term 2. It is vital that each student, and our House total hits our target of 96% or above. Having good attendance will have an important part to play on each students overall progress.

The Ferrers School, Queensway, Higham Ferrers,

Woolf House

Acrostic Poems in Languages The MFL department wants to congratulate the students in Years 7 and 8 who participated in the Acrostic Poem and All About Me competitions. It has been a pleasure to receive the entries, there were many excellent poems and posters. We also want to announce our KS3 homework club every Monday lunchtime in L1 and KS4 homework/support club Thursdays after school in L2. If you are struggling to learn vocabulary, grammar, or just need a bit of help, come along and join us. In the next few weeks, we have many exciting activities planned, including our KS4 international lunch, our Traditional German Christmas market trip and the A level ‘All the World is a Stage’ workshop in Nottingham.

Studying Animal Farm in English Lesson All KS3 students study a novel at the start of the year in an aim to encourage a love for reading. Miss McLellan chose Animal Farm as it is a challenging yet interesting text, exploring historical events such as the Russian Revolution, through animals. The students have thoroughly enjoyed researching into George Orwell and his ideas to write about former world leaders. As part of their extended learning work, students had to visually demonstrate their interpretation of the setting in the book. The model set acts as a diorama, showcasing the students’ visual interpretation of the novel. As you can see from the pictures, the effort that the class put into their work was fantastic and the team are proud of their achievements so far.

Parent Forum 2019-20 Last year we launched a Parent Forum, where parents and carers can discuss questions raised by the school on different topics related to their child’s education and discuss their thoughts and ideas to help us strive for continuous improvement. Dates for this year’s parent forums are: Monday 11th November 2019, Monday 20th January 2020, Monday 16th March 2020, Monday 11th May 2020 Monday 15th June 2020

The Ferrers School, Queensway, Higham Ferrers,

Hughes House

UCAS We have had a successful start with a number of students sending off their applications to university. Offers have already been received for some of the best universities in the country including Nottingham, Exeter and Manchester. We are looking forward to seeing the rest of our students apply as they prepare for their next steps. Mental Health Awareness Last Thursday 10th October was Mental Health Awareness Day and one which the Sixth Form celebrated in full swing. As well as taking part in mindfulness sessions and learning about coping strategies to deal with stress and anxiety, they were asked to send notes of positivity to teachers and students alike. This was such a success, more postcards had to be printed! There were lots of happy faces as students received notes and a real buzz around the Sixth Form Centre. We were visited by some of the team from Service Six to deliver a session called “Sister Sister”. It was an opportunity for any of the girls in the Sixth Form to receive support on an individual basis or within a group to cope with some mental health concerns such as anxiety, depression or stress. The girls took this on board and those who took part even received a nice soap from Lush ☺

McMillan Coffee Morning On Thursday 26th September, we held our annual coffee morning in aid of McMillan Cancer Support. Students were selling cakes as well as tea and coffee to take donations for this wonderful cause. Thank you to all who donated some amazing cakes and to those who donated, we managed to raise £32.38

Year 11 into 12 Transition Thursday 10th October saw our Open Evening where we welcomed Year 11 students from The Ferrers, Huxlow Science College and Rushden Academy to come and look at what we have on offer in the Sixth Form. Staff from all 3 schools came to talk about the subjects on offer and what it is like to study at Post 16. We had an amazing turnout of students and many happy faces as they were able to gain lots of information and ask all the questions they needed to in order to make some informed choices about their next steps. To prepare for this, students had an assembly and a core studies session dedicated to looking at next steps and what this means for them. It was great to see how engaged they were in thinking about their plans. In the coming term, students will also have a follow up interview by one of the Sixth Form team to discuss their options and support with any plans going forward. The deadline for applications to the Ferrers 6th form is Friday 13th December 2019, students can find an application form at www.tenconline.co.uk then follow the links for ‘Study with us’ and ‘Applications’. If you have any questions then please email Mrs Prince, Head of Sixth Form at [email protected] or pop in to see one of the Sixth Form team.

The Ferrers School, Queensway, Higham Ferrers,