to to Higher Education are at Russell Group Universities. For further information 51% of students who went on and English Maths and does not gain 5 in A*-C. C to a is achieves student well no very that do ensure now we that things the of One in performed students C. - A* 90% with (Lang) English and 86% with Maths well how at look we when especially results, these of proud very be should We find Please excellent. figures: highlight some below were results our year This following The fantastic. of the eachhighlights shows information Key Stage. were results A2 our and again hugely pleasing. Our KS4 results were excellent once were board the across results examination Our and what’s been School. happening at Edgbarrow new what’s with up-to-date everybody bring to good be would it term first our of end the to come we As e ee eihe wt or Lvl examination Level A results and they are as follows: our with delighted were We ------

4 o al TC tkn civd distinction achieved taken BTECs all of 84% 84% achieved grades A*-C 61% achieved B A*- grades 99.5% pass rate A*-E This year 136 students sat exams Language) EBacc a the and Humanities Science, 2 achieved Maths, (English, students our of 31% allfor of students.our best very our doing are we that shows which grades G - A* 5 gained students our of 100% more or 3 grades. A*-A achieved students our of 39% FFTD. 73% against English and Maths including -C A* more or 5 achieved students our of 83% try). benchmark to be in the top 25% in the coun- national (A more FFTD 90% or against grades 5 A*-C achieved students our of 89% From the Associate the From and distinction star

Headteacher Issue no. 71 - December 2014 - December 71 no. Issue Newsletter www.edgbarrowschool.co.uk the the country! in schools of 2% top the in us puts This abilities. all of students of results the to value adding are we that fact score this year is our highest the ever at 1050, reflecting the that thrilled are We students. those by achieved actually grades the with 11 Year of should end the at students achieve grades the of expectations ernment the score. is Added’ ‘Value overall gov- compares report score This the from figures key the of One tions. nationalexpecta- significantlyare outperforming groups student all Edgbarrow at that confirms which report, on the 2014 exam results, and we are delighted with our report RAISEonline their published now have DfE The team great effort. to the students, staff, parents and Governors for such a congratulations year’s many this again of once results; proud examination very be should we school a As seeking employment. or year gap a on are 18 and apprenticeships Of the remaining students, 20 are either working or on hnig om. hs a a ue civmn and achievement huge saved the approximately £3,500.school a was This rooms. changing both and gym the of whole the decorated we time This exception. of couple a no was this and garden, or up paint to Saturday a on hours our give by who students, offered and time Dads and Mums, support the with lucky so been have We year. the first of day gardening our and painting organised we September 27th Saturday On figure final the PTA from on the amount raised was over £13,000. The safely. returned and walk the sponsored in part took students 1000 than more again and once excellent was weather the year this Fortunately, team organising the event.for Form the Sixth to thanks and involved everybody weekend. to following Congratulations the University to off going were number a where Sixth, Upper the especially again, up Students and parents seem to thoroughly enjoy meeting occasion. successful very another was it and 2014 ber 11 Thursday on event the held we year This th Septem- Our next Painting and Gardening Day is on Saturday 28th If you do have to drop in school please do not take a February, 2014. parking space that is going to be required by somebody for the whole day, but just drop or pick up and go. Please do what you can to help. At the end of September once again the school was absolutely packed out for our Open Evenings and events for Year 6 students and parents. Throughout the term we have offered Can I please just remind everyone that students must be on tours on Monday and Tuesday mornings for parents and the school site by 8.45 am ready to register at 8.50am. To students and I have been so pleased and proud to hear of the ensure that students are arriving on time Senior Staff will be wonderful comments made by families as they walk around monitoring the school entrances and any student arriving the school while we are busy in lessons. They talk of the late will be issued with a 30 minute lunchtime detention for positive atmosphere within the school and the calm, orderly that day. site in which students and staff seem very happy. That means a lot to me and thank you to everyone for their help and I am sure you can appreciate how important it is for support in creating such a positive and purposeful atmosphere. students to be in school on time in order to start their day in the most organised and efficient way.

On the last Thursday in November we held our annual Goodbye for now to Mrs Hutchinson, Head of Year 9, who Christmas Shopping Event in the Sixth Form and once again left for maternity leave on 28th November. Miss Knowles this was a lovely evening with lots and lots of stalls both from will be acting Head of Year until Mrs Hutchinson returns. outside the school and also many run by our students. The Goodbye also to Mrs Blazer, Head of Drama whose event was very well supported and very busy. A huge thank maternity leave started in October. We wish them both you to the PTA for organising such a wonderful event which well. this year raised over £3,000. The students and staff of Years 7 and 8 once again ran some stalls to support PTA projects Goodbye to Mr Oldaker who is leaving us to become a and I know that the parents of our Year 7 and 8 students Community Pastor for his local church. We wish him all the would have helped the students to organise cake making or best in his new venture. purchasing of sweets etc. prior to the event, so thank you. Also leaving is Miss Henley, teacher of English who will be moving to Canada to become an Outdoor Educator and we wish her luck for her move to Canada and in her new post. Each year the school produces a School Development Plan that is understood and followed by the staff and Governors of Our Librarian Mrs Cook is moving with her family to the school. Last year we shared the essence of this plan with Azerbaijan and we wish her well. parents and carers. In an effort to give you some understanding of where our focus will be this year I thought I Dan June our Music technician is relocating to Swindon and would include this item in the Newsletter once again. we wish him well.

Our School Development Plan this year focuses once again One of our Learning Support Assistants, Ms Thomas left us on the quality of teaching and learning in the classroom on 5th December to take up the post of Learning Mentor at particularly: and another, Miss Fearn, is going to join - Marking and Feedback the Admin team at . We wish them all the - Literacy and Numeracy best in their new posts. - Intervention - Curriculum Due to the retirements of colleagues last year and to the growth in the curriculum we have this year welcomed an unusually high number of new teaching staff. Please forgive me but this is the usual plea regarding the beginning and end of each school day. Can I please remind ● Joining our English Department are Ms Bell, Mr parents that you should not use the Sandhurst Road entrance Plumtree, Miss Rune and Ms Earl to drop off and collect students. ● Mr Curtis is joining our Design Technology Department Could I please encourage all parents to drop and pick up ● Mr Russell-Smith is our new Head of Geography students away from school if at all possible as with some and he is joined by Miss Dyck and Miss Selby 1,370 students we have more staff who need all the available ● Miss Brink is the new member of our History parking space. We want to make the school site and adjoining Department to cover for Mrs Hutchinson’s roads as safe as possible for children who are either walking maternity leave. or cycling to school and the congestion on Pinehill Road from ● Mrs Brandist and Miss Sanchez Escobar are joining the lights and then into Grant Road is becoming more and our MFL Department more difficult. ● Miss Luffman and Mrs Phillip are joining the Special Educational Needs team ● Joining our Science Department are Mr Burrell and Miss Grant ● Next term, we welcome Mrs Williams and Mrs Osinoiki as LSA’s and Mr Orr who is returning to the Science Department after his sabbatical

I would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone associated with the school a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. I hope you all have a peaceful time with family and friends and I look forward to seeing all our students back in school on Monday 5th January 2015 (Week B).

school for the continued focus on doing the very best for Our first term in the new school year has witnessed the students. Can I add how appreciative I am of the hard some change at leadership level but has not changed work, dedication and time given to the school by the the focus, drive and commitment to do the very best volunteers that make up the Governing Body. for our students. To close I would like to wish everybody a thoroughly Results from examinations last year reflected very enjoyable Christmas and a happy New Year. positive performance from our students. This was tremendous reward for all teaching staff who worked tirelessly to ensure the students were well positioned to do their very best. Looking at the ever expanding criteria that the school is measured against it contin- ues to achieve at every level which is an indication of outstanding performance. As we push forward in to 2015, the Governing Body must reconstitute before the end of the academic year. This is a legal requirement and will ensure that people applying to join the Governing Body are select- ed on desired skills, ability to impact and a clear under- standing of the demands and accountability placed upon Governors. As in all industries and business, the educational land- scape is an ever changing picture that keeps evolving and finding new ways to measure attainment. This requires school leaders, teaching staff and Governors to keep themselves abreast of current thinking and the requirements demanded from the Department of Ed- ucation. As you all know Mr Elsey has been in an Executive Head role for the last term which has required him to be at Brakenhale School for the majority of his time and I would like to thank Mrs Coley and her leadership team for stepping up and continuing to drive our school performance in Mr Elsey's absence. The spring term will see a temporary Associate Headteacher in place at Brakenhale whilst they make arrangements to appoint a permanent Headteacher. Whilst still having Executive responsibilities Mr Elsey will be returning, as planned, to spend more time at Edgbarrow. I would like to take this opportunity to thank our Year 7 News Head of Year : E McClatchie

A warm welcome to the Year 7 page. I am absolutely delighted with the start Year 7 have made at Edgbarrow and how well they have settled into their first term at secondary school. I have also been extremely impressed with the large number of students getting involved in all aspects of school life, through the extra-curricular activities available to them.

Year 7 are really starting to come together as a year group and I am already very proud to call myself their Head of Year! Earlier in the term each tutor group spent half a day at Oakwood doing team building activities. I was lucky enough to accompany 7V, who threw themselves into the experience whole heartedly and had a fantastic time. I know all the tutors felt their groups did the same and this was a very worthwhile trip. The centre staff also commented on how well behaved, enthusiastic and well-mannered our students were!

The forms have all taken part in our weekly inter-form quiz, battling it out for the half termly honour of being quiz champions and taking ownership of our giant yellow bath duck. 7T won the first half term and had the added prize of naming the duck – he is called ‘Snoop Duck’!

As I write this the Year 7s are currently involved in inter-form netball and rugby, with the final round of matches next week; I look forward to reporting the winners next time.

All the Year 7 forms had a stall at the Christmas Fayre. A lot of hard work and organisation went into this event by the students. The end results were fantastic, with all sorts of things from a giant wooden Christmas tree with holes to a full size penguin bowling lane! All their hard work resulted in them raising lots of money for the PTA. We also all got into the Christmas spirit on the night and had lots of fun.

I would like to take this opportunity to ask for your continued support in ensuring that all students arrive to school on time, wearing the correct uniform and that you look at your child’s homework diary on a regular basis to discuss their homework and any issues which are highlighted by staff. I would also like to thank you for all the support you have given us this term in order to ensure the students are settled in as soon as possible. Finally I would like to take this opportunity to wish you and your families a wonderful Christmas holidays. I look forward to working with you all again in the New Year. Year 8 News Acting Head of Year : R Knowles

It has been an absolute pleasure and privilege to be appointed as Acting Head of Year in Mrs Hutchinson’s absence whilst she is on maternity leave. I know the students wish Mrs Hutchinson all the best and are determined to make her proud during her absence. I know how delighted Mrs Hutchinson was of how the year group settled into the school in Year 7 and how she knew that you would all continue to thrive going into Year 8. We look forward to making her proud over the next two terms. Year 8 has started positively, with students working hard in all their subjects and relishing the challenge of the new areas being learnt in lessons.

The old nervous, anxious and timid Year 7 has gone! We have become a very strong, extremely happy and welcomed year group within Edgbarrow School. Excluding the excessive amount of homework we have been receiving, Year 8 has been better and a lot more relaxed than Year 7. Now that we have settled in, we are ready to work hard and put our heads down towards whatever challenges us! We are a hardworking, intelligent and well-dressed year group, who are enjoying getting prepared for our GCSEs. Thank you to all our teachers, Deputy Head of Year and our Head of Year for helping us through Year 7 and for supporting us currently throughout Year 8.

Since starting to work with the year group in September, I have become incredibly proud in the way that they fully engage with all activities and opportunities offered and are so supportive of each other. It has been a very busy term, both academically and non-academically but I am delighted to see so many of the students involving themselves fully in life at Edgbarrow.

As I write this Christmas is fast approaching and we have just had the PTA Christmas Fayre. I was amazed at the enthusiasm and the organisation of the year group as they have prepared their stalls to run on the evening.

This year we raised a massive £150 as a year group, which we are all really proud of. To achieve this, we ran several stalls on the night of the Christmas Fayre. We had many fun and exciting activities to take part in. For example, shooting targets with a Nerf Gun to win prizes, eating doughnuts tied from string without using your hands, and throwing a small ball into a cup to win a range of different types of sweets. We were extremely busy, and all prizes were gone by the end of the evening. We would like to thank everyone who donated both money and prizes and to all that came along and made the evening possible.

This year the school council have set up and run action groups. This was introduced to the year group and I was so proud at how many of the students put themselves forward to campaign for a highly sought after place on one of these whole school groups. We are very proud of Harry Mayes and Marshall Buick who succeeded in being voted for by people across the whole school. Our Year 8 charity, web, green and form rep teams are also working hard to make a very positive contribution to making sure Year 8 is as successful as it can be, from writing articles for this newsletter to raising money for charity and supporting their extremely hard working tutors with collecting messages.

As a year group, we were very proud to take part in the whole school act of remembrance. As you probably already know, this year was a very special year as it was the 100 year anniversary since WW1, and Edgbarrow didn’t miss out on remembering this event. As students of Edgabrrow, we were given the opportunity to donate £2. This money was used to buy a poppy and to plant a poppy in some oasis. As a year group we fully supported this and planted nearly 200 poppies. At around 10.40, we assembled as a school to remember and think about those who gave their lives for our country. The whole school assembled in complete silence and the service was led by uniformed cadets, including some from our own year group who we were very proud to see involved, and Mrs Coley lead the service with a speech. We concluded our service with a minute silence. I feel very proud to be part of Edgbarrow School after this event.

As you may be aware we have launched our GR8 challenge this year for the students in Year 8 to motivate the students throughout the year and celebrate their many achievements. Students will be awarded points for various personal challenges linked to school attendance, behaviour, their work, participation in extra-curricular activities, charity work, and many more. As with all good competitions ‘points mean prizes’ and the challenge will culminate in a grand prize draw in the summer which we hope will encourage the students to join in and try their best throughout the year. Donations of any prizes are also greatly appreciated to support and engage the students in this challenge throughout the year. Please encourage your child to join in with activities in school and to tell us about activities they participate in outside school so that we can celebrate their successes with them. We are lucky to have many year group sports teams who have all had a successful year so far.

We have all had a great netball season this year! Everybody has thoroughly enjoyed coming to netball training on a Wednesday night. We have had a lot of matches against other schools and have amazingly won every single one of them! Our toughest match was against Ranelagh (they beat us last year) but with our determina- tion and high spirits we managed to just beat them by 2 goals. We have recently been to a tournament against loads of really good schools and we were playing for the plate. We didn’t win, but we all left delighted that we had made it so far!

The rugby team did incredibly well this season defeating anyone who dared play us. Unfortunately though we were knocked out of the county cup quarter final by a loss of three points.

The hockey team have so far narrowly lost both matches by two goals to nil. However we have been developing a number of new skills at training including Indian Dribble, getting the ball moving in a triangle and working on improving our shooting. We look forward to our next match.

I have within the last week asked staff to name anyone who is doing the right thing in lessons, putting in consistent effort throughout this half term and I look forward to celebrating these by sending postcards home. Year 8 have also just received their grade reports. I am so proud of how many students achieved such fantastic grades, confirming the positive start that students have made to their learning in this academic year.

I would like to take this opportunity to ask for your continued support in ensuring that all students arrive to school on time, wearing the correct uniform and that you to look at your child’s homework diary on a regular basis to discuss their homework and any issues which are highlighted by staff. I would also like to thank you for all the support you have given us this term in order to ensure the students continue to thrive at Edgbarrow both academically and pastorally, continuing on from their successes in Year 7.

Finally after such a busy term I would like to wish you all a relaxing and enjoyable Christmas break and I look forward to working closely with all students and parents as we move into the New Year. Year 9 News Head of Year : L West

As I write this piece for the newsletter the Year 9 students are preparing for their exam week. Having already had a taster with the Science exams, I am very impressed with the maturity and responsibility that the majority of students are showing towards them and how much hard work is going into them. I hope they will all be rewarded for their diligence with some outstanding progression and levels. This year is an important time for the year group as once we return from the Christmas holidays we will begin the Option process which includes a series of information evenings to help you and the Year 9 students make informed decisions regarding their option choices. Please make note of the important dates:

● Thursday 15th January 2015 GCSE Options evening ● Thursday 22nd January 2015 Year 9 Parents evening On both of these occasion you will be able to ask me, tutors and members of staff about the courses for Key Stage Four. Life at Edgbarrow is not all about exams and the year group have been busy participating in many other activities throughout the term. There have been some excellent sporting achievements and cultural activities. Please see below for student reports. The Year 9 rugby team has done really well this The Year 9 netball team consisting of Anna Witchell, season. We have got into the semi-finals so far at the Emily Whelton, Emilia Baker, Sawab Hamouda, county cup. We played Claires Court in the Becky Ball, Natalie Mulliner, Grace Boucher, Grace quarter final and beat them 44-22; we played at the Gregory, Milly Delnevo and Maisie Hamilton has had Maidenhead 4G. We are lucky to have two London an excellent season. We won against Brakenhale Irish players (Sam Clough and Jamie Brown) who School 28-2 and Sandhurst School 16-5. We also work really well organising the back line. Alex Turton drew 12-12 against Garth Hill School but lost against played really well and his speed during the games has Maiden Erleigh and Ranelagh. In the South East Berks helped us to where we are now. The team has come tournament we came 3rd out of 9 schools taking together really well since the start of the season and part. We would like to thank to Miss Madz for being hopefully we will go from strength to strength. Over an excellent coach and making training sessions fun all we need to say thank you to Mr Fisher for his time and interesting! and effort towards us.

The German exchange visitors were amazing! They were so nice and their English is very good. When we were at school they went out to see famous British landmarks. I would definitely recommend this fabulous experience.

The French exchange was a great experience. We all tried new foods, went to new places and had a lot of fun. Some people had crepes and cider at their exchange’s house and Joey Golightly even ate snails while we were there! We went to places like Chamonix and went up to the mountains, and did a very tiring walk up the Saleve. Also, we had tours of towns such as Annecy and Genève, and learned a lot about France and Switzerland, as well as doing activities at the nearby markets. On one of the days, we even went into the French school and did some lessons, like English, French, Maths and History. Not only did we have fun with our school, we all did things with our exchanges; going to town, sightseeing and much more. On the Friday 3 of us had a sleepover at one of the exchange’s house, and it was a lot of fun! Other people went and saw places like Mont Blanc and the Genève Lake and definitely enjoyed them- selves. The French exchange was certainly amazing, and we can’t wait until the exchang- es come to ! Last year we held our first Movie night and it was such a success we decided to run another. This year we went retro with Edward Scissor Hands and ate popcorn galore. We will be holding another reward night on 4th February for those who achieve all 1s and 2s on the January grade reports. We also have our Paris trip to look forward to where we are taking over half of the year group away and I have heard a rumour there is a campaign to get Mr Newbould wearing Mickey Mouse ears, so please support such a worthy cause! Please can I remind you that if you are going on this trip the outstanding balance needs to be paid by Friday April 3rd 2015. Many of the year group have worked hard raising money and supporting charity events during the term. Our annual cake sale continued to be popular so thank you.

We held a three day cake sale and it was a massive success for our charity Shooting Star Chase, who will have been supporting since Year 7! Thank you for helping us. We raised a great amount of money £154.50. It was a great team effort with people selling cakes by our corridor and taking trays around the school, trying to get the most profit. Our next plan is after the Christmas Holidays to re-launch our fill a bag for our charity, where every tutor group will get a bag and they fill it with unwanted items such as jewellery, books, dvds cds, toys, colour pencils. Please can the donations be in good working order and we thank you all so much. We want it to be the best success. Thank you

I would like to thank you for your support of the other whole school charity appeals that we have made to you this term. As a school we have been able to support many worth causes so thank you. I would like to take this opportunity to ask for your continued support in ensuring that all students arrive to school on time, wearing the correct uniform and that you look at your child’s homework diary on a regular basis to discuss their homework and any issues which are highlighted by staff. I would like to take the opportunity to thank my outstanding tutor team who all work amazingly hard for me and your children and publically welcome Miss Madz as my DHOY , Miss Dyke and Miss Bell to the team. I would also like to say goodbye to Miss Henley who has been an excellent ambassador for my team and wish her good luck with all her adventures and welcome Mr Orr back from his sabbatical. Finally I would like to wish you and your families and very happy and peaceful Christmas. I’m still hoping for snow and look forward to the New Year and the opportunities it will offer for Year 9.

After a busy Summer Expedition Season with Year 9, 34 participants successfully completed their practice and assessment weekends and were passed on their expedition section. We were blessed with perfect conditions for the assessment and our students were once again praised by the assessors for their politeness, maturity and positive attitude. All groups have to complete a presentation and this year, all 5 groups chose to do a video. These were entertaining and interesting and some of them looked truly professional!

Edgbarrow was well represented at the annual D of E awards evening with 14 students from Year 10,11,12 and 13 receiving their Bronze award (see photo). Several others were unable to attend.

In 2014/2015 D of E is changing at Edgbarrow. Due to a very high historical demand we are expanding the Bronze award from 35 up to 70 places. This year’s students will benefit from training, kit and expedition leadership provided by experts from Inspired Expeditions who have lots of experience of working with schools. A free initial taster session on 1st December that focused on team building skills saw 80 Year 9s put through their paces!

We are also very excited to be launching Gold D of E for our Sixth Form this year. We have 10 participants who will be undertaking two 4 day expeditions in wild country – a challenging and rewarding experience that they won’t forget!

For more information please visit the D of E area on our school website. Senior Maths Challenge Results On Thursday 6th November our Further Maths students in Years 12 and 13 sat the UKMT maths challenge. This is a national competition with ‘problem solving’ type questions set around many different areas of mathematics.

Our students achieved gold, silver and bronze certificates and the results are given below: Year 13 Year 12

Will Cooper* GOLD Charlie Goswell* & ** GOLD Jack Holden Stephen Bone

Freddy White Michael Truckle SILVER Harry Wilde SILVER Benny Deacon Matthew Raymen

Henry Jourdan Tom Truckle Alice Goddard Wing Hou Chan BRONZE Alex Britton BRONZE Edward Robinson Prabhat Seth Tim Hatchard Hannah Snowball

** Charlie Goswell also received a certificate for ‘Best in School’ * Charlie Goswell and Will Cooper also received a certificate for ‘Best in their Year’

Charlie Goswell scored enough points to be entered into the first round of the ‘British Maths Olympiad’ and Will Cooper and Jack Holden scored enough to qualify for the ‘Senior Kangaroo’ round. These are to be sat on Fri 28th November so I will let you know how they get on in the next issue. The maths department would like to thank all the students who have taken part in the enrichment activities so far this year and congratulate those that will be receiving certificates. Well done!

Senior Team Maths Challenge On Monday 10th November, four of our Further Maths students represented the school in the local heat of the Senior Team Maths Challenge, held at in Reading. This event is run jointly by the UK Maths Trust and the Further Maths Support Network and involves an evening of maths puzzles! Regional heats are held all over the country with the winning teams taking part in the grand final. The team this year was made up of two Year 13 and two Year 12 students: Charlie Goswell, Matt Raymen, Michael Truckle and Jack Holden. I had the pleasure of accompanying the students once again and a good time was had by all. Unfortunately we were not one of the winning teams (the top three teams were Eton, and Kendrick). We were very proud to come 10th (out of 23), but were slightly annoyed when we found out that we were only one mark off the joint 8th place!!! Well done to the four students involved and I thank them for giving up their valuable time.

Mrs Holloway PTA News

Following the AGM in September the PTA has had a busy period raising funds which go towards the cost of equipment and activities which are for the benefit of all the students.

Edgbarrow School has joined the "Reading FC School Ticketing Scheme” which enables our school community to buy tickets to Reading FC matches at a reduced price, (about half price, £15 adult and £5 child) with the added bonus of cash back to Edgbarrow School. This has already proved to be successful raising over £100.

On Saturday March 28th 2015 a similar rugby initiative will start with Saracens V Harlequins at Wembley. (Please contact Mrs. Philpot 01344 777245 or email [email protected] for further information.)

The first Bag2School initiative to collect unwanted clothing was held in November by our new vice-chair, Sandy Kent, and proved to be a brilliant success making a handsome profit of £316.

Our annual Christmas Shopping Evening was held on November 27th admirably supported by stall holders, parents and students and offered the chance to win some fantastic prizes in the Grand Draw. For the second year we offered the chance to buy a PTA Santa Pud and have now sold out as did the 3D Tombola for both adults and children and the Tuck Shop promotion of Mulled Wine and Mince Pie. Plus we must not forget the Year 7 & 8 areas which did not disappoint and provided great entertain- ment whilst also raising funds. A huge thank you to all the volunteers who helped to make the evening a success which is on track to be one of the most profitable to date.

Recent events raised £1,311.04 for BBC Children in Need, £2,007.31 for the Royal British Legion Poppy Appeal and £706 for Save the Children Christmas Jumper Day. Thank you for your generosity and support.

Going forward for 2015 we have the quiz evening, once again hosted by David and Sally Hitt, on January 30th, followed by a Painting and Gardening day, the Careers Evening and a table top/car boot sale planned. Please check the school website and look out for emails giving dates and times.

The PTA does need new members as a number are leaving, if you would like to help please let us know by emailing; [email protected], or by coming along to the next PTA meeting (please look out for the email giving date and time).

Chairman Year 10 News Head of Year : J Cooper

Although they have found this term very demanding the Year 10 students have coped well with the increased workload of their GCSE and BTEC courses. I am delighted that the majority of students have approached this new period in their education with maturity and are taking responsibility for ensuring that they produce their best work at all times. A number of subjects have already completed pieces of coursework which forms a part of the GCSE examination.

All of the Year 10 teachers are impressed with the year group’s high level of work and this has been supported by the number of nominations I have received recommending that students receive our year group e-cards congratulating them on this work. I was impressed that I was able to send over 200 cards home in the first half of the Autumn term to students nominated by their teachers for making excellent starts to the year. This half term we have sent cards to students considered by their teachers as going ‘Above and Beyond’ our expectations in terms of effort and I am delighted that we have over 140 students that have been nominated and will receive a card in recognition of this.

At Key Stage 4 students receive tokens for good work and effort from their teachers. They are able to use these to vote for the rewards that they would like to receive. This term the year group has voted overwhelmingly for a movie night in school which will take place next term.

Students have started to consider life after their exams in Year 11 and have been looking at possible career pathways. A number of students attended Careers Conventions at Bracknell and Ascot and during the forthcoming months students will continue this work during their PSHGEE lessons. I would encourage you to start having conversations with your son/daughter regarding possible next steps as the time to start making decisions will come around very quickly. We are exceptionally lucky to also be working with a number of Business Mentors from industry. They are mentoring some of our students and helping them to make the most of the next two years and also providing guidance for their future education and career choices. Many thanks to Mrs Robinson for her hard work that has allowed many of the students these great opportunities.

I am very keen for all students to make the best of all the opportunities that arise for them. I was therefore delighted to see so many of them canvas for election to our new school council and well done to all who took part. We have now over 100 students across the school involved in Action committees and from those students our School Council was elected. The standard of application was very high and the following should be proud to represent our year group on the School Council: Cerys Bull, Cameron Withers, Olivia Chopping, Joel Gunner, Kira King, Beth Kidd, Shalom Matsekeza. The skills that these students and those involved with Action Committees will develop through their work will be invaluable throughout their life and provides great evidence when applying for sixth form, college and employment.

The Spring Term promises to be as busy for the Year group as this past one. At the beginning of February we have the Year 10 exam week in which all of the students will sit internal papers for all their subjects. The marks from these exams will help inform us about the progress of individuals and the tier of entry that we should be looking for in their external exams. All of the students will be sitting an English GCSE exam in the summer and some will also be sitting Maths and Science GCSE so the importance of working hard for the internal exams in February cannot be stressed enough.

I would like to remind everyone of the importance of good attendance and punctuality. Students who are absent must take responsibility for catching up on all missed work so that they do not disadvantage themselves in future assessments and poor attendance has been shown to have a detrimental effect on achievement and life chances. Similarly in preparation for the world of work we expect students to be on time to school and students who are late to school will receive a detention with a senior teacher.

At this time of year when we remember those less fortunate than ourselves I would like to thank you for your support of the charity appeals that we have made to you this term. We have successfully supported Children in Need, The Butterfly Tree, Remembrance Sunday and the Christmas Jumper day.

We will be sad to see Mr Oldaker leave at the end of this term. We have enjoyed working with him and would like to thank him for his wonderful contribution to the school and wish him well for the future in his new profession.

Finally I would like to wish you and your families and very happy and peaceful Christmas and I look forward to working with you all in the New Year Careers and Work Related Learning

As part of our careers education programme we again took a group of Year 10 students along to the above event. This is run annually by Bracknell Forest Council and is open to students in the borough during the day along with a session in the eventing that students can attend with their parent/carers. Students are offered the opportunity to engage with employers and local educational establishments to help them explore the many careers paths available to them. The event hosted a diverse range of exhibitors ranging from 3M to Legoland along with a number of volunteering and community services and training providers.

On the 14th October we were invited to take a group of year 10 students to the Thames Valley Skills Show at Ascot Race- course in Ascot. Skills shows take place across the whole country and are organised by the National Careers Service and the European Social fund, the aim being for students to be offered the opportunity to gain hands on experience and take part in interactive challenges to help develop their skills for life and to help them learn about education, training and careers in an engaging and inspiring way. There was a wide range of careers and education establishments represented including Adviza, Bracknell & Wokingham College, British Hospitality Association, BT Openreach, Classroom Medics, Elevate Me, Gillette, Screwfix and the to name a few. All the students who had the opportunity to attend found it a very worthwhile experience.

Edgbarrow School were once again invited to take part in the above event at Telefonica/02 Head Office in . Fourteen students were selected to represent the school; all arrived dressed in their best business attire for the day ready to compete against 10 other schools! The Truckle brothers led their respective teams in bidding for procurement contracts. The atmosphere was tense and pressure high. Michael Truckle led his team to glory outbidding their rivals in the dying seconds of the online auction. The students were fantastic and really positive about the experience including the free Starbucks! A great day and students were lucky enough to have the opportunity to sit down and discuss financial matters with O2 Chief Financial Officer Mark Evans and delve deep into the financial factors O2 manage on a day to day basis.

Edgbarrow once again played host to 4 visiting Chinese teachers for 4 days in October. The teachers are based at Reading University’s International Study and Language institute and have undergone a rigorous selection process back in China to enable them to take part in the visit. During their time with us they shadowed Year 9 students, taught our Year 7 & 8 students about calligraphy and paper cutting, Chinese festivals and lanterns and Tai Chi. They also attended a number of assemblies, and met with both teaching staff and school Governors. All the students who had the opportunity to be taught by them had a great time and have gained valuable knowledge from them for the future.

On Thursday 13th November Year 11 took part in a new innovative workshop, as part of their Careers Education to support their options choices after Year 11. Students worked within small teams to form a Rap Crew with a message. They named their teams, and debated the pros and cons of career paths including amongst others Apprenticeships and going to university. Throughout the session students completed a questionnaire via handheld devices which provided us with a wealth of information concerning their knowledge with regards to their options. Following a demonstration from the presenter, a UK rapper called ‘Kingpin’, the students devised their own raps with a message connected to career paths. At the end of both sessions a few brave students stood up and read out their raps, all did brilliantly and were well supported and encouraged by the rest of the students. Feedback from the sessions shows that our students are well informed about their options and know where to go for more help, and the presenter commented that they all engaged very well. Year 11 Head of Year : M Jackson

I am impressed with the amount of enthusiasm, hard work and dedication that I am seeing from so many of the Year 11s at this busy time of year, with the majority having sat external English and Maths exams. The students conducted themselves admirably and approached the recent mock exams in a mature and responsible manner. I am sure their hard work will be rewarded in the results of these and going into the spring term, it is now important that they reflect on their results and the feedback given to ensure that improvements, where needed, can be made in advance of the summer exams.

The year group were lucky enough to have a Career Crowd workshop, where they looked at the different prospects available to them. This was a fantastic opportunity and has led to the students looking towards their futures; many have attended our Sixth Form open evening and other college and apprenticeship events.

A big thank you to all the prefects who have helped out at recent Parents Evenings and the Christmas Fayre; the enthusiasm and dedication you show is inspiring. A special thank you to James Manning, James Sherman and Lauren Charlton for giving up their evening to help run the parent survey for Mrs Hollingdale.

Well done to the Year 11 girls who completed their netball officiating qualifica- tion and to Wesley Duffy for his involvement in the school remembrance event, where he marched in, whilst drumming, with the uniformed organisations.

We have recently formed our Prom and Year Book Committees and I am delighted with the enthusiasm of all involved. The students have already started fundraising to help support this event. They made and sold cakes at the recent Christmas Fayre, raising over £300. It is fantastic to see all the students work so well together, they are already organising more fundraising activities, including an upcoming pyjama day for the year group.

This term we have been continuing with our reward system albeit in a slightly different way. I have asked staff to nominate students who deserve special recognition be it for effort, attainment, general helpfulness etc. and will use these nominations as the basis of selecting the students who deserve to be especially rewarded for their efforts this term. The feedback from staff has already been so complimentary.

Finally, a huge thank you to all the tutors and attached tutors who have worked tirelessly throughout the term in supporting and encouraging the students in their tutor groups.

I would also like to wish you all a peaceful and relaxing break and I look forward to seeing all the students for the start of the new year on Monday 5th January Week B, ready to meet the demands of the new term as we prepare for the forthcoming exams. News Around School

At Edgbarrow School all students know that they are valued as individuals and can make a positive contribution to the school, local area and wider community. Our students’ voice is an important part of the school structure and we encourage students with many skills to be part of that voice. This year we have restructured the council to include representatives from our Prefects, Subject Ambassadors, Student observers, Peer Mentors, Charity Reps, Web reps, Form reps and Green reps. To become a member of the School Council the various representatives were required to canvas for votes and an election was held in October. The standard of electioneering was extremely impressive and there was an atmosphere of excitement both when the students voted and in the hall when the winning candidates were announced. We have had two School Council meetings this term chaired by the Head Boy: Head Girl team and we have been impressed with the level of maturity and responsibility shown by the members of the Council. Our School Council is driven by the voices of the students and works on projects throughout the year suggested by the voices. Many of the members have shown that they have good debating skills and have offered some good ideas to help projects move forward. The Action Committees are working at a number of projects this year including providing lunchtime clubs, fund raising for the Butterfly Tree charity, developing the School Council page on the Website, the Eco-Schools project and running projects to support learning in the classroom. School council members also play a part in staff appointments.

On the 8Th October the library hosted a series of drama and literature workshops for Year 7 from Dave Cryer, a published author and former teacher. Students acted out sections from a number of books available through the Bookbuzz scheme as a free gift from Edgbarrow. Dave also ran an enjoyable and worthwhile creative writing workshop with Year 12.

A Lunchtime club is running for both Year 7 and 8 students on Wednesdays giving them the opportunity to chat about books and take part in book related activities. The Year 7 club is run by Kelly Wise and Maria Tilson, Year 13. "At the start of term, we decided to run a book club for the Year 7s. We wanted to create a friendly environment where we could all share our love of reading and encourage creativity. The book 'Framed' by Frank Cotrell Boyce was decided on by all our members and following this we have initiated a number of activities such as group reading sessions of sections of the book, creating bookmarks, designing our own covers of the book and bookclub Pictionary- all alongside the odd piece of cake! We've really enjoyed running the session and the discussions provoked at the club. We hope to continue running it in future weeks and to welcome any new faces at the start of the new term. Happy Reading! :)"

is now running in the Library on Wednesday and Thursday 3.20pm to 4.20pm. From January it will run Monday – Thursday at the same times.

A group of Year 7, 8 and 9 students will be shadowing the Berkshire Book Award again this year. The short listed books “Poppy” by Mary Hooper, “Louder than Words” by Laura Jarratt, “Skulduggery Pleasant – The Dying of the Light” by Derek Landy, “Percy Jackson and the Greek Gods” by Rick Riordan and “Awful Auntie” by David Walliams are available in the library and students will be reading as many of them as possible before voting for their favourites. Sixth Form Head of Year : T Evans

We are delighted in the Sixth Form to see so many students making outstanding progress and contributing so well in many ways. As we approach the end of this very busy and important term, Year 13 students are preparing for their future by applying to universities, apprenticeships and employment opportunities. Year 12 have settled really well and are established in good routines … on the whole.

So far, our Year 13s have received over 220 offers with only 7 course rejections, and those students so far have 16 other offers between them. Five students are being interviewed by Oxford or Cambridge and one student has an interview for Medicine at Imperial College, London. In all, our students have offers from 24 of the top 29 universities in the country, and we’re still waiting for decisions from the other five, who have not yet made decisions. This is astonishing and it reflects the very hard work and ambitious approach that we and our students have regarding their future.

After the Christmas break, all students of AS or A Level subjects will have Pre-Public Examinations, and we have told our students that we shall be taking these results very seriously indeed. They must give these examinations serious preparation in order to give us a good picture of how they are coping with their courses. I am sure that they will treat this process with due seriousness and do themselves proud.

Our team of Sixth Form leaders, including the superb Head Girl / Boy team and Captains / Vice Captains have been busy this term organising all sorts of activities in the Sixth Form and across the school. Our HB / HG team have led the School Council and its sub-committees fantastically under the guidance of Mrs Cooper, whose new structure has energised the work of the students from Year 7 to 13. It has been wonderful to see the students taking responsibility and working together for the improvement of the school and the way in which they have worked, through fund-raising, to help others who are not so fortunate. Preparations for the Prom will become more urgent after the break, and it’s scary how quickly the years fly by!

We’ve had dressing-up days, cake sales, support for charities and a 5-aside football tournament. Mr Hammons political debate with representatives from four political parties was a fabulous event. You may have seen this reported on the BBC. We took a team of mainly Sixth Formers and four Year 11s to a Bar Mock Trial Competition at the Inner London Crown Court, where they performed brilliantly. Angus Hamilton (Year 12) wrote the following about this event:

We shall be launching the new Head Boy / Girl process in January and we hope that many students will consider putting themselves forward for a role in the team. More info to follow!

Applications are flooding in to join our Sixth Form next year, following our very successful Open Evening. Around 90 students have applied to join us from other schools, and although they will not all join us, it is pleasing to know that they hold Edgbarrow is such high regard. It remains for me to say a huge thank you to all staff, students and families who have supported the Sixth Form over the past term, and to wish you all a very peaceful, relaxing Christmas. And so it was that the much anticipated and talked about trip to CERN’s large hadron collider (LHC) in Geneva had finally arrived. The fact that it was a fresh crisp autumn morning in the depths of the night (2.30am to be exact) did not seem to daunt any budding Physicists’/Chemists’ spirits and the excitement on the coach trip to Gatwick was evident from the giggles heard above the sweets and chocolate hastily being consumed.

The flight on board Easyjet lived up to its name as we boarded almost without incident (Rachel and Lucy having the wonderful joy of being seated next to Dr. Neat and Dr. Bingham’s never-ending lunch box safely through security! ) and we duly landed into Geneva airport at 9am. Rail tickets collected, it was now onwards to central Geneva where it was debated at length if it was indeed safe to let Sean Mizen roam freely for an hour or so! Down to the lake and a beautiful sunny morning warmed us as we brunched in one of the various delightful Lake Geneva cafes. Oh to have a little longer to enjoy the sights but CERN awaited and after finally regrouping (where was Dr. Bingham?) and locating our tram (Dr B did finally appear!) we arrived at our destination. Microcosm exhibition to the right and the CERN facility with the universe of Particles to the left. Which way first? All thoughts were focused on the LHC, a 27-kilometre ring 100 meters below us, crossing through France and Switzerland. Below us Scientists were reproducing the conditions that existed within a billionth of a second after the Big Bang by accelerating two high-energy particle beams travelling at close to the speed of light before colliding them. Our tour began with a lecture from a working CERN scientist who enthralled us with the history of CERN (did we know the World Wide Web was created from here as were the PET scanners used in hospitals worldwide) or that famous scientists such as Bohr, Rutherford and Einstein had worked here. Also discussed were exciting recent discoveries (Higgs Boson) and many of our Physicists were inspired at the thought of possibly being part of CERN research in the future. The darkened room, however, caused a few to nod off (Tom Wakelin don’t deny it!). Would we get close to the collider today? Alas, as with many working laboratories, we could not get to enjoy that but a tour around the facilities quickly dissipated any disappointment as we learned about how the LHC works, what the early prototypes looked like, and why it needed such huge superconductors. Alex gets the prize for asking the most questions (keen bean) and Harry Wilde the prize for actually understanding some of this stuff! Quarks, Higgs Boson, mesons, mueons, to name just a few of the mind blowing particles discussed and Mr. Burrell already had a test in mind for the physicists on their return. Towards the end of our 3 hour tour, thoughts were now firmly focused on food and Les Brasseurs, located in central Geneva, did not disappoint. Mussels, chips, pizza, what more could Year 13 have asked for? Duly recharged, the intrepid scientists headed for home and not a peep was heard on our coach trip home as sleep finally overcame the exhausted troop. It was nothing short of fantastic to see so many Year 13s conduct themselves so well on the day and a true delight to see how much they had learned and experienced in such a long 24 hour day. Year 12 are already asking when they can sign up for CERN 2015. On the 21st of November 2014 Edgbarrow School held its first ever parliamentary hustings. The politicians in attendance included Bracknell’s Conservative MP, Dr Phillip Lee, Labour Councilwoman Mary Temperton, the Liberal Democrat repre- sentative Patrick Smith and UKIP’s candidate for the Bracknell constituency Richard Thomas. The ‘town hall’ style debate was organised by Edgbarrow’s Government and Politics teacher Mr Hammons to enthuse the 320 Sixth Formers in attendance to be more active in local politics and to encourage those who will be 18 to vote in the May General Election.

The event was a great success with students asking many challenging questions to the candidates on a range of topics from tuition fees to the NHS; from apprenticeships to how the situation in the Middle East should be handled. The students were clearly enthused with current affairs, with issues such as UKIP’s recent victories in by-elections and European immigration being debated. All of the candidates were keen to stay after the debate to talk with the students and discuss the issues in greater detail. All of the candidates performed very well and were prepared for these hard issues and questions.

The students found the debate very informative and it has greatly influenced how many of them see these political parties and how they plan to vote this May. According to Year 13 student Yasmin Sanussi, “The political debate was an extremely insightful day It allowed the next generation electorate to gain a better understanding of each of the these four parties.” Fellow Sixth Former Ashaan Silva agreed, “I found the debate to be insightful into the political world, looking at numerous political ideologies and helping me make a clear and concise separation of the political parties and has helped me decide how I’m going to vote in 2015.” The entire event was summed up nicely by Edg- barrow Sixth Former Chris Hopton, “The political debate allowed first time voters like myself to further understand the political values of each party, along with encouraging younger students to participate and learn in a way which will ultimately shape their life. All representatives showed com- mitment to their party and seemed eager to not only gain votes for their individual party, but for any party which appeals to each person.”

Please see the links below for updated information on Uniform, Authorised Leave of Absence and the Behaviour Policy.

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● PE Department

For the boys the main focus this term has been rugby. The school has enjoyed a good season but not as fruitful in terms of silver ware as in previous years.

The Year 7 team played in both the Bracknell school rugby festival, hosted at Edgbarrow, and the Berkshire schools rugby festival hosted at Reading Bluecoat school. In both tournaments the team played very well at times. Being quite lightweight in comparison to many teams means they are always at a slight disadvantage against many other teams at this age but they showed determination and a desire to play good rugby and throw the ball around. They finished runners up in the Bracknell tournament to a very big and very strong Brakenhale team. In the Berkshire schools tournament they played extremely well to win their group stage, beating the LVS A team and Desborough in the process. This put them in the highest tier of the competition amongst the best eight schools on the day out of forty, and they ended up 7th. The season has been a steep learning curve for many in the team who had not really played any rugby before arriving at Edgbarrow. I look forward to seeing they improve further still as Yr 8s.

The Year 8 team have been a pleasure to coach, referee and watch all season. They have an excellent attitude and approach to sport in general but particularly to Rugby. The season has been very successful in many ways with resounding wins over Sandhurst, Garth Hill, EP, Charters and St Crispin’s. However the league slipped away in a very heated competition against a very physical and well drilled Brakenhale team. The difference between the sides was one conversion with Edgbarrow playing a much more disciplined and technically superior game. After the game the boys were devastated but showed real character in getting back up and going again in the county cup against Claire’s Court school. Again another excellent performance in the second half pushed the private school all the way but losing by just four points in the end. An excellent season and a great group of lads to spend a season with – Well done and thanks!

The Year 9 team have enjoyed another excellent season, winning the local league, though being tested a couple of times by local schools. In the county cup they produced some great performances. Most notable was beating Claire’s Court in the quarter finals at Maidenhead rugby club on the 4 g artificial pitch. They have now reached the semi final stage of this tournament for the past two years. In the semi final they met Reading Bluecoat and despite putting together a great performance, particularly in the second half they were beaten. I know Mr Fisher has loved working with this group and even held a congratulatory pizza lunch for them where the following awards were given out.

Coach’s Player – Sam Barker Player’s Player -Alex Turton Captain’s award – Sam Clough

A huge well done to all involved and fingers crossed to go one further next year in the county cup!

Having won the local rugby league last year as Year 9, the Year 10 team had a very disappointing season not managing to win a game. This may be a direct result of the fact they did not manage to train together as a team on more than a couple of occasions through the term. There is a lesson to be learned there about practice, commitment and the impact they have on success.

Mr Newbould has been running the badminton teams again this term. On the whole they have all been very successful with resounding wins over, Ranelagh, LVS and Brakenhale to date with one more fixture against Garth Hill to be played before the end of term. We are hopeful that at least two or three of the teams will reach the regional play offs in January. Well done to all the players involved. At the start of the season the girls were a bit rusty and didn’t always work well together. Lots of new faces started to join We have had an amazing turn out at hockey this year, with and suddenly training was fun and productive. over 30 students turning up every Tuesday. We have had This has resulted in the girls’ most successful year with the more games this year than in the last 5 years put together at girls performing better each game. Edgbarrow and the teams are going from strength to Currently the girls are top of their league after an amazing strength. Although our results have been mixed, after each 21-0 win against Garth. During that game Nicole Jenkins game it is evident that there is massive improvement being and Amy Crocker never missed a shot, Abbie Skinner did a made. Our U13 boys rematch against Charters will hopefully great job of controlling the game along with Hollie Piff, be our turning point for results under the captaincy of James Libby Head, Josie Doyle and Abbie Baker. In defence Gardiner, who is proving to be a very influential and promis- Shalom Matsekeza and Megan Okor did not allow any goals ing centre back. Our girls’ teams face more fixtures next in. A great show of teamwork!! Well done. term, but have shown huge potential with the likes of Freya Marshal, Steph Blazer and Ellie Hardy in goal. A massive The Year 11 girls have been the most dedicated team within thank you to Alice Wood, Zac Brayshaw, James Manning and the school. This year they have set a fantastic example to James Sherman for their continued help at the club, it would the lower years in terms of attitude and commitment. I am be impossible to run without them. extremely proud of all the girls who have come along to netball over the past 5 years. I am especially proud of the girls who have been there every training session, come wind There has been a fantastic turn out of Year 7 girls at netball and rain, and who have actively encouraged players from all this year. We have had our A, B, C and D teams all getting years to attend. The girls have had another great season and games which has not happened at Edgbarrow before. The have been consistently good. They never miss a training commitment and effort from all of the girls has been brilliant session and always encourage each other. This is been the and has resulted in some great results. Our A team came best season so far with the girls wining their league and second in the South East Berkshire Schools tournament and coming runners up at SE Berks. A big well done to all the they are currently sitting at joint 1st place in the league, girls who played: Elisha Meade, Rachel Cawley, Ashleigh alongside Garth. The skill and game play of the girls has Muttit, Hannah Bevins, Georgia Richards, Alicia Martin, improved massively with some truly outstanding teamwork Flora Hamilton and Emily Bryson. and exceptional play from Alice De Cort, Lucy Bamford and Elise Kesken. With such large numbers attending it would not be possible to run the club effectively without the help of the This course has been running for a year and the first 4 girls wonderfully committed Year 9 netballers that assist and have sucesfully passed their young umpire award: Rachel officiate every week, so a huge thanks to them. Hardy, Rachel Boucher, Emily Bryson and Hannah Bevins. Thank you to all the girls that attend training every week and The Year 9 girls have just started and have been an invalua- with the positive attitude they bring. It has been a pleasure to ble help with the year 7 and 8 teams. A big thank you to : watch them develop! Sawab Hamouda, Becky Ball, Freya Forbes, Emily Whelton, Ketsia Cangy, Sofia Leach, Maise Hamilton and Grace Boucher.

The girls have had a brilliant season only losing one match in the league. Their ability as a team has excelled in the duration of the season, playing the highest level of netball I have seen in a while. They started strong by beating Brakenhale comfortably by 22 points. This game had the girls in great spirits for the annual South East Berkshire Netball Tournament, playing against St Marys, St George’s, Maiden Erleigh and Ranelagh to name a few. The girls maintained this amazing start to the season by coming 3rd out of 10. The girls then had a tough match against Garth Hill where the lead kept changing, the result ended as a well contested draw. Emily Whelton really shone through in this game and showed she was a developing key member of the defensive team, Grace Boucher played as wing attack and proved this was her new position. We then had a match against our biggest rivals, Ranelagh, and unfortunately the girls were beaten by 4 goals; this loss didn’t dampen spirits and the girls came fighting back with a final and solid performance against Sandhurst, winning 16-5. Thank You to all the girls that continue to attend training week in and week out, this high level of attendance ensures our squad remain strong and jovial. Please remember……..

If you would like to see if you are entitled, please select this to print the form, print your details clearly below and return either to the address below or one of your children’s current school.

The form can also be completed online by visiting

Service children are children with one or more parents currently serving in the British armed forces. As a school we are entitled to claim additional money for all Service children on our roll under the government’s funding arrangements and this has also been extended for Service children for up to 2 years after their parent has retired from HM Forces. If you are in or recently retired from HM Forces, please would you confirm that this is the case by filling in the form which you access by select this and returning it to school re- ception. Please also state whether you are Personnel Category 1 or 2 by ticking the appropriate box and indicating where you are currently based.

Please do not reply to messages from Schoolcomms as they are not received by the school; any emails should be directed to: [email protected] and they will be forwarded to the relevant member of staff. NOTICEBOARD

Although we strive for high attendance from our We would like to remind parents and carers students, if you know your child is unwell or injured May we remind parents and that we have a dedicated telephone number and not fit to be in school please do not send them. other visitors that we are a for reporting student absence whether it be If a student becomes unwell or injured during the non-smoking site, therefore going to an appointmentin school. or not going .to be course of the school day it is the parent/carer’s smoking is not permitted responsibility to collect their child or arrange for a anywhere within our build- The number is: responsible adult to do so. Please ensure that your ings or grounds. Parents can also advise of absence by using contact details are kept up to date so we can the email absenceschool reporting website. facility on the efficiently ensure the health and safety of your child.

Parents should note that the school SOFT FOOTBALLS cannot be responsible for the personal property of students whilst the Please remind students that students participate in off site activities they should bring soft foot- The Centre is for any students experiencing and the school will not be liable for balls (not leather ones) into social, emotional or behavioural difficulties loss of or damage to such property school to play at lunchtime. that may have an effect on their learning. should this occur. By agreeing that Students and parents are welcome to your child may participate in the contact Ms Guy and her team directly. activity proposed you also However referrals will always be agreed acknowledge and agree that the school with the Head of Year. Ms Guy and her shall have no liability in this respect. team can be contacted via the main school number on 01344 772658 Items of lost property can be reclaimed from Reception at lunchtime from 1.45pm onwards It is a serious breach of examination only. Items of PE kit are kept in regulations to bring a mobile phone the PE department for a short time into an examination room – see the before arriving in Reception. Can school website for more details. we please remind all parents that If it is necessary for students to take any Please ensure that students do not all personal effects should be medication in school (including non-prescription bring mobile phones to school named and that unclaimed lost medicines), the medication and a signed consent during examination sessions. At property will be disposed of at the end of each term. form (this form can also be downloaded from the other times mobile phones should school website) must be handed in at Reception. The be switched off and remain hidden where it will be stored safely. The medication should be sent in its original container, complete with the expiry date and dosage details student must to come to the medical room at the required time to report to the Nurse or a First Aider before taking the medication. We now have the facility to offer Paracetamol to students if the need arises. This can only be accessed via the school nurse. If the nurse assesses that the use of Paracetamol is necessary, she will first telephone Can students please make sure that the parent/guardian for consent. An accurate record when using the school minibus they is kept of Paracetamol use. We hope that this will do not eat when travelling in it and enable your children to remain in school and that Please could any medical certainly do not leave any litter they will be more comfortable and able to behind. Furthermore, please do not appointments be written in concentrate on their lessons. We will of course still wear dirty boots while travelling in ask you to collect your child if they remain unwell or your child's planner and can the bus and ensure that the whole they also be reminded to bus is left clean and tidy after every If you have any concernsin severe regarding pain. this sign out at Reception when journey. This is a fantastic new bus; they go to their please contact let’s make sure we can all enjoy it. the School Nurse appointment. on 01344 772658. DATES FOR YOUR DIARY

Last Day of Term Friday 19th December (school closes at 12.05pm)

Spring Term 2015 Start of Term Monday 5th January Half Term Monday 16th February to Friday 20th February

Last Day of Term Thursday 2nd April (school closes at 12.05pm)

Summer Term 2015 Start of Term Monday 20th April Half Term Monday 25th May to Friday 29th May

Last Day of Term Friday 17h July (school closes at 12.05pm) May Day Holiday Monday 4th May

Autumn Term 2015

Teacher Training Days Tuesday 1st & Wednesday 2nd September Start of Term Thursday 3rd September Half Term Monday 26th October to Friday 30th October

Last Day of Term Friday 18th December (school closes at 12.05pm)

For further Term Dates/Key Dates please visit our website at: www.edgbarrowschool.co.uk