Cockermouth School Magazine Winter 2013 the last Wishing all of our readersW a HappyO ChristmasRD and Peace ful New Year Switch On Sunday success – Town Council praise for students Cockermouth students raised over £2322 for a variety of Children’s Heart Unit & charities at the Christmas Lights Juvenile Diabetes Research Switch On in November and have received praise from the Town Council for their generosity, organisation and fundraising enterprise. Groups of mainly lower school students between them ran 10 stalls selling a variety of goods including pottery, cakes, jewellery, toys, books, tombolas and other goods. Red Cross Amnesty A record £2226 raised by students and staff for BBC Children in Need CHRISTMAS CAROL CONCERT TUESDAY 17 DECEMBER AT 7PM IN CHRIST CHURCH CHOIRS, ENSEMBLES, Pudsey, Cracker eating competition and Mokython ORCHESTRA AND READERS Hairy boys’ screams heard in school REFRESHMENTS The screams of hairy 6th Form boys were heard throughout the school when Matthew ALL WELCOME Holliday, Kieran Spence, Lewis Horsley and Calvin Hodgson had their legs, arms and backs waxed to raise money for the BBC Children in Need appeal. (Cont. on page 2) Cockermouth School is very grateful to Caterite and Caterlink for their very generous sponsorship of the Christmas edition of the Last Word. “Education is the most powerful weapon you can use to change the world” Nelson Mandela. 1918 to 2013 HEAD’S LINES To meet the print schedule for the Christmas edition of Last Word, this is being written in November. Our TV screens are already dominated by Xmas ads, the lights are looking gorgeous in Cockermouth – the festive season is officially here! Leadership, rather than tinsel, has been uppermost in my mind over recent months. I have spent a great deal of time this term launching the Western Lakes Teaching School Alliance, in which Cockermouth School plays a major role. It has been such a positive experience as, in implementing it, we have forged new levels of collaboration between many secondary and primary schools, and to support this process, senior leaders at our school have had to take on additional roles and responsibilities. Subject and pastoral leaders have had a busy term managing a new timetable, and planning for major changes in curriculum and assessment. Their experience and advice has been invaluable. Support staff leaders and their teams are the crucial backbone of the school as they plan and undertake a myriad of tasks, allowing teaching staff to concentrate their focus on teaching. Teachers, of course, are leaders within their own classroom, and the atmosphere and levels of interest and innovation has been outstanding. Kids’ Lit Quiz Team wins I have also been impressed by the leadership skills of our students. Students in the 6th form are leading and organising Regional Final many of our school activities (running the school all too well on Takeover Day for example!), the Student Council, as ever, The Cockermouth team comprising two Y8s, Eve Westwood and Alex Tyrrell, and two Y7s, emerges with real credit, and there are constant reminders Rosie Spencer and Leo Morgan, won 1st place at the North West heat of the Quiz and will of students taking the lead on the sports field, within drama be travelling to Wimbledon, London as we go to print where they will pit their wits against productions and in many other enrichment activities. winning teams from each of the 17 regional heats – and hopefully win the UK final. We are all leading ever onwards and upwards! I wish all With full marks in the first round, where they played their Joker and thus doubled their students, staff, families, friends and supporters of our school a score, the Kids’ Lit Quiz Team produced the highest score in this year’s heats so far in very happy Christmas and a peaceful new year. categories such as Numbers in Titles, Rodents, Royalty and Owls and scored an amazing 91.5 points out of a possible 110. This is the 5th year our team has won the local heat! Next summer the world finals will be held in Cornwall where the winning UK team will meet the Mr Walker, Headteacher best teams representing the USA, Canada, South Africa, New Zealand and Australia, and each will compete for the title of Kids’ Lit Quiz champions of 2014. CHILDREN IN NEED (Continued rom page 1) This was one of many activities that the students organised. Other events included the Non Uniform Day, where the students and staff paid £1 not to wear their school uniforms and wear casual and fancy dress and onesies. Cake sales were held throughout the school. Staff and students showed off their footballing skills in a Cross Bar Challenge on the all-weather pitch. In the Gym, students and staff created Pudsey’s face out of coins – all of which will then be donated. A cracker eating competition was held in the Common Room and a Mokython took place in the Eco Centre with 43 students participating. “The students and staff are very supportive of the BBC Children in Need appeal and are very generous,” said Headteacher Geoff Walker. “I was very impressed by the waxed boys’ bravery and the efforts of all students and staff in their fundraising activities. They are a credit to the school and the day was a huge success.” Cockermouth School has supported the appeal since it started a number of years ago. Waxing 2 STOP PRESS: THE CSA RAISED £971.90 FROM BAG PACKING AT SAINSBURY’S ON 7 DECEMBER. THANKS TO ALL WHO HELPED. NEWS FROM COCKERMOUTH SCHOOL ASSOCIATION Another half-term races to a close and I still haven’t finished my Christmas shopping! I’m busy, you’re busy, and your CSA, (and very able Parent Helpers) is also very busy. Parents’ evenings, New Intake evenings, school performances, bag packing: we have been there, raising money for your children and their school. No one is paid to do this; all time is given freely and with a smile. My thanks as ever to all those who lend a hand, especially the very kind parent at the Kids’ Lit evening in the Eco Centre in October, who came to our overwhelmed refreshments team’s help. I’m sorry but we didn’t get your name. The CSA is 25 years old this year, so happy birthday to us. We are bucking the national trend of secondary school PTA’s closing all over the country. A very small committee, we are still going strong. In fact, one of our members Pauline, our deputy chair, was at the founding meeting, so a very big thank you to her for her dedication and support. We always need more help though so if you would like to join our committee (6 one hour long meetings a year), our Parent Helper list (for parents who could occasionally lend a hand selling refreshments), our 100 Club (£1 a month!) or donate chocolate or wine to our raffle prize cache, please email Joan Ellis on [email protected] or call her on direct line 01900 829753 for a chat. Merry Christmas everyone, and a peaceful New Year. Mel Avery, Chair, CSA Students Celebrate Reading SENIOR MATHS A Celebration of Reading and Year 7 Lit Quiz event took place in October in the Eco Centre. The event was organised by the school’s librarian, Mrs Farrar, who is the coach for the highly CHALLENGE TEAM successful Cockermouth School Kids’ Lit Quiz teams, which have taken part in international competitions in the past in New Zealand, and earlier this year in South Africa. THROUGH TO FINALS The evening was a celebration of reading with competitions and prizes for 11 and 12 year old youngsters and their families and friends. The event was sponsored by Cumbria Community IN LONDON Foundation and the Lamont Pridmore Community Grassroots Fund to encourage the love of reading at home and at school, not just by students but by whole families. The winning maths team of 4 students including Joe Wayne Mills, the founder of the global Kids’ Lit Quiz, has given Mrs Farrar permission to run Welford and Katherine Miller from Year 13, and Annie the event and the quiz followed a similar format to the international competition. Paine and Stephen Cole from Year 12 will travel to London in February with Mr Ely for the national competition. Book wholesaler Hill’s provided books for sale and refreshments were provided by the Cockermouth School Association, the school’s charity. The winning team after a sudden The Senior Maths Challenge Team sealed their place in death play-off was 7AWA. the final by beating 11 other schools from across Cumbria and Southern Scotland in the regional final, which was held in November at Caldew School in Carlisle. The final will take place at the Camden Centre in London in February, where the team will be up against the winners of various other regional heats across the country. The Team Maths Challenge is an annual competition jointly organised by the UK Maths Trust and the Further Mathematics Support Programme, and aims to promote enjoyment of maths as well as teamwork and communication skills. Maths teacher, Mr Ely accompanied the team on the day as well as running practice sessions in the lead-up to the competition. Stephen Coles, Associate Editor to the Europe Prize Scholarship Fund Committee for their awards and stated IMPRESSIVE PRESENTATIONS FROM the benefits of the visits to their studies. The Fund was established by Cockermouth Town Council in 2000 and has EUROPEAN PRIZE SCHOLARS been supported with grants from local charities and organisations. David Bertram, Chair of the committee hopes that funding will continue in the Students who had been awarded Europe Prize Scholarship Fund grants future as the scholarships enable the students to expand their knowledge earlier in the year gave impressive presentations to the committee of their for their studies.