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Weekly Entries to Website: Sixth Form Open Evening Year 7 Exam Week Timetable Tuesday 25 June 2013 London Youth Games - May 2013 Trials flyer 6pm – 9pm

From the Headteacher

GCSE Drama Showcase Last week the Year 11 GCSE Drama pupils performed their group examination pieces to an audience of friends and family as a final preparation for the actual GCSE examination the following day. This year the examination brief was to create a performance that would make the audience ‘think’, and the result was some very hard-hitting pieces. The pupils worked incredibly hard to perfect their plays, coming in at weekends and spending time after school rehearsing. It certainly paid off as the quality of the performances was simply outstanding and it was a hugely enjoyable evening. My thanks go to Ms Smith and Ms Davies, assisted by Mr Flowerdew, who gave up considerable amounts of time to direct and rehearse the pupils.

Year 11 Leavers As the main written examinations approach we shall be formally saying goodbye to our Year 11 pupils this Friday. There will be a final assembly in the morning and then the pupils will start their formal study leave. As in previous years an extensive revision programme has been planned for the run-up to the examinations and during the examination period.

A number of key pupils have been asked to attend school as normal, whilst others may choose a more flexible approach.

Year 10 Pupils Our Year 10 pupils had their end of year examinations last week and we were very impressed by their attitude and application.

School Fund I am most grateful to all the parents/carers who contribute annually to the School Fund. This year we have decided to spend some of this money on the following resources which will benefit all pupils in the school: A replacement art kiln New faster computers in the Art Department so that pupils can use the Photoshop software New sewing machines.

Three Peaks Challenge A group of Year 10 pupils, led by Mr Richards, spent the Bank Holiday weekend scaling Scafell Pike, the final peak in their Three Peaks Challenge.

I am most grateful to Mr Richards for giving our pupils this amazing opportunity and I know they will have gained many skills and confidence by taking part.

Pupil Successes Our pupils have been excelling once again in all sports and recently our girls have enjoyed considerable success in rugby league. Teams in all four age groups qualified for the National Rugby League finals after winning the London & South East rounds. Well done girls and good luck!

A number of our pupils are members of the Richmond Squad and three pairs recently won gold at the British Acrobatic Championships in Stoke. Isabella Montagna won a gold medal in the mixed pair (13 to 19 Juniors) with her partner Lewis Walker. Congratulations to Isabella and good luck at the European Acrobatic Championships in Lisbon later this year.

Congratulations to Martha Bullen in Year 8, who has become the Borough’s first Racketlon 7th May Champion. Martha had to compete in four different racket sports, , , and . This is an amazing achievement. Well done Martha. 2013 Bessie Farr has been asked to perform as part of the Richmond Youth Symphony Orchestra to launch the Richmond Borough Garden Festival on 7 May at Orleans Gallery. I am always delighted to hear about the positive contributions our young people are making to the wider community.

York Gardens Since writing in last week’s Newsletter about the repeated misbehaviour of a minority of our pupils in York Gardens and my proposed ban, I have received a number of emails from parents/carers who feel that this decision is unjustified.

York Gardens is a small and peaceful garden and a delightful place to sit, especially in the warmer weather. However this also means that pupils using the gardens are in full view of the Council Offices. Despite my repeated pleas, a small number of pupils continue to behave inappropriately in the gardens, giving us a very bad name in the local community which is hugely disappointing. I do, of course, always prefer to identify and deal with the individuals concerned when any unacceptable behaviour occurs in the community but in this situation it has proved very difficult to do so, despite regular spot checks before and after school. I do, however appreciate that there are many pupils who do use the gardens sensibly and enjoy going there after school with friends.

I have therefore decided to compromise and my solution is to issue a York Garden pass to pupils who I feel can be trusted to use the gardens appropriately. Pupils who would like permission to use the gardens regularly should come and see me during morning registration in my office supported by a note from their parents/carers. I will then put a formal note in their planners giving them permission to use the gardens. Hopefully this will be fair for everybody.

Robberies and Muggings There appears to be an increase in the number of school age pupils being robbed of their mobile phones in the borough. Last week two Year 8 pupils were in Moormead Park after school and were asked the time by two youths. They were then threatened and had their phones taken, which as you can appreciate was extremely upsetting and frightening for them. I am pleased to let you know that the Police have already caught the perpetrators.

This is a warning to us all and brings home the importance of our pupils staying in groups when they are out in the local parks and keeping any items of value, such as mobile phones, out of sight as much as possible.

Ms J Longhurst

Sixth Form Open Evening - Tuesday 25 June

Our first Sixth Form Open Evening will be taking place on Tuesday 25 June from 6:00pm until 8:30pm. The evening will be an opportunity for pupils currently in Year 10 to find out about the subjects and opportunities that will be available in our Sixth Form when it opens in September 2014. There will be formal presentations from Ms Ball (Headteacher Designate) and from me, Assistant Headteacher, Head of Sixth Form, as well as the opportunity to attend a range of rolling subject presentations about our A-Level, BTEC and diploma courses throughout the evening.

Further details about the evening will be available soon. We look forward to welcoming Year 10 pupils and their parents/carers on the evening and helping them make their choices for life in our new Sixth Form. Please keep this evening as a date in your diary!

Mr D Cowling Assistant Headteacher, Head of Orleans Park Sixth Form OPSA COLUMN COULD YOU BE OPSA's NEW SECRETARY?

After five years as a linchpin of OPSA, our secretary, Jenny Welch, will soon no longer be an Orleans parent – so we are looking for someone to take on her role. The job involves taking minutes at six meetings a year, held on Mondays at 7:30pm at school, writing up the minutes, passing them to the Headteacher for amendments, and then distributing them to OPSA members. Along the way you get to socialise with very nice people and be one of the first to hear what is going on at school!

Says Jenny: "This is not a difficult job and you could develop it as much as you wanted. I've really enjoyed it and it's good to be involved in OPSA, as the money raised all goes to help the current pupils at Orleans Park."

Jenny's last meeting will be on 17 June, so ideally you would have a handover session then.

Ready to take it on? Contact our chairs [email protected] or [email protected]

SCHOOL DIARY

May is ‘Open Door Month’ at Orleans Park

Monday 6th May BANK HOLIDAY MONDAY

To register follow the link on Thursday 9th May Last teaching day for Year 11 pupils the website or call the Friday 10th May - Sunday 12th May school office. Year 8 Brecon Beacons Residential Trip

Year 11 Duke of Edinburgh Award meeting - Tuesday 7 May

There is a meeting for all pupils in Year 11 who have not yet completed their Bronze Award. This will be led by Rob Clark, Duke of Edinburgh's Award Manager for Richmond Borough. He is coming into school on Tuesday 7 May to assist pupils with eDofE and advise what steps they need to take in order to complete their award. The session will take place from 3:15pm until 4:00pm in Room 47. Pupils are encouraged to bring in any evidence of their skill/volunteering/physical activities and their 'Keeping Track' logbooks.

Miss L Mosley Duke of Edinburgh Award Co-ordinator

Year 7 Exams: 14-24 May 2013

All pupils have been provided with their form timetable for the Year 7 Exams. This timetable also highlights what the pupils should be revising in preparation for their forthcoming exams. Attached to this Newsletter is a copy of the timetable for your reference, if your child is in Year 7.

Good luck to all pupils!

Mr L Cornwall Head of Year 7

Maths Competition

QUESTION 28

x = 1×2 + 2×3 + 3×4 + ………. + 20×21 2 2 2 2 y = 1 + 2 + 3 + ………….…….. + 20

What is the value of x – y ?

Winners get a £5 voucher. Answers to Ms Koka in the Maths Department.

Please support whole school literacy at home

COMPARATIVE AND SUPERLATIVE

The comparative form, which is made by adding ‘;er’ or a preceding ‘more’ to the adjective, makes a comparison between two persons or things. Examples: They chose a darker brown paint than their neighbours. The dancer moved more gracefully than the actor.

The superlative form, which is made by adding ‘-est’ or a preceding ‘most’ to the adjective, shows the greatest degree. Examples: They chose the darkest brown they could find. The dancer moved the most gracefully of all the performers.

Adjective Comparative Superlative

big bigger biggest

quiet more quiet or quieter most quiet or quietest

astounding more astounding most astounding

______SPELLING WEEK BEGINNING: 7th May 2013

WORD

1 blurb or preferable

2 capital or hierarchy

3 height or accidentally

4 tomorrow or independent

5 pigeon

6 acquire

7 acceptable

8 scissors

9 schedule

10 wealth

Rounders Results

On Friday 26 April the senior Rounders team played their second match of the season against Waldegrave.

The girls had an erratic first innings, with some excellent batting from Natalie Hare but the players needed to work on their fielding. The score at the end of the first innings was 3½ to 9.

The second innings saw some excellent fielding with Orleans Park only conceding three rounders. The final score was Orleans Park 9-12 Waldegrave. We look forward to the rest of the season.

Rounders Club takes place on Thursday lunchtimes - all pupils are welcome to attend.

Mrs S Hanson School Sports Coordinator

London Youth Games Trials

The London Youth Games is a fantastic competition at which young people from each London Borough compete in a variety of different sports.

The trials are running this term - please see the attachment to this Newsletter for more details.

Mrs S Hanson School Sports Coordinator

Martha Bullen has become the borough’s first Racketlon champion!

Racketlon is a sport where each participant plays each of the four racket sports – table tennis, badminton, squash and tennis. Each game is played to 21 points, the points get added up and whoever scores the most points is the winner. The Sports Development Team organised four weeks of training sessions in each of the sports at Teddington Sports Centre leading up to a Racketlon competition which was held on Sunday 28 April. The event was open to girls only in School Years 8–12.

Martha reached the final and played Caroline Cooper from Richmond College who was the favourite going into the competition. The game was level going into the final game of Tennis and, as this sport is Martha’s strongest, she beat Caroline comfortably to become the Racketlon champion!

The girls got to meet the current UK Number 1 and former world champion at Racketlon, Calum Reid, at the final training session which was a great way to round up a successful start to a new sport in the borough!

Elaine Cahill Sports Development Officer, London Borough of Richmond upon Thames

Volleyball Match Reports

Orleans Park Year 8 girls were invited to play in an U14 competition at Ashcombe. The tournament was arranged to provide the South East of England team with some match practice before heading to the National Regional championships at the end of May. Four teams took part: the South East of England, Wessex Volleyball Club, Dartford Volleyball Club and Orleans Park.

This gave us the opportunity to build on our success at the London Youth Games earlier in the year. The plan was to focus on what had served us so well: strong service, three touches, attacking (rather than just getting the ball back), chasing every ball and a great team spirit. In addition we wanted to add a strong block to our game.

In our first match, against Wessex, we took an early two-point lead (10-8), but after some hard-fought rallies we were pegged back to 14-all. The team kept their nerve and stuck to the plan, clawing back the advantage (21-18) before closing out the set 25-20. In the second set the girls eased ahead (13-9 and 20-13) and sealed victory 25-15.

Results: Orleans Park 2 Wessex 0 (25-20, 25-15)

The second match promised to be a tricky affair against the South East of England. The first set started out being closely contested with Orleans Park leading 7-6, 11-8 and then 18-16. And then the match changed dramatically. A run of seven straight points gave Orleans Park the set 25-16, and before the South East could regroup, Orleans Park had taken an 8-2 lead in the second set. There was a short-lived point-for-point exchange to take the score to 11-5 before Orleans Park showed their dominance taking the set 25-10.

Results: Orleans Park 2 South East England 0 (25-16, 25-10)

Dartford Volleyball Club provided our final opponents. Yet again Orleans Park took an early lead in the first set (11-9 and 16-13) and then a run of five straight points gave us the advantage. Orleans Park won the first set 25-16 but the Dartford girls were quick to regroup and took an early lead in the second set (3-4). Orleans Park stayed calm, kept to our plan, and took eight of the next ten points to open up a gap from which Dartford couldn’t recover.

Results: Orleans Park 2 Dartford 0 (25-16, 25-16)

As usual there was some excellent serving from the whole team, especially Orleans Park captain Martha Bullen. Hannah Bashford got off her sick bed to play and had her best volleyball day so far with a great display of blocking. Mattea Goalen was her usual calm, steady presence in defence and Alex Kramer hit everything that was possible to hit (and a couple of things that I wouldn’t have thought were!)

The Orleans Park team spirit was excellent; every point was celebrated with a huddle and a shout. The South East of England girls asked me what they were shouting. I heard it so many times I’ve started hearing it in my sleep - “1-2-3 ORLEANS!”

John Goalen - Coach