theHallParkAcademy newsletter Issue 1 - October 2014

Welcome to the first edition of Hall Park ’s newsletter. As well as the new name and refurbishment to the front of the school, the other big change has been the new school uniform. I have had lots of feedback from members of the public and visitors to the school on how smart the students look, and what great ambassadors they are for the school in the local community. You will see from reading this first edition that this term has got off to a flying start, with many different and new activities and events taking place both inside and outside of the classroom. I am pleased to report that we saw some very good results in our GCSE’s and A Level’s this summer. From Media coverage on this issue, you may be aware that at GCSE there has been a downward trend in performance nationally. However, at Hall Park results were maintained for 5 A*-C grades, including English and Maths, and there was a significant increase in the number of A and A* grades achieved across many different subjects. Similarly at A2, students continued to perform very well and have been successful in moving onto University courses or higher level apprenticeships. We look forward to continued improvement and success in this area this year. There have been a number of new teaching staff join the academy this September. I would like to welcome Miss Nutley and Miss Worker to our science faculty, Ms Richell to English, Miss Savoye to MFL and Mr Rhodes to Design and Technology. Ms Rana heads up our A Level Psychology course and Ms Veselinova leads on Health and Social Care. Mr Adams and Mr Cullingworth join us from Nottingham Trent University as part of the School’s Direct Training Programme. Mrs Dyce - Headteacher www.hallparkacademy.org.uk www.twitter.com/hallparkacademy Leadership Academy Ruby Brennan, Hannah Crouch, Jack Clark and Jack Robinson-Birch from year 10 have been chosen to represent at the Broxtowe Leadership Academy this year. The Leadership Academy is a training group of the best sports leaders in the Broxtowe region selected from schools in the area. The first of many events this year was a Handball session at George Spencer Academy. The students studied the sport in more depth and learnt how they could coach this sport to younger students with a range of different activities. The students said they enjoyed the sport immensely and conducted themselves impressively with increasing confidence throughout the event. We are excited to see these young leaders progress throughout the year as they take part in more leadership academy events and lead activities here at school.

Groundsman retires after 40 years After supporting the school with the development and upkeep of our extensive grounds in his role of Council Groundsman Wayne has retired from his post after 40 years of service. More recently he had taken a lead role in supporting the PE Department with the Rugby/ Football pitches, the Athletics track and the complex Cross Country course. The school and especially the PE department would like to thank him for his tireless work and wish him all the best in the future. Key Stage 3 Badminton The first tournament of the year saw our KS3 Badminton players travel to Chilwell Olympia for what turned out to be a very competitive evening. Anna Pounder, Kiera Saxton and Rebecca Baker all showed some fantastic play against very challenging opposition. Although we were one girl down this did not phase anyone and all three girls showed a great level of skill. In the boys tournament Rhys Maddock, Chris Husskisson and Josh Whyte demonstrated good movement around the court and great teamwork. They faced exceptional opposition who have been playing badminton at club level for several years. However, the boys did not let Hall Park down.

PE Extra Curricular Activity Timetable

When and Where What Who When and Where What Who Thursday Tuesday Lunch Year 7 Lunch All Year Table Tennis & US Girls Groups Sports Hall Year 8 Sports Hall (Girls Only) Tuesday Wednesday After After All Year All Year School Netball School Rugby Groups Groups Sports Hall Outdoors Wednesday Wednesday After All Year After All Year School Girl’s School Handball Football Groups Groups (Girls Only) Sports Hall Gym Tuesday Tuesday After After All Year All Year School Badminton School Football Groups Groups Sports Hall Outdoors Broxtowe Schools Champions: Under 16 Girls Champions On Thursday 25th September we took two badminton teams to to take part in the Under 16 Broxtowe Schools Badminton Championships against five other Broxtowe secondary schools. In the girls competition both our A pairing of Amber Bosley and Sian Crossland and our B pairing of Natalie Drury and Courtney Taylor were unbeaten, winning several games without their opponents scoring a point. The girls won both the A and B league and will now go on to represent the Broxtowe area in the school championships. Well done girls we are very proud of your achievement and you have secured your place in history as the first Hall Park Academy sports team to win a tournament.

Year 10 Boys Football The boys have been entered into three separate competitions this season. They played their first game in the South Notts Cup against Chilwell School last week with three key players unavailable. After a slow start in which the boys conceded three quick goals they managed to fight their way back into the match thanks to goals from Ryan Baguley and Justin Holmes to make it 3-2. As the boys pushed for an equaliser they left their defence exposed and despite three fantastic saves from goalkeeper Anthony Wilkinson (man of the match), they eventually conceded three further goals to lose 6-2. Next up the boys play Ellis Guildford in the Forest Bowl and All Saints School in the County Cup. Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (S.T.E.M) Having spent most of last term testing the original wooden chassis car to see who could do the fastest lap of the tennis courts, the STEM pupils have taken a large step forward and replaced the original chassis with a new tubular steel chassis. This should save over 20Kg in mass, making the car more efficient in battery usage and faster overall. Alongside the new developments in the bodywork, the students have been working on a custom-built semi automatic gear box that will change gear at the push of the driver’s button. This is controlled via a Raspberry Pi computer software and hardware assembled by the pupils. The next upgrade package to go onto the car will be new aerodynamic body work before the car is taken back to the track for testing. Year 7 & Year 8 Spelling Bee Spelling was the name of the game with the first ever inter-house spelling bee taking place this half term. Over 40 students from Years 7 and 8 represented their respective houses in a closely fought competition. The event was eventually won by Josh Armstrong from Erewash, with Novaya Bedford from Astle and Joseph Stapleford from Lawrence coming in a very close second and third.

Paper Plane Competition To start off some friendly rivalry between the tutor groups in Astle House we had a ‘Paper Plane’ competition. All students involved enjoyed this event. Well done to Adam Warrington AKB for being the current champion. Student Leadership Wow! What an exciting time to be at Hall Park Academy. Over the last 4 weeks each of the four houses have been busy deciding on their ‘student leadership’. Every house has now allocated Y11 students into the captain roles and we also have a number of younger students representing the House on the School Council. Over the coming weeks students will be given the opportunity to discuss their thoughts with their Heads of House and they will be taken forward to the Head Boy and Head Girl to meet with Mrs Dyce.

Student Leaders Role Erewash Lawrence Astle Collier House Captain James Bostock Jacob Rose Joseph Griffiths Zenon Mee Vice Captain Nicole McPhilbin Georgia Petch Connor Wrenn Courtney Taylor Sports Chloe Benniston Eleanor Gillott Natalie Drury Jake Brooks Captain(s) Sam Rosier Performing Arts Lewis Clark Tallula Shannon Gaunt Captain(s) Lisan Hemstock Scrimshaw Charity Oliver Adams Farah Thamsurak Kerryanne Sophie Harrison Ambassador Watkins Ellie Barlow Daniel Nathan Daniel McChord Ryan Callaghan Alice Pinnock Megan Johnson Elli Hall Caitlin Callum Fletcher Tiffany Brown Max McDaniel Worthington Joshua Walton Holly Cook Sam Hinz Holly Davey Abigail Stevens Issac Rose Daniel Josh Bowler Chloe Hamilton Jacob Shaw Warrington Aaron Pynegar Enrico Caruso Adam Lucy Preston School Council Warrington Jack Werry Charlotte Proctor Shannon Hooper Olivia Whyte Kieran Clifford Sophie Jones A Trip to the Capital by Denbie Sanderson & Amy Elderkin After a shorter than expected train journey, we spent some time admiring the train station. Miss Berridge taught us how to use a tube map and we caught the tube to Camden Market. Here, we explored the numerous cultures, beautiful colours and sights. Another tube ride later, we came out at the Queen’s crib, Buckingham Palace. We were surrounded by a sea of tourists and pigeons. After dodging the slopes into the water of the fountain, on which we sat and ate our lunch, we found that we were obliged, as tourists, to visit the River Thames. When we arrived, we indulged in a McDonald’s and beheld the beauty of the London eye. During which time, we begged Miss Berridge to take us to Piccadilly Circus and Covent Garden…. They were worth the wait! At this point, our hands cramped from all the writing and our feet struggled to go on but we had one last tube journey back to St Pancras for the sleepy journey home. Miss Berridge, you can take us to London at any time. Our new school library October saw the opening of Hall Park’s brand new library. The Library provides a fantastic new space for students to read books, catch up on homework, use a computer or just meet up with friends. The Library is open before school, breaks and lunch and after school until 4 o’clock. Although there are plenty of great books to choose from already, lots of great new stock is on its way including graphic novels, text books and magazines. Miss Whitehead, the Librarian, is always happy to help students with homework, choosing books and finding resources. During the week before Half Term, the Library will host a variety of spooky Halloween events including a visit from a local author for Year 7 students. Come and discover something new at our Library today!

Extra Curricular Activities include: Chess Club – Wednesdays 3:05pm-4:00pm (All ages and abilities) Homework Club – Thursdays 3:05pm-4:00pm

Willkommen! - Dual linguists! The MFL Department has now introduced German in to KS3. Some Year 7s and Year 8s will be dual linguists studying German alongside French in order to increase their knowledge of languages and so that they have more choice when deciding on their exam options. Some talented KS4 linguists who opted for GCSE French have also decided they would like an additional language GCSE in German so they have been attending lunchtime and twilight sessions since last year and their progress has been WUNDERBAR! An insight into Year 7 Every year we get a small army of fresh faced year 7 pupils coming through our gates for their first year at secondary school. We put some questions to them to see how they have felt about their first half term at Hall Park Academy.

How would you describe your first few weeks at Hall Park academy? “I would say it’s been very fun learning new things and making new friends” “Fun because I meet new people most days” “Good because it’s been really fun” “They have been very good because I have learned a lot of new things in lots of different subjects” What has been your favourite thing so far and why? “Science, as we have got to use the Bunsen burners for many experiments” “Lunch time because the food is really nice” “P.E because we never played rugby at my primary school, so it is new for me” “Maths and D&T because they are both fun, we do a lot of work and we get to use saws” “My favourite thing has been ICT because I really enjoy working on the computers” Have you managed to make some new friends? “Yes I have made many new friends and they have been very close” “Yes 10 new friends!!” “Yes, everyone I have met have been really nice to me” “Yes, I have a lot more than I did at my primary school” What are you looking forward to for the rest of the year? “Science because I really like doing experiments” “Art because I can’t draw, but I really want to get better at it” “Making more new friends and playing with them. I really like making up games with my friends and making other groups play together” “I am looking forward to getting better at French” “More school football matches!!”

Thank you to students from EKP, ECH, CKE, LDH and EFC for their answers. Remembering The First World War This year marks the centenary of the First World War. Here, at Hall Park Academy – “The Great war” is a significant part of our school history curriculum. Year 9’s cover the topic as part of their GCSE History and in Year 12 & 14 as part of their A levels. We cover the Great War in quite a lot of detail looking at both longer term and short term factors that led to war including the Moroccan crisis and the forming of the Alliances. It’s often easy to overlook what happened a hundred years ago but we have been asking Hall Park students to reflect on the Great War and asking them to share their experiences and stories of any relatives that may have fought in the war. Next year we plan to pay a visit to the World War One Trenches to pay our respects. Both Mrs Black and Mrs Matthews are looking forward to the visit which is scheduled for July 2015. Keep your eyes peeled for further information regarding this visit. We will offer this visit to our GCSE History students and hopefully it will become an annual event here at Hall Park Academy Year 6 Open Evening On Thursday 2nd October we held our annual Open evening for our intake of Year 6 students for September 2015. Numbers in the Academy are up 25% on last year so we were expecting a busy night! Over 250 parents turned out on what was a really successful and enjoyable evening for Hall Park academy. Parents from the local feeder schools along with parents from Brinsley, Underwood, Nuthall and Kimberley all took the opportunity to meet with senior staff, teachers and students. Tour guides took parents around the site to see demonstration lessons in each of the academy’s faculty areas. Many parents commented on the new improved look of the academy and were impressed with the new look 6th form study centre and library. Parents have conitued to visit Hall Park over the last week or so as we have been running our Open day visits. Parents have visited lessons and seen the academy as it is on a normal full school day. Many parents travelled down memory lane remembering their time at school and commenting on how the decor and feel of the school has changed so much. If any parents from year 5 or 6 wish to visit the academy at any time during the school day please don’t hesitate to contact me via the school office to arrange a visit. Mr Sherlock - Deputy Head Academic Extra Curricular Activities Timetable Inter House Events Timetable Sixth Form Year 13 leavers Twenty Year 13 students headed off to universities in Loughborough, York, Sheffield and Nottingham reading a range of subjects from Mechanical Engineering, Psychology and History and many others. Several students took up high end apprenticeships at prestigious local companies including Cullum Detuners and Toyota. We wish them well as they embark upon the first steps in their exciting careers! Induction We welcomed over 60 Year12 students into the Sixth Form early in September, nearly a doubling of recruitment on the previous year. Our Cheese and Wine Welcome Evening was well attended by Year 12 parents where we shared information about the way the Sixth Form works. New students have settled in well and are now hard at work preparing for their exams and assignment deadlines next summer! What next? We enjoyed two evenings at the What Next? Careers fair at Nottingham Racecourse in early October, promoting the Sixth Form to a wider audience from across Nottinghamshire. We hope that this will see students from other schools enrol next September! Head Boy, Josh Housley and Head Girl, Beth Foster, helped out with the stand! Careers We held our first Careers Information Evening for Year 13 students and parents in mid- October. Nottingham Trent University introduced parents to Higher Education; Finance England informed students about funding themselves through university and DBT Training shared everything that parents and students wanted to know about apprenticeships. We also held a personal statement workshop with Nottingham Trent University helping to kickstart Year 13 student’s UCAS applications! We remain committed to providing a range of careers advice to students, whatever their aspirations. Taking opportunities to volunteer Several students took the opportunity to volunteer their time towards amazing causes over the summer. Three students took part in the Camps International expedition to Tanzania helping local people to improve basic services and providing teaching and other help to children. We are immensely proud of their achievements. We are also very proud of the students that took part in National Citizen Service over the summer, one of whom is applying for a leadership role with the organisation. The Sixth Form have also enjoyed being fully involved in the house system and vertical tutor groups this half term. They mentor younger students and help tutors to carry out other duties as required. We had a fantastic set of students help out at the Year 6 Open Evening: they directed traffic and acted as tour guides for parents. Other Sixth Form students helped out in subjects, such as PE. Follow all of our news at @hallparksixth!