October 2010 July 2011Issue 1 Issue 5

In the

Spotlight... at Dowdales

With the academic year racing to a close, and with it the completion of my first year as Headteacher, I am starting to reflect on the fantastic achievements of students across so many different activities. They have been focussed in their learning, both inside and out of the classroom, contributing strongly to school and our community. I hope that you enjoy reading about a selection of their activities over the summer term, in this extended version of In The Spotlight.

It is not only students who have been busy though. Teaching and support staff have been brilliant in support of all that our students have achieved. A number of staff have also been continuing to train and develop teachers from other schools, both within our local area and across the county as a whole, as part of the leadership training programmes that we run at Dowdales.

A focus on leadership is very much part of our school ethos, everyone being ‘the best they can be’. Next term will see the introduction of a Student Leadership Ladder that will provide a framework for their development across the five years that they are in school. A copy of the ladder is in the revised Student Study Planner, available in September, more information about which is included in this newsletter.

On a final note, I’d like to thank everyone for their welcoming support this year. I wish you all a very enjoyable summer with family and friends.

Julie D O’Connor Geography Trip to Grasmere The Nationals As part of the GCSE Geography course students are required Sam Nicholson, Year 9 represented Cumbria at the to conduct a geographical enquiry. Living so near the Lake English Schools Athletic Association’s Track and District has its obvious advantages for our Geographers and we Field Championships, ‘The Nationals’, on Friday chose to investigate the impact and management of tourism on and Saturday 1st and 2nd July at Gateshead. the Lake District National Park. The main focus and highlight Sam who was running in the 800m did very well was the field trip to Grasmere and White Moss Common. A and came 4th in his heat on the Friday, total of 80 students visited the two sites during the day and unfortunately this didn’t quite qualify for the final but used a variety of data collection methods to establish the enabled Sam to enjoy watching other events at the impacts and identify the management techniques used. The Championships which turned out to be a very students interviewed tourists and the local population to enjoyable experience with his family. understand and empathise with the various opinions. They also conducted landscape evaluations and index’s of visual quality to assess the impacts on the landscape. General observations are made in the form of field sketches and photographs. The Year 10 students are currently hard at work completing their full written geographical report where they will present the data to allow them to unpick and analyse the results. Green Flag Dowdales has achieved the prestigious Green Flag award and has been praised by the Eco Schools organisa- tion for the progress the school has made in helping to protect the environment during the last academic year. The Green Flag is an environmental award that recognises schools who strive to cover sustainable development issues and practices in every day school life. There are four levels to the award – Bronze, Silver. Green Flag and Ambassador status. Dowdales has moved from being a Bronze school to a Green Flag school within two terms. A huge achievement which the school is exceptionally proud of. Mr Ellison, sustainable schools leader at Dowdales, said: “Everyone at school is ecstatic that the hard work of our students and staff has been commended. The Green Flag is an internationally recognised award and symbolises excellence in the field of environmental activity. As a school we Photograph supplied courtesy of North West Evening Mail feel it is vitally important to show our students that their actions can have a global impact and we hope our students will continue to promote environmental issues with their parents and carers when they get home at the end of the school day.” The Dowdales students have been campaigning to reduce the schools energy use, the students take responsibility for recycling and they recently participated in the Big Clean. However, the school has ambitious plans for the future and will now start working towards Ambassador status.

Let’s Grow Activities Week Morrisons Let’s Grow Scheme is an exciting nationwide scheme In the final week of term all students in the that aims to teach young people about the origins of food in a fun school will engage in a variety of activities and practical way. Since its launch in 2008, millions of pieces of based on the theme of Sustainability. These equipment and seeds have been given away. Over the past few will include a study of beach ecology, a years our Horticultural Project has been lucky enough to have fashion show of recycled clothes, Fair Trade benefitted by receiving equipment and seeds which has meant cookery, making animal houses from that students have gained a wide range of skills and knowledge of recycled materials, a bugs survey, planning food and plants as well as making our grounds look more a new allotment and many other activities. attractive for everyone, wildlife included! The culmination will be a day of concerts,

Now its the time of year to ask for your help! displays and presentations including a double page spread in the North West In order to get lots of equipment we need to collect as many Let’s Evening Mail by a group of media students. Grow vouchers as possible. From 5th September 2011 – 30th October 2011 customers of Morrisons will be offered a “Lets Grow” voucher with every £10 they spend in store and we would be grateful if you could donate any vouchers you collect to our school. A collection box will be available in school and students can hand vouchers in to the school office or to their form teacher. USB Drives The advert to the right was designed by Matthew Dodd and shows the new USB Drives which Dowdales Eco Enterprise Group will be selling from September. The drives are made from recycled materials and have Dowdales name and web address etched into them. The USB drives will be available from Mr Ellison, Ms O’Connor or from a website set up by one of the group Will Adams www.ecostore.tk These are available at a very competitive price of £8 for 2GB of memory. Any money raised from the sale of the drives will provide new IT equipment in the library. Pompeii Trip Last April Mr Sargent took 25 students to Italy, along with Mr Leslie and Ms Huddleston, in order to compliment the study of GCSE Classical Civilisation. The main aim of the excursion was to experience the wonders of Pompeii, an ancient city which was completely covered by the catastrophic eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79AD. However there were also many other attractions and adventures for the students to experience whilst they developed life skills in an foreign environment. Whilst in Sorrento we visited a semi active volcanic crater, learnt how to make pizza from scratch, ate dinner whilst serenaded by a string quartet and experienced the unique delights of train travel in the bustling Bay of Naples. From there we headed to Rome, via coach, and walked our way through the beautiful historic landscape. The first day included stops at The Coliseum, Roman Forum, Trevi Fountain and Spanish Steps before a picture taking opportunity at St Peters Square in the evening before heading to a beautiful local restaurant for tea. Our final day included perhaps one of the more memorable events as we visited the Capuchin Church of the Immaculate Conception, which is decorated with the bones of hundreds of monks as a timely reminder of the fleeting nature of life itself. Following this thought provoking exhibit we headed to the airport ready for the journey home from an enjoyable and rewarding school trip.

Quarry Bank Mill As part of their GCSE History course the Year 10 students visited Quarry Bank Mill, Styal. The aim of the trip was to help the students complete their controlled assessment work and to visualise more clearly the working and living conditions of a countryside textile mill. Quarry Bank Mill is a living museum owned by the National Trust. It was originally built by the entrepreneur Samuel Gregg who employed children to work in his mill from ages as young as seven. Also included in the trip was a guided tour of the Apprentice House, which housed the pauper children that worked at the mill. The guide here seemed to have left a lasting impression on the students as some were asked to volunteer to demonstrate the punishments that would have been used to keep the young apprentices in order, one poor student had to stand in a corner with his hands held wide apart holding weights. One student enjoyed the trip so much he is planning to revisit the site with his family in summer, but the best comments were ‘It was an enriching experience that gave an insightful interpretation of how the apprentices lived and worked”, also “Being a visual learner seeing the guide demonstrate the machines helped me remember what to write in my controlled assessment. It was a fun experience and a different environment to the classroom”.

Keswick to Barrow For over 30 years Dowdales has entered teams in the annual Keswick to Barrow walk. This year the School entered 7 teams made up of students, staff, former students and parents and we hope to raise over £3,000 for local charities. UKMT Maths Challenge National Final On Sunday 19th of June Alana, Adam, Jack and Sean travelled to London for the UKMT Maths Challenge National Final. After a tour of the London sites we went back to the hotel to ensure we got a good night’s sleep before the exciting and challenging day ahead of us. We were not allowed to use calculators during the competition so we wanted to make sure our brains would be on top form. The following morning we set off for the UKMT finals at The Lawrence Hall. We were given a team number (12) and some practice questions to get us thinking mathematically. There were 4 difficult rounds in total which we seemed to get through very well compared to some of the other teams. Waiting for the results to be announced we listed to a guest speaker, Alex Bellow, who has written a book called Alex’s Adventures in Numberland. After this the results were announced, there were 96 teams at the final and the competition was tough. Unfortunately we didn’t manage to get a place in the top three but we knew we had done our best and competed against some of the most talented mathematicians in the whole of the UK. We were proud to have represented our School and County at a National level. We were also very grateful to BAE Systems who kindly supported our efforts with a financial contribution that enabled us to travel to London to take part in the competition so we would like to say a massive thank you to them. Here are some of the questions we faced for you to try: I am thinking of a number. If I subtract it from 10 then double the result, I get the same answer as when I double the number, add 4 and then divide the result by 3. What is the number?

Four friends are sitting on a bench to have their photo taken. Una will not sit next to Kay, Tom will not sit next to Matt, and Kay will not sit next to Tom. Which two friends sit at the ends of the bench? Answers on page 8

New Student Planner This year has seen a re-design of the Homework Diary and September 2011 will see the launch of the new ‘Student Planner’. The planner has been designed to support the students learning in its entirety. This still includes the recording and tracking of homework but so much more. A new section called ‘Student Review’ has been designed so that students regularly stop and reflect on their progress in lessons. They will have discussion with their Form Teachers and Mentors about how they are learning, highlighting areas for celebration and targets for improvement. Students will also be able to record and reflect on learning that happens outside the classroom too. The ambition is that the new planners become much more of a study aid that helps the students with their learning, their organisation and ultimately their success here at Dowdales.

Future Engineers Year 9 students were invited to attend a new event called Future Engineers at BAE Systems Barrow. The day was organised by the Barrow Engineering Project and fully funded and run by BAE. The students were welcomed by the Managing Director of BAE Barrow, Mr John Hudson, who introduced the aim of the days and explained some of the incredible technology involved with the Astute submarine, technology that easily matches, if not exceeds, that which puts people into space. The highlight of the day for many, and an opportunity never before offered to school students was the opportunity to visit the Devonshire Dock Hall. Students returned to the coaches and were driven through the dockyard, and to the front of the massive DDH. The mighty doors were opened and the coach’s proceeded slowly through the build facility to allow everyone to see the next two Astute class submarines in various stages of construction. A running commentary was delivered to the students by a production manager to give a real insight into what was on show. Students left the afternoon with the obligatory goody bag, but more importantly a much clearer picture of what a major local employer can offer our best students. If was a great day and we would like to extent our thanks to the BEP, and BAE and their employees for organising a great day. It is hoped to repeat the event next year, so current Year 8’s keep your eyes open next year for this great opportunity. Ski Trip to Austria During the first week of the Easter break 6 staff and 41 students travelled to Kaprun in Austria to enjoy a ski holiday. After a gruelling 31 hour coach journey we arrived at the Hotel Wasserfall to be met by friendly staff, a welcome shower and a hearty meal. After tea everyone was fitted with skis, boots and poles and made ready for action. The next day we were up at 7am and on the slopes for 9am to meet our instructors. The sun shone and despite a lack of snow, everyone enjoyed their first day amongst the beautiful mountain scenery of the Austrian Alps. As the week progressed the beginners gained confidence and were able to move onto the glacier to ski at the dizzy heights of 3000 metres. After having too little snow suddenly we had too much and had to take refuge from a sudden blizzard. The Austrians acted with typical efficiency and took us off the mountain in the back of piste machines, an unforgettable experience for the staff! The students enjoyed some excellent après-ski including a disco, swimming and watching the local team play an ice-hockey match. The final day gave us the best skiing of the week with our advanced skiers enjoying perfect powder conditions. In the afternoon we took in a shopping trip to nearby Zell-am-See then packed up and prepared for the long journey home. After a few hours on the coach most of us were asleep, dreaming of happy days on the Alps. Year 11 Prom Year 11 celebrated their end to 5 years at School in style and Thursday 30th June saw their final leavers Prom. The Prom, organised by Mr Waddington, was held at The Nethwerwood Hotel in Grange. The venue was idyllic with lawns sweeping down from the terrace and an almost fairytale look to the hotel. The weather was beautiful and the summery evening made the event quite magical. At the beginning of the evening the students arrived in style, transported by both classic and sports cars. They looked stunning in their evening wear as elegant gowns and stylish suits packed the school field. During the evening their behaviour was exemplary and they ended their 5 year journey at Dowdales by making the school extremely proud, it was a pleasure for the staff to be in the company of a very fine year group.

Wild at Heart Forest Schools Wild at Heart is a leading provider of Forest Schools in Cumbria. The group run a comprehensive Forest Schools Programme, which offers children and young people opportunities to achieve and develop confidence, independence, creativity and self-esteem through hands on learning experiences in a local woodland environment. Dalton St Mary’s have been using Dowdales wood this year for Forest Schools. This has involved groups of children from Years 2, 3 and 4. The children are given the opportunity to make sculptures, explore, play and learn about plants and flowers and the best of all tree climb! It is challenging, exciting and allows the children to gain and develop skills that they would not experience in the classroom. The children all enjoy coming and exploring the woods. Manor Adventure

In July Mr Barton, Mr Mach, Mr Malcolm and Miss Tame took 48 excitable Year 8 students for a four day adrenaline fuelled trip to Manor Adventure in Shropshire. The students took part in the Outdoor Challenge Programme that includes Abseiling, Archery, Blind Trail, Caving, High Ropes, Obstacle Course and Rifle Shooting to name a few. The highlight of the weekend is the infamous Canoeing and Kayaking session where the pond resembles a battlefield rather than a peaceful lake of tranquillity. Both teacher and students battle it out to remain in their respected mode of transport. It was a fantastic weekend and the students come back 10ft taller after developing their social and emotional skills through a series of challenging and thoroughly rewarding activities. Malawi Visitors On 29th June four members of the Active Youth Initiative for Social Enhancement in Malawi, Africa, visited Dowdales. In the morning they worked with Year 8 Maths students, looking at differences in prices and wages in our two countries (our students were amazed to hear that in Malawi people live on 62p a day). At lunchtime they attended a reception at Dalton Town Hall, accompanied by Miss Jackson and the Dowdales Fairtrade group, and then in the afternoon the Malawians talked to Year 7 Geography students about everyday life in their country and also about how Fairtrade is helping farmers there. Everybody who had the chance to meet our guests said what a very great experience it had been and how much they had learned about people and life in Malawi.

¡Bienvenido a Inglaterra! This half term Dowdales has played host to 16 students and 2 teachers from our partner school, the IES Miguel de Cervantes, in Granada, Spain. The students spent a total of four days in school, and all of them said that these days were easily the best part of their time here in England. On their first day with us it was very obvious that the Spanish students were really nervous about speaking English in front of Dowdales students, but after spending three lessons being interviewed in Spanish by Year 7 students they soon relaxed and were making new friends very quickly. At the end of their first week the group had the chance to really experience life as a Dowdales student by shadowing different form groups throughout the day and sitting in on lessons in all areas of the school. In their second week the Spanish students certainly had their English put to the test when they prepared presentations on life in Spain, Spanish food and free-time activities for Year 8 and 9 groups, and then took part in a Sports afternoon organised by the PE department. However, the highlight of their visit definitely came on the last day when three of the Spanish girls, who are trained Flamenco dancers, gave a demonstration to Dance classes and taught our students some basic Flamenco steps. So what did our visitors make of Dowdales? Their first reaction was ‘it’s enormous’ as their school only has 600 students! Secondly, they were very impressed by our uniform (some of them wanted to buy a Dowdales tie!) and by the displays of work in classrooms, as this is very unusual in Spain. We could also tell that they were enjoying the food in the can- teen, where staff put on a special Spanish themed day, as some of our visitors were buying two whole meals and eating the lot! Wimbledon Ten Year 10 students along with Mrs Winter and Miss Armstrong set off for the long trip to London to see some tennis at a place called Wimbledon. They had tickets for Court One and Centre Court so were sure to get some good tennis in between star spotting around the walkways and on the practice courts. We were lucky enough to see Sharapova, Roddick, Nadal, Venus Williams, Azarenko and even saw some of Andy Murray before we had to leave to go for our lovely Italian meal before a well earned sleep. Saturday started equally early with breakfast at 7.30am and then a very busy tour of the Capital taking in the sights such as Buckingham Palace, Horse Guards Parade, No 10 Downing Street, Westminster Abbey, St Pauls, Millennium Bridge and Covent Garden. There was time to eat and shop at various intervals and then a very tired group returned home having spent up! Here is what Robert and Jake had to say about the 2 days: “Wimbledon was outstanding! It was a new experience for both of us and we never thought it would be so big. It was like a village! The atmosphere was brilliant, even the souvenirs you could get were fantastic. The trip was great and just to be a part of it was unreal!” Glad you enjoyed it boys and if you keep practising you never know it could be you one day playing on the lawns.

Bronze Arts Awards We are delighted to report that 132 Year 9 students have achieved Bronze Arts Award. This is a nationally accredited scheme, run by the Arts Council, which acknowledges participation, leadership and creativity in any art form. As this is the first year we have offered the award, we are delighted that so many young people have taken up the challenge and succeeded. As well as participating in a range of arts activities, students have also reviewed live performances, written about arts heroes and led a workshop. Some students have assisted with the Year 6 Dance Afternoon. Well done!

Leadership & Volunteering at Primary Schools During 2011, 81 Year 11 students were successful in passing the Leader Level 1 Award. All students had to plan and deliver sessions to primary age students in their PE curriculum time to achieve this and complete a log to prove their knowledge of leadership, sport and healthy living. Our feeder schools are very appreciative of this support for their students and very complimentary of both the organisation skills and leadership qualities displayed by our students. Many of the students at Dowdales also volunteer in their own time to referee, judge or coach and in this Summer term alone over 60 students from Years 9, 10 and 11 have assisted at 6 events: Indoor Athletics, Orienteering, Netball, Tennis, Mini Olympics and in holiday camps. Dowdales leaders and volunteers really are an inspiration for both our Primary Feeder Schools and our own younger students. The challenge is ‘can the new Sport Council and their peers do even better?’ Review of the Dowdales Performing Arts Showcase 2011 The Dowdales showcase 2011 was a great experience for the performers and a great night for the audience. A variety of performances were shown on a great night to remember. Many students and teachers took part in creating and performing the different pieces. The showcase sold out both nights and was an all round success! The show both began and ended with every performer singing two different songs of Les Miserables and this had a great impact on the audience. There were over 130 performers who took part ranging from year 7’s all the way through to A level students. Each performance was perfected to a high standard and all the students put in a lot of hard work to make their performances look great! The hard work paid off and the show was fantastic! One performer, Molly Quinn gave her views on the performance: “I really enjoyed being in the performance and I thought that everyone did really well. I enjoyed watching the GCSE performances as it shows you what you can achieve at a higher level if you try really hard in both rehearsals and performances.” Dowdales Youth Theatre and Lower school Drama also put on some great Shakespearian performances and a performance of the Wizard of Oz. The two nights were filled with budding young performers and lots of talent! Singing played a big role with the whole cast singing and the Chamber Choir singing some amazing songs, note perfect! In my opinion, the show case was a great experience for all the people who took part and the performers could express themselves through the performing arts. Without the help of the teachers and many other people, the show wouldn’t have gone as well as it did. A huge thank you is in order to everyone who helped and took part. Let’s hope next year’s show is just as successful! Hannah Stanway (Year 10) View from the Bridge Students from Year 9 visited Theatre by the Lake in Keswick to watch a View from the Bridge written by Arthur Miller. In my opinion, the play ‘View from the Bridge’ was an amazing performance that truly let you experience the cultural ways of the American inflation, that affected the whole world. The unique yet detailed set really set the scene and offered a chance to empathise with the characters and storyline. The costumes and pronunciation, such as the use of slang, in my opinion was extremely good and was well performed/created. I believe that it was truly inspiring and the actors were really intense; I think that the script was well thought out and stirred a lot of emotions inside, such as tension, infatuation, anger and sadness. Annabel Wearing & Rebecca Kilduff

Chamber Choir in Ashburner Singing at Dowdales isn't confined to the music classrooms, with singers exploring the different acoustic properties found in corridors, stairwells and even the sports hall! Visitors to Dowdales regularly get the opportunity to hear a Chamber Choir 'trip' to Ashburner House where we sing on the stairs in the foyer; the resonant acoustics in this part of the school help to develop the choir's ability to listen to each other and blend as an ensemble.

New Beginnings Friends of Dowdales would like to invite you to an exclusive performance of the work that your child will complete when they join us in Year 7 in September. The performance will take place on Thursday 22nd September and will begin at 7pm, lasting for approximately 1 hour. The performance will include dance, drama and music, giving you the opportunity to experience one of the many Performing Arts Showcases that take place at Dowdales. Refreshments will be served and you will have the opportunity to find out more about how the Friends of Dowdales support activities in school and how you can become involved with the group. We value the support of all our parents and look forward to meeting you. Friends of Dowdales Dowdales School Telephone: 01229 897911 Dalton in Furness Email: [email protected] Cumbria LA15 8AH Website: www.dowdalesschool.co.uk

Maths Answers: 7 & Tom & Kay

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