NEWSLETTER December 2014 Quotes from students and guests: “I had a lovely time. The whole event was wonderful. I will definitely return with more friends next year!” Angela Lester “My role was to talk to members of our community and make sure that they had an enjoyable experience. I enjoyed finding out about their lives and telling them about my future aspirations. My favourite part was seeing the smiles on the faces of our guests, Christmas Community Party 2014 For the past four years, the Catering and Business and knowing that they were having a good time.” Faculties have collaborated in order to organise a Mitchell Beale, Year 11 Christmas Community Party. Students are given “We come here every year, and each time we come, a budget of £50 and set the task of organising the we are made to event, which sees more than 100 people attend feel really welcome. from the local community. This year, we held the The students are event in our brand new Lecture Theatre and invited amazing and hard- students from Milestone Academy. Guests enjoyed working. We look a variety of sweet and savoury dishes, and even forward to coming had the opportunity to win various prizes kindly back next year.” supplied by Marks & Spencer, Asda and our very own Brenda, from Horticulture Department, to name but a few. Swanara Club. The event was a huge “After all the stress and the effort that we put in to success – the students make our last community Christmas party a success benefited immensely it turned out exactly how we wanted. We had more from the superb sense people than we have ever had before and the food of community. was amazing. It was the best community Christmas party ever!!!” Emma Hyland, Year 13 continued over... “It was wonderful to come in and see our students having so much fun. Thank you so much for inviting us.” Nigel Jones, Principal - Milestone Academy “All of the guests expressed their appreciation greatly. We received a lot of support from an overwhelming number of staff members and local businesses who donated raffle prizes and food to help the event come to life.” Flori Catling, Year 13 “All the stress of planning was worth it; it was time well spent and it was great to see that everyone enjoyed the experience as much as us” Emily Britton, Year 13 J Murty & L Evans Christmas Showcase On Monday 15th December, we will be holding our first ever “Christmas Showcase” concert. The evening will feature a varied programme of musical performances by talented students from Year 7, all the way up to Year 12. The students have been working extremely hard to put together these performances and would love to see as many people as possible coming to support them at Wilmington Academy Lecture Theatre, 18:00 – 20:00, on Monday the 15th December. If you would like to support this event then tickets can be bought via ParentPay. Adult tickets are £4 and Children are £2. This will also entitle you to a free drink and a programme. We look forward to seeing you there. S. Blackmore Wilmington Remembers In the centenary year of the outbreak of World War One the cost of war has been highlighted, perhaps as never before. A group of our students expressed an interest in laying a wreath in Dartford as part of the Remembrance Sunday commemoration, on behalf of Wilmington Academy.This was organised with the support of The British Legion, and the wreath was laid alongside the many others at the War Memorial in the town centre by Michael Evans, Denver Coleman, Conor Jackson, Tom Baker and Taylen Leaver-Gritter. It was very moving to see our students take part in an event of such importance to the community. During the morning we saw over 25 Wilmington students that were there as part of uniformed organisations, which is very impressive and is a shining example of our students commitment to their communities. Wilmington Academy presents Hairspray Both Minerva and Apollo students have been working very hard on the Wilmington Academy Players’ new production of the musical classic ‘Hairspray’ This will be Wilmington’s biggest and best production to date, with the largest cast we have ever seen! Over the first weeks of rehearsals, the students have demonstrated outstanding dedication, collaboration, and persistence in the development of the project. Come out and support the entire cast and crew on Friday the 20th of March and Saturday the 21st of March at 7:30 pm in our brand new lecture theatre! Tickets are £3 for students, £5 for adults and will go on sale closer to the performance dates. Keep a close eye out for updates throughout the year! C. Fallowfield Wilmington’s Published Poets Back in the summer, some Minerva students completed the “War of Words” poetry competition run by Young Writers. The brief was to write an original poem about war and conflict. Our discussions in class were around different types of war and the different meanings of conflict. Students worked really hard on their poems and wrote some excellent pieces which were submitted to Young Writers. In October, it was my pleasure to receive notification that ten students from Wilmington Academy had been successful in having their poems published in the “War of Words” anthology. Congratulations to: Erika Pitcher, Smriti Gurung, Matthew Swyer, Nicole Sampson, Emily Rayner, Yubin Garbuja, Matthew Ray and Cameron Goddard. B. Burwood Marcus Alexander coming to Wilmington The author Marcus Alexander will be visiting Wilmington Academy in February 2015 with his creative writing workshops. He is author of the trilogy “Keeper of the Realms” as well being an extreme sports enthusiast. He has been sand boarding in the Sahara, climbed ice flows in the Khumbu Glacier and does kickboxing and martial arts. Marcus will be speaking to the students about his love for extreme sports, the unusual foods he has eaten (dog, monkey brains and grasshopper), the unique people he has met on his travels (Bedouin, Karen freedom fighters) and how this has inspired his writing. He will also be speaking about the seven life changing reasons why reluctant readers must pick up books and how to find inspiration for writing and creative thinking. D. Kennedy LEXIA Arrives at Wilmington Academy In September all students in Year 7 and 8, along with selected classes in Year 9, began a phonics based computer programme to improve their reading and speaking ability. The students get one half hour session each week in the Accelerated Reader lessons and have been making good progress. However, to make even better progress, students should be encouraged to complete two – three sessions per week on the programme. This means that students can also work on the programme at home. To download LEXIA onto your child’s tablet or computer please visit the link: http://lexialearning.com/lexiasupport/school-to-home/ Thank you for your on-going support of our commitment to developing literacy. N. Marken 1st Annual Book Day For World Book Day 2015 in March, the Academy will be running a two week festival; The 1st Annual Wilmington Academy Hunger Games. Students will have the opportunity to ‘volunteer’ to take part in various competitions and activities across the fortnight which will earn them points for their tutor group. Then the winning tutor group will be crowned Victors! May the odds be ever in your favour. N. Marken Breakthrough Bake Off Sale Two Post 16 students, Sevilen Sunassee and Louis Newman- Peters organised the Breakthrough Bake Off cake sale for Breast Cancer Research. Students and staff donated cakes and cookies and they were sold at break and lunch time. The event was well organised and they raised £96.20. Katie Durant and Kayla Fitton also helped with the sale. J. Murty Work Experience 2015 Every year we encourage Year 12 students to take part in our two week work experience scheme. We expect them to work in placements linked to their chosen career, university choices or A level courses. Every year it gets harder to find placements that will be of benefit to them and the company they work in, without being a burden. A plea from the Academy if you have contacts or happen to work in any of the following professions, would you be willing to help place one of our Year 12 students? We all had to start somewhere and you might just find a future employee who is a real gem! Placements needed: Banking, Medicine, Midwifery, Garages, Art (including art shops), Solicitors, Travel agents, Care homes, Theatres, Estate agents, ICT, PE, Accountancy, Pharmacy, Graphic design or Media. T. Murphy Year 11 History Since September, all Year 11 History GCSE students have been carrying out their controlled assessment enquiry on political change in the 1970s and 1980s. As part of this work, students even took part in a re-enactment of the 1982 Miner’s Strike. Whilst Wilmington’s version was policed in a slightly more civilised manner, students were able to connect to the passion felt by all involved. Being able to empathise with the delicate subject matter in this way has ensured that the students are well prepared to undertake their controlled assessment assignments before the Christmas break. When completed and marked, the controlled assessment will represent 25% of students’ overall History GCSE. Students will then spend January-May revising for their remaining summer exams, determined to achieve their target grades. R. Leitch Post 16 Poetry Post-16 English have done a brilliant job in the first round of Poetry by Heart.