March 2013 Dear Parent/Guardian, by The

March 2013

Dear Parent/Guardian,

By the time you receive this term‟s edition of „Community News‟ Easter will almost be upon us. With such a short half term, it has been even more of a challenge to try to fit in everything that we need to do, in terms of teaching, learning, assessment and reporting home. Fortunately, with the positive response of our young people, as well as with your ongoing support and involvement, we have not only met pressing deadlines but fitted in a whole host of extra curricular and enrichment activities as well.

I sometimes look back on particular weeks and think: how did we manage to fit all of that in to such a short space of time? Taking last week as an example of all that is on offer at saltash.net, we had a very special visit to London on the Monday by 8 students and 2 staff who had been allocated tickets to be part of a 1000 strong audience at the Commonwealth Day Observance ceremony in Westminster Abbey; on the Tuesday, the National Teaching Award judges were in school assessing the whole of the Year 9 Pastoral Team in the „Outstanding Team of the Year‟ category and many thanks are expressed to all parents who supported this visit by coming in and talking to the judges; on Wednesday, we had one of our best Theme Days with an incredible range of activities on offer both at „home and away‟; on Thursday, the Comic Relief charity fundraising began in earnest with a Variety Show at lunchtime organised by our hardworking 6th formers; on Friday the money raising efforts continued with a fabulous „Great Saltash Bake Off‟ at breaktime and lunchtime and a memorable Musical Mile in the presence of the Mayor and Mayoress of Saltash after school. If all of that wasn‟t enough, we also had the wonderful concert organised by Mr Oakes and friends on the Saturday evening in our school hall in aid of the National Deaf Children‟s Society. Never was a „day of rest‟ on Sunday more needed!

When the National Teaching Award judges visited our school they said, at the end of their time with us, that what had impressed them most was the consistency with which students, staff and parents spoke about the strength of saltash.net school. They all said that what it does best is provide „opportunities‟ both academically and with regard to extra curricular provision. My vision for our school has always been one which looks to supporting the development of the „whole‟ child, providing enrichment opportunities which help to raise aspirations and broaden horizons, whilst at the same time ensuring potential is truly fulfilled so that career progression and a rewarding future are assured.

As the holidays approach, it is essential that all students facing examinations during May and June make the most of the opportunities being provided for them in the run up to this summer‟s exam season. Can I please ask all parents of Years 11, 12 and 13 students to discuss revision plans for the fortnight break and for the next half term. Please do contact the school if you would like any more support or guidance.

Wishing everyone a Happy Easter - let‟s hope for some Spring like weather soon.

With all good wishes,

Yours faithfully,

Mrs I Bryce Headteacher

Theme The best yet @ saltash.net Day

The Spring Term Theme Day at saltash.net was another great success, with many staff and students declaring it was the best one to date, such was the range of activities on offer and the opportunities provided for all students across years 7-13. Four year groups were given the chance to en- hance their learning and life experiences by participating in a range of visits across the UK: Year 7 travelled to the Eden Project as part of their Integrated Learning curriculum: Year 9 went to the Science Museum @Bristol as well as to the slave museum: Year 11 ventured further afield to London, enjoying an amazing day which saw all 230 staff and students on the London Eye at one stage with snow falling all around, before they moved on to the Lyceum Theatre to see the West End production of ‗The Lion King‘; and Year 12 were taken to Westpoint Exeter as well as the University itself for a Higher Education conference. In addition to the year group visits, 80 lucky students, who had been selected as a result of excellence and effort in English over the past year, were given the chance to go to Harry Pot- ter World at Elstree, North London, for a day of wizardry and magic! Not to be outdone, the year 9 groups remaining back at base had an equally engaging and mo- tivational time. Year 10 spent the day working with The Royal Marines focusing on teamwork and survival, Year 13 took part in a carousel of activities designed to ensure they have all the skills necessary to cope with the demands of life at University or in the world of employment; and Year 8 were engaged in many different activities including an International Day focusing on Brazil and featuring Samba drumming workshops, preparing for Geography fieldwork on Dartmoor and a cross phase ‗School Report‘ project with Year 6 children from St Stephens Pri- mary school. In addition, a group of Year 9 students spent the day finishing the practical work for their Design and Technology GCSE which they are being given the chance to take two years early. Director of Creativity, Jim Romain, and Assistant Director of Creativity, Amy Lewis, who were re- sponsible for coordinating the whole day were delighted that the day had gone so well. ‗With 1400 students all involved in extra-curricular enrichment opportunities, it takes a lot of organisation and planning but it is certainly worth it after receiving such great feedback from students, staff and parents.‖ Year 5 Saturday School Community

This half term, Year 5 students from across our partner primaries have been attending the saltash.net Saturday School. Led by Roger Reynolds and staffed by James Edwards (ICT) and Jen Dunkey (English), the morning sessions have aimed to help improve the transition process between primary and secondary school.

Every week, students have been following a linked ICT and English project based around 'Robots'. After team building exercises in the gym, focussing on building communication and rapport between the students, the Year 5 students have been building their own working robots and have also completed written tasks around the same theme. Team challenges such as furthest distance, tug of war and strongest motor power have been set and students have worked enthusiastically together to ensure that their team comes out on top!

This year there has also been a considerable focus on building individual literacy skills and all students have enjoyed writing creatively about their robots, utilising reading, writing, speaking and listening skills that will be a crucial part of the curriculum when the students join saltash.net in Year 7.

It is hoped that not only will the Saturday School sessions build confidence, communication and creative skills, but that the students will also be able to get a real feel of what their learning will be like once they become full time saltash.net students.

Some student comments:

"I was nervous at first because I didn't really know the other children but now I know I will have lots of friends when I come up to secondary school."

"Building robots has been really fun, especially the tug-of-war when we beat Miss Dunkey's robot!"

"I really enjoy the games in the gym because they're really fun and we have to all work together."

Jen Dunkey Year 5 Information Evenings Community

As part of transition arrangements for our partner primary schools in the Saltash area, we arrange, annually, a series of information evenings for Year 5 children and their parents. Held in the home schools, the evenings are designed to give more detail about the primary to secondary transfer process, as well as providing those present with information specifically about saltash.net community school so that an informed choice can be made with regard to the next stage of schooling.

Our Year 5 evenings this year have been extremely well attended and we have been hugely impressed with the questions that the Year 5s have asked, as well as with the quality of response from the Year 7 representatives who accompany us on each visit.

So far this year we have been to St Stephens, Bishop Cornish, Burraton and Landulph. Well done and thank you to:

St Stephens visit:

Tom Cox

Kaley Gibbs Landulph visit: Rebecca Jones Alex Thain George Seymour Chloe Penaluna

Brad Sweet

Burraton visit:

Ethan Cox

James Manuel

Lucia Shapland Bishop Cornish Sophie Watson visit: Emily Lambert

Molly Banks

George Lambert-Gorwyn

Jack Wickham

Max Frost Maths with a Heart Maths

This Valentine‘s day, while most people across the country were giving gifts and presents to loved ones and family, students in the Maths department at saltash.net community school were doing something a little different. Instead of giving gifts to those close to them, they were giving to strangers they had never met in support of LASCO, the Latin American Street Children Organisation.

The organisation was set up to raise funds to support medical and educational projects in Latin America which respond to the needs of street children. Each year the registered charity runs a Maths Challenge aimed at children all across the UK to engage in real life maths situations, which affect the day to day living of some of the very children the organisation supports.

Scott Wieprecht, Enrichment Coordinator for Mathematics, was extremely pleased with how the day‘s effort went. ―This was a great day for our department who really went beyond the call of duty. We were able to support a very worthwhile organisation and managed to raise over £50 in just 2 hours to help the charity.‖ He added, ― Whilst the charity aspect is huge for us, equally as important was the experience this gave our young people. The lessons were tailored to students of all abilities and age ranges with plenty of opportunity to differentiate, making this a really worthwhile task. Being able to see just how maths needs to be applied in the real world in other countries and cultures not only embeds the students‘ mathematical learning, but broadens their outlook and experiences.‖ ‘Eyes down for a World Record’ On World Maths day this year students and staff weren‘t just content with trying a few Maths questions or having a quiz. Instead, this year, they had their sights set a little higher, on a World Record attempt. Students were asked to gather in the hall if they wanted to take part in the event during their lunchtime.

―It was a little nerve racking to be honest,‖ said En- richment Coordinator Scott Wieprecht. ―Asking our young people to give up their lunchtime to celebrate Maths might have been a disaster in some schools, but things turned out rather well.‖

By rather well, Mr Wieprecht was referring to the 99 students plus 5 staff that attended the event bringing the total to over the 100 mark. The big question is: was this enough to break a record?

―The honest answer is at this moment in time I don‘t know,‖ said Mr Wieprecht, adding, ‗We contacted Guinness World Records before the event to enquire but as this had to happen on a specific date, and their response times are up to 6 weeks we will have to wait and see. We wouldn‘t beat the biggest cash bingo game, but students aren‘t able to par- ticipate in that so we have asked them to consider this as a fresh record.‖

But the day wasn‘t all about breaking a record. ―While we would love to think we could take on a World Record the real success of the day was getting our young people talking about Maths and numbers and letting them celebrate the day.‖ Line of ‘Pi’ Maths

You may have seen the film, but on a day during the Spring Term the life of Pi came to saltash.net community school with students taking part in the annual celebration of one of the most famous numbers ever! World Pi Day is celebrated each year on March 14th (or 3.14 in American format) to remind us how important, without realising it, Pi is to our everyday living. This year the event was marked in a number of ways ranging from full lessons based on circles and how Pi is used, to some more challenging lessons looking at how Pi was discovered and the history of it.

Students were also treated to a portion of Pi at break time by the canteen staff with the week‘s biscuits being suitably decorated to show the unmistakable sym- bol. While the idea of charging 3.14p, or getting students to measure the diameter of their biscuits before they ate them didn‘t quite work, there was certainly Maths involved in working out how long they lasted before they had run out.

The final activity of the day was a whole school effort. ―We wanted to get something practical that every student could take part in, regardless of whether they had a Maths lesson that day or not,‖ explained Enrichment Coordinator Scott Wieprecht. ―Quite often on these big events we are only able to include our young people that we teach that day; this time we wanted to change that.‖

Students were encouraged to bring in any change, especially two pence pieces, to take part in a line around the department corridor. While the line itself didn‘t quite make it all the way around, it did stretch for a considerable distance. ―Based on the amount we raised in total, £16.34, and the diameter of a two pence coin being 2.5cm, our students calculated the distance we should have reached was a respectable 20.43m. While the distance was slightly less, as all cur- rency was permitted to join the line, we were remarkably accurate.‖

―The main thing is our young people had a great day, talked about, and discussed, one of the core principles that mathematics looks at.‖ The proceeds of the event were then donated to Comic Relief. Jaguar Cars Saltash.net and Burraton win places in Jaguar Cars Maths in Motion Semi Finals

Students from saltash.net, Burraton and Landulph have all been working extremely hard over the last few weeks preparing their cars for the first round of the 2013 national challenge. They have been using maths to program their cars to race against hundreds of other schools across the country at the Circuit of the Americas in the USA. Students have been measuring angles, converting distances using scales and calculating percentages as accurately as possible in order to gain any advantage possible over their competitors.

According to the organisers over 100 races were run and it was announced on the website that both saltash.net and Burraton had made it through to the semi finals. Unfortu- nately Landulph missed out this year but I am sure they will be determined to bounce back next year.

For saltash.net and Burraton, students must now prepare their cars for the semi final race that takes place at the Spa circuit, Belgium, on Thursday 9th May. Both schools are now just one race away from the National Final which is being held at the Heritage Motor Centre on Wednesday 26th June.

Good luck to all students involved in the semi final!

Gareth Jones - KS5 Maths Coordinator English World Book Day

On Thursday 7th March, staff at saltash.net dressed up as famous literary characters in support of World Book Day. Over 30 members of teaching and support staff took part, with imaginative costumes ranging from Tintin to Alice in Wonderland. It is always an important message to give our students that reading is not only an important skill to learn but also something that can be fun too. However, we are all still wondering which book Maths teacher, Mr Roberts‟ chilli costume came from!

Huge thanks go to school librarian, Mrs Madi- gan, who organised a range of activities throughout the day including a literature and general knowl- edge quiz held at lunchtime. The English Department reigned supreme, though beating the closest student team by only half a point! There were also themed word searches, crosswords and puzzles available for classes throughout the day.

Jennifer Dunkey

As a reward for saltash.net students with the most commendations in English this year, English teacher, Miss Suzie Allen organised a trip to the studios where the Harry Potter movies were filmed. Students from across years 7 to 10 were accompanied by Miss Allen, Miss Wheeler, Miss Dun- key, Miss Millar, Mr Armer, Miss Bowden and Miss Harris as well as a band of wonderful year 12 and 13 students!

Travelling up by coach, the 6:00am start ensured that the group arrived at the studios just before midday and the students were able to enjoy a whole afternoon exploring the sets and props used in all 8 Harry Potter films. There were far too many highlights to

mention but they generally included numer- EXPERIENCE POTTER HARRY THE ous photo opportunities, such as: outside the Chamber of Secrets; inside Dumble- dore's office; inside Hagrid's house; getting behind the wheel of the Weasley's flying car and walking up Diagon Alley! Sport CATS (Community Action Through Sport)

Congratulations to Ross Raymond-Jones and Char- lotte Yellop (both Year 13 students) who received the CATS volunteer of the Year award at the recent CATS presentation ceremony at St Mellion Golf and Country Club. Ross and Charlotte were nominated for their outstanding contributions to school and the wider community.

Thanks are expressed to Mrs Cooke who coordi- nates the CATS scheme here at saltash.net. Picture by Peter Dukes

Sports Round-Up

Our sports teams have had a very busy term! The boys have been competing in the county cup competition with some very impressive results along the way.

Year 7 footballers had their first chance to represent the school and began with a very convincing 12-1 win against Looe. They followed up with a battling performance but not the result they wanted when they lost 3-1 to Penrice in the second round. They soon got back to winning ways in a friendly against Callington coming from 4-1 down at half time to win 5-4.

Year 8 are looking forward to their semi final match at home against Tretherras. They have scored 14 goals and conceded 3 in their first 2 games beating Brannel and Liskeard in the process. They hope to carry on in this superb form and best of luck to them.

Year 9 have also reached the semi finals after away victories at Penrice and Launceston. A very impressive 12-1 win in the first round was followed up with a 6-2 victory away to Launceston. Again we wish them all the best for their next match.

Year 10 were unfortunately knocked out in the first round with a tough away draw to Tretherras. The match was played in very wet and windy conditions which made playing conditions very difficult.

Our U15 Girls football team showed how good they are, recently beating Looe 7-0. It was a very strong performance from start to finish and they will be looking forward to carrying this form into their next fixture.

On the 20th March, over a 100 students were given the chance to represent the school in a wide variety of sports at the Caradon Youth Games, results will be published shortly.

Well done to all our sports teams and we will be looking forward to moving into our Year 7 vs Looe summer sports and competitions after Easter.

Dan Budd - PE Technician Catering YOUNG CHEF TEAM CHALLENGE News

This year we entered three of our year 10 GCSE Catering students to take part in the Young Chef Team Challenge . It was an amazing experience for them to work alongside some influential chefs and budding chefs from 9 other secondary schools. Our students certainly experienced the pressures and demands of working in a professional kitchen. All three courses had to be made and presented in just two hours. I have to say that they did extremely well and took a lot away from this day – well done to Connor Kinsella, Sophia Moss and Lauren Pascoe.

This is what they thought...

“My course was the starter which was spinach and ricotta ravioli with a white wine sauce. It was a great experience to work at the college, in professional kitchens. It will also help me when I come to do my practical exam in the summer. Another highlight was meeting two of the Plymouth Raiders and the winner of Master Chef. Being part of the Young Chef team Challenge was great!” Sophia Moss 10 BL

“It was a good overview of what a professional kitchen was like. For the main course I smoked some salmon and served it on a ring of crushed baby new potatoes with seasonal vegetables and a butter and lemon sauce. This experience helped me to improve my skills, especially when working under that sort of pressure.” Lauren Pascoe 10CR

“I took part in the Young Chef team challenge competition 2013 at City College Plymouth. I produced the dessert which was a vanilla panna cotta, with raspberry coulis sauce and clotted cream shortbread. I met the winner of the last Master Chef, Anton Piotroski, and two of the Plymouth Raiders. Even though we did not win I really enjoyed the day and took pride in the fact that we took part.” Connor Kinsella 10WE

Year 10 All Our Y10 GCSE Catering students took their Level 2 Award in Food Safety and Hygiene in Catering qualification which allows them to work anywhere in the food and beverage industry. This forms part of their course and is a qualification well worth having along side their GCSE.

A huge well done to:

Shannon Angwin, Lauren Armstrong, Gemma Bennett, Elliot Czerwinski, James Easton, Tyler Gaunt, Joshua Hannaford, Dominic Matthews, Sophia Moss, James Mountfield, Libby Mul- vanny, James Nowlan, Lauren Pascoe, Elisha Billing, Georgia Fitch, Keira Helly, Ashleigh Kerslake, Connor Kinsella, Ashleigh Olver, Aaron Peter, Rebecca Pollard, Lucy Riley, Lewis Slater and Stephen Weaver.

Y11 GCSE Catering students have been put through their paces over the last week as they have been carrying out their final practical assessment based on foreign cuisine. They produced some amazing dishes which would not look out of place in a fine dining restaurant! They had to prepare a two course meal for two with side dishes and accompaniments. The aromas that travelled down the school corridors attracted a variety of staff who were equally impressed with all their efforts and found it hard to leave!

Miss Noble - Head of Food Technology Music & Music Workshops Drama

GCSE and A Level students were given the fantastic opportunity to take part in a music technology workshop at saltash.net on Thursday 21 March. The workshop, given by professional percussionist Joby Burgess and University of Liverpool lecturer, Matthew Fairclough, introduced the students to different compositional techniques using loops and a fascinating instrument called a Xylosynth.

The Xylosynth can be programmed to assign each bar of the instrument to a different sound, allowing for it to be used with pre-recorded instrument sounds or even voice re- cordings. The students were introduced to the concept of Minimalist music through per- formances of music by Steve Reich and Cornish composer Graham Fitkin using the Xylo- synth.

The students were mesmerised by Joby‟s playing and found the new music used in the workshop quite different to what they‟re used to!

The workshop was made possible by the South West Music School via the Cornwall Music Education Hub. A further Hub workshop will take place at saltash.net for Key Stage 2 and 3 students in the Summer Term when the Xinjiang Arts Chinese orchestra visits Cornwall.

Mrs Silvester.

Junior production with partner primaries

Date: Wednesday 12th to Friday 14th June

Venue: saltash.net - 7.30pm in the main hall

Tickets on sale after Easter G&T Students ‘hop’ to Oxford

Year 10 students at saltash.net community school got the chance to experience a slice of life at Oxford University via a „taster day‟.

The students, all high-ability students in Year 10, travelled on the Saltash Gateway CIC‟s „Saltash Hopper‟ community bus driven by volunteers Graham Stone and Derek Pilgrim, and were accompanied by Staff & Students visit Balliol College teachers Adam Killeya and Gareth Jones.

At Oxford, students had a tour of the city and university, listened to a talk on what Oxford is about and what it does and doesn‟t look for, and had a Q&A with existing students. After lunch in St Peter‟s College they experienced a sample lecture on Zoology where they learnt about the feeding patterns of seabirds and how a PhD can mean living for 6 months of the year on a remote island.

Before heading back to Saltash students were taken to have a look at the real Hogwarts‟ dining hall from the „Harry Potter films‟ in Christ Church.

Mr Killeya, who led the trip, said, “We had a really enthusiastic bunch of students and the day helped them to see that it could be for them. Several are now giving serious thought to applying to Oxford or Cambridge when the time comes.”

Mr Jones added, “It was an amazing experience for the students and myself. We got a real insight into university life at Ox- ford. It has certainly inspired them to want to apply, is it too late for me?!”

Year 10, Nathan, said, “I learnt so much about Oxford and was really inspired to go there,” whilst fellow student, Gabe, added, “The trip was rather insightful and I had a really good time.”

Mr Killeya - Gifted & Talented Coordinator The Saltash Hopper Bus TEN TORS TRAINING Outdoor Ed

Last weekend the team ventured out onto North Dartmoor for an overnight practice. Conditions were challenging to say the least. From snow and sleet, to driving hail stones - with a slight outbreak of sunshine on the Sunday afternoon as we finished. The team worked well together and completed the 22 miles in good spirits. More importantly, with 2 more training weekends to go we are on target to tackle the 35 miles re- quired for the actual event. Further updates will follow. Graham Drewery. Ten Tors Manager.

SILVER DUKE OF EDINBURGH EXPEDITION TO BODMIN MOOR

7 courageous Year 12 students set off in the pouring rain on the morning of Friday 22nd March to undertake their practice expedition for the Silver Duke of Edinburgh‟s Award.

Accompanied by teachers, Vicki Higgs and Helen Ripper and Estates Manager, Graham Drewery, the team set off, kitted out appropriately for the extremes of weather they would be encountering on their first day‟s walking. Fortunately, the weather forecast was better for the rest of the weekend, although the students still had to contend with the coldest March weather for 50 years!

Congratulations to the following Year 12s:

Ella Fadida Zoe James Sophie Stephens Connie Turner

Sam Church Taylor Woodhall Kayleigh Barlow Visits Apprentice Star Claire Young returns to saltash.net

‘Apprentice’ Star, Claire Young, challenges students to be the best that they can be.

Returning for a second visit to saltash.net community school on Tuesday 5th March, Apprentice 2010 finalist, Claire Young, led another inspiring workshop for 40 Year 9 and 10 female students. The students were able to spend the day with Claire, listening to her life story and finding out more about what has made her a very successful entrepreneur. Working in groups, the students had to prepare a presentation for a panel of judges in the afternoon – Mrs Boulton, Work Related Learning Coordinator, and Assistant Headteachers, Miss Littledyke and Mr Oldfield. Focusing on the theme of a new sports accessory, the students ‗pitched‘ their ideas confidently after a day‘s input from Claire. The winning team named ‗Team2Sport‘, was deemed to be well presented, thought pro- voking and credible with their idea of ‗waterproof earphones‘. Since her visit earlier this month, Claire requested to mentor Year 10 student, Emma Bowyer, - after being so impressed with her during the workshop. This was incredible news given the thousands of students Claire works with - we are all very excited for Emma!

Students visit Westminster Abbey

Year 9 English Students take part in Commonwealth Observance Service at Westminster Abbey, London.

On Monday 11th March, eight lucky saltash.net students travelled up to London to see the Queen, very proud to be selected as part of the 1000 strong audience of children and dignitaries from across the Commonwealth in Westminster Abbey.

Each student had entered the Commonwealth 2013 Essay Competition to secure their ticket to this special service and had received extra English support at school in order to help them complete their submissions.

Unfortunately, on arrival in London, news was received that the Queen was not well enough to attend the service. HRH The Duke of Edinburgh, however, was in attendance. As always, saltash.net students looked extremely smart in their uni- forms and freshly polished shoes and were a real credit to the school throughout the day

Speaking after the visit, Miss Dunkey said, “What made the day really special was not just being part of a spectacular service in such an important, historic building, one that has seen the coronation, marriage and funeral of British monarchs since 1066, but that we, as a school, were part of a celebration of the Commonwealth, a group of nations who collectively celebrate: diversity, collaboration, enterprise, re- silience, pride, strength and creativity - just like we do at saltash.net community school.”

Jen Dunkey

Awards Golden Students @ saltash.net It is always a very special occasion when the first Gold Commendations of the school year are awarded to Year 7 students at saltash.net. This year, Amelia Horne and Jack Pritchard shared the honour. Amelia, who came to saltash.net from St Stephens Primary school and Jack who previously attended Burraton Primary school, showed that they had made an excellent start at secondary school, clearly committing them- selves across a range of subjects and demonstrat- ing that they are prepared to put in 100% effort to all of their learning experiences.

National Teaching Awards We were delighted to hear that the whole of the Year 9 pastoral team had been shortlisted for the ‗Team of the Year‘ and also Fionn Magnusson for the ‗outstanding secondary school teacher category‘ in the National Teaching Awards re- gional finals. Congratulations all! This year‘s nominees were:

Outstanding secondary teacher Fionn Magnusson Team of the Year Year 9 Pastoral Team Outstanding new teacher Grant Taylor Teaching Assistant of the year Rose Lucas Outstanding use of technology Ben Rowe in education

Celebrations for Support Star Jude Hollyman

There were celebrations all round, including a nice cup of tea and a slice of cake, when Jude Hollyman, PA to the Head Teacher at saltash.net community school was confirmed as a finalist in the Times Educational Supplement‘s Support Stars competition. (http:// www.tes.co.uk/)

Nominated for her outstanding work across the school by Head Teacher, Isobel Bryce, Jude found herself in the spotlight when a Support Stars cake, mugs, trophy and official photog- rapher all arrived in school to mark Jude‘s national success. Jude will be featured in a forth- coming edition of the TES and will also be placed against other support staff nominees in Pictured with Jude Hollyman are support staff members (from left a competition to win £10,000 of multimedia to right) Lorraine Booth, Tracy Boulton, Sandra Foot & equipment for the school. Philippa Ledger Charities COMIC RELIEF A Sports Hall crowded with 350 students and staff, all in fancy dress, greeted Saltash‟s Mayor and Mayoress – Martin and Maggie Gee – as they turned up after school at saltash.net community school on 15th March to help support a major fund raising event for Comic Relief. Within minutes, the Mayor and Mayoress, in matching Comic Relief red and black outfits, were joining in with the Musical Mile – which meant completing 18 cir- cuits of the Sports Hall.

Originally planned to take place on the school‟s extensive sports‟ fields, the event had to be moved inside as a result of poor weather. The band of rain sweeping across the South West did nothing, however, to dampen spirits and the atmosphere was excellent, with everyone wanting to do their bit to help raise money for Comic Relief.

Organised by the school‟s senior recep- tionist, Mrs Philippa Ledger, with the as- sistance of a hardworking team of 6th Formers, The Comic Relief Musical Mile was just one of several events planned to mark the 25th anniversary of Red Nose Day. Other events included a Great Sal- tash Bake Off, which saw support staff member Debbie Hobbs taking the crown – well, a Comic Relief prized apron – and a Variety Show featuring the talents of students and staff.

The total raised for Comic Relief by saltash.net to date is £1,945, with sponsorship monies still being received daily.

Well done everyone! Charities Students buy goat for Africa In Africa's rural areas, many poor families rely on their land to survive. But with such barren earth to farm and unreliable rains, they struggle to harvest enough food to stay healthy.

Through a FARM-Africa goat project, 9DY & 9PA have helped transform life for a poor community. Farm Africa provide poor families with goats and training in how to care for them. They also give one member of the group Toggenburgs to breed with local goats, so the hardier offspring produce lots of nutritious milk. This can be drunk or sold to help pay for medi- cine and schoolbooks. Plus, the goats' manure is a great fertil- iser for the family's crops.

All of those involved in the project received a certificate and Farm Africa sent them a film with a personalised thank you.

Room to Read project

Ex Plymouth Headteacher, Peter Reid, paid a special visit to saltash.net community school on February 7th to meet with students who raised hundreds of pounds last year for the ‘ Room to Read ’ charity. Re- cently returned from a visit to Nepal, where he had undertaken VSO for several years, Mr Reid shared with Year 11 students – Nicole Higgins, Coran Giddy, Becky Brooks and Cara Beveridge – details of a visit he had paid to a school benefitting from the ‘ Room to Read ’ charity.

The Year 11 students told Mr Reid how they had been inspired by a workshop, led by ‘ Apprentice ’ finalist, Claire Young, to really try to make a difference to the lives and education of girls in developing countries. They organised a series of fund raising activities to support the charity, donating £450 at the end of the summer term 2012.

The students were delighted to hear from Mr Reid how Nepalese girls and women were benefitting from the projects ‘ Room to Read ’ were developing in the country, which include a number specifically ad- dressing Literacy levels, as well as the installation of clean, fresh water supplies.

After meeting with Mr Reid the students said, ‘ It was really good to hear first hand the impact that the ‘ R oom to Read ’ charity is having. It has made us want to continue supporting them in the future. ” Celebrations saltash.net wins competition

saltash.net celebrates the fantastic news that it has won a competition to receive £135,000 investment from British Gas! Being shortlisted for The Cornish Guardian‟s British Gas Sustainable Energy Makeover, worth an amazing £135,000, was exciting enough, but when the school heard that it had won there were shrieks of delight and amazement! The school had worked extremely hard to bring the whole community on board to vote in the competition and its efforts clearly paid off. The school would like to thank all students, parents, governors, staff and community members who supported its appeal.

On receiving the news, Isobel Bryce, headteacher, said, „It just goes to show what can be achieved when the whole community pulls together. £135,000 is a large amount of money and will make a real difference to improving facilities at our school. We are faced daily with the challenge of reducing energy costs in a 1960s building. The more money we save on energy, the more there will be available to support students‟ learning. We are looking forward to meeting with representatives from British Gas in the near future to discuss plans. Thanks are expressed to „The Cornish Guardian‟ for helping us achieve this excellent grant.”

A meeting is due to take place with British Gas and saltash.net within the next few days to discuss how to „spend the money‟! Details to follow.

Charities Help for Heroes Cake Sale

An enterprising group of 6th Form students at saltash.net community school took advantage of a captive audience of parents to help raise the excellent sum of £225 for the charity ‗Help for Heroes‘.

Realising that the majority of parents would be in school to support their sons and daugh- ters at the annual Academic Review Day, held this year on Tuesday 5th February, 6th Form Tutor Group, 12SA, set up a refreshments and cake stall in the school‘s main hall. With the encouragement and help of their tutor, English teacher Suzie Allen, the students prepared an excellent range of cakes and biscuits which helped keep everyone sus- tained through a long, but very rewarding Review Day. Celebrations Year 11s celebrate Maths results

Year 11 students at saltash.net had an excellent start to the new year when they returned to school for the Spring Term. Having been awaiting the results of their Maths GCSE examination which they had taken in November, many students were delighted to find out that they had already secured an A*-C grade eight months early!

Out of a large year group of 236 students, 62% have now achieved at least a C or better and the remaining 38% of students will have other chances later on in the year to strive for a top Maths Grade.

saltash.net was particularly pleased to have received this set of results as last year‟s Year 11 cohort had been adversely affected by the GCSE „fiasco‟ and the last minute raising of grade boundaries. The school is still involved in an ongoing appeal against the AQA exam board, contesting the 2012 Maths Modular results. It was faced with a very difficult set of circumstances at the start of the Autumn Term but the decision to switch exam board and move to a Linear exam was clearly the right one.

On receiving the excellent news about the latest results, headteacher Isobel Bryce said, “We are so proud of our Year 11 students who responded brilliantly to all the help and support given to them by our Maths department. The 62% achieved places them 18 percentage points higher than similar schools nationally at this stage of the year. It shows that last summer‟s AQA results were completely anomalous.

AQA APPEAL Determined to continue to seek justice for students at saltash.net who were adversely affected by last summer’s results, Mrs Bryce, accompanied by deputy headteachers Mr Buckley and Mrs Griffin, travelled to the headquarters of AQA in Manchester on the 5th and 6th March to attend a hearing as part of the appeal process.

Unfortunately, the hearing, which was supposed to be adjudicated by an ‘independent’ appeal panel, became almost farcical when it came to light that all four members of the panel were ex AQA employees. Not surprisingly, the panel decided that the Examinations systems’ code of Practice had been ‘ fairly applied’, despite the school pre- senting a robust case during the two and a half hour hearing.

The school has now been told it has the right to appeal to the exams regulator, Ofqual, which it will be doing as soon as the report from the hearing has been sent to us. Year 13 Psychology Trip - written by Tristam Keats

At 7:30 on a cold Thursday morning in February, 26, half asleep, year 13s along with Miss Wilkin- son, Mr Roberts and Miss Alders, stood in Plymouth waiting for a train to London for their Psychol- ogy trip. As the train left, none of us knew how much fun we would have over the next 48 hours. After a four and a half hour journey we finally arrived at London‟s Paddington station and headed straight for the tube to take us to South Kensington where we went straight to the Natural History Museum to learn about the structure of the brain and what it does.

After this we took a short walk to our hotel and went to a talk on phobias from the London Zoo Friendly Spider Programme. Here we learned about different types of phobias and where they stem from. We also learned about different methods of treating phobias, including CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy) and Hypnosis- which we all got to try! After the hypnosis we met one of the zoo‟s tarantulas and got to hold it! During the evening we went on the Jack the Ripper tour around London‟s East End learning how and why he might have committed his crimes. Very eerie!

The next day we walked to the Science Museum. There we looked at the Psychology section trying to answer the question, who am I? On the Psychology trail around the museum we also learned about Jedi helmets (hats worn by children when undergoing brain scans) and the history of Psychology. We then took the tube to the Freud museum, which is his own house in London, preserved exactly the way it was back when he lived there. Here we looked at the Psycho- dynamic approach to Psychology and found out a lot more about Freud himself. Unfortunately this marked the end of our short trip and the start of another long train journey back home.

Diversity St Piran’s Day

Students at saltash.net community school, less than a mile from the Cornish border, celebrated Cornishness this St Piran‘s day.

Teachers Adam Killeya and Amy Lewis organised a programme of activities to fit with the day, inspired by the work that their students have been doing on Cornish projects.

All students in years 7 and 8 produced a poster or poem on the theme ‗My favourite thing about Cornwall‘ with displays around the school and prizes for the best entries. Many teachers also joined in, with posters on their classroom door about ‗my favourite place in Cornwall‘.

In addition, several teachers incorporated Cornish content into their lessons, particularly on St Piran‘s day, but also as an ongoing theme. One teacher has devised ‗pasty feedback‘ where the golden pastry is the ‗hook‘ of praise to entice you in, the filling is the ‗meat‘ of what you need to improve and the base is the bottom line for action. Another teacher is doing some work on the portrayal of Cornwall in the media for Media Studies A Level. In Mr. Killeya and Miss. Lewis‘ Integrated Learning Lesson students enjoyed a Cornish Quiz whilst munching on Saffron Cake.

Finally the school canteen was serving a special lunch menu in honour of the day – pasty pie, followed by scones, jam and cream.

Adam Killeya, who teaches Citizenship at the school, said, ‗It is so important that students have the chance to celebrate the fact that they are at a Cornish school, and to understand more about what that means‘.

Amy Lewis, who is the school‘s Assistant Director of Creativity, added, ‗Studying Cornwall gives students so many opportunities to be creative – it brings together history, music, sports, language, and virtually every other subject, in all sorts of interesting ways.‘

The school is now looking to build on St Piran‘s day by finding more opportunities to incorpo- rate Cornishness into school life and learning.

Chinese New Year

It was another successful canteen theme day at saltash.net when on Thursday 7th February, a Chinese themed lunch was served to students and staff. There were many tempting treats on offer, prepared by canteen supervisor, Dawn Couch and her staff including Spring Rolls, Sweet & Sour Chicken and Red Thai Curry and the canteen had been attractively decorated by Assistant Business Managers, Kaylie Carey and Naomi Lawrance.

Helping to get everyone into the spirit of things, was head cleaner and lunchtime supervisor, Sue Best, who dressed up in a Chinese themed outfit for her lunchtime duties! Year 9 Tutor Groups

It seems the students at saltash.net community just can‘t get enough learning in a normal school day!

The year 9 team have introduced new extended tutor groups, each with a particular focus, to ex- tend students‘ learning. The initiative started with a Maths tutor group starting at 8am and whilst the school sent out 15 invites the group now boasts 25 engaged and enthused learners. In fact, the group has become so popular, they have had to start another Maths group on a Thursday – again starting at 8am.

To further this enthusiasm, the school is now inviting students to specialise in French and Media which will both start after half term with different students. In French, the students will practise conversa- tional skills whilst in Media the students will use the school‘s Mac Suite to design and write the Year Group Newsletter.

Mr Oakes, Head of Year 9, said, ‗I‘m very lucky to have such a dedicated team of tutors who are able to enthuse the students so they want to come to school early and learn. It‘s a great opportunity for the students to learn and practise new skills within each tutor group and starting at 8am means they are mentally ready for lessons at 9am.‘

Mr Oakes—Head of Year 9

Inside Government Conference

On the 14th of February, saltash.net Science teacher, Mr Grant Taylor, had a date with an audience at One Wimpole Street, London. The conference entitled, Social Media in Schools: Realising Opportunities, Relieving Threats‘, was opened by Ian Livingstone OBE who is one of the founding fathers of the UK games industry. In 2011 he co-authored the NextGen report for the government, recommending changes in education policy to bring Computer Science into the national curriculum as an essential discipline. The rest of the line-up at the conference included 6 other recognised profes- sionals as well as Mr Taylor. David Brown, National Advisor of ICT (Ofsted) gave a reassuring out- line of what schools are currently expected to be doing with regard to the development of Com- puter Science.

Mr Taylor had been invited to present a case study at the conference based on his experience of using ‗Bring Your Own Devices‘ (BYOD) in school. He was happy to share the experiences of the Science department and saltash.net as a whole. Many of the delegates attending the conference commented afterwards about their amazement at how ‗a rural school in Cornwall could be so ahead of the times.‘ Many others asked for access to the school‘s e-safety policy.

Speaking after the event, Mr Taylor said, ―I arrived home buzzing with new ideas and I can‘t wait to start implementing things I have learned from my visit to the London conference.‘ Area Resource Base

Our Trematon Unit children enjoy getting into the Easter spirit, with a raffle in the presence of the Easter Bunny aka Floppy!

The Friends of School

Committee for 2012-13:

Chair of Friends: Conor Brady Vice Chair: Julie Jones

Secretary: Tanya Eatwell Treasurers: Tom & Julia Mansell

100 Club: Penny Maddever

Thanks are expressed to the Friends of saltash.net community school for their ongoing support of community events this year. We were particularly appreciative of involvement in our Open Evenings and School Production during the Autumn Term and the provision of refreshments during our Comic Relief Musical Mile this term.

A major Friends supported event coming up will be our stall at the Saltash May Fair - always a popular stopping point for young and old alike during the May Fair festivities. Please do come along and support on Saturday 4th May 2013.

Also, please consider taking part in the 100 club scheme. How does it work?

£2 per month buys you a lottery number – each month the numbers are entered into a draw for a chance to win fantastic cash prizes. Half the money generated goes into the prize fund and half goes into the school fund. saltash.net community Friends of School is run on a voluntary basis. All profits will be passed back to the school.

Each month three numbers are drawn at school and the prizes are allocated. As an example, if there are 100 in the lottery the prize fund of £100 will be split as follows:

1st £50 2nd £30

Details of the winning numbers and the names of the winners will be published in the school’s newsletter and on the school’s website along with how to collect your winnings.

Further details can be obtained from Penny Maddever (100 Club Organiser) on (01752) 851263.

------To: saltash.net community school

I...... (your name), parent/carer/relative of ...... (childs name and form), have instructed my bank to pay £...... each month starting on ...... (month) to join the saltash.net community school 100 Club, please send details of my numbers (and winnings) to: ...... (your address) Thurs 28th March Easter Holidays commence

Mon 15th April Whole School returns for Summer Term

Mon 6th May Bank Holiday

Tues 7th May Year 10 Parents‘ Surgery Year 11 & 12 ‗last day‘: NB Lessons will continue during study leave for those without exams Fri 10th May 6th Form May Ball - Duke of Cornwall Fri 24th May Year 13 last day

Mon 27th to Fri 31st May Half term week

Thurs 6th June Year 12 return DIARYDATES

Tues 11th June Year 7 Parents‘ Surgery

Tues 18th & Mon 24th June Year 6 Induction days

Wed 19th June Theme Day

Wed 20th & Thurs 21st June Year 9 Enterprise days

Wed 26th/Thurs 27th & Fri 28th June Sixth Form Induction

Mon 1st July Inset Day (School closed to students)

Tues 2nd July Sports Day (Friday 5th - Sports Day Reserve)

Wed 3rd & Thurs 4th July Year 9 Enterprise days

Mon 8th to Fri 12th July Curriculum Enrichment & Work Experience Week

Fri 12th July Year 11 Prom - Boringdon Park Golf Club

Tues 16th July Year 5 Theme Day

Wed 17th July New Year 7 Parents‘ Information Evening

Fri 19th July Last day of term (early closure at 1.20pm) THANK YOU TO EXCELLENT HEAD STUDENT TEAM OF 2012 –13

As we come to the end of the term of office for our Head Student team, we would all like to say a big „Well done‟ and thank you to Ross Raymond Jones, Ellie Suter, Jess Ryan and Jack Crosley for supporting our school community in so many ways over the past year.

They have led the School Council and 6th Form Student Council admirably and have been praised consistently by Assistant Head, Mr Bond, for their commitment and reliability. In addition, they have helped with a large range of charity events and activities and have continued to support the Janeva Court elderly residents‟ „Computer Club‟ on Friday afternoons.

We wish them all every success with future plans ... another hard act to follow for this year‟s Year 12 students!