02 January 2021 NEW LINE LEARNING NEWSLETTER

Believe and Achieve

MESSAGE FROM THE HEADTEACHER

Dear Parents,

It has been a while since our last newsletter, however now we have been back at school for a full term and have settled into new routines, it is the perfect time to reflect on all we have achieved and been a part of since September.

It has been a challenging term, but a positive one (no pun intended) too! Pupils have thrown themselves back into school life and my colleagues have continued to endeavour to make every effort to give each student in our community a brilliant school experience. Many families have shown great generosity and resilience over recent months and a real sense of team work and team spirit has been seen right across the academy.

As you can see from this edition our academy community has been extremely busy since we returned in September and much has taken place both in and outside of the classroom and I

New Line Learning Newsletter 1 02 January 2021 hope you will enjoy reading about some of these activities in this newsletter.

Our new Year 7 students have settled in really well and seem to be embracing the New Line Learning experience. For our new families in Year 7 if this is your first opportunity to read our newsletter then I extend a warm to you to our readership. Each term we celebrate some of the activities and events that have taken place in our school community since the previous edition was published. We have always avowed to achieve the best possible academic results for our pupils, but without being reduced to becoming an exam factory. We want the New Line Learning experience to be on that involves exceptional teaching and learning combined with exceptional experiences outside of the classroom, both in school and further afield.

Lockdown was a difficult time for many families, but as you can see from some of the articles the spirit of Team New Line rose to the challenge to keep the sense of connection and school community going through these unusual times.

I hope that you will enjoy this edition of newsletter and I thank you for taking the time to read it.

Paul Murphy

New Line Learning Newsletter 2 02 January 2021

HISTORY DEPARTMENT NEWS

An update from Mr White…

Currently in year 7 History we are looking at an event that changed the course of British history forever. A time when there were three contenders for one throne, invaders form different countries and the installation of a French duke on the English throne. Yes, that’s right, we are looking at the Norman conquest of England. This is an interesting topic that the year 7’s absolutely love. It’s a period of time filled with lots of blood and gore and really grabs their interest and keeps them excited. We have looked at how William became King by studying the battles of the period and will be looking at how exactly William maintained control in term 3, including all the weird and wonderful laws that were introduced as part of his master plan to control the people of England. An update from Mrs Atwell…

In Endeavour history our big question this term was, “What did the Ancient Greeks do for us?” Topics included: democracy, the Olympics, Ancient Greek culture and Greek gods. We have enjoyed many practical activities from designing our own Greek vases and Greek plates. We learned about Greek theatre and drew a backdrop to a Greek play. Lastly, we’ve had fun making our own Greek comedy and tragedy masks and are ready to perform our own version of ‘The Battle of Troy.’

In year 8 by Mr Nash…

In contrast to year 7, we have been studying a grim aspect of British History. This term we continued our studies of the transatlantic slave trade by examining what life was like for a slave from when they were sold at auction to what their life was like on the plantations. On a brighter note we investigated how the slave trade came to be banned in the Empire and how Britain then led the way to stop the trade across the world.

New Line Learning Newsletter 3 02 January 2021 Within these studies we have looked at a range of historical characters ranging from William Wilberforce to the role of Olaudah Equiano.

Our next enquiry is linked in many ways to the transatlantic slave trade as it is part of the story of the British Empire. Our enquiry this term was to discuss the origins of the empire and how it all started. We have investigated a variety of topics starting with its origins with the explorers, Cabot, Hudson, Raleigh and Drake, and the rivalry with Spain in 16th century. Our enquiry has led us to consider a number of factors that has driven the people from these islands to conqueror and control so much of our world. Our investigation has even demonstrated the role pirates like Henry Morgan had, who became governor of Jamaica. Our new enquiry is a case study of India in which we will consider who benefited from the empire.

Year 9 have continued to study one of my favourite topics: The Great War. We have been investigating what it was like to be in the First World War, from recruitment to how the war ended. As part of our enquiry we have considered the horrors of the war and what it was like to fight a war dominated by developing technology. We have considered the role of the generals and how we interpret the past on the evidence presented to us. One key aspect has been what it means to be a British soldier. We have examined the vital role of the British colonies and also considered how they were treated based on their origins, be they from the West Indies or India. Our next enquiry will be on Germany after the war.

Year 10 have concluded their GCSE study of Warfare through Time by examining the changes in the 20th century. Students have looked at various factors for change and continuity throughout this period. In order to highlight these changes and continuities the students studied two case studies, one from the start of the period, the Battle of the Somme, and one from the end, 2003 Iraqi War. The students found that technology over this period had a significant role in changing the nature of warfare but they also found that wars are now fought differently, with armies now fighting insurgents opposed to formal soldiers.

Year 11 have continued to prepare for their GCSE examinations in June next year. They have been investigating the threats to Elizabeth’s reign from inside and outside of England. The threat inside of England came from Mary Queen of Scots and the various plots to place her on the throne of England. The external threats came mostly from Spain. We have looked at Elizabeth’s role in the Spanish Netherlands and how, along with the execution of Mary Queen of Scots, led to the attempted invasion of England by the Spanish Armada. The students will continue to investigate the Elizabethan World.

New Line Learning Newsletter 4 02 January 2021 In preparation for the forthcoming exams year 11 students have been completing examination papers. Some student attitude and efforts have been outstanding considering the difficulties of this year. Well done to Sapphire Gaskin; Tia Makina; Jonathan Evans; Jessica Stevens and Abbi Tritton.

New Line Learning School of Excellence… Students that are part of the New Line Learning School or Excellence have been engaging in a variety or creative and performance enhancing activities over the past term. All year groups have been developing a unique ongoing project looking at the impact of the pandemic on all aspects of society. Next term students will be starting to focus on Musical Theatre, which will be leading to their examination qualifications.

Please follow this link below and enjoy the end of Term 2 message and performances from the School of Excellence students! https://www.youtube.com/embed/Ng5rtItfXtc

#CreatePerformInspire

Album Review by Jack Burkitt (year 10)

Kacey Musgraves – Golden Hour | Album Review by Jack Burkitt – Year 10

Kacey Musgraves is an American country artist, who found her fame with her Grammy award- winning debut album, ‘Same Trailer, Different Park’. ‘Golden Hour’ is Kacey’s third studio album, which is more emotional and personal than her past music, however it seemed to pay off, as she won several Grammy's for it, including ‘Best Country Album’ and ‘Album of the Year’. The album starts off with a beautiful guitar ballad called ‘Slow Burn’, where Kacey sings about how she is watching life slowly unfold, which Is a very important theme in her life. Halfway into the song, more instruments begin to play, including drums and backup vocals, ending with all this fading out and we are just left with her vocals, and the beautifully played strings. After this, we delve into the pop/country side to the album, with ‘Lonely Weekend’, about how she is okay with being on her own, and that she needs times like this, where she is just on her own. My favourite song from the album follows this, being

New Line Learning Newsletter 5 02 January 2021 ‘Butterflies’. The reason for me liking this so much is due to the contrast of the strings and mellow drums, and the electric-sounding vocals, exciting the listener. Deeper into the album, we get a peaceful, tragic piano ballad called ‘Mother’. This is by far one of the most emotional songs Kacey has ever written, though not even 2 minutes long, she still manages to break the audience's heart with her fragile vocals and the incredible lyrics, all being displayed in the first verse of the track: ‘Bursting with empathy, I’m feeling everything, The weight of the world on my shoulders, Hope my tears don’t freak you out, They’re just kind of coming out’, and later revealing that she's missing her mother. In the next track, titled ‘Love Is a Wild Thing’, Kacey describes the positives and negatives of love, and how it's hard to find, however, when you eventually do find it, it's incredible. Despite stating how much love means to her, she explains in the next song, ‘Space Cowboy’, that she is willing to let her lover go when they no longer want to be with her, shown in the beginning of the chorus: ‘You can have your space, cowboy, I ain’t gonna fence you in’. Later on, we have the song ‘Wonder Woman’, in which Kacey explains that she doesn’t need her partner to be ‘Superman’, and that all she needs is him and his charm, as she is not ‘Wonder Woman’. By saying this, she means that she doesn’t need someone who will be a hero 24/7, and he shouldn’t expect her to do that either, and that its okay to make mistakes along the way. To close off the record, Kacey gives is another piano ballad, which is her most personal, yet uplifting song, as it was previously just a self-uplifting song to keep her going, one in which was her grandmother’s last song she heard Kacey write, so it was performed at her funeral. She ended up releasing it to the world to help them also, to let anyone else be uplifted just like her. The song is about looking for light at the end of the dark tunnel. Overall, this is an amazing, beautiful, tragic, peaceful and personal album, which throws about the audience’s emotions right from start to finish. I rate this album 9/10.

Book review by Mollie Musgrave - Year 8

Rating: 4.7/5 Title: A Friend Like Ben. Author: Julia Romp

About: Nine-year-old, George was severely autistic; quiet and withdrawn, he appeared lost in his own world most of the time. His mother Julia despaired as she couldn’t bring George out of his shell. But when a black-and-white stray cat appeared in their garden, everything changed.

New Line Learning Newsletter 6 02 January 2021 Recommendation: I would recommend this book to anyone. It is based on a true story, which I feel gives it more impact.

Why I like this book: I love it because of how a cat can change a person’s life.

My thoughts on this book: Amazing! This book is the best thing I’ve ever read and I’ve read a lot of books. I have something that should of be changed. The process of meeting Ben. It seemed to be a bit rushed to me.

My favourite Character: Julia herself. She did so much for her son. That shows how far she is willing to go so he’s safe.

Summery: This book was good all through-out. I recommend that you should all read this.

Album Review - By Joseph Whyman - Year 11 Nurture - by Porter Robinson After a 3-year break from releasing music under his own name, and not releasing an album for 6 years Porter Robinson (the man responsible for creating the song “goodbye to a world” which has made the rounds on the social media platform tic-tok over the last year, as well as organising the successful music festival “second sky”) has come out with his new album “Nurture” Sometime after the release of his Worlds album in 2014, Robinson had a creative struggle and went through a depressive episode which lasted for a few years. During this period, Robinson began working on Nurture. Mr Robinson said in an open letter to his fans, "I realized I shouldn't write music with the expectation that the productivity or achievement will fix my problems, but instead with the hope that my honest expression will move people the way music moves me. So, when I was really struggling to write and it seemed impossible, instead of thinking, 'You're struggling because you're a fraud, you're clearly not cut out for this,' I began to tell myself, 'Yeah, this is what you sacrifice.”

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On January 28th 2020, Robinson uploaded a 51- second video full of cryptic cicada 3301- like clues (including: google maps links and co-ordinates), announcing the release of “Nurture”. Set to a cut down version of the then unreleased single “mirror” The next day, on January 29th 2020 “Get Your Wish” was released. According to Robinson get your wish is “about finding a reason to keep going, even if it's not for your own sake” The music video consists of Robinson dancing and singing while standing in a shallow pool of water while images of waves and fireworks are projected on the wall behind him The song is synth based and incorporates elements of early 2000s Japanese “anime” soundtracks, and the vocals are modified to sound higher pitched and more feminine which Robinson claimed made it “easier to talk about painful subjects directly". The lyrics seem to reflect his views on depression, resilience, persistence and the way he observes the “ego death” (complete loss of self-identity and individuality) of the music industry as a whole. (“floating to the surface quicker than you sank” “did you get your wish”) On March 25, Robinson released the second track “Something Comforting”.

Robinson stated that the video is meant to represent his depression, and the struggle of being stuck in his studio the darkness surrounding the platform represents "the uncertainty of life outside of routines." Similar to the video for "Get Your Wish", the video features Robinson and is set on a platform with a flat background. The platform has a forest theme, with features such as grass and rocks. Throughout the video, he can be seen performing actions in a cycle like a daily routine such as planting seeds and washing his face. At the climax of the song, Robinson can be seen stepping off the platform, which results in him floating in the air.

New Line Learning Newsletter 8 02 January 2021 The song features Robinson's natural voice, along with the version of his own voice that is modified to be higher and more feminine. The song switches between the two voices, notably at the end, where the voice used frequently alternates. The lyrics can be interpreted to be about his suddenly acquired fame and having to manage his feelings of being a fraud and that he acquired his fame through luck or some kind of a fluke (“Cause getting made you want more. And hoping made you hurt more. Oh there must be. Something wrong with me”). They can also be interpreted as Robinson talking to a parental figure that he is seeking comfort from as he fears the unknown world around him (“someone tell me something comforting”)

On Saturday 9th may 2020 at the end of his section of the “secret sky” virtual music festival to raise money for the MusiCares COVID-19 relief fund Robinson showed off an as of now still unreleased song called “look at the sky” Continuing with the outdoorsy elemental visuals the set visuals that substitute for the music video are of a camera flying over an open field the visuals are reminiscent of the album art for RADWIMP’s album “weathering with you” made for the film of the same name which is about letting go and finding new purpose (Robinson almost certainly took inspiration from it). The vocals are pitch shifted to androgynous (neither male nor female) sounding and are lightly autotuned. My interpretation of this song’s lyrics is that it is about youth growing up, ambition, and personal development as well as the line “but then something must have changed in me” representing the personal and emotional development that Robinson went through in the process of creating nurture The line “I can make something good “shows the persistence that he demonstrated to finally make something he is happy with Mirror- released 26th august 2020 (Music video released 9th September 2020) An upbeat, melodic song, “Mirror” is the third single of Nurture It was announced the day before its release on Instagram along with a picture of a mirror Sitting on some grass pointing at the sky for this reason This was also interpreted as the official release of “look at the sky” The confirmation of it being mirror and the exact time of release was revealed just an hour before the premiere.

New Line Learning Newsletter 9 02 January 2021 The music video consists of a repeating picture following in front of the camera through the woods animated with moving doodles in the surroundings Mirror is about Porter pushing back on his self-doubt. He talked about his inner criticism in a YouTube description: “Mirror is a song about the costs of being hard on yourself… It can be really liberating to recognize that most of the time, we’re only letting our own thoughts get in the way, and we can do something about it”. This is the only song in the album so far to be released without an accompanying music video The song goes back and forth between two voices, Porter Robinson and the narrator. Porter expresses disappointment and criticism in his normal voice while the narrator (using the high pitched feminine / androgynous voice) gives encouragement and hope. In conclusion Nurture (so far) is about the struggles of everyday life as well as the not so everyday events and thoughts that make people who they are, as well as Porter Robinson’s personal critique of the music industry and his experiences trying to create music in the modern age.

An Article about the impact of online Learning - By Rachel Gude - Year 10 Due to the effects of COVID-19, students, like myself, have had to be sent home to isolate several times now, including the last couple of weeks of term as we approach the Christmas break. Each time, we have all been allowed to continue our learning online through programs such as Microsoft Teams where we can maintain direct contact with our teachers and continue to take our classes as part of a regular timetable. I feel that this has been a challenging time for both staff and pupils. For me personally, it has been difficult to sustain a good level of motivation and focus in these conditions and I know that many of my peers have had similar experiences. However, it has also been a time for everyone, students and teachers both, to learn new ways of continuing our education to the best of our abilities. Particularly as a GCSE student, I have found it reassuring to

New Line Learning Newsletter 10 02 January 2021 know that, despite everything going on in the world, I have the ability to continue studying my chosen subjects with the support of a teacher, even if it is at home. Adapting to this new way of learning has been challenging, though, in some ways, I feel that it has been beneficial. It has given me a new outlook on how to study independently; while it is definitely unusual to adapt to learning without a teacher in the same room to speak to, as a student who struggles with mental-health aspects such as social anxiety, it has been nicer to be able to have contact with my peers and teachers while being able to keep conversations that would otherwise seem like a vast task for someone like me, such as simply asking for help in front of the rest of the class, private. Additionally, I know that many of my peers have found the ability to work on tasks more independently refreshing and have developed a preference for that way of working as they feel that they are being trusted and are more in control of their own studies. Overall, while it has been and will continue to be difficult, I believe that online-learning has actually been beneficial for different types of learners and is a useful tool in all of our educations and I am very thankful that our teachers have been so understanding as, after all, they are on this journey with us as well.

Health And Social Care…

New Line Learning Newsletter 11 02 January 2021

Year 10:

Year 10 HSC students have been exploring the Human life span development, focusing on different life stages from infancy to the elderly. Students have explored the physical, intellectual, emotional and social development in various ways including creating their own egg babies, to understanding the role of a carer through the visual impairment task. The students have produced some outstanding work- creating well presented displays in their books.

Year 11

Year 11 HSC students have been focusing on health care services and different aspects of health and well-being. Students have been working hard to develop their understanding in preparation for next terms exam.

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The House System at New Line Learning A redesigned and reintroduced house system was brought back into the school in September 2019, with the intention of providing the students with an opportunity to take part and compete in a number of different house competitions over the year. The target was to build smaller communities within the main school environment, for which the pupils would gain House points for attendance, rewards, academic success, creative performances and sporting achievement. Each House would have its own identity, create responsibility for both staff and pupils and facilitate community involvement through charity and work within the trust.

There are 5 Houses that students of the academy are divided into when they start at Year 7. These Houses are vertical, meaning “Pupils like belonging to that there is a form class in each year group in each House. The Houses their ‘house’; they are complete against one another throughout the year, in a variety of different happy and enjoy coming to competitions and activities, in order to establish the overall champion at the end the school.” OFSTED of the year. Each department will have its November 2019 own competition during the year for which students can earn points to add to their House’s overall total. For example, History ran a competition to create a fort using only spaghetti and marshmallows. Each House has a termly assembly where all the form groups meet to discuss upcoming competitions, reflect on previous activities and to consider opportunities for community involvement. The Houses each have a local charity that they will support, either by raising money for worthy causes or to become involved with, in a variety of different ways. We want the students to become active citizens of their community and to understand that they can make a difference to their local environment. Each House has a House leader, a member of the school staff who is responsible for the pupils in their House. There is also a House Captain for each form, who are chosen as the representative for their form. They form the Communication team with the Head of House and the Senior leader. The Communication team are then a part of the student voice of the school, the point of contact between staff and students. Students in the Communication team are also a part of the Parent Teacher Student Association. Students are awarded House points for places awarded in House competitions, fundraising, attendance, punctuality, behaviour, and rewards. Only positive behaviour is rewarded- negative behaviour does not lose points. These are all recorded at the end of each term. We hope that the students enjoy being a part of the House system at New Line Learning. If you have any questions please speak to Mr Kemp.

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