The Eagle p Issue 80 – July 2018

Dear Parents/Carers

As another action-packed school year draws to a close, Culcheth High School has been busier than ever. As you will see throughout the newsletter, there has been much going on in the school community in these last Key School Dates remaining weeks of the term which is testament to the hard work and dedication of everyone in the school community. GCSE Results Day is Thursday 23rd August and we wish all of our Year 11 students all the very best for th their results. This year has been one of the most challenging for our Year 11 cohort with new GCSE 20 July 2018 specifications and grading systems across the vast majority of subjects. Staff and students have been School Closes for working tirelessly to ensure that the demands of the new GCSEs have been tackled effectively to ensure the Summer success of all of our students in the summer. As we look back over the year and celebrate achievements and accomplishments, I would like to take this rd 23 August 2018 opportunity to thank the students, staff and governors for their hard work and commitment to making it all GCSE Results Day happen. I would also like to thank all parents, carers and members of the local community for their continued

support in everything that we do as a school. rd I would just like to remind the school community of a few things as we go into the summer break: 3 September 2018 1. When buying new uniform, please be aware of the school shoe guidance and that girls’ socks INSET Day should be socks that do not go over the knee. Skirts should be age/size appropriate and worn at knee length without being rolled up at the waist band; 4th September 2018 2. The Governing Body will make a final decision on the proposed change to one school day per INSET Day fortnight on Wednesday 18th July and this will be communicated to parents/carers on Thursday 19th July. The full consultation documents can be found on the school website; 5th September 2018 3. From September 2018, single use plastic bottles will not be allowed in school to be used by staff and Autumn Term students, and everyone will need to use re-fillable sports bottles instead (please see the letter sent Commences home dated 9th July 2018). As a school, we are already planning for the year ahead with excitement. I would like to take this opportunity to wish staff, students and their families a happy, restful and safe summer break and look forward to seeing you all in September, fully refreshed for the challenges of a new academic year, full of opportunities. Mr C P Hunt, Headteacher

Head Students Appointed for 2018-19

On the week beginning the 11th June, twenty-four Year 10 students went through a tough selection process to determine who would be our Head Students next year.

Every candidate had already taken the time to write a detailed letter of application, all of which were excellent. Every single one of them performed impressively as they went through individual interviews and took part in challenging group tasks. They then voted for each other. Their performance at all of these points was considered alongside the results of a full-staff vote. Mrs Tanner, Mr Cushing and Mr Dugdale found it incredibly hard to make a final decision given the strength of the field, but a decision had to be made, and in the end only one-in-six could make it through.

After a long and difficult deliberation, a final decision was eventually made. Congratulations to our new

Head Students for next year: Ruby Young, Head Girl; James Davies, Head Boy; Olivia Anderson, Deputy

Head Girl; and Joel Dennison, Deputy Head Boy.

Staff Leavers

It is always difficult to say goodbye to staff but especially when they have been at Culcheth for many years and contributed so much to the school community and the lives of many young people over the years. I would like to thank Mr Darlington (Geography) and Mrs Tondziel (PE) for their support in covering fixed term contracts, this year. I would like to wish Mrs Henegan (ILC Manager) all the best in her adventures as she intends to take time to travel the world to see her family. I’d like to thank Mr Hughes (MFL) for all of his great work at Culcheth as he leaves us to be closer to home. Finally, I’d like to thank Mr Robinson (Geography) for all of his hard work and dedication to the school community over the years. He leaves us for a wider leadership role across a school trust in Liverpool.

Ride4Darbs

On Saturday 16th June, four Year 9 students and Mr Owens took part in a 30-mile cycle in memory of Paul Darbyshire, former RLFC player and coach. A very wet morning did not put off the many cyclists who were involved in the event, aiming to raise money for the Motor Neurone Disease Association. Starting at Victoria Park in Warrington, the group departed at 9am, fully stocked with energy drinks and headed out for the ride. Thankfully, the rain stopped and the cyclists had great weather for the occasion. A welcome break in the grounds of Tatton Park for a coffee and a cake allowed the cyclists a refuel before heading back to Warrington and the finish line. A fantastic effort by the whole group but a special mention to the four Year 9 pupils who took part; Jack Darbyshire, Ben Wright, Freddie Davies and Joe O’Neill. Onto the 50-mile cycle in 2019!!!

Single Use Plastics

Culcheth High School has always been and will be an environmentally friendly school. As an Eco-School Silver Award School, we have devised an ‘Eco-Code’ for the school and constantly review the school practices that impact on the school, local and global environment. You can read more on our school website http://culchethhigh.org.uk/eco-schools/ Working with our Student Leadership Group, Catering Academy, local community groups and industry partners, we have identified a huge increase in the use of ‘single use plastics’ including the vastly increased use of plastic bottles in school. It has been well documented recently that the effect of these plastics on our environment is having a detrimental effect on a number of areas. Some of the key issues with ‘single use plastics’ are:

1. They are made from fossil fuels 2. They leave a huge carbon footprint 3. They will still be here in hundreds of years 4. Only a tiny percentage are recycled 5. Potentially releases toxins into food and drink 6. Potentially leads to health issues 7. They are heavily polluting the oceans and seas 8. They are killing and harming marine animals and birds 9. They could enter the food chain

To reduce the impact of the single use plastics at Culcheth High School and for our environment, we have either already completed or/and plan to do the following:

1. Increase the number of water points in school for student and staff use to refill their water bottles; 2. Catering Academy will review its use of plastics and will drastically reduce and replace, where possible, the plastic products; 3. From September 2018, no ‘single use plastic bottles’ will be allowed in school to be used by staff and students (plastic water bottles, Lucozade bottles, etc.); 4. Staff and students will need to use a medium sized re-fillable sports bottle in school; 5. Any student who cannot get a medium sized re-usable sports bottle will be provided one by the school with the support of our industry partners; 6. The Student Leadership Group will continue to review school practices to ensure that we continue to be a pro-active Eco-School.

Culcheth High School is proud to be an Eco-School Silver Award School and will continue to work towards ensuring our school community is proactive and effective in promoting environmentally friendly approaches to everything we do in our school and local community.

Parking Around School School Uniform 2018-19 - CHANGES

A note for parents who drive students to school and use the Please be advised that from September 2018, girls socks should be school car park, Withington Avenue and Culcheth Hall Drive. of a length whereby they are unable to wear them above the knee. If you drop your child off or collect them from school, please use Knee high socks turned down are not deemed acceptable. A full the drop-off bay in the school car park or, if using Withington updated version of the school uniform guidelines is on the school Avenue or Culcheth Hall Drive: website. - please drive slowly – children are crossing to and from The rest of the school uniform for 2018-19 has not changed in the ginnel essence, however there are a number of points that parents/carers - please park considerately so that driveways are not need to be aware of:

blocked and grass verges are not damaged. 1. The ‘School Shoe Guidance’ that remains applicable for - Please do not use Primary School Car Park September 2018 is contained in this newsletter and is available on the school website, along with the 2018-19 School Gates uniform statement. 2. Students in Years 7 through to 10 must wear school ‘clip- on’ ties from September 2018. A reminder to all parents/carers that the school gates open at 3. Year 11 students can still wear their regular ties, 8am. Students arriving on site before 8am will be unable to enter however replacement ties are now ‘clip-on’ ties only, as the school site. stock of regular ties has now run out.

Culcheth High School in the Community – Year 9 .

The Young Trustees are a group of 12-21 year olds who work as part of the Warrington Wolves Charitable Foundation to support and lead their community projects and provide a youthful presence to the foundation ’s work. The Young Trustees all contain the qualities of strong leadership, teamwork and the enthusiasm to enhance the community of Warrington through sport.

Kenya 2018 The young trustees had been fundraising for just over a year so that we could go to Kenya with the Memusi Foundation to help out and make a difference to the local schools and give them a better education. Over the past year, we had been collecting equipment such as- pens, pencils, paper, colouring books, clothes etc. I would say I have come back as a new person and I appreciate what I’ve got as I’ve seen what they have and how much they respect one another. Here is a summary of our visit: Sunday - We went to church with the school and one of the leaders of the young trustees, Neil, made a speech and told everyone in the church what we were there for and how we could help. Day 1 - On our first school day we got to know the kids as they showed us where their education takes place, we did dance as well as colouring and reading. As I was the one leading, I had to dance in front of so many little children; instead of dancing with me they were laughing which was even better! After lunch we decided to do some sports with the older ones, which, might I add, were two times the height of me so that was fun but they treated me and the rest of the group like we were family, putting aside our different culture. Day 2 - We did even more arts and crafts and dance, which we can now do in our sleep. When it came up to lunch we had a look at the kitchen and what they have every day for dinner, they had beans which wasn’t a lot but they appreciate it as it’s all they’ve got. Day 3 - As usual, we would go to the conference centre and talk to the Headteacher about what we would do for the day. In the morning I would lead dance again and the lads would lead botchery. In the afternoon, my friend and I decided to clean the school’s library, before it was a load of books piled on the shelves, the seats were scattered around the room, unable to be sat on then after, the books were in alphabetical order sorted into categories, the chairs and tables were spread out and the room was then clean, we put in place some of the children as monitors to make sure it stayed that way, I am definitely proud to have now opened up something new for their education as they can now sit in there and read. We then all came together to hand out sports kit, underwear and shoes to the students of the school; we put a smile on every child’s face as they walked away with new clothes they will hopefully keep forever. Day 4 - As this day was match day at home, the group had the great idea to come up with a game day at the school. We thought we would make it like a real rugby game we have at home; we put together a rugby team so that a group of children from the school would go against us in a match of rugby and football - the Headteacher said it had been the best experience they’ve ever had and they will always remember that day. Once the school day was over, us young trustees went to a little village where the poor lived; their houses were made of sticks as well as their beds, the children’s shoes were hanging off their feet, so we gave the family of eight some food that will hopefully last them a while. Keira Jackson, 9M

Culcheth High School in the Community Year 10

Dan Kinsella,10N, competed recently in the North West Regional Swimming Championships. Dan was delighted to win Gold and Bronze for his 50m and 200m Breaststroke L ong Course respectively. The winning times of 31.81 seconds for the 50m, and 2.36.77 minutes for the 200m, have gained him a place in the prestigious Swim England National summer competition at Ponds Forge, Sheffield in August 2018. As well as preparing for his GCSEs, Dan is now focused on his training completing around 20 hours’ land and pool training each week. It is a massive commitment but this recent success shows that Dan is working towards high level competitions in the future. In just three years after becoming a competitive swimmer, Dan has achieved huge success. He has progressed through different levels including club, county, regionals and now national swimming levels. We wish him every success for a fantastic future in swimming alongside GCSE success next year in Year 11.

Year 9 Visit to Chester University

On Friday 15th June, twenty-one Year 9 students attended Chester University for taster/experience day. The day was arranged to help rise aspirations for all students to see university as a viable option. The day began with a finance talk, which looked to dispel any myths about university only being for the wealthy. During this talk, routes to university were discussed and how they can be financed, so that all students wanting to go, can. The students then got to experience university life, by taking a campus tour, which culminated in them participating in an interactive problem-solving exercise. This engaging and hands-on task helped students to solve real life student problems, from budgeting to washing! It finally considered making the right course choices in the future. The students’ behaviour and involvement was exceptional, as commented on by the university tutors leading the session. Overall, the day was a fantastic experience and the students who attended, will hopefully now see university as one possible destination for future study.

Year 9 Maths Challenge

Last term, three teams of Year 9 students took part in the North West Maths Challenge, organised by Edge Hill University. The questions were designed to challenge students' mathematical capabilities and problem-solving skills, in order to push the most-able mathematicians. Over 500 school teams from across the North West took part in the competition and 14 went through to the finals, which were held at the Edge Hill University on Wednesday, 4th July 2018. Our team, "Mathsdem", with Oliver Hindley, Iwan Jones and Samay Prakash went all the way through to the finals and had an opportunity to present their solution to the judge panel. The students have done extremely well and received certificates and Maths puzzle books for their participation and getting through to the finals.

FFOOCCUUSS OONN SSPPOORRTT

Warrington Athletics Championships

We have a proud history of strong performances at the Warrington Town Athletics Championships, and once again this year, our students did not disappoint! This year’s event was held on 7th June at Victoria Park, and our students produced some outstanding performances. Scarlet Moss Turner (Year 7) was crowned Minor Girls 100m Champion, in a fantastic time of 13.82secs, and Olivia Anderson (Year 10) successfully defended her 1000m title in an excellent time of 3mins 16secs, a full 8 seconds clear of the field. Melissa Ince (Year 8) followed up last year’s victory in the 1000m by winning the long jump, with a distance of 4m 05cms, to show her versatility, and our success in the girls jumping events was finished off by Lucy Burnham (Year 9), who won the triple jump with an excellent effort of 8m 20cms. Our Year 7 girls’ team also won their 4x100m relay event, to make it a grand total of five separate event victories.

Not wanting to be left out, our Year 7 boys also produced four-title winning performances, with Alex Leadbeater winning the 200m in a stunning 25.63 secs, Thomas Broughton jumping 3m 94cms to win the long jump, and Ethan Woodward winning the shot putt by more than a metre, with a phenomenal distance of 10m 11cms. The boys also won their 4x100m relay event, to make it a clean sweep in the Year 7 relay events. There were also a number of other very fine performances that deserve recognition, with the following students all recording top three finishes in their respective events.

2nd Place – Ethan Woodward - 200m 3rd Place - Isabella Bromley - 100m Adem Akgun - 300m Keith Newby-Stewart – 100m Joel Dennison - 800m Ethan Wilson – 200m Melissa Ince -1000m Eleigh-Mae Wood – 300m Dan Kinsella – 1000m Lucy Haigh – 800m Year 9 Boys 4x100m relay Frank Sergent – 1000m Kitty Twist-Green - Long Jump Jemima Dahou – 1000m Cameron Johnson – Discus Year 10 Boys 4x100m relay Charlotte Bate – Discus Cameron Ennis - Javelin Alex Leavitt – High jump Sophia Bimpson - Javelin Matt Lorton - High Jump Ellie Kadir – Shot Putt Mikey Wilkinson – High Jump Riley Jackson – Long Jump

These performances, backed up by a number of other high placed finishes by their team-mates, saw the Year 7 boys placed 1st in the overall championship standings, the Year 7 girls and Year 8/9 boys finishing in 2nd place and the Year 8/9 girls and Year 10 boys finishing in 3rd place overall, which is definitely our strongest showing at the Warrington Championships for many years!

Cheerleading Championships

My team, Red Hot Crossfire, recently represented England in the ECU European Cheerleading Championships in Helsinki, Finland. We placed 13th out of 20 which was an amazing result in such a tough competition. We beat teams such as Slovenia, Greece, Italy, Scotland and Poland. We didn't expect to place so highly against some amazing teams. It was a great honour to be asked to represent our country. Having this experience has driven us to train even harder for next year to achieve Team England status again. Helsinki was great fun and will hold special memories forever. Mia Hancox, 7I

PPEERRSSOONNAALL DDEEVVEELLOOPPMMEENNTT

Warrington Youth Service Happy Schools – Random Acts of Kindness Day

#WeAreCHS Tuesday 26th June marked the culmination of a year-long effort to promote happiness and philanthropic values in our school community. Our CHS ‘Happy Students’ presented the challenge via a video clip in assemblies, and then promoted the Random Acts of Kindness (RAK) Day activity via Digital Signage and Registration activities. All students were given a blank RAK sheet to record the RAKs they carried out during the day, which were then submitted to their Form Tutor the following morning. Each Form Tutor then selected one person from each form to be rewarded with the ‘GOLDEN RAK TOKEN’. The person chosen to receive the ticket was based on how well they had demonstrated the ability to live up to our shared school values; Respect, Honesty and Excellence. The number of completed RAK sheets submitted was very impressive, further highlighting how many fabulous students we have within our CHS community! The Golden RAK Tokens were then placed into a balloted ‘Prize Draw’ and the (extremely worthy) winners are listed right. Very well done to all involved…let’s remember to try and carry out RAKs on a regular basis, and make someone else’s day a little brighter!  Following on from the RAK DAY event, our ‘Happy Students’ re-grouped on Tuesday 10th July with Andy Cope and most of the other participating Warrington secondary schools (, , Penketh High School, St Gregory’s Catholic High School, University Academy Warrington) for a consolidation event. Students presented to each other about what they have been doing since the last meeting, how the ‘RAK Day’ (26th June) went in each school, and what the plans are moving forward. All students involved have been involved with a huge range of activities from student-led ‘Staff Happiness Training’, charity ‘happiness’ videos, RAK Pledge Walls and ‘Happiness Week’ activities to volunteering at Senior Citizen events and family centres, teacher football matches, RAK Friday and Primary School events, and have been an asset to their respective schools! They should be very proud of their hard work and achievements! Well done to all involved, and many thanks to Andy Cope for leading the project and supporting us in making ‘HAPPY SCHOOLS’ such a success!!

Attendance Update

The school year is nearly over and we hope to be able to maintain our current attendance percentage of 95.6%. This is not our ambitious target of 96.6%, but we still have a lot to be proud of. In Years 7-10, 593 of our students have managed to achieve an attendance percentage of 96% or higher. This is an increase on last year’s number of 498. 96 of those achieved 100% attendance, which is a decrease on the 121 in the last school year, but also an increase on the previous year’s 100% total of 88. Special mention should be given to the fifteen Year 8 students, three Year 9 students, seven Year 10 students and eleven (record number) Year 11 students who have achieved 200-500% respectively. The eleven students are listed below and we hope to bring you a photograph in the next newsletter of them all receiving certificates from school and the local authority at Celebration Evening. Let’s hope all of our twenty-four Year 7 students with 100% in Year 7 can become 200% next year. Out of last year’s thirty-four Year 7 students with 100% attendance, fifteen have managed to be in our 200% category this year. Let’s hope more of the current twenty-four Year 7 students can achieve 200% next year. The table below shows the latest winners in the POP Chart (Promoting Our Percentage) and there is a photograph of a winning Tutor Group. Impressive numbers of our students will receive both a congratulatory email over the summer holidays and attendance certificates on their return to school in September. Again this year, we have really tried to focus on both individual and team achievement, enabling our students to see that their absence not only has an impact on their own progress, but also that of their team and we are thus preparing them for their future work places. We will also be sending out letters to families of all those students whose end of year attendance is below 96%. We now need to look ahead to next year. Our aim will be to increase our percentage and thus the percentage of all of our students even more. We have to ensure that our students’ attendance percentages and punctuality records are able to support them as they apply for places in Further Education. In the next newsletter, we will remind ourselves of some of the basic things we can do to support excellent attendance. In the meantime, we wish all of our students and their families an enjoyable and relaxing holiday. See you in September, ready and raring to achieve!

Top of the Pops, fortnight ending 29th June Highest Climber, fortnight ending 29th June 7M, MISS MURTAGH 7T, MISS LEPETIT 8H, MISS JOHNSON 8N, MRS KEENE 9H, MRS SHAW 9Y, MISS FLAHERTY 10H, MRS MORTIMORE 10M, MISS SMITH

Year 11 500% Attendance students are as below. Many congratulations to them all.

Abigail Baguley, Becka Banks, Anne Cooper, Oliver Guinan, Naomi Lacide, Elliott Makinson, Megan Pomphret, Simran Prakash, Daniel Ross, Ashley Taylor and Amy Woods

Year 11 Prom

On Tuesday 3rd July, Year 11 students celebrated all of their hard work and effort over the past five years at the Hallmark Hotel in Warrington. They arrived in style and were certainly dressed to impress. Once inside, everyone enjoyed a three-course meal followed by a disco. A fantastic evening was enjoyed by all, both on the dance floor and around the football game! The Prom is always something that students look forward to; we hope the Class of ’18 enjoyed their Prom, and look forward to seeing them back in school on Thursday 23rd August, when they collect their GCSE results.

Students do the Starlight Walk

On Saturday the 23rd June, Catherine Norton, Ella Driver (my sister) and I walked the 13-mile Starlight Walk in Warrington. After we had got ourselves all glittery and put on our glow sticks, we went to the Orford Hub to begin our walk. Before we started , there was a stage with lights and a rock choir singing, surrounded by people covered in face paint and glitter and with flashing lights; it felt amazing to be part of something so huge. We participated in a warm-up then a countdown from 10 after which, we started the first lap at midnight; we walked 6.5 miles to finish lap one at about 2am on Sunday morning. 6.5 miles down 6.5 to go! Even though we were starting to doubt if we could manage a second lap, we soldiered on to complete the second lap. There was only about a quarter of the people at the beginning doing the second lap so it was a lot quieter and we were able to go quicker than on the first lap. Tired, aching and worn out, we finally finished the second lap after what felt like a lifetime (but was actually only two hours) at 4:15am. The sun was rising and beyond the finish line was a bacon butty and a cup of tea waiting for us; we were given medals and had our photo taken before going inside the hub to collect our reward (the bacon butties). We hope to raise £200 for St Rocco’s Hospice with our JustGiving page: WWW.justgiving.com/fundraising/starlightwalklaces Lucy Driver, 8I A special mention also goes to Mrs Stanier, who also took part in this event, raising valuable funds for this worthwhile cause.

Trampolining Success GCSE Religious Studies Visit

Year 8 student Ryan Campbell is a A group of Year 10 students taking GCSE Religious Studies member of the British Gymnastics North recently went on a brilliant and educational trip to the Manjushri West team, and he recently participated Kadampa Meditation Centre and Temple in Cumbria. in the national finals, which were held at The huge, historic centre, which was originally a priory, is home the Motorpoint Arena in Nottingham. to a Buddhist community who learn and worship together, Ryan specialises in trampolining, and in dedicating their lives to their religion. The purpose of the visit was the finals he achieved a silver to give a much-needed context to the religious teachings learned medal, which is a real testament to his during lessons, along with affirmation of students’ knowledge of skills, especially given that he only them. This goal was most certainly achieved, with students being started trampolining last year. shown around the amazing, luxurious temple, which had an In June, Ryan and his squad amazingly peaceful and calming atmosphere, by a resident nun. performed at Northwich in front of HRH During this, they learned the meanings of the many different Prince Charles. sacred objects around and inside it, before practising meditation to Ryan’s goal is to one day compete with Team GB at the learn how it works. As well as this, many different Buddha and Olympics. We are all behind Ryan and are so proud of his efforts; Bodhisattva shrines were shown and discussed to help develop we are certain he will achieve all of his goals. religious understanding, and then students were free to have a look around the amazing temple until it was time to eat and leave. In my opinion, this visit was very beneficial in order to apply our knowledge of this religion to a real scenario, and to appreciate the

time and effort Buddhists put into their worship and the places they perform it in. Every student who participated in the visit was truly in

awe of the calming nature of the temple, and left with a new understanding of the religion. The trip was greatly appreciated, and

we are all thankful for this opportunity. Gabrielle Styles 10H

Culcheth-2-Soweto 10th Anniversary Ball

On Saturday 9th July, Birchwood Golf Club was transformed in to a beautiful ballroom to host the event of the year, the Culcheth-2-Soweto 10th Anniversary Ball. Having a partner school, and a project which runs in such a unique way, is a huge achievement for any school but to have one fully established for ten years is almost unheard of - we just had to celebrate in style! We wanted to create something which would be a wonderful way to mark the occasion and highlight this milestone. The weather was kind to us and the sun shone as the 80 guests arrived to the beautiful sound of an acoustic singer, while arrival drinks and delicious canapés were served. Once everyone had found their South African themed table name, the main part of the evening was an appetising three course dinner as we were entertained throughout with live music. We had some fun ways of getting the party and fundraising started, even at Mrs Lakin's expense! A 'guess how long Lakin will speak for' sweepstake kicked things off and a prize was awarded to the closest guess at the length of speech (17 minutes, a record for her!). We had 'chuck a duck', Mr Cushing's favourite, and a fantastic array of auction prizes which included: a signed England Rugby shirt, a Porsche Driving Experience at Silverstone, a signed photograph by Everton player Oumar Niasse and a pair of boots worn by footballer Fernando - the prizes raised a whopping £1000 on the night! The party really got started when the guests were fed and watered and the DJ took over. We partied the night away to an array of songs from Motown to rock to 90s dance classics, burning off the calorific slices of the three tier cake which was kindly made by Miss Lees. As feet started to ache and the sun went down, a mouth-watering sweet buffet was opened to give the guests a last minute sugar boost to keep the dancing going until the early hours - a huge hit. Ten years is a huge achievement for the school and Culcheth-2-Soweto and the Ball was the perfect celebration. It was such a success and so much fun that we will plan to run this as an annual event: A Summer Ball brought to you by the C2S Team. Keep a look out for details in the next academic year and be sure to join us.

Summer GCSE Exam Results

Year 11 GCSE Exam Results will be available for collection from the School Hall on Thursday 23rd August 2018 from 8.45am

If a student is unable to collect their results and wishes someone else to collect them on their behalf (e.g. a parent or a nominated representative) they must provide the following: - Proof of the student’s identity i.e. passport, driving licence or birth certificate - A signed letter of authorisation from the student - Proof of their own identity

Results CANNOT under any circumstances be given out over the telephone or via email. If for any reason a student cannot collect their results personally or send in a nominated representative, we are able to post out results upon receipt of an A5 stamped self-addressed envelope (please ensure the correct postage is affixed). This must be left at the main reception and given to a member of the administration team.

Examination Certificates

Examination certificates will be available for collection for 2018 Year 11 leavers from school week commencing 19th November 2018. Certificates can be collected between the hours of 9.00am and 4.00pm from the main school reception. Students must bring identification with them upon collection. Certificates belong to the student and therefore cannot be issued to any other individual without the relevant documentation which includes proof of student identity i.e. passport, driving licence or birth certificate, a signed letter of authorisation from the student and identification of the person collecting. It is extremely important that examination certificates are collected as they are required for Higher Education and future employers often request them.

It is Time for a Celebration

As the academic year draws to close, many of my colleagues has asked about when we are celebrating and sharing the good practice that has happened this year through our CPD and research work. Dylan Wiliam, author of ‘Inside the Black Box’ and Professor of Educational Assessment at the UCL Institute of Education argues about the importance of teacher engagement with continuous professional learning and development. He says that “In the same way that teachers cannot do the learning for their learners, leaders cannot do the learning for their teachers”. He goes on to suggest that the two fundamental things we need from teachers are: - A commitment to the continuous improvement of practice; and - A focus on those things that make a difference to students We have this in abundance at Culcheth High School. This is truly reflected in the amount of supportive and positive feedback from our teachers about their engagement this year with their own professional development. We have worked hard to provide our teachers with a wide range of evidence and research, enabling them to make informed choices about their own practice within the classroom. A recent survey completed by our teachers indicates that over 80% of us believe that engagement with evidence and research is helping to improve practice and thus having a positive impact on student learning experiences. For us, this feedback provides a vital check point in helping is to understand how we can further support our teachers to continue making excellent choices about their own practice and professional development.

When asked about their thoughts on the evidence focussed professional development that has been undertaken this year. Our staff have said:

“…a helpful and new initiative that has helped us to develop our skills and understanding of up-to-date research and new ideas within a variety of educational settings.”

“I have really enjoyed my research and carrying out my PICO this week. I have worked collaboratively with people outside of my department, which I have found really helpful.”

“I love the opportunity to discuss with colleagues across departments and find this has a real impact on my practice.”

A celebration teachmeet is due to take place at the end of the term, where our wonderfully dedicated body of staff will have the chance to share the work they have completed this year. This is something that as a body of staff, we particularly enjoy doing. This provides an essential opportunity to truly engage with excellent practitioners from whom we can learn so much. After all, “in the same way that teachers cannot do the learning for their learner, leaders cannot do the learning for their teachers” (WIliam)

Focus on Year 7 – 7Y

I thought it would be a good time to celebrate some of this form’s achievements and highlight some individuals’ dedication and hard work. Let us start with those who have achieved a 100% attendance record; Alfie Bowman, Isabel Hindley, Katimay O’Hara-Doherty and Jarrod Sheftz; what a great effort! Also worthy of note is that 48% of the form achieved an attendance rate above 98%. On attainment, a big well-done goes to Sofia Bimpson and Amelie Smith who have yet the let their standards drop below “good” and receive a 3 in any lesson. There is 42% of the form who have gone through the year receiving fewer than ten 3s and 81% of the form have not had an inadequate lesson (4 or 9). Three of the form, Jacob Ross, Frank Sergent and Katimay O’Hara -Doherty applied for the role of Student Leader and, after a written element and an interview, congratul ations go to Jacob Ross who was successful. Charity support has been a large part of some students’ life; Sofia Bimpson, Milli Bowers, Katie Coates, Alina Su dakova have all helped raise money this year and Katimay O’Hara -Doherty raised £50 on her own. A special mention goes to Ben Evans for his work with Meningitis Now, Megan Plumbley raising £110 for St Rocco’s and Amelie Smith for involvement with Cancer Research. We have a brilliant song writer in Jazmine Critchley, a budding gymnast in Sofia Bimpson, a raising star in Nic Thornton and a fledgling actor in Jacob Ross. Finally, I wish you all great success in the rest of your school career. Mr Uttley, Form Tutor 7Y

Nepal World Challenge

On Sunday 15th July, twenty of our Year 10 students will embark on their 14-day expedition to Nepal. Having spent 18 months planning, preparing and fundraising the visit, the group has come on leaps and bounds with their organisation, teamwork and commitment to make a difference to communities around the world.

Fundraising Each of our challengers has raised nearly £3000 to make this visit possible with students abseiling from bridges, running quiz nights, taking up jobs, selling items at car boot cycles, organising car washes and completing the Three Peaks Challenge amongst many other things to raise their funds. Pictured right - Lily Hope daring the heights of the Transporter Bridge in Middlesbrough raising £800

On Expedition Whilst on the expedition, students will be completing various activities. The first one being their project where they are working in Shree Bagehini Secondary School which lies on a hill on the outskirts of Kathmandu. Whilst here, students will be buying materials from local markets to help in the construction and renovation of classrooms. This will involve students mastering their painting, plastering and building skills whilst working with local builders on the school site. During this time, students will also be delivering English lessons and running sports activities with the local community.

After finishing the project, students will be completing the trek phase where students will be trekking 48km to the summit of Poon Hill sitting at an altitude of 3210m. During the trek , students will be walking for around seven hours each day for five days, camping at various mountainside campsites and tea houses and seeing incredible views whilst walking through bamboo forests, past waterfalls, pine forests, small villages, rhododendron forests and over streams on rope bridges.

During our time in Nepal, students will also have the opportunity to relax after their hard work on the project and trekking phases by visiting many of Nepal’s breath-taking cultural and heritage sites in both Pokhara and Kathmandu. In the build up to this visit each of our Year 10 students has worked extremely hard to not just raise their funds but improve their fitness, plan activities and prepare every moment of each day whilst on the expedition as well as spending time to learn some Nepali and learning how to keep themselves safe and healthy whilst away.

London Visit

Over four very hot June days, twenty-five KS4 students and three staff took to the streets of London to take in the culture, sights and numerous educational activities. The visit included Harry Potter Studios to marvel at the media aspects behind making the films and enjoy the fantastic sets and costumes, followed by a humbling visit to Bletchley Park, the birthplace of computing and where some of the Enigma code breakers worked in secret for many years during WW2. The fantastic weather meant the Thames River Cruise, the buzzing financial district and the Sky Garden, London's highest public garden, made for some fantastic viewing. Students challenged themselves in the Bank of England Museum to finding out about inflation, the economy and more importantly, could they lift a bar of gold? Covering a whopping 57 kilometres in total over the four days, seeing The Old Bailey and having a legal tour from a former Fleet Street journalist, strolling past Number 10 and the Houses of Parliament, students certainly made the most of the visit. A fantastic time was had by all students and staff and we would like to thank the students for making the trip such an enjoyable experience.

Duke of Edinburgh Practice Expedition

On Saturday 9th June, Mr Nolan, Mr Bolton, Mrs Andrews and Miss Carroll set off to Malham with twenty-five Year 10 students to complete the practice expedition for their bronze Duke of Edinburgh award. On arriving at Town Head, the students very efficiently (some more than others) put up their tents and prepared for the first day’s hike. The 12km walk took students around Malham village to Janet’s Cave, Malham Tarn and Malham Cove and back to the campsite. Each student took a turn at leading the group and we managed to not get lost, which is a rarity. After cooking on trangias for the first time, the group then settled in for a night under canvas. On Sunday morning, students awoke early and set off fully loaded to cover a shorter distance of 6km in smaller groups. All students made great progress between check points and completed the walk in some of the quickest times we have had. Well done to all the students involved and a huge thank you to the staff for giving up their weekend. To keep up to date with information about the school’s Duke of Edinburgh awards please follow @culchethDofE on twitter.

Junior Masterchef 2018 LiveWire – Junior Weights

Congratulations to Jamie Betton and Jake Lees, both Year 10 GCSE Food Prep and Nutrition students, who won the Junior Masterchef Competition at WVRC on 22nd June. The task was to create a two-course meal for two people to include a chicken main course and a pastry based dessert. Both boys worked confidently and showed excellent practical and presentation skills and, despite fierce competition from other Warrington schools, they were the overall winners on the day. Well done Jamie and Jake!!

MAD (Making a Difference (Culcheth)

Culcheth-2-Soweto – Apprentice Stars Shine Brightly

In October 2018, the school set Year 8 and 9 students a truly international challenge. We needed new South African apprentices; new recruits who could join the Culcheth-2-Soweto project. Over 100 students turned up to the initial meetings and the excitement was high. Since this point students, friends, families, next door neighbours and the whole community have been supporting their charitable work. All students had one aim: to raise the required funds to pay for a visit of students and teachers from Matseliso High School. I am pleased to say that alongside the work of the older students and staff, we have nearly reached our target. Our guests from South Africa arrived this week and we will report more on that when we return in September. While the whole project is a team effort, and would never be achieved without the full team, the following individual stories and events are truly amazing and deserve their own recognition. We shared some of these in the last two editions, and share some more with you in this final edition of the year…

Lewis Stanley 9H

In order to raise my money, I worked for a photographer/videographer as an assistant for two days from 8am to 5pm. This involved photographing horses competing in dressage competitions, processing the flash cards on the laptop and printing, mounting and selling photographs to the competitors on the day. Also I learnt to use the video camera videoing a Polework Clinic for dressage riders. The photographer then showed me how to upload the photographs to the website for future sales and I contributed towards the monthly magazine article that she writes containing interviews with class winners, photographs and results.

I really enjoyed this work as it will help me a lot with my media studies. I assisted in the on- site cafe at busy times of the day. I donated all my earnings from this work to the Culcheth-2-Soweto Project. This amounted to £102.75.

Evie Jackson 8U

For my fundraising challenge I have worked both with on my own and with the help of my Mum and Dad on lots of different tasks. With my friends, Ruby Lamb, Victoria Bond and Keira Sharples, I arranged a sponsored walk upto the top of Rivington Pike in our onesies. I was really pleased to raise £280 on this challenge, and we had fun on the day too – even though it was raining and snowing! My next idea was to find a way of raising money through using my creativity and so, with help from my Dad, I decided to set up an eBay account under the name of “Slime Queen” and have been selling different types and coloured pots of slime to order. I have also raised money through clearing out old toys and books and selling both online and as a one-off book sale at my Mum’s work – my cupboards and room are much tidier now too! Ruby and I worked together to package up bags full of cakes, bought in bulk from Park Cakes in Oldham, and so far have raised over £40 doing cake sales at my Mum and Ruby’s Dad’s workplace. Finally, I set up a jar at home for me and my family to collect loose change which I will keep filling until it’s time to end the challenge. I’ve enjoyed all the tasks so far and am always thinking of new ways to raise more money!

Tom Standish 8H

My name is Tom Standish. I am an apprentice for Culcheth-2-Soweto. I have had a busy few months raising money for the Soweto students to fly over to England. Firstly, I came up with the idea to do jobs round the house such as hoovering the whole house every week and cleaning the patio. I have also done a 28 mile sponsored bike ride with my friend who is also an apprentice from Culcheth High School to Haigh Hall in Wigan. I was able to challenge myself but also to raise money at the same time. I play tennis at Birchwood Tennis Centre so I arranged to help out at the tennis open day. I baked cakes and sold hot and cold drinks for parents and children attending the open day. I did this with my sister Emma who has already visited Soweto. This was really successful and I got some donations as well. I enjoyed talking to people about the trip to Soweto I am aiming to go to. To raise more money, I am planning to do a car boot sale with my friend and also to have a children’s games stall on Community Day with a group of other apprentices. I have found the fundraising to be good fun despite the rain on my sponsored bike ride.

Culcheth-2-Soweto – Apprentice Stars Shine Brightly

Zach Dahou 9A

I am Zack Dahou and I raised £156 in my fundraising challenge. On Sunday 4th February me and my friend Iwan Jones climbed Snowdon, the highest mountain in Wales. We set off at 6.30 in the morning from Culcheth and arrived in Snowdonia at about 8.15am. It was a bit crazy to do this challenge at this point in the year as the weather was freezing. It was a very tough challenge and although it took all day it was great fun. There was lots of snow which made it even more challenging.

Caitlin Lea 8T

Hi, I’m Caitlin Lea. I have really enjoyed being a C2S Apprentice so far! I’ve had fun thinking of ways to fundraise and have managed to do quite a few things. My favourite was probably walking to Bents in my Pyjamas (I know Bents isn’t that far away, however it’s enough when it’s pouring down with rain and you’re getting strange looks off strangers!). I’ve also set up a tuck shop at my Mum’s work, got a job dog walking and I’ve weighed bags and bags of old clothes in! So far I’ve found being an apprentice amazing, and I’m looking forward to the next few months. I’ve already got a few ideas for my next fundraising events, and most of all I’m looking forward to the visit in July. Here’s a picture of me with a car full of clothes to weigh in.

Oscar Flint 8Y

My name is Oscar Flint and I surprised myself by raising £185 in a week! Me and my mum discussed a good way to raise money. We decided that we would raise more if we gave something in return for donations. I didn't think that I would be very good at anything but thought that I would be able to wash cars and bake some cakes (with a bit of help from my mum)! I cleaned 12 cars and two vans and my hands were freezing because I was too shy to ask for warm water at some of the houses. I then baked cakes for my mum and dad to sell in their offices, I was actually quite proud of my baking skills! I managed to make £68 so thinking of doing this every weekend from now on.

Romahn Davies 8A

Hi, my name is Romahn and I am a Year 8 student. I first started fundraising for Culcheth-2-Soweto by advertising and then doing a carwash with my friends. We earned £100 and washed nine cars. As the car wash was so successful we decided to do a second one but this time we only washed five cars and earned £50. A couple of weeks later I organized a raffle at my local pub for Valentine’s day. I spoke with the owner and raised about £50. In my scout group I arranged a “guess the sweets in the jar”. I’ve raised a further £20 from that. Also on the 24th March we did a sponsored run from Manchester City stadium to Manchester United stadium, raising further funds.

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